I suppose it is inevitable, in the era of internet memes, that a pretty blonde appointed to a prominent leadership position will become the subject of some creepiness.

But anime fan art? Really? (h/t Jen)

In Japan, people watching events unfolding in Crimea appear to have become captivated by the region’s newly-appointed attorney general.

Clips of a press conference with Natalia Poklonskaya have been shared widely on Japanese platforms, says website Rocketnews24. She was appointed to the post on 11 March and formerly served as a senior prosecutor for the city of Simferopol.

In particular, one video in which Poklonskaya listens to a reporter’s question has been viewed nearly 300,000 times since it was posted to a Japanese YouTube channel. There is no translation of her answer. Some people appear to be so taken with the seemingly charming prosecutor, they are turning out manga images and anime fan art inspired by her.

Okay fine, it’s a tribute or something. But serving as a senior prosecutor for a city of 362,000 people that serves as the capital of a disputed subnational territory, then becoming attorney general for that entire region, all by the age of 34, is at least as impressive as being really pretty. Just sayin’.

It’s also at least as impressive as being the main character in a Grand Theft Auto game, which she is also about to be (unless that was an April Fool’s joke on the part of the International Business Times).

Perhaps this is all best summed up by Tumblr user Kishona:

Welcome to the world. Where you can’t even be an ATTORNEY GENERAL in charge of a very important worldwide issue without being made into someone’s “waifu.”

So I guess my point is this: Natalia Poklonskaya is not your waifu. She is somewhere between being, at best, an accomplished young attorney at the center of a geopolitical mess; or at worst, a stooge put in place by a Russian dictator to distract idiots with her pretty.

I put together an Imgur album to help you remember all of this: