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Oshi No Ko Is An Early Anime Of The Year Contender<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/video><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nWith headphones enthusiasts, particularly those who enjoy high-performance, Chinese-made, or \u201cchi-fi,\u201d in-ear monitors (IEMs), the war is less carnal, since the languid anime girls that decorate the box art are presented more as muses than obvious sexual fodder. But, still, it carries on.<\/p>\n
Though IEM girls aren\u2019t usually explicit, they are sexualized, or at least, romanticized, by the people that buy them. Headphone fans will occasionally refer to these cartoon girls\u2014who are, typically, original art made exclusively for a particular IEM, not existing anime franchise characters modified for marketing\u2014as \u201cmascots.\u201d But, more frequently, they talk about them in terms of \u201cwaifu,\u201d<\/span> the manga-devotee shorthand for \u201cattractive, vaguely Asian woman.\u201d<\/p>\nWhat, apparently, makes IEM girls \u201cwaifu\u201d material is the fact that they look like children. They\u2019re frequently willowy, with ethereal babyfaces or actual billowing schoolgirl uniforms, like in the case of Moondrop\u2019s $360 Blessing 2 Dusk<\/span>, a collaboration with popular headphones reviewer Crinacle<\/span>. Sometimes they decorate only the IEM box, like the snowy-haired girl gazing from Tanchjim\u2019s $40 OLA<\/span>, and sometimes they seem intended to personify a product\u2019s soul, like Moondrop\u2019s infamous Instagram post of a girl with torn stockings covered in\u2026um, yogurt?<\/p>\n\n
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A console staple<\/strong>Because the Xbox Series S is $30 off, you can put that $30 towards storage, an extra controller, or the Xbox Game Pass\u202fUltimate.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\u201cPoured yogurt on the headphone,\u201d says a translation of the now-deleted post<\/span>, implying that the deeply blushing girl is actually a Moondrop headphone, one that is covered in yogurt.<\/p>\nDo they want people to fuck the headphones? The fans I talked to don\u2019t seem to think it\u2019s that deep.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t overthink the anime girls<\/strong><\/h2>\n\u201cI didn\u2019t know [anime girls on IEM box art] was a \u2018trend\u2019 until I\u2019d heard of [the company] Moondrop<\/span> and how people in the West thought it was unusual,\u201d headphones fan M tells me over Reddit chat. \u201cI live in Asia, so anime artworks aren\u2019t really that rare or unusual. I think it gives the products and brands a sense of personality.\u201d<\/p>\nOr, if not a personality, then at least a bit of mild, memorable sex appeal you wouldn\u2019t normally associate with tech, like how a beer buzz helps get you excited for sitting on your couch and eating Bugles.<\/p>\n
\u201c[IEM anime girls help] attract more consumers,\u201d Jeremiah, another headphone admirer on Reddit, says. And \u201csometimes, it makes the IEM more recognizable. Like, if you see a ponytail girl with glasses, you instantly know this is the Blessing 2 Dusk.\u201d<\/p>\n