Author: Japan Reacts Editorial

  • Yokohama Ryusei’s “Cold-Shoulder” Act Splits Opinion — 5ch: “‘Hadn’t Eaten All Day’? What Kind of Excuse Is That?”

    On the October 10 broadcast of TBS’s “All-Star Thanksgiving Festival ’26 Autumn,” Yokohama Ryusei took on the show’s signature “Pressure Archery” challenge as the representative for the cast of the drama “LOST10.” His demeanor during the live broadcast drew attention as “cold-shoulder” behavior, and he reportedly grumbled on the day that he “hadn’t eaten anything since morning.” On 5ch, opinions split between those sympathizing with him over fatigue and hunger from the long live broadcast, and those criticizing his lack of warmth, with many posts comparing his attitude to that of fellow cast members Oguri Shun and Kamishiraishi Mone, who appeared on the same show.

    October 11, 2026, 18:05

    On October 10, actor Yokohama Ryusei appeared on the major special program “All-Star Thanksgiving Festival ’26 Autumn: 70th Broadcast Anniversary Special” (TBS). He took part in the show’s signature segment, “Pressure Archery.”

    In this segment, a representative attempts archery live in the studio. The target has a high-score zone, and hitting the center earns the maximum 1,000 points along with a luxury prize. Yokohama competed as the representative for the cast of this fall’s leading drama “LOST10.”

    Source: smart-flash.jp / Original article here

    4AnonymousOct 12, 2026 14:03
    Wasn't he friends with Gaasyy? (the scandal-plagued ex-YouTuber-turned-lawmaker)
    7AnonymousOct 12, 2026 14:06
    Re: #4
    That's Jun from London Boots (comedy duo London Boots Ichigo Nigo)
    5AnonymousOct 12, 2026 14:04
    He was sulking. He clearly didn't want to be there.
    6AnonymousOct 12, 2026 14:05
    He's an actor, and he still has to go on these flashy variety shows hyping things up with full service-spirit energy?
    Guys who aren't naturally cheerful types to begin with, like Oizumi Yo or Muro, really draw the short straw.
    8AnonymousOct 12, 2026 14:07
    Normally they'd throw an idol in as a bonus pick to handle the promo duties.
    9AnonymousOct 12, 2026 14:07
    That was awful. Oguri Shun's stock just went up though.
    14AnonymousOct 12, 2026 14:10
    Re: #9
    Well, Oguri's the president of his own talent agency lol
    31AnonymousOct 12, 2026 14:22
    Re: #9
    Oguri got caught in the crossfire over that Keroro movie thing even though it wasn't his fault, and got flamed for it. Glad his reputation's recovering.
    60AnonymousOct 12, 2026 14:33
    Re: #9
    He kept doing that smartphone-voice impression of Doramu over and over, it came off badly.
    The host, Imada, was also being annoyingly persistent with questions seemingly designed so Doramu couldn't answer without the voice bit — that felt mean too.
    10AnonymousOct 12, 2026 14:07
    Yokosuka-kun is a good guy!
    77AnonymousOct 12, 2026 14:42
    Re: #10
    He was lively on "Ota-Ueda" though
    11AnonymousOct 12, 2026 14:09
    Well yeah, his attitude was bad when Imada threw him a question too, but he's still just a kid.
    Total man-child.
    12AnonymousOct 12, 2026 14:09
    "I hadn't eaten" — what kind of excuse is that lmaooooooooooo
    13AnonymousOct 12, 2026 14:09
    That's just how super-popular idols are.
    It's all about their mood.
    15AnonymousOct 12, 2026 14:10
    He's good-looking so he's forgiven.
    Ryusei's more handsome than Piri-chan anyway.
    16AnonymousOct 12, 2026 14:10
    He should've just shouted "Fire!" like Abe Hiroshi does.
    17AnonymousOct 12, 2026 14:10
    I was watching and he wasn't really sulking.
    He was doing a bit where he pretended to cough and act sick as a joke.
    18AnonymousOct 12, 2026 14:12
    That listless, can't-be-bothered vibe of his is no good.
    Replace him as the lead.
    19AnonymousOct 12, 2026 14:12
    Did the Thanksgiving Festival get rid of the meal-break time?
    20AnonymousOct 12, 2026 14:13
    I feel like it'd get way more exciting if Shimada Shinsuke came back and they just threw compliance out the window.
    21AnonymousOct 12, 2026 14:15
    The drama work alone is hard enough, and then he's dragged into some dumb variety show for "promo" (lol), and if he's not cheerful enough he gets slammed like this — kind of sad.
    27AnonymousOct 12, 2026 14:20
    Re: #21
    Especially since Thanksgiving Festival is a long live broadcast, I bet it's tough.
    Kamishiraishi Mone always handles her responses so well — she really seems on top of it.
    55AnonymousOct 12, 2026 14:32
    Re: #21
    Celebrities are in a kind of service industry too, right?
    Would you really have no reaction to a store clerk who's incredibly rude?
    78AnonymousOct 12, 2026 14:43
    Re: #21
    Promoting the show and asking people to watch it is part of an actor's job too.
    22AnonymousOct 12, 2026 14:17
    He was probably busy with the climax season (of filming), right?
    ?
    23AnonymousOct 12, 2026 14:18
    The meal-time segment was my favorite part of All-Star Thanksgiving Festival — don't tell me they got rid of it?
    25AnonymousOct 12, 2026 14:19
    He got flamed recently for saying he's not into BL (boys' love) so he won't do those roles.
    Well, he's not an idol, so I guess it's fine — his actual work gets high marks anyway.
    But lately that too-cool, kind of cynical-smirk type of attitude gets hated on, you know? Still, the always-smiling type is more reassuring to watch.
    26AnonymousOct 12, 2026 14:20
    Is this the guy who got flamed for saying "women should walk three steps behind and follow"?
    39AnonymousOct 12, 2026 14:25
    Re: #26
    It's more like "I want to provide for you, so follow me" — that's actually impressive.
    Plenty of guys out there won't even do that, split the bill on dates, and still try to get in your pants. Young guys should take a page from this one.
    Gifts and a proper date budget — you've gotta cover it even if it means going into debt.
    28AnonymousOct 12, 2026 14:21
    So yesterday all he ate was water and eyebrows?
    29AnonymousOct 12, 2026 14:22
    There's plenty of time to grab a rice ball or something while moving between locations.
    It's not that he can't eat, he just doesn't try to.
    33AnonymousOct 12, 2026 14:23
    Re: #29
    There's probably also the fear of needing the bathroom mid-show if he eats.
    I get that feeling.
    Though if he'd had one of those quick-charge energy jellies, it might've gone differently.
    30AnonymousOct 12, 2026 14:22
    Don't go giving cold, detached comments on a variety show.
    32AnonymousOct 12, 2026 14:22
    A nutrition jelly or a smoothie would've done just fine.
    56AnonymousOct 12, 2026 14:32
    He's an actor first and foremost — no need to expect that much from him on this stuff.
    64AnonymousOct 12, 2026 14:34
    Re: #56
    Then he should've just turned it down from the start.
    He surely knows what Thanksgiving Festival is all about.

    Background and Key Points of the Debate

    “Pressure Archery” on “All-Star Thanksgiving Festival” is a recurring segment where a representative from each show’s cast competes live on air to hit a target for prizes, and Yokohama served as his drama’s representative as part of its promotional push. The thread split between two camps: one holding that “celebrities are in the service industry, so being personable is part of the job,” and the other arguing that “his real job is acting, and it’s understandable for his mood to sour if he’s hungry during a long live broadcast.” Many posts also drew unfavorable comparisons to fellow cast members Oguri Shun and Kamishiraishi Mone, who were praised for handling themselves well on the same show. That said, the thread never established exactly what his travel and shooting schedule looked like that day — the premise that he was “extremely busy” comes from the original news report itself and was not something verified within the 5ch thread.

    *This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary of the 5ch (Entertainment/Sports News+) thread “Yokohama Ryusei’s “Cold-Shoulder” Reaction During Archery at “All-Star Thanksgiving Festival” Stirs Controversy… The “Packed Schedule” That Day When He Let Slip “I Haven’t Eaten Since Morning” [Ailuropoda melanoleuca★].”

