>>129996 (OP)
I never got that attached to buy merch while I do mostly for smaller Vtubers because stuff feels a lot more personalized at that level. Really easy to get parasocial so I try and remind myself every time about that and set limits on myself. I got in Vtubing pretty late and really only watch Biboo and IRys only occasionally so Hololive is only getting my view mainly. I have watched some VODs for the others but they never grabbed me but I do understand why people liked older members when Vtubing was still a novel thing. My only slight regret though still is getting attached to Niji for a bit before it imploded in spectacular fashion. But I did get my kamioshi from that time so yeah.
>>169369
Going off topic but mainly the issue here is that Japan has lost ground and purchasing power for animation with paying too little and outsourcing too much and China is retaking its place as the leader in Asian animation where they made the first animated feature film in Asia with Princess Iron Fan and subsequently lost their lead after being bogged down by world events.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iExwO1v_V
Japan is doing some pants on head retarded stuff with how they fund animation and their culture and the fact that means that China is steadily moving away from funding anime to funding donghua or Chinese animation not to mention they are adopting tech like CGI and AI to reduce costs on an even more fundamental level. So yeah, might not happen that soon but medium term, it is bound to happen unfortunately. I already watch mostly older stuff I missed because of how bad the modern Japanese anime scene is for the most part.