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There have been two big stories in the world of Studio Ghibli in the past few weeks. The biggest, and most important one, is that Princess Mononoke has enjoyed one of the most remarkable returns to US cinemas we can remember. The other, more annoying story about the beloved anime studio is that the people making terrible AI images based on Studio Ghibli films are so desperate for attention that they’re making fake cease-and-desist letters from Studio Ghibli for reasons that escape us entirely.

In a desperate attempt to make AI proponents into some kind of persecuted people, social media user teej posted a letter they claimed was from Studio Ghibli, ordering them to cease using the name “Gib” as their “photo sharing app that turns all photos into Studio Ghibli style images.” However, it took about 30 seconds for people in the comments to point out how obviously fake the letter was. The email address attached didn’t work and, most damning of all, the law firm that claims to be representing Studio Ghibli has never existed. The whole thing was fake, just like any sympathy we might have had for people who share AI images and call it art.

Personally, we think One Piece anime director Henry Thurlow summed it up pretty nicely when he said, “If you don’t have the time to dedicate to becoming an amazing chef, you don’t deserve a Michelin star.” And if you aren’t willing to put the time and effort needed to create art that actually impinges on Studio Ghibli’s copyright, you don’t deserve the time and effort it would take for them to send you a letter telling you to stop. This whole episode has felt like a sad attempt to get senpai to notice them, except instead of holding up a sign at a convention they're burning the rainforest.

Each week, Popverse's resident anime expert Trent Cannon runs down the latest and, dare we say "greatest," in anime and manga in Popverse Jump. Some recent columns have included... 

• Why the finales of My Hero Academia, Jujutsu Kaisen, and One Piece feel like the end of an era in manga
• Why is One Piece more popular now that the anime is 25 years old? We asked around and found out
• Dan Da Dan is weird, profoundly inappropriate, and the perfect anime this season
• Why One Piece's Monkey D. Luffy is the perfect anime hero for the dark times ahead
• 40 years after its debut, Dragon Ball is a pop culture force like few others
• Dan Da Dan's most emotionally devastating sequence proves that sometimes words aren't necessary
• Gnosia, the "Among Us meets Everything Everywhere All at Once" visual novel is getting an anime adaptation that needs to be as weird as possible
• Assassination Classroom is a Shonen anime well worth revisiting, ten years on
• Sony is making big moves to own the anime industry by buying Kadokawa, publisher of Oshi no Ko, Sword Art Online, and Konosuba
• 2025 is the year One Punch Man season 3 finally adapts the cosmically weird Monster Association Arc and I can't wait