an shiraishi character analysis but i whine about how she is not allowed to be her own person

highkey i really hate how we're on the sixth rotation of focus events and an shiraishi still doesn't have an arc unique to her. even her beginning goal wasn't unique to her as akito also wanted to surpass rad weekend and when vivid bad squad was formed, they all adopted it as their goal. she just has nothing outside of that, especially now that vbs have surpassed rad weekend..i think the whole group has poor writing but an's is probably the worst (rip). 

it's mentioned once and never again that people don't actually believe an is talented because her father is ken shiraishi, to the point of other musicians sabotaging vbs' concert, and they don't do anything with it after the situation is resolved. it's implied that an is babied and "that's nice, dear"d by the people of vivid street to the point where she gets insecure about her skills whenever someone could potentially overtake her but it's never mentioned beyond "what if kohane leaves me 🥺". it's like an can do absolutely nothing without kohane (an learning that she can still exist as a performer even without kohane by her side would be a good arc but THEY WON'T DO THAT)...was her first focus where she learns that kohane is her own person and she should treat her like it all for nothing. i know project sekai repeats/drags out plot points a lot (kanade saving mafuyu, rui arcland, shizuku constantly having to prove that she's not useless just because she's not hiding her true self anymore, etc) but COME ON MAN..now it's time to let an exist as her own person. come on guys let her have motivations other than kohane PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE 

the an focus event i especially hate is light up the fire because it's the singular an focus that doesn't revolve around "an is scared that kohane is going to get too talented and leave her" again but it's just handled. so poorly. "hey an we lied about your aunt she's actually been dead for years and you'll never get to perform with her or show her how much you've grown. now rap battle me in the middle of the street" OK??? there should have been at least another an focus between light up the fire and an5 where she's allowed to properly come to terms with the loss of her aunt and everything that she's been told but nope BEFORE EVEN THE END OF LIGHT UP THE FIRE SHE'S BACK TO NORMAL. AFTER LOSING SOMEONE SO CLOSE TO HER AND FINDING OUT IN SUCH AN AWFUL WAY SHES JUST FINE!!! i know people (deservedly) shit on toya5 for its shit writing but light up the fire is even worse than that, it's so awfully paced and so poorly handled. i'm not saying it had to be a massively angsty arc i just wish that an had actually been allowed to come to terms with nagi's death. it's flippantly mentioned like once in whip the wimp girl and then we're back to "oh no what if kohane surpasses me and leaves me 🥺" (i should clarify that i do not hate kohane as a character at all nor do i hate an's relationship with her i just wish that an was allowed to have motivations outside of kohane. yk) 

idk man i wish more of an's relationships outside of vivid bad squad were shown. she's childhood friends with haruka, desperately wants to befriend nene, and is "one of the few people that treats mizuki like a normal person" according to game descriptions, yet outside of area conversations and stuff their relationships are barely shown. time to hang out! started as a good haruan focus event but quickly turned into minori and kohane being jealous that. an is talking to her friend? idk it's another story that i think had potential but quickly got that shoved aside in favour of "quick let's reiterate the boxes that we put the characters in (minori being obsessive about haruka. SIGH)". i guess let's study hard! is the mizuan focus event but there are so many characters in it that mizuki and an's relationship isn't as focused on as it should be. i want a time to hang out without minohane and a let's study hard without the guys...i miss relationship building stories on the same level as carnation recollection and raise your bow in a snow white world and close game/OFFLINE and stuff. it's like characters aren't allowed to exist out of their assigned groups anymore..i like the development of mizuki and ena's relationship with mizu5/ena5/mizu6 but it's been 5 years and we still haven't gotten a proper mizuan event or even a shizumizu sewing lounge event..i want to see her interact with those two. why is it only reduced to area conversations. anyways 

all this to say that i wish vbs surpassing rad weekend had been something that was shown through an's arc as well as kohane's. they really dropped the ball with how underwhelming the event was when they couldve used an surpassing rad weekend to show that she's her own talented person instead of just "ken shiraishi's daughter" but nope we abandoned that arc right around the first rotation of focuses. i like that it's shown that an is insecure about being surpassed and left behind but i wish they would use it more beyond QUICK WE NEED ANHANE ANGST QUICK WE NEED AN TO BE SCARED OF LOSING KOHANE FOR THE SIXTH TIME. come on bro. it is more repetitive than rui arcland events at this point DO SOMETHING ELSE. the end 

(this is copy pasted from one of my bulletins, if you saw it then no you didn't)