From our other sites
The story
“Rakuten GirlsAward 2026 AUTUMN/WINTER” was held on September 26 at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, where the four winners of the “Miss Seventeen 2026” model audition were announced. Miss Seventeen is a long-running audition that has launched the careers of stars like Keiko Kitagawa, Suzu Hirose, and Ayami Nakajo, and this year’s four winners include an alum of the dating reality show “Today’s Crush” (Kyou Suki ni Narimashita). On 5ch forum threads, discussion focused less on the winners’ talent or looks and more on comments like “they all have the same hairstyle, I can’t tell them apart” and “guess I’m just getting old,” alongside chatter about how changes to Seventeen magazine’s publishing schedule affect the audition’s standing.
Oricon, September 26, 2026, 4:23 PM
The fashion event “Rakuten GirlsAward 2026 AUTUMN/WINTER” was held on the 26th at Makuhari Messe in Chiba. During the event, the winners of “Miss Seventeen 2026” were announced.
“Miss Seventeen” is an audition that has produced numerous famous models, actors, and singers, including Keiko Kitagawa, Suzu Hirose, Ayami Nakajo, Rikako Yagi, and Hiyori Sakurada.
Source: oricon.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Shuffle Hinatazaka + Sakurazaka + Nogizaka + AKB together and sort them all out correctly.
This might be a harder problem than the University of Tokyo's second-stage entrance exam…
You don't need to be able to tell (;^ω^)
I can obviously tell the faces are different, but I have zero motivation to memorize who's who.
Also, quit giving them all the same hairstyle.
Same face, no individuality.
Isn't that kind of uncool?
No need for an old guy to force himself to keep up
They're basically your grandkids' generation.
Honestly I can barely tell those apart either, lol
Debut the four of them as a group like Perfume.
But seriously, I can't tell them apart.
Could even be married women pushing thirty, honestly.
Maybe just online stuff?
Same here
But I bet if it were someone on the level of peak Hirosue, I'd be able to tell her apart.
Once you become an old man you really do lose the ability to tell faces apart.
Isn't telling old men apart the harder problem, though?
Funny how the Showa generation always insists on believing they were the individualistic ones.
Why'd they pick so many similar-looking girls
An old guy like me just can't tell them apart anymore.
Theory: the judges were also middle-aged guys who couldn't tell them apart either, so they just passed every girl who looked alike.
This was basically decided before it even started.
so it's not that rare of an award
It's more of a stepping stone for rookies at major agencies.
Background and Talking Points
Miss Seventeen is an audition launched by the long-running fashion magazine Seventeen, with a track record of producing actresses and models signed to major agencies, including Keiko Kitagawa and Suzu Hirose. This time the winners were announced at the large-scale event GirlsAward, and the fact that an alum of a dating reality show made the cut suggests the audition’s role is shifting — from a pipeline for print magazine models into more of a launching pad for talent who thrive on social media and video content, beyond the confines of the magazine itself. Where opinions on the thread diverged was over how to read the winners being “hard to tell apart”: some saw the matching hairstyles and similar facial types as a lack of individuality, while others chalked it up simply to their own generational distance from young pop culture. There were also comments arguing that the drop in Seventeen magazine’s publishing frequency has diminished the audition’s prestige, but it’s worth noting that how the winners’ careers actually play out depends on their future work, and there isn’t yet enough evidence at this point to judge them one way or the other.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Entertainment/Sports News+) thread “[GirlsAward] Miss Seventeen 2026 Winners Announced: Four Chosen, Including ‘Today’s Crush’ Alums“.
Leave a Reply