Japan Reacts

Author: Japan Reacts Editorial

  • Streamer Hori, the ‘Short Sleeper,’ Pulled From Broadcast by Doctor’s Orders Over Suspected Stroke

    On 5ch’s “Nandemo Jikkyo G” board, a thread reported that streamer “Short Sleeper” Hori — who has publicly claimed to have lived almost sleep-free for 17 years — was ordered by a doctor to stop broadcasting over a suspected stroke (cerebral infarction). The thread mixed in reports that his cumulative Super Chat earnings stood at around 10 million yen as of the previous day, speculation that his appearance on the pitch show “Reiwa no Tora” may have triggered this, debate over the pros and cons of earning money by pushing his body to the limit, and questions about keeping up this lifestyle despite having a family. Some posters even shared medical information linking sleep deprivation to stroke risk, showing the reaction went beyond simple mockery.

    4AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:36
    He's kept this up for 17 years — this is probably just the first time symptoms showed up.
    6AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:36
    Irasutoya really does have a picture for everything, huh. (Irasutoya is Japan's go-to free clip-art site.)
    7AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:37
    Pretty frail, huh.
    What has he even been doing all this time?
    8AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:37
    Don't rain on his parade — he's only got one more day to go.
    9AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:37
    Is this really something worth wrecking your body over?
    55AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:52
    Re: #9
    He's pulling in 300 million yen from Super Chats, right?
    Taxes and all that…
    58AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:53
    Re: #55
    As of yesterday his total Super Chat earnings were only around 10 million yen.
    14AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:38
    How do you get a stroke just from streaming your daily life?
    21AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:40
    Re: #14
    Stream stress, probably.
    15AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:38
    This isn't even a real doctor's stop order — it's just bandwagon YouTubers making noise for clicks.
    17AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:39
    If he flashes his junk, gets his account banned, and loses all his Super Chat money, then wrecking his body for this will have been for nothing.
    18AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:39
    Wait, sleep deprivation actually causes strokes? 🥺
    28AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:43
    Re: #18
    Yeah, it can.
    It's fine for young people, but if someone middle-aged or older pulls all-nighters, it can happen.
    19AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:40
    He's a gym rat and he pulls a stunt like this — what an idiot…
    This is way past just losing muscle mass.
    20AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:40
    He said on Reiwa no Tora that once this is over he won't be sticking to the 30-minutes-of-sleep thing anymore, so he'll probably push through out of sheer stubbornness, right? 🥺
    Once he gets past this, he can sleep as much as he wants 🫪
    22AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:41
    He insisted this wasn't some special stunt, that he'd been living like this all along, right? Well, now he's been proven a liar.
    24AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:41
    Can you not trash-talk 17 years of his daily routine?
    27AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:42
    Whoever bought this guy's paid 'info product' must feel like an idiot now.
    40AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:48
    Re: #27
    They were already a complete and utter idiot to begin with.
    42AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:48
    50AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:51
    Re: #42
    Honestly, that's a fair point.
    If you get into streaming thinking it's an easy way to make money, of course you're gonna break down like that.
    57AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:53
    Just one day of moving around on no sleep makes your brain feel like it's frying — keep that up and of course this happens.
    He's doing weight training and taking baths over and over too, right? Sleep deprivation plus blood vessel dilation, no joke, that's an easy way to die.
    62AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:55
    Re: #57
    No doubt he's headed straight for severe hypertension.
    60AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:54
    If he lifts weights in this state, he's definitely going to have an accident.
    65AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:56
    Re: #60
    He's gonna end up pinned under the bench press yelling 'help me, help me.'
    64AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:55
    Re: #58
    Oh, is that all it is?
    There were a bunch of posts saying 300 million yen,
    so I figured if he was making that much, it'd be worth risking his life over.
    77AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:59
    Re: #64
    Even if he got a 10,000-yen Super Chat every single minute, that's only 14.4 million yen a day — 300 million yen just isn't realistic.
    66AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:56
    If he actually dies from a stroke over this, he might be in the running for a Darwin Award 🥺
    71AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:57
    Re: #66
    He's apparently got kids, so unfortunately that rules him out.
    72AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:58
    If it's really 300 million yen, I'd do it too.
    People will forget all about it in a few years anyway.
    74AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:58
    Re: #72
    This has 'no good end' written all over it (lit. the 'wild beast' route — dark 5ch slang implying he's headed for ruin).
    80AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:00
    The risk of cerebral infarction (stroke) rises as people reach middle age and beyond. There's actually a surprising link to sleep disorders.

    It's become clear that sleep deprivation raises stroke risk. What's more, 'sleep debt' — the gradual buildup of sleep deprivation you might not even notice — is also a factor that increases stroke risk.
    https://banno-clinic.biz/cerebral-infarction-sleep/
    92AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:03
    Re: #80
    Whatever theory some mere doctor comes up with doesn't apply to Hori-san.
    84AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:01
    He's got a wife and kids, right?
    Why doesn't his wife stop him?
    91AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:02
    Re: #84
    She's probably too scared of setting him off to say anything.

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    Medical experts note that sleep deprivation raises the risk of vascular events like stroke, with chronic short sleep believed to contribute to the risk through added strain on blood pressure and blood vessels. A “doctor’s stop order” refers to a doctor instructing someone to rest or halt an activity — language indicating this had moved past the point where it could continue by willpower alone. Opinions in the thread split over whether the motive for continuing to stream despite worsening health was revenue from Super Chats and the like; posters debated the true scale of the earnings, though there’s no way to verify the actual figures beyond what Hori himself has disclosed. Some in the thread also questioned the consistency between his claim of “17 years of this same daily routine” and the fact that health problems are only now surfacing for the first time.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “[Sad News] Short Sleeper Hori Ordered to Stop by Doctor Over Suspected Stroke.”