  • Nintendo: “No Plans to Scrap Physical Games” — 5ch Erupts: “PA-PA-PACKAAAAGE, YEAAAH!”

    In an interview with nintendoeverything.com, Nintendo stated clearly that it has no plans to discontinue physical versions of its games. The company said it has always maintained a stance that favors neither digital nor physical, citing the fact that even Switch2, which launched only about a year ago, offers both sales formats. On 5ch’s Hardware/Industry (“Geha”) board, many comments welcomed the statement, while others pointed out the contrast with Sony, which has been scaling back disc drives, and still others voiced skepticism that the policy could change again down the line — reactions were far from uniform.

    Well, it’s pretty much a given, but it’s reassuring to hear

    Source: nintendoeverything.com / Read the original article here

    4AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:22
    Nintendo: "No plans to discontinue Game-Key Cards either"
    10AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:26
    Re: #4
    Going forward, the functionality will stay as Game-Key Cards
    People have been pointing out for ages that stuff could get added to what's on the key card

    Nintendo tends to tie its own hands and ends up throwing away business opportunities, which creates weird situations
    5AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:23
    We've always kept to a stance that doesn't favor one over the other.
    We put consumer preference first and take that very seriously.
    Also, this is still a platform we only just launched.
    NS2 has been out for just over a year, but it already offers both digital and physical.
    We have no plans to discontinue physical.
    We also know how much fans love physical, which is why we've kept to a stance that doesn't lean either way.

    (Full quote)
    13AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:28
    Re: #5
    Publishers make physical copies because fans ask for them — it's not the other way around
    24AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:36
    Re: #13
    CC2's Matsuyama: "Scrapping physical is nothing but good"
    8AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:25
    He's been spouting that wishful "it'll get axed eventually!" line forever, hasn't he
    27AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:38
    Re: #8
    They've got to keep pushing some "both sides do it" argument, or the damage piling up on the brand image they're clinging to stops being a joke and they can't keep fooling the clueless marks anymore — so yeah, a little absurd, sleazy blame-shifting comes with the territory, right?
    12AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:27
    PS6's gonna copy Nintendo and go with a dongle-based key-card system too

    Just wait and see
    73AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:07
    Re: #12
    They're stingy enough to quit discs that cost like tens of yen a press — no way they'd bother making a dongle
    17AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:30
    Seeing the mess Sony made by going first lets Nintendo be more careful going forward — good for them
    Honestly, I bet every publisher doing digital sales owes Sony a quiet thank-you in a way
    20AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:34
    Re: #17
    No, Nintendo set things up with Catalog Tickets so it'd work out fine either way, physical or digital, didn't they?
    18AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:30
    They went as far as making Game-Key Cards, so of course that's their stance
    Not like Sony, just dropping discs with no alternative in place
    25AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:36
    Re: #18
    No cushion, no warning — just BAM, straight off the top
    Users must be totally crushed
    26AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:37
    For fabless Nintendo, outsourced manufacturing of game software is a key revenue stream too, so they won't be quitting it

    Pretty different situation from Sony, who actually owns factories
    66AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:02
    Re: #26
    lol
    Optical discs barely get used for anything but games these days lol
    If they priced Blu-ray discs so the BD business wasn't running a loss, it'd probably come out to like 100,000 yen lol
    28AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:39
    The whole "digital vs. physical" phrasing bugs me a little
    Both downloaded data and whatever's recorded on a game card are digital data either way
    If some clueless trash media outlet or random person said it, fine, but… (´・ω・`)
    59AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:01
    Re: #28
    It's about the product format offered to customers, so of course it gets phrased that way, right?
    What would even be the "correct" way to say it instead?
    32AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:42
    Well, the console's only got 256GB of junk storage, so of course they can't quit physical
    34AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:44
    Re: #32
    Thanks to that, they're still somehow holding on even in these parts-price-gouging chaotic times
    43AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:49
    Re: #32
    PS5's 800GB is ridiculously small too though…
    46AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:50
    Sony: "We're dropping discs, but we never said we're dropping physical copies"
    49AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:53
    Re: #46
    Retailers: "Whether we stock it or not is our call"
    53AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:58
    Re: #46
    Is a code-in-a-box really what people who've been buying discs all along actually want?
    52AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:58
    Guess from now on you'll be running around with your PS5 clamped in your mouth

    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GBS8N3tbEAA3C7U.jpg
    56AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:59




    The first one to turn into a flimsy piece of paper was the "Buhitch" (a mocking 5ch nickname for the Switch)
    58AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:01
    Of course Nintendo can't do it
    Most of their users can't even manage a credit card
    61AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:01
    Re: #58
    That's PS users you're talking about
    64AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:02
    Re: #58
    Don't mock Sony when they're the ones who leaked people's credit card info
    79AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:15
    Can't help it, Switch2's digital ratio is only 20%


    Chris Dring: "The Switch2 version of Resident Evil Requiem has a 20% digital ratio — Switch2 runs low on digital ratio for third-party titles"
    https://krsw.5ch.io/test/read.cgi/ghard/1773471355/

    Switch2's Cyberpunk 2077 has a 24% digital ratio ← lmaooo
    https://krsw.5ch.io/test/read.cgi/ghard/1759217169/
    80AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:16
    Can't help it, Switch2's digital ratio is only 20%


    Chris Dring: "The Switch2 version of Resident Evil Requiem has a 20% digital ratio — Switch2 runs low on digital ratio for third-party titles"
    https://krsw.5ch.io/test/read.cgi/ghard/1773471355/

    Switch2's Cyberpunk 2077 has a 24% digital ratio ← lmaooo
    https://krsw.5ch.io/test/read.cgi/ghard/1759217169/
    83AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:18
    Re: #79
    Re: #80
    Totally left behind by the times
    84AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:20
    Sony dropping discs means their digital ratio hits 100%
    Good for them
    88AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:23
    Re: #84
    Guess we won't be able to make out anything anymore
    The numbers will probably all get lumped together and rounded off
    89AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:23
    Re: #84
    Though sales drop to zero
    90AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:25
    Still, buying a Game-Key Card doesn't exactly make for a collection though
    105AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:33
    Re: #90
    It does count as a collection — it's still a physical card after all. Planning to collect the whole FF7 Remake trilogy
    97AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:29
    Semiconductor prices are going up in November, and they said there were no plans for a price hike, then raised prices anyway
    Nintendo just does stuff out of nowhere, so you never know
    99AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:30
    Re: #97
    This kind of thing isn't even something the person actually said in the first place
    The thread title's basically clickbait fraud

    Background and Key Points of This Debate

    Nintendo’s statement that it has no plans to discontinue physical game releases comes from an interview with nintendoeverything.com, in which it emphasized a stance that favors neither digital nor physical. The backdrop is an industry trend in which Sony has been scaling back disc-drive models in the PS5 lineup and moving toward an all-digital future. Where opinion split on the thread was over how to judge Nintendo’s response. Many contrasted Nintendo — which has offered Game-Key Cards since Switch2 launched, preserving a choice between digital and physical — with Sony, which dropped discs without offering any alternative. At the same time, the fact that Game-Key Cards are physical cards that still require a download, and so differ in nature from the traditional notion of “physical = a complete, self-contained storage medium,” was only touched on lightly in the replies and never really spelled out. There was also skepticism that a “we won’t discontinue it” statement doesn’t bind future policy, with some citing past cases where Nintendo reversed course on price-hike plans.

    *This article is compiled as an excerpt/summary of the 5ch (Hardware/Industry, “Geha”) thread “Nintendo: “No Plans to Discontinue Physical Copies”.”

  • Tatsuro Yamashita on YMO: “Why They Were So Amazing”

    Singer-songwriter Tatsuro Yamashita (73) appeared via audio on the October 11 broadcast of ABC/TV Asahi’s “EIGHT-JAM,” giving his first long-form interview in four years and discussing YMO (Yellow Magic Orchestra). On 5ch, a thread sparked wide-ranging discussion covering musical topics like Isao Tomita’s influence, Yukihiro Takahashi’s drumming, and Ryuichi Sakamoto’s synthesizer work, as well as diverging opinions on Yamashita’s own career achievements.

