Keripo’s Guide to Doujinshis
Table of Contents
- Types of Japanese adult paper material
- Types of doujinshis
- Buying from comic conventions
- Buying from physical/online stores
- Where to (legally) read translated doujinshis
- Where to (illegally) read translated doujinshis
Types of Japanese adult paper material
In general, there are 3 main types of Japanese 18+ paper material:
1) Adult magazines
These A4-sized magazines will contain a mixture of colored artwork along with many pages of black-white 18+ short stories or serialized works from multiple different artists. The magazines each have different themes including real-life gravure idols (e.g. Playboy) or 2D erotic manga works (e.g Comic Hot Milk or Comic LO). You can buy these online or in your local bookstore or in your local convenient store. A lot of 18+ artists make their living by being hired to write serialized works for adult magazines that put out new editions monthly.
2) H-manga (or “eromanga”)
These are standalone B6/A5-sized comic books, usually a few hundred pages long and containing black-white 18+ short stories or serialized story from either a single artist (tankoubon) or multiple artists (anthology). Often these are compilation works that reprint content previously published in adult magazines. These are usually sold in physical bookstores or online. These are mass printed by publishers with an ISBN number, just like regular books. Because of their length, H-manga are not frequently published and usually only successful 18+ artists will get their works published in an H-manga. For an artist to get their own tankoubon is a huge achievement.
3) Adult doujinshis
These are self-published works of varying sizes (usually A5 or B5 but there’s no strict guidelines). Some are a few hundred pages (usually compilation books), some are a few tens of pages (single stories). Most are pure black-white with a colored front page, some are full colored all the way through. Because these are self-published, there is limited stock and reprinting as the production pipeline is managed by the artist or the group of artists (e.g. a “circle”) themselves. They are also primarily sold in person at fan-run comic conventions (e.g. Comiket, Comitia, etc.) but more popular artists will also set up deals with certain bookstores (e.g. Toranoana, Melonbooks, Comic Zin) to sell in their physical stores or online shop. Because there is no publisher involved, a much bigger portion of the profit goes to the artists’ pocket and many struggling artists will turn to drawing/selling doujinshis to supplement their regular income from drawing serialized original works.
Types of Doujinshis
Parody Works
Because doujinshis are self-published works, they fall in a grey area in Japanese copyright laws. While its technically not legal to publish and sell works that infringe on other people’s intellectual property, doujinshis fall under the category of “parody” and so Japan turns a blind eye (for the most part… just avoid parodying Disney or Nintendo IPs and do not lewd Uma Musume horses or the yakuza will come after you). As a result, a big portion of doujinshis are parody works that lewd your favourite anime waifu. Because they are non-canon, the artistic expression freedom is here, so you can make best girl actually win, best girl get gangbanged/NTR’d, best girls from multiple unrelated series form a harem with Goku, whatever you want. In fact, for a lot of original work artists, having their characters get parodied in a doujinshi is a badge of honor, a proud sign of success that their works are popular enough that their fellow artists want to parody them. For the doujinshi artist themselves, this is also an easy way to become more well known and also make money; pick the fan favourite series of the month, pick the most popular girl, and draw lewd art of her. Ez money.
Original Works
There are some artists though that decide to use this opportunity to create their own original works. This usually doesn’t happen as artists will usually use their original characters/storylines for their regular commercial work with magazines, but the benefit of going the doujinshi route is that you get full artistic freedom (e.g. no editor censorship/modifications) and you get more pay. Of course you also take the risk of no one buying your works (which can become a financial loss since you had to pay upfront for all the prints), so usually only well established doujinshi artists will try to do this after making a name for themselves. My favourite circle Little Hamlet, for example, recently pivoted from Touhou doujinshis to all OG works, and some artists like RAITA has had his own original doujinshi series “Mahou Shoujo” become so popular that other doujinshi artists have put out parodies of it as well. In rare cases, artists who publish commercial SFW manga series of their own will draw 18+ doujinshi parodies of their own series (e.g. the CDPA circle whose members wrote the “Freezing” manga went on to publish 18+ doujinshis of their own work). And sometimes the reverse happens where an original 18+ doujinshi series becomes so popular a SFW manga series/spin off comes out of it (e.g. POCHI-GOYA’s Ane Narumono series that first started serializing in the SFW magazine Dengeki G’s Comic, then later went on to get published as a serialized SFW manga)
Compilation Works
Because of the limited run nature of doujinshis, an artist will sometimes release compilations (総集編) of their older works. This is mainly for new readers who want to read their older works, or just for collection purposes. For example, when an artist puts out their #5 of a long running series, they might also be selling their #4 at the same time in person and will release a new #1-3 compilation book so that new readers can buy all of it at once (e.g. NANIMOSHINAI’s “Succubus Stayed Life” which currently has 3 compilation books since it started and is still ongoing). Other times, once a series concludes, the artist will sometimes sell a large compilation book of the full series with a unique new cover art and maybe a bonus new story (e.g. Metro Notes’ “Gentleman’s Maid Sophie” compilation book).
