It is a brilliant, highly localized twist that pulls players out of the intense competitive grind of the gorge and dropping them straight into the bustling atmosphere of a midnight night market.

In this cosmic culinary detour, heroes Erin, Dun, and Alessio find themselves transformed into interstellar ambassadors for the region’s most iconic food stalls.

Collectively known as the Cosmic Cravings series, this lineup reimagines their armor, weapons, and visual effects through the lens of beloved regional delicacies, turning everyday comfort food into a full-blown cosmic aesthetic.

Honor of Kings Cosmic Cravings skins release date and availability

The Honor of Kings Cosmic Cravings skins were released on Thursday, July 2, 2026, as part of a limited-time event running through Wednesday, September 9, 2026.

Unlike a straight cash-shop drop, the collection leans heavily on free-to-earn mechanics, so players who don’t want to spend can still walk away with most of the lineup.

Both Dun and Erin’s Cosmic Cravings skins are tradable and can be listed on the in-game marketplace once unlocked.

The Wish Event runs on Wish Tokens or Vouchers, and players can earn up to 12 free wishes throughout the event window via daily missions.

Because the Honor of Kings Cosmic Cravings skins are tied to ongoing missions rather than a single purchase, players have the full two-month window to grind out tile flips and log-in streaks before the event closes in September.

The dishes behind the Honor of Kings Cosmic Cravings skins

Each Honor of Kings Cosmic Cravings skin is a tribute to an actual, beloved dish from Southeast Asia.

Erin – Cosmic Cravings: Zest takes its cue from halo-halo, the Philippines’ iconic shaved-ice dessert. The name literally means “mix-mix” in Filipino, and that’s exactly the point — crushed ice loaded with sweetened beans, jellies, fruit preserves, leche flan, and a scoop of ube ice cream, all topped and folded together before eating.

It’s a dish built for the tropical heat, and Erin’s skin channels that same riot of color and texture that captures the refreshing spirit of the beloved treat.

Dun – Cosmic Cravings: Sear is drawn from nasi kuning, the turmeric-yellow rice dish eaten across Indonesia and much of maritime Southeast Asia.

Traditionally steamed with turmeric, coconut milk, and aromatics like lemongrass and pandan, nasi kuning is a celebratory food. It is present at birthdays, ceremonies, and family gatherings, often molded into a cone (tumpeng) and surrounded by side dishes.

Alessio – Cosmic Cravings: Fizz is inspired by kedondong asam boi, inspired by a beloved Malaysian staple: a vibrant juice that pairs the tart, refreshing crunch of kedondong (ambarella fruit) with the sharp, salty-sweet kick of asam boi (preserved dried plum).

Sold as juice, pickled snacks, or fruit slices dusted in plum powder, it’s the kind of sour-sweet pick-me-up found at roadside stalls on a hot afternoon.

A nod to the Malaysian treat, Alessio’s skin shows a playful mix of sweet, sour, and refreshing visual effects.

The Honor of Kings Cosmic Cravings skins are more than a costume change

Beyond the three headline skins, the Honor of Kings Cosmic Cravings event adds a layer of themed content across the game:

• Recall effects inspired by each hero’s signature dish
• Unique visual effects reflecting the flavors and personalities behind every dish
• A nostalgic, city pop-inspired soundtrack running through the event
• A dedicated Cosmic Cravings H5 experience featuring a “Soul Taste Test” that assigns players a Food Persona and lets them join Erin, Dun, and Alessio on a journey to collect exclusive badges

TiMi and Level Infinite have framed the Honor of Kings Cosmic Cravings skins as more than a cosmetics drop, celebrating “individuality, cultural pride and the shared experiences that bring communities together across Southeast Asia” through food, which has long served as one of the region’s strongest cultural throughlines.

Whether players are chasing the full set for the aesthetic or just curious to see their Food Persona, the Honor of Kings Cosmic Cravings skins offer a cosmetic event that’s as much about culture as it is about collection.

This free-to-play, multiplayer open-world mobile RPG game from Gameloft and Level Infinite lets you build an empire, custom-mod your fleet, and rule a living metropolis.

If you are ready to command the roads and execute cooperative heists with friends, here is how to secure your entry.

What is Gangstar Mirage City?

Gangstar Mirage City is an open-world action RPG developed under Gameloft’s license and published by Level Infinite. It’s the newest entry in the long-running Gangstar series, following titles such as Gangstar Vegas, Gangstar New York, and Gangstar New Orleans.

The game drops players into Mirage City, a massive, crime-ridden metropolis where reputation, territory, and money determine your rise from small-time hustler to criminal kingpin.

It leans heavily into multiplayer, offering cooperative heists, PvP shootouts, and high-speed street races alongside a single-player campaign full of cinematic story missions.

Gangstar Mirage City factions

Gangstar Mirage City centers its identity around four rival factions that players can align with:

• O-Rage
• The Ghosts
• The Family
• Jersey Boyz

Players start by customizing their own character’s face, hair, clothing, tattoos, and scars before diving into the criminal underworld.

From there, progression is built around completing missions, capturing territory from rival gangs, running underground businesses, and building a collection of cars, weapons, and property, all while choosing a faction to represent.

How to pre-register for Gangstar Mirage City

The Gangstar Mirage City pre-registration process is easy and can be done from your phone or a browser. Follow the steps below to get signed up and lock in your rewards:

1. Head to the Gangstar Mirage City page on the Google Play Store, or visit the official pre-registration website.
2. Tap or click the Pre-register button.
3. Log in using a valid email address, or sign in with your Google, Facebook, or Apple account.
4. Agree to the terms and conditions to confirm your Gangstar Mirage City pre-registration.
   • Optional: lock in your faction choice on the official website to claim faction-specific rewards later.

Make sure to use the same account or email at launch that you used to pre-register. Logging in with a different account at release won’t carry over your Gangstar Mirage City pre-registration rewards.

Gangstar Mirage City pre-registration rewards

Pre-registration rewards in Gangstar Mirage City unlock in stages based on total sign-up milestones.

Players have until Thursday, September 18, 2026, to claim their avatar and faction prizes from the official website’s rewards section.

Gangstar Mirage City release date

Gangstar Mirage City launches on Android devices on Thursday, August 20, 2026, with the pre-registration window closing onTuesday, August 18, 2026.