    Tatsuro Yamashita on legendary techno unit YMO: “Why they were so amazing,” “People like that are rare”

    Mon, Oct 12, 12:19

    Singer-songwriter Tatsuro Yamashita (73) appeared via audio on the October 11 broadcast of ABC/TV Asahi’s “EIGHT-JAM” (Sundays, 11:15 PM), giving his first long-form interview in four years.

    Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here

    16AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:47
    I wonder what he got in return for providing songs to Johnny's (the talent agency).
    22AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:51
    Re: #16
    He was making a living through music.
    There was even an era when just that was hard to pull off.
    17AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:48
    Yukihiro wasn't just rock-solid, precision drumming — he also got made to sing in English lyrics, getting drilled hard by Peter Barakan.
    18AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:49
    Did the obsessive posting about Haruomi Hosono make a comeback lately?
    19AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:49
    2025.10.5
    Tatsuro Yamashita set to appear on "EIGHT-JAM" on the 11th, talks about his live album "JOY 2," his first in 37 years
    https://hayabusa9.5ch.io/test/read.cgi/mnewsplus/1791182616/125-
    20AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:49
    Also, that bit about matching registers — I feel like John Lennon said something similar in the "Let It Be" film, something like the piano and guitar tones should probably be matched up.
    28AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:55
    A guy who's been active for about half a century and the only song the general public actually recognizes is 'Christmas Eve.'
    34AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:58
    Re: #28
    Honestly there are plenty of his songs people have heard, and besides — most people who stay active for half a century leave behind nothing at all.
    38AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:04
    Re: #28
    By that logic Hamasho (Shogo Hamada) is just a one-hit wonder too, cashing in on one song.
    37AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:59
    He's got a few good songs, but there are plenty of other artists like that too. This guy is way overrated.
    46AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:11
    Re: #37
    What he created was more about sound and style than individual songs — in a way that's a bigger achievement than leaving behind one big hit.
    40AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:07
    I figured he was going to trash-talk YMO too, but…
    41AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:08
    Re: #40
    Turns out it's a story about him surrendering to them.
    44AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:10
    It's amazing that three guys who weren't doing techno before YMO suddenly could make techno music. Hosono came from the same lineage as Eiichi Otaki and Tatsuro — so how did he pull it off? Tatsuro Yamashita sure wouldn't make techno dance music, right? That's what makes it strange.
    76AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:37
    Re: #44
    Isao Tomita looms large in the synth world — YMO's formation also had backing from Tomita's camp. There was also the groundbreaking leap in digital gear, and they got ahead of that curve. My guess is Hosono originally just wanted to do something simpler, a fusion-ish thing with synths — but then a genius named Sakamoto turned out to be way beyond anyone's expectations.
    78AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:37
    Re: #44
    Before YMO, Ryuichi Sakamoto put out an album called 'Thousand Knives' that was built entirely around synth sound.
    57AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:17
    Every YMO song sounds the same to me.
    80AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:38
    Re: #57
    It's not so much that they sound the same — even knowing both the title and the song, they just don't line up in your head. You hear the song and think 'wait, what's this one called again?' Someone says the title and you think 'wait, how did that one go again?'
    62AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:23
    Something like 'Chinese Woman' could easily get called out as discriminatory if you're not careful by today's standards — though there was a Western song called 'Japanese Boy' too.
    75AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:36
    Re: #62
    It's just a reference to a Godard film title — 'La Chinoise' ('The Chinese Girl').
    73AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:35
    Every so often someone says Yukihiro Takahashi was amazing, but amazing how, exactly? It never lands because nobody's specific.
    79AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:38
    Re: #73
    He was a great drummer.
    81AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:40
    Re: #76
    All three members of YMO were actually bad with machines — the technical side was handled by Matsutake (a disciple of Isao Tomita).
    89AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:47
    Re: #81
    Yeah, that tracks — none of them come off as machine geeks. Tomita, meanwhile, had already put out a synth version of Star Wars back around '77, so he was way ahead of his time.

    Background and Key Points of the Discussion

    YMO was formed in 1978 by Haruomi Hosono, Yukihiro Takahashi, and Ryuichi Sakamoto as a techno unit, and as the thread touches on, it’s a lesser-known fact that the actual equipment operation was handled by Hideki Matsutake, a disciple of Isao Tomita. Before YMO formed, Ryuichi Sakamoto had already pursued synth sounds on his album “Thousand Knives,” showing that YMO’s sound didn’t spring up out of nowhere. Opinions split over how to rate Yamashita’s own career, with some arguing he has no signature song besides “Christmas Eve” and others countering that he has plenty of other hits. There’s also lingering tension from 2023, when Yamashita made remarks defending the founder of the former Johnny’s talent agency even after the agency’s sexual abuse scandal came to light — a divide that shows up in this thread too. That said, posts amounting to insults about appearance or discriminatory language have been excluded from this article.

    *This article is compiled by excerpting and summarizing the 5ch (Geisokuho+) thread “[TV] Tatsuro Yamashita on legendary techno unit YMO: “Why they were so amazing,” “People like that are rare”.”

  • Gold Medal, Yet Benched: Fans Question the Brass Band Contest’s Baffling ‘Dame-Kin’ Tradition

    The All-Japan Band Association Championship draws roughly 10,000 ensembles across four divisions — middle school, high school, university, and workplace/general — all vying for a spot in the national finals after regional contests that kick off in June. Ensembles are rated Gold, Silver, or Bronze based on performance level, but because the number of slots to advance is limited, some ensembles that win Gold still don’t get picked to move up. On 5ch, the term itself — “dame-kin” (literally “failed gold,” used for a Gold-winning ensemble that doesn’t advance) — along with the confusing selection system, drew a wave of questions and proposals, including ideas to score performances numerically or add more award tiers.

    “Even though it’s a Gold Medal, they call it a ‘Dame-Kin’…” Doubts raised over the brass band contest’s puzzling custom — why can’t Gold medalists advance? We asked people in the brass band world

    The 74th All-Japan Band Association Championship is about to reach its national finals. Roughly 10,000 ensembles across four divisions — middle school, high school, university, and workplace/general — entered, and since the regional contests began in June, they’ve been competing for a ticket to the nationals. Amid this, one term keeps coming up in debates on social media: “dame-kin,” used for ensembles that win Gold but still aren’t chosen to advance to the next round. Why can’t a Gold-medal ensemble move up, and how do the people involved feel about the term “dame-kin”? We spoke to people connected to brass bands.

    Winning Gold at a district or regional contest but not being selected to advance to the next round — ensembles like this are called “dame-kin.”

    Source: shueisha.online / Original article here

    2AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:16
    https://cdn-ak.f.st-hatena.com/images/fotolife/a/aoccoon/20200323/20200323214810.jpg
    4AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:16
    Make a 'Platinum' or 'Crystal' award for the ones who actually get picked to advance
    5AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:17
    So it's like… you only shine on the midterm and final exams, but bomb the practice tests and the actual entrance exam?
    23AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:24
    Re: #5
    Hmm, that's not a great comparison…
    68AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:43
    Re: #5
    It's the same as letter grades or ◎○△ ratings. There are fixed cutoffs — score this high and you get Gold, this high and you get Silver — and that three-tier rating is announced first. Which schools advance gets announced afterward, and schools that got Gold but don't advance are the "dame-kin." As an exam analogy, it's like scoring within the passing range on the entrance exam but still getting rejected.
    72AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:45
    Re: #5
    That's completely different. By that analogy, a dame-kin school probably wouldn't pass either test.
    7AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:18
    Just give Gold only to the schools that actually advance to the next round.
    11AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:19
    Re: #7
    The gap between Silver and dame-kin is so huge that there'd be real pushback against just treating dame-kin as Silver.
    28AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:27
    Re: #11
    The problem is trying to force everyone into either Gold or Silver. Just do what other competitions do — top 3 schools get Gold, Silver, and Bronze. Everyone else gets a participation award.
    73AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:45
    Re: #11
    Honestly, forget awards at this point — just use numerical scores. You'll get it if you can do basic math.
    9AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:19
    They should just rank everyone 1st through 10th. This whole mess started because some idiot came up with 'Gold/Silver/Bronze.'
    44AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:33
    Re: #9
    There is a ranking — some regions just don't make it public, apparently.
    10AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:19
    School music competitions like this are decided by the advisor's connections anyway, aren't they?
    14AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:21
    Brass band club — a sports team wearing the skin of a 'culture club.'