Artbooks
Some artists just like to draw and not bother about writing any coherent story. And they sell large full-color artbooks of their artworks from Pixiv, from Twitter, from magazine covers, from wherever they want. And sometimes these are repeat drawings just repackaged in another new artbook (cough cough Tony Taka cough cough). But sometimes thats ok… I am totally fine with more “Black Tights” artbooks featuring multiple artists drawing characters in pantyhose :3
Extras/Bonuses
Sometimes artists will draw and distribute for-free a single page or a couple extra pages of black/white drawings/sketches alongside each sale. These free bonuses are usually limited and meant to encourage buying directly from the artist at conventions rather than through online stores. For collectors, these can sometimes be worth more than the doujinshi itself, but for the average horny reader, this is just a free bonus.
Buying from Comic Conventions
Most doujinshis get sold directly by the artist/circle at comic conventions as thats the best way to directly make (untracked/untaxed) money. The artist/circle will set up a physical table/booth at the location, customers will line up in front of that booth, and the purchase happens directly there and then, cash only. If the line is not too long, you can also “browse” the works being sold and flip through the display copy before deciding to buy/not buy. Buying doujinshis from comic conventions also will land you con-exclusive extras as well as maybe a chance to meet the artist themselves (if they aren’t shy and have friends/helpers doing the selling). Some artists will also allow you to request for custom same-day commission drawings, but most of the popular ones don’t do that anymore cause of lack of time. On the flip side, the larger the convention the longer the lines and the harder the planning. The “Comiket” episode of Lucky Star is actually very accurate in depicting the comic convention experience. Unlike western anime conventions, comic conventions are not places for fun, they are shopping trips.
The following are the general “standard” prices of doujinshis sold at Comiket. There are no official guidelines since everything is self-published but artists generally follow their own buckets of prices. Works cannot be priced too high because any unsold work is a loss to artists since they had to pay for the upfront printing costs. These unsold works will either go to local bookstores (probably sold at a discount) or brought to the next comic convention (potentially half a year later) to try to sell.
- 100-300 yen = work from a new artist/circle or some incomplete/draft work
- 400-500 yen = standard 10-15 page black-white doujinshi
- 700-1000 yen = 30+ page doujinshi or 10-15 page full color doujinshi
- 1200-1500 yen = large A4 color work from a popular artist or a 50+ page compilation book
- 2000 yen = no one sells doujinshis for this price range, there’s probably some extra bonus attached
Buying from Physical/Online Stores
Even though doujinshis are self-published, popular artists will often still contract with commercial stores to sell their works across the country (Japan), partially so their works can reach more people but also bring in more income for them from fans who may not have otherwise made the trip. Unsold physical copies from the con sales can also be routed to the physical stores to reduce losses. Sometimes these physical stores also have their own unique special purchase bonuses, similar to the con-only extras/bonuses to promote purchase from them (or maybe even duplicate purchases for collectors).
With the move to the digital era (and even moreso post-COVID), most of these physical stores have moved most of their sales to their online stores. Online purchases are also known as “mail order” purchases for historical reasons where you fill in paper purchase slips and later and receive a package in mail. Unless you happen to be in the area, this is usually the preferred way of purchase as you don’t need to spend as much time physically scouring the store for the item or worrying about things being out-of-stock.
1) Comic Toranoana
https://ec.toranoana.jp/tora_r/ec/
This one used to be the biggest doujinshi physical store and had TWO flagship stores in the heart of Akihabara. Unfortunately due to COVID, those physical stores closed down and now Toranoana is primarily a mail-order/online store. They also have one of the biggest “for women” section and also sell tons of other non-doujinshi otaku merchandise. The “Denki-Gai” anime parodies this store. The cultured anime “IyaPan” (aka “I Want You To Show Me Your Panties With a Disgusted Face”) was also funded by Toranoana. Doujinshis here will be sold at a markup compared to at the comic convention since Toranoana needs its cut of profits, but the markup in my opinion is worth avoiding the trouble of spending hours in line waiting.
