My favorite activity to do at anime conventions is to attend panels with niche topics, and Anime Milwaukee had a huge variety of them! A panel I enjoyed at Anime Milwaukee 2025 was the panel “Dive Back in Time: An Intro to Link Click” led by @skitty_cos and @icecoldstar. The anime Link Click has been on my list for a while and I kept hearing good things about the anime from other weeb friends. I still didn’t know much about the show however and decided to check out this panel. 

Before sharing highlights of the panel, I’ll give brief information about the anime Link Click. It is a chinese anime (donghua) made by the studio Haoliners Animation League who is also known for the anime Heaven Official’s Blessing. It is a slice of life, fantasy, sci fi anime about two photography owners named Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang who solve mysteries with supernatural powers and time travel by going into photos. It is also set in a city in China. Here’s the trailer:

I liked how the panelists described each major character without giving major spoilers about the plot. They explained who the show addresses social issues that currently occur in China such as unsafe working conditions at gaming companies and a natural disaster that was based on a real event. They also explained how one episode featured a martial art story (wuxia) based in the Taoist and Buddhist religion. It’s great to see different religions being represented in anime!

My favorite topic the panelists talked about was censorship in China and how it influenced this anime. Many fans believe this anime to be a BL (Boys Love) but the show technically isn’t a BL, and if it was it won’t be allowed to air in China. China’s censorship bureau censors many topics such as any criticism of the government, promotion of smoking and drinking, explicit content, homosexuality, and many others. I was also shocked to hear that a show can already be airing in China and then suddenly get dropped without a clear reason. I didn’t know that censorship there is very strict!

Lastly, the panelists ended the panel with reasons why to watch Link Click which includes its story, the characters, you get to learn more about China, it’s cool art style, its great opening and ending themes, it will make you cry, and the fandom is great and has cool theories. This panel got me hooked and I can’t wait to start watching it!