The initial rollout covers select regions, including Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia, with a wider global release expected to follow.

An iOS version has been confirmed as coming, but Gameloft and Level Infinite have not yet announced a release date for Apple devices as of writing.

She vanished during her confrontation with Lord Ravager Asat Pramad, leaving behind a hidden clue tied to the Express. As the Trailblazer tracks it down, Asat Pramad’s obsession with Himeko’s identity and the truth from 15 years ago begins to reveal his true motive.

With Planarcadia’s survival on the line, the update builds toward a decisive battle between the Trailblazer and Asat Pramad.

Honkai Star Rail 4.4 release date

Honkai Star Rail 4.4 releases on Wednesday, July 15, 2026.

Honkai Star Rail 4.4 livestream codes

Click here to redeem Honkai Star Rail codes.

Honkai Star Rail 4.4 banners: Complete list of characters

Phase 1 banners

Himeko returns to the battlefield in a brand-new form as Himeko Nova, stepping in as a 5-star Fire character on the Path of Erudition.

Her combat kit is built around deploying mech support from the very start. Himeko Nova’s Ultimate leads her teammates to pilot the mech Starblazer, unleashing a coordinated attack on enemies.

From there, deploying her Territory grants all teammates an Assist Skill, letting them summon Starblazer on demand to strike every enemy on the field. Teammates who are part of the Express Crew gain additional bonus effects on top of that, rewarding players who build around her signature crew.

Himeko Nova’s banner runs for the entire version 4.4 update, from Wednesday, July 15, 2026, to Tuesday, August 25, 2026.

The other 5-star banners in Phase 1 run for the first three weeks of the patch, from Wednesday, July 15, 2026, to Wednesday, August 5, 2026.

Phase 2 banners

Version 4.4 Phase 2 runs from Wednesday, August 5, 2026, for three weeks until Tuesday, August 25, 2026.

Fate/stay night Unlimited Blade Works collaboration banners

The second phase of the Fate/stay night Unlimited Blade Works collaboration brings two new playable characters into Planarcadia — Rin Tohsaka and Gilgamesh.

After the Fifth Holy Grail War ends, Rin finds herself stranded in Planarcadia when her magical energy runs out. Desperate to return home, she borrows the Holy Grail from the Star Rail FEST showcase and attempts to summon a Servant, inadvertently restoring the Grail’s power and scattering Gilgamesh’s treasures across the arcadia in the process.

Rin joins the roster as a 5-star Quantum character on the Path of Erudition, built around a resource called “Gem Energy.”

During battle, she gains Gem Energy and consumes it to deal multiple instances of bonus damage to a random enemy — the more she spends, the more instances she deals. Whenever teammates use or restore Skill Points, she gains even more Gem Energy while also boosting her own crit dmg.

Gilgamesh arrives as a 5-star Lightning character on the Path of Destruction, and his kit revolves around a mechanic called “Interest.”

Every time an ally takes action, Gilgamesh accumulates Interest, regenerates Energy, and increases his Ultimate’s damage. Once Interest hits its threshold, he unleashes Gate of Babylon, firing a barrage of weapons at enemies. His Ultimate, Enuma Elish, deals massive damage to all enemies on the field.

The Fate/stay night Unlimited Blade Works collaboration banners are available long-term, starting July 24, 2026.

Honkai Star Rail 4.4 new Light Cones

• A Star That Lights the Night (5-star)
• Flickering Stars (5-star)
• I Am As You Behold (5-star)

A Star That Lights the Night is Himeko Nova’s best-in-slot Light Cone.

Sparxie skin in Honkai Star Rail 4.4

Alongside her banner return, Sparxie is getting a new outfit called “Candy-Coated Waves” in version 4.4, giving Trailblazers a fresh way to customize her look on top of her existing kit.

The update also adds a new pet, “Pentaflavor Emoti,” and a new Trailblaze Fashion set called “Fan-Made Lygus,” rounding out the cosmetic additions for this patch.

How to get Gilgamesh for free in Honkai Star Rail 4.4

Trailblazers won’t have to pull for Gilgamesh to add him to their roster. Starting July 24, 2026, until version 4.6 ends, players can log into the game and claim either Gilgamesh or Archer as one of the free limited 5-star collaboration characters — no Warps required.

Along with the character itself, players will also receive a portion of the corresponding ascension and upgrade materials needed to level them up, making it easier to get either Servant combat-ready right away.

Since the guarantee counts are shared across both phases of the Collaboration Character Warps, any pulls made toward Gilgamesh or Archer will also carry over if Trailblazers decide to pull for the other collaboration characters later on.

How to get Gilgamesh’s Light Cone for free in Honkai Star Rail

Getting Gilgamesh’s signature Light Cone will take a bit more effort than claiming the character himself.

Trailblazers need to spend a total of 200 Star Rail Special Passes during version 4.4 to unlock the option to choose one free limited 5-star collaboration Light Cone — either “I Am As You Behold” or “The Hell Where Ideals Burn” — once the collaboration goes live on July 24, 2026.

As with the characters, the guarantee counts for the Collaboration Light Cone Warps are shared between both phases of the collaboration, so any progress made toward the 200-pass threshold isn’t wasted even if players choose to spend it during a later phase.

Honkai Star Rail 4.4’s story

Planarcadia’s 15 years of peace finally shatter in Honkai Star Rail version 4.4, as the true face of Lord Ravager Asat Pramad comes to light.

At the end of the previous chapter, Asat Pramad dropped his disguise to reveal his true self, plunging Planarcadia back into conflict after over a decade of calm. In the chaos that follows, Himeko vanishes during her confrontation with him — but not without leaving behind a hidden clue tied to the Express for the Trailblazer to find.

Tracking down and deciphering that clue becomes the Trailblazer’s central mission in this update, as every trail left behind points toward something Himeko never spoke of before her disappearance.

Asat Pramad’s fixation on Himeko doesn’t appear to be random, either. His obsession with her identity, paired with a buried truth from 15 years ago, may be the very thing driving his motives and the key to understanding why he’s chosen to reveal himself now.

Whether the Trailblazer can piece together the clues in time remains uncertain. Still, one thing is clear: the search for Himeko is set to end in a battle against Asat Pramad, with Planarcadia’s survival hanging in the balance.

