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The story
On the 15th (the 16th in Japan time), the Dodgers lost Game 4 of the NL Championship Series to the Brewers, getting swept in four straight games to be eliminated from the series. With Shohei Ohtani and company’s bid for a third consecutive World Series title now over, Japanese fans who tracked every game on TV each morning are voicing, “I’ve got nothing left to look forward to.” On 5ch threads, talk of shifting attention instead to Japan’s own Hanshin Tigers or SoftBank Hawks in the Japan Series mixed with cooler takes questioning just who was really watching live in the middle of the night or early morning on weekdays anyway.
The “Ohtani Withdrawal” Arrives Early… Fans Face Reality on the Weekend, “What Am I Gonna Do Now” — Japanese Fans Grumble, “Dad’s Only Joy Was…”
Japanese fans can’t stop reeling. On the 15th (the 16th in Japan), the Dodgers blew a lead and lost Game 4 of the NL Championship Series against the Brewers at home at Dodger Stadium, swept in four straight games to be eliminated.
With the dream of a third straight World Series title dashed, fans who had followed every battle on TV each morning are now spreading anguished laments over the “Ohtani/Dodgers withdrawal.”
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
The Tigers wrap up today too…
That one's ending today as well, isn't it?
That's right — SoftBank's spot is locked in, but the Tigers aren't done yet.
They could still rattle off four straight wins and make the Japan Series.
SoftBank's strong too — even with the Dodgers out, baseball's still got plenty of life left in Japan.
The commentary gets hyped up as well.
Saturday games land at a pretty nice hour in the morning.
Though depending on the venue and time, it can end up airing at the same hour as European soccer.
First, Gen Z (25 and under). Trending up slightly, but still so low none of them crack 10%. Seems like very few in this generation care about baseball.
The core demo (ages 13-49) isn't high either. A faint upward trend, but still more than 5% below the overall average.
By age, it's the middle-aged and elderly propping up the popularity. People in their 50s-60s run 7-8% above the overall average. And for those 70+, it's nearly double the overall average. Baseball really is a sport carried by older viewers.
https://livedoor.blogimg.jp/rock1963roll/imgs/1/9/1982bc18.jpg
Same here.
Wanted to at least catch that one.
If the World Series ends up being Brewers vs. Rays,
it's gonna be a massive letdown.
It'll feel as flat over there as a BayStars championship win would here in Japan.
( ´◔‿◔`)
The Brewers play Japanese-style baseball —
I bet the locals don't dig that.
Bunt-heavy small ball.
The bandwagon fans will clear out too,
and now the true hardcore MLB fans can finally settle in and enjoy NHK-BS in peace.
Real die-hard MLB fans don't even watch on NHK to begin with.
They've got an MLB.tv subscription set up so they can watch every single team.
And this is exactly the time of year baseball's hitting its climax, both in Japan and the US.
The demand to cheer on the national team and Japanese players for that "look how great we are" feeling is huge in every country.
For most people, there are hardly any sports that get elevated into an actual culture like this.
I watch both baseball and soccer.
Today's postponement stings since it was a rare Saturday morning game.
Well, for today I'll just switch over to European soccer tonight instead.
That's right.
Plenty of people simply won't watch if there's no player they recognize.
That says it all. It's all about the home runs.
that whole ⚽ "flopping and faking injuries" championship just looks too ridiculous to bother watching.
Americans: "Baseball's boring, football's where it's at."
That's just the reality…
And by the way, "football" here means American football.
They have to push the narrative that the vast majority of Japanese people are obsessed with Ohtani, or NHK and the rest would get torn apart.
In reality it's just a handful of pensioners watching.
Probably fewer people than watch Japanese baseball.
NHK's just doing whatever it wants — the cost-benefit doesn't add up at all.
Without that, it would've been way too miserable.
That really saved it.
I don't think I've ever been that moved by a home run before.
Then he struck out on three straight pitches with the tying run on base right after — ruined it.
That's exactly why sports are the best — that catharsis.
Every time I see him he starts going on about Ohtani lol.
He doesn't watch Japanese baseball at all, but he's obsessed with Ohtani.
And since he's got the money, he's gone all the way to America just to watch games in person lol.
Having the stamina to survive a long flight to America in your 80s, plus decent money, plus a mind that's still sharp — that's genuinely impressive.
Watching my own parents and relatives, I seriously mean that.
Retired seniors.
They've got time to burn, so they're pouring their whole lives into Ohtani.
Background and Key Points of This Topic
The Dodgers had won back-to-back World Series titles in 2024 and 2025, so this loss ended their bid for a third straight championship. The “WBC 2023 viewership data” chart cited in the thread, showing individual viewership rates by age bracket, is based on an actual existing survey — the finding that middle-aged and older viewers make up a disproportionately high share is real. At the same time, some commenters pointed out the gap between the heavy coverage from outlets like NHK and the actual viewer demographics, leaving it unclear just how broadly the “Ohtani withdrawal” feeling is really shared across generations. It’s also worth noting that, around the same time, SoftBank clinched its spot in the Japan Series while the Hanshin Tigers were still fighting through their Climax Series, with Japan’s domestic baseball season reaching its own climax — the backdrop behind thread exchanges like “switch over to the Tigers already.”
*This article is compiled as an excerpt/summary from the 5ch (Geisports Sokuho+) thread “[Baseball] The “Ohtani Shohei Withdrawal” Arrives Early — Fans Face Reality on the Weekend, “What Am I Gonna Do Now” — Japanese Fans Grumble, “Dad’s Only Joy Was…” “Nothing Left to Look Forward To”.”
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