A Beginner’s Guide to Doujinshi

gamerant.com:

Doujinshi is a world that can be hard to understand for anyone who is not Japanese, and has not had much exposure to them. Getting into doujinshi has a much steeper «learning curve,» if you will, than getting into manga. Their world is complex, with special terms and rules — and not exactly English-friendly.

We are here to help you take your first steps into the world of doujinshi, and explore a whole new part of anime culture. We will take you through what doujinshi are, how they are made, and teach you a bit about their culture in Japan. Finally, we will tell you what to expect when buying and reading doujinshi, and where you can buy your own to start getting into the hobby.

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Let's start off slow; if you have never heard the term «doujinshi» before, it is the Japanese word for fan-published print works like manga and novels. They are just like fanfiction in that they are produced by fans about works that already exist, changing the stories, characters, settings, and more to their liking. What makes doujinshi special is that they are actually printed and sold at stores and markets and can make a profit, whereas fanfiction usually remains online and free.

That's right, fans can actually make money off of doujinshi. The legal system in Japan involving these self-printed works is a bit complicated. Under Japanese law, doujinshi are considered 親告罪, or «shinkokuzai,» meaning that they remain legal unless contested by the holder of the copyright. Because doujinshi cannot even begin to compete with the revenue made by licensed anime goods, copyright holders tend to turn a blind eye to them. Some people in the manga industry even praise doujinshi as being good for the