Honkai Star Rail 4.4 events

Beyond the main storyline, Honkai Star Rail version 4.4 also rolls out a fresh batch of events tied to both the Fate collaboration and Planarcadia’s conflicts.

Fate/Star Rail Night

As the Fate/stay night Unlimited Blade Works collaboration story unfolds, the event “Fate/Star Rail Night” has players joining Rin Tohsaka on the hunt for Gilgamesh’s scattered treasures.

Working together, the Trailblazer and Rin gradually piece together the truth behind the mysterious Imagenae: Holy Grail War, uncovering how the King of Heroes’ treasures ended up spread across Planarcadia in the first place.

Antigraft Brickbuster

At Aventurine’s request, the Trailblazer takes on a new investigation into corruption within the IPC through the event “Antigraft Brickbuster.”

The gameplay revolves around stacking data bricks, with players sifting through evidence to expose wrongdoing inside the organization as the case unfolds.

Currency Wars: Zero-Sum Game

The permanent game mode “Currency Wars: Zero-Sum Game” also receives an expansion in this update, alongside additional system-wide optimizations to improve overall gameplay.

If you’re left wondering what’s a doujinshi and why fans keep bringing it up, you’re not alone—it’s one of those terms that’s everywhere in fan spaces but rarely explained outside them.

At its core, doujinshi sits in a category all its own, separate from the licensed manga on your shelf and different from the fan fiction you’d find posted online. It’s tied to a self-publishing culture that’s existed in Japan for decades, one with its own events, retailers, and unwritten rules—and one that more than a few now-famous manga artists got their start in.

In this guide, we’ll break down what’s a doujinshi, the different forms it takes, how it differs from the manga and fan fiction you already know, and where you can actually go to read it for yourself.

What’s a doujinshi?

It’s a term that comes up constantly in manga and anime fan spaces, but what’s a doujinshi exactly?

Doujinshi is the term for self-published, independently created manga and comics made by hobbyist artists rather than mainstream publishing companies.

It’s built from two Japanese words: 

• doujin (同人), which translates roughly to “fellow enthusiast” or “someone in the same circle,” and 
• shi (誌), meaning “publication”

Put together, it describes work made by and for a community of people who share the same passion.

To really understand what’s a doujinshi, it helps to look at where it came from. Modern doujinshi culture developed in Japan in the 1970s, growing alongside the rise of manga and anime fandoms. As fans looked for ways to become more deeply involved with their favorite series, self-publishing became a popular creative outlet.

This movement gained major momentum with the founding of Comiket (Comic Market) in December 1975, a small gathering of just 32 circles and around 700 attendees that has since grown into the largest doujinshi convention in the world, drawing hundreds of thousands of attendees each year.

Notably, several well-known professional manga artists got their start creating doujinshi before entering the mainstream industry. This includes Ken Akamatsu (Love Hina) and Kiyohiko Azuma (Azumanga Daioh, Yotsuba).

Types of doujinshi

Now that you know what’s a doujinshi, it helps to see how varied it can actually be. Doujinshi can be classified by where the story comes from and by the kind of content it features.

It is important to note that this isn’t a complete list. Doujinshi culture has many more niche subtypes and terms (like anthologies, novels-only doujinshi, or critique/meta works). These are simply the most common and widely recognized categories you’ll encounter as a reader.

Doujinshi vs. manga vs. fan fiction

So how does doujinshi differ from regular manga or Western-style fan fiction? The distinctions come down to who creates the work, how it’s published, and where it falls legally.

Manga refers to professionally published comics that go through an official publishing house, complete with editors, printing deals, and distribution through bookstores or licensed digital platforms. Manga creators are typically paid professionals working within an established industry system.

Doujinshi, by contrast, is self-published — created, funded, and distributed by the artist or a small “circle” without any official publisher involved. While doujinshi can be entirely original, a large portion are parody works based on existing manga, anime, or games, sold at conventions like AFA, Comiket or through specialty stores.

Fan fiction is similar to parody doujinshi in spirit. Both are unofficial, fan-made stories based on someone else’s characters or world.

The key difference is format and culture: fan fiction is usually written text shared for free online (on sites like AO3 or Wattpad), while doujinshi is typically illustrated, printed, and sold for profit, especially in Japan, where a more established commercial ecosystem exists around fan-made work.

Where can I read doujinshi?

If you’re wondering where can I read doujinshi, the answer isn’t as simple as opening a mainstream manga app. Since these are independently published works, they’re scattered across niche marketplaces and specialty retailers rather than centralized on one big platform. Here’s where readers typically find them, both online and in physical stores.

Where can I read doujinshi digitally?

DLsite is generally regarded as the biggest digital storefront for doujin content, offering hundreds of thousands of titles spanning doujinshi, games, and audio works.

Since it caters to an international audience, it offers an English interface and lets you download purchases directly, making it one of the easier entry points for readers outside Japan.

Pixiv, primarily known as an artist community and portfolio platform, is also a common place to discover doujinshi previews or even full releases.

Many creators pair their Pixiv presence with Pixiv FANBOX, a subscription-style tool that lets fans pay a monthly fee for exclusive content, including full digital doujinshi releases.

Where can I read doujinshi? Physical retailers

If you’re still asking yourself where can I read doujinshi in person, physical retailers are a great place to start.

Melonbooks and Toranoana are the two biggest names in doujinshi retail, connecting independent creators with readers through both physical stores and online storefronts. They offer an extensive selection and are well trusted within the community.

Alice Books is a smaller specialty retailer focused specifically on doujinshi and related merchandise, often favored by collectors.

Mandarake, best known for secondhand and collectible goods, also carries a notable doujinshi inventory — a useful stop if you’re hunting for older or out-of-print titles.

Animate, while primarily a general anime merchandise chain, also stocks new doujinshi releases and plays a role in the wider official distribution network.

For those who still want to know where can I read doujinshi without going digital, BOOKOFF, Japan’s largest secondhand bookstore chain, occasionally carries used doujinshi alongside its manga and book selection. Stock varies a lot by branch, so it’s more of an “if you stumble on it” option than a reliable source.

They’re usually the loudest in the comments, the most dedicated shippers, and the ones turning every male friendship into a love story before the first episode is even over.

They call themselves fujoshi—it’s not just a labelor millions of fans around the world, it’s an identity.

