I have finally checked off "write about what happened the day before ZUN left for Atlanta" from my to-do list. Give it a
read if you didn't know what "Touhou Police" 東方警察 means.
Today I feel like sharing a few unorganized thoughts about some concepts. Good thing this thread is pretty much my column.
インディーズ "indies"As an English speaker, you know the word "indie" is an abbreviation of "independent (music)". Aside from the material aspect of "music produced independently from the major labels", it also carries connotations of self-reliance, authenticity and rebellous spirit. But in Japan, people are more familiar with the Japanese neologism
インディーズ "indies". When they think of "indies", the image they have is of amateur bands not good enough to be picked up by major labels. It is still roughly an equivalent word, but the nuance has changed.
When the indie game movement is introduced into Japan, this has created a little confusion. Should "indie game" in Japanese be インディーゲーム "indie game", or インディーズゲーム "indies game"? On one hand, people are more used to "indies", but on the other hand, that word has a not entirely positive air that the vanguards of the indie movement want to avoid. Even now, Japanese media are split on which spelling to use, while supporters of the movement tend to prefer "indie game".
インディーゲーム "indie game"There are more than one way you can understand "indie games". You can say internet distribution has freed the medium from increasingly risk-averse traditional publishers, giving niche products, experiments and diverse voices a chance to flourish. But the media often prefer to view the indie game story as yet another variation of the same "triumph of the enterprising young men" narrative. When Western journalists write about indie games in Japan, they always begin by saying Japan has yet to produce a billion-dollar success like Minecraft; apparently the worth of the indie movement is now judged by whether it can make new billionaires.
So far, the Japanese media have mostly propagated the latter view of indie games. Let me tell you a story.
The grand prize of Independent Games Festival 2013 was awarded to
Cart Life, a game that simulates the mundane life of three street vendors. The game, despite its (well-crafted) lo-fi graphics and music, has brought almost everyone who played it to tears. Before winning the prize, several prominent websites had already featured the game and its creator Richard Hofmeier, so there was no excuse for anyone who followed indie games closely to have not heard of the game. Moreover, on the second day of IGF 2013, Hofmeier performed a memorable act of generosity,
giving his booth to the text adventure creator Porpentine and her game
Howling Dogs.
The victory of an unusual game. A humble and selfless creator giving up his glory to another. These should make for an exciting news story. But every Japanese coverage of IGF 2013 I saw mentioned Cart Life by name only, without even a one-line description of what it is about, as if the writers had never heard of this game.
If I am a doujin developer whose only exposure to indie games is their Japanese coverage, I would definitely regard the movement with suspicion.
同人 "doujin"The word "doujin" consists of two kanji: 同 "the same", and 人 "people". The actual meaning of the word is "like-minded people", and 同人誌 "doujinshi" means "magazines by like-minded people". The word "doujinshi" was coined by the literary circles of Meiji era to refer to the non-commercial magazines they editted and produced themselves. According to
wikipedia, at the beginning of Comic Market, the early otaku actually borrowed the English word "fanzine", referring to their self-published manga as "manga fanzine", and the adoption of the word "doujinshi" took place later.
I don't think the concept of "doujin" is particularly hard to understand if you look at its roots: people who share the same hobby exchanging their self-published writings or drawings. The early otaku would have preferred to exchange their works one by one; they only started charging money to simplify the process and cover each other's expenses. The otaku are far from saints, but they did not, and still often do not make doujinshi while wishing to make money, or let people outside of their own fandoms see their works. The vast majority of doujin creators still do it at a deficit.
同人ゴロ "doujin-goro"A portmanteau of "doujin" and "gorotsuki" (vagrants), "doujin-goro" initially refers to doujin makers who do frowned-upon things such as plagiarism, or using big name artists to trick people into buying a manga anthology that has little real content (I'm basing this on the
Nico encyclopedia entry). In recent years, it has been increasingly used for a different meaning.
By the time ZUN returned to the doujin world in 2002, it has grown enough that Comiket-goers began to call the popular circles 大手サークル "
ohte circles", with the same word
ohte used to describe powerful companies. An
ohte circle's doujinshi always sells out quickly, and their income is often enough for one to quit their day jobs to live on doujinshi (plus freelance work in the anime/manga/game industry). (Note: doujin cannot be used as a way for tax evasion.
Ohte circles do have income taxes to pay.)
As the otaku's public image improves, the audience of otaku content keeps growing, and the profitability of a successful doujin circle has only gone up. In today's context, the phrase "doujin-goro" is thrown around as an accusation that a circle is in it only for money, keeps chasing the next big thing that sells well, and has no actual love for the subject matter.
Now you know what the yukkuri Touhou Police on the shirt is saying: ゴロは許さない... 絶対にだ... "Doujin-goro will not be tolerated... absolutely..."
Like ZUN said, there's nothing wrong in trying to make money through doujinshi (but it's not very efficient, he added). I think chasing the latest trend is a valid choice for doujin makers. I'm much more concerned about certain "circles" that are run as fully fledged companies while enjoying the benefits of the doujin world.
Given how much is at stake in the extended anime/manga fandom now, perhaps the best expressions of the doujin spirit is found in those fanzines about unpopular topics like tea or
retro video games.
