The Doujinshi and Manga Lexicon

[shimizurei]

website: https://www.doujinshi.org/

(potentially NSFW)

[shimizurei]

Fields unique to doujinshi:

• circle(s)
• pairing(s)
• event released at
• parodies

[gotson]

What are circles and pairings?

[shimizurei]

Doujinshi are self-published manga publications (non-sexual or sexual) created by authors, artists or groups called circles. They can be derivative works of a particular "parody" or original.

A circle (サークル) is an alternative name agreed upon by authors and/or artists. For example, here is an artist part of a circle called Hobby Hobby. She draws doujinshi as a part of this circle (or group). When she is in her professional capacity (aka NOT making doujinshi), she uses her real name IWAKI Soyogo.

Did you know that before CLAMP (creators of Cardcaptor Sakura, Tsubasa Chronicles, and Chobits) became legit professionals on the manga scene, they were a circle of doujn-ka (doujin-ka = creators of doujinshi, just like manga-ka = manga creators) that went by the name Clamp Cluster?

A pairing is basically for shipping, canonical or non-canonical, romantic or platonic. When you read a doujinshi there are multiple types (both for hentai and non-hentai dj). Pairings can even have pairing names (the kind you use to search with on pixiv). Examples include:

• mob x character (mob is a non-character in a parody/fandom, basically random person x character, you know those faceless uggos screwing your favorite character -_-)
• character 1 x character y (example: Naruto x Sasuke or NaruSasu (parody=Naruto), Sailor Uranus x Sailor Neptune (parody=Sailor Moon), Homura x Madoka (parody=Madoka Magica), Red x Green (parody=Pokémon), Subaru x Rem (parody=Re:zero))
• There are even poly ships, aka ships with more than 2 members (parody=Kuroko no Basket, Aomine x Kuroko x Kagami, Kagami x Kise x Kuroko)
• And of course: the One True Pairing, basically the ship of ships in a fandom (example: Homura x Madoka (parody=Madoka Magica))
• pairing names can even just be numbers, especially in the case of Katekyo Hitman Reborn, because of something called goroawase (Dino x Hibari = D18, Gokudera x Tsuna = 5927)
• There's soooo much more about shipping, but for your purposes, this should be enough.

Of course, not all doujinshi have pairings. Some are are just general gag stories (stories about the stupid/funny antics of the characters) (my personal faves).

If you want an even more in-depth on doujinshi as a medium, check out this fanlore page.

I hope this makes sense >.<

[shimizurei]

Also, instead of parody, what about the term franchise?

[gotson]

Circles could be covered by author collectives and author aliases, which are not restricted to doujinshi. That's something I would like to the model.

I have the feeling that pairings and parodies could fit inside tags. What do you think?

[shimizurei]

Pairings, yes. I don't know about parodies though.

Here's an example:

Let's say someone collects the Naruto manga. They might also collect Naruto doujinshi (NaruHina, SasuNaru, SasuSaku, general, etc.)
If there was a franchise/parody entry, they could all be linked together.

Format	Title	Franchise	Pairing/Tags
Manga	Naruto	Naruto	---
Doujinshi	Some Naruto x Hinata thing	Naruto	NaruHina

Hope that makes sense.

(BTW I'm not using the term parody because I kind of hate it. Parody as defined by Wikipedia: "A parody, also called a spoof, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or make fun of its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. " Also, Merriam-Webster's definition here, Oxford's here, Cambridge's here. So to me it doesn't accurately describe what it is intended to describe, as not all DJ are humorous. But that's not the point of this post.)

[gotson]

If the doujinshi is inside a series, both series could be linked via a SeriesCollection.

[gotson]

Adding a bit more context to my previous comment. I'm not familiar with doujinshi, is that more of a book or a series?

For instance in your Naruto example above, is it a one shot, or is there more than just one issue for that pairing by that circle?

[shimizurei]

Of note, assume content here is NSFW.

Doujinshi can be just like regular manga. They can be written as oneshots or with multiple volumes, they just happen to be self-published (instead of picked up by official publishers), usually released at anime/manga conventions.

Here's an example. It's a 5-volume story told using characters from the Hetalia franchise. Most DJ are oneshots though, such as this one related to the Sherlock Holmes movies with Robert Downey Jr.

Also, there are franchises where the author releases doujinshi of their own series. Here is an example author: Yoshinaga Fumi. She wrote the main series Antique Bakery, which had 4 volumes officially released (i.e. via an established publisher). She also released 14 doujinshi (or self-published) works all related to her original series.

