The Ultimate Anime Mail Club
Beyond the Needle: Why I Launched the Kaiju Crushes Art Mail Club
Industry Insights
Author: Ren Behan
Connecting with Otakus Outside of the Tattoo Chair
In August pf 2026, I closed my tattoo books for all of 2027. It was wild to realize that I'd be locked in for a whole year making awesome anime tattoos with my awesome clients. But it also made me realize how limiting it was - I wasn't sharing my art with anyone outside of my tattoo booth. I'd been a professional illustrator for well over 10 years before I became a tattoo artist. And while I've been a tattoo artist for over 8 years, I still spent so much of my free time creating original marker illustrations - but I wasn't really sharing them. I also hated the social media hustle - that so many people who loved my work could only do so through a screen and with surface-level interaction. I wanted to do something more tangible - and an otaku mail club seemed like the perfect fit! And because my tattoo books open on Feb 14th for 2028 - Valentines Day felt like the perfect sort of inspiration!
First, let's introduce Val - the club's Kaiju Representative!
Val is my favorite kaiju pal - he is the face of this special anime mail club. Val is a Nekomata - a supernatural spirit cat in Japanese folklore. Nekomata are best known for their ability to shapeshift and for being mischievous. More often, they are malevolent and spiteful towards humans. With the ability to raise the dead or play puppet master by possessing people, they were quite feared!
But you don't have to worry about that from Val - he's a bit of an oddball. While other nekomata are arrogant and hateful, he's just happy to be here! Give him some mochi and lamp oil, and he's more of a goof than a vengeful monster. Don't be fooled though - Val does take great pleasure in bringing chaos and destruction like any kaiju would, but he'd rather do it alongside his friends. That's where you come in!
Introducing the Kaiju Crushes
A mystery Valentine letter from an anime character? Please, do tell more!
I have a love/hate relationship with Valentines Day - not only do I not need a single day to make my own loved ones feel special, but it's a holiday that's grossly overrun with teddy bears, a single spectrum of colors, chocolates, and basic flowers. So I wanted to change it up!
I'm waned to turn every month into the Valentine's Day season, but redefine it with our love for anime! Valentines isn't supposed to be just about sappy romance - it's also about family, ride-or-die besties, explosive rivals who secretly care, heartwarming mentors sending you words of encouragement, and of course - crushes! It's the perfect concoction for showcasing the Shonen power of friendship or invoking the wrath of Kaijus! Some months will be inspired by anime shonen heroes and villains, and others by completely original kaiju characters exploring Japanese lore and mythology!
Ultimately, the Kaiju Crushes is an otaku mail club inspired by the heart of Valentines day - mystery secret admirers sending you tokens of love! But it not just the sort of sappy love typically expected of a Valentine. What makes it fun is the mystery - not knowing who will show up and color your mailbox each month! I wanted to spark the community and celebrate our favorite fandoms in a totally fun and unique way.
There are two membership tiers:
The Standard Membership ($10): The main feature of the letter is a 5"x7" quality art print of my marker illustration featuring the monthly mystery character taking a selfie. In addition to this are two themed stickers: one of a themed Val emote, and one for the featured character. For the Valentine aspect of the pack, included is an in-character Valentine art letter (also an art print, btw!) that plays off the theme! All of these come wrapped in a custom Vellum featuring the themed Val emote, and tucked in the monthly club letter exploring the theme.
The Plus+ membership ($14): Members in this tier get other goodies in addition to what comes in the Standard Membership. Plus tier members get two bonus stickers: one large sticker of the selfie art, and a large themed character sticker. They also get to vote on the character type, vibes, and theme to help sway the direction future letters may take. In the Kaiju Portal, they have access to a special community for plus members where can can not only vote, but also get sneak peeks, access to digital goodies, exclusive merch perks, and even priority tattoo booking at special rates when my books open!
Sample Standard Membership Letter featuring Val - the Kaiju Crushes Kaiju Representative!
The Kaiju Portal
A special membership server!!!?
One of my favorite features of the Kaiju Crushes is the Kaiju Portal! With many other mail clubs, members could only interact via the mail club's social media posts. With the Kaiju Crushes anime mail club, members have access to what is essentially a specialized forum exclusively for Kaiju Crushes members! All members have access to the member community, and plus members have access to both the standard community and the Plus+ member community (where they can access some of their bonus goodies). This way, members have a whole army of otakus experiencing the excitement of this mail club together - and we all share a common interest to geek out over!
Kaiju Crushes Sign-Up Deadlines
When should I sign up for the next letter drop?
The monthly cut-off for signups is the last day of each month @11:59pm. If you sign-up after this deadline, you will recieve the next letter drop as your first order. For example, if you sign-up on October 1st, your first order will ship in November.
How does shipping work?
The Kaiju Crushes art mailing club ships in envelopes with stamps to stay affordable and accessible to members - this also means that orders do not have tracking information. Allow up to 7 business days after your fulfillment confirmation email for orders to arrive. Please be aware that holiday delays, bad weather, routing errors, and sorting issues may push this timeline to 14 days for your order to arrive. Members will receive an email when their pack is on its way!
The Letter Archive - Collector Kits
What if I missed a past letter?
That's why we have a letter archive!
Collector kits are for those who may have joined the Kaiju Crushes club late, or would rather be able to choose what letters they get as a one-time purchase.
Once a month closes, the remaining inventory is converted into individual Collector Kits. Inventory is limited, and once stock is out, that's it for that monthly drop! Doing it this way keeps prints as limited editions. Collector Kits contain the same contents as the Kaiju Crushes Plus+ Tier Membership and can be purchased online or in-studio. The monthly subscription is offered at a highly discounted rate to award the Kaiju Crushes ongoing community and loyalty members - so collector kits are priced at the actual retail value of the contents inside. Want to see what's currently in stock? Check out the Kaiju Crushes Letter Archive!
Does This Anime Mail Club's Vibe fit Yours?
Become an Official Kaiju!
Membership is open, and your next letter is just ahead! Join the community, and celebrate the best of anime with your fellow otakus!
Copyright 2026. Ren Behan INK LLC. All Rights Reserved.