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Mediocre Gamer's Commercial Doujinshi Anthologies
"Commercial? Aren't doujinshi fan-published, limited-run books?"
Not always! Commercial doujinshi anthologies are sold in regular bookstores, including Amazon.co.jp, alongside normal books. Large-scale publishing companies pay doujinshi-ka to use their works with a compilation of other stories in a book about 200 pages long. Most anthologies are based on a specific manga, like Naruto, in series running for ten or more volumes. Anthologies are also published for a specific character or pairing, or the works of a single doujinshi-ka.
Unfortunately, despite their widespread availability and relative low price, anthologies are underrepresented in American doujinshi collecting. A new book sells for roughly $10, about the price of one 20-page doujinshi. Used volumes may cost as little as $3. Anthologies can introduce you to a wide variety of artists at a much lower expense than buying single stories at random.
Kakioroshi stories are the biggest reason to collect anthologies. A kakioroshi story was created exclusively for printing in a collection, unlike the majority of anthologies' contents, which are republished from individual books. This means that many great stories, including by renowned doujinshi-ka such as Halco, Oyamada Ami, and Saruya Hachi, are only available in anthologies.
To aid fellow collectors, I have created this page: The contents of books by title and circle, with kakioroshi stories tagged. I hope this resource will help you select books or track down exclusive works by your favorite doujinshi-ka.
Abbreviations and terms used: Naruto Listing of Naruto anthologies by circle One Piece Listing of One Piece anthologies by circle
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