>>920974
More thoughts on this after sleeping on it:
So StarsJP arguably had an even worse problem than EN for collabing. There's an old clip of MaFia going, "We see each other in person, so we don't feel the need to collab" without realizing that the collab is more for the fans. Astel's been really pushing for more collabs to promote the branch. It does seem like they've had more unity in official events this year, though that's only the impression I've been getting from whatever promotion has been making it onto my homepage. They're fortunate to be able to get everyone IRL more often to have branch events, like their recent sports days. We've had IRL content like Tempus week for the anniversary after Japan arc, but the likelyhood of us getting that again is low. Still, I'd like it if our management could prioritize more official types of events, even if they're just gaming streams or whatever. The "bonds between men" and having something to cheer for has always been a core part of the appeal for EN. I remember some anons said that some of the HQ fans that left after grads came back around to check out Armis because they had that sense of group unity that had fallen apart for Tempus over their first year. Post-Everglow was nice, but it sucked that the sense of bonds came AFTER the concert, not before, which was a major flub on their part. Personally, I think the lack of that "story arc" of rooting for them as a group is the reason I've been more excited about orange men unity in Japan than I ever was about the concert. It's also why underlying resentments seemed to have exploded around the concert. We've been describing it as "lack of unity," but "bonds between men" is a more specific way to describe the issue that hopefully gets it past their thick skulls.
On a tangent note, this best describes the gap between more old school fujos and fujos that enjoy the direct pandering. It's also what male vtubers don't seem to get about the core shipping. It's why people ship protagonists with antagonists and why sports anime is so popular with a group of people that probably hate sports. Sports anime, by its very nature, has that buildup of a group of guys working towards a common goal. It makes you root for their journey as they struggle to improve their weaknesses and celebrate their success. For all the guys and manes who are /here/, please get this through your thick skulls as well.