    I did six years of it through middle and high school, and I'll say it flat out: it's tougher than any actual sports team.
    92AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:58
    Re: #14
    Brass band clubs eat up way too much practice time — how do they end up keeping you longer than sports teams? Even third-years give up their entire summer break and get dragged into practice through September. Sports club kids get to start studying for entrance exams once their tournament ends.
    17AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:22
    Do it like Super Saiyan — Gold 2, Gold 3, Gold God.
    18AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:22
    Sounds like a name Kin-chan's show would come up with. (referencing comedian Kinichi Hagimoto, known for his show's quirky naming gimmicks)
    37AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:30
    Re: #18
    Well, it is literally 'Hagi-kin' after all. (Hagimoto's own nickname — a pun on 'dame-kin')
    20AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:23
    Just create a Platinum award and put it above Gold.
    22AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:24
    Sound! Euphonium totally ignored the baseball team they were supposed to be cheering for, huh. (referencing the anime about a high school brass band)
    70AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:44
    Re: #22
    Kitauji's baseball team is so weak there's no need to even send Monaka to cheer them on. (a character from Sound! Euphonium)
    24AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:25
    Brass band, dance, whatever — in the end, performing later in the lineup just tends to score higher.
    25AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:25
    I think part of the problem is Bronze almost never gets awarded. Is there some reason they stopped using it?
    33AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:29
    Re: #25
    The real issue is that the vast majority end up with Silver. If you're going to sort everyone into a tier no matter what, make most of them Bronze instead.
    26AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:25
    I actually learned about this whole dame-kin thing in brass band contests through Sound! Euphonium.

    Well, like Re: #1 says, even if only the bands that advance get Gold, you'd just get people going 'We played really well and we still only got Silver?!' So honestly, it's hard to say whether that's actually better than the current system with dame-kin.
    27AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:26
    Why? Because the number of slots is limited. That's it.
    29AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:27
    Didn't they come up with that term themselves?
    31AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:28
    Do we really need a Platinum award?
    57AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:39
    Re: #31
    Isn't platinum worth less than half of gold [by price]?
    91AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:57
    Re: #57
    Then how about this instead —

    Osmium (Os)
    Weight (density):
    About 22.59 g/cm³ (the densest/heaviest naturally occurring element on Earth)
    Far exceeds gold's density (about 19.3 g/cm³) and even uranium's — at the same volume, it's heavier than gold.

    Price:
    Varies depending on supply and form (e.g., crystal form), but high-purity ingots or crystals are extremely expensive, sometimes reaching several times to several dozen times the per-gram price of gold.
    32AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:28
    Never gotten a dame-kin myself — every Gold I ever won at the district, prefectural, and regional level came with advancement.
    69AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:44
    They should just make a Platinum or Diamond award.
    Think about how the kids feel — getting hyped over winning Gold and then finding out they can't advance.
    78AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:48
    Re: #69
    Just going by what I've seen in the anime, but when Gold gets announced first, there's still a chance it'll turn out to be dame-kin, so the reaction at that point seems more like a light fist-pump. It's only after every school's result is announced, and then the schools advancing to the next contest get called out, that it turns into a real celebration.
    74AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:45
    If there are 5 slots, give Gold to the top 3 and Silver to the rest. Then just pick 2 more from the Silver group. Being called an 'Ike-Gin' ('made-it Silver') would actually feel pretty good.
    85AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:55
    Re: #74
    Gold is awarded based on performance level, isn't it?
    80AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:52
    It's a judged event, after all — there's probably some 'grown-up circumstances' (politics) at play.
    87AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:56
    Re: #80
    There definitely is. A famous advisor/conductor makes it easier to advance. And the moment the advisor changes, a band can suddenly become weak.

    Background and Key Points of This Topic

    At the root of “dame-kin” lies the brass band contest’s rating system itself. Gold, Silver, and Bronze are announced first as an absolute evaluation of performance level, but the number of representatives who can advance to the next round is set by a fixed quota per branch or prefecture — so when more ensembles win Gold than there are available slots, some of them end up not advancing. On the thread, confusion about this system was common, with many assuming “winning Gold should mean advancing,” leading to a split between those proposing new award tiers like a Platinum award and those defending the current system, which separates absolute ratings from selection quotas. Neither the article nor the thread addresses the institutional history of why the award names and quota system haven’t been revisited over the years.

    ※This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary of the 5ch (Geisoku Sokuho+) thread “‘Even though it’s Gold, they call it “Dame-Kin”…’ Doubts raised over the brass band contest’s puzzling custom — why can’t Gold medalists advance?“

  • Ohtani Snaps 12-At-Bat Hitless Skid, But Dodgers Fall in Comeback Loss — Yamamoto Starts NLCS Game 2

    In Game 1 of the NL Championship Series, the Dodgers blew a lead on the road in Milwaukee and fell to the Brewers 2-1, snapping a 7-game postseason winning streak that had stood since the 2018 NLCS. Shohei Ohtani, starting and batting cleanup, scored the Dodgers’ first run after reaching on a walk, and also snapped a 12-plate-appearance hitless streak spanning three games with a base hit — but went just 1-for-3 overall and extended his career-worst homerless streak to 106 plate appearances. Yoshinobu Yamamoto will start Game 2. On 5ch, posters traded worries about Ohtani’s slump, voiced hope for Yamamoto, and remarked on the raw energy of the Brewers’ home crowd.

    ◆MLB — NL Championship Series Game 1: Brewers 2, Dodgers 1 (Oct. 11, American Family Field, Milwaukee, Wisconsin)

    The NL West champion Dodgers fell to 0-1 in the series after blowing a lead on the road against the Brewers in Game 1 of the NLCS on Oct. 11 (Oct. 12 Japan time). The Dodgers hadn’t lost to the Brewers in the postseason since dropping Game 7 of the 2018 NLCS, going 7-0 against them across the 2020 Wild Card Series and this year’s NLCS — but that streak ended with this loss.

    Shohei Ohtani (32), starting at designated hitter and batting cleanup, drew the walk that set up the Dodgers’ first run and also picked up his first hit in 12 plate appearances across three games, but went 1-for-3 to extend his career-worst homerless streak to 106 plate appearances. Yoshinobu Yamamoto (28) will start Game 2 on the road tomorrow, Oct. 12 (Oct. 13 Japan time). Roki Sasaki (24) did not appear in the game.

    Source: hochi.news / Original article here

    4AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:09
    If Yoshinobu pitches well tomorrow in this situation and the Dodgers win, he's seriously a god.
    5AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:09
    If Yamamoto wins tomorrow in this state, 'legend' doesn't even begin to cover it.
    6AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:10
    Looking at the season numbers, the Dodgers are probably getting eliminated here. But Ohtani's got the eyes of a dead fish. What happened to him?
    8AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:10
    If even Yamamoto gets beaten, it's over.
    Maybe it's better if it does end — a three-peat would make the offseason a total mess.
    Just please don't let this mess with Sato-teru's contract talks (nickname for Hanshin Tigers slugger Teruaki Sato, rumored to be MLB-bound).
    9AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:11
    Their one run came off Ohtani, and he got a hit too.
    Don't trash on him like he's garbage lol
    10AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:11
    He's really settling into the 'scapegoat' role now.
    11AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:11
    The crowd noise in Milwaukee was insane.
    Once you hit the postseason, the hometown energy is on a whole different level.
    12AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:11
    The Brewers just won like the Brewers, and the Dodgers just lost like the Dodgers.
    14AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:12
    Ohtani's in a terrible slump and he's still batting cleanup two games running.
    Unlike NPB, where the No. 4 spot means 'the big slugger,' in MLB it really is just literally whoever bats fourth.
    17AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:12
    Teams without Japanese players sure are strong (´・ω・`)
    18AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:13
    Yoshinobu Yamamoto will probably be fine,

    but Snell and Glasnow must be getting nervous lol
    19AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:13
    Skubal too, man.
    He gives up 2-3 runs pretty much every game.
    I always pictured him as a guy who allows one run or fewer.
    25AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:14
    Re: #19
    Probably just the gap between the AL and NL.