  • Flushing the Toilet Sends Bacteria Flying Up to Breathing Height, Study Finds — 5ch: ‘Closing the Lid Is Just Common Sense’

    What actually happens in those few seconds between pressing the lever and turning away? On 5ch’s Science News+ board, users discussed a study out of Flinders University in Australia that pulled together 22 past studies on the aerosols produced when a toilet is flushed. According to the review, the violent motion of the flushing water can send tiny particles laden with microorganisms flying all the way up to the height at which an adult breathes, with some particles reported to stay airborne for more than 20 seconds. It’s a fairly fresh piece of research — published online in August 2026 and covered as news by the university on September 7. The thread saw a wave of “closing the lid before flushing is just common sense” comments, alongside cooler reactions like “never had a problem” and “quit putting out announcements just to stoke anxiety,” showing just how differently people weigh the risk.

    Flushing the toilet found to send bacteria flying up to “breathing height”

    You finish your business, press the lever, and turn away. It all happens in those few seconds.

    Bacteria and viruses tend to linger in the toilet bowl — that’s exactly why we wash our hands.

    Source: nazology.kusuguru.co.jp / Read the original article here

    2AnonymousSep 14, 2026 22:59
    What did the study actually look at?

    Researchers at Flinders University compiled and analyzed 22 past studies on the aerosols/bioaerosols released when a toilet is flushed. In other words, the researchers themselves didn't run brand-new experiments on 22 different toilets — this is a review of existing data.

    The key points that came out of it are roughly these:

    The violent movement of the flushing water releases fine droplets and particles into the air
    Depending on how contaminated the bowl is, these can include bioaerosols carrying bacteria and other microorganisms
    Some past studies confirmed these particles reaching the height at which an adult breathes
    In at least some studies, particles stayed airborne for more than 20 seconds
    In experiments where microorganisms were deliberately added to the bowl water, higher microbial concentrations in the water led to more microorganisms detected in the air
    In general, larger flush volumes tended to produce more aerosols
    3AnonymousSep 14, 2026 23:00
    Existing research suggests that closing the lid can cut down on larger particles being scattered upward, but fine aerosols may still escape through gaps around the seat and lid. This review also didn't find sufficiently consistent evidence either way on how much the lid affects aerosol concentration.

    So the most accurate way to sum up where things currently stand is something like:

    "Flushing a toilet can release more airborne microorganisms than people assume — but exactly how much that translates into real-world infection risk is still unclear."

    For reference, this study was published online on August 1, 2026, and Flinders University covered it as news on September 7. So the article in question is reporting on quite recent research.
    4AnonymousSep 14, 2026 23:08
    Back in my student days, I once tested the water sitting in a flush toilet for E. coli counts, and I remember being surprised it came out to only a dozen or so per cc — way less than expected. Though I took the sample in the morning, so the number might have been right after cleaning. Point is, if you clean the toilet daily you probably don't need to worry.
    5AnonymousSep 14, 2026 23:19
    Huh? Only now? Again? Seriously, this old thing?
    6AnonymousSep 14, 2026 23:27
    So is a squat toilet or a pit latrine the safer choice, then?
    7AnonymousSep 14, 2026 23:34
    So what? Nothing's ever happened to us. Quit putting out announcements just to stoke anxiety.
    8AnonymousSep 14, 2026 23:42
    I mean, poop comes out of the human body in the first place (so of course it's full of bacteria).
    9AnonymousSep 14, 2026 23:46
    That's why you put the lid down before you flush.
    10AnonymousSep 14, 2026 23:57
    But I've never once gotten sick from it.
    11AnonymousSep 15, 2026 00:08
    Personally I figure the farts you let out before and after dropping a deuce with your pants down already send trace amounts of gut bacteria into the air.
    12AnonymousSep 15, 2026 02:24
    This is a business opportunity — bet TOTO and LIXIL will come up with something for it.
    13AnonymousSep 15, 2026 02:32
    This got beaten to death during the pandemic.
    15AnonymousSep 15, 2026 03:10
    Eh, if anything it'll toughen up your immune system.
    16AnonymousSep 15, 2026 03:51
    Isn't it as simple as just closing the lid before you flush?
    17AnonymousSep 15, 2026 04:03
    Re: #1 People have been saying that forever. With a Western-style flush toilet, closing the lid before flushing is common sense — this isn't some 10-year-old idea, it goes back way further.
    18AnonymousSep 15, 2026 04:05
    Public toilets are crawling with other people's poop bacteria. Your own home is crawling with your family's poop bacteria. Even at the public bathhouse, other people's poop bacteria are floating in the water.
    19AnonymousSep 15, 2026 04:05
    Huh? Only now? This got hammered on endlessly during COVID — "close the lid before you flush," remember? Japanese universities were already running scientific studies proving it around when COVID started spreading, too. Though whoever did it first was probably somewhere else, even earlier than that.
    21AnonymousSep 15, 2026 05:07
    So what? Do you have any idea how many germs are already floating around your room?
    22AnonymousSep 15, 2026 05:46
    Just take down the "science news" sign already.
    23AnonymousSep 15, 2026 05:52
    That's a different beast entirely, unlike your average Zaku. (a famous line from Gundam's Char Aznable, used here as a stock meme to say "this one's on another level")
    24AnonymousSep 15, 2026 07:05
    Is this a Febreze commercial?
    25AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:39
    Doesn't seem like it needs to gush out that hard… if it worked like those old countryside pit toilets, where a flap swings out of the way and then just a trickle flushes through, things would go a lot smoother.
    30AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:55
    Re: #25 It has to flush everything all the way through the pipes to the sewer (or septic tank), so of course it needs that much water. A pit toilet can get away with less because the tank sits right underneath.
    26AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:08
    Did you actually close the lid?
    27AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:18
    I'm doing just fine, and it's my own waste anyway — life gets exhausting if you sweat details like this.
    28AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:44
    I've lived 72 years like this with zero problems, so it's not an issue. Worry about stuff like that and you'll go bald.
    29AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:53
    I always close the lid before flushing. Leaving it open is unthinkable to me.
    31AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:06
    When you smell poop, that means poop-smell molecules are literally sticking to the mucous membrane in your nose.
    34AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:32
    Re: #31 Yeah, like skatole and such — totally harmless.
    32AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:20
    I'm pretty sure there's a high-rise apartment tower somewhere in the Middle East that still uses pit toilets…
    33AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:30
    In terms of bacteria, toilets are actually pretty clean — the kitchen is the real danger zone.
    35AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:37
    It really all comes down to quantity, but the human brain just isn't built for judging risk in degrees — it wants a binary safe-or-unsafe answer.
    36AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:40
    Everybody already knew this.
    37AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:50
    You should worry less about the sheer number of germs and more about which species they are and how infectious they are.
    39AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:55
    C'est la vie. Humanity's done fine with this forever, so don't sweat it. Just put the lid down before you flush.
    40AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:55
    Re: #1 You see this trick a lot — visualizing something invisible to make it look extra dirty — but we've been fine regardless, right? Isn't it just normal for both the human body and the environment to be full of germs, microbes, and aerosols?
    41AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:03
    I heard about this ages ago and have made a habit of closing the lid before flushing ever since. Isn't that basically common sense for Japanese people by now? So now they're moving on to making a fuss about the possibility of it escaping through gaps around the seat and lid?