There are also DJ that are crossovers and include multiple franchise properties. Example: Jojoka Magica (NSFW), which is a dj with Madoka Magica and Jojo's Bizarre Adventure crossed over.

"SeriesCollection" may not work unless you have a way to include multiple referenced series.

[gotson]

"SeriesCollection" may not work unless you have a way to include multiple referenced series.

The whole point of SeriesCollection is to collect multiple series, so that would totally work. I'm just not completely set on one shots yet, whether they should have a series with the same name, or no series. If they don't, it's more complicated to use SeriesCollection.

[shimizurei]

I say list the SeriesCollection with oneshots. They are still sharing a series even if it's a single volume/chapter issue. And if they don't, the field can be left empty. There are plenty of original doujinshi out there. In fact, there is even a convention for them in Japan called "Comitia". Also, I feel like original or franchise doujinshi can even become their own series. For example in my previous example with Arthur in the Dark, it's SeriesCollection could be listed as Hetalia: Axis Powers and Arthur in the Dark.

I don't know if this is helpful, but I was looking at a project I tried creating once (stopped because I suck at coding) and it had a section on entering data for doujinshi. It's kind of long, but maybe it'll give you a clue. I used to think about organizing manga, anime, dj data a lot, and that's what made me interested in your RFC.

Possible point of interest

Series Type
    - Whether work is part of series, anthology, or is a oneshot
    - Options: Series, Oneshot, Anthology

The full thing

Series Work Belongs To
    - Title of main series that work is listed under
    - The plural of series is series, huh? English is weird.

Title of Work
    - Self-explanatory
    - Standard name you think of when you think of the work

Aliases
    - Original Title
        > Original title language for work, specifically Japanese, Chinese, Korean
    - Romanized Title
        > Original title spelled using roman letters
        > Use official romanization
    - English Title
        > Official or most common English title
    - Nicknames
        > Short names, fandom names
        > Example: Oregairu, FMA, DBZ, Bakarina

Relation To Main Story
    - Where does the series/work fall in the story's timeline
    - Options
        > Main Story
        > Prequel
        > Sequel
        > Spinoff
        > Side Story
        > Alternative Universe
        > Re-telling???

Language of Work
    - Self-explanatory
    - Uses ISO-639-2 country abbreviations (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ISO_639-2_codes)
    - Options: English, Japanese, Chinese, Korean

Book Type
    - Options: Manga, Manhwa, Manhua, OEL, Novel, Artbook, Other
    - Could remove "Manga, Manhwa, Manhua, OEL" and condense into "Comic"???

Series Type
    - Whether work is part of series, anthology, or is a oneshot
    - Options: Series, Oneshot, Anthology

Storage Type
    - Whether digital copies or paper copies are owned
    - Options: Analog, Digital

Collection Status
    - Whether collection is ongoing or complete

Publication Status
    - Whether publication is ongoing or complete

Maximum Volume/Select Volumes
    - Enter volume number of last volume in series
    - Select volumes that are currently owned from listing of checkboxes

Total Number of Chapters
    - Self-explanatory

Page Count for a Single Volume
    - Number of pages of a typical volume of the work
    - ## + pp/pg

Author(s) of Work
    - List of associated authors
    - Must follow Japanese/Chinese/Korean (Eastern) format of last name first, then first name
    - Last name must be all caps
    - English names follow Western format of First Name, Last Name; no special capitalization

Artist(s) of Work
    - List of associated artists
    - Must follow Japanese/Chinese/Korean (Eastern) format of last name first, then first name
    - Last name must be all caps
    - English names follow Western format of First Name, Last Name; no special capitalization

Scanlator(s)
    - List of associated scanlators

Published Date
    - Date when first volume was published
    - Use Japanese date for Jpn and English for eng licensed ???
    - Format: yyyy-mm-dd

Content Rating
    - Maturity rating for work
    - Options
        > GEN: all ages
        > PG: parental guidance suggested
        > NKA: no kids allowed, not meant for kids (<18)

Love Score
    - How enjoyable work was as rated on a scale of 0-10, with 0.1 increments (0-100???)

Genre(s)
    - Selection of genres associated with work
    - Link to more explanatory genre section

Tag(s)
    - List of related tags
    - Link to more explanatory tag section
    - Don't use same names as genres

Content Warning(s)
    - List of warnings for sensitive topics

Summary of Work
    - Short summary of work's plot
    - Add source if applicable (track sources???)

Extra Notes
    - Bits of trivia or stuff that doesn't fit above

Cover
    - Cover image for work
    - Dimensions: ???
    - File name structure: ???