Dojin Work

If you’re looking for a realistic portrayal of the world of doujin manga then this anime is certainly not the one for you. But if you want a few hours of mindless light-hearted entertainment then Doujin Work might be right up your alley. The story is simple and fairly formulaic. Najimi goes along with her college friend Tsuyuri to a comic market where she is selling her work. She becomes entranced with how much money can be made by a successful artist and dreams of becoming rich herself and after the market is over decides she will draw her own doujin manga.As the story unfolds she meets new friends and rivals and tries to improve her ability and become successful. While the humor and some of the content is perverted at times it is never obscene. If you are coming into this series expecting a lot of echiiness and fan service you’re going to be disappointed because there is none of it. Najimi carries the show well and is a very likable leading character. She’s not the most original character ever drawn but you can’t help rooting for her. It’s not realistic that someone who is drawing ero-manga would be so embarrassed to do the "research" needed to get ideas for her stories but it’s funny anyway. The rest of the cast is stereotypical as well but like the lead they are all fun in their own way. The character who really steals the show is Tsuyuri, who with her dry and perverted sense of humor drives the majority of the comedy. They all have the depth of tissue paper but they still manage to enjoyable. The artwork and animation is not amazing but I don’t think it’s supposed to be. I may be wrong but I think the kind of crude and amateurish art was intentional to fit the overall theme of the show. Even if that is not really the case I think it works perfectly. There are lots of references to other anime, manga and H-games, I got a few of them but I’m sure others might notice a lot more. The seiyuu talent had several underused performers amongst the leading characters. Whether intentional or not I felt this was a perfect fit for the theme of the series. They were also quite good and it’s good to hear some new voices too. I felt Momoko Saitou's performance as Tsuyuri was strong and am a bit surprised she’s been in so few shows. The OP/EN theme songs were also cute and very catchy. Overall I got an enormous amount of entertainment value from Doujin Work. If you’re in the mood for something light and a bit silly then you should check this series out. The episodes are short and its well worth the 2-3 hours it took to watch it.

This anime is something like 2 hours when you watch all the episodes in sequence so this review will be short. Doujin Work is good for some nice cheap laughs. It's about a girl who wants to go into the doujin business, because of all the profit that can be made there. *snicker* Ahem, anyways, it's really funny. The episodes (the anime parts I mean, not that extra crap they tagged on) are about 12 minutes each or something so it's a decent way to get your daily dose of giggles during a break. The characters are reasonably original, ranging from the naive doujin artistwannabe and her stalker childhood friend to the faux-innocent rape manga enthusiast (my favorite of the bunch) to a jealous loli and more. It's superficial entertainment, but amusing enough and well executed. The series shines at its best during the first 6 episodes, and kind of goes downhill from there, getting a bit more serious and also reusing some of the gags from earlier. The art and sound aren't great but they're functional and won't bother you. One note about the jokes-- they are mostly about doujins and otaku subculture. If you're not really interested in that stuff or don't find similar stuff (eg Genshiken) amusing, you won't like Doujin Work either. There's also, obviously, some perverted jokes (what, the tidbit about the rape manga enthusiast didn't tip you off?). If that's not your cup of tea, don't bother with this series, since half the jokes revolve around sexual innuendo. Overall I recommend it heartily to the bored comedy connoisseur who just needs to blow an hour away.

