Sources

Source for ICv2: https://icv2.com/articles/comics/view/13709/bookscan-top-20-gns-index

For Gacha Thesis

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein:  https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/einstein-s-parable-of-quantum-insanity/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CInsanity%20is%20doing%20the%20same,usually%20attributed%20to%20Albert%20Einstein. - Author: Frank Wilczek. September 23, 2015, pg1.

"Adolescents and young adults who participate in video game microtransaction have been identified as the most susceptible group for problem gambling." Sorce: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.940281/full#:~:text=Social%20media%20has%20frequently%20reported,and%20emotional%20problems%20(12). - Authors: Anson Chui Yan Tang, Paul Hong Lee, Simon Ching Lam, Summer Cho Ngan Siu, Carmen Jiawen Ye and Regina Lai-Tong Lee. 05 August, 2022. page 4.

"Offering limited-time events in social games motivates players to pay considerable amount of money during limited-time events to obtain rare and valuable items or cards." Source: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1046878118819677 - Authors: Akiko Shibuya, Mizuha Teramoto, Akiyo Shoun, and Kumiko Akiyama. 2019.

Extract 1: "I think I've spent about $70,000 on the game. Maybe more." Extract 2: "I completely fucked my life over," is how Genshin Impact streamer Tectone described his time with Summoner's War, a gacha game with fantasy RPG elements, "Four months. Had nothing. I lived on the streets or I lived in my car."

 Source: https://www.alittlebithuman.com/a-little-bit-addicted-how-gacha-games-brought-the-casino-experience-to-your-phone/ Author: Allia Luzong. October 12, 2021.

Whale Definition: A person who spend incredible amount of money in gacha type games which makes him/her ultra powerful and godlike. Source: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Whale Author: Darkebiru, Date: November 12th 2016.