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The story
A thread titled “Talents who’ve completely disappeared from TV” popped up on 5ch’s Hello! Project board, with names like Rola, Angerme, and Yakkun Sakurazuka coming up one after another. The discussion centered on how former stars have vanished from terrestrial TV while shifting their careers to CS/BS satellite shopping channels, citing Hideki Takahashi and the married couple Hayato Tani and Kikko Matsuoka as specific examples. For posts like the one about Panther Ogata — “He even had his own show on NHK, but then he just disappeared” — opinion was split on whether it came down to his own career choices or circumstances on the network’s side.
What people said
Well, it's fine if it's someone where you'd go "yeah, that's about where you'd expect them to end up"
But it's sad seeing Hideki Takahashi doing shopping-channel ads
The first ones that came to mind were
the married couple Hayato Tani and Kikko Matsuoka
He even had his own show on NHK, but then he just vanished completely
He's stopped showing up on Suiyoubi no Downtown (Wednesday Downtown) too
Why is he getting shut out like this?
Are you an anti-fan of Ogata or something?
I was wondering why a portable cooling fan suddenly showed up in her "living at the vacation home" blog —
so that's what's going on
No, I actually like Ogata as a comedian, it's just that he's completely stopped showing up on TV
And it happened all of a sudden one day
Why?
He's got his own show called "Donburi Tabi" (Donburi Travels) though
Namu Amida Butsu (rest in peace)
"The Honnoji Incident" (one-line gag from duo Various Spice)
"Dame yo, Dame Dame" (catchphrase of duo Nihon Erekiteru Rengo)
you usually spot them on TV shopping channels
like Edo Harumi
Background and key points of this discussion
Many of the celebrities people feel have “disappeared lately” haven’t actually retired or gone on hiatus — more often, they’ve simply shifted from terrestrial TV to shopping channels, cable TV, or regional-based work. Within the thread, names like Hideki Takahashi and the couple Hayato Tani and Kikko Matsuoka came up in connection with shopping channels, while Dainoji was cited as an example of a duo that relocated to Fukuoka to do regional revitalization work. On the other hand, with cases like Panther Ogata, it’s unclear whether the sudden drop in TV appearances comes down to his own choice to scale back or to circumstances on the network’s side, and opinions in the thread were split, with some pushing back that it “sounds like anti-fan bitterness.” Readers should be cautious about taking posts that flatly declare someone “blacklisted” at face value, since they’re mixed in with posts that simply attribute it to generational turnover or a shift in career focus.
*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “Talents who’ve completely disappeared.”
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