    Background and key points of this discussion

    Worth noting: this study didn’t run fresh experiments on any particular toilet — it’s a review paper that compiled and evaluated data from 22 previously published studies. Rather than fresh measurements for specific toilet models or flush volumes, it’s an organization of existing findings, published online in August 2026 and spreading as a relatively fresh topic once Flinders University covered it as news on September 7. Where opinion in the thread split was over just how effective the lid-closing habit really is. While many called it “common sense,” the review itself says it found no sufficiently consistent evidence on how the presence of a lid affects aerosol concentration, so closing the lid can’t be called a guaranteed fix. It’s also worth separating the finding that particles can reach breathing height from the question of how much that actually raises real infection risk — the study itself stops short of making that claim. One point the thread barely touched: regularly cleaning the bowl to cut contamination at the source is likely the more effective everyday countermeasure.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Science News+) thread “[Nazology] Flushing the toilet found to send bacteria flying up to “breathing height”.”

  • Kaho Announces Marriage — Groom Is Film Director Sora Hokimoto, 5ch Reacts: “Never Seen That Kanji Before”

    Actor Kaho (35) announced her marriage via her official website on September 15. Her partner is film director and musician Sora Hokimoto (甫木元空, read “Hokimoto Sora”). Kaho landed her first leading film role in 2007’s “Tennen Kokekko” and has since appeared in numerous dramas. Most recently she drew attention for her role in the TBS drama “Until the T-Shirt Dries,” playing a character who dies in a bus accident. On 5ch’s Entertainment/Sports News+ thread, discussion ranged widely — from the origin of the unusual surname “Hokimoto,” to her popularity back in her ReHouse commercial days, to reports of her past relationships with various co-stars.

    2026.09.15

    Actor Kaho (35) announced on the 15th via her official website that she has married. Her partner is film director and musician Sora Hokimoto (甫木元空, read “Hokimoto Sora”).

    Kaho took her first leading film role in 2007’s “Tennen Kokekko.” She has since appeared in numerous popular dramas, and most recently drew attention for playing Azusa, a character who dies in a bus accident, in the TBS drama “Until the T-Shirt Dries.”

    Source: daily.co.jp / Original article here

    2AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:56
    Never seen that kanji before
    94AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:07
    Re: #2
    It's used in things like the market saying "futsuka shimpo wa areru" (the market turns rough on the second trading day) and place names like Marumori-cho Hippo. Apparently both usages carry the meaning of "beginning."
    137AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:13
    Re: #2
    Forget the kanji, I've never even heard the surname Hokimoto before. Pretty rare.
    17AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:58
    Kaho during her ReHouse [Sekisui House] commercial days was a once-in-a-millennium beauty.
    195AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:20
    Re: #17
    I was working there at the time — she came to visit our store.
    228AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:24
    Re: #17
    Honestly, that might've been her peak.
    24AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:58
    Going by her track record of boyfriends, she's clearly into the subculture type.
    148AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:14
    Re: #24
    Girls who are into subculture guys tend to be calculating.
    32AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:59
    A rundown of Kaho's 8 past boyfriends
    ① Daichi Watanabe
    ② Kanata Hongo
    ③ Masaki Okada
    ④ Hirofumi Arai
    ⑤ Gen Hoshino
    ⑥ Daiki Arioka
    ⑦ Kei Tanaka
    ⑧ Masaki Suda
    ⑨ Ryoma Takeuchi
    ⑩ Sora Hokimoto (film director, musician)

