Doujinshi Translation Guide: Tools, Tips, and What to Expect (2026)

There are roughly 35,000 circles publishing at each Comiket, and nearly half of them sell fewer than 30 copies. The vast majority of doujinshi will never get a professional English translation. The math just does not work: commissioning a human scanlation runs $84-192 for a single 24-page book.

AI translation has gotten good enough to fill that gap. But results vary wildly depending on your source material, the tools you use, and the type of censorship involved. This guide is about getting the best results possible.

Source Quality Is Everything

The single biggest factor in translation and decensoring quality is the source image. This matters more than which tool you use.

Digital purchases always win. Doujinshi bought digitally from DLsite, BOOTH, or FANZA are the original files as the artist intended. No scanning noise, no spine shadow, no page warping, exact resolution and color. Every step of AI processing (OCR, translation, inpainting) performs measurably better on clean digital files.

Scans introduce noise at every step. Physical scans have dot gain (images appear darker), dust specks, uneven lighting, and resolution loss. That noise propagates through OCR (more misread characters), translation (more errors from bad OCR), and decensoring (artifacts blend with scan noise). Even a high-quality 600 DPI scan will produce worse results than a native digital file.

Low-resolution web rips are the worst source. Heavily compressed images from aggregator sites lose fine detail in text and artwork. OCR accuracy drops significantly, and decensoring produces visible artifacts where JPEG compression has already destroyed pixel-level detail.

If you care about quality, buy digital. It also supports the artists directly, and most doujinshi cost 500-1000 yen ($3-7).

Where to Buy Digital Doujinshi

DLsite is the largest digital doujinshi platform with over 9 million users worldwide. It accepts international credit cards, though some cards get flagged as fraud on the first purchase. Uses a points system. The interface has an English version. DLsite also runs Translators Unite, a program where translators can earn revenue by translating registered works.

BOOTH is Pixiv's creator marketplace. Many artists sell digital versions of their Comiket releases here. Requires a Pixiv account. Payment via credit card or PayPal. The storefront is per-artist, so you need to find the circle's BOOTH page (usually linked from their Pixiv or Twitter/X profile).

FANZA (formerly DMM.R18) is another major platform. Larger catalog than DLsite for some categories. Payment can be trickier for international buyers.

Tip: If you know the circle name or artist name in Japanese, search it directly on these platforms. Many circles sell digital versions within days of a Comiket release.

Translation Tools Compared

Browser extensions (KitsuTL, Torii) are the fastest path. They handle OCR, translation, text removal, and re-rendering in a single click. KitsuTL is the only extension that also does decensoring. Both let you choose your LLM backend (GPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, etc.) and support batch processing for full books.

Comic-Translate is the best free option for quality. It is an open source desktop app that supports multiple LLMs and has a manual correction mode where you can fix OCR mistakes before the final render. Requires Python setup and your own API keys.

Google Lens works in a pinch for checking what a single panel says. Point your phone camera at your screen and it will overlay a rough translation. Not practical for full books, and it does not understand speech bubble reading order.

What AI Translation Gets Right and Wrong

Modern LLMs handle standard Japanese dialogue well. Narration, internal monologue, and straightforward conversation translate accurately enough to follow any story.

Where it breaks down:

Pronouns and speaker identity. Japanese often drops the subject entirely. When multiple characters are talking, the AI has to guess who is saying what based on context. In dialogue-heavy scenes, this regularly goes wrong.

First-person pronouns. Japanese has many first-person words (俺, 僕, 私, あたし, わたくし) that all become "I" in English but carry strong connotations about gender, age, formality, and personality. That nuance disappears completely.

Handwritten text and SFX. OCR struggles with stylized or hand-drawn text. Sound effects baked into the artwork are often missed entirely or misread. This is the weakest link in the whole pipeline.

Wordplay and double meanings. Untranslatable by any method, human or AI. Japanese puns rely on homophones and kanji readings that have no English equivalent.

The practical result: AI translation gives you a solid understanding of the story, characters, and dialogue. It reads like a decent fan translation. It does not read like a professional localization.

Censorship Types and Decensoring Results

Not all censorship is created equal. The type used in your doujinshi determines how well AI decensoring will work.

Thin black bars produce the best results. The covered area is small, and the AI has plenty of surrounding context to reconstruct from. Results are often seamless.

Light mosaic (small pixel blocks) gives decent results. Some underlying detail is partially visible through the mosaic pattern, which helps the AI. The output usually looks plausible but may have minor artifacts.

Heavy mosaic (large pixel blocks) is harder. Very large blocks destroy nearly all underlying detail, forcing the AI to generate almost entirely from context. Results are hit or miss depending on the surrounding artwork.

White-out is the hardest type to decensor. There is zero information to work from. The AI must generate the entire region based solely on surrounding context. Results are inconsistent.

Mixed censorship (bars and mosaic combined) produces the worst results. Most tools were not designed to handle multiple types overlapping on the same area.

Color vs black-and-white also matters. Full-color doujinshi decensor better because the AI has color context to work with. Black-and-white pages with screentone patterns are harder because the AI must also match the toning style, which often results in visible boundaries between original and generated art.

Batch Processing a Full Doujinshi

For translating a complete book:

1. Get the highest quality source you can (digital purchase is ideal)
2. If using a browser extension like KitsuTL, open the doujinshi on a reader site or use the file upload. Select batch mode and choose "Translate + Restore" if you want both translation and decensoring
3. A 30-page doujinshi typically processes in 1-2 minutes and costs about 6 cents with pay-per-use tools
4. Review the results. Pages with heavy SFX or handwritten text may need a second look

If using Comic-Translate, you can review and correct OCR output before generating the final translation, which produces cleaner results at the cost of more manual effort.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I translate doujinshi to English?

The fastest method is a browser extension like KitsuTL or Torii. Open the doujinshi, click a page, select translate. For free options, Comic-Translate is an open source desktop app, and Google Lens works for quick single-panel lookups.

Can I translate and decensor at the same time?

Yes. KitsuTL handles both in a single pass. Select "Translate + Restore" and both run together. Other tools require separate steps for translation and decensoring.

Does buying digital vs using scans actually matter?

Significantly. Digital files produce noticeably better OCR accuracy, cleaner translations, and fewer decensoring artifacts. The difference is visible, especially on pages with small text or detailed artwork.

How accurate is AI doujinshi translation?

Good enough to follow the story and dialogue comfortably. Standard conversation translates well. You will notice issues with implied subjects (Japanese drops pronouns), honorific nuance, and handwritten or stylized text that OCR cannot read. Think decent fan translation, not professional localization.

What is Translators Unite on DLsite?

It is DLsite's program where anyone can translate registered works and earn a share of sales (20-80% of the author's cut, set by the author). Translations are reviewed by DLsite staff. However, derivative works (doujinshi based on existing franchises) are not eligible, which excludes the most popular category.

Why do some pages decensor well and others look bad?

Censorship type is the main factor. Thin bars decensor almost perfectly. Light mosaic is decent. Heavy mosaic and white-out force the AI to generate more from scratch, producing inconsistent results. Source image quality also matters: digital files always decensor better than scans.

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Last updated: 2026.