The ViviSection
Doujinshi Section FAQ


What are doujinshi?

Doujinshi are comics published by fans in Japan. Think of it as fan fiction in comic book form. Copyrights are handled a bit differently over there; what would land a fan in court in the US is largely tolerated over there, the same way fan sites are tolerated in the US. Some doujinshi definitely look like amateur fan works, and some look very professional. I've started collecting 'em recently, and since I haven't found any sites on the web that deal much with FF9 doujinshi, I figgered I might as well fill that aching void.

Sounds cool! How about translating them?

Hah, I wish my Japanese was that good! I know enough to puzzle through it with the aid of several reference books. I'm definitely not up to translating these things. If anyone out there is, contact me! In the meantime, please keep my lack of skillz in mind when you read my commentaries.

How can you review doujinshi without being able to translate them?

I can talk about what I do get, and leave the rest up to speculation. What's life without some mystery?

What does "Normal" mean?

"Normal" means that it's nothing I'd warn little kids away from because of sexual situations. Doujinshi range from squeaky clean to... well, you probably know. I may be listing some that have sexual content, but I won't be posting about those that get too anatomical, if you know what I mean. If something has some sexual content but is not explicit, I'll just call it "PG."

What is a "circle"?

A circle is a group of people who collaborate on projects like doujinshi. Some just last for a comic or two, some publish lots of 'em, some go on to become professionals. Clamp started out this way.

Updated! Who sells doujinshi?

Glad you asked! There are a number of places I've bought doujinshi. Anime cons are good sources. Here are some that I've bought from and been satisfied with. They sell doujinshi from all sorts of series, not just FF9. By the way, if you know others that carry FF9 doujinshi, please tell me about them.

Why don't you link to the circles' websites?

Two reasons. One, most of the URLs I check lead to 404 errors. Either I've had bad luck or doujinshi circle websites just don't last too long. Two: You can't assume the site owners want you to link to them. With English-language sites, it's part of the web culture that you're free to link to other sites as long as the site master doesn't request that you don't. With Japanese private sites, that is not the case - in fact, you can only be sure it's okay to link to it if you see a "link free" (read: you are free to link to this) notice. I have not found many of these on doujinshi sites, and I won't post links unless I'm sure that it's okay with the site owners.


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