Search results for “otaku links”

• “They’re young. We’re dead. So it’s ‘cosplay.'” Wendy Ross Kaufman has been creating her own costumes for conventions since the ’70s. Here’s why this professional costumer is finally at peace with a word she once disparaged. HT @StevenSavage.
• Made in Abyss and post-apocalyptic fiction. Emily’s high school memories reveal exactly what kind of literature this breakout summer anime gets its inspiration from.
• Inside the extreme Facebook fandom for old rental VHS tapes. Lest you think anime inspires the oddest fandom devotees, meet a man only known as “The Mayor.”
• An Introduction to the “SAIYUKI” Anime… as told by a fan who read the manga almost a decade ago. Dee makes it so you can watch the new show even if you haven’t been keeping up for the last ten years. I certainly haven’t!
• Confronting Biases in My Hero Academia. Caitlin does a good job explaining how this show’s treatment of women is leagues beyond other shonen battle anime are doing.
• For the anime industry, the streaming revolution is both a blessing and a curse. David Ng’s article is one of the most level-headed approaches to this topic I’ve seen yet.
• YouTubers and Bloggers Should Interact More. An earnest plea for the anime fandom, but I don’t see it happening. Vlogging is a totally different beast.
• Chic Pixel is finishing up her PhD dissertation, so in the meantime you should check out some of her greatest hits.

Lead photo via Old Anime Fashion. 

• 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.

• Kara on the hater side of fandom, which generally means fandom defined by what people don’t like instead of what they do. Why are we like this, and how can we be better?
• In this post, Kara also links to a dark comedy called Haterz (affiliate link) that I, admittedly, finished up yesterday in two hypnotized hours.
• On a related note: anti-fans and public spheres: an academic essay (with a bibliography!) about why we intentionally watch stuff just to hate on it.
• This is the coolest use of Patreon I’ve seen in a while. Motoka Murakami writes manga in Japanese, and if you back him, you can read his work in English while compensating him for it. I think a lot of people resort to manga scanlations because there’s no way to support the artist anyway—and this fixes that.
• Marion Bea is launching a new series of video essays on anime, but to create content she knows people want, she needs your help. Her survey is short, and it’s right here.
• This week’s Bookscan chart is a wake-up call for the comics industry. Everybody’s reading My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness, Bitch Planet, and Wonder Woman, which I guess is a surprise to people in the comic book industry, but certainly not to me. In my cultural bubble people prefer My Hero Academia to even the American comics it gets its inspiration from.
• I’ve never played an otome game before, but if I were to start, I might take my cues from this Waypoint list.
• In another world I wouldn’t even consider Anita Sarkeesian’s stunningly bland and sanitized views on women and games, but in this world I end up thinking about her a lot because for some reason she’s the one getting flak for her opinions. Everyone has a take on her calling a harasser a “garbage human” but all I can think is how weird it is that the entire VidCon organization couldn’t do anything to mitigate her harassment.
• If you’re going to Anime Expo this weekend, I’m jealous! I would love to meet Gunpla master Meijin Kawaguchi.
• Popular Isekai Light Novel Adaptations as Guys Who Lived in Your Freshman Dorm. It’s funny ’cause it’s true.

Anime Expo crowd shot by Ejen Chuang.

• Patlabor, my favorite 1989 mecha anime starring a female protagonist, is getting a new movie! It only took about 30 years.
• The most beautiful Zaku model ever built is made of traditional Japanese lacquer and is currently being displayed at New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.
• Check out my Mobile Suit Gundam movie trilogy review to see why I think this is the best way to take in the Gundam franchise’s first show.
• Bless is starting a podcast about (what else?) anime blogging. Fill out this survey to help narrow down the content—I assure you it’s quick!
• Emily writes about color theory in Monogatari. I never realized how such simple color palette decisions could mean so much.
• All Might’s Essence of Heroism. Charles of Beneath the Tangles discusses why All Might is such a great hero—because he leads not by platitudes, but by example. If you’re wondering why I’m an atheist reading a Christian anime blog, well, the blog is great.
• When you buy a convention ticket, where does your money go? After Kara’s post on “lobbyconning” went viral, she stressed the importance of how paying your due helps organizers continue putting on these events we love so much.

Screenshot via Patlabor.