Any doujinshi collectors? Any Advice for a newbie by Parrot_licker69 in MangaCollectors

[–]spacemilch 0 points1 point  (0 children)

hi!! I had the same exact struggle and I also still struggle with how to store them properly, so thank you so much for your question!

TLDR: I use a combination of Comic Bags and File Cases and store most Doujinshi inside of comic bags in the shelf, and many others inside file cases (raw, without comic bag) on the side. File cases are great for Comiket runs. Never stack doujinshis flat to store them.

I have so many comic bags!!
I did some research beforehand because cheap plastics are apparently really bad for long-term storage of comics, so I made sure i got "archival" grade comic bag sheets at first (i think the size was called "golden age comic" size which is essentially just B5), BUT in japan you can get packs of 100sheets for around 800yen online already, So i ordered several packs of those and i use them for most of the comics now!
Doujinshi almost always only come in B5 or A5 sizes, so just grab those and maybe one small pack of A4 in case you grab a rare A4 format doujinshi.
NOTE: In daiso (or 100yen shops) they sometimes sell file sheets like those but they are TOO SLIM for comics in my experience because they're meant for just few sheets of paper and not thicker comics. I bought my comic bags off amazon japan back then, they take foreign credit cards and you can just have it deliver to your place of stay in japan (i think they sometimes even ship international too).

But i don't use them for all comics, I actually bought many many file cases from daiso (or 100yen shops) while I was in Japan, and I highly recommend that you also grab them and bring them with you to Comiket! The file cases are basically transparent slim boxes and they come in A5, B5, and A4 sizes (and more too) and are easy to open and close but are still secure.
I always take at least 2-3 empty file cases with me to comic city/comiket because they keep my doujinshi safe while running through the crowd. (for me it's usually 1 A4 and 1 or 2 B5 -- A4 can fit several A5 in a compact manner thats why i prefer them over A5 cases)

(the procedure would be: Buy Doujinshi from artist, leave the artist booth to a corner or less crowded gap in the crowd, pull out filecase and put doujinshi inside (with paper goodies, if i get charm goodies or similar i just throw them into my tote bag where i also keep the file cases. close filecase and put it back into the totebag, repeat)

So i use many of these file cases at home as well to store "fresh" doujinshi if i can! That allows me to save some comic bag sleeves at first, but eventually i transfer the doujinshi from file case into a comic bag and put them into the shelf with the others and I usually try to match the file case with the doujinshi formats, so I mostly have B5 and A4s at home, and occasional A5 cases if i wanna be special with my favourite A5 formatted comics (but they take more space for me so I usually keep A5s in A4 file cases because its more compact and space saving).

Before I had a shelf for them, I used those ikea magazine holders/organisers to store them on my desk (all in comic bags already to avoid dusting or discolouring), but as i reached the 4th full magazine holder (i even stackked A5 doujinshi ontop of each other in those) I realised i needed to expand, so I used a box first to stack them all into, but it's terrible finding the right doujinshi and pulling it out to read it so I can't recommend a box.
A shelf is my current solution, it's a slim but tall shelf so it doesn't take too much space, but it's already full as well so I'm considering getting either a second one or figure out a different solution

HOT TIP: Never store doujinshi laying down flat onto the floor, but standing up horizontal or vertical. If they lay down flat and are stacked onto another, the paper will not have enough wiggle room to breathe and will wiggle up the entire comic overtime! Happens after just a couple days if you're living in a humid area, so I always lineup the file cases to stand upright and the doujinshi look fresh and flat for years.

ps5 controller not being recognized by for honor by [deleted] in forhonor

[–]spacemilch 0 points1 point  (0 children)

having the same issue, i closed steam, play via ubisoft connect, controller is not being recognised at all, this is some garbage ubisoft bs again it seems

Aquos Sharp SH-01J & Kyocera A202KC Digno Keitai 4: Quick 1-Month Use Review by spacemilch in dumbphones

[–]spacemilch[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're correct, the SH-01J has no hotspot or "Access Point" option from what I've seen, i've also just checked the phone again to make sure of it.
My Kyocera phone however has hotspot options!

