12 episodes, each 15 minutes long (so, a total of 3 hours). The premise of the story is that Najimi, a cute Japanese teenage girl, accompanies her friend Tsuyuri to Comiket. Comiket is a famous comic convention held twice a year* where fans can go to sell their homemade comics, doujinshi, many of which have sexual themes, H-doujinshi. Najimi soon discovers this when her friend Tsuyuri reveals that she not only enjoys H-doujinshi but that she creates them and sells them at Comiket. Najimi is shocked to learn that most doujinshi circles do not sell their works for profit; they charge fees just to cover the basic printing costs. She realizes that some of the most popular circles which sell tens of thousands of copies of their works sell them for as little as $1.
And so her plan is thrown into motion; Najimi decides that she will earn a living by writing and selling doujinshi and charging twice or even five times the normal price (e.g. $10); if her doujins are so good that they are considered "must-haves" by most otaku, Najimi will rake in the big bucks!
This is a series made by and for not just otaku but (as I call myself and others) "H afficionados," that is to say, people who have long been a part of the hentai doujinshi community. I think there is something to be said for "the more you're exposed to something, the more you become desensitized to it," and hentai is no exception. Doujin Work comically explores this via Najimi and the new world she finds herself becoming a part of for all the wrong reasons -- where Najimi is uncomfortable with talking about hentai with others, Tsuyuri, Justice, and the others have no such inhibitions; Najimi feels completely ashamed for setting foot in a store that sells H-materials while the others show no distress whatsoever; so on and so forth. The series explores how Najimi's "purity" is lost as she delves deeper and deeper into the world of hentai and H-doujinshi, not because she initially wants to but because she has to in order to better understand her target market. This is where her plan makes no sense and is ultimately the point of her downfall -- she is aspiring to write material that she is uncomfortable with. One of two things must happen -- either (a) she abandons the project or (b) she becomes comfortable with the material. Considering that Letter A quit being an option the moment she took a look at her first H-doujin and still declared she would write one, the only option left is for pure Najimi to become pervert Najimi. A cute, amusing, and perhaps all-too-familiar transformation for all fans of hentai.
I should clarify that those who do not find hentai tasteful or enjoyable will find little to enjoy about this series; in fact, they may find it offensive as it (clearly) champions an enjoyment of hentai and pokes fun at those who are not comfortable with discussing their sexual interests, pastimes, etc.
* there is a 3rd, smaller Comiket held in the spring, but many circles that attend the Summer and Winter circles do not attend and many fans debate whether this can be counted as a true Comiket or not. Shrug.
16 comments:
I was thinking about watching this, but I just never got to it. It also seemed like a more perverted Comic Party, and Comic Party was crappy (I DID love the art style and the manga though).
Anyway, episode 6 of Kaiji is out, so I am loading that som' bitch as we speak =D. I will also try to watch more Minami-ke. I have hit episode two and enjoyed it quite a bit. I will spit out my thoughts here and at UPN since I don't think anyone listens at UPN anymore ;_;
Thru episode 6. The show is getting kind of stale, but we'll see, I've only got 90 minutes left (for next weekend).
In episode 3, Najimi produces her first H-doujin -- it's poorly drawn and has questionable taste (with a hint at Najimi actually being quite the pervert) but manages to sell a single copy to Najimi's admirer from episode 2.
In episode 4, Najimi more or less is confirmed to be "a part of the hentai community" when she takes up a position at a Nekomimi maid cafe that requires her to go by the name "Luna", wear a catgirl maid costume, and call customers "Goshuujin-sama" and respond with the occasional "-nyan" feline sentence ender.
Episodes 5 and 6 (as well as most of 4) just focus on how Justice thinks that Najimi's admirer is an uncouth stalker and how there's an unintentional love triangle going on. (The boy has a crush on Najimi, Najimi likes him but doesn't seem to realize he likes her, and Justice sees Najimi as his little sister that he must protect)
Najimi's rival has finally become "a regular" at this point (Ep6), but she's a lot more boring than I had thought/hoped she'd be. :\ Oh well.
Wow. It sounds almost JUST like Comic Party. Well, CP's doujins are not allowed to have any adult content in them =O. Anyway, since I have nothing better to do while I am loading episode 4 of Minami-ke, you'll get one of my authentic posts that you can only see in my suggestion box. Feel honored =P. Here's anime watching update for the weekend.
