Hello! Project’s Pre-Show Ritual Chant “○○-chan, You’re So Cute!” — 5ch Weighs In: “Cute Kanira!”

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The story

At Hello! Project concerts, it’s become a tradition that in the few minutes before the show starts, someone shouts “○○-chan, you’re so cute!” and the crowd responds with “That’s right, that’s right!” On the related 5ch thread, posters chimed in one after another about when this custom started and which groups do it, sharing examples of full names being shouted, nicknames, and even oddball variations where people shout out their pet’s name instead. Opinions clashed between those who found it “creepy” or “peer pressure,” and those who saw it as “a tradition that builds a sense of unity,” highlighting a split over this pre-show ritual.

What people said

1AnonymousSep 27, 2026 20:32
@
Kikichan: "That 'That's right, that's right!' thing after someone yells '○○-chan, you're so cute!' before the show starts — what is that? Is it a tradition?"
Fukuchan: "You can hear it even from outside (backstage), right?"
2AnonymousSep 27, 2026 20:33
"○○-chan, you're so cute~"
"I know, right~"
I've heard that version too
3AnonymousSep 27, 2026 20:34
Karin-chan is too cuuuuute!!!!!!
9AnonymousSep 27, 2026 20:36
@anztolchock
It still cracks me up that someone who went to their first Hello! Project show because of "Moreme" posted, "Turns out Hello! Project has a designated few minutes before showtime when you're allowed to shout members' full names."

@kobon_oriori
Technically it's the few minutes right after the five-minutes-to-showtime announcements, lol. What really shows how times have changed is that women's voices have started joining in on this "cringe-off call battle." At trainee showcases it's still pretty cringe, but at Juice=Juice shows it's gotten a lot less cringe. Then again, Juice=Juice has always had a lot of "Juice calls" to begin with.
19AnonymousSep 27, 2026 20:42
Re: #9
There can't be that many people shouting full names.
It's probably more like nicknames, something like "Cheru~"
10AnonymousSep 27, 2026 20:36
M-Line has a custom like that too, huh.
12AnonymousSep 27, 2026 20:37
There was this excruciating moment when a female Fukumura fan shouted "Fukumura Mizuki-san, please don't get married—!" and the whole place went dead silent.
15AnonymousSep 27, 2026 20:40
Re: #12
What even is that, lol
13AnonymousSep 27, 2026 20:39
Fukumura fans and Inaba fans are full of "gachikoi" (fans seriously, romantically in love with the idol), after all.
14AnonymousSep 27, 2026 20:39
If she'd yelled "Please DO get married!" it would've at least been funny, lol.
Guess not, huh…
16AnonymousSep 27, 2026 20:41
Man, wota (idol fans) are way too much!
20AnonymousSep 27, 2026 20:42
Re: #16
Sato's not even there, is she?
17AnonymousSep 27, 2026 20:41
Old-guard fans forcing newcomers into this "cringe call battle."
18AnonymousSep 27, 2026 20:42
Was the "Maa-chan's cute today too" guy there today? I heard a similar-sounding chant.
23AnonymousSep 27, 2026 20:43
A Morito fan said they've basically outsourced the pre-show name-calling and dropping cash on merch to the Sato fans.
26AnonymousSep 27, 2026 20:44
Re: #23
So they were there today after all.
25AnonymousSep 27, 2026 20:44
"You're so cute—!" is the Sato fans, and "That's right, that's right!" is the Inaba fans.
That's just how it's ended up settling in.
28AnonymousSep 27, 2026 20:44
Re: #26
#23 wasn't about today, so I don't know what happened today.
30AnonymousSep 27, 2026 20:45
Today everyone was shouting their own pets' names.
38AnonymousSep 27, 2026 20:48
Re: #30
That's basically a zoo at that point, lol.
31AnonymousSep 27, 2026 20:45
It was already creepy enough just shouting names, and now it's gotten even creepier.
34AnonymousSep 27, 2026 20:47
Honestly it's louder than the in-song calls or the encore chants, lol.
36AnonymousSep 27, 2026 20:48
There's the "Karin-chan's too cuuute! Too cuuute! Too cuuute!" chorus, and the "Takeuchi Akari-chan, yoohoo! Akari-chan, yoohoo! Akari-chan, yoohoo!" chorus too, so there's plenty of variety.
39AnonymousSep 27, 2026 20:50
What about "Asakura Kiki-chan, dokkoisho—!"? (a hearty folk "heave-ho!"-style shout)
43AnonymousSep 27, 2026 20:52
Re: #39
Soran Bushi (the traditional fisherman's folk song/dance) is trending right now, so that checks out.
40AnonymousSep 27, 2026 20:50
Calling out from the cheap seats as tradition — it's basically the ōmukō of Kabuki. (the traditional shouted praise from the back seats in Kabuki theater)
44AnonymousSep 27, 2026 20:53
It's not really "caught on" — it's just the same people doing it every time.
48AnonymousSep 27, 2026 20:56
This is creepy, honestly. Where did it even start?
VTuber fans do it too, right?
49AnonymousSep 27, 2026 20:58
M-Line draws a lot of hardcore fans, so it can't be helped.
50AnonymousSep 27, 2026 21:01
I was watching an STU48 show the other day, and after someone yelled "○○'s the cutest—!"
someone else shouted back "No she's not—!"
and that was honestly the funniest part of the whole show.
53AnonymousSep 27, 2026 21:06
For full names, it's gotta be "Shimizu Saki-saaan."
54AnonymousSep 27, 2026 21:07
At the matinee show, someone suggested "it'd be fun if you shouted pets' names instead" in response to the pre-show "○○-chan, you're so cute—!" chant, and as a result the evening show was way too funny, with more pet names getting shouted than member names.

"Kanira, you're so cute—!"
"That's right, that's right, that's right, that's right—!"

#MスペNOCTURNE
55AnonymousSep 27, 2026 21:10
I always thought that was seriously creepy — guess it's still going on.
57AnonymousSep 27, 2026 21:14


59AnonymousSep 27, 2026 21:25
Anything beyond just calling out names feels like too much self-assertion for my taste.
Though I guess if you're a "zentsuu" fan (someone who attends every single show on a tour), it can't be helped.

Background and Key Points of This Topic

This “pre-show call” is a custom seen across Hello! Project as a whole — the thread mentions multiple groups, including Juice=Juice and trainee showcases, showing this isn’t limited to just one group. Details like whether the name being shouted is a member’s full name or a nickname, and whether the person leading the chant is a longtime fan or a newcomer, vary from show to show, with no single unified rule. Where opinions in the thread split was over whether to see this as “tradition” and a way of “building a sense of unity,” or as “creepy” and “peer pressure” — with some newer fans reportedly left confused by it. There’s also more to it than a simple running gag: in at least one case mentioned in the thread, the chant’s target shifted from member names to pet names after a suggestion made during the matinee show, showing how a fan-driven custom can be reshaped along the way.

※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project) thread “Asakura Kiki: “What’s that ‘That’s right! That’s right—!’ thing after ‘○○-chan, you’re so cute—!’ before the show? Is it a tradition?”“.

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