The online store for Toranoana is where I mainly go for buying my doujinshis. A big part of the reason is that they work with the Anime Otaku Carry Service (https://www.aocs.jp/) which is a proxy but directly integrated into Toranoana such that you only pay for shipping once (from Japan to the US). Order merging also happens (helps a lot with pre-orders) and fees are often waived for the first 3 orders of the month, so overall its definitely the cheapest proxy for those of us who don’t live in Japan.
2) Melonbooks
https://www.melonbooks.co.jp/book/list.php?category_id=71
This is Toranoana’s main rival. While they have smaller stores, Melonbooks have infamously outlasted Toranoana in physical presence. When Toranoana closed off their last Akiba store, Melonbooks posted a farewell notice which contained the secret message “Victory is ours”. Similar to Toranoana, Melonbooks works closely with doujin circles/artists but they are known to also target smaller/upcoming circles (including many SFW circles) and having exclusivity deals with them, so there are many times where you will only find certain circles selling at Melonbooks and not Toranoana. Like Toranoana, doujinshis here will be sold at a markup.
The online store for Melonbooks is a lot nicer than Toranoana’s BUT they don’t have an integrated proxy like Toranoana does. As a result, I usually purchase from Toranoana where I can and then make a bulk order of Melonbooks + other sources through my go-to proxy, Treasure Japan (https://treasure-japan.com/index.html). The downside is that since I don’t have an account, I don’t accumulate points or have an easy-to-search history of past orders. One day I wish for an AOCS-equivalent for Melonbooks… one day…
3) Mandarake
https://order.mandarake.co.jp/order/listPage/list?categoryCode=030101&lang=en
Mandarake is a second-hand resale store. Effectively they buy older doujinshis (and other otaku collectables) from their customers then list and resell them for a profit. Here is where you will find older doujinshis from customers who wanted to liquidate their collection/make space, or sometimes even the latest doujinshis from customers who regret their buys. Contrary to what your first thoughts might be, “second hand” doujinshi does NOT mean an “eww, covered with mysterious stains” doujinshi. Japanese collectors put a high emphasis on item quality ratings and rarely will Mandarake buy anything short of a well-preserved doujinshi (the exception being really old collector items). Because this is an after-market, the price for doujinshis fluctuate depending on supply-demand and more often than not, the second hand market price for older doujinshis from a less popular artist will be way higher than their original comic convention sale price. For some even smaller circles that don’t sell through Toranoana or Melonbooks, Mandarake is your only bet if you’ve failed to buy in person from the circle’s booth.
While you can spend hours flipping through their bookshelves in person, I highly recommend you instead just purchase through their online shop. There are MANY Mandarake locations across Japan and the doujinshi you’re looking for might need to be shipped to you from a different store. In addition, any doujinshi that hasn’t sold for a long time gets moved to their Sahra warehouse. The website also has a nice “alert” system which will send you email notifications for items you’ve been hunting for, which is especially useful for collectors like myself. Mandarake is also one of the few Japanese websites that support direct shipping to the US if you so wish. Usually however, the shipping prices are very expensive so I often opt to instead buy through my Treasure Japan proxy to consolidate and save in shipping costs.
4) Suruga-ya
https://www.suruga-ya.jp/search?category=1100&adult_s=1
Suruga-ya is another second-hand resale store like Mandarake, but doesn’t just focus on otaku goods but on all sorts of collectable hobby goods. In Akihabara alone they have 6 different physical stores, each focused on selling different kinds of products (trading cards, railway train models, retro games). If Mandarake doesn’t have it, try your luck with Suruga-ya. Most newer products go first to Mandarake though so more often than not you won’t find the latest items there. But for some reason Suruga-ya has a huge archive of much older, less popular works, which is great for completionist collectors like myself. One other benefit of Suruga-ya is that they have an automatic price-decay system where over time unsold items will decay in price. Thanks to this, you can find some really old doujinshis for as cheap as 100 yen or less even if their original price was multiple times that. If an item is available on both Mandarake and Suruga-ya, there’s a very high chance it’ll be cheaper on Suruga-ya.
