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The story
According to a report from ITmedia, PC parts brand Kuroutoshikou (玄人志向, lit. “oriented toward the discerning/expert user”) is renaming itself “Crowxis” to mark its 25th anniversary — and retiring the deadpan, sunglasses-wearing “old guy” mascot that has served as its logo for decades. The news set off a lively thread on 5ch’s Business News+ board, drawing everything from nostalgia for the brand’s old nickname “Kuroshiko,” to gripes about the new logo’s design, to worries that the new name will be mistaken for some random overseas or Chinese knockoff brand. A running gag comparing the mascot’s face to a Japanese musician also made repeated appearances, keeping things lively.
Published
September 1, 2026, 2:03 PM JST
Author
Source: itmedia.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
otherwise they've got the same name recognition as some random new brand.
Better to scrap it — it's starting to sound like some takoyaki stand in Ikebukuro.
I always thought he looked like Kine-san too.
'Crowxis' just sounds like some no-name manufacturer you've never heard of.
Some Chinese knockoff brand on Amazon is gonna rip it off within a week — 'Crowixs,' 'Crowsix,' you name it.
That's the only pun I could come up with lol
You're still alive?! [classic manga/anime shock line]
Come to think of it, haven't been to PC Depot in ages. Probably expensive there now.
they should be spending it on
making better-spec products instead.
The 3-year warranty was generous — though in the end I couldn't resist upgrading every single year anyway.
Background and Talking Points
Kuroutoshikou is a long-running brand of DIY PC components, long recognizable by its deadpan, sunglasses-wearing “old guy” mascot logo. The switch to “Crowxis” appears to be a rebranding timed to the company’s 25th anniversary, and the move toward a Western-style English name mirrors a broader trend among Japanese PC peripheral makers with an eye on overseas markets. Thread opinion split mainly over the new logo’s design — comments dismissing it as “chuuni” (over-the-top, edgy design in a self-consciously adolescent style) or simply tacky were common, while almost nobody spoke up in favor of the plain English wordmark. The fact that the nickname “Kuroshiko” had become so entrenched also drove a lot of the discomfort with the new name. At the same time, longtime customers brought up warranty terms and product specs just as often as the rebrand itself, suggesting plenty of users care more about substance than branding. A running joke likening the mascot’s face to musician Naoto Kine of TM NETWORK also resurfaced repeatedly — a well-worn meme about the logo’s appearance, not a comment on the actual person, and should be read as such.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Business News+) thread “‘Kuroutoshikou’ Rebrands as ‘Crowxis’ — Sunglasses Gone Too at 25th Anniversary.”
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