Chinese Dojinshi

The otaku scene in China seems to be developing well, and, notably, is gradually abandoning the shameless commercial piracy which unfortunately has come to associated with China. Here we have some fine examples of Chinese made dojinshi (see below for images and translation), which exhibit some evident talent and are not just mere knockoffs.

Perhaps as a natural consequence of steady Chinese development, the otaku scene there appears to be thriving, and not just in an atmosphere of disregard for intellectual property; I am reminded of my earlier article on the figure and otaku scene in China, where we hear that otaku are not subject to opprobrium there, even as they are in Japan, and that they are capable of rejecting commercial piracy.

Probably the only impediment to this culture flourishing is the onerous censorship measures taken by the Chinese government to restrict foreign programming (as well as perhaps adult material); it remains to be seen whether these will loosen in time, although perhaps the Internet will have a strong effect here.

A Transformers dojinshi, apparently aimed at the ladies?

This Super Robot Taisen title is apparently 130 pages in length – quite impressive. We are told that the book is, interestingly enough, bound right to left in the Japanese style.

The final issue which arises is the subtle one of where undesired piracy ends and laudable dojinshi fan culture begins. Perhaps the commercial use aspect is the key factor in deciding?