In 2024, we had the honor of partnering with Irodori Comics, a company with the intention of connecting doujinshi fans around the world with Japanese creators. Since most localization companies work directly with publishers rather than artists, doujin works—particularly BL ones—were previously slipping by under the radar. Thankfully, Irodori is here to fill that gap!
So, you might be asking, what exactly is the difference between publishing licensed manga and doujinshi? Well, first we have to discuss what doujinshi is. In much of the west, the word “doujinshi” probably conjures up one of two things (if not both at the same time): porn and fanworks. In reality, doujinshi doesn’t have to be either of these things. It essentially means “similar interest booklet” and it’s most similar to the concept of a zine—a small, inexpensive, self-published book or pamphlet meant to share personal interests and opinions with like-minded people.
So essentially, doujinshi are just self-published books. Most commonly, doujinshi are comics or novels. But you can also have “doujin goods”—goods made by and for fans on a small, inexpensive scale. Doujinshi are best used as a space for creatives to share their ideas and stories and artwork with like-minded people without requiring approval and support from a publisher.
Publishing doujinshi and participating in events is also a wonderful way for newer artists to get their name out there if they aspire to a career in illustration, or as a writer or mangaka. In fact, many well-known published BL mangaka started out in doujinshi circles, often getting popular through their derivative works. But publishing doujinshi isn’t just for beginners awaiting their big-time debut—no, if you’ve read our J.GARDEN event reports, you’ll know some of the most famous mangaka still release new doujinshi and attend regularly, which is a testament to what an important part of the manga community and ecosystem these events are.
So, now that you know what doujinshi are and why they exists, what makes them so difficult to license overseas? For parody works, that should be obvious: no one is supposed to be profiting off derivative works (which is the only reason they’re allowed to exist in the first place—generally, fanwork creators in Japan price their works so the prices are just enough to cover the necessary expenses for production and/or printing). But why do so few companies release original doujinshi?
As I noted earlier, most localization companies work with publishers to license their releases. The publisher essentially works as the “agent” and “go-between” for these titles, and the publishing company generally holds the license, not the artist. For this reason, sometimes we even jump-scare artists when we announce their releases, because they had no idea their book would be getting an overseas release since everything was handled by the publisher’s sales department. (ごめんなさい…) So, to license doujinshi, most localizers would have to contract each artist one by one by one, which is unfortunately way too much licensing correspondence to do on a grand scale for most companies. Thankfully, sites like DLSite and Fanza have perhaps made tracking down and licensing doujinshi a bit easier, but a precedent for working directly with publishers has already been set.
So it’s exciting to get to work alongside Irodori and share all the wonderful doujinshi they license. Through Irodori, we’ve been able to obtain a variety of different types of content our users might like but that just didn’t exist in the catalogues of our other publishing partners (for instance, please look forward to some of our first actual geicomi!). Not to mention, the vast majority of Irodori’s releases are uncensored! (Which unfortunately makes it impossible to access their website in Japan without a VPN…)
All of that said…!! The BL Team has decided to showcase a handful of our favorite Irodori titles, so make sure to check them out down below!
Yomogi’s Pick
Stay, Good Boy by dotsuco
If nipple play tickles 🤌 your fancy, then you’re in the right place! This uncensored chapter features Kaoru, the seme who’s a professional baseball player, and his partner Sei, a police officer. Right off the bat, you see that the seme is a loving guy who’s all about expressing affection. However, Sei, the uke, seems to be a bit shy about being all touchy-feely or initiating steamy moments. The highlight of this manga is the uke’s cute nips (you can tell from the artwork how perky they are!), as all it takes is just some a few loving touches on them for Sei’s slightly-icy façade to melt. While the characters do focus a good deal on on nipple play, you do get to see the top spreading the bottom wide so he can insert his “baseball bat” ⚾
Another feature is that the mangaka incorporates some chibi-style drawings of the characters’ faces from time to time, which add a kawaii element to the story and to the characters. I also have to mention how the uke makes a caught-off-guard-and-blushing face in one of the scenes, which is always a treat to come across 😜
Sou’s Picks
Dream☆Delivery by ichinomiya87
I first experienced the work of ichinomiya87 back in October, when I was scrounging our library for some werewolf BL recs — werewolves were the winning theme of one of the Renta! Spooky Recs polls over on Twitter, and I wanted to give the people what they wanted. I came across Werewolf Inside/Outsider and was instantly charmed by the artist’s pretty boys and skillful incorporation of fantasy and horror elements.
This story also has a major fantasy element, but it’s much more sexy than scary. In Dream☆Delivery, our protagonist, Nameless Virgin University Student (20) reaches out to a succubus/incubus-themed escort service out of desperation to get laid. Much to his surprise, however, not only does an actual sex demon show up, but it’s a GUY (our MC is “straight”) — and a self-proclaimed top, at that! 😳 Now, I hate to spoil the twist, but, well, when you’re paying for porn (ahem, ART), you usually wanna know just what you’re getting into. So, I’ll specify here: the pretty bespectacled twinkubus does indeed end up getting fucked by the “straight” human virgin — and he looks very pretty while getting his incubus bussy pounded 😇
This dreamlike doujinshi features slightly rough sex (face fucking, tail pulling, the whole nine yards) and a cocky incubus being made to lose himself in pleasure. Plus, the very smooth and clean lineart makes the entire story pleasant to look at!
