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The story
On August 30, Weekly Bunshun reported that Yomiuri Giants player Shunsuke Urata (23), a leading candidate for Central League Rookie of the Year, is dating actress Nagisa Saito (23), a former member of the idol group =LOVE. Urata has broken out this season and currently leads the league in stolen bases, while Saito has appeared in projects including the live-action adaptation of “Oshi no Ko.” A thread on 5channel’s entertainment/sports board buzzed with debate over Urata’s height and salary and Saito’s name recognition, with some users even arguing that the pecking order among popular women has shifted.
Weekly Bunshun’s reporting has revealed that Shunsuke Urata (23) of the Yomiuri Giants — the front-runner for this season’s Central League Rookie of the Year and a runaway league leader in stolen bases — is in a serious relationship with actress Nagisa Saito (23), a former member of the idol group “=LOVE.”
The Giants, currently in second place in the Central League, are locked in a fierce pennant race with the first-place Hanshin Tigers. Back in May, shortly after the season opened, then-manager Shinnosuke Abe was arrested over a domestic dispute (charges were later dropped) and resigned — an unprecedented turn of events that saw acting manager Hashigami take over the team’s helm. Amid all that, Urata’s emergence has been a very welcome surprise for the Giants.
“Urata is a graduate of Nagasaki’s prestigious Kaisei High School and has Koshien experience. After going on to Kyushu Sangyo University, he was picked up by the Giants in the second round of the 2024 draft. In his rookie season last year he made the opening-day roster but didn’t leave much of an impression. This year, with regular second baseman Naoki Yoshikawa sidelined by injury, he won a spot on the opening-day roster,” said one sports-newspaper reporter.
Source: bunshun.jp / Original article here
What people said
Baseball players don't have much of a future either.
Announcers are ruthless about that stuff.
The female hierarchy used to be actress > TV announcer > idol.
These days it's actress > idol > TV announcer.
Her: 151cm
We're living in the Reiwa era — why are they both so short?
Malnutrition?
Apparently younger generations are getting shorter overall.
Some say it's because pregnant women manage their weight so strictly now that babies are born smaller.
Urata's not even 171cm.
He's fudging the number (lit. "reading mackerel" — Japanese slang for padding a figure).
So this is Urata's type, huh (´・ω・`)
https://stat.ameba.jp/user_images/20210706/10/nacc67/f5/ee/j/o0800120014968038004.jpg
https://stat.ameba.jp/user_images/20210706/10/nacc67/69/d9/j/o1536204814968038006.jpg
Is the guy on the left trying to climb over a guardrail?
Feels like that belt is way too long.
Is this the Giants' official travel uniform? Not exactly stylish, but his shirt's properly tucked in — decent impression.
First time I've ever even heard of this player, though.
Isn't that just saying =LOVE itself was only popular in a niche circle?
She's not even on the list — is she really a "popular" actress?
Damn, that's throwing shade at Fuka-chan lol
No way Main-chan would make Gen Z's top ten lol
he seems like the small, speedy base-stealer type.
He's wearing a uniform that looks like the Hanshin Tigers.
Is that what they look like these days?
The current Yomiuri uniform really does look like Hanshin's.
171cm, huh.
Rough.
Why can't I meet an idol, dammit?
Apparently there are matchmaking apps exclusively for celebrities and famous people.
Sounds like some guy like Gaasyy is playing go-between (Gaasyy = a controversial ex-lawmaker/YouTuber known for brokering celebrity scandals).
Back in the day TV stations had go-betweens setting up group mixers, but now with DMs and everything, they can probably meet however they want.
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jxiVltUm1q8/sddefault.jpg
"Who's that?" & Saito-san
Congrats — #18 on Japan's trending list! 🤩
https://imgur.com/6UWsETO.png
https://imgur.com/Xl6OqVo.png
"Windy-chan" — like the racehorse Shinko Windy?
24-Hour TV: "…" (a nod to Nippon TV's charity marathon broadcast)
https://hochi.news/images/2024/12/21/20241221-OHT1I51359-L.jpg
Haven't you watched Oshi no Ko? Ruby's the real lead even as an idol — she's just not center because her character's written as a bad singer.
Background and Talking Points
So-called “Bunshun bombshell” scoops about celebrity relationships aren’t limited to entertainers dating each other — active pro baseball players are frequent targets too. Urata’s path to this season’s opportunities began with an injury to regular second baseman Naoki Yoshikawa, and this report landed while the Giants were in the middle of a pennant race under the unusual circumstance of having lost their manager mid-season. Saito has built up a track record in dramas and films as an actress since =LOVE disbanded, and the thread showed a clear gap in awareness between users who knew about her role in “Oshi no Ko” and those who didn’t. Comments about his height and alleged number-fudging were based purely on speculation within the thread, without any official confirmation. It’s also notable that the thread got more worked up over tangential topics — like the innocent question of “how do celebrities even meet each other” and claims that the pecking order among popular women (actress > idol > TV announcer) has shifted — than over the dating news itself.
*This article is compiled as an excerpt/summary from the 5channel (Entertainment/Sports News+) thread “[Bunshun] “Holding hands like lovers…” Former =LOVE member Nagisa Saito (23) spotted on close date with rookie-of-the-year favorite Shunsuke Urata (23) of the Giants {Scoop Photos} [Ailuropoda melanoleuca★].”
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