Comments | hp_essays: Japan's doujinshi industry and Harry Potter fandom

thickets in hp_essays

Japan's doujinshi industry and Harry Potter fandom

Jul 15, 2006 12:51

I have only recently gotten back into anime/manga fandom, and so I was quite surprised while I was searching for Fullmetal Alchemist and Death Note doujinshi to discover several devoted to HP (and I've since uncovered many more). I am not quite sure how I managed to spend six or so years in Harry Potter slash fandom without realizing there was a ( Read more... )

fandom:general

Comments 39

greenwoodside July 15 2006, 17:14:09 UTC

I don't have anything useful to add to your essay - I just want to say, thank you, this was very thought-provoking. It gave me an insight into a subculture that I never knew existed.

thickets July 15 2006, 17:47:11 UTC

Thanks! I really think a lot of insight into Western fan culture can be had by looking at Japanese fan culture. I really can't tell if one influenced the other or if they both evolved in this fashion on their own. They have really started to intertwine with each other in the past decade though ...

(The comment has been removed)

thickets July 15 2006, 17:44:55 UTC

Here are some discussions about copyright doujinshi I found when I was looking into it if you're interested:

http://sentra.ischool.utexas.edu/~i312co/7.php (This article doesn't seem to continue the dj discussion after this page unfortunately.)

http://www.mediatimesreview.com/april05/FreeCulture.php (Doujinshi comes up about halfway though here. This person attributes the lack of legal ramifications to a scarcity of lawyers in Japan, but I don't know if I agree with that.)

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=347620 (This is just an abstract, I don't think it's possible to get the whole article for free.)

darlingpoppet July 15 2006, 17:32:12 UTC

I love Harry Potter doujinshi! I like collecting them ^____^ I really want to make Harry Potter doujinshi of my own, but like you, I also don't want to infringe on copyright, and I know WB is notorious for being protective :P Perhaps I'll just have to do Harry Potter as free web comics, and if I want to sell things, I'll just have to stick with series based in Japan :/

darlingpoppet July 15 2006, 17:34:47 UTC

I forgot to mention though, since there are a LOT of Harry Potter doujinshi already, I'm curious to know why it seems like no one has been punished in Japan for their doujinshi (or at least I haven't heard of anything like that, I could be out of the loop.) It's not like they're hard to find or anything. Or maybe WB is just as ignorant about it as a lot of other Westerners are ^^;

thickets July 15 2006, 17:38:41 UTC

I know, I'm really surprised I have never heard about them before. They don't seem to be widely talked about in HP fandom; you kind of have to be straddling HP/anime fandom to hear about them, it seems.

I think the WB/Bloomsbury is probably ignorant of them. They really went after the Chinese HP novel so I think that if they knew about this they would jump right on it.

ook July 15 2006, 18:04:32 UTC

eBay is aware of the questionable legality of HP doujinshi and many HP doujinshi auctions are regularly cancelled by eBay's VERIO system.

Many doujinshi Circles specifically ask people NOT to re-sell their doujinshi, especially in online auctions because the Circle doesn't want undue attention drawn to them. A friend (from California) who atteneded recent doujinshi events in Japan told me that a few Circles refused to sell doujinshi to her since she was obviously American. Many Circles will not sell multiple copies through mail order or sell copies overseas (fearing dealers buying copies for re-sale). Some Circles will not do mail order at all, for fear of their material ending up in the wrong hands and being re-sold or scanned/posted online without permission.

Thread 7

ook July 15 2006, 17:53:13 UTC

Doujinshi are wonderful things! So many enthusiastic fans, writing and drawing so many stories and comics with lovely covers and professional printing! So much creativity going on, with so many interesting interpretations of various characters and universes. If there's a fandom for it, there's doujinshi for it! LotR, Star Wars, X-Files, superheroes, manga comics characters, anime programs. Ranging from G-rated humor to hardcore slash. Something for everyone!

Here is an article written by an American fan who attended an HP doujinshi event (convention) in Japan that focused on Severus-uke and Remus-uke yaoi doujinshi (it explains what the terms mean, so go read it if you're curious). The author of the article also writes a bit about the differences between the Japanese and Western perceptions of the HP characters.

thickets July 15 2006, 18:00:51 UTC

Holy shit, thank you for posting that link! I am having so much fun reading this! SNAPE doujinshi! I was finding a lot of Harry/Draco and Harry/Ron on my own which made me cry. :(

ook July 15 2006, 18:14:41 UTC

I adore Snape doujinshi! He's the character who is interpreted in the biggest number of ways as well as drawn in so many styles. Pretty, handsome, ugly, super-cute with saucer eyes. I think it's wonderful the many different ways that the Japanese fans depict "Seburusu" (Severus). :)

ladifantasia November 2 2006, 13:46:23 UTC

Can you please direct me to where could I find Snape/Harry doujinshi and/or Draco/Harry doujinshi to download? I fairly new at downloading HP doujinshi but I have been a fanfiction reader/writer for years already. This is just a brand new exprience for me!

Thank you very much!
ladi :)

Thread 5

physixxx July 15 2006, 18:06:34 UTC

I can only imagine what the WB and Bloomsbury/Scholastic's reaction to explicit Harry/Draco doujinshi would be.

i'm pretty sure they know about it. and i often DO wonder why they haven't taken action outside of asking (which i'm sure was a much nicer word than how they really went about it) eBay to not sell HP doujinshi. Some slip the cracks, of course, but if eBay sees an HP DJ, they ixnay the auction.

it could simply be because the market is so huge over in Japan and Korea and Taiwan that it's too late for them to just go after one or two people. the circle being sued could just show the judge that WB hasn't been actively enforcing their trademark equally and be done with it. WB would have to go after EVERY HP!DJ circle, large or small. I'm sure that'd be an expensive endeavor to risk a 'we might win'.

the Pokemon people have -- from the beginning -- tried to crack down on DJs, so they tend to send out 'cease and desist' letters alot, apparently.

Furthermore, could it have an impact on Western HP fandom. Fanfiction and ( ... )

ook July 15 2006, 18:19:21 UTC

Not all HP doujinshi auctions get cancelled, but some of them do (especially if a Seller is stupid enough to put something like "Harry Potter / Draco HARD YAOI adult doujinshi" as the auction title).

I've bought quite a few doujinshi on eBay over the past few years. There's certain ways to list doujinshi that don't trip eBay's automated VERIO detection system.

physixxx July 15 2006, 18:31:02 UTC

that's why i said 'if they find out about it'...

(unless i deleted that part... which i may have, now that i think about it)

:runs to check:

insipid_paragon July 16 2006, 06:18:48 UTC

it could simply be because the market is so huge over in Japan and Korea and Taiwan that it's too late for them to just go after one or two people.
And I wonder too, if they aren't worried about the backlash an aggressive seeking out and prosecuting of DJ artists would likely spark. Like you say, it would be a huge market they'd be messing with, and probably far too troublesome and expensive to actively pursue. It also wouldn't be a very wise move with the culture--a culture which has looked past, accepted, and even rather glorified these works, making them kind of culturally traditional in a way--and then on top of that, toss into the mix rocking the boat in international waters? Might just be a tango WB doesn't really want to dance, y'know?