Happy Birthday, Arisa!

i had to at least do a little drawing for arisa's birthday~

around one year ago, when i first wandered into this franchise and binged the anime, actually used to be my favorite bandori girl. the anime did a wonderful job of displaying her merits, and before i knew it, she squirmed her way up to a special place in my heart. she's also my favorite popipa girl, and part of the reason why i love popipa as much as i do today.

now, here's some of my favorite things about my favorite tsundere character:

• how flustered she gets. she's so cute, i'd never be able to resist teasing her irl
• her relationship with kasumi! it's wonderful
• she's smol and very feisty! she's the same height as my top favorite girl, which is lovely!
• her enthusiasm, and confidence, in bonsai!!
• how she always insists she isn't adorable, while being really freaking adorable!
• her sharp mouth and no nonsense attitude!
• her role in stabilizing popipa as its One Sane Woman
• her role in naming popipa. that's right, that was her idea!
• how sweet she is! yes, that's right, beneath that snappy exterior, arisa is actually really nice. she even goes shopping for things they'd like in her free time (even if she rationalizes it as "i'm not really trying to get this because kasumi would love it-")

honestly, i could write paragraph after paragraph of why i love arisa, but i'll spare you of that and just give you a summary: arisa is not abusive. arisa is not a jerk. arisa is a girl who had, prior to the conception of poppin party, been hurt too many times. she was a shut-in, a NEET, and if there was one thing her big mouth could do, it could certainly keep people at bay. but then she found kasumi, and she found popipa. she found that sparkling feeling she didn't even know she wanted, and most importantly, found something she never thought she'd ever get: real friends.

it's easy to see arisa as some negative entity or influence, or to even hate her, but it takes digging beneath the surface to love her. and god, i'd push a mountain for her.

i've been blessed by arisa in return (my first double 4-star pull! my first limited 4-star!!), and each time made me tear up. looking back, i still can't really... believe it. i'm incredibly thankful to have so many cards of my top tsundere. ♡

thank you for everything, arisa, and i hope you have a happy, happy birthday!