Minami-ke 1-3- This is very good. This might even compete with Azumanga Daioh and Hidamari Sketch in awesomeness. I will gladly go as far as the episodes go and follow this to completion.
Hayate no Gotoku 32- >=O!!!! What the **** was this?! This is officially the worst episode of HnG that has aired. All of the attempts at humor revolved around over-reactions, which is always annoying. Also, Nabeshin was not bad-ass at all! He was more like Bo-Bobo. What a way to destroy an awesome character. There was one plus to this episode though, and that was more adorable Isumi X3.
Myself;Yourself 6- This was a pretty sweet episode, but that was really it. I don't really know what else to say about this.
Ghost Hound 3- Ok, the plot is getting a little more clear. However, I still don't know what this series will consist of. The episode itself was pretty good.
Shakugan no Shana II 6- This wasn't as bad as the last episodes, but I think the "fantasy" and "action" part of this just died. Of course, I think I am the only one even moderately bothered by this. *sigh* Oh well, no use in complaining since I AM following this faithfully.
Kaiji 6- Yet another pulse-pounding episode of Kaiji. There's really not much more to say about this other than "This was another awesome episode of Kaiji." Well, there might actually be something else to say. That is "Humping makes you sweaty."
Clannad 6- This was yet another good episode. I still find the RPG things to be really amusing. However, spaced out Fuko is a little annoying. Well, whatever. It seems that Fuko's path is about one or two episodes from coming to a close. Lets hope for a nice close. I hope for a tear-jerker, god damnit >=O.
I have also finished my fourth path in ONE. It was so very sweet and adorable. Of course, what do you expect from Mio? There was one part of this that felt really wrong, but this path in its entirety was great. I think the next path will be a big stinker though =/. After that is the main girl =O.
As you can probably tell, I am feeling lonely, so I've come to bug you with reviews ^o^.
Also, I am dieing to watch Kanon again ;_;. I just have to endure until I get the DVD. Two more months to go, and I'm not even sure that it is the right release date. I should seclude myself away from anything Kanon for awhile to be able to resist watching it again, but I can't do that.
Also, I'm curious. How's EFZ going? You talked about getting a 360 controller, and I haven't heard anything else about it afterwards.
- EFZ is on the back burner.
- w007 w007! A Minamike convert is born! :D Welcome to the team! :)
- Kaiji was pretty good. Damn that Funai. As many have said, he's so ugly and such a rat-bastard; I actually can't tolerate looking at his face when he comes on, so I look away and just listen to his unctuous voice and glimpse at the subs.
- Myself Yourself 06, I agree. It was a great filler episode for an anime ... but considering this show is geared towards a ~13 episode length, they really shouldn't be putzing around like this. I sort of feel bad for Shun's sister (whose name I forget; sleepy) -- she's not very attractive outside or in, but she's still part of the harem, and yet she hasn't gotten a single, single, single bit of romantic screentime yet with either of the two lead male characters. Also ... people keep saying "boat", "boat", "boat" ... what's all this boat talk? I understand it has to do with the violent end of School Days, but I never watched School Days, avoided spoilers, etc., so I have no idea what the violence entails nor who exacts it (the jerkoff boyfriend? the victimized girlfriend? some 3rd party?).
- Also regarding Myself Yourself ... what the heck do you think is up with the creepy grandma in the retirement center? That was ... pretty fucking creepy. (And did she kill the cat at the end!? O_o Was that what the brief "the cat's collar is going down a vortex" animation sequence was meant to imply?)
- Ready for ... (in order of preference)
o Minamike 3
o Myself Yourself 7
o Kaiji 7
o Witchblade 11
o SumomomoMomomo 14 or 15 or so
o Doujin Work 7
o Naruto Filler 182
Boat?! Exactly what does this have to do with Myself;Yourself? I know what it means for School Days, but I don't see a violent ending coming from Myself;Yourself. As for who the violence entails.....I won't spill that out unless you REALLY want me to.
As for the creepy grandma...I have no freaking idea. I will wait for that to unravel before making assumptions. I want to know what is up with Nanaka though. Like how she has all of these similarities to that old lady's dead granddaughter. I think something supernatural might be in the works =O As for the cat dieing....I think the old lady wants to make a new "Madam" to kiss all of those annoying little kids =D
Also, herems should be at least 20 episodes. I mean, 13 is nowhere enough to show any detail toward any of the girls except for the main one.
