Doujinshi
 

Do you collect doujinshi? If so, where do you buy it?

Personally, I stick to ebay. Yes, it's costly to ship from Japan and the comics cost a lot more than they would if purchased in the country ($20+ instead of $5), and I can't even read Japanese, but I still like them.

I know there are services in Japan that will give you a post office box and then collect your mail and ship it to you for a small fee, but even though friends tell me it's safe, I feel nervous to do that. Mostly, I think, because I can't read Japanese and can't figure out how to buy things on Japanese sites to begin with.

I'm hoping our anime convention in 2 weeks will have doujinshi.

I used to collect doujinshi. But like you, I can't read Japanese, and some of them are a pretty hefty investment for something I can't read. I tend to find translated doujinshi online, but the thing I've found is that I kind of hate the writing. The art can be gorgeous, but the plots (when there is one) and dialogue is a pain. Sometimes they're so long-winded and obtuse, I just skip the words and look at the pictures anyway!

Recently, I went to an anime convention where the artists in artist alley were making their own doujinshi, in English and I was happy to buy a few of those. The prices were pretty reasonable and I could read them! Woot! But yeah, if your favorite artists ends up in a fandom anthology or publishes their own book, I definitely recommend supporting them so we can see a few more English language doujinshi out there. [boogie]