“I graduated from Kyoto University, lol” — wakatte.tv’s Aka actually dropped out, only has a high school diploma

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The story

“Aka,” a panelist on the YouTube debate show “wakatte.tv,” has come under fire after old footage resurfaced of him saying, “I graduated from Kyoto University, lol” — when in fact he never graduated and had dropped out. The show is known for its style of panelists openly roasting each other’s academic backgrounds and work performance, so the irony of the very person who dishes out that mockery having padded his own credentials struck a nerve. On 5channel, opinions split between defenders and critics, and the discussion spread to cover the response of a politician said to have defended the show, as well as a debate over a co-star’s educational background.

What people said

1AnonymousSep 4, 2026 22:51
3AnonymousSep 4, 2026 22:51
Pfft, LMAOOOOOO ("w" is Japanese internet shorthand for laughter, like "lol")
8AnonymousSep 4, 2026 22:52
What does "graduated" even mean in this context?
14AnonymousSep 4, 2026 22:54
He got into Kyoto University to prove his bullies wrong, and now this — what a waste.
18AnonymousSep 4, 2026 22:55
Okay, so we get that he didn't graduate, but what year did he actually drop out?
19AnonymousSep 4, 2026 22:56
He's clearly smart enough, so what's wrong with just being a high school grad?
What's there to be embarrassed about?
20AnonymousSep 4, 2026 22:56
If a Kyoto University degree rates 100 on the envy scale, dropping out of Kyoto University still gets you like a 95.
Just getting accepted is impressive enough on its own.
21AnonymousSep 4, 2026 22:57
He dropped out to become an executive at Takeda Juku (a major cram school chain).
I bet that wasn't an easy call to make.
23AnonymousSep 4, 2026 22:58
Pulling off academic-background roasts on other people when you're just a high school grad yourself — that takes some nerve.
24AnonymousSep 4, 2026 22:58
He dropped out, so now he's got the same education level as the bullies who picked on him. Lol.
28AnonymousSep 4, 2026 22:59
For this guy, getting accepted was apparently the whole finish line.
30AnonymousSep 4, 2026 22:59
Now even the Minister of Education is getting dragged into this.
This story's an oil well that just won't run dry.
32AnonymousSep 4, 2026 23:00
I knew the name but had no idea the show was this brutal.
36AnonymousSep 4, 2026 23:02
You don't often get to watch a flame war escalate rank after rank like this.
Pretty much guaranteed to get brought up in the Diet (Japan's parliament) at this point.
39AnonymousSep 4, 2026 23:04
Isn't there some Kyoto University YouTuber out there?
I want someone to absolutely rip into him.
44AnonymousSep 4, 2026 23:05
Re: #39
Ida Channel
40AnonymousSep 4, 2026 23:04
Guess you really do need to commit an actual crime to get your account banned.
Even as a "nuisance streamer," he's nowhere near as bad as Hezuma (an infamous Japanese troublemaker YouTuber).
43AnonymousSep 4, 2026 23:05
Re: #40
Even if he gets kicked off YouTube, he'll probably just hop over to Kick or something.
50AnonymousSep 4, 2026 23:08
Re: #40
Other "call-out" type creators have gotten banned or had their ad rates slashed before over stuff like this, so this is probably just getting started.
46AnonymousSep 4, 2026 23:06
Re: #43
Is it really a channel worth switching platforms just to watch?
I don't watch it, so I wouldn't really know.
52AnonymousSep 4, 2026 23:10
Re: #44
First I've heard of it.
Re: #46
The people who are already into it will probably follow him there.
Re: #47
Since he brands himself as an education guy, maybe he wants to keep his image clean.
47AnonymousSep 4, 2026 23:07
Re: #43
Signing up over there would basically be admitting he's a nuisance streamer.
That place is full of criminals.
49AnonymousSep 4, 2026 23:08
He debated Hiroyuki (a well-known Japanese internet personality) once and got completely wrecked.
Seeing his face in that moment, you could tell this guy is just a walking bundle of insecurities.
59AnonymousSep 4, 2026 23:16
Re: #49
Maybe he's just bad at talking to begin with?
82AnonymousSep 4, 2026 23:41
Re: #49
Didn't he take shots at Tarako over going to Chuo University that time?
Or did he just sit there grinning and nodding along?
56AnonymousSep 4, 2026 23:15
The craziest part of this whole controversy, I think, is that Osaka Governor Yoshimura rushed to defend him.
Maybe Yoshimura felt he owed wakatte.tv a favor, but still — defending him publicly as an elected official is a bad look.
62AnonymousSep 4, 2026 23:20
Jealousy, right on schedule.
"Just getting into Kyoto University is impressive," right on schedule.
63AnonymousSep 4, 2026 23:24
Re: #62
Yeah, for him it basically ended the moment he got in…
Everyone else kept grinding, but he burned out right after enrolling, and maybe his resentment toward people who kept pushing themselves afterward just boiled over into this.
66AnonymousSep 4, 2026 23:28
Getting 800,000 YouTube subscribers is
probably harder than getting into Kyoto University.
68AnonymousSep 4, 2026 23:30
Re: #66
That's like an 80,000-yen-a-month-tier channel.
71AnonymousSep 4, 2026 23:33
Re: #66
Is it really, though?
76AnonymousSep 4, 2026 23:36
Re: #66
If you stick with it for 12 years, it's not impossible.
Honestly it's funnier that he still hasn't hit a million.
69AnonymousSep 4, 2026 23:31
Aka: "Well, I'm the second-best in Japan…" (visibly flustered)
Sugi: "What's the value in being second-best in Japan?!"

