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The story
NHK announced that for the 77th Kōhaku Uta Gassen broadcast on December 31, announcer Naoko Suzuki will be joined by Mana Ashida, Masato Sakai, and Kazunari Ninomiya as hosts. Sakai and Ninomiya co-starred in TBS’s Sunday Drama “VIVANT,” and many viewers saw the casting as riding on the drama’s coattails. Ninomiya’s declaration of “cooperation” with Sakai on his own X account also became a talking point. On the 5ch (Geino/Sports News Flash+) thread, debate broke out over whether people who haven’t watched the drama are really being treated as “unpatriotic,” discomfort with the assumption that “everyone” is watching when ratings are only around 15%, and questions about NHK casting hosts to piggyback on another network’s hit drama.
The hosts for “The 77th NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen,” airing on New Year’s Eve, December 31, have been announced. Alongside NHK announcer Naoko Suzuki, the show will be hosted and livened up by Mana Ashida, Masato Sakai, and Kazunari Ninomiya. This “blatant” casting choice has drawn some cold reactions from viewers.
[“Ninomiya Kazunari will put everything into cooperating with Sakai Masato. (So Ashida Mana, thanks for having me! lol)”]
On October 9, Ninomiya posted this update on his own X account. It was presumably aimed at Sakai, with whom he’ll be “teaming up” as a Kōhaku host, but viewers who couldn’t make sense of it were left baffled.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
I watch VIVANT myself, but I've never even seen Demon Slayer or Chiikawa.
Same with Toyotomi Brothers.
Dropped Kaze, Kaoru halfway through lol
That Johnny's guy's acting is cringe too — the kind where speaking your lines fast is supposed to make you look smart.
And now there's a second wave of reporting on Director Fukuzawa's alleged workplace harassment, this time from "Bunshun Online." Even before "Shukan Josei's" first report, back in December last year a VIVANT assistant director was reportedly shoved by Director Fukuzawa, fell off a stepladder, and fractured his radius and elbow while also cracking a rib — a month to fully heal. TBS's response was reportedly a one-day suspension for Fukuzawa.
https://www.dailyshincho.jp/article/2026/09200600
He comes across more as a smooth operator who's good at sucking up to people in power.
honestly, VIVANT isn't even that interesting.
There's no way someone who just learned about VIVANT from Kōhaku is suddenly going to go see the movie.
Maybe they're too obsessed with ratings, but even the news is starting to feel like a commercial network's these days.
It's promo for the VIVANT movie, so TBS is happy about it too.
Olympics harassment: "If you're Japanese, you'll root for the Japanese athletes, right~"
World Cup harassment: "If you're Japanese, you'll root for Japan, right~"
VIVANT harassment: "Why aren't you watching VIVANT~" "Not watching VIVANT makes you unpatriotic" New
Out of all of those, the Ohtani harassment is by far the creepiest.
These guys are the real hyenas, milking a popular show's name for clicks.
Seriously gross.
This kind of weekly magazine barely sells anymore and is on the verge of going under, so writing clickbait off the internet for pageviews is the only way they survive.
Pathetic bunch, lol. Nobody needs them anymore — TV will probably end up the same way eventually.
VIVANT is the most painful viewing hour of my week.
I can't get past the hazy, vague setting, the voice work, and the over-the-top acting.
Yeah, it got poor reviews overseas too.
It doesn't take any risks at all.
It dodges the issue by setting the story in some fictional country that isn't Japan.
391: Anonymous (a stock 5ch username roughly meaning "much obliged"): 2026/10/07 (Wed) 05:09:20.25 ID:MqXHqw0V0
I dropped it instantly after seeing him covered in crap at the start of Season 1.
Anyone who decided to keep watching after that is the real idiot.
They're always so over-the-top with no substance.
The whole point of an article like this is to drag people like that in and stir up a bit of manufactured outrage for promotion lol
The story itself is nothing special.
A lot of it is just throwing money at sensational elements.
There's plenty of anime out there that's far more interesting.
The young ones are just awful across the board.
Guys like Sakai and Oizumi are probably the last decent line of actors left.
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
“VIVANT” aired in TBS’s Sunday Drama slot and has an upcoming theatrical release. There’s a yearly custom of picking Kōhaku hosts from among that year’s buzziest performers, and the casting of Sakai and Ninomiya is widely seen as an extension of that. What split the thread was whether people who hadn’t watched the drama were truly being treated as “unpatriotic” — some reacted to the headline’s exaggeration at face value, while others voiced discomfort with the piggyback casting itself. Kōhaku’s ratings have hovered around 15% in recent years, which led some to question the very premise that “everyone” is watching. Note that the misconduct allegations against production staff mentioned in the thread were a separate matter already reported by weekly magazines, unrelated to the Kōhaku hosting decision itself.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geino/Sports News Flash+) thread “‘It kills the mood,’ ‘Not watching VIVANT gets you treated as unpatriotic’ — Sakai Masato and Ninomiya Kazunari tapped as Kōhaku hosts riding VIVANT’s wave, while the ‘haven’t watched the drama’ crowd looks on coldly [Ailuropoda melanoleuca★].”
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