The Azu-SMRPG Hyperfixation

(My 4 Year Long Hyperfixation)

Yeah. You read the title. This is probably not gonna be easy for me to write about because man, this is some bonkers shit that was in the era of when I was 12 all the way up to when I turned 16 when I got around to making more original ideas and step in on writing original stories like Penalty All About.

Now I wanna make one thing clear:

There is nothing wrong with reading and/or writing fanfiction
There is nothing wrong with crossover fanfictions.
Hell, there isn't even anything wrong with the concept of a Super Mario RPG and Azumanga Daioh crossover.

The thing that I'm personally hung up about is:

How I went about writing it (As the dumb tween/teenager as I was.)
How I haphazardly tried to make it sense for both canons (and failed)
How long have I stuck around with it. (Spoiler Alert: the time was not short)
How I thought it be an oh so good idea to request artists for this specific crossover (Again, dumbass teenager I was.)

-But I am getting ahead of myself, let's start from the very beginning.

Context of the 2008 Gissy Era

So, at the time, I was very obsessed with using wiki sites like the MarioWiki and the now defunct Userpedia. I was 12 years old and they were the closest things to social networks since I was too young to use something like YouTube, Myspace, DeviantArt, and FanFiction.Net. And I was very much obsessed with Super Mario RPG (you have Rawest Forest to thank for that, lol). Around the same year, it was around the time I first discovered Azumanga Daioh and watched all the episodes on YouTube back when they were in parts. And because of the way my autism worked at the time, I thought it'd be a good idea to crossover the former media with the latter. Initially, it wasn't always this way though

See there was this (now lost) wiki, that allows you to make articles that is basically your written work and the thing I wrote was "The Adventures of Ayumu Kasuga" as I initially thought it was going to be about Osaka. But I was 12, I didn't know what I was doing and due to the heavy focus on the what it would become, someone has suggested I change the title from that... to "Super Azumanga RPG". It was transferred over to my user subpages in the MarioWiki (which I'm surprised I was allowed to do, truth be told) and by the time I was 13, most of it made it's home on FF.net.

It was also around the same year as my parents basically had their divorce and my sister and I were going to be stuck with my dad for the next 5 years or so.

So, maybe this crossover was basically a way for me to cope with the everything that has been going on with me at the time. And to be fair, I could have done worse coping methods so this might not be that bad.

..... Doesn't really change the fact this crossover is KINDA bonkers.

So, what even happens in Super Azumanga RPG? (+More?)

Well, it was like the birthday for Kagura's younger sister and the game she got was SMRPG, there was a portal, and Osaka fell and thus, entering into the Mario world!

Yes, this is basically an isekai. (Still a lot more interesting then most isekai anime nowadays, truth be told.)

Anyways, It's basically the plot of SMRPG again but the AzuDai characters (And some OCs) shoved in and it's meant to take place after the OG games events.

There are some things I wanna point out

The friendship between Chiyo and Mallow
The friendship between Geno and Sakaki

So, I know this may sound crazy but I know I intended both of those friendships to be more on the romantic side of things. That didn't happen too within this main story tho.

But back to the fanfiction, I did say it was basically SMRPG again but the AzuDai characters (And some OCs) shoved in and it's meant to take place after the OG games events, right? Well what if I told I tried to make a season 2?

And you might be asking yourself....

".....WHY?????"

Well, there is actually not discernable reason other than the fact that I was also into The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya around that point and us Haruhi fans were still waiting on Season 2, especially with rumors surrounding its existence.

No seriously, I thought to myself:

"Hmm. Haruhi Season 2 is taking a while..... LET'S MAKE A SEASON 2 OF SUPER AZUMANGA RPG"

That's it; that's literally it! Like bruh....

So, you know how "season 1" is basically an isekai?

Try Reverse Isekai for Season 2.

No, I am not shitting you.

And this is where I had my own self-insert character into the god damn mix, who is a freaking magical girl.

Anyways, this season is worse and there's less of a nostalgic charm with this compared to the first season. Now, this fanfiction over all is bad but at the very least, season 1 had SOME entertaining moments.

With that said, I don't really want to make an overall summary of this fanfiction as we'd be here all day.