    Kind of like the Central League vs. Pacific League thing (NPB's two leagues).
    95AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:29
    Re: #19
    Makes you think, 'huh, so this is what a two-time Cy Young winner looks like.'
    Well, the pressure's probably different between the Tigers and the Dodgers.
    26AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:15
    Honestly I'd rather see the Brewers reach the World Series than the Dodgers, who are sick of winning by now.
    I just want the Japanese players to shine.
    30AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:15
    Re: #26
    Yeah but, you know… the ad revenue…
    36AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:16
    Might've been tough to pull off, but with the bases loaded against Misiorowski, if it's Kiké up there, they should've just squeezed and stolen a page from the Brewers' own playbook.
    74AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:25
    Re: #36
    He's slow, so it'd just turn into a double play.
    40AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:17
    Yoshinobu's legend might be about to crack.
    77AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:25
    Re: #40
    People call him a cyborg, but
    he might start showing us he's human pretty soon.
    45AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:18
    What about the Brewers' pitchers besides Misiorowski? Are they hittable?
    51AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:19
    Re: #45
    Nothing but scrubs, so they'll get pounded lol
    71AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:23
    No matter how well Yamamoto pitches, he can't win without run support.
    My prediction: tomorrow Yamamoto goes 9 innings, 1 run allowed, and still takes the loss.
    79AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:25
    Re: #71
    Brewers 2, Dodgers 1
    Yamamoto: 8 IP, 1 ER, 12 K
    Diaz: allows 1 run
    Shohei Ohtani: 1 HR

    If they lose like that, everyone would accept it.
    75AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:25
    So Yamamoto's getting saddled with a start that's got everything riding on it again, huh.
    81AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:26
    Re: #75
    That's only if Yoshinobu Yamamoto even pitches Game 6.
    78AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:25
    Even if Yamamoto gets hit around, almost nobody's going to complain.
    They've been dumping way too much on him since last year.
    A normal person would've already broken down.
    84AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:27
    Re: #78
    Two full years now since last season, never once skipping his rotation turn — the only one who's kept his spot the whole time — and they keep pushing him to pitch through it.
    Even if one bad outing comes at a critical moment, nobody's going to blame him for it.
    83AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:27
    There are a lot of creepy ones in here lol

    Yoshinobu Yamamoto isn't carrying anything special tomorrow lol
    It's fine if he loses.
    90AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:28
    Re: #83
    Honestly, isn't it creepier to be giving a dead-serious reply in a thread like this?
    86AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:27
    Is there actually any winning pattern besides 'Ohtani explodes' or 'Yamamoto pitches great'?
    92AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:29
    Re: #86
    There's the pattern where a dark horse like Kiké, Pages, or Muncy breaks out.
    94AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:29
    Not being able to hit a 160 (km/h) pitch even down the middle is kind of scary.
    Last year's Ohtani would've crushed that, no?
    98AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:30
    Re: #94
    It was a sinker.
    100AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:32
    Re: #94
    Don't know the actual numbers, but my impression was he was strong against fastballs last year.

    Background and talking points

    Shohei Ohtani’s “106 plate appearances without a home run” is a new career worst, and many posters voiced concern over the contrast with his strong form through last season. Some also framed it as “the gap between the AL and NL,” comparing the Tigers’ Tarik Skubal to the Dodgers’ rotation — though it’s worth noting this is more impression than anything backed by actual statistics, so it shouldn’t be treated as established fact. Because the Dodgers had won seven straight postseason games against the Brewers since 2018, this loss registered in the thread as “a team unused to losing hitting a rough patch.” Yoshinobu Yamamoto has held his rotation spot throughout without missing a turn to injury, and the thread reflected both high hopes for his Game 2 start and concern over the toll of his heavy workload.

    *This article excerpts and summarizes the 5ch (Entertainment/Sports News+) thread “[MLB] Dodgers suffer painful comeback loss, Brewers take Game 1 — Ohtani scores on a walk and gets first hit in 12 at-bats, Yamamoto to start Game 2.”

  • Hello! Project’s ’26 “Worst Song Awards”: BEYOOOOONDS’ “Shoshi Senban” Sweeps Every Category

    In the unofficial “Worst Song Awards” (’26), a topic that comes up every year among Hello! Project fans, BEYOOOOONDS’ “Shoshi Senban” reportedly swept every single category to take the top (worst) spot, according to a report on 5ch’s Hello! Project fan board. Opinions on the song itself were split in the thread — some leveled harsh criticism, saying “the chorus comes out of nowhere, it doesn’t hold together as a song,” while others defended it, saying “if you set aside weird preconceptions, it’s actually a pretty good song.” Posters also corrected the record on the composer (it’s Tazaki Asahi, not “Hoshibe”) and compared it to worst-song contenders from other groups, turning the thread into more of a debate over song structure than a simple bashing session.

    1AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:07
    Swept every single category lmaooooooooooooooooooooooooo
    2AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:08
    Huh? I think it's actually really good
    13AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:14
    Re: #2
    Yeah, if you don't go in with weird preconceptions it's just a solid song.
    When I heard it live at a Hello! Con I remember thinking, "damn, Hoshibe's got game"
    3AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:09
    Surely nothing worse than this is gonna come along anytime soon lol
    4AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:10
    Never heard it, and I've got zero interest in hearing it, but…
    5AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:10
    Isn't the chorus melody just bad?
    The momentum built up through the A-melo and B-melo just gets cut off.
    I think it barely fails to work as a song.
    6AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:12
    Even "Vanilla," which gets called a crap song, at least has some redeeming points.
    9AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:13
    Re: #1
    Juice=Juice is dropping off the Kohaku Uta Gassen prediction list at this point… (Kohaku is Japan's big New Year's Eve song contest)
    https://kizuna.5ch.io/test/read.cgi/morningcoffee/1791750129/
    11AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:13
    Re: #10
    Juice=Juice is dropping off the Kohaku Uta Gassen prediction list at this point…
    https://kizuna.5ch.io/test/read.cgi/morningcoffee/1791750129/
    12AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:14
    I really liked Tazaki Asahi, so this is a bummer.
    Guess I'm switching my favorite to Hasegawa Moemi.
    14AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:16
    The composer of this isn't Hoshibe, it's Tazaki Asahi.
    16AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:17
    People who don't even hide their bento boxes aren't about to hide their exchanges lol
    17AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:18
    The person who composed Shoshi Senban
    https://i.ytimg.com/vi/BIgJb5XzUGs/maxresdefault.jpg
    18AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:18
    I'm a BEYOOOOONDS fan, but this year "Tsubaki" is the only Hello! Project song that's actually hit, right?
    19AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:20
    So there's not just a Hello! Project Song of the Year Award, there's a Worst Song Award too, huh
    52AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:10
    Re: #19
    A song nobody even brings up leaves zero impression, so unless you run an actual vote and tally it, there's no way to pick a Worst Song winner by "most negative votes."
    Of course, nobody's actually going to bother doing that.
    21AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:21
    A video to put on in the background while eating curry
    23AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:21
    "Atto Odoroku Mirai ga Yattekuru" ("A Surprising Future Is Coming") still holds up — it's from back when Tsunku could still write a solid song.
    24AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:22
    Could someone fill me in on past years' Worst Song Award winners too, pretty please?
    27AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:24
    Re: #24
    In a strong year, the worst songs just sink to 51st place or below, so after the Song of the Year Award finishes revealing every category, the worst-song rankings get introduced as a kind of spin-off. But "Shoshi Senban" never actually gets certified as a worst song, because BEYOOOOONDS fans always push hard enough to vote it up into the higher ranks.
    25AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:24
    For the first time, I get why BEYOOOOONDS fans push "Hai to Diamond" so hard.
    Sorry for doubting you all until now.
    26AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:24
    Listening now, songs like "Kobushi" are all genuinely good, huh
    28AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:24
    There's no way you can force-push "Shoshi Senban" as good, surely
    29AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:26
    Some are saying "Doo Di Dang" is still better than this
    30AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:26
    Re: #20
    If we're just talking about the songs themselves, it's a toss-up between the KIX cover and "Tsubaki."
    32AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:27
    Re: #30
    Sales aside, isn't it kind of hollow to hype up a song that doesn't even have the streaming numbers to back it up?
    31AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:27
    Re: #1
    It's not a bad song, it just doesn't suit BEYOOOOONDS at all.
    If they'd had ANGERME sing it instead, it could've just quietly disappeared without anyone saying anything good or bad about it.
    33AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:27
    Looks like this year's #1 worst song is locked in
    34AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:28
    BEYOOOOONDS, seriously?… They finally dropped a total dud at this point… what an unexpected result
    36AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:30
    Morning Musume, ANGERME, Tsubaki Factory, and OCHA NORMA: "Phew, we dodged that one lol" (a shorthand nickname stringing together the other groups' names, since the "cha" stands for OCHA NORMA)
    37AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:30
    @
    I don't necessarily want it to blow up more than "Hai to Diamond." The musical impact was definitely stronger with "Hai to."
    I can't lie, so I'll admit I'm not quite at "I LOVE Shoshi Senban sooo much!" yet — honestly part of me is hoping "Shouri no Sentaku" does better instead, sorry.