↑ This exchange is comedy gold
79AnonymousSep 4, 2026 23:38
Re: #69
Even within the same university, difficulty varies a ton by department.
You can't really just say "university X ranks such-and-such."
75AnonymousSep 4, 2026 23:35
You guys' sense of scale is all warped, but Sugimura, who got into Tsukuba, is incredibly smart too.
It's just that Kyoto University is on a whole different, monstrous level.
94AnonymousSep 4, 2026 23:49
Re: #75
He's from Asahikawa but didn't even go to Asahikawa Higashi High School, and his Tsukuba degree was in phys ed.
I'll grant that Taizo excels in some areas, but academics isn't one of them.
97AnonymousSep 4, 2026 23:52
Re: #75
Tsukuba honestly isn't that big a deal (speaking as a graduate).
Though lately it's been getting attention thanks to Hisa.
78AnonymousSep 4, 2026 23:37
Taizo got hammered from every direction back in his "Koizumi Children" days.
No wonder he just laughs off academic-background talk now.
81AnonymousSep 4, 2026 23:40
Re: #78
Taizo's actually pretty good at playing the character who hypes up the show, I'll give him that.
I honestly think it's thanks to Taizo that Hiroyuki was able to work on network TV at all.
Like, Taizo sets things up so Hiroyuki has an easy time talking.

Background and Key Points of This Story

wakatte.tv is known for its debate format in which panelists openly roast each other’s academic backgrounds and work performance, and “Aka” was often the one dishing out jokes about other panelists’ schools. This time, the controversy centers on the fact that Aka himself — despite usually being the one doing the roasting — had once said, “I graduated from Kyoto University, lol,” even though he never actually graduated and had dropped out instead. On the thread, opinions split between defenders (“just getting in is impressive enough”) and critics (“it’s rich for someone who’s used his academic background to mock others to have exaggerated his own”). The discussion also spread to cover exchanges about co-star Taizo Sugimura’s educational background and the response of a politician said to have defended the show — though claims lacking solid grounding, along with anything amounting to excessive personal attacks on real politicians, have been left out of this piece.

*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5channel (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “[Video] wakatte.tv’s Aka (high school grad): “I graduated from Kyoto University, lol”.”

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