By definition they are analogous to fanfiction.

- From Wikipedia

Personally I'd think it would be interesting to see how much of the community reads doujinshi.

Considering dōjinshi is part of the release database at this site, I'd say plenty.

Personally, I read them for the pr0ns.

Question: Do you read doujinshi?
Choices:
Yes - votes: 7586 (58.7%)
No - votes: 4054 (31.4%)
What are doujins? - votes: 1283 (9.9%)
There were 12923 total votes.
The poll ended: January 16th 2010

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A just ruler amongst tyrants

I only read fanfiction for series that have a 'large world' or enough room to expand on the world in a reasonable fashion.

For example, Naruto. My favorite types or Naruto fanfictions are ones involving his father. Given we have 2 movies where Naruto somehow meets his father and various loopholes within the manga itself that allow for this to happen, I don't find most fanfictions like that to be too far fetched.

I read others that change everything (or almost everything) when I have nothing else to do, but there are a few goods ones in the mess of not so good ones.

While not a manga (although it technically is) I also read (and write) Kingdom Hearts fanfiction. As long as you have a Disney movie, anything is possible in that universe.

I can't say I've read any other fanfictions for other series. I tried a D.Gray Man one once, but I didn't like it at all and most of them seemed highly uninteresting. That's about it really, nothing but Kingdom Hearts and Naruto.


I'd also like to add, I generally do not enjoy fanfictions that have pairings that aren't already canon. I mean, of course there are some that I really like, but majority of the time, it doesn't feel right whether I like the pairing or not, so I don't read them.

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Why, hello there!!!

I read lots of fanfic, not so much doujinshi. Far-fetched, funny, weird, porn, or whatever, it's all another form of entertainment to me. I guess, imo, lots of manga stories resemble one another and stories in general. I'm not too passionate about maintaining the importance of canon. I read lots of shoujo, so neglected rival/side pairings that have potential are fun to read about. Sometimes it's nice looking at the weird/crazy/fun things fans come up with.

Weekly polls is a good idea. Not only members don't get bored from seeing one poll for a month, it also provides opportunity for discussion. If one poll is stretched for long people seems to loose interest.....

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I read a ton of fanfiction.

Like Peppermint, to me it's just another form of entertainment. As long as a piece is well-written, I don't have any qualms about most types if fanfics. Unless the story is AU or crack, I do like the people to be as in character as possible and for it to be within the realm of possible according to the original universe. I also think there needs to be a love for the canon and that a writer should make sure they are knowledgeable about the source material. But I don't mind stories about unusual pairings or side pairings. A lot of times, the people who write for those characters have the most interesting and well thought-out ideas. I have read many a fanfiction piece that actually surpassed the material it was based upon. Of course, I have also read some that were completely terrible. But that is not unlike my experience with manga in general- some good, some great, some ugly.

And like kirabook, I tend to read fics for fandoms that have a large world and set of characters (like Naruto, Bleach or A:TLA). In the original material, there are usually many characters and situations that are not fully explored. This leaves a lot of 'wiggle room' for great ideas. Someone else mentioned they don't read fanfiction because that's what imagination is for. I don't disagree that that is true for them. But I would say that for me, writing fanfiction is a way to give my own imagination form and I enjoying seeing what others do with their imagination.

Maybe I should have voted "Never"... Since I only once read a fanfiction. I liked it so much that I thought it wouldn't be bad to read others fanfictions, but I found out that I usually don't like how they develop the characters.

Unless series like Random Doom are considered fanfiction, then never. Other than that, I read a lot of parodies.

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Do hentai doujinshi count? If so, all of the time. Otherwise, never.

i used to read a whole bunch when i was younger, but now i only follow certain authors/stories, who nowadays almost never update ;( also i only read for one series.

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;D

in the past i did try reading them, so far i almost never like it.

my personal reasons:
Differing style than whan used by original authors, be it in drawing, plot/story flows, settings, characters personalities, character speech patterns, characters development, etc...

Whenever i read them, my mind keep telling me: "knockoff, faker"
the more i like the original series, the inner voice get even louder.

There are exceptions though, which happens when the fanficion authors were involved somewhat in actual original series making,
usually happens when the mangaka's assistents decided to release derived works as fanfiction and not as official side stories/gaiden.

The quality of these 'exceptions' releases are way different than some stranger fanfictions.

Used to be a guilty pleasure years ago. Haven't read one in a while though... just searching for a good story to read takes forever cause of all the shitty ones.

Of course Phoenix does belong to the poll! It is a very important mythological creature at the same rank as the dragon. It is often seen in fantasy shoujo. In China and Japan, it is a part of the mythology even more than Pegasus would.