The Essentials
Name: Doujin Work
Genre: Comedy
Episodes: 12
Released: July 3, 2007 - September 18, 2007
Based On: Doujin Work manga by Hiroyuki
Director: Kenichi Yatani
Produced By: REMIC, Media Factory
US Distribution By: N/A
Major Japanese Cast
Najimi Osana: Masumi Asano
Tsuyuri: Momoko Saito
Justice: Hiroki Yasumoto
Junichirou Hoshi: Kazutoshi Hatano
Sora Kitano: Kimiko Koyama
Kaneru Nidō: Ito Sakata
Major English Cast
N/A
Scores
Animation: 6/10 (x 4 = 24 pts)
Story: 8/10 (x 4 = 32 pts)
Music: 7/10 (x 4 = 28 pts)
Coherence/Story Arc: 9/10 (x 2 = 18 pts)
English Dubs: N/A
Gut Score: 8/10 (x 5 = 40 pts)
Total: 142/190 (74.7%)
Review
Doujin Work is about a girl, Najimi Osana, who finds out that two of her friends – Tsuyuri, who she knows from college, and Justice, who is a childhood friend – draw doujinshi for a living.
Having just been fired from her part-time job, Najimi decides to earn her millions by drawing doujinshi too, even though both Tsuyuri and Justice try to tell her that it’s not all that profitable. Najimi has two problems, however: she can’t draw, and she gets incredibly embarrassed when dealing with perverted things.
With the help of Tsuyuri, Justice, Hoshi, a boy who becomes her first fan, and Kaneru, a friend and rival of Najimi’s in trying to find success in the doujin world, Najimi attempts to become a successful doujin artist.
Doujin Work starts off on a pretty good roll, hitting you up with one good perverted joke after another. However, in the last quarter or so of the series, it seems to start losing some of its momentum.
Probably the best thing about the story itself is that the development of Najimi as a doujin artist seems realistic, as she struggles through most of the series just to sell her books, as one would probably expect for a beginner who hasn’t really gotten the hang of things yet. It’s not necessarily the best story you’ll see, but I wouldn’t really consider it bad either.
On technical aspects, probably the weakest aspect is the animation. While it was done in a particular style intentionally, at times the lack of budget definitely shows through. The music is also only so-so, though not bad.
Overall, if you’re looking for a quick laugh (the 12 episodes are only half-episodes), and don’t necessarily care about having excellent animation, then you may not mind taking a look at Doujin Work.
First Watched: July - October 2007
Do I Own: No
Do I Recommend: Yes
However, for the first license to come out of the Summer 2007 season (that I can think of) to be for Doujin Work, well, let’s just say that Doujin Work was about the last series I expected to be licensed out of that group, considering it’s length (12 14-minute episodes), it’s subject matter (doujin), and it’s quality (eh, could be better).
