Sidegrade · 14 chapters
What the service is, and what changed in it.
A Japanese game, a store, a creative tool: each arrives with a version, a free tier and its own set of rules.
One chapter per question. What the thing is, which edition you are looking at, and what a recent change altered. A release, a delisting or a revised term can be a chapter on its own; none of them waits to be merged into a permanent overview.
The latest chapters
Earlier chapters →Building a VTuber Avatar in VRoid Studio for Free
Every VTuber channel starts with the same quiet decision. Which program do I open? Most people assume the answer costs money. So they budget a few...
Live2D Cubism Price: What FREE Blocks and PRO Costs
I built my first VTuber model on Live2D Cubism's free version, which is legal for paid work. That is why most people start there and only...
Shonen Jump vs Manga Plus: Where to Read Legally
Shonen Jump and Manga Plus are the two official, legal ways to read Shueisha manga in English. Most people do not realize they are not the...
MZ or MV: Which RPG Maker Should You Buy
MZ or MV is the question every new RPG Maker buyer hits. The answer depends almost entirely on what you already own. Both are one-time-purchase engines...
Switch 2 Japan vs International: What Actually Differs
Switch 2 hardware is the same machine everywhere it ships. The "Japan version" question that floats around forums is almost never about the console itself. It...
Opening a Japanese Nintendo Account Without a Japanese Address
A Japanese Nintendo Account is the cleanest way to reach games and demos that never leave the Japan eShop. No shipping, no customs, no physical import....
Clip Studio Paint EX vs PRO: Worth the Upgrade?
Clip Studio Paint is the drawing app most serious webtoon and manga artists actually use. The buying question is almost never "should I use it" but...
Reading Pixiv in English: A Practical Guide
Pixiv is Japan's largest art community. English readers can reach most of it for free. The real barrier is not access. It is navigation. Anime fans...
Three ways in
Each one leads to a chapter that already exists, not to a menu of options.
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You are choosing between two versions.
Start with the chapter that puts the two editions side by side. Read MZ or MV: Which RPG Maker Should You Buy.
More on Software. -
You want to know what the free tier removes.
Read the chapter that names the limit before it names the price. Read Live2D Cubism Price: What FREE Blocks and PRO Costs.
More on AI. -
You cannot open the account at all.
Begin with the chapter on region and sign-in rules. Read Opening a Japanese Nintendo Account Without a Japanese Address.
Why the version comes first
Before the number on a pricing page, three things tend to matter more: what the service actually is, which edition you are looking at, and what a recent change altered. Versions move quickly, and a chapter written for one release says which release it was.
A chapter starts at one question and ends at one dated answer. It does not open with a comparison grid and leave you to work out which row applies.
Sidegrade is a notebook by Jordan Wells on Japanese services, games and creative software, one dated chapter at a time.