Q. What is a "doujinshi"?
A. A doujinshi is a Japanese term for comic books or novels produced by amateur artists rather than professional artists. Basically, they are spin-off comic books by fans and made for fans. So the art can vary, from a close imitation to the original art these books are based on, to completely different styles. The stories in this books will also vary in different genres. All doujinshi are printed professionally by printing companies.
Q. What is a "copy-bon"?
A. A copy-bon literally translates to a "copy-book". It is basically what it means. A book that is photocopied. Not illegally though. Many a times, artists are unable to finish their drafts before the printing companies's deadline. So instead of having no new items to sell at the upcoming doujinshi convention, they print out their drafts from their printer, photocopy them at the local convenient store, staple the correct pages together, and sell them as is. Because of the cheaper production cost, copy-bons are a lot cheaper than normal doujinshi at that specific convention. But at the same time, fewer copies are produced when compared to a normally bound doujinshi printed by a printing company. Also because of its delicate nature, second hand doujinshi shops do not take them in to resell since they tear VERY easily (they ARE only just pieces of paper stapled together). So once the specific copy-bon is sold out at the specific convention, it is almost impossible to find them again unless you fight an arm and a leg for them in auctions. And trust me, most of the decent ones cost more than an arm and a leg.
Q. Are you selling any of them?
A. Please refer to my selling or trading page. If I come upon any extra copies, I'll post them there. Or you can try emailing me privately. If I have extra copies, or if you make a high enough offer, I can sell to you.
Q. How much do doujinshi usually cost?
A. It all depends on the demand and how hard they are to find. For me, most of my doujinshi are in the $20-$40 range. Sometimes more!
Q. Holy crap! How the heck do you afford them?
A. By being very stingy in real life and surviving on nothing but bread and butter (and occasionally jam). XD
Q. Can you please scan some sample images?
A. I'm really sorry but I cannot and will not do that. Only the original creators of these doujinshi have the legal right to reproduce its inside pages. So even though I paid $$$ for them, I'm violating their copyrights if I display the inside art.
Q. May I use your cover scans for "XXX" purpose?
A. I'm really sorry but I'm going to have to say no to this too. Please read above.
Q. Then how come you're using their cover scans?
A. I'm using their scans only as a reference. And this is an exception that most Japanese artists allow. But even then, some artists get especially picky and don't allow others to use even their cover scans for reference. And if these picky artists come upon this website and demand these scans to be taken down, I would have to give in to their demands too.
Q. All right, since I cannot use your scans, may I use your summaries? I have some of these doujinshi and I would like to make a website like yours.
A. The answer is definitely a no. I worked really hard on these summaries and they are what make my website unique and different from other websites out there. But of course, I can't stop you from paraphrasing. Though I should also point out that my summaries may not be 100% accurate. So if you want to build your own doujinshi reference website, you should write what you think is happening. Or else, if you copy my mistakes, we would both end up looking like idiots when some Japanese come along and laugh at us behind our backs. XD
