I like to think that Azumanga Daioh is popular, but more on a "cult classic" level. In that regard, the series doesn't garner that much attention nowadays, especially since the original manga is around 15 years old now, and its run wasn't that long.

My folder with all my images of her, compared to the folders of other characters I have, is pretty measly. There have been occasions where I wish there was regular, quality fan art of her like some other characters have, but I know there are people who adore those characters, but wish they had less attention.

Heck, there are some who have waifus that are lucky to have anything in terms of merchandise or fan art. I've been aiming to appreciate what I have, instead of longing for what others enjoy.

The grass is always greener on the other side, as they say.

Having a popular character as a waifu is not always a good thing

On one hand it's hard. Zero merch to buy, which seems to be a huge part of the culture here. I don't need it to have a strong relationship with him, but it would be nice.

On the other hand, at the risk of being snooty/pretenious it's nice to me that I don't love him for his popularity but for his personality. And I've seen people with the same waifu fight viciously on other boards, though that does not seem to be a problem here.

>>14634 More competition for the waifu and more people talkin' shit about her/him I'm guessing?

I don't really care if I think the other girls from the series get better attention than my waifu, people will like what they like I guess, and sometimes it's better for the reason above... I don't think my waifu got the total shaft although it's possible the creators just used her to expand the plot and themes... In any case being the type of person I am I'm always hungry to know more information about her and have more fanart... I guess I accept what I have and make/simulate my own -- that's what having a waifu is about, right?

Lots of people dislike Kanako. She did treat the other Hinata Sou residents unkindly. However shes really a good person at heart. Just bad at dealing with people and her emotions. She gets better as the series goes on.

I was thinking Kanako must be very special for Ken Akamatsu otherwise he would not have bothered introducing her to the manga so late in the game and then give such focus. However she seems to be the one with the least amount of fanart. Shes often left out in official works. Even in the special love hina chapter that Akamatsu released at the end of Negima, she wasn't there- and I was really looking forward to seeing what she was like.

My waifu isn't exactly unpopular or unknown but still from a pretty niche game. Even if said game is discussed she rarely get mentioned, mostly just by the way. If she get threads about her there still seem to be quite a few people who like her though. The game itself is a really big thing for people who like that genre, So I think she is "semi popular" or something.

And im pretty happy about the fact she isn't really known. Im one of the guys who don't like other people who share my affection to her. Even less if they call her a waifu. So I would wish she was even less known. Sure, I cant have her all for myself and thats pretty damn selfish, but I really really hate people who say shit like "shes hot, I sure would like to do lewd things with her" or "lol she is so kawai, she is my waifu nao ^ _^ :33".

The more unknown your waifu is the less shit you have to stumble upon. In my case only every few months I have to read shit like that. So im pretty lucky I guess. I dont really care about the lack of merchandise, if I really wanted that I could just do it myself, like printing wallscrolls, custom dakimakuras or stuff like that. But I have her in my mind every single day, she's the first person I see when i wake up and the last one I see before I sleep, so I really dont need that.

>>14640 ehh I've seen so much BS I just take it with a grain of salt and leave it I guess... I even have some BS fantasies as well. There was a time where my waifuism was hardcore serious but I don't think that was really any good for me or my waifu

My waifu is from Touhou, which is very popular source. And to be honest, i really dislike most Touhou fans. I find their jokes and memes stupid, and the way some of them depict character, who is my waifu, can be really annoying for me. But after a while i learned to simply ignore and stay away from such things. It's not like anybody or anything can affect my relationship with my waifu, who is in my mind, one with me. That's how i see it - i already have her all to myself, and nothing can ever change that. It's not like by browsing stupid sites, reading stupid posts, and reacting to them in angry manner i could gain anything.

About "waifu competition", i find it pretty stupid too, for a reason i already mentioned above. I know there are/were some guys on TC who happen to have same character i have as their waifu. It doesn't make me feel jealous at all, my waifu is still mine and mine alone, while their waifus are their own, even if source character is the same.

Because my waifu is so popular, i never really experienced any lack of fanart. I'm not really into merchandise in general, but i have a daki of her(and aiming for a second one).
Also, even though i mentioned my cold attitude towards Touhou fandom, sometimes i'm still able to stumble upon really nice doujin (not H, those are always terrible), which gives me some new ideas and inspiration for my own fantasy.

Having either popular or unpopular character as a waifu/hasubando has both advantages and disadvantages anyway, so i'd say it's all about how you deal with them.

It used to bother me that Keisuke was from such an old franchise (comparatively) that never had a huge Western fandom (although I suppose it's decent-sized), but I barely even think about it anymore, especially because most are fujoshi in it for the porn. There is a small resurgence of popularity in some circles but it likely won't last very long, and he's a character that people either love (and typically misinterpret) or hate.

From a meta sense, I sincerely doubt there are more than 2-3 fans who have thought as much about Keisuke in regards to how he fits within the story and about his life and the symbolism in his story, in the (English-speaking) Western fandom. I can barely read Japanese and I can't read any other Asian languages so I don't know about there, but I think people tend to just look at the surface with him and don't pick up on the smaller things. It bothers me a little but I think this is a common problem with people who have waifu.