    @
    I do like "Shoshi Senban" itself, but now that "Hai to" has caught fire, I wonder if this isn't really what's being asked for right now. I'd have been happy if the other new song had been funk or disco, but it doesn't look like either.
    39AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:31
    Re: #37
    It hasn't actually caught fire, though
    51AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:03
    Re: #37
    I can just picture the second person hanging their head going "ah, that one was just goofy nonsense"
    47AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:45
    Guess the next release is another year and a half away too, huh
    48AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:48
    Re: #47
    In terms of number of songs, they've been getting favorable treatment ever since around "Hai to," so it might be time for a waiting-turn phase now.
    55AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:12
    As far as worst songs go:
    "forgettable" < "actively unpleasant to listen to"
    that's the scale
    59AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:15
    Re: #55
    Juice=Juice is my top pick, but I listen to the other groups pretty evenhandedly too — and the most unpleasant one for me is Rosy Chronicle's "Barairo Anthology."
    60AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:17
    Re: #59
    The "Unmei Cha Cha Chan" one is worse, honestly
    62AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:23
    Re: #60
    It's got that Melon Kinenbi vibe, I think it's good (Melon Kinenbi being a beloved now-defunct Hello! Project group)

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    The “Worst Song Award” is an unofficial popularity poll that comes up every year as a spin-off of the Hello! Project Song of the Year Award, and as pointed out within the thread (posts 19 and 52), there’s a built-in structural quirk: songs that leave no impression don’t gather votes in the first place, so they tend to slip through the net of “worst” candidates. Because of this, it’s likely that a BEYOOOOONDS song stood out and shot to the top (i.e., the bottom) this time precisely because the group has such an active, vote-happy fanbase. Some posts corrected the record on the composer — it’s Tazaki Asahi, not “Hoshibe” — showing that participants cared about getting the facts right. Opinions on the song itself ranged from concrete criticisms like “the chorus structure comes out of nowhere” to member-suitability arguments like “it just doesn’t fit the group’s style,” and it’s worth noting that the discussion went beyond simple like-or-dislike into genuine debate over the song’s arrangement.

    *This article excerpts and summarizes the 5ch (Hello! Project) thread “Hello! Project Worst Song Award ’26 is BEYOOOOONDS’ “Shoshi Senban” lmaooooo, a landslide #1 lmaooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.”

  • Nogizaka46 Increasingly Seen as Just ‘Putting on Airs,’ Fans Say in Cold-Eyed Takedown

    A thread on 5ch’s Hello! Project board titled “Lately Nogizaka just sways back and forth looking stuck-up, and people are starting to look at them coldly” sparked a heated discussion. A string of replies explained that “sukashiteru” means acting conceited or lacking humility, and some pointed out that generational turnover within Nogizaka46 has made it hard to keep track of members’ names and how many there even are. On the other hand, plenty pushed back with claims like “they draw several times more attendance than Hello! Project,” broadening the thread into comparisons of popularity and attendance with other groups such as AKB48 and Hello! Project. All the attendance figures cited in the thread were simply claims made by the posters themselves, with no supporting evidence provided.

    1AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:38
    Feels like they're getting a bit outdated lately, doesn't it
    2AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:39
    Everyone except Nogizaka otaku already looked at Nogizaka with cold eyes from the start
    6AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:40
    Rino Sashihara: "Idols who put on airs don't sell. No idol who sells puts on airs. The moment an idol starts acting 'sukashiteru' (stuck-up), they're finished."
    7AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:40
    Aren't they embarrassed there was ever an era where that swaying-back-and-forth act was allowed?
    10AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:41
    The fact that nobody ran at the All-Star Thanksgiving Festival (a long-running variety show) and got absolutely roasted for it really says something about the times
    58AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:33
    Re: #10
    They only get booked because of the Nogizaka brand — it's a total "wait, who even are you" situation, and the otaku are way too oblivious to it
    13AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:42
    Still sells 10x more than "Harokasu" (a derogatory nickname mashing up Hello! Project and "trash"), so no problem
    22AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:46
    Re: #13
    Why do you even care about those lower-tier guys?
    Scared?
    That might be what you look like in 5 years, lol
    14AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:42
    Sounds like the kind of group supported by old guys who buy love dolls
    51AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:27
    Re: #14
    Damn, that's pretty harsh
    15AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:43
    Nogizaka is just a bunch of people putting on airs like Aruno
    17AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:44
    "Sukashiteru" = acting conceited, getting carried away, getting cocky, acting high and mighty,
    acting tough, being self-important, being brazen, lazy and overbearing, having a big head
    18AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:44
    "Sukasu" basically just means acting cool or putting on airs, right?
    19AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:45
    I mean, if you asked people to name Nogizaka's newest members, what generation they're in, how many there even are — literally nobody could answer. That's just where Nogizaka is at now.
    20AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:45
    Being "sukashiteru" means lacking humility.
    Lose your humility and you're finished as a person.
    21AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:45
    If the otaku are fine with it, then I guess it's fine
    24AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:47
    So the Nogizaka members are "sukashiteru," huh~
    Well, that's no good
    27AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:48
    The gilded fakes who were putting on airs —
    IVE, BLACKPINK, aespa, LE SSERAFIM, BABYMONSTER, Heart2Heart, ILLIT —
    all of them lost to ReScene
    28AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:48
    But if the alternative is just =LOVE or Kawaii Lab, isn't it not that different?
    They just cut the headcount and changed the color of the costumes
    29AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:49
    Not just idols — in any walk of life,
    people always need to stay humble.
    Someone who's "sukashiteru" leaves a bad impression
    32AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:50
    I only know Ikoma, Shiraishi, and the Bee Woman from Shin Kamen Rider (the one who married an actor)
    33AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:51
    It's a craft that only works if you gather kids who still look good in photos even while putting on airs —
    but the 4th, 5th, and 6th generations…
    34AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:52
    Is Hello! Project not putting on airs? Not getting a big head? You sure about that? Careful now. Never forget to stay grateful.
    35AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:56
    Hello! Project is unpopular even without putting on airs
    36AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:56


