Recreation What kinds of doujinshi do you collect?

So, I'm bored, which leads to random curiosity. Does anyone here collect doujinshi? I do, so I was wondering what other people are buying in terms of series, genre, style, etc. (Yes, I know there are other doujinshi threads, but none recent and none really specific. I wanna know what your doujin-buying criteria are, or if you avoid 'em altogether!)

Mainly I pick up Escaflowne doujinshi, what with it being my favorite series and all. I also have a couple of Star Ocean 2 doujinshi, and a few from random anime series that, for whatever reason, caught my eye. I'd kill to get my hands on some Last Exile doujinshi, but I've only seen of about three or four cover scans so far and was never able to actually buy any. :/

So... Do you collect just your favorite series or favorite pairing? Do you buy doujinshi by a particular circle because you like their art? Is there a certain genre - like hentai - that you avoid, or do you deliberately look for those? *is guilty of buying tasteful yaoi doujinshi, heheh* ^^;

 

I'd be lying if I said I ever even thought of buying some. Of course, I'd also be lying if I said I wasn't a collector. I'll look at just about anything that has good artwork and doesn't scare me. Of course, that narrows my selection a bit ...
Seriously, though, this is one of the best things about the comic industry in Japan: that someone can make something original without being sued and sent straight to print-media hell.

 

I dont buy (or even read it lately) but MEGA TOKYO is pretty cool
last i heard they were about to release thier second book but they've got hundreds of pages online
its funny and cool although you wont get it if you're not into game and internet stuff, the arts fairly cool also
plots simple enough but its too much to explain here if your interested its at www.megatokyo.com
(i think)

 

I think you've confused manga (or manga-esque webcomics) with doujinshi. Manga are wholly original works, whereas doujinshi are fan-created, works based on an existing story, which are published and sold. Like, a fan-made story using the characters from a Final Fantasy game.

And yes, it definitely rules that this can be done legally in Japan, largely because the average print run of a doujinshi is way to small to really produce much profit, so it's not worth bothering over as a copyright infringement.

 

See, if you did that in America, profit or not, you'd be grounded so fast you'd get a nosebleed.
But, yeah, the major studios would probably lose more money on legal fees than they would make from suing an independant artist or publisher, so I guess it just isn't worth their time to care that much.
Besides, doujinshi builds a bigger, more loyal fanbase, so you can sell more official stuff later on!!

 

And we're supposed to be a "free country." *wry chuckle* Oh well.

Oh, definitely. It's like free advertising, almost. Besides, many artists get their start in doujinshi and move on to professional manga careers, or end up working as artists for some of these companies.

Actually, in Japan, doujinshi and manga are very inexpensive. If you've ever looked at the back of a raw manga and seen the original price in yen, you'll realize just how little these people make. Considering that I think the current exchange rate is something like 117 yen for one American dollar... But a manga that costs $10-15 USD may sell for only the equivalent of around $4-6 in Japan. It's the same with doujinshi. So most of these people really don't make a profit at all, given the time invested in what they do (and doujinshi are usually more detailed than manga, or are done by just one person instead of an artist and then a team to do inking or backgrounds). Definitely not worth legal action.

 

I collect Doujin games but not Doujinshi

My current favorites are Melty Blood, Perfect Cherry Blossom, and Eternal Fighter Zero. And I'm waiting for the release of Imperishable Night, Immaterial and Missing Power, and Melty Blood Re.Act (Ren's on it!!!!)