Like with Mandarake, buying through their online store is a lot easier, especially due to digital consolidation of all stocks. A large portion of their catalogue is in their warehouse (or get shipped to their warehouse before being shipped out), so you don’t have to worry about buying from multiple locations and incurring multiple local shipping fees. Suruga-ya has an English site that ships internationally but all 18+ content is restricted from their English website so I always buy via my Treasure Japan proxy.
Where to (Legally) Read Translated Doujinshis
As of the moment, a couple English-speaking websites have made licensing deals with specific artists/circles and sell their translated works physically/digitally. Ironically, by doing this translation work, these originally-self-published works are now being commercially published (but in non-Japan regions). If you aren’t going to buy the physical Japanese copy, you might as well buy the translated physical/digital copy through these publishers. There are numerous illegal (aka piracy) sites that host scanlations of doujinshis, but I would become a “sad panda” if I were to share those because promoting piracy is bad.
1) Fakku
The current biggest translated doujinshi site. They have licensed from a pretty sizable list of magazine publishers and artists directly so their catalogue is pretty huge. Because they are a western company, they are not constrained by Japanese censorship laws so they will often decensor the original works in their translated version. They also have a subscription service that lets you read unlimited doujinshis online. They are very aggressive in protecting their licensing agreements so they will often DCMA their licensed works aggressively. Most of their doujinshis come from a specific shortlist of artists, however, so for consistency I don’t buy translated doujinshis from them. I do buy translated tankoubons from the artists I like though as those tend to be heavy and so the physical price from Fakku isn’t too bad and it comes with the digital version for free as well. They also make a big deal out of bringing popular artists to the US as special guests at Anime Expo, so they also end up with a lot of exclusive stuff. I also may or may not have some of their signature shirts/hoodies :3
2) Project-H
https://www.projecthentai.com/
Project Hentai was the first initiative to try to bring translated Japanese works to the western audience legally before Fakku overtook them drastically with the sheer number of licensing agreements. Regardless, they do have a small catalogue of works, though most of it is H-manga and not so many doujinshis. One of my favourite H-manga, however, Chihiro Harumi’s “Velvet Kiss”, was published by them. The light novel turned manga/anime “Hentai Ouji” (aka. The “Hentai” Prince and the Stony Cat) illustrated by one of my favourite artists, Kantoku, was also translated and brought to the west by them.
3) 2D market
I don’t know much about this company but it looks like they work with a decent list of doujinshi artists to translate and sell uncensored digital copies of their doujinshis. This group also sells their work through Fakku so there’s not much reason to purchase directly from them.
4) Irodori Comics
I also don’t know much about this company but it looks like also license directly with the doujinshi artists and translate to multiple languages and sell physical copies of their translated works. Their digital catalogue is available through Fakku as well. Prices for physical books are a bit high though (almost 3x that of the Japanese original), so keep that in mind.
Where to (Illegally) Read Translated Doujinshis
I’m not going to give you direct links but you can figure it out yourself with enough keywords, you’ve been around the internet before.
1) E-hentai / Exhentai, aka “Sad Panda”
This is the main one, the biggest database of scanlations, both SFW and NSFW. Doujinshis, manga, artbooks, CG sets, random illustration collections, etc. Almost every 18+ scanlation group will upload to here and many non-18+s will as well. The community does a decent job ensuring content is properly tagged and labeled. Collections can be downloaded, torrented, or distributed via a “Hentai@Home” setup. Certain more sensitive content (e.g. lolicon, gore, etc) are locked behind account login. In recent years, Fakku has been aggressively DCMA’ing and so some content is gone/harder to find. There was also one historical scare where the website went down but the servers relocated to a safer country and now its fine. Still, if things are important to you, back em up. This is also known as “Sad Panda” because thats what you see when you try to visit an Ex link without being logged in.
2) NHentai
When people share “nuke codes”, they are usually for this website. I don’t know why, maybe its filtered down to just 18+ doujinshis? All content from here is just stolen from E-hentai and searching is terrible. But Ex content is not gated behind login and not everything has been DCMA’d so I guess its easier to find your next fap. Still, if you’re gonna pirate, at least be honorable and respect the source.
3) Hitomi.la
This is similar to NHentai but seems to have more stuff in other languages. Again, a subset of E-hentai but seemingly less DCMA’d than the other two. Full of ads though.
4) Reddit
Jk, Reddit is just full of re-prints from the above. If you’re dedicated enough to have read to this point in the guide, you know better than to go to Reddit for your source of fap. Do better.
~Keripo