I Can Explain! Co-Starring in a Porno With My Arch-Rival!? by ZawarC
Ryo and Sota are two prideful college athletes who hate each other’s guts. But, for their own respective reasons, they share a common problem: they need cash, fast! Luck appears to find them when they both get a mysterious (read: shady AF) message about a “lucrative opportunity for hot guys.” The next thing they know, they’re on a porn set together, and things are escalating FAST while the camera’s rolling! 🥴
Feelings take a backseat to desperation (for money), desire (for cock), and pleasure in this 70+-page testosterone-fueled romp starring two EXTREMELY well-endowed hunky guys trying to one-up each other… through sex 🍆🍆
If you love the trope of hate sex, and want to bear witness to some sweaty hot fun with detailed musculature and thick, veiny dicks in all their original, uncensored glory, you’ll want to add this one to your collection for sure! And, for even more steamy stories featuring stud muffins that toe the line between BL and geikomi, you can check out even more titles from the mind of ZawarC.
Ames’ Picks
Spring Sunset Merry-Go-Round by Imai Yuumi
The second I saw this one in our new releases, I got excited. I absolutely adore Imai Yuumi; she’s one of my regular stops at J.GARDEN, so I knew her doujin releases are always a joy to read. Over the last year, I’ve been particularly enjoying her goods and books released for her most recent tankoubon which came out this Christmas Eve, Yowamushi Omega wa Dekiai Saretai. Plus, Spring Sunset Merry-Go-Round is reversible in the exact way I like it (both characters enjoy bottoming rather than both characters fighting over who tops). So, I knew I’d enjoy this before I even opened the files.
The plot revolves around Chisato, a sex worker who’s on his last day on the job, and Haruka, an incredibly handsome young man who’s been questioning his sexuality for years but has been too anxious to put things to the test. Chisato arrives ready to fool around and get things over with, but he’s intrigued when Haruka says he’d just like to talk because he doesn’t have anyone to talk to about his attraction to men. Still, as he becomes more interested in Haruka, he decides he’d like to get intimate after all. When the deed is done, they switch places, and while their chemistry and attraction to each other is through the roof it sadly seems they’ll never see each other again—until the wild twist ending, that is.
Imai Yuumi really excels at characters who’re cute and silly and a little bit dumb, and that really shines here. If you’re like me and you like reverse couples who both enjoy bottoming this is a very fun little romp! Plus, Haruka’s flustered face and unease in the bedroom as Chisato takes the lead is 👌👌👌 good shit.
Should I Really Not Have Listened…? by schwinn
What caught my attention with this one was once again the author, but the reason for that is I actually know schwinn from a very different manga: the absolutely lovely seinen GL titled Hana Monogatari, which is about two older women rediscovering love and personal style after their fated encounter. And, true to form, while this is BL and an ero doujinshi, it still has that gentle realism schwinn brings to the table that straddles the line between fantastical BL and LGBTQ sincerity.
Shouma’s sex life with his older boyfriend of six months, Kei, has fizzled out, and they haven’t made love for more than three months now. Shouma’s worried that it’s something he’s doing wrong, and when he stumbles on Kei’s collection of sexy, borderline S&M themed BLCDs, he gets even more anxious. If Kei wants a dominant, confident man with a super sexy voice, how the hell is Shouma—a milquetoast younger guy who’s barely figuring his life out—supposed to please him!? But he’s willing to do anything if it means getting his relationship with Kei back on track, even if it requires a makeover and a little BLCD bedroom roleplay.
The ending is really sweet, so particularly if you’re a fan of older uke characters, or if you like couples that feel realistic, I really recommend this one!
Loving Living VR: A Jobless G.I.R.L.’s [Guy IRL] BL by Yoikono tt
I’d never read anything by this author before, but it caught my eye because I like gender fuckery. Two nerdy-ass dudes who do babiniku play online? Sign me up.
But this story actually ended up being a lot more sincere and sweet than I was expecting. It follows a man named Izumi who recently lost his job. In order to pass the time and build new skills as he looks for work, Izumi ends up getting a VR headset and getting really into VR chat. Through VR chat, he starts broadening his horizons and meeting new people, and when he stumbles into the world made by “Hal,” he becomes infatuated with learning to build and program a world like that. Hal offers to help, and as they get close and their relationship gets more flirtatious, Izumi finally takes that next step to ask Hal to be his online boyfriend. While Izumi continues to worry about his future, though—even going so far as to consider moving back home and out of the city—“Hal” AKA Haru invites him to meet up in person.
Another thing I really love about this is not only is it by an author who’s sincerely knowledgeable about VR chat and part of its subculture and surrounding community, the translation and localization is done so well and was clearly handled by someone well-versed in online slang. The phrase “mother, father… I’m sorry. I’ve become an online thot…” will forever live rent-free in my brain in all the best ways. Also, this one has GL content as well as BL content (since they’re intimate in VR chat as well as offline), so it’s delicious for those who enjoy both.
Be sure to check out the rest of Irodori’s releases on our site! Along with these recommendations, there are also a bunch of other new releases coming regularly. You can also look at our full doujinshi tag, since there are a handful of great titles that aren’t Irodori that our readers will definitely enjoy.
Wanna learn more about doujinshi and its surrounding culture? Coming to Japan soon and hoping to attend a doujinshi even yourself? Please be sure to check out our other articles on the topic!
A Beginner’s Guide to Japanese Doujinshi Events
J.GARDEN: the importance of doujin events on the BL ecosystem
J.GARDEN: The Eden of BL
J.GARDEN 55
And let us know if there are any other doujinshi-related topics or events you’d like us to discuss and report on!
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