The appeal of doujin fighters

Although I don’t usually seek out doujin games, there are a few memorable ones I’ve come across over the years, especially the doujin fighters…

The extent that some fans will go with their fan art, fan fics, MAD videos, and doujinshi is already amazing. But fan-created doujin games is perhaps the most intense. You not only need artists and writers, but also someone who knows how to program games, which could be a more difficult skill than using video or image software. There are many kinds of doujin games, but fighting ones are probably the most popular.

Like I said, I don’t really actively look for doujin games, but here are a few I have on my computer that I like to play…

Eternal Fighter Zero

The first doujin fighter I played and still a fun one. EFZ is an arcade-style fighting game featuring characters from the visual novels Moon., One: Kagayaku Kisetsu e, Kanon, and Air.

The character selection screen

The battle screen

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Suzumiya Haruhi no Gekitou

A fairly new Haruhi fighting doujin with nice graphics and gameplay.

The character selection screen

In addition to having arcade battling, Haruhi Gekitou also has a story mode featuring visual novel-like cut scenes of the different characters. All of the Haruhi cast is available for play in arcade mode at the beginning, and two Lucky Star characters (Konata and Akira) are unlockable.

Unlike many other fighting games, in Haruhi Gekitou, a whopping six characters can be in play at a time.

Unfortunately, the memory required for such an intense game causes lagging on anything but a super-fast computer.

This game has some similarities to the Super Smash Bros. series in which the characters can pick up random items that will either help or hurt them.

Another amusing thing about this game is that the characters can wear cosplay during their battles.

The game creators added many fun anime accessories, including Hei’s mask (Darker than Black), Rena’s scythe (Higurashi), and Shana’s school uniform (Shakugan no Shana).

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Motto Taisen Shiyo~

An Azumanga Daioh doujin fighter. Very basic arcade-style battling with all characters available at the beginning.

The character selection screen

Go Osaka!

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M.U.G.E.N

Technically, M.U.G.E.N is not a doujin fighter but a fighting game engine designed by a Japanese company. Once the engine is installed, M.U.G.E.N allows players to manually create and add their own characters, stages, and audio. This allows any one player’s game to host hundreds of characters from a variety of sources – anime, American comics, fighting games, TV shows, etc,. Many fans incorporate sprites from already existing fighting games into M.U.G.E.N.

Konata vs Naruto

Mikuru vs Inuyasha

I have an extremely small collection of M.U.G.E.N characters on my game right now. Of course, I’m mostly interested in getting anime characters. I haven’t been able to find many good ones (I won’t settle for bad quality sprites!) so if anyone knows a good source for M.U.G.E.N anime characters, please let me know =D

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So what is it that makes doujin fighters so appealing? What I mean is that, why is it enjoyable for fans to take characters from an obviously non-violent show, like Azumanga Daioh, and have them beat the crap out of each other in a game? One reason is that it allows the characters’ appealing traits to be turned into power and strength in battle, and that’s something that fans like to see. Another reason is that, for many of these shows, such games don’t exist, so doujin fighters allow fans to take control of their favorite character and show off his/her strength. It’s yet another example of the amazing immersion that exists in anime fandom.