Physical manga, figurines, subscription services, time, yes reading the manga is free but for people who’ve spent the time to read this far and even bought some physical manga, quitting before finding out how it ends can absolutely feel like a sunk cost.
I think it's like a drug to argue for them. The more they argue then the more they get high.
It's like being a methhead or something.
If you asked if they care about the story or if they just come for the memes then they'd say they come for the memes... and the memes tend to be used for arguments. Soooo. Ya.