I already wrote this in the comment section, but since it was reposted I'm going to guess that I'm supposed to repost and respond in the repost.
On my part, it's a one sided situation, where Budo finds out about Ayano and stops her or fights against the brainwashing. Literally anything. The whole point of most ships is that they don't make sense and most are done as a what if scenario and find that scenario more interesting than the canon. Also, Taro is boring as hell, that's why we say she dumps him and gets with anyone else. Doesn't just have to be Budo. We love the drama that could come from the 'what if'.
Even if we like Budo we're still gonna put him in a tough situation. I am very aware that Ayano is a hopeless psychopath and so is her mother. Hannibal Lector is also a hopeless psychopath, and a cannibal, but it doesn't stop people from shipping him with Will Graham. People will ship Hermione with Draco, and they will find ways to ship Mileena with any Mortal Kombat character simply just because they can. Or making up stories where a literal celebrity falls in love with the reader, which is a lot more insane in my opinion.
Shippers ship anything, whether it is simply because we have seen chemistry or we see potential in the littlest of things, or because some of us are sick (insert insult here). We don't really need a reason, we'll just do it because our creativity allows us to.
Yes, Ayano is not a good match for anyone. But we don't care so long as we can make an interesting story out of it. I may hate a character but I'll still ship them with someone.
Whenever I see people saying "Ayano should dump Taro's ass and go with Budo, he's SO MUCH BETTER than him!", I ask: ...why are you so desperate to see Budo go through what Jokichi was subjected to? Do you secretly hate him or are you just masochists? Ayano is not a good match for ANYONE.
ooh this is gonna be long
Yes you have a good point! Ayano isn't a good match for anyone and it doesn't make sense to suggest that she should be with Taro or that she should dump Taro and go for someone "better" because whoever she ends up with is doomed to live in captivity among other unpleasant things. So why would people say this?
1. They don't know the game's concept very well, especially evidenced by the fact that they think Ayano is in control of whoever it is that she's obsessed with. She isn't. Stands to reason that if they don't know that, they ALSO don't know that being Ayano's lover is definitely not a good thing.
2. They forgot to mention that they're talking about their AU/rewrite in which Ayano isn't a bad person. Like it's very clear that some people like to pretend that Yandere Simulator's problematic characters aren't problematic. What if the bullies weren't bullies? What if the delinquents weren't delinquents? What if Ayano is just a slightly more cunning than average schoolgirl experiencing her first crush? That makes the game more enjoyable to them so that's the lens through which they perceive it, and when they talk about it, that's what they mean.
3. They know exactly what they're talking about and they're curious about how Budo might respond to being put into such a situation. Wanting to see bad things happen to a character doesn't necessarily mean hating them. There are characters in Danganronpa that I think should die, but I don't hate them as much as I hate Vlad from Magicka. FUCK that conniving little "nyeh nyeh I'm not a vampire!" bastard. Point being, they may not hate Budo, but they might think that it would be more interesting to see Budo in that position than Taro.
So which is it? Honestly... I hope the first one, because it's the best compromise between non-offensive and actually realistic. I don't think it's the third solely because the focus is on what kind of guy Ayano deserves to be with, not on who would make a better Magic Senpai. The second one is just... guys, you know Yandere Simulator is gonna be an M Rated game, right? Bad people do bad things. Ayano isn't a good person, even if you play pacifist, because her aim is to take away another person's agency over their life. I've talked about this before with Info-chan but it applies to e v e r y problematic aspect of the game. But I can't really blame anyone who says that Ayano deserves Budo over Taro just out of ignorance. Realistically it's probably a mix of the first and second options tho.