    ◆ Ex who got arrested
    Hirofumi Arai

    ◆ Ex who cheated
    Kei Tanaka
    74AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:05
    I always mix up Kaho with that gravure idol who had huge boobs since elementary school.
    86AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:07
    Re: #74
    It was Saya. Two-character name, kind of similar.
    77AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:06
    Notable single actresses
    Haruka Ayase (rumored romance with SixTONES' Jesse)
    Kasumi Arimura (rumored romance with King & Prince's Kaito Takahashi)
    Riho Yoshioka
    Manami Higa
    Ai Hashimoto
    Rena Nonen
    Rio Uchida
    Ayame Goriki
    Kii Kitano
    Miori Takimoto
    Yuika Motokariya
    Kana Kurashina (reportedly married to Sandaime J Soul Brothers' Tosaka)
    Ayaka Miyoshi
    Ito Ono
    Rio Yamashita
    83AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:06
    Re: #77
    Ages would help.
    92AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:07
    Brings back memories
    http://movie-navi.net/otakara/idol/200803/080303c04.jpg
    130AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:12
    He's one of those "vibes handsome" guys. Same age as Kaho too, huh.
    178AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:18
    Re: #130
    Where exactly is he handsome?
    144AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:13
    Following Masami Nagasawa, now another mystery film director marriage. Wonder if Ayase and Suzu end up the same way.
    157AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:15
    Re: #144
    Ayase's probably done with marriage lol. Suzu will be pickier — going with her own taste, either a handsome actor or a stable businessman lol
    146AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:14
    Asami Mizukawa, Haruka Kinami, Yuriko Yoshitaka, Hana Kuroki, First Summer Uika, and Kaho were all my type.
    182AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:19
    Pretty much my type honestly.
    186AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:19
    For a second I panicked thinking it was Natsuna.
    202AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:21
    Re: #186
    Yeah, I was picturing Natsuna too. These similar stage names are confusing.
    203AnonymousSep 15, 2026 13:21
    Re: #186
    Wait, really? She's already married with two kids.

    Background and Talking Points

    Kaho rose to fame as a child actor in Sekisui House’s “ReHouse” commercial series, then landed her first leading film role in 2007’s “Tennen Kokekko.” Her newly announced husband, Sora Hokimoto, works as a film director and musician rather than an actor — a pattern that echoes a recent trend of actresses marrying film directors or business owners. The kanji “甫” isn’t one people run into often in daily life, but it appears in the old market saying “futsuka shimpo wa areru” and the place name Marumori-cho Hippo, where it’s said to carry the meaning of “beginning.” The thread also raised rumors about her relationships with former co-stars, but these are unconfirmed reports based on tabloid coverage — neither Kaho nor her agency has officially confirmed any of them.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Entertainment/Sports News+) thread “[Entertainment] Kaho announces marriage, partner is film director/musician Sora Hokimoto: “Going forward, we’ll prioritize each other’s health as a family” [Ailuropoda melanoleuca★].”

  • VR Headset ‘Steam Frame’ Launches at Around ¥200,000 ($1,300), Sparks Reactions Over Field of View and Price

    Valve’s new VR headset, the “Steam Frame,” has launched, reportedly priced at around ¥200,000 (roughly $1,300). It’s built around wireless streaming from a PC but can also run standalone, featuring custom pancake lenses and a field of view of up to 110 degrees. On 5ch’s Hardware/Industry (Geha) board, discussion ranged widely — from whether standalone mode is even necessary and debates over specs like field of view and lens type, to stock availability and comparisons with existing VR headsets like the PSVR2 and Quest.

    VR headset Steam Frame goes on sale for around ¥200,000. A wireless VR headset centered on streaming that can also be played standalone

    Source: famitsu.com / Original article here

    2AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:04
    Hey Nintendo fanboy ("Nishi-kun," 5ch slang for a Nintendo diehard), what happened to the cardboard VR? (a jab at Nintendo's Labo VR Kit)
    5AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:14
    Re: #2
    Already in the trash 🗑 or crying 😭
    3AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:08
    It's a Steam peripheral — why does it even need standalone functionality?
    That's just needlessly jacking up the price.
    7AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:19
    Re: #3
    There are tons of people out there who don't own a gaming PC and play indie games on a laptop or phone.
    They probably want a flood of low-budget, idea-driven games you can just pick up and play standalone.
    12AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:35
    Re: #3
    That's why they said SteamOS runs on ARM.
    4AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:13
    Field of view is the single most important thing, and they didn't even mention it.
    13AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:38
    Re: #4
    Optics
    Custom pancake lenses
    Glass and non-glass optical elements
    Wide field of view (up to 110 degrees)
    16AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:41
    You can use it standalone, but
    does it get even better if you pair it with a high-end host PC?
    18AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:43
    Re: #16
    Basically, VR is meant to be used remotely with a host PC as the base.
    19AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:45
    The standalone specs have me a little worried, but pancake lenses are great.
    Once you've used them, you can't go back to Fresnel.
    21AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:47
    Re: #19
    There's a lot of variation within both pancake and Fresnel lenses, you know.
    Pancake lenses inevitably dim the image, and since they stack more lens elements, some models get really bad ghosting.
    It's a shame when a pancake-lens headset skips diopter adjustment too, since that means bolting on extra corrective lenses.
    It also cuts into the effective field of view when there's no head tracking.
    22AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:48
    Just opened the site to window-shop and the 256GB model is already sold out.
    23AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:48
    Re: #22
    Guess that was cutting it close, huh.
    26AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:52
    Wasn't PSVR2 basically demoted into some low-tier PC VR accessory via a paid adapter cable?