So what is fujoshi and what is fudanshi, exactly, and why has this corner of fandom culture grown into something so globally recognized?

What is fujoshi?

The term fujoshi comes from Japan, where it became popular in the early 2000s as the internet and otaku culture began to boom.

Translated literally, fujoshi means “rotten girl” — a tongue-in-cheek label that the community actually reclaimed and made their own. Far from being an insult, most fujoshi use the term proudly and with a lot of humor.

So what is a fujoshi fan, exactly? A fujoshi is a female fan who loves Boys’ Love (BL) content at its core, though the term has expanded over time. This includes yaoi manga, BL anime, slash fanfiction, and any story that centers on a romantic or emotional relationship between two male characters.

While fujoshi started as a distinctly Japanese term, it has since gone global. Today, it applies to BL fans across all cultures and languages. If you love BL, the label fits regardless of where you’re from. 

What makes fujoshi culture particularly interesting is the way fans deal with media that wasn’t necessarily designed to be romantic at all, finding chemistry and subtext between male characters in mainstream anime, movies, and even video games.

This kind of fan engagement isn’t unique to Japanese media either — fujoshi around the world apply the same lens to Korean dramas, Western TV shows, and everything in between.

What is fujoshi culture without its community, though? That’s really where it comes alive.

Fujoshi fans are known for being deeply passionate, wildly creative, and chronically online. Fan art, doujinshi (self-published fan comics), fanfiction, and endless discussion threads are all part of how fujoshi take part in the stories and characters they love.

The fujoshi fandom originated in Japan but has since spread worldwide, finding massive audiences in East Asia, Latin America, Europe, and beyond. Several platforms have given fujoshi communities a global stage, including Twitter/X, TikTok, and AO3.

What is fudanshi and what is a fudanshi, exactly?

But the Boys Love fandom isn’t a girls-only club. Enter the fudanshi.

The term fudanshi is essentially the male equivalent of fujoshi, which is a male who loves Boys’ Love content: yaoi manga and manhwa, BL anime, and everything that comes with it.

Just like fujoshi, fudanshi are fans who are drawn to romantic and emotional stories between male characters. The difference is simply gender.

Where fujoshi traditionally refers to female fans, fudanshi refers to male fans who enjoy the same genre. The word itself follows the same logic — “fudanshi” swaps the kanji for “girl” (女子) with the kanji for “boy” (男子), keeping the same “rotten” prefix that the fujoshi community made famous.

For a long time, male BL fans were a quieter presence in fandom spaces — not because they didn’t exist, but because the genre was so heavily associated with a female audience that many fudanshi fans kept it to themselves.

However, that started to change as BL went mainstream and fandom culture became more open. Today, fudanshi are a recognized and celebrated part of the BL community.

What is fujoshing?

If fujoshi is the term, then fujoshing is the verb. Fujoshing is what fujoshi actually do when they watch, read, or play something and start seeing romantic potential between male characters that the original creators never explicitly intended.

It is the act of looking at a friendship, a rivalry, a mentor-student dynamic, or even a single meaningful glance between two male characters and thinking, there’s something there. 

It doesn’t matter if the source material is a shonen anime (Blue Lock, ahem ahem), a Hollywood action movie, or a video game. If there are two male characters with chemistry, fujoshing is already happening somewhere in the fandom.

You’ll usually encounter the term fujoshing in online fan spaces like Twitter/X, Tumblr, TikTok, Reddit, and fan forums. Someone might post a clip from a sports anime and caption it “I can’t stop fujoshing this show,” or a fan might admit in a thread that they went into a movie just to fujoshi the two male leads.

It’s used with a lot of self-awareness and humor, which is very on-brand for fujoshi culture overall.

What makes fujoshing interesting is that it’s not really about the content itself, but about how fans engage with it.

When you think about what is fujoshing all about, it is a creative act. It’s the foundation of fan art, fanfiction, and doujinshi. It’s what turns a completely platonic anime into a fandom obsession overnight.

The Fujoshi and Fudanshi culture today

Fujoshi and fudanshi culture have come a long way from their origins in early 2000s Japanese internet forums.

A lot of that has to do with how mainstream BL has become. Boys’ Love content is no longer tucked away in the corners of manga shops or fan convention tables.

Anime adaptations of BL manga are getting proper studio treatment and wide releases. Live-action Thai and Chinese BL dramas in particular, are a phenomenon of their own. These markets even adapt other Asian-produced works into live-action, such as Payback, which is based on a Korean manhwa.

Online platforms have played a huge role in bringing fujoshi and fudanshi fans together across borders and languages. A fan in Brazil, a fan in the Philippines, and a fan in Germany can all be fujoshing the same show at the same time by sharing fan art, writing fanfiction, and building a community around the same characters and ships.

What’s also shifted is the openness around the identity itself. Fujoshi and fudanshi fans are increasingly unapologetic about what they love, bringing a playful, down-to-earth energy that makes the community genuinely welcoming to newcomers.

On the anime side, titles like Go For It, Nakamura-kun! capture exactly the kind of sweet, sincere BL storytelling that keeps fujoshi and fudanshi communities passionate and growing.

BL isn’t a niche anymore—and neither are the fans who make it what it is.

The Light and Night dailies system is more layered than it first appears. There’s a checklist to work through, weekly tasks that sneak into the mix, and a points target to hit before the daily reset.

If you’re consistent in doing it, you’re looking at a steady stream of Ursa Minor Tokens and material that compounds over time.

This guide about the Light and Night daily quests breaks the whole thing down from the ground up, so you know what to do and how to make it part of your daily routine.

What are Light and Night dailies?

If you’re new to the game, Light and Night daily quests are one of the first systems you’ll want to get familiar with. They’re a set of tasks you complete each day to earn rewards and keep your account progressing steadily. Once you get the hang of them, they don’t take long at all.

Each day, you can earn up to 120 Ursa Minor Tokens through your dailies, split across three activities.

Alongside Ursa Minor Tokens, you’ll also collect crafting materials that are essential for leveling up cards and growing your account over time.

Understanding the Light and Night daily points system

Before diving into the task list, it helps to understand what you’re working toward each day.

Light and Night has a daily points system that tracks your activity and rewards you for staying consistent. Your goal every day is to reach 100 daily points.