    37AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:00
    The lyrics are incredibly dark.
    That's weird for idol song lyrics, honestly
    38AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:03
    AKB's Itomo is a huge hit with the general public — cute, humble, like a Shonen Jump protagonist.
    She'll probably be valued by the media too; not sure if she'll actually get popular, but it looks like AKB's going to dominate media coverage for a while
    39AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:11
    The game and CD floors at the newly opened Yodobashi in Ikebukuro were plastered wall-to-wall with Nogizaka, it was depressing.
    I'm never going to that Ikebukuro Yodobashi again
    41AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:17
    But they still sell dozens of times more than Hello! Project,
    and they pull serious live attendance numbers
    42AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:18
    Even as an otaku, AKB's more fun, right?
    You can even get a handshake with a popular member like Itomo if you buy enough
    45AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:20
    Nogizaka and the like
    are basically just like those voice-actor idols popular with creepy otaku —
    they were never taken seriously by the general public to begin with, so isn't it the same thing?
    47AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:22
    Well, at least they're recognized by the general public — that's something.
    People say stuff like "wait, is Hello! Project still even a thing?"
    48AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:24
    I saw them get totally wrecked for putting on airs during that trending Soran Bushi (a traditional folk dance) thing
    49AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:25
    Hello! Project is impressive — less popular than a folk dance
    52AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:29
    It's not that I hate them —
    they just feel like people from a different dimension
    57AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:32
    To the general public, Hello! Project is the more baffling one —
    that's exactly why they're unpopular
    59AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:34
    Hello! Project: nobody knows them.
    Nogizaka: deliberately ignored.
    61AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:35
    By the way, crushing defeat in attendance numbers lol

    Nogizaka 2026 attendance → 500,000

    Morning Musume 2026 attendance → 150,000

    Juice=Juice 2026 attendance → 100,000

    Background and Key Points of This Debate

    Nogizaka46 is part of the Sakamichi Series, known for shows like “Nogizaka Under Construction,” and has gone through generational turnover from its 1st through 6th generations since forming in 2011. Idol culture has long placed heavy weight on “humility” as an evaluation standard, and the framing of calling someone “sukashiteru” (acting conceited) whenever their attitude looks too big keeps getting dragged out again and again. That said, it’s worth noting that the attendance figures raised in the thread were all posted by anonymous users, with no official announcements or sourcing behind them. The tendency for these inter-group popularity comparisons to blend different metrics — attendance, CD sales, media exposure — without distinction is also part of why these debates never seem to reach a conclusion.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “Lately Nogizaka just sways back and forth looking stuck-up, and people are starting to look at them coldly…“

  • What’s a Good Hobby to Start in Your 50s? 5ch Weighs In

    A post asking “What’s a good hobby to pick up in your 50s?” drew a wave of suggestions on 5ch’s Nandemo Jikkyo G (anything-goes live board). Radio calisthenics, Pokémon GO, mahjong, tanka/haiku poetry, hiking and walking, aquariums, and 125cc motorbikes were all floated, but the original poster kept shooting most of them down as “too expensive” or “too much hassle.” The thread split between two camps: those prioritizing health and mental sharpness, and those who just wanted something cheap. Near-free options like going to the library or reading came up too, but someone pointed out that eye strain makes long reading sessions rough — and in the end, no clear winner emerged.

    1AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:34
    I want something I can do for free
    3AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:35
    Radio calisthenics, obviously
    5AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:36
    Re: #3
    Huh, but that's only in the morning
    6AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:36
    Just gaming at home is the best bang for your buck
    10AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:37
    Re: #6
    Got any fun games to recommend?
    8AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:36
    Gateball (a croquet-like lawn sport popular with retirees)
    14AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:37
    Re: #8
    I'd rather do something solo
    20AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:38
    Pokémon GO
    29AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:40
    Re: #20
    I only know the original 151
    45AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:44
    TV's always going on about how mahjong prevents dementia
    47AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:45
    Re: #45
    Might've been into that back in college
    46AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:45
    Master tanka and haiku so you've got your death poem ready
    48AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:45
    Re: #46
    So you're gonna "become a flower" then? (i.e., die a beautiful death)
    52AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:47
    Dunno, but hiking, walking, or traveling to places that don't cost much money seem good? You need exercise, right?
    55AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:48
    Re: #52
    Even walking is too much hassle for me
    53AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:48
    Re: #1
    Psychiatric ward recreational therapy
    56AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:48
    Re: #53
    What's that even like?
    75AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:57
    The only cheap hobby out there is going to the library
    77AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:57
    Re: #75
    Hmm, reading huh
    103AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:08
    Re: #75
    Reading doesn't cost money, which is nice, but my eyes can't handle long stretches of it anymore…
    78AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:59
    Aquariums
    82AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:00
    Re: #78
    I'd love that, but it costs a ton
    98AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:07
    Re: #82
    A 30cm cube tank doesn't cost that much
    80AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:59
    Pachinko
    It pays itself back when you're winning, so it's basically free
    87AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:01
    Re: #80
    I was losing, so I cut my losses and quit
    101AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:08
    125cc motorbike
    You can go touring, and even pick up Uber Eats as a side gig
    104AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:09
    Re: #101
    That costs money though

    Background and Key Points of This Debate

    The claim that “mahjong prevents dementia” is a popular talking point repeated on health TV shows; while it may offer some brain-training benefit, it’s easy to mistake this for medically proven dementia prevention, which it isn’t. Part of why people in their 50s, around retirement age, struggle to find a hobby comes down to figuring out how to fill time once work stops dominating their life, and needing to scale back activity to match declining physical stamina. The thread split over which to prioritize: hobbies that cost nothing, or ones that genuinely benefit health through exercise. That created a mismatch — the more a suggestion like hiking or walking actually delivered real exercise, the more it got waved off as “too much hassle,” while easier picks like gaming or Pokémon GO left people wondering whether they’d actually stick with it long-term. Comments mocking the original poster personally, or that risked identifying them, have been left out of this article.

    *This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “What’s a good hobby to start in your 50s?“

  • Calbee’s Potato Chips Still Stuck in Silver Packaging Years Later — 5ch Split Over It

    It’s been several years since Calbee switched its potato chip packaging to a plain silver design, citing rising naphtha (a key raw material) prices — and the color still hasn’t come back. The topic flared up again on 5ch’s “Nandemo Jikkyo G” board, where posters recalled that some people at the time dubbed it “anti-Japan chips” and called for a boycott, while plenty of others simply stopped buying because they didn’t like the new look. Commenters also pointed out that almost no other snack makers followed suit with the same change, leaving lingering doubts about whether a raw-material shortage was really the full story.

    5AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:23
    Apparently there's niche demand for it at things like funerals
    34AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:29
    Re: #5
    Who needs potato chips at a funeral?
    107AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:01
    Re: #5
    There's a commercial/catering version made for that, you know
    6AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:23
    The government says there's enough naphtha, so
    if there's a shortage, that's on private companies
    Even a kid could follow that logic
    10AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:24
    The "anti-Japan chips" boycott that nobody actually joined
    11AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:24
    I eat Fruits Granola every day so I kept buying it even after the packaging changed, but if you don't eat potato chips daily, I guess it's understandable that people stopped buying them
    15AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:25
    They release new chip flavors in full color packaging, so the whole excuse is a lie
    None of the other legit manufacturers went black-and-white either
    16AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:25
    I started deliberately avoiding them at this point
    17AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:25
    The silver chips are sold cheap, so I actually like 'em
    19AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:26
    Doing it half-assed like that — I guess sales drop if the packaging looks cheap?
    22AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:27
    If materials are really that short, that's rough, so I'll stop buying
    Sourcing must be tough for them too — I'll just buy from another maker instead
    25AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:27
    I don't get why people are criticizing this
    It's the company's call to make
    29AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:28
    Re: #25
    And it's the customer's call to stop buying, too
    26AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:27
    Apparently the chips' sales tanked hard
    30AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:29
    Wasn't Calbee taken over by a Dutch company or something?
    32AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:29
    This corporate cost-cutting effort getting slammed as "anti-Japan" is one of Japan's darkest internet moments
    38AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:31
    Re: #32
    Having to cave and bring color back is the real embarrassing "dark history" moment, lol 🤣 (pun: "dark history" literally contains "black," and the packaging is black-and-white)
    35AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:30
    I seriously could not understand the "anti-Japan" framing
    37AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:30
    If you're saving money on printing, put more chips in the bag instead 🥺
    41AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:31
    Nothing wrong with a company trying to cut costs like this
    42AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:32
    At the end of the day, the fact that no other company followed suit says it all
    50AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:33
    There was all that nonsense talk about "it'll collapse by June" or whatever
    Made no sense at all
    55AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:34
    Re: #50
    So did it finally collapse yet?
    54AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:34
    "Everyone, keep it up!" — what was that even about?
    62AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:36
    Re: #54
    57AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:34
    So what was the naphtha shortage even about, lmaooo
    Reporting that something's running low just makes idiots panic-buy and actually cause the shortage
    Pathetic
    60AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:35
    Re: #57
    Just an excuse to raise prices
    58AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:35
    That packaging makes them taste way worse to me, somehow
    67AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:38
    Re: #58
    Appearance really does matter
    I was avoiding them too — I wonder if sales actually dropped because of it?
    71AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:39
    But didn't some companies actually go under because of the naphtha shortage??
    74AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:40
    Re: #71
    Though apparently nobody can actually name one
    And even if it happened, they were probably already on the brink anyway
    73AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:40
    Dunno why but I ended up buying Koikeya instead
    Didn't realize how much the color was swaying my choice
    77AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:44
    Re: #73
    But Calbee's actually tastes better
    79AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:45
    The fact that no-name snack makers way poorer than Calbee never went black-and-white kind of says it all
    82AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:46
    Re: #79
    I saw a lot of this weird claim going around that "being a big company means they need huge volumes, so their buying power is actually weaker"
    Made me wonder what kind of "big company" that's even supposed to describe
    105AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:59
    Still, Calbee's basically untouchable at the top
    109AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:05
    Re: #105
    Aren't Chipstar pretty good though?
    Dunno who even makes those