    Are people seriously strapping on VR headsets from a company that just dumps its own embarrassing history onto PC gamers?
    27AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:55
    Re: #26
    PSVR2 is actually a solid VR HMD.
    The HMD I mainly use is also wired, so that part's no different.
    The real gap is tracking accuracy — Lighthouse base stations versus camera tracking.
    With camera tracking, a room full of monitors/screens can throw off tracking fast enough to make you queasy in no time.
    Frame will probably have the same issue, so you'll need to drape it in some colorful Zelda-print cloth or something.
    Also it's OLED, and even though it's Fresnel the effective field of view is wide, and it gets even better with that one fan-made tool everyone uses.
    29AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:56
    Re: #13
    Field of view is fine, I guess — not amazing, but a passing grade.
    30AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:59
    Re: #29
    If you're using it for lewd purposes, the binocular overlap right above your nose matters more than horizontal FOV.
    32AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:03
    Is Meta's new one that glasses-looking thing that leaked?
    If that's really all there is to it, that means they've given up on VR.
    37AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:20
    Re: #32
    The story about Quest 4 being cancelled did a total 180 — word at the end of last year was that a gaming-focused Quest 4 is coming in 2027.
    34AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:17
    Just give up on VR already.
    There's no way this catches on.
    41AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:25
    Re: #34
    It's not about whether it catches on or not —
    it's a niche, enthusiast product to begin with.
    The people who always fuss about that are usually outsiders who aren't even into it.
    35AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:17
    Damn it, sold out.
    43AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:26
    Re: #35
    On this page both are still in stock.
    It even lets you add it to the cart (though it then trips a purchase-limit check that blocks it)
    36AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:19
    Whoever's making Steam hardware will probably have their whole division shut down within a few years.

    They probably made this because the platform itself is raking in insane profits, but there's no real demand for this and it's probably running at a loss.
    There probably won't be a new Steam Deck either.
    40AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:25
    Re: #36
    Frame runs on Snapdragon — meaning they've built out an ARM version of SteamOS and the Proton layer.
    I bet Deck 2 will ship on ARM too, so portability should improve a lot.
    39AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:23
    Even if selling out makes it look popular, that's just because they never really mass-produced it.
    Even the best-selling Steam Deck has still only sold around 6 million units worldwide.
    Factor in the development costs for something like this, and the profit margin has to be razor-thin.
    44AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:28
    Re: #39
    You say it's only sold around 6 million units, but
    they were probably never planning to sell it at that kind of massive scale to begin with.
    Are you comparing it to the scale of console hardware or something?
    47AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:32
    If it's not as small and easy to just throw on as a pair of sunglasses, I don't even want to use it anymore.
    48AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:35
    Re: #47
    That's fine for MR or AR, but that kind of setup falls flat for VR since there's no sense of immersion.
    Even in this review, there are comments like "this sucks!" over just a little light leaking in beside the nose.
    If you try to make a glasses-style VR headset, you end up with something like the original MeganeX.
    And when the usability turns out bad, it evolves into something like the current MeganeX.
    50AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:36
    Re: #47
    As long as it's VR, that's just not realistic.
    Securing a wide field of view, blocking outside light, and keeping it from slipping —
    you can't pull that off with a sunglasses-style shape.
    69AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:52
    Re: #47 probably isn't being literal — they likely just mean it needs to be that lightweight and casual to be worth using.
    55AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:43
    https://tadaup.jp/9aDeA07I.jpg
    Yeehaw!
    Thanks so much, mister!
    60AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:45
    Re: #55
    Congrats!
    If yours arrives before mine, that means it's defective, got it? (this part's important)
    66AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:51
    I wouldn't quite call myself a Steam fanboy, but
    I am a Zelda fanboy.

    This is my 3rd Switch 2 lol
    73AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:58
    People who were curious about it realized you get bored the moment you put it on.
    As long as it still feels like wearing swim goggles, it's no good.
    76AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:00
    Re: #73
    It's the opposite — that just shows shallow interest.
    There's no way a quick try like that tells you what VR is actually capable of.
    77AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:00
    Re: #73
    Having the headset clamp tight on your face also contributes to motion sickness, you know.
    The arpara launch unit was brutal lol
    79AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:01
    It's less about getting bored and more that it's just physically exhausting.
    Even with the Pico 4, it got rough after about 30 minutes.
    What I want most from this one is better comfort/fit, but even then I'd just be happy if 30 minutes turned into an hour.
    I don't think headaches or motion-sickness nausea will ever hit zero.
    83AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:04
    Re: #79
    The Pico [a pun on "Pikotaro," the PPAP singer] is out of the question to begin with lol 😅

    For that kind of thing, better to pin your hopes on Meta's new one instead ☺
    85AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:05
    Re: #79
    Just trust me and buy this!
    Zero problems wearing it all night long.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myfaMv0LVII

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    The Steam Frame is Valve’s new VR headset, notable for supporting both PC streaming and standalone operation. In the thread, some questioned why a Steam peripheral would even need standalone mode, but that can be read as an extension of Valve’s push to bring ARM support to SteamOS via the Steam Deck — aimed at delivering lightweight indie titles even to users who only own low-powered devices. Reception to the specs — price, field of view (officially up to 110 degrees), and the pancake lenses — was largely positive. Still, pointing to the Steam Deck’s official cumulative worldwide sales of only around 6 million units, there’s persistent skepticism about whether the VR-only hardware market is even big enough to be profitable. It’s easy to mistake how fast it sold out for proof of popularity, when it may simply reflect limited production numbers.

