Ask John: What’s the Difference Between Doujinshi and Manga?

Question:
What’s the difference between doujinshi and manga? I thought I knew, but then my friend told me that Haibane Renmei is a doujinshi, even though the artist who wrote it wasn’t using another artist’s characters. Please explain!

Answer:
In very simple terms, doujinshi is independent or self-published manga. “Manga” is the name for Japanese comic art. Most of the time, though, fans think of manga as Japanese comics published by major publishing companies like Kodansha, Tsukasa, Seishinsha, Shogakukan, Gakken, Kadokawa, and many others. Doujinshi, on the other hand, are small press comics often printed and sold by the creators and artists themselves. Many western fans instinctively think of doujinshi as fan parody comics- amateur produced comics using established, famous anime characters. A large percentage of doujinshi do actually fall into this category, but there are also thousands of doujinshi published and sold in Japan each year that feature totally original characters and stories. Furthermore, doujinshi isn’t just limited to amateur artists. Famous, professional manga and anime artists including Nobuteru Yuuki, Ken Akamatsu, Rikudo Koshi, Oh Great!, Johji Manabe, Kenichi Sonoda, anime director Shinichi Watanabe, and even the Morningstar Studio that created Outlaw Star and Angel Links still write, draw and publish their own doujinshi with their own money. Taking these factors into consideration, the single, universal defining difference between “manga” and “doujinshi” is the scale on which the comic is printed and who is behind the publishing. As a very loose analogy, “manga” would be akin to American comics from Marvel and DC while “doujinshi” would be considered “independent comics.”