• Cecilia D’Anastasio is the reason I still read Kotaku. Her latest, “Manga Pirates Are Having Trouble Going Legit,” is a great look at the complexities around scanlations.
• What Does Anime & Manga Offer to US Fans That They Can’t Get from US Pop Media? Deb Aoki collected Twitter replies from US fans about why they prefer Japanese pop culture.
• The American newspaper cartoon Sally Forth keeps sticking anime references in! At Anime News Network, Zac and Lynzee interviewed the team behind the comic.
• Tumblr’s Fandometrics give fans the raw data about Tumblr’s favorite fandoms, and their latest release ranks popular ships. The most reblogged ship of the year is from Free!
• Before shippers used the “x” to indicate pairings, as in Person1 x Person2, they wrote the couples’ names under umbrellas. Khursten remembers this fandom history moment.
• BlerDCon, a convention in my neighborhood for “blerds,” or black nerds who love anime, games, and comics, showcased some seriously cool cosplay. Here’s a gallery.
• The husband and wife that dress in Japanese Lolita street fashion together, stay together? That’s the case for this Houston couple.
• On the lighter side, parody blog Anime Maru just made its first trip to Japan!… Wait a second. Japan, Anime Expo, same thing.

Photo by Rem Zelaya.