But I will say that I tried to make some sort of After Story and it was around the say time that Clannad After Story finished (which I hadn't watched Clannad fully around that point) and I at least had one of the pairings confirmed.

You think I'm done here? Hell the fuck now. I tried to make a fan fiction staring one of the OCs made for the crossover, I made small one-shots of the other fan pairing, and I tried to make a more serious reboot of Super Azumanga RPG called "Rightful Thesis". (We'll get to that later)

Now, that we got this out of the way, it's time to address the elephant in the room.

WHY TF WITH THE FAN-PAIRINGS????

So, as I stated earlier, I wanted to push for a crossover fan pairing of Mallow x Chiyo and Geno x Sakaki

While I was more comfortable with doing that with the former, the latter..... truth be told, I might've initially felt a little scared because there were a lot more fan pairings that Sakaki was in (Kaorin, Kagura, Osaka, someone's self insert OC.), and I know there is a fair share of fan pairings for Geno (Vivian from TTYD, Minda from Twilight Princess (That one is probably stuck in the past), and hell, pairing him with Mario has become popular in recent years). So yeah, I was a lil' worried I would get hounded by either side. That said, I was give some reassurance that no one is going to be mad and I should go for it. And so I did. Not in the fanfiction because I was finished with it around that point.

One shots on the other hand... yeah, I had these two as a pairing (And they weren't written well, as I might've made Sakaki out of character a couple of times. <<;;.)

I am surprised some people I knew and follow were willing to even draw this pairing whenever I requested it when Art Trades/Requests were open.

Honestly, while I thought this pairing could work back then.... looking at it in a 2025 lens... yeah no, it might not work.

If I were to look at things in a retrospective lens, I think me being obsessed with Geno x Sakaki at the time might've been a way for me to hide the fact that I had a crush on Geno (still do in fact and we'll get to that later).

As for Mallow x Chiyo, I know despite the fact I have not pushed for it as much as the other pairing, I was still obsessed with that. I remember when I initially brought it up in some smaller friend groups (way past the prime of the Azu-SMRPG hyperfixations), I remember some people were hella confused but I also remember one person say that this pairing *can* work. And truthfully, even tho I don't really ship it anymore, I can kinda see it, if given the more well written hands. Sadly, I was not the well written hands.

So yeah, in retrospect:

Geno x Sakaki makes no god damn sense.

Mallow x Chiyo can work if given the right hands.

I will say tho:

I have mentioned these pairings to my friend KHF and his sentiment was like "Eh. Really, it's not the weirdest idea for a couple in the world" which kinda scares me.
Nowadays, I'd probably would take the aesthetics of the former pairing and apply it to OC pairings that can work. (The closest thing to that is Vovelo x Cassandra and even then there are some major differences.)

The Crossover Rabbit Hole Featuring Dante from Devil May Cry

So, real talk, while playing Smash Bros on the Gamecube/Wii, watching my sister play Kingdom Hearts on her PS2, and catching the Jimmy-Timmy Power-Hour might have been contributing factors, I think creating the Azu-SMRPG crossover is very much the entire reason why I was deep into making a lot of crossovers

Di Gi Charat was an obsession so I crossed that over with both AzuDai and Mario two separate times. I crossed the latter two over with Sailor Moon and I think I remember crossing over Homestar Runner with AzuDai and DGC.

I uh...

I don't even want to talk about my Homestuck era and some of the potential crossovers with that.

But here is when we get to talk about Rightful Thesis and how the fate of that (as well as another trend at the time) essentially buried my obsession of it alive.

Rightful Thesis (And the death of fun with crossover fan fictions (for me personally).)

As stated previously, this was meant to be a more serious reboot of Super Azumanga RPG. And that is because at the time, I thought "Oh nooo, this fanfiction is baaaad. I gotta make it good." and I actually tried to plan it out. It probably wasn't good plans but it's more than what I could say with the OG iteration; that, I was writing as I went along. It was also around the time that it was popular to dunk on what the internet thought was shitty fan fictions.

And look,there were some fan fictions that were kinda bad, I remember this one Azumanga fanfic that it was essentially the girls feeling sad for this one guy that is basically the creator's self-insert and said self-insert was the main focus. And hell, there were some crossover fanfictions that I found to be wack at the time. But I'll admit, in hindsight, the harsh nature of this trend was kinda weighing on me for a bit.

