Hello from chilly Boston, Massachusetts! Every year I take a much-needed vacation from my career as a professional blogger… to become Lead Staff Blogger for Anime Boston. I’ve been blogging for them on and off since 2010, and you may recall a very similar Otaku Links post just last year.

As usual, you can keep up with me and my blogging team on the official Anime Boston Tumblr. We’ll be writing up panels, documenting main events, interviewing special guests, and reporting on industry news. Coverage starts today!

In the meantime, here are some links from everywhere else:

• Back in 1992, a fan wrote an article about anime fandom in America for the Village Voice. Thanks to Google’s Usenet archives, it lives on today.

• Need a bibliography of recently published anime and manga studies from academic publications that you can use for school papers and research? Anime academic Mikhail Koulikov has your back.

• The first time I decided I wanted to go to Japan, I was seven. Now I’ll be 30 in two years and still haven’t made the trip. I have been eyeing PacSet Tours as a more pop culture oriented and slightly more affordable option for finally taking the plunge.

• I’m really impressed with fellow blogger Serdar, who made a mistake in his analysis in a post, and rather than removing the article in embarrassment, wrote a new post to document how the mistake came about and how he’ll rectify it in the future. This is the kind of transparency we rarely get in blogging, and it’s commendable. Next time I make an error on a blog post, I hope to be as upfront about it as he was.

• As I wrote on Monday, I don’t have a backlog. Jeff, however, has elevated his backlog to an art. Here’s how he uses free planning software Trello to keep track of media he’s consumed, is consuming, and wants to consume.

• Two of the shows I was reviewing for Anime News Network have ended. Check out my reviews, but they aren’t spoiler-free. How Yowamushi Pedal Grande Road‘s conclusion affirmed its major message; and the fan service-y, fluffy romp that was episode 25 of Gundam Built Fighters Try. P.S. is anyone else excited for the GBFT OVAs?

• And of course, Kuroko’s Basketball is ongoing, and about to go into a major flashback arc. If it doesn’t take a break this weekend, I’ll be skipping my usual review for obvious reasons.

• An update on my book: the twelfth and final interview has been conducted, and the manuscript just cracked 50,000 words. I’ll be finally sharing new information about just who those interviewees all are next week!