They've very recently done stuff to simplify it, it's it's not a big deal if you forget to do it. I was unsure and forgot the first couple months. You can take your own time to figure it out and it's not like you need to link every thread you participate in.

Michelle is anime only, yes. At least as far as I remember. I have no idea if they are from the anime or not since I don't have FT characters in the game, but I've played manga version against anime version in other canons in the past, it can be pretty interesting.