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The story
A Music Natalie report that Timelesz’s live Blu-ray/DVD release had been canceled became a hot topic on 5ch’s Entertainment & Sports Express+ board. The official announcement only cited “various circumstances,” but the thread quickly filled with comments like “the woman who got hit” and “a group with a criminal in its ranks,” fueling speculation that a member-related incident was the real reason behind the cancellation. Opinions split over the fallout for commercial endorsements, the likely scale of damages, and whether the group could keep going.
Timelesz’s Live Blu-ray/DVD Release Canceled, Citing “Various Circumstances” — Music Natalie
October 1, 2026, 5:47 PM
Music Natalie Editorial Desk
Source: natalie.mu / Original article here
What people said
Because they've been playing it so straight, that's why.
Akai-san!? (a nod to Detective Conan's ultra-serious undercover agent Akai Shuichi)
He's probably all over the footage
Why are they trying to sneak through and keep going like nothing happened?
Hmm, yeah, fair point.
I picture Times Car (the rental car service) for a split second and get confused
Didn't Times Car have its own scandal too — a mass leak of customers' driver's license photos or something?
"Timeless"? I can't help thinking "waste of time" instead lol
Seriously, this is exactly the kind of thing resellers would've been all over
"Maybe my hand just grazed her" —
it definitely wasn't on that level
Should've just kept quiet until the lawyer showed up
Going by the reported symptoms, it sounds like there's probably a facial fracture involved
I mean, staff and customers were calling the police begging them to hurry — that says it all
Honestly STARTO (the renamed Johnny's agency) itself should just disband
"We terminated his contract!!
We're moving forward as a 7-member group!!"
Shouldn't be hard if it's Google Gemini — the one they did commercials for, right?
Heard it was Kikuchi pushing for him, but who knows
His looks alone are top-tier for the group, so that was probably a factor
The release might've gotten scrapped precisely because they couldn't cut him out —
it's probably full of scenes where he's interacting with the other members
Wonder if the other members will chip in on compensation at all
Probably not — they'll probably act like it's none of their business
Damages will probably run into the tens of billions of yen
Apparently some commercials got pulled right after they'd just started airing
The CM contracts are probably covered by insurance either way,
but having a live concert release outright canceled like this really stings
They scrambled to cut him loose, but who knows how this plays out
If it were drugs or public indecency there might still be a shot at recovery, but a violence case is just way too damaging for an idol group's image
"Our own little plaything, huh lol"
Not pointing fingers at Shori Sato specifically, but yeah, that's bound to breed some jealousy lol
It's a loss for the agency, but fans of other groups are probably feeling pretty satisfied right now
Johnny's groups usually don't get thrown into dome shows right after debut if they're short on concert experience — they can't handle it
Timelesz could pull it off because some members still had experience from their Sexy Zone days
For commercials where the contract is still ongoing, the losses probably aren't that bad (no idea what it does to the companies' actual sales though)
Background and Key Points of the Discussion
Timelesz was rebuilt from the former Sexy Zone, with new members added through an audition project, and canceling a live video release on this scale is considered rare for the music software market. The official phrase “due to various circumstances” is standard boilerplate that doesn’t spell out a reason, so the thread’s comments are ultimately speculation built on previously reported news. The debate centered on whether the group should keep going and how large the damages tied to commercial contracts and the like might be, with some users drawing comparisons to past group breakups. Worth noting: as of this thread, neither the direct cause of the cancellation nor any disciplinary action against the member involved had been officially confirmed.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Entertainment & Sports Express+) thread “Timelesz’s Live Blu-ray/DVD Release Canceled, Citing “Various Circumstances”.”
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