Each task on your Light and Night daily quests list contributes a set number of points, and completing the full checklist is designed to get you right to that 100-point mark.

Hitting 100 points each day is important because it unlocks your full daily reward, including your share of 50 Ursa Minor Tokens from the Light and Night daily quests pool.

It is important to note that Light and Night daily quests double up as event daily tasks. This means that by simply working through your regular checklist, you’ll automatically make progress on limited-time events without needing to do extra work.

Light and Night daily quests: Core tasks to complete every day

The Light and Night daily quests list covers a range of activities across different parts of the game.

Here’s what you need to get done each day:

Weekly tasks that count toward Light and Night dailies

Two tasks in Light and Night dailies operate on a weekly cycle, but they still contribute to your overall daily points.

Constellation and Dream Tower are both weekly activities, meaning you won’t need to do them every single day. However, when you do complete them, the points they give count toward your daily progress.

But don’t save these for the last day of the week! Spreading them out or completing them early gives you a buffer on busier days when you might not have time to go through your full to-do list.

Daily routine: Habits to build alongside your Light and Night dailies

Following a Light and Night daily routine is about building consistent habits that compound over time. These aren’t always tracked as formal quests in your log, but skipping them means leaving rewards behind.

Exchange Globe Orbs and Apple Orbs

Each day, you’ll want to go to the Shopping Center to exchange Ursa Minor Tokens at the Academic Journey section, and separately, Stamina at the Gallery section. These two run on different currencies, so make sure you’re visiting both rather than assuming one covers the other.

Stamina in Light and Night

Stamina management is something beginners tend to overlook. Your stamina has a cap of 120, and anything earned beyond that goes to waste. If your stamina is close to expiring, use it up before it’s gone.

The good news is that a single day’s worth of stamina is generally enough to get through your daily stages, though some events may require a little more.

Log in for more than 20 minutes

Time spent in-game actually matters as a reward metric in Light and Night. Logging in for at least 20 minutes each day qualifies you for gameplay time rewards, but if you can stretch to an hour, you’ll earn the maximum amount.

Affection in Light and Night

Affection is a slower-burning progression system. Tapping the heart on your love interest’s WeChat profile earns you 30 Affection points each day, while responding to one of their Moment posts gives you an additional 50. Together that’s 80 Affection points daily.

Tips for maximizing your daily Ursas efficiently

Once you’ve got the hang of your daily tasks and routine, a few small adjustments to how you approach them can make a noticeable difference in how smoothly everything runs.

• Start with stamina-heavy tasks – Resource stages and River of Reflection both consume stamina, so it’s worth doing these first while your energy is full.
• Keep an eye on your stamina cap – As a beginner, it’s easy to forget that stamina doesn’t accumulate indefinitely. If you’re sitting close to 120 and not planning to play for a while, spend it down before you log off.
• Batch your Affection tasks together – The WeChat heart tap and the Moment post reply take less than a minute combined. Try to do them at the same time each day.
• Don’t underestimate the time reward – It’s one of the easier rewards to miss because it doesn’t feel like an active task. If you’re already going through your To-Do list, you’re likely spending close to 20 minutes in-game anyway.
• Log in every day, even on slow days – Missing a day doesn’t just cost you 120 Ursas but it can also break your rhythm on event tasks that require consecutive daily completions. Even a quick 10-minute session to knock out the basics is better than skipping entirely.

Polaris is the premium currency in Light and Night, and for most players, getting enough of it without spending real money is an ongoing challenge.

The good news is that there are legitimate free sources, and this guide covers all of them.

What is Polaris in Light and Night?

Polaris is the premium currency in Light and Night. It is purchased directly from the in-game shop, either converted into the base gacha currency or spent on exclusive packages and cosmetics.

To give context based on other major otome titles, Polaris functions similarly to Crystals in Love and Deepspace and Gems in Tears of Themis. It’s the hard currency tier that carries the most value and the most restrictions on how freely it flows.

Visually, Polaris in Light and Night is depicted as a bright, glowing, multi-pointed gold star. Its design ties directly into the game’s cosmic and celestial themes, referencing the real-world North Star.

Where to spend Polaris in Light and Night

Before getting into how to get free Polaris in Light and Night, it helps to understand where it goes — because how you spend it matters just as much as how you earn it.

Converting Polaris to Ursa Minor

Polaris can be converted directly into Ursa Minor, the standard currency used for gacha pulls. This is a basic fallback option, but it’s generally the least efficient way to use your premium currency, since it misses out on the better value offered through special shop packages.

Spending Polaris on Roulettes

Because Polaris is scarce, players are advised to reserve it specifically for Light and Night Roulettes rather than spending it on lower-priority options.

Light and Night Roulettes are a distinct gacha system that operates separately from the standard banner pool. Completing a Light and Night Roulette to its maximum tier rewards players with additional collectables and stat bonuses, making it the most efficient use of Polaris for both progression and collection purposes.

Before spending on any Light and Night Roulette, it is recommended to have a minimum of 50 Polaris saved. This amount provides a reliable chance at securing a 6-star card.

6-star cards represent the highest tier of cards available in Light and Night, offering the strongest combat stats along with Light and Shadow unlocks that grant new character artwork and attribute increases.

Using your Polaris to get outfits and cosmetics

Polaris is also the currency for limited outfits, in-game backgrounds, and BGMs available during events. These are optional, but if you care about the aesthetic side of the game, set aside some Polaris for seasonal cosmetics as well.

Exchanging Polaris for Feather Quills

Polaris also has a niche use in the Blessings system. Six Polaris tokens can be exchanged for Feather Quills, which are used to make pulls in event-specific banner pools.

This can be worthwhile during limited events where you’re targeting a specific card, but again, it competes with Roulette spending, so plan accordingly.

How to get free Polaris in Light and Night

The answer to how to get free Polaris in Light and Night is simpler than most players expect: play the story.

While Polaris in bulk is a paid currency, the game does hand it out through consistent, free gameplay. Here’s every confirmed source for free Polaris:

Complete Main Story Chapters

The most reliable free Polaris source is completing chapters in the main story. You receive 5 Polaris for each Main Story chapter you complete. This means that as a new player progressing through the story naturally, you’re accumulating a small but meaningful stockpile of free Polaris without spending a single cent.