    *This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary of the 5ch (Hardware/Industry [Geha]) thread “VR headset Steam Frame goes on sale for around ¥200,000.”

  • ‘The Dangers in My Heart’ Wraps Up After 8.5 Years — Creator Thanks Fans, Promises ‘Plenty More to Enjoy’

    “The Dangers in My Heart” reached its final chapter with the September 15 update, closing out a serialization that ran eight and a half years since its March 2018 debut. The final 14th volume goes on sale November 6, and to mark the series’ completion, fellow manga artists have contributed celebratory illustrations, alongside a reader-participation “#BokuYaba Congratulatory Telegram” campaign. Creator Norio Sakurai shared comments thanking readers and looking back on the series’ run. On 5ch, discussion centered on how the story shifted from its early, shadow-tinged psychological tone to a straightforward romantic comedy in its later chapters, comparisons to similarly themed works, and mixed reactions to the spinoff series.

    The manga “The Dangers in My Heart” (Boku Yaba) reached its final chapter today, September 15, with an update on Champion Cross. The series closes out eight and a half years of history since its March 2018 launch. The final 14th collected volume goes on sale November 6. To celebrate the series’ completion, fellow manga artists have released congratulatory illustrations, and a reader-participation campaign called “#BokuYaba Congratulatory Telegram” has launched, inviting fans to send in messages to the series.

    Marking the series’ conclusion, creator Norio Sakurai thanked readers: “Everyone! Thank you so much for always supporting ‘The Dangers in My Heart.’ I’m truly relieved to have safely and soundly wrapped up a serialization that ran for more than eight years…!”

    Sakurai went on to reflect on the eight years of serialization: “This is all thanks to everyone who watched over the series so warmly, and everyone who was involved with it. Looking back on these eight years, I really feel that ‘Boku Yaba’ was blessed with so many wonderful connections — much like Kyoutarou Ichikawa, who started out as a hopelessly gloomy loner, this was a work that grew through all kinds of encounters. I’d be happy if it could have been even a small light for readers too.”

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

    3AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:08
    I liked the early art style better.
    Wish it'd go back to something closer to Rorocco's style.
    4AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:09
    A rom-com for introverted loners (inkya).
    44AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:48
    Re: #4
    It's a setup that's just unbelievable.
    Also I don't get what's supposed to be 'dangerous' about him — he's just going through chuunibyou (over-the-top teenage delusions of grandeur).
    5AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:09
    Go write more silly stuff like Mitsudomoe or Rorocco again.
    6AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:10
    Like most of these series, it should've just ended once they got together.
    Didn't need the whole second half.
    8AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:11
    What even was up with those psychopath-like scenes early on?
    9AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:13
    There sure are a lot of rom-coms about an inkya guy and a popular girl at the top of the school hierarchy.
    Is the reverse pattern actually pretty common too and I just don't know about it?
    10AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:14
    Re: #9
    Isn't 'The Apothecary Diaries' like that?
    14AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:17
    Re: #9
    I feel like the reverse pattern is really just shoujo manga where a hot guy is somehow popular.
    Gundam actually did the inkya-girl-and-popular-girl version too.
    47AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:52
    Re: #9
    What about 'Kimi ni Todoke'?
    I think there are actually quite a few, but this kind of thing feels more common in stuff aimed at guys.
    Guys don't really deny being inkya themselves, but girls seem to not want to be seen as inkya at all.
    11AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:15
    I expected the final chapter to run a lot more pages.
    In the same genre, 'Koori no Jouheki' ('Ice Castle Walls') hit me harder emotionally.
    12AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:15
    So it's like a gloomier version of 'Kabocha Wine' (a classic shoujo romance manga)?
    13AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:16
    Re: #10
    Doesn't really seem like the girl in 'The Apothecary Diaries' is lower status though.
    18AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:19
    Re: #13
    Then how about 'A Bouquet for the Plain Girl'?
    15AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:18
    I thought it'd be a comedy about a messed-up middle schooler, but it turned into a romance manga pretty fast.
    Left me feeling kind of 'eh…' about it.
    21AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:23
    There's no way an inkya would actually get popular with pretty girls like that.
    Reading it just makes me feel empty inside.
    22AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:24
    Re: #9
    Well, that's because it's content made to let inkya guys dream.
    24AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:27
    By the way, did Bayashiko ever notice the relationship between those two?
    25AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:27
    There are way too many virgin-protagonist rom-coms where a useless inkya becomes a hero in another world.
    Japan's got way too many virgins these days.
    33AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:36
    Re: #25
    Yeah, it seems like it'll just keep increasing the number of guys who keep on dreaming after reading manga where an inkya gets liked by a pretty girl, or some real-world useless guy goes to another world and becomes overpowered.
    26AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:28
    Anyone who reads manga like this is definitely never getting popular with girls.
    29AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:31
    This was the best rom-com of the past several years, hands down.
    For a classic school-life rom-com — a genre that should've been completely played out — pulling this off is just genuinely impressive.
    30AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:33
    Re: #29
    Let's talk about backcountry-old-man rom-coms.
    34AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:36
    This anime is what really broke Hina Hitsujimiya into the mainstream, right?
    35AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:37
    Re: #34
    Hitsujimiya is the cutest, no contest.
    36AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:37
    The ultimate evolution of that sugary-sweet rom-com lineage descending from 'Takagi-san'
    is basically 'Cut it out, I'm gonna fall for you' territory.
    And the scary part is, they still haven't even started dating.
    38AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:38
    Re: #36
    That one's good — each chapter being short makes it an easy read too.
    Wonder when it'll get an anime.
    37AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:38
    It started out as a chuunibyou rom-com, but once it changed direction into a shoujo-style youth rom-com it became a huge success.
    I'd love to know whether that shift was planned from the start.
    89AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:34
    Re: #37
    Same with 'WataMote' — in the end, these things always seem to drift toward a broadly appealing, upbeat direction.
    Edgy characters only really land with a small group of try-hard weirdos.
    55AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:13
    C'mon, give us Mitsudomoe season 3 already (´・ω・｀)
    91AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:35
    Re: #55
    It probably would've happened if the creator hadn't messed up partway through.
    61AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:28
    I stopped reading around when they got into high school, but guess I'll check out the final chapter.
    65AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:35
    Re: #61
    If it's from the high school entrance arc, that's only a few chapters left — that's well within the free-to-read range lol
    62AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:29
    The 'Onee' spinoff just feels kind of meh.
    63AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:31
    Re: #62
    Are there actually any spinoffs that have been successful?
    67AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:35
    Re: #63
    'Hanchou' from Young Magazine.
    87AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:32
    Re: #63
    Thinking about it now, 'Akagi' might've been one of the pioneers of the spinoff too.
    74AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:02
    One of the 'big three manga you'd be surprised is still running'

