Ero-Doujinshi vs Doujinshi: 2008 Ranking

The scope of doujinshi, or unofficial fan-works of existing anime, manga or game series is gigantic, generating over ¥55 Billion (over $600 Million USD) in 2007 alone.

Most otaku know one of the main reasons for the huge proliferation of doujinshi is the fan-artist’s freedom (or sometimes even the original artists) to insert the series’ characters into erotic situations that would be unthinkable in the original work.

Below is shown exactly how much of the total amount of doujinshi for different series sold at one major retailer is of the ero-kind, as opposed to the tamer brand of non-H doujinshi:

Notes

• This chart covers the catalog listings of Tora no Ana, one of the biggest and most well known doujinshi retailers in Japan.
• The results represent titles on sale during January – December 27 2008. This means that no Comiket 75 (Dec. 28-30) titles are included.
• The “Ero %” figure represents the total percentage of doujinshi that are 18禁 / Adult Only.

Series	18+	Total	Ero %
東方Project / Touhou Project	258	1864	13.0
家庭教師ヒットマンREBORN! / Katekyou Hitman Reborn!	750	1801	41.6
ガンダム00 / Gundam 00	947	1629	58.1
コードギアス / Code Geass	753	1044	72.1
涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱 / Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu	378	731	51.7
戦国BASARA / Sengoku Basara	335	731	45.8
魔法少女リリカルなのは / Magical Lyrical Girl Nanoha	323	727	44.4
初音ミク / Hatsune Miku	174	571	30.4
おおきく振りかぶって / Ookiku Furigabutte	161	426	37.7
銀魂 / Gintama	199	384	51.8
マクロスシリーズ / Macross Series	303	369	82.1
THE IDOLM@STER	106	349	30.3
ガンダムSEED / Gundam SEED	179	335	53.4
遙かなる時空の中で / Harukanaru Toko no Naka de	46	251	18.3
天元突破グレンラガン / Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann	110	178	61.8
ヘタリア / Hetalia	58	175	33.1
BLEACH	96	173	55.5
Fate	64	173	37.0
らき☆すた / Lucky Star	69	170	40.5
マリア様がみてる / Maria-sama ga Miteiru	5	163	3.0
To Heart	115	154	74.6
リトルバスターズ / Little Busters	34	140	24.2
ペルソナ / Persona	61	138	44.2
プリキュア / Pretty Cure	76	122	62.3
鋼の錬金術師 / Hagane no Renkinjitsushi	71	121	58.6
ローゼンメイデン / Rozen Maiden	25	114	21.9
D.Gray-man	46	112	41.0
ToLOVEる-とらぶる- / To Love Ru	102	102	100.0
魔人探偵脳噛ネウロ / Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro	54	98	55.1
ラグナロクオンライン / Ragnarok Online	46	98	46.9
NARUTO	47	94	50.0
ハヤテのごとく / Hayate no Gotoku	70	90	77.7
スーパーロボット大戦 / Super Robot Taisen	72	87	82.7
狼と香辛料 / Spice and Wolf	54	82	65.8
テニスの王子様 / Prince of Tennis	24	79	30.3
魔法先生ネギま / Mahou Sensei Negima	57	75	76.0
ひぐらしのなく頃に / Higurashi no Naku Koro ni	26	75	34.6
ストライクウィッチーズ / Strike Witches	49	72	68.0
絶対可憐チルドレン / Zettai Karen Children	55	69	79.7
ゼロの使い魔 / Zero no Tsukaima	64	68	94.1
新世紀エヴァンゲリオン / Neon Genesis Evangelion	49	66	74.2
QUIZ MAGIC ACADEMY	35	62	56.4
さよなら絶望先生 / Sayounara Zetsubou-sensei	37	59	62.7
CLANNAD	22	59	37.2
ARIA	7	50	14.0
BAMBOO BLADE	39	44	88.6
しゅごキャラ / Shugo Chara	30	42	71.4
みなみけ / Minamike	29	42	69.0
とある魔術の禁書目録 / A Certain Magical Index	21	40	52.5
ひだまりスケッチ / Hidamari Sketch	13	35	37.1
黒執事 / Kuroshitsji	18	33	54.5
クィーンズブレイド / Queen’s Blade	31	31	100.0
とらドラ / Toradora	23	28	82.1
かんなぎ / Kannagi	15	19	78.9
こどものじかん / Kodomo no Jikan	15	15	100.0
灼眼のシャナ / Shakugan no Shana	10	12	83.3

The average percentage of ero doujinshi to total doujinshi listed here is 55.6%, meaning 44.4% of the books here are non-ero in nature.

As noted in our previous Ero-Doujinshi vs Doujinshi Ranking article, certain titles are much more prone to ero fan works.

Popular titles which have a decent, but not overwhelming amount of fan service elements included in the show/manga/game mostly have high ero ratings – Toradora, Kannagi, Code Geass and Macross all display ratings of over 72%.

Doujinshi based off visual novels are somewhat deficient in the ero ratings (Clannad, Little Busters), something that could perhaps be explained by the perceived lack of a need to make ero fan works when the original source material often include ero scenes themselves?

I have personally always believed that this sort of explanation accounts in some part for the low(er) amounts of doujinshi some series receive – especially service heavy shows along the lines of Ikkitousen or Sekirei receive less doujinshi adaptations than would be expected given the series’ popularity.

The amount of Touhou doujinshi is staggering, as always, and the vast abundance of non-ero books remains much more prevalent than ero versions.

Perhaps what is responsible is the lack of any strong narrative in the games themselves, encouraging fans to create their own?