I get mildly peeved when I do see his fans because almost all of them are women who call him their husbando even though they have 3DPD boyfriends/husbands/etc. At the end of the day there's nothing I can do about it, though, and I'm more peeved at their behavior than anything else about the situation, so I try to not let it bug me too much. I also don't admit to our relationship anywhere but here so fighting isn't an issue.

I guess in the end I'm not particularly bothered by it... buying merch/interacting with fellow fans/looking at fanart aren't my main ways of interacting with him anymore anyway. I also get about 1-5 pieces of fanart a week that I save, which is more than a lot of people could say, even if it's slower than more recent franchises. In a way I'm lucky that he comes from a popular company, because people who play their newer and more popular works will probably go back and play their first game if they liked the first game they played. (I myself played it originally partially because I enjoyed Nitro+'s other works and was curious about their BL division.)

It feels pretty terrible, personally. I don't actually know whether I'd prefer her to be popular or not. With popularity comes merchandise and fan art, but that also means all kinds of merchandise and fan art. One way or another I'll almost always stumble upon the dirty kind, which is really soul crushing for me. While I often don't care about how popular she is, nor any other character, sometimes I'd wish she'd come out on top in her series (she actually got 2nd place prior to this year's voting, where she's now sharply declined in the polls). I don't think it's the creator who sidelined her but rather specific parts parts of the fan base, who will often shun any character deemed too popular, and will always say nasty things about them. This is almost entirely because other parts of the fan base will make up personalities for her and others (which I can agree with them on this part, I hate that too). It makes me sad, but I always see it as a win/win. If she declines in popularity, that means that she will hardly be paid attention to and there won't be as much demeaning fan art based on demand. if she grows more popular, then I'd also be happy more people are agreeing that she is the best in her class or the most likable.

My husbando is unpopular officially but he's reasonably popular amongst the fans. He's not everybody's favourite character and if they did a vote he probably wouldn't make it high up the ranks (there's a lot of characters and he's only a support character in one part so it's fair) but I've never seen anybody say anything negative about him. Which makes up for it in a way.

By "unpopular officially" I mean that he's gotten left out of a couple of things where a lot of people felt he should have been included, but the fact that a lot of fans were disappointed even if they weren't a huge fan of his really warmed me up and made the whole thing sting much less. It's nice to know he's loved by others besides me.

As for merch he doesn't have any that's decent but he should be getting something in a couple of years or later. Not something I'm usually interested in but he'll be the exception.

>How about when that happens while at the same time a character you despise is given the total opposite treatment than the one you like?
Not anywhere near to what you described in your post but, as silly as it sounds, there is one character who I did feel took his place in the piece he was left out of but time has dealt with that I suppose. Not much use in blaming anybody even if I am disappointed.

>How do you guys feel about having a unpopular character or a character from a unpopular series as a waifu or husbando?
I used to be disappointed there's virtually no canon about her. Nowadays I just don't care anymore, if anything it's better that things stay that way so I don't have to revise anything to align my interpretation of her with the canon.

>How about [...] when that happens while at the same time a character you despise is given the total opposite treatment than the one you like?
That's too specific. I did have trouble with a character I didn't like being overly popular in detriment of my waifu, but not only the people I met who had that other one as their waifu were complete bros I figured my waifu and her probably get along really well and such toxic behaviour could only do harm.

>How do you deal and feel about the lack of merchandise or lack of fanart?
Sometimes it bothers me how 80% of the new art I get is plain shit or has always other characters along, but most of the time I only look at my 40 or so favourite pictures anyway. And I couldn't care less for merch.

>I'm sure [...] . I know one can't help liking who what they like, that's true, but had you the chance would you prefer someone like that?
You said yourself such chance doesn't exist, so what's the point?

I think it makes me appreciate what i get a lot more. Whenever i find new art of my waifu i feel like i've been hit by lightning, it's exciting, considering she is from a very unpopular show and nobody but me really cares about her that much, finding any new content of her is like striking gold, however that doesn't make me feel any better about the lack of any sort of following.

I feel like she deserves more, there is nothing for her. there is only one piece of merchandise for her and its fan made in very limited numbers. Weekly, I Google search her name in multiple languages and multiple search engines to see if there is any conversation of her, usually there is nothing. It's been two years since her show ended and the amount of fan art she has is a joke compared to anime that is even considered Obscure.

I look at other waifus and i wonder how it must feel to have such massive numbers of fans, art, merchandise ect, i couldn't imagine, thousands of people buying figures, dakis, and posters of her, or artists drawing her not for money but because the LIKE her. Just the though of others being interested in her is otherworldly. It's unfortunate.

I had some free time in the evening so I decided to look through large pages looking for some good, untagged pics of my husbando. This pic I both love because it's beautiful, but hurts because he's just a tiny afterthought at the bottom compared to everyone else in it.

I don't love him for his irl or anime fame, and he's a boy in an idol girls anime so I know he's going to get left out of a lot of works. But I guess I wish more people saw him like I do.