As for EFZ, that is kind of a shame. I was kind of wanting to know who your bests might be. I have been practicing recently =D
Looks like another Comic Party/Genshiken type show. And the fact that is only totals to three hours doesn't really sound like much. Although, there have been other 15 minute shows that proved to be quite amazing.
I have finished episode 5 of Minami-ke =D. So far, so good. The weird thing about this is the fact that I find most amusement out of the meaningless things, such as the video game in episode four, and the loincloth festival. Anyway, all of it is quite funny.
Oh, and I'm not looking at the 15 minute thing as a negative. Hell, one of my masterpieces had nothing but eight minute episodes.
Doujin Work is anything but a masterpiece. Frankly, from what I've seen so far I'd rank it as below average, and if it had been even a traditional 13'er (i.e. 325 minutes in length) I would have abandoned it by now. The concept is good, but the execution is poor. Rather ... poor. :\ *is disappointed*
People have been saying that they think Myself Yourself is going to end in a way similar to School Days. This confuses me since I was under the impression that in School Days the main character was an asshole and he ended up getting killed by the very girl whose life he made miserable (if I'm wrong, go ahead and correct me since I already know or misknow this much). But in Myself Yourself, the person who seems most likely to be killed at this point is Nanaka, and it would be at the hands of the creepy grandma. My theory being, "the creepy grandma believes that the shrine maiden dance is for pussies and that if you really want the cherry trees to bloom, you must sacrifice a virgin from the shrine." This makes sense, too, because Myself Yourself is actually an H-game slated to come out soon, so it'd make sense that if you play as Sana and rescue Nanaka from that grizzly fate, that's probably when (if your love points are high enough) she'll invite you to have sex with her, i.e. she's a virgin up until that point, i.e. she's a perfect candidate for the sacrifice.
Of course, there is one more possibility for that, and that would be Sana paying a little too much attention to that new girl, and Nanaka killing her/him (most likely him since she is usually getting mad at him for it).
However, I REALLY don't want that to happen. I also don't see that happening. This is just too light-hearted for horrible deaths ;_;
Oh, and you are right about School Days.
This series is definitely light-hearted and stuff, but so was Ever17 when you played through Kid x Yuu. Kid x Yuu was a pretty damn happy storyline. The only tragedy unique to Yuu (i.e. not part of the LeMU conspiracy), really, was that Yuu never knew her dad. It was definitely a good thing Doppel had us start there, because Sara's is sadder, and Tsugumi's like tragically sad, and I have no idea about Sora's but I'm told by you two sans spoilers that it's as tragic if not more so than Tsugumi's. So ... yeah. Point is, one of the guys who made Ever17 is involved with Myself;Yourself, so don't rule out a LeMU-esque story. We've already got the conspiracy bits going:
1 - the fire in the intro with the lone person with long hair standing in the blaze
2 - the creepy grandma whose deceased granddaughter looks just like Nanaka and even played the violin
3 - why Sana had to move away in the first place, and why he's back now but without his parents
4 - why Sana refers to having to move "because of Dad" (IIRC in big capital letters) but why he never, ever has mentioned his dad or talked with his dad on the phone since coming back to town (that is to say, is Sana's dad dead? in jail? MIA? I mean, wtf)
All we need, now that we have the LeMU-esque conspiracy, is the Tsugumi/Sora-esque tragic storyline.
Wait! Now that you think about it, if this really does have a story connection with Ever17, then a horrible murder might be possible. I won't go into details (you probably know already though), but I guess it is.
Anyway, I never thought about the whole father thing, because almost EVERY anime character's father is MIA or dead. I kind of thought it was a cultural thing, so I never paid any attention to it. However, I did think something was up with that depressed expression that Sana was making every time he talked to his mother.
Well, the thing is, it's weird that he is always so sad when he's talking to his mom on the phone; and don't forget in Episode 03 (when they went fishing) how Sana was spazzing at the "bloody" butcher knife he saw Aoi holding. It's almost as if (le gasp) he was involved in a traumatic experience, possibly a murder, and that that has something to do with why he moved back to his childhood town. We don't know specifics, so it's sort of hard to speculate healthily beyond this -- for all we know, the possibilities could range from Sana was almost killed by somebody to Sana himself killed somebody, and that somebody could be his dad, not his dad, God knows. All I know is,
- he's sad when he talks to his mom every single time, and
- he's traumatized by bloody knife-imagery
So it's not like Nanaka's the only one with a grim story in the works; we've got a lot yet to learn about Sana!