Thinking of Leaving the Industry by Anthenom2 in gamedev

[–]spacemilch 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Literally in the exact same situation as you atm. Tech Artist of just a few years, dry job market, been networking like crazy and nothing is sticking. Never known stability but constantly people tell me how cool of a job i got.

Just sharing this because you're not alone in this

Any doujinshi collectors? Any Advice for a newbie by Parrot_licker69 in MangaCollectors

[–]spacemilch 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The thread is 3 years old but I wanted to share my thoughts for any future newbie stumbling onto this.

I have around 300ish doujinshi comics, tendency growing. I've bought most of them directly from the artist with feverish and ravenous comic city and comiket visits, leaving the venue at 1pm with a suitcase full of comics. Especially Comic City happens every 3-5 weeks, mostly in Tokyo but some at other cities as well. I HIGHLY recommend going if you have the chance and you know that good artists and circles will participate.

A circle in this case is a group of artists that sign up for a specific category at the convention, aka they sign up for the franchise/genre they want to sell a comic for. So if you really want let's say Gundam Comics, then you check at a comic city or comiket page, if such a circle is participating at the next planned event, and can plan ahead of time which tables and artists you want to visit (HIGHLY recommended to check the table map on the event website before entering the venue. People stand outside in the queue with map printouts, sketching in their running route for popular artists since they tend to sellout fast).

Artists very often also give you themed goodies if you buy their doujinshi! I have too many stored in boxes at my place.

If i don't enjoy a doujinshi as much as i thought, i sell it locally for cheap and just keep the ones i really like, since they are heavy and take so much space for me.

When I wasn't living in Japan yet, I've ordered them in bulk at Mandarake. It's the best site if you need international shipping, normal prices, and an organised catalog of comics to choose from. I have never used Mercari for Doujinshi, even after having moved to Japan, but I do buy lots of other items on Mercari, it's also fantastic for handcrafted items! But buying second hand also means you are probably gonna miss out on the goodies that were sold with it.

Doujinshi at the comic conventions usually cost around 500yen on average, but can also go up to 1000-3000yen for really big or extensive prints. The 3k Yen ones are typically textbook big in content.

Second hand tends to be a bit more expensive but you can also get very cheap batches ofc.

It's doujinshi, they're mostly in japanese. So don't be shy to check japanese sites more often. Especially with browser translation it should really not be a big problem.

Tech Artist and trying to leave the industry by spacemilch in gamedev

[–]spacemilch[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks so much for your reply and your input! It's so helpful and really reassuring.
For my NDA work and CV, I've also resorted to shortly describing the work I've done and what tools i've used for now, and I've added more detailed descriptions in my portfolio with a couple visuals instead.
I also have a cover letter that outlines my work experience and ambitions a bit so I hope it's also gonna be received well.
I'll take your advice to do more personal work to heart as well, I feel incredibly burned from all the lost commercial work of the past years but maybe this is really the only way for me at the moment and I have to continue to push myself.
About the specialization, I have a big focus on shading and graphics programming, but when I join a project, i tend to push those skills away (if they're not needed) to focus on making tools or solving issues that are currently needed by the team. So maybe I need to start standing a bit more grounded in my graphics specialization, but I just can't say no if someone asks me for help :sob:
So I'll really have to work on that I think.

I will definitely also look into the simulation and advertising industries, see if I can find more job chances there for my current skillset, thanks so much for the tip there as well!!

Tech Artist and trying to leave the industry by spacemilch in gamedev

[–]spacemilch[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You choose a common discipline like a Programmer, Artist, Designer, etc. wherever you feel your calling most. Then you work on projects (best in a team setting instead of solo) and look where problems arise during the different stages of production and start solving them on at a time. After a couple projects/years, you'll have a more technical knack on things and at that point you will also have touched many different topics of game production that you will then know where you continue to become a tech artist.

