These expensive headphones come with a controversial Waifus

In almost every niche online community, there are two types of people: those who like porn related to their vague interests, and those who don’t.

Especially with headphone enthusiasts those who enjoy high-end Chinese-made or “chi-fi” in-ear monitors (IEMs), the war is less carnal, as the frail anime girls who adorn the box art are presented more as muses , than obviously sex fodder. But still it continues.

Although IEM girls are usually not overt, they are sexualized or at least romanticized by the people who buy them. Headphone fans will sometimes refer to these cartoon girls – which are usually original art made exclusively for a specific IEM, rather than existing characters from an anime franchise modified for marketing – as “mascots”. But more often they talk about them in terms of “the dead,” manga devotees’ shorthand for “attractive, vaguely Asian female.”

What clearly makes the IEM girls “waifu” material is the fact that they look like children. They’re often willowy, with ethereal baby faces or actual billowing schoolgirl uniforms, as in the case of Moondrop’s $360 Blessings 2 Twilightcollaboration with popular headphone reviewers Crinacle. Sometimes they only adorn the IEM box, like the snow-haired girl looking out from Tanchjim’s $40 OLAand sometimes they seem meant to embody the soul of a product, like Moondrop’s infamous Instagram post of a girl with ripped socks covered in…um, yogurt?

“I poured yogurt over the headphones,” says thorntranslation of the already deleted postimplying that the heavily blushing girl is actually a Moondrop earpiece that is covered in yogurt.

Do people want to knock on the headphones? The fans I’ve talked to don’t seem to think it’s that deep.

Don’t go overboard with the anime girls

“I did not know [anime girls on IEM box art] was a “trend” until I heard [the company] Moondrop and how people in the West thought it was unusual,” says Headphone M fan in Reddit chat. “I live in Asia, so anime works are not that rare or unusual. I think it gives products and brands a sense of individuality.”

Or, if not personality, then at least some mild, memorable sexiness that you wouldn’t normally associate with technology, like how the buzz of a beer helps you get excited about sitting on your couch eating Bugles.

“[IEM anime girls help] attract more users,” says Jeremiah, another fan of the headphones on Reddit. And “sometimes it makes the IEM more recognizable. For example, if you see a girl with a ponytail and glasses, you immediately know it’s Blessing 2 Dusk.”

But even those who appreciate IEM girls have their limits. “As someone who loves to watch anime, I really enjoy the trend if the box art is tastefully done,” u/nopunterino tells me. “But sometimes I think manufacturers can go too far.”

“I can [not even be able to order an] IEM I’m interested in fear of my roommate or my relative opening my box and seeing a bunny girl in a not-so-appropriate pose,” Jeremiah says.

Both referred to SeeAudio’s collaboration with an audiophile reviewer Z Reviewson $100 collected– which features two bunny-eared girls on the box, their mouths hanging out as they squish remarkably spherical breasts in a hug – as an example of a brand taking its anime girls “too far”.

“And we can never forget Moondrop’s ‘yogurt’ incident,” says u/nopunterino.

Most people I talked to were crazy about the IEM girls (and they really are IEM girls—made in china over-ear headphones are items with mass appealrather than geek bait like IEMs, and their design is extremely clinical). But it’s clear that some audiophiles have more allegiance to them than they’d like to admit, and are especially willing to defend companies that take it “too far.”

I have to analyze the anime girls

Perusing the several passionate “why is this happening?” threads on r/headphones in a few minutes will lead you to the evidence. Those confused by all the breasts and baby mouths seem to fear that their opinion is unpopular before they even voice it, wondering as cautiously as the deer patty hunter, “At the risk of being burned at the stake – what’s wrong with ‘waifu’ girls on so many products?” or, rather and to the point, “What’s the deal with IEM and anime girls?”

“Why? Where did this start?” u/brubby3179, who started the last thread, addressed the users. “I’ve never seen this with over the ears.”

“I’m newer to the hi-fi headphone scene, so I only started noticing it in early 2021 when I started watching headphone reviews on YouTube,” u/brubby3179 tells me, about two weeks after the thread it inspired nearly 200 comments of bickering — so much disagreement that the moderators of r/headphones locked the comments. “Some interesting comments in this thread and even more interesting how fiercely some of these guys are defending the waifus box.”

Aside from some vague theories about the crossover between headphone enthusiasts, anime fans, and tech workers with cash to burn, no one can give a concrete answer to the question of “why” anime girls on IEMs are ubiquitous. Moondrop, the company most often cited as their promoter, also did not respond in time for publication.

But while they’re vague on the “why,” advocates are sure they’d like to keep the girls around.

“Seems like harmless fun to me,” said one user. “It doesn’t make me want the product, but it’s not meant to make me like it. It seems strange to ask this. um IEM Tony Soprano doesn’t want people asking questions. Suspicious.

“Why this hate!!!?? Give me a waifu. I need yogurt!” another user wrote repeatedly, each time angrier. “I need yogurt waifu moondrop? Please do, I will buy 10 pieces. lol.”

lol Personally, I like some IEM girls, including Moondrop’s box art for $20 Chu, a stoic figure with ashen bangs and fresh-water eyes. These less obscene drawings look like patron saints or zodiac signs to techies, providing a strangely mystical way to envision your headset. Embodying them gives them heart, and I think that can encourage conservation and care, things that are good for the environment, your wallet, and your satisfaction.

However, I wish beautiful IEM art wasn’t limited to girls or more “waifus” were literally objectified and trashed. Although many fans assume that “Asian culture” makes their waifu different from domestic misogyny, sexual IEM art is a lot like the cheesy memorabilia you find rusting around gas stations in the US

Like a breast shape salt pans or Florida keychains, many of which feminist artist Portia Munson documented in her silently cursed drawingsIEM girls encourage men to think of women as pocket-sized ornaments, just something to keep at home.

“These objects initially appear as a humorous and mildly shocking anomaly, showing the commercialization of women’s bodies in tchotchkes,” says Munson’s website, “but piled together, the sheer volume speaks to deeper issues surrounding society’s view of women as accessories.”

I’d like to see IEM girls more clearly valued for what advocates say they are, their collectability and artistry, being part of a more dynamic box art practice that expands to include anime men , or landscapes, or fantasy creatures, or literally anything else. I started to get bored with the feeling that women are being used to sell technology but are not welcome in it.