This is the primary answer to how to get free Polaris in Light and Night, and the most important thing you can do as a free-to-play player is to not skip ahead or rush your story progression. Every chapter cleared is currency in your pocket.

Anniversary and seasonal events

Based on the game’s history in its Chinese and Taiwan versions, milestone events such as anniversary celebrations and Valentine’s Day campaigns have included limited-time Polaris rewards, free pack exchanges, and resource giveback campaigns.

Light and Night SEA players can expect similar events to roll out over time, though the exact structure may differ from what players from other regions have experienced.

Keeping an eye on the official SEA announcements page and in-game event tab around major holidays and anniversaries is still the best practice for catching any free Polaris opportunities as they appear.

In-game missions and event milestones

Certain events offer Polaris as milestone rewards for completing event missions. While these vary by event, they’re worth pursuing aggressively whenever they appear.

Event missions in Light and Night typically involve logging in, pulling on banners, completing story stages, or earning and spending event-specific currencies. Completing these tracks can yield Polaris on top of other rewards.

The Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games anime adaptation is here to shatter that assumption, break a few gender stereotypes, and cause an unreasonable amount of gay panic along the way.

In this spoiler-free Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games anime review, we’re breaking down everything you need to know before jumping into this Summer 2026 title.

Originally a manga series by Eri Ejima, Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games (Tai Ari Deshita: Ojou-sama wa Kakuto Gemu Nante Shinai in Japanese) has been running in Media Factory’s Monthly Comic Flapper seinen manga magazine since January 2020. Seven Seas Entertainment brought it to English-speaking audiences, and the premise is exactly what it sounds like.

At Kuromi Girls Academy, a refined and elegant school that holds its young ladies to the highest standards of deportment, a group of students have a secret — they’re deeply, obsessively, unapologetically into fighting games.

The manga previously received a live-action web drama adaptation in 2023, directed by Ryouma Ouchida and streamed on Lemino across eight episodes, starring Mizuki Kayashima as Aya Mitsuki and Ririka Tanabe as Mio Yorue.

The anime is being brought to the screen by studio Diomedea, with Shota Ihata directing and Wataru Watari handling series composition.

Diomedea is a studio with a long track record in comedy, romance, and slice-of-life adaptations, including Domestic Girlfriend, Problem Children Are Coming from Another World, Aren’t They?, and Aho Girl. They do not immediately come to mind for a fighting game anime, which makes this interesting.

Now, full disclosure: I’m coming into this as someone whose fighting game experience starts and ends with Tekken and a passing familiarity with Street Fighter lore. I don’t main anyone particularly impressive, and I’m not exactly the best person to analyze what frame data is.

I’m also not really a yuri anime viewer by habit. My comfort zone is squarely in school life anime such as Hana Kimi, You and I are Polar Opposites, and Go For It, Nakamura-kun!!). They’re the kind with club activities, cultural festivals, and friendships that somehow feel both ordinary and cinematic.

So if you’re wondering whether this show has anything to offer someone who isn’t already deep in either fandom, that’s exactly what I’m here to find out.

Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games anime review: When elegance meets the FGC

Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games episode 1 knows exactly what it is, and it’s confident about it from the jump.

The series follows Aya Mitsuki, voiced by Ikumi Hasegawa (Vladilena Milize in 86, Ikuyo Kita in Bocchi the Rock!, Ubel in Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End), a girl who works incredibly hard to fit into the elegant world of Kuromi Girls Academy.

Our other protagonist, Mio Yorue, voiced by Kana Ichinose (Fern in Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Ichigo in Darling in the FranXX, Suletta Mercury in Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury), is the school’s best-kept secret. She is a Street Fighter 6 obsessive who hides her competitive gaming life behind the same polished exterior that everyone else is performing.

The plot kicks off when their worlds collide and what starts as an accidental discovery slowly becomes something neither of them expected.

In Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games episode 1, Kuromi Girls Academy is introduced with all its trimmings, manicured gardens, stone fountains, and a choral BGM that practically floats off the screen.

It sets up the fantasy of the elegant school life. At the top of that pedestal sits Mio or more popularly known as Shirayuri-san, the academy’s so-called “white lily.” She’s the ideal. The standard. The girl everyone quietly measures themselves against. If you’ve ever watched a school life anime before, you’ll recognize her immediately—except this show has very different plans for that archetype.

While the school life setup is familiar territory, Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games episode 1 carves out its own lane pretty quickly. Rather than leaning on the usual school life beats, it gets inside Aya’s head. The show visualizes her inner monologue in exaggerated, almost cartoonish ways that give it a comedic edge you don’t see coming.

The episode doesn’t rush to get to the good stuff either. It lets you sit with Aya first — her routines, her quiet desperation to fit in, the way she carries herself like she’s always one wrong step away from ruining everything. By the time you feel like you’ve got a read on her, the anime pulls the curtain back.

Then, Mio picks up a controller, and everything changes.

Behind closed doors and away from the careful performance of being a proper young lady, Mio has a whole other life. She plays Street Fighter 6, and she plays it seriously. The gap between who she is in the hallway and who she is with a fight stick in her hand is almost funny, except the anime plays it completely straight, which somehow makes it even better.

Mio is a Ryu main — composed, methodical, and the kind of player who’s clearly puts in the hours. Surprisingly, the show takes time to walk you through the mechanics of what she’s doing in a way that doesn’t feel like a serious tutorial.

As someone who mostly plays Tekken and has a loose understanding of Street Fighter, I appreciated not being lost. Honestly, seeing her play made me want to open SF6 and actually try it out for myself!

It is worth noting that the anime has full licensing for Street Fighter 6, along with brand partnerships with gaming peripheral brands Hori and Mad Catz. There are no weird spoof names or fictional branding, and that matters more than it sounds because it means that the anime can engage with the game honestly.

Being a yuri anime, Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games episode 1 doesn’t shy away from a few fanservice moments, but nothing that overshadows what the show is actually about.

The fighting game side of things stays front and center, and the two coexist without one feeling like it’s getting in the way of the other. If you’ve been on the fence about picking this up purely because of the yuri anime label, that’s worth knowing going in.

For everything Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games episode 1 throws at you, it closes out in the most unexpectedly gentle way. Two girls, each carrying something the other needs: Mio finds a real opponent, while Aya finds something she didn’t know she was looking for. You get the sense that something shifted for both of them, even if neither of them fully realizes it yet.