    and now it's ending…
    For reference, the other two are apparently still going:
    ・Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out!
    ・Minami-ke
    79AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:21
    Re: #74
    Say what you will about Uzaki-chan, but it's funny because it's basically a gag manga at heart.

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    “The Dangers in My Heart” began in March 2018 in Akita Shoten’s Champion Cross, initially drawing attention for its distinctive tone, with protagonist Kyoutarou Ichikawa’s inner monologue often described as almost psychopathic. The series later shifted toward a more conventional school rom-com centered on his romance with heroine Anna Yamada, and its popularity grew further after a TV anime adaptation aired in 2023. It’s worth noting that the reasons behind this shift in direction — a topic of discussion in the thread — have never been officially explained, and remain speculation on commenters’ part. The “inkya x popular kid” setup is also a common template across the genre in recent years, and the works commenters compared it to are being discussed in that context. The mixed reception toward the spinoff is likewise a fairly typical reaction once an original series wraps up.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “‘The Dangers in My Heart’ Concludes After 8.5 Years — Creator Thanks Readers, ‘More to Enjoy, Including Spinoffs’.”

  • No Official Video for Juice=Juice’s New Song ‘Ai=Un+En+On’ — Fans Left Wondering Why

    While Tsubaki Factory’s “Kurakura☆Climax” (another Hello! Project group) has been blowing up on TikTok, danced to by underground idols and influencers alike, Juice=Juice’s “Ai=Un+En+On” (a play on words echoing “a-i-u-e-o,” the first five vowel sounds in Japanese) has been left with no MV and not even official live footage. Over on 5ch’s Hello! Project board, posters kept pointing out that “Ai-u-e-on” had real potential to take off as a song — so why isn’t the agency pushing it?