-_- Yet another thing I did not really think about. I just thought that it was normal. I mean, if I saw a girl with a bloody knife, I'd be scared to death. Hell, if someone even points one in my direction, I panic.
My cluelessness is growing for each passing moment. The only thing I really noticed was Sana's depressed expression when talking to his mother. I kind of just thought that he got in a bad fight with her and was having a hard time talking to her.
Oh, and I have one more path to go for in ONE. I will make a topic similar to Doppel's Ever17 topic when I finish. Well, I'll try to make it like his. w00t! Go me!
Suigin, check this awesomeness out =D! http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/press-release/2007-11-13/adv-launches-kanon-january-1
It has been confirmed! Rightstuf had it on their page for two weeks, and I have pre-ordered it already, but this proves it right. Rightstuf also put some description after this as well. It's a shame that there wasn't a DVD cover pic. Oh, and it also has an actual extra other than the OP, ED, and the ads. I was also hoping for a Haruhi-like package where there was a special edition with every volume. Oh well, Kanon is coming real soon, and I'm beyond excited ^o^
The thing is, Aoi's knife wasn't bloody.
a) I'm pretty sure that that was tart/jam on it, based on the preceding scene / based on what Aoi was doing at that moment
b) the consistency and color was wrong for it to be blood
c) fish don't bleed like that
d) you don't use that sort of knife for carving/skinning/fileting fish
In other words, we can rule out the only possible culprit (fish blood) and we even have a good guess as to what it might have been (jam from Aoi slicing the dessert), and yet Sana freaked. You don't freak just because you see a large knife -- not unless that is an especially traumatic image for you. Dun dun dun!
I mean, watch the scene again -- he almost vomits, and goes to the river to wash his face and cool down. He's seriously sent into a panic attack by seeing that knife in a completely harmless context; the boy's got issues. When one considers how happy he was at the party his friends through for him 7 years ago right before he moved, I'd have to guess that whatever traumatic experience he's had is one from after the move, and not the cause of the move. It might be related to the cause of the move through some convoluted plot detail, but for now, all signs point to Sana returning to his childhood home to "get away from it all," whereby "it all" we mean whatever has been depressing him at home, i.e. I think his mother basically made him come back here on his own, and it's not that he chose to come here suddenly one day at the age of 16.
The thing I don't understand is why his mother did not accompany him; if they were both moving, she'd have scouted out a house or a 2-person apartment to purchase and Sana'd have moved in; the fact that he's in a 1-person apartment suggests that (a) his mother has no intention of coming out this way yet or (b) she is currently incapable of joining him. Could be as innocent as "she has a job and doesn't want to lose it just because her son's freaking out" or it could be as dark as "omfg Sana's mom's in jail for murdering Sana's dad," but for now, that's all baseless speculation. We'll just have to wait and see.
lol, I will ask for a cookie if my silly, non-serious comment about Sana's mom actually phoning him from prison turns out to be true. That'd be so random/bizarre of a plot twist!
Am I just hoping with all my heart that everything about him is innocent? All of the clues you have spat out were things I put off as something that has no tragedy whatsoever.
Like why he moved- I just thought that he wanted to move back to the place where his old childhood friends lived.
Why he's depressed every time he talks to his mother- I just thought that they recently had a bad argument and he's having a tough time talking to her.
Why he was so freaked out by the "bloody" knife- As I said, I thought it was normal. Also, I remember Aoi using that knife to cut the fish. I don't know if fish bleed that much or not because whenever one is being cut up, I leave the area because it kind of makes me sick.
Why he didn't have a dad- Almost every anime character is missing a father. The only characters that have a father characters who are in the rare "happy family" and characters who's mother died and the father has to take care of them.
I am not putting down your theories. Actually, I believe them now that I think about them. I was just spitting out my initial thoughts. We will find out in the future I guess. It wont be long before episode 7 is subbed.
One more thing, Minami-ke 6 is out ^o^. I am loading as we speak.
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