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The story
Uma Musume Pretty Derby’s US concert was canceled, sparking an extended back-and-forth on 5ch over what caused it. At the heart of the discussion is a claim about how the process currently works: the short-term visa needed for a performance can’t be applied for until the schedule is locked in, and the review itself reportedly now takes more than six months to complete. Opinions split between posters asking why this wasn’t sorted out in advance — given that major concerts like this are typically planned roughly two years ahead — and others countering that visa screening has only gotten this strict quite recently. Whether fans who had already traveled to the US deserve compensation also became a major talking point.
What people said
That's the normal order of operations, isn't it?
Locking in the venue and cast schedules has to come first.
Can't be done.
The short-term performance visa can't even be reviewed until the dates are fixed, and only from six months before the show.
But right now in the US, unless you've got special connections, the review itself takes six months or more.
So that's it.
Honestly Cygames [the game's developer] has every right to be furious about this, though a full refund alone probably won't fix fans' frustration.
Still, it beats the usual 'here's a refund in Crystals [the game's premium currency]' routine by a mile.
On the console-wars board, 'Cygames' usually brings to mind that Monster Hunter-ish game they announced back around the early PS4 era.
Did that one also quietly die, like Capcom's Deep Down from around the same time?
Plenty of other overseas artists are getting swept up in this as well.
Still, visa abuse is common enough that the US side feels it has no choice but to lock things down like this.
Selling more seats while everything's this unsettled is just reckless.
[Quoting post #931 from another thread] 'Melon-san ex＠Please Use Responsibly' (Wacchoi 17dd-J0pX) [a 5ch tripcode tied to the poster's ISP/region], sage [posted without bumping the thread], 2026/10/20(Tue) 15:05:41.74, ID:z6eBFkur0:
'But they were still putting extra seats on sale just days ago in the middle of all this chaos, so there's no defending that.
Selling more seats while everything's this unsettled is just reckless.'
That's the only part I actually care about.
Visa applications have gotten stricter as part of Trump's anti-immigration policy.
That part can't really be helped.
It's the same as flying out to see Ohtani play and having the whole card rained out.
Pro wrestlers EVIL and Hiromu also had their US debuts delayed over visa issues.
It's possible Sato-Teru gets caught up in this too.
They're the ones propping up the app you get to play for free.
Cygames knows that too, which is why they're going all-in to win back trust.
A whale flipping into an anti [a former fan turned hater] is about the worst outcome there is.
For whales, travel costs are pocket change.
The real problem is how they feel.
So it'd be smart to do something that genuinely makes them happy, not just reimburse the cash.
Doesn't that mean this was already doomed the moment they planned it?
What made them think it would work?
Probably because the rules changed after Trump took office, and it got especially strict starting around the middle of last year [2025].
A concert like this gets locked in something like two years ahead of time.
It said: 'I double-checked the official records. May 16, 2007 is correct as the effective date from which O-visa and P-visa petitions [US visa categories for people of extraordinary ability and performing groups] could be filed up to one year in advance. This is also stated in the text of the US Federal Register.'
So does that mean entertainment-visa applications have actually been allowed a full year out for quite a while now?
General visas are a separate category from artist/group work visas — for this one, applications only open six months out, and six months isn't enough time for the visa to actually get issued (which is exactly what happened here).
No way that's happening. Go earn it yourself.
Ha, not a chance — hotel costs are different for everyone anyway.
Background and key points of debate
Piecing together what the thread laid out about the rules: short-term visas for performance/work purposes can only be applied for once the concert dates are confirmed, and while some posters noted that applications in general can open up to a year ahead, several others pointed out that under the current administration, actually completing the review now often takes six months or more. If that’s accurate, even a major concert planned two years in advance could still miss the window, depending on exactly when the screening standards tightened. The thread split over where to place the blame for that delay — one camp argued Cygames was too optimistic about securing the visa in time, while another argued that back when the show was first planned, the process wasn’t nearly this strict. Opinion was similarly divided on compensating fans who had already traveled: some wanted Cygames to address the emotional fallout, not just the money, while others argued that anyone who chose to travel independently bears that risk themselves. It’s also worth flagging that no one in the thread cited a firm source for exactly when the screening tightened — one poster leaned on an AI chatbot’s answer — so the specific timeline should be treated with some caution.
*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Hardware/Industry, aka “Geha”) thread “[Bad News] Uma Musume Concert Canceled.”
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