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The story
Through 117 games, the Chunichi Dragons sit in last place with a 51-65-1 record, tied with Hiroshima on games back — yet they’re within 1.5 games of DeNA for third place. Even so, the dome keeps selling out, and with word spreading that manager Kazuki Inoue is likely to return next season, 5ch discussion ballooned into a debate over “why do fans keep showing up for a losing team,” ranging from Nagoya’s lack of entertainment options to the Hanshin Tigers’ dark years to attendance comparisons with J-League side Nagoya Grampus.
The Chunichi Dragons have now closed to within 1.5 games of the Central League’s third-place Yokohama DeNA BayStars (as of August 26). Despite a hefty net loss of 14 games, the “finish in the top half” prediction that preseason commentators and pundits made is starting to look plausible again.
Through 117 games, Chunichi sits at 51-65-1, in last place and tied on games back with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp. But thanks to a slump by the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, who led the league early on, a four-team race for third place — including DeNA — has broken out.
Chunichi finished second in 2020 under manager Tsuyoshi Yoda (60), then fifth the following year. Under Kazuyoshi Tatsunami (57), who managed from 2022, they finished last three years running. Even in 2025, their first season under manager Kazuki Inoue (55), they finished fourth — stuck in what looks like a permanent lower-half slump. This season, too, they’ve settled into the bottom half of the standings so far, yet Chunichi fans remain as fired up as ever.
Source: jprime.jp / Original article here
What people said
Seriously, there's nothing. About the only thing to look forward to is the occasional late-night rerun of the original Mobile Suit Gundam.
Just talking sports, Nagoya's actually home to teams in soccer, futsal, and basketball too, on top of baseball.
This.
Hiroshima's got it right.
I can put up with a weak team, but if the front office is garbage or there's a string of scandals and cheating like some other team, I'd lose interest instantly.
Plenty of English fans stick with perennially weak Premier League clubs too, right?
At this rate they'll be stuck fighting for last place forever.
This year it's a fight for third, actually.
if fans show up even when you're weak,
there's no need to actually win.
Relegation chatter is scary stuff — but NPB doesn't have it, unlike the basketball or volleyball leagues.
Yeah, Chunichi completely dominates the region
and the Chunichi Shimbun's coverage area is huge too.
The lineup even outscores a Giants team that can't develop players.
And then before next season a bunch of pundits will predict a second-place finish, and the loop starts all over again.
But now… it's grim.
These days it's Grampus that's washed up
even games at Toyota Stadium have been half-empty.
It's a soft, forgiving world.
If anything, the only ones who have it rough — or cruel, even — are the players who get treated as disposable.
Terrible as a business model, but think about it from the local government's side — they were told a new stadium was needed to get promoted to J1, built one, and then the team got relegated anyway. That's rough.
J-League's a tough world, that's why.
Then I was doubly shocked to hear they started rooting again once the team got good.
Is it really that easy to just quit being a fan?
Same with the Hanshin Tigers — during their dark years the stands were full of empty seats.
spouting the big lie that Hanshin was hugely popular and sold out even during their dark years —
and yep, just as I was about to say that, here they are already.
Back in the dark years a friend gave me tickets to a Hanshin vs. Taiyo game.
Went to watch at Koshien Stadium and there were so few people
that it was easy to get to the bathroom.
Meanwhile Grampus lol
Half-empty, tickets piled up unsold lol
And this is a weekend game lol
Rough being washed-up, huh lol
Grampus has leftover advance tickets, sure,
but the stadium actually fills up decently on gameday.
Same type as the BayStars.
They're going for 300 yen on Ticket Jam (a resale marketplace).
https://soccer.yahoo.co.jp/jleague/category/j1/game/2026082203/info?gk=2
Liar, it was half-empty last time too lol
Last matchday drew 31,000,
and 37,500 tickets are already sold for the next one.
Not exactly 'half-empty.'
these kinds of articles have been popping up nonstop lately.
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/f61d43106d88a630c1c87dabbef6ed5f8c6f4bbb
TV ratings are in double digits too.
Why are you lying?
You're calling 30,651 people '31,000'?
Quit lying already.
Didn't you learn rounding in elementary school?
I went to the Nagoya sumo tournament instead
and it was SOUL'd OUT (a pun on 'sold out' and the hip-hop group SOUL'd OUT).
Wait, was Diggy-MO' out there doing sumo?
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geisports Sokuho+) thread “Chunichi Dragons manager Kazuki Inoue’s ‘return next season’ looking real — dome sells out even in last place, fans celebrate like champions after a single win [Ailuropoda melanoleuca★]“.
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