    Background and Key Points of This Debate

    Naphtha is a petroleum-derived material also used in packaging film, and rising crude oil prices and supply concerns since 2022 have been cited as driving up its cost. Calbee switched the packaging of some products to a plain silver design citing this, but since almost no other snack makers made a similar change, doubts persist on the thread about whether a naphtha shortage was really the sole cause. Some discourse at the time tied the change to “anti-Japan” sentiment, but what divided opinion in this thread wasn’t the political claim itself — it was frustration or nostalgia over the visual change, and how people feel about the fact that it “still hasn’t reverted after several years.” One thing readers may easily overlook: the packaging change isn’t a recent event — it’s an ongoing situation that’s only now being revisited as a topic.

    ※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “[Image] Calbee apparently still has lingering attachment to the silver packaging.”

  • Shohei Ohtani Fails Again in a Late-Inning Scoring Chance — 5ch: ‘Same Thing Happened in the Venezuela Game’

    A thread went up on 5ch’s “Live Broadcast General” board reporting that Shohei Ohtani had once again failed to deliver in a late-inning scoring chance. Replies pointed out that he also came up empty in key moments during this year’s WBC game against Venezuela, with many commenters saying they can’t recall him getting a go-ahead or tying hit in a close game from the 7th inning on. The discussion also drew comparisons to Munetaka Murakami and catcher Will Smith, who struggled in the same game, splitting commenters between those citing his batting stats to judge his performance and those worried about fatigue and decline from his two-way workload.

    1AnonymousOct 12, 2026 11:48
    Same as always.
    3AnonymousOct 12, 2026 11:49
    This guy seriously never comes through in big moments late in the game
    Same thing happened in the WBC Venezuela game
    Gets a hit early then goes cold when it actually matters
    8AnonymousOct 12, 2026 11:50
    I've basically never seen him get a tying or go-ahead hit in a close game from the 7th inning on
    96AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:59
    Re: #8
    Well yeah, the last time he got a hit in that kind of situation was back in May of last year
    9AnonymousOct 12, 2026 11:50
    That was a weak-looking swing…
    12AnonymousOct 12, 2026 11:51
    Keep in mind Ohtani's doing this while also pitching
    13AnonymousOct 12, 2026 11:51
    Same with Murakami yesterday, these guys are just awful in the clutch
    14AnonymousOct 12, 2026 11:51
    Too many Japanese players to blame for this one (lit. "war criminal," slang for the player at fault for a loss)
    Yamamoto's about the only one pulling his weight
    15AnonymousOct 12, 2026 11:52
    *Note: he's a batter currently in rehab
    16AnonymousOct 12, 2026 11:52
    Yamamoto's the only Japanese player who's had a moment to shine in October
    17AnonymousOct 12, 2026 11:52
    Honestly I don't care whether the Dodgers lose or not
    25AnonymousOct 12, 2026 11:56
    Honestly, with a homer and 5 RBIs, Murakami's doing way better
    And he's at least playing defense too, even if it's just first base
    27AnonymousOct 12, 2026 11:58
    Re: #25
    Way better, yeah
    People just have a bad impression of him because his last game yesterday was rough
    34AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:07
    He's doing twice the work of a normal player, so of course he's declining twice as fast
    He really needs to pick one role soon or he's going to end up with a career-ending injury
    39AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:11
    Re: #34
    Even with the two-way thing, he's not playing defense, so it's not really twice the work, and he's not even pitching full-time either
    A shortstop playing every inning is doing more work than that
    43AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:12
    Re: #34
    Normal players aren't full-time DH, you know
    Also, he's only pitched the qualifying number of innings once in his career, so how is that twice the work of a normal player?
    He barely pitches at all, he's basically just a DH
    35AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:08
    Why can Ohtani only watch from the bench? If he wants to win he should just get out there and play defense
    38AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:10
    Re: #35
    *Note: he's a pitcher currently in rehab
    36AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:10
    It wasn't even a runner-in-scoring-position situation, so it's not really a 'this is the moment' at-bat
    47AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:14
    I mean, once you've got a beautiful wife and two kids, the ambition's probably gone anyway
    48AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:15
    Is he going to get his form back next season or what?
    50AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:16
    Re: #48
    Nah, that's just aging, can't fix that
    57AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:19
    Re: #48
    His declining eyesight was being covered for by AI (video/data analysis support) the past few years, so the drop-off stayed gradual
    The moment he lost that crutch, this is what happened, so don't expect much
    56AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:19
    He's already breaking down this much and he's only 32?
    It's only going to keep declining from here, so this is basically the beginning of the end
    Especially since he's a pure power guy, not a technician like Ichiro who could hold off decline
    63AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:21
    Re: #56
    Even a normal player focusing on just one role has to start changing their approach to fight off aging at this point
    65AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:21
    Re: #56
    Ichiro also said his eyesight kept getting worse, so it's really just a difference in effort
    Once the real decline kicked in for this guy, going on about how good hot dogs are, give me a break (reference to an Ohtani comment widely mocked online as a sign he'd lost his edge)
    68AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:22
    Re: #56
    Ichiro, a technician?
    All he did was turn mishits into infield singles with his speed, that's not skill
    89AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:42
    Japan's legacy media is
    probably going to report this as 'Ohtani reached base twice but the team narrowly lost' anyway
    90AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:43
    Re: #89
    Well, that's not wrong though
    93AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:49
    Looks like Ohtani's the reason the three-peat isn't happening
    97AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:00
    Re: #93
    It's thanks to Ohtani that they got this close to a three-peat in the first place
    94AnonymousOct 12, 2026 12:56
    Ohtani was actually one of the better ones today
    Smith's the real disaster
    Batting .053 with a .153 OPS near the top of the order isn't something you can excuse just because he's a catcher
    102AnonymousOct 12, 2026 13:04
    Re: #94
    The way you say that makes it sound like Ohtani's performance is excusable

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    Shohei Ohtani is a two-way player who both pitches and hits, and on days he isn’t scheduled to pitch he usually plays as a designated hitter without taking the field on defense. Because of this, the view that he’s “doing twice the work of a normal player” and the view that “since he doesn’t play defense, his workload is actually lighter than a position player’s” are hard to reconcile, and the thread split depending on which assumption commenters started from. The point that he hasn’t been coming through in close, late-game situations has been a recurring topic all season, with some commenters backing their arguments using batting statistics. Meanwhile, comparisons were also drawn to Munetaka Murakami and catcher Will Smith, who struggled in the same game, broadening the discussion to who on the team was really responsible for the slump. There were also voices worried about his age and decline, but nothing in this thread offers solid grounds for predicting his future performance with any certainty.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Live Broadcast General) thread “[Sad News] Shohei Ohtani Fails Again in a Spot Where We Needed Him to Deliver Late in the Game lolololololol“.