i(22f) my boyfriend (24m) has waifus and i don’t understand

I’ve been dating this guy for 4 months now, he’s from another country, different culture. He has some different ways of thinking than me but it’s all been lovely so far. We have a few things in common, and he’s quite caring. We plan on moving in together soon. <br><br>But when we first started dating, he sent me pictures of anime girls (i don’t remember who) and said ‘this is my crush’ while winking. I was a bit weirded out by it but thought he was just joking around. <br><br>On multiple occasions he’d say he likes different anime characters more than me, just as a joke i guess. (This is something i have grown to hate and see as very disrespectful). But the huge issue for me was when he had a poster of his favourite anime girl on his wall, with writing next to it like (this is the love of my life) and my heart just broke and i wanted to leave. He noticed my reaction and looked embarrassed and said it was just a joke. I understand you can like different characters and have your own little fantasy world, but how is this just a joke? Why would it take him seeing me hurt for him to realise how inappropriate this is. (He ended up taking the poster down and throwing it out). <br><br>Whenever i bring it up, he dismisses it and says anime girls are just ‘childish crushes’, as they’re not ‘real’. But why can’t he understand the principle of having a significant other and having a ‘childish crush’ on another (albeit fictional) girl? <br><br>I see that anime is a big part of his culture, but i cannot fathom why he cannot see my side of this. How can i make him see that this is offensive to me? It’s really hard because whenever i bring it up he acts like i am being crazy and making a big deal out of nothing and i feel so invalidated.<br><br>(For context, i am not from a western country and am familiar with anime, i just don’t like the idea of my partner having a crush on another girl, be it fictional or real! And i understand what fiction is and that these characters aren’t real)<br><br>TLDR: BF has waifu and i don’t get why he can’t see it’s offensive. He just thinks of it as a ‘joke’. What do i do?