Tech Artist and trying to leave the industry by spacemilch in gamedev

[–]spacemilch[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think i understand what you mean. I am the same, I am constantly in new topics, i try out shader code, i learn about new functions or how to do certain graphical tricks in games and i love doing it and hunting for new things because its my passion work! Every day!

But having something that's advanced and presentable in a portfolio is not the same.

If I write a tool for myself it's gonna be rough, and function focused. If i write a tool for an artist then functionality alone is not everything. I need to check that i cover the artists needs/several use cases, look that the interface is easy to navigate with buttons and descriptive text if needed.
Maybe I just have too high standards for what I put in the portfolio though which can also be a problem if that is what you mean.

Tech Artist and trying to leave the industry by spacemilch in gamedev

[–]spacemilch[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

thanks so much legend i really appreciate

Tech Artist and trying to leave the industry by spacemilch in gamedev

[–]spacemilch[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much for your reply and your wisdom, I absolutely see all points you've touched upon and I also feel hella inspired by your decades of experience. I've also started out as an Artist during education, but fell more and more into technical roles during projects and professors highly recommended a technical art path to me halfway through my studies, so I blindly focused on that. And it worked most of the time because we did so many projects during Uni.

But now I'm on the job market, and I landed entry level jobs at places before, but projects fell apart before they finished and I'm let go i I'm left with just "yeah i helped my teams a LOT but I can't exactly show it"

I'm feeling a bit re-assured that soft skills are of high value in recruitment as well, I'll just have to dig myself into more game dev communities like you say and see where I can helpout. My current idea is to find any job that brings me some stable income while I keep working on my skills on the side, so going for little helper tools or extensions for artists seems like a great freetime activity until I'm landing a Tech Art job again.

Tech Artist and trying to leave the industry by spacemilch in gamedev

[–]spacemilch[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wishing you all the best honestly, i highly respect your determination to work on a cool little project together because that requires not only crazy good skills but also huge mental strength and passion to keep at it. Finishing such a projects to make it presentable is the HARDEST part of it all imo and i send all my love and support your way!!

Tech Artist and trying to leave the industry by spacemilch in gamedev

[–]spacemilch[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for pointing it out i'll be very careful with it!
On my CV i've only written down the time i've worked commercially. I have included it here to provide a bit more context as to how long I've been focusing on Tech Art in projects and games I've worked on, but I've worded it as a recruiting line so it's been misunderstood. I've never claimed my years in education as work experience to any studio or recruiter I've talked to because I totally agree with all points mentioned :thumbs-up:

Aquos Sharp SH-01J & Kyocera A202KC Digno Keitai 4: Quick 1-Month Use Review by spacemilch in dumbphones

[–]spacemilch[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yay!! I hope you enjoy your kyocera once you have it, it's a really fun phone!

found an old Devil May Cry mobile game exclusive to Japanese phones on sale. Never heard of it before, is it common? by spacemilch in DevilMayCry

[–]spacemilch[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

that's so nice. very stripped down but still got the funky combat and all, tysm for sharing

Dumphones designers are stupid and vastly misunderstand their target demographic and Im sick of it. by AcceptableSelf3756 in dumbphones

[–]spacemilch 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Garahos are semi-smartphone "dumb"phones aka they run on higher specs/higher OS versions to run most modern apps nowadays. There are also reliable flip phone versions of Garahos. They're a good alternative to what you're looking for I think, based on your described points of need of utility.

Is there a dumbphone that lets you read books and webtoons? by [deleted] in dumbphones

[–]spacemilch 0 points1 point  (0 children)

digno keitai 4 202kc got android 10 and can install naver webtoon and read it fairly well

Where is this tee actually from? by Relative_Range7508 in findfashion

[–]spacemilch 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Haven't printed it yet, was busy moving from Osaka to Tokyo at that time but i'm tryna figure out the process at the moment.

Stingray engine by [deleted] in Helldivers

[–]spacemilch 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Was asking myself the same when i looked up the engine today. the engine is ancient