What is Doujinshi???
For those who have never heard of doujinshi till now, think yourself very lucky~!
Doujinshi, Dójinshi or Doujin is fan made comics or manga stories by artists or circles usually from Japan.
(If it comes from the west, it's usually referred to as Fan-comics or Fan-Manga.)
Doujin can have one genre, or many incorporated into the one book. Some include:
Normal/General
Gag or Comedy
Serious or Romantic
can involve Adult situations (Hentai/Ecchi)
same sex feelings (Yuri/Shoujo-Ai - Yaoi/Shounen-Ai)
or Nudity
Doujinshi have Stories, parts to a whole story that spans several books, 4 Panel Jokes/Stories, pinups or pages of just images/Illustrations, or even collectors catalogues or Text based stories, sometimes occompanied by Illustrations to help the story.
Doujinshi, Dójinshi or Doujin is fan made comics or manga stories by artists or circles usually from Japan.
(If it comes from the west, it's usually referred to as Fan-comics or Fan-Manga.)
Doujin can have one genre, or many incorporated into the one book. Some include:
Normal/General
Gag or Comedy
Serious or Romantic
can involve Adult situations (Hentai/Ecchi)
same sex feelings (Yuri/Shoujo-Ai - Yaoi/Shounen-Ai)
or Nudity
Doujinshi have Stories, parts to a whole story that spans several books, 4 Panel Jokes/Stories, pinups or pages of just images/Illustrations, or even collectors catalogues or Text based stories, sometimes occompanied by Illustrations to help the story.
And then...
Depending on the Series of Anime/Manga, Artist or the Circle, they can be easy to find or so rare you have to search every link in Google (Within reason, don't click the virus warning ones!) and trawling through Ebay or Yahoo Japan auctions for days, weeks and months to find the one are looking for.
Prices can be as cheap as $5 US (Not including postage) or as high as $100US if not more. AND for the rare one that everyone wants, you have to wave a stick around to smack off the other buyers or keep upping your Max Bid to Insane amounts!!!
In other words, its a very time consuming and money sucking hobby to get into!
I know my partner is probably sick of hearing "just this one" or "these are cheap honey!!!" and spending a paycheck a week nearly~!!!
Prices can be as cheap as $5 US (Not including postage) or as high as $100US if not more. AND for the rare one that everyone wants, you have to wave a stick around to smack off the other buyers or keep upping your Max Bid to Insane amounts!!!
In other words, its a very time consuming and money sucking hobby to get into!
I know my partner is probably sick of hearing "just this one" or "these are cheap honey!!!" and spending a paycheck a week nearly~!!!
A Helpful tip...
My Advice is to search the net, get in mind what you are looking for!
Your favourite series
the pairing you want
the artist or circle that does beautiful art or stories
and so on.
Do research where you can!
How much it went last time it was listed?
How much it's worth now?
Price compare between sites
Even look for people like me on the internet who collect, often you can pick up a good doujinshi or rare one at that for a fraction of the price because we do not need it anymore!!!
A handy hint i have found is to search ebay, THEN go look at a site such as Yahoo Auction Japan.
Some Common Doujinshi that are listed on ebay for $40 US or more, can be found on Yahoo Japan for as low as 800 Yen ($6 US ??)
The only problem with Yahoo Japan is they only sell/ship to japan, in which case you will need a middle man.
I Use Celga.com, they charge you for their services, and need a deposit of half your total bid upfront, but they have been wonderful in securing the doujinshi i am questing for!!!
Or after a period of time, apply for their gold account, which lets you bid yourself, then you pay later when they invoice you.
But Having said that, don't think it Doesn't work the other way around!
A Doujin on Yahoo Japan Could be Listed for 900 Yen, but by the time you add a rough estimate of fee's and shipping, the Same book Might be found on Ebay cheaper and free shipping!
Your favourite series
the pairing you want
the artist or circle that does beautiful art or stories
and so on.
Do research where you can!
How much it went last time it was listed?
How much it's worth now?
Price compare between sites
Even look for people like me on the internet who collect, often you can pick up a good doujinshi or rare one at that for a fraction of the price because we do not need it anymore!!!
A handy hint i have found is to search ebay, THEN go look at a site such as Yahoo Auction Japan.
Some Common Doujinshi that are listed on ebay for $40 US or more, can be found on Yahoo Japan for as low as 800 Yen ($6 US ??)
The only problem with Yahoo Japan is they only sell/ship to japan, in which case you will need a middle man.
I Use Celga.com, they charge you for their services, and need a deposit of half your total bid upfront, but they have been wonderful in securing the doujinshi i am questing for!!!
Or after a period of time, apply for their gold account, which lets you bid yourself, then you pay later when they invoice you.
But Having said that, don't think it Doesn't work the other way around!
A Doujin on Yahoo Japan Could be Listed for 900 Yen, but by the time you add a rough estimate of fee's and shipping, the Same book Might be found on Ebay cheaper and free shipping!
Lastly....
But as was noted above, do TRY to keep to a certain series/paring/artist.
Collecting Doujinshi is expensive enough, it keeps going higher the more series/parings/artists you find and like. it seems like every time i go searching, i find another one i want, another artist i like, another series i collect~!
Collecting Doujinshi is expensive enough, it keeps going higher the more series/parings/artists you find and like. it seems like every time i go searching, i find another one i want, another artist i like, another series i collect~!