So yeah, I had everything planned out (kinda), repurpose some old OCs from the original SARPG, even made new OCs that were both supporting characters and some original antagonists for this fan fic. For the last, I thought that "Well, since Smithy is defeated, there is no way he'd come back the second time.". And really, I was ready to get it out there.

And then my first laptop died on me.

Outside of the OCs I posted on DA and Tumblr, as well as the first two chapters, everything was gone and there was no way for me to back it up.

And let me tell you.... I. was. upset.

I was ready to share to the world the new and improved (???????) way to crossover Azumanga Daioh and Super Mario RPG. I was determined to get it out there.

But proof. Gone. No more. Nothing to back up.

As silly as this sounds, I was devastated and for months on end, I resorted using the Internet Channel on my Wii or using one of the (still working at the time) family computer.

And the atmosphere towards fan fictions and high expectations for them did not help matters

I was not exactly the most motivated around this time period either. That is.. until one day, browsing through TVTropes and I discovered the page for Web Novels. And that's what lead me to the path of making original stories for myself, starting with Penalty All About. And the rest... is history.

Extra Shit because why not?

So, these are some things I would like to bring up but there is no set theme for them so I'm just gonna bring them up.

There was a phase where I went back to shipping Geno x Sakaki but that was shut down by the rest of my brain.
If I were to make an Azu-SMRPG crossover in the modern day, I'd probably make it more of an AU than haphazardly try to make it a sequel to both canons. I feel that would have it make the most sense tbh. (I would also excluded at least one of the fan pairings because I'd rather nottt)
So, I forgot who said this but I remember someone said that Seven Guidances to Wishful Safety is essentially Super Azumanga RPG but starting my own characters instead of characters from either media. So even though that Super Mario RPG and friend's (now cancelled) project were the inspiration for SGtWS, I guess some of the spirit of this fanfic kinda lives on. (And it's at least a little more well written than the fanfic, lol)
Honestly, I feel that this obsession with Azu-SMRPG I had is kinda the reason I couldn't related to anyone who had a phase of being extremely into yaoi. I related more to those that are more into yuri though, lol.
I remember I asked one artist (who I am still following now) to make a comic for my crossover fanfic. I got no response (Honestly, for the best and I'm glad I never pestered them about it after that, LMAO)
In the case with Mallow x Chiyo, I know that might've been slightly more propular because I recall someone who has a similar MS Paint Style that I had at the time likes the idea of those two having romantic feelings for one another. I feel like I might've caused this-
One more thing, while I am not sure on who I'd want Sakaki to end up with these days, I will say that I'd very much had an OC of mine (Elanor) have a crush on Geno. (In my own lil' canon though as there is nintendonut1's Star Warrior Program AU where Geno is paired with Mario and Peach and in Miss D's Tomodachi Life where she is paired up with Wapeach)

Conclusion (??????)

So, if you ever feel like your ideas of fanfiction are weird, just remember that I was obsessed with a Azumanga Daioh x Super Mario RPG crossover and I was obsessed with it from 12 all the way up to when I was 15/16.

That said, if you like this idea of crossing these two mediums together then I welcome it! Hell, I'm sure you can make something better than both Super Azumanga RPG and Rightful Thesis, lmao. Just make sure you don't be too obsessed with it. Take it from someone who was the main arbiter of this idea for 4 years from the late 2000s to the early 2010s. ^^;

But yeah, I really had stuck with this crossover for 4 years during that point huh..

I know that if I were to share this to the popular crowd, I'm sure that I would get one of two reactions (or maybe both)

Some are going to find this to be utter cringe and probably going to call me harsh names at best.

Some are going to say "Hang on... let her cook."

Who knows, there could also be a secret 3rd. *shrugs*

I can go one forever about a lot of things in regards to this crossover or the two mediums seperately

But I am drown on long enough and by the time I am finishing this up, I really needed to go eat, REDSNGLKTEFD.

So to end things of:

If you like this idea of Azu-SMRPG, then I encourage to... well, at the very least, write a much better fanfic for it than 12 Year Old!Gissy every could.

And for the rest, I hope you enjoyed reading this blast from the past. Hope ya'll have a good one and take care. ^^