Happy Hentai Home
Description: Run by the absolutely adorable Toshi-san,
the Happy Hentai Home hosts over 1,000 Gundam Wing doujinshi,
in addition to a slew of other anime fanworks.
Pros: Toshi-san has wicked fast shipping! I don't know
who he goes through, but I've received doujinshi within a week
of sending out my payment. His prices are also rather reasonable,
and he's a very sweet person to deal with. Everything I've ordered
from him has come back with a little hand-drawn picture and a
letter.
Cons: Toshi-san does not update his site on a regular basis.
However, when he does update, it's usually a considerable amount
at a time. He also doesn't seem to restock if an item is sold
out, nor does he remove the item from the web site. If it's out
of stock, you're out of luck, although I hear Toshi-san has made
arrangements in the past to attempt to find unstocked doujinshi.
Description: This site is a direct retailer of various doujinshi and manga, run from Japan. They specialize in giving Americans in particular very easy access to doujinshi, providing a translated site and a very simple means of ordering. You just choose what you want, and they do all the work.
Pros: This site offers very smooth transactions at a reasonable price. In the emails, they walk you through every step of the way, which allows for those of us with exceedingly limited Japanese skills to order easily from a direct Japanese retailer.
Cons: One of the major problems I've run across was
its credit card acceptance service, run through Kagi.com. I don't
know if I completely understand how it works. So I've just been
sending 'em IPMOs.
Chibishop
Description: Direct retailer for doujinshi, run out of
Sweden. I've never used them, but I've heard good things.
Pros: They cater to the European market, so it's cheaper to
buy from them if you're over in Europe. While they don't provide
a tremendous description of their doujinshi, they give you enough
essentials so you know what you're getting into.
Cons: They cater to the European market, so shipping costs
are a little on the pricey side if you live in the U.S. or elsewhere.
And their website is a pain to navigate for those who, like myself,
have low bandwidth connections.
Aestheticism
Description: Another retailer, run out of California, and
one of the more well-known sites for doujinshi purchasing.
Pros: Good communication, very reasonable prices.
Cons: The website does not provide a solid description
of the doujinshi up for sale, so you either have to know what
you're looking for or be willing to take a risk. Also, they tend
to stock primarily commonplace couples, so finding odd pairings
is difficult.
Aloha Anime
Description: Online store catering to doujinshi, cels, and those cute little plastic figurines.
Pros: Good communication, reasonable pricing.
Cons: I've discovered that their selection can be somewhat limited, but other than that, not much else.
Shoujo Paradise
Description: Online doujinshi retail.
Pros: Great to work with, very prompt shipping.
Cons: Can be a little pricey, particularly with their Harry Potter doujinshi. Also, as with Aestheticism, you're not guaranteed the doujinshi, as they might sell out before processing your order
Mandarake
Description: U.S. arm of the infamous Mandarake used doujinshi service in Japan.
Pros: Easy to work with, will accept PayPal, etc. They also have a request forum if you are looking for specific doujinshi.
Cons: Selection can be somewhat limited. Also, you won't find a lot of new things at Mandarake, such as Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings doujinshi. Great for the old Gundam Wing or Digimon standbys, though.
eBay
Description: Auction site. When I'm hunting for Gundam
Wing doujinshi, I usually tend to type in the pilot's name and
search through whatever doujinshi pops up from there.
Pros: You can control, to a degree, the amount you're willing
to pay and who you're willing to buy from. And it's just damn
fun.
Cons: The usual cons associated with any auction. There's
the chance of not winning, or coming across a deadbeat seller.
If you lose, you might not see what you want for some time again.
Yahoo
Auctions
Description: Another auction site.
Pros: Not as popular for doujinshi sales as eBay, so
there's less competition and an easier chance of winning.
Cons: Because it's not as popular, there are often very
few doujinshi actually to be found. I tend not to even search
Yahoo auctions anymore, although I have come across some doujinshi
from time to time.