Yeah, I think that "lined o" would be the purist way, the most correct of all. Just doesn't seem to work in all places...

Ah, thanks! *takes note of long 'o' coding*

I've seen it both ways, but I prefer doujinshi. If you get all fancy with the things I can't include in the forum (I broke the forum again, Miss K, just like I did when I tried to write kana ) it's spelled dojinshi with a little line over the 'o' to indicate it's a long 'o' sound.

This is thanks to my awesome knowledge for having studied Japanese for two full courses. (I hate to be just a beginner though. ._.)

I've also always preferred the "ou" spelling too. It made my cringe so hard when they started to translate Inuyasha the manga to Finish and there used "oo" spelling. >_< Which is why I wanted to read it in English. Would have made me gag over each "Sesshoomaru".

When there are two o's in the row, it is mostly spelled with "ou", eg. gakkou,Toukyou etc. In some exceptional words it is with two o's, like Oosaka, ookii.

However, no matter how spelled, it's pronounced as "oo".

This is what causes the variation with names and such. Sometimes in a westernised version it's "ou", sometimes "oo", sometimes with a single "o" that has a line over it.

And I've mostly seen the form "Doujinshi", so I suppose that might be the correct one.

I guess it all depends on the person it's like this:

Ex. Koga or Kouga

Ex. Sesshomaru or Sesshoumaru

Ex. Toga or Touga (Inupapa)

Ex. Inuyasha , InuYasha, or Inu-Yasha

I think I read somewhere that the Japanese usually spell a name with a "u" and personally I prefer putting a "u" when I put Inupapa or Kouga into my stories. But I don't do that when I put Sesshomaru in my stories because it looks ackward.

Okay, I've seen this same word spelled about five different ways. Doushinji, Doujinshi, Dojinshi...

I am so confused. How is the word actually spelled?

The &#332; is the proper way to encode the lined o, because the symbol is death to the internet.

Oh, and I'm so not going there. We're calling it Doujinshi!