Good pilot episodes make you want to keep watching, and Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games episode 1 did exactly that.

Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games anime review

Elegance has never looked this intense

If the plot is what draws you in, the animation is what makes you stay.

Diomedea’s work here is deliberate in the best way. The academy scenes are lush and unhurried, the kind of visual language that tells you exactly what kind of world this is before a single line of dialogue lands. But where the animation really earns its keep is in the fighting game sequences.

There’s a particular attention to detail in how the show portrays players in competitive mode and it goes beyond just showing characters staring at a screen. You see it in their eyes first, then the flick of the stick. The crisp, satisfying sound of buttons being pressed at exactly the right moment. The timing is precise enough that even as a casual player, I feel the weight of each input.

That’s not an easy thing to animate convincingly, and it’s even harder to make a viewer feel it. The fact that it landed for a casual gamer like me says a lot about how well the technical execution supports the storytelling.

Mio is composed on the outside, locked in on the inside

Kana Ichinose’s performance as Mio absolutely nails it. What makes the role tricky is that Mio essentially has two modes—the composed, collected young lady of Kuromi Girls Academy, and the locked-in competitor who couldn’t care less about appearances. Ichinose switches between the two with a convincing ease, and the contrast is stark enough that it genuinely feels like two different people sharing the same voice.

Equally worth talking about is Aya herself as a character. There’s something genuinely relatable about a girl who is constantly working to appear composed and put-together, because who hasn’t felt that pressure at some point?

The show taps into something real about the expectations placed on women, the exhausting performance of having it all together, and Aya carries that weight in a way that feels authentic rather than played for laughs.

As for pacing, Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games episode 1 handles itself well. It never rushes, but it also never really lets you settle too comfortably. Just when things start to mellow out and you think you know the rhythm of what you’re watching, something pulls you back in.

Right track, right moment

The music might not be the first thing you bring up when recommending this show to a friend, but it earns its place. What stands out isn’t any single track but rather the show’s sense of timing with its background music.

It also has a knack for making informational moments feel engaging. When it walks you through fighting game mechanics and strategies, the music helps those sequences feel less like a lesson and more like you’re watching something genuinely exciting unfold.

Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games anime review score

After watching Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games episode 1, the series has made its case. It’s charming, it’s specific, and it’s a lot more thoughtful than the premise might suggest on paper.

A yuri anime about elite school girls secretly addicted to Street Fighter could have easily leaned too hard in any one direction—too fanservice-heavy, too niche for non-FGC viewers, too surface-level for anyone actually invested in the genre.

Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games episode 1 doesn’t fall into any of those traps.

More than anything, this is a show for anyone who has ever felt trapped by expectations and discovered an unexpected sense of freedom through a video game. Aya and Mio are two sides of the same coin, and watching them slowly find each other is the kind of setup that makes you want to come back next week.

Watch the Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games anime on Crunchyroll when it releases on Tuesday, July 7, 2026.

League of Legends has no shortage of memorable champions, but few have generated as much curiosity as Corvin Locke.

From his lore to his unique playstyle, players have been eager to learn everything about the Ashen Exorcist, including who the Locke voice actor is.

In this article, we break down everything you need to know about Locke, from his background and story to the voices that bring him to life in English, Japanese, and other languages.

Who is Locke in League of Legends?

Locke, full name Corvin Locke, is officially titled the Ashen Exorcist and is the 173rd champion added to the League of Legends roster.

He comes after Zaahen as the latest addition to the game’s ever-growing champion pool—and is the only new champion Riot Games is releasing in 2026.

He is a mid lane AP assassin built around high burst damage, strong mobility, and aggressive all-in potential.

Behind his deadly playstyle is a dark and complex past. Locke is a Demacian exorcist who practices forbidden rites passed down through a family steeped in occultism.

Raised on deception and double standards, he came to believe that demons are not the root of human darkness but are the product of it.

Armed with soul nails and a grim sense of justice, he travels the world forcing that truth into the open, hunting down corruption one exorcism at a time.

Locke voice actors: Who plays the Ashen Exorcist in League of Legends?

LANGUAGES	LOCKE VOICE ACTORS	OTHER FAMOUS ROLES
English	Kieran Regan	Shikanoin Heizou (Genshin Impact) Arene (Arknights) Twenty-Fifth Bam (Tower of God: New World) John Wiggard (Fate/Strange Fake) Butter Roll Cookie (Cookie Run Kingdom)
Japanese	Kensho Ono	Strohl (Metaphor: ReFantazio) Diluc (Genshin Impact) Enforcer (Arknights) Tetsuya Kuroko (Kuroko no Basket) Giorno Giovanna (JoJo’s Bizzare Adventure)
Korean	Yoon Yong-sik	Phainon (Honkai Star Rail) Baby Cookie (Cookie Run Kingdom) Abalone Cookie (Cookie Run Kingdom)

Locke is voiced by Kieran Regan in English

Kieran Regan is an American voice actor based in Los Angeles, California. He is known in the anime dubbing scene, with roles across several major titles.

His most notable role is Shikanoin Heizou in Genshin Impact, a young detective from Inazuma. Other credits include Arene in Arknights, Twenty-Fifth Bam in Tower of God: New World, John Wiggard in Fate/Strange Fake, and Butter Roll Cookie in Cookie Run: Kingdom.

Locke is voiced by Kensho Ono in Japanese

Kensho Ono is a Japanese actor, voice actor, and singer from Fukuoka, Japan. He has been active in the industry for over two decades and is one of Japan’s most prolific seiyuus.

He voices Diluc in Genshin Impact, one of the game’s most popular 5-star Pyro characters. He is also widely known for voicing Tetsuya Kuroko in Kuroko no Basket and Giorno Giovanna in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. In 2022, he won the Best Lead Actor Award at the 16th Annual Seiyu Awards.

Outside of anime, he is also known as the Japanese dub voice of Harry Potter and Miles Morales in the Spider-Verse films.

Locke is voiced by Yoon Yong-sik in Korean

Yoon Yong-sik is a South Korean voice actor. Over the course of his career, he has built up an extensive range of roles spanning animation, games, and dubbed productions.

