The 杏ちゃん trending today (May 30) refers to the character 白石杏 (SHIRAISHI An) from the mobile rhythm game Project Sekai. The ちゃん (chan) is often used in calling someone close and/or used to express some sort of cuteness. Anyone familiar with otaku culture must understand thoroughly the delicacy of this expression.

Project Sekai’s full name is Project Sekai: Colorful Stage feat. Hatsune Miku, a gatcha style rhythm game developed by Colorful Palette and Crypton Future Media and published by SEGA.

Shiraishi An is a character in the game, and, like many gatcha games, different outfits of her are regularly released as new cards. Tomorrow (May 31), the new event 「青空に願うユア・ハピネス！」 will start in the game, and a card of An-chan in wedding dress is the new card in this event (naturally, only available in gatcha).

Characters in wedding dress have always been hot topic for the players of gatcha games (and often cash cows for games). The discussion about An-chan’s new outfit caused the tag to trend on Twitter.

Learn more about Project Sekai on wikipedia.