Last year, some anime fans with extremely specific tastes hit upon the idea of taking a picture of their favorite character, whether male or female, and subtly sliding a positive pregnancy test into the image. Not everyone is attracted to the healthy radiance of approaching motherhood, though, so now there’s a new burgeoning trend for those who want to dance on the razor-thin line between otaku creativeness and creepiness: using photo editing software to slip a chained collar around an anime character’s neck.

If you’re looking for someone to thank/blame for this artistic innovation, that would be Twitter user Kyoka, who recently whipped up a drawing of a collar with a transparent background.

https://twitter.com/anzuflower/status/598106835103584256

Of course, keeping an empty collar around is just wasteful, so Kyoka quickly put it to use.

And with that, the idea of slapping collars on characters was ironically free and on its way to inspiring others to follow Kyoka’s lead.

▼ Remember, if you’re going to subdue an anime idol, traditional etiquette stipulates you also mention her measurements and age.

https://twitter.com/Daisy_DaisyFD3S/status/598317610921381888

It’s not just female characters who’re suddenly finding themselves bound, either.

https://twitter.com/QnskO/status/598130830838403072

▼ It’s a good thing Ace of Diamond’s Eijun is a pitcher, because he’d need a mighty long chain on that collar if he was running all over the outfield.

https://twitter.com/nyacoo218/status/598135497974657024

▼ Likewise, as long the other end of that chain is attached to the cockpit of Inaho’s combat robot, the Aldnoah.Zero mecha jock should be able to do his job just fine (although maybe someone should get the dude a shirt).

https://twitter.com/mezashi002/status/598143839619055616

If you’re ready to move on to advanced techniques, you can try rotating or reversing the image of the collar to better fit with the rest of the scene.

https://twitter.com/mezashi002/status/598135928415092736

And while the trend seems to be localized in Japan at the moment, that doesn’t mean characters from abroad aren’t also getting the collar treatment.

▼ Did Mike and Raph get away just in time, or are they the ones responsible for their ninja brothers’ current predicament?

And finally, not every fan artist sees this as a chance for some kinky fantasizing. After checking around, we found there’s at least one fairly accurate representation of the sort of unsexy reaction being drug around by the throat is more likely to actually produce.

https://twitter.com/aburage09/status/598314138247401472

Still, it seems for the majority of those participating in the fad, the idea is to use bondage to deepen their bonds with their 2-D crush.

Source: Jin