In gaming, he is best known for voicing Phainon in Honkai Star Rail, as well as Baby Cookie and Abalone Cookie in Cookie Run: Kingdom.

Beyond games, his credits include a wide range of dubbed roles in both animated films and series for Korean audiences.

It raises the question “Why do girls like yaoi?” and the real reasons run a lot deeper than just “pretty boys.”

So what is it about two guys falling in love on screen that captivates millions of female readers and viewers worldwide? The answer is more interesting than you’d think.

What is yaoi? The origin of the Boys’ Love genre

To understand why girls love yaoi, it helps to know what the genre is and where it came from.

Yaoi is a genre of manga, anime, and fan fiction that centers on romantic and sexual relationships between male characters.

The word itself is an acronym from the Japanese phrase “yama nashi, ochi nashi, imi nashi,” which loosely translates to “no climax, no resolution, no meaning.”

It was originally a self-deprecating joke used by doujinshi (self-published fan comic) creators in the 1970s and 80s, poking fun at stories that were light on plot but heavy on romance.

The genre grew out of shoujo manga circles, where female artists began creating stories that centered on emotional intimacy and male relationships in ways that mainstream manga simply wasn’t offering at the time.

Over time, it evolved and branched into what fans now commonly refer to as Boys’ Love, or BL, around the world.

Today, BL is the dominant term both in Japan and globally. Yaoi originally referred to more explicit, plot-light doujinshi content, while BL became the umbrella term for the broader commercial genre covering everything from sweet romances to mature stories.

In practice, the line between the two has blurred significantly over the years. Most fans and Japanese publishers now use BL as the default. If you hear someone say “yaoi,” they likely mean BL in the broader sense since the terms are used interchangeably more often than not.

Who reads yaoi? A look at the fujoshi culture

A lot of people read yaoi, but the genre’s biggest and most dedicated fanbase is overwhelmingly made up of women and girls.

In Japanese culture, female yaoi fans are called fujoshi, which literally translates to “rotten girl” — a tongue-in-cheek label that the community has largely embraced and reclaimed with pride.

Male fans of the genre are called fudanshi, and while they’re the minority, they’re a part of the fanbase too.

These terms have since been globalized, finding a permanent home in the international community’s vocabulary.

However, being a fujoshi isn’t just about reading yaoi or BL. It’s a whole identity within the fandom, one that comes with its own humor, its own vocabulary, and its own set of deeply held opinions about ships, story tropes, and character dynamics.

Fujoshi are known for being passionate, creative, and vocal, and they’ve been a driving force behind the global spread of BL culture.

Together, fujoshi and fudanshi communities have built a fandom that spans continents, languages, and platforms, from manga forums and fan fiction archives to social media and convention culture.

What might surprise most people is just how global the yaoi and BL fanbase is. From Southeast Asia to Latin America to Europe, BL has found passionate audiences far beyond Japan. In Thailand, the genre has influenced mainstream television, giving rise to an entire industry of BL live-action dramas with massive international viewership.

Why do girls like yaoi?

Why do girls like yaoi? The answer doesn’t lie in just one thing. Girls are drawn to yaoi for many reasons. These reasons may vary from person to person, but a few common themes come up again and again.

Breaking free from female stereotypes

One of the biggest reasons is the freedom from female stereotypes. In most mainstream romances, the female lead tends to follow a familiar script.

She’s passive, she waits, she’s defined largely by her relationship with the male lead. Yaoi removes that entirely.

There’s no female character to project onto, which gives female readers more freedom. They can enjoy the romance on its own terms, without the baggage of gender expectations getting in the way.

A different kind of romantic dynamic

Because both characters in a yaoi story are male, the relationship doesn’t automatically fall into the familiar push-and-pull of heterosexual romance.

This opens the door to a different kind of romantic tension, one where both characters have to actively explore vulnerability, power, and intimacy on their own terms.

So for readers who care more about how two people fall in love, yaoi delivers that in a way that a lot of other genres don’t, with emotional tension like no other.

The appeal of bishounen character design

A big part of yaoi’s visual appeal comes down to its roots in shoujo manga, a genre known for its expressive, beautifully drawn characters.

Bishounen, which literally translates to “beautiful boy,” is a character archetype that has been central to the genre from the very beginning. These characters are drawn with intention — delicate features, expressive eyes, and emotions worn openly on their faces.

For many readers, this visual language is highly appealing, and it’s a big part of what makes picking up a yaoi or BL title so inviting because they are drawn in a very similar art style.

Exploring mature themes safely

For some girls, yaoi also offers a safe space to explore themes of desire, identity, and relationships from a distance.

Because the story isn’t about them directly, there’s a layer of separation that makes it easier to engage with complex or intense emotions without it feeling too personal.

This distance can be especially meaningful when the themes being explored are ones that feel difficult or vulnerable to confront head-on, like questions about attraction, identity, or what you want from a relationship.

Experiencing these themes through fictional characters creates a buffer that makes the exploration feel lower stakes, while still being genuinely emotionally engaging.

After all, fiction has always been a space where readers and viewers work through things they can’t always put into words.

Yaoi creates a safe community for women

Beyond the stories themselves, yaoi comes with a community. Being a yaoi or BL fan means being part of a creative and deeply passionate fandom, one full of fan art, fan fiction, heated shipping debates, and people who get emotional about fictional couples.

Many in the community who consume BL stories are also big consumers of their official fan merch. Some exclusive merch are localized in their country of origin, while others can be bought online. As a result, online Group Order Manage (GOMs) are commonplace.

In Singapore for example, GOMs are typically conducted in community-run Fandom Telegram Channels which creates another layer of subculture within the BL fandom.

This explains why for a lot of girls, the social experience of being a yaoi fan is just as appealing as the genre itself.

It’s also worth saying that sometimes, the reason girls like yaoi is simply because they are good stories. BL as a genre has produced some genuinely moving, beautifully written narratives about longing, acceptance, and love that would resonate with anyone, regardless of who the characters are.

Recommended yaoi titles for beginners

New to yaoi and not sure where to start? Here are some of the best titles to ease you into the genre.

Yaoi anime for beginners

Yaoi manga for beginners

So, why do girls like yaoi? As it turns out, the answer is anything but simple.

At its core, yaoi tells stories about love, vulnerability, and human connection. And great stories have a way of finding their audience, regardless of who they’re about.