My favorite anime, as of this writing, is called Comic Party. It's a great comedy with a wee bit of drama about a group of friends overcoming biases, working on doujinshi, and growing stronger together. Based on the fact that Doujin Work was the top recommended anime in relation to it on MAL, I had some high hopes. And, well...I was a bit let down. It's not that this anime is bad. It's just that it's nothing special, either. STORY (6/10): Unlike the forementioned Comic Party, Doujin Work has nowhere near as much emphasis on the protagonist's desire to improve their manga. Najimi does improve in her work asthe show goes along, but the main focus of Doujin Work is gag comedy. I was happy to see the story advance a bit towards the end...however, without giving spoilers, that doesn't work out like it could've, which was disappointing. ART (6/10): The artwork is decent, if not a bit lazy. Background characters are drawn as grey/green blobs at times. (I guess the artist ran out of generic faces.) There's one great visual gag in which Najimi enters an eroge shop, around episode 3 or so. Inside, you see lots of covers of real visual novels. I was able to recognize Saya no Uta (!!!), though there were plenty of others. That was certainly a nice touch. SOUND (6/10): The voice-acting is good; none of the voices felt out of place. (I watched this subbed, as there is no English dub of Doujin Work as of this writing.) The OP and ED are skippable, just generic J-pop. CHARACTER (6/10): The characterization isn't bad overall, but some characters lack motives for their actions. For example, "Justice", Najimi's childhood friend, constantly tries to protect her from a male fan of hers who is very kind-hearted and has a crush on her. Is Justice attracted to her? The show never even so much as jokes about it. Then why is he so worried about this boy coming close to her? Also, Sora, a little girl who pops up in about every episode, really serves no purpose to the story other then to make Justice to seem a bit creepy (I'll get into that more below). ENJOYMENT (6/10): Before watching Doujin Work, you should know the show has some, er...lolicon undertones. I wasn't expecting these, and they got a little unnerving at times. Despite the fact that Najimi is supposed to be in college, she's drawn like she's 13, and her friend Tsuyuri is drawn even younger. The title screens often depict them nude or in suggestive situations. The character of Sora, an elementary school girl who frequently accompanies Justice, pushes my suspicions even further. She is WAY too close to these adults drawing hardcore hentai, and her relationship with Justice is never really explained in a way that could make not creepy. The occasional fanservice on her, even if it only lasted a couple seconds, made me gag. Some of the gags in the show fell flat for me, were overused, or were simply way too cringy (while the show gets over that last one after the first couple of episodes, they are uncomfortable - and this is coming from someone who enjoys Watamote). However, there are enough funny and enjoyable moments throughout the series that I did enjoy watching it. OVERALL (6/10): In conclusion, if you can get past the show's skeevy undertones, Doujin Work might be worth a watch on a rainy day (that is, if you've already seen Comic Party). It's a goofy little slice-of-life that'll only take about two hours of your life.

Ok, I'll admit it. I'm a sucker for mid-2000s Slice of Life anime. I adore the aesthetic, the humor, even the often formulaic plot lines, I'm a big fan of it all. So, when I average out my personal enjoyment of Doujin Work with the show's objective quality as a kind of bog-standard example of this kind of show, we come to a 7. From the inside it's a simple love letter to the doujin scene, and a flawless time capsule of mid-2000s Otaku culture, but from the outside it is an unremarkable piece of media that shows its agein terms of animation and humor, embodying the stereotypical idea of what outsiders think anime is; Flashy colors and pervy jokes. The important thing to remember here is that both of these are true. Even if that second perspective doesn't phase me, it still must be acknowledged as a facet of this show's overall identity. Getting into details first with the story, the viewer is presented with a simple little tale of a girl trying to make it big in the doujin scene, and follows the story of her and her friends as what begins as a quest for riches becomes a labor of love. The dialogue is clever, with regular puns throughout, and the story as a whole is classically episodic. It can also be said that it does nothing new, which is true, but I don't think that everything has to, especially when classic approaches are done well. The art is characteristically 2007, with a visual language and design philosophy that's ubiquitous of the time period and is now especially nostalgic. For those who enjoy the style, it holds up beautifully. I will admit that it is pretty limited at times, but there's nothing especially egregious considering the genre and time period. I personally love the character designs, as everybody's perfectly distinct and they fit their personalities like a glove. The sound design isn't necessarily anything special, meeting the basic standards of quality across the board with a fun little soundtrack and engaging voice work. The characters are the strongest part of this show, interacting and contrasting with each other in ways which imbue the story with a sense of fun that is the lifeblood of the genre. My favorite characters have to be Tsuyrui, Kaneru, and Justice. Overall, while it's no masterpiece, everything about Doujin Work still brings a warmth and youthful joviality to the table which makes me nostalgic for the times when Otaku culture was more genuine, weird, and firmly distinct from the mainstream. I know it makes me sound like a bit of a weeaboomer, but it's regardless how I feel, and if you can empathize with that feeling then I recommend you give it a watch.