• I’m a huge fan of Yaya Han, whose passion and craftsmanship have helped her become one of the first and most prominent professional cosplayers. Her interview with MyMotto shows some of her struggles behind her cheerful exterior. Check out around 4:15 when she talks about the Catch-22 of being a female cosplayer—if you succeed in looking like a fantasy character, you’re “slutty,” and if you fail, you’re “ugly.”
• A literary, near-poetic essay about visiting jazz clubs in Tokyo that attempts to answer the question: why do American blues resonate so strongly with Japanese audiences?
• Evangelion‘s Hideaki Anno gave an interview where he commented, somewhat harshly, about his criticism of “escapist otaku.” It looks like his definition means otaku who are content to consume without creating derivative works, so in a way this could be taken as Anno wanting us to write more Eva fanfic.
• I just heard about Aimee Blackschleger, an American-born vocalist who has sung anime songs I’ve definitely heard from Attack on Titan, Kill La Kill etc., but it seems I’m not alone. One redditor said they went to an American con panel of hers where only four people were in the audience. Luckily, they shared some really fascinating highlights of the panel, and she’s definitely on my “creator to follow” list now! (HT Crimm).
• What’s yaoi and where does it go from here? June Manga wrote about how anime that depicts relationships between men used to have very specific (and unrealistic) tropes like uke/seme. Now as shows about gay relationships reject these clichés, what can be defined as yaoi is becoming more of a gray area.
• Bree of Geek & Prosper shares how she got clients in 2016 and how she’ll get them in 2017. Client hunting is the worst part of freelancing because it’s labor with no income, so the tips she used to get to $4,000 a month in writing income are hugely helpful.
• I’ve mentioned my favorite YA author here before—Natalie Whipple of the Relax, I’m a Ninja trilogy. Her books, which discuss Dungeons and Dragons, anime, Japanese folklore and bronies among other topics, are mainly self published because we’re still in a time where “geek stuff doesn’t sell.” I really liked her blog post about not getting book deals even when you’ve mastered your craft because of your subject range.
• I wrote about Mari Okada’s involvement in Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans and how a lot of the elements of the show fans criticize for being “too Okada” are actually Gundam franchise staples. Expect an upcoming refutation to this article from Karice, who believes I give Okada too much credit. That’s totally a rational viewpoint; I was responding mostly to angry comments about Okada’s involvement without knowing the full extent of Okada’s involvement (or lack of) in creating the show’s storyline.

Photo of Yaya Han by Brian Boling.