• Sure I’m watching Eromanga Sensei, but it’s not like I’d admit it if you asked me IRL. Just like Oreimo before it, it’s a guilty pleasure that’s not actually as scandalous as it claims to be. But why are these “little sister shows” so big right now? Frog-kun investigates.
• In more wholesome news, a Syrian student in Tokyo is translating soccer manga Captain Tsubasa into Arabic to help refugee children dream.
• Did you know there’s going to be an anime convention right here in Washington, DC? I have a soft spot for local news outlets trying to make sense of anime fandom.
• I loved the gachapon machines in Japan, but they seemed like such a waste of money. I put 300 yen into a Gundam pin machine twice and got the same pin both times! Now, Anne reviews Tokyo Gacha World, a service that sends you a couple every month.
• I don’t know what it says about me that when I heard about this cafe in Japan staffed by Western butlers who don’t speak Japanese and thought, do they sponsor visas?
• Which reminds me, I’m back in Japanese class after a semester off. It only took four months for me to forget all the kanji I know. I’m using Kanji Senpai to get back on track. It is absolutely my most recommended (and free) Japanese study app.
• Fandom is so great. Over a year before Free! came out, production studio Kyoto Animation released a promo video of an unnamed project. (Notice Rei is nowhere to be found!) That was still enough material for an artist named fifthdimensional to create her own dating sim based on the (at the time) TBA anime. I forgot this existed and just noticed it’s still up and available to play. Learn all about asexual aromanticism, oceanic terrorism, and the proper way to bury a body in the woods with the swimmer boys.

Photo via Alison B.