/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>29538388

To be able to navigate Pixiv and its tags, learn Japanese.

As for buying doujinshi (physical copies), be ready to stretch your wallet so you can buy doujinshi through proxies from sites like Melonbooks by preordering them before the event where they're sold starts. Usually events are held on Saturday or Sunday and that's also when the site's availability becomes public. A LOT OF DOUJINSHI WILL SELL OUT IMMEDIATELY IN 24H PERIOD AND SOME PROXIES DO NOT WORK DURING SUNDAYS, SO THE ONLY WAY TO GUARANTEE A COPY IS THROUGH PREORDERING BEFORE THE EVENT HAS STARTED. Knowing which ones will sell out or not really depends on the circle. Niche ones might not sell out immediately, some popular ones will, some circles are popular but always prepare a large batch of copies for resellers and some circles might supply the reseller with a 2nd wave of latest doujinshi after the initial out-of-stock that happens after an event. Because there is variation between circles the only way to know how it'll be is to either preorder to be sure to secure a copy or observe how their releases sell after multiple events, you'll likely notice a pattern.

Alternatively you can use whatever platform the artist uses for digital release to get a digital copy. A lot of niche artists don't do digital releases, at least from the ones I follow, but I guess it's gotten more common because of corona cancelling so many events.

Personally I almost never do this and always go for a physical copy for the novelty and for being able to fill my bookshelf with it. For me, digital copies feel ''faceless''. Also the smell of a newly printed, fresh doujinshi is exquisite. If you've ever attended an event like Comiket and bought doujinshi, you'll know that it's a real thing.