    1AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:30
    Song quality aside, if that track had been sung by a Juice=Juice member with real drawing power, I bet it would've gotten some buzz.
    4AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:36
    For some reason a ton of underground idols and influencers are dancing to Ai-u-e-on on TikTok.
    7AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:38
    Re: #4
    TikTokers would obviously eat this up.
    Such a waste that Tsubaki doesn't have the fanbase/reach to build on it.
    9AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:38
    Re: #4
    Which one's getting danced to more, this or Kurakura☆Climax?
    14AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:46
    Re: #4 Re: #1
    It wouldn't work straight as-is, but with a little rearranging for Juice=Juice it could've easily beaten Kurakura.
    10AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:39
    This song is Tsubaki's big chance, they should be pushing it way harder.
    A digital single with no MV? What are they even thinking.
    12AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:41
    Re: #10
    Maybe they are pushing it and it's just not getting the numbers.
    18AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:48
    Hey choreographer, give Kurakura some catchy moves like that too.
    20AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:48
    Re: #18
    Ai=Un+En+On isn't even blowing up right now, so I guess it's not that catchy after all?
    21AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:49
    Re: #12
    They're not pushing it at all.
    Even on YouTube they uploaded the "Shakunetsu LIVE" video, but for some reason it's the crappy "Koi Tokei" — they should be uploading Ai-u-e-on instead. It's absurd.
    24AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:49
    Re: #21
    Probably because they're not confident it'll pull numbers.
    25AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:50
    Won't Hello! Station re-upload the Ai-u-e-o performance?
    26AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:53
    Re: #25
    Hello! Station has plenty of other videos they haven't uploaded either, so there's no reason Tsubaki should get priority — especially when Tsubaki's already getting a flood of live footage pushed on them that didn't even air on Hello! Station.
    28AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:55
    Re: #24
    So they're not pushing it, then.
    Typical move for this garbage agency, though.
    29AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:56
    Re: #28
    Not releasing it because they lack confidence it'll pull numbers — that's still a passive kind of favoritism, done so as not to embarrass them.
    30AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:57
    Kurakura doesn't have an MV either.
    Funny, since it seems like a song deliberately built for TikTok, yet no MV.
    31AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:58
    Re: #30
    For Juice=Juice, live footage does better than a half-baked MV anyway.
    34AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:01
    Re: #30
    It doesn't have to be an MV to count as pushing it — but Ai-Un-En-On doesn't even have live footage.
    36AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:04
    Re: #34
    They're probably not releasing it because they're not confident it'll take off — because they figure there aren't enough fans out there to drive it up.
    38AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:06
    Re: #36
    Whether it takes off is beside the point — 1,000 views beats zero, and it'd probably hit 100-200k at least. Not even trying to sell it is the real problem.
    39AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:08
    Re: #38
    They should be ashamed of being a group nobody even bothers trying to sell.
    41AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:09
    Re: #39
    They upload the crappy song's video but not this one? Are they stupid?
    48AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:17
    Re: #1
    If you're going to bash Kurakura, get out of the Wolf (a hardcore-fan subforum on 5ch).
    52AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:20
    Re: #48
    Ku-ra-ku-raaa-Climaaax!
    So lame, lol.
    53AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:23
    Re: #48
    Nobody's bashing Kurakura here.
    We're just saying it's a waste that Ai-u-e-o isn't getting the same treatment.
    58AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:29
    Even just within Tsubaki's own account, this song is doing pretty well.
    https://imgur.com/i0g9CzN.jpeg
    59AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:31
    Re: #58
    Classic move — cherry-picking only the clips that did well.
    61AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:32
    Kurakura's only getting hyped because the 'village' (a clique of hardcore fans) is desperately propping it up.
    63AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:32
    Re: #61
    Then what is Ai=Un+En+On, huh?
    62AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:32
    If Juice=Juice sang something like 'now, let's not forget to be grateful~,' people would be all 'look who's talking' (a jab referencing Juice=Juice's own history).
    64AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:33
    Re: #62
    [Ai=Un+En+On] Juice=Juice's Matsunaga Ria: "I'm happy that in Juice=Juice, any bond we make once keeps on continuing, no matter what."
    https://kizuna.5ch.io/test/read.cgi/morningcoffee/1789019307/
    74AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:38
    I think it's fine if they just keep running this song on Tsubaki's own account for now and let it spread slowly over time — it'll probably break out somewhere along the way.
    77AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:38
    Re: #74
    The opening line is 'kawaii ko-chan' (cutie-pie) — strong hook right there.

    Background and Key Points

    At Hello! Project, the call on whether to release an MV or official live footage for a given song seems to be left entirely to the agency’s discretion, with potential for TikTok spread apparently one factor weighed in that decision. In this case, fans reacted to the fact that Juice=Juice’s “Ai=Un+En+On” is spreading organically among underground idols and influencers, yet is getting almost no official support. Within the thread, many compared this to the treatment given to fellow Hello! Project group Tsubaki Factory’s “Kurakura☆Climax,” with the discussion zeroing in on an uneven allocation of promotional resources between groups — an otherwise opaque part of the agency’s decision-making that fans rarely get a window into.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “I Wanted Ai-u-e-o More Than Kurakura.”

  • CD Sales Are Surging in the US — But a New Study Finds Nobody’s Actually Listening to Them

    Even as streaming has become the dominant way people listen to music, Hypebeast reports that CD sales have actually been climbing in the US over the past several years. Driving the trend: K-pop acts like BTS flooding the market with limited-edition CDs that fans snap up as collector’s items rather than something to actually play. The report also found that roughly half of CD buyers younger than Gen Z don’t even own a device capable of playing a CD in the first place. On 5ch, the thread about this “CDs nobody actually listens to” phenomenon split between commenters mocking K-pop’s merchandising tactics and others discussing why it’s worth holding onto physical CDs and records instead of relying purely on streaming.

    CD sales are surging… but the reality is nobody’s buying them to listen to music

    They’re selling like crazy either way…

    I listen to music on streaming these days. Behind the scenes of services like Spotify and Apple Music — which have thoroughly taken over as the mainstream way to listen to music — Hypebeast has reported on the surprisingly strong growth in CD sales.

    Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Read the original article here

    4AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:13
    To play Monster Rancher (a game that reads CD data to generate in-game monsters)
    7AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:17
    Re: #4
    Lend me your Ami Suzuki CDs
    11AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:19
    Re: #4
    Mine was Tobal Combat (likely the PS1 game Tobal No. 1 — any CD could be used to generate a monster)
    9AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:18
    > Apparently the reason behind this is that K-pop artists like BTS have been flooding the market with limited-edition CDs, and fans have been rushing to buy them as collector's items.
    💩 Ugh, so gross☆ (an old net-meme phrase for mocking something as creepy/cringe)
    13AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:22
    K-pop merchandising took AKB48's sales tactics and made them even worse.
    Complete-the-set bonus items, fan meetings,
    or making you gacha (random-draw) for your favorite member's photocard —
    at this rate the old CD voting tickets almost seem tame by comparison.
    14AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:23
    CDs have basically turned into gacha (lottery) tickets at this point. Meanwhile there are still plenty of CDs and records I'd love to see reissued.
    17AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:25
    Re: #14
    I mean, there are used CDs going for around 30,000 yen (roughly $200) these days…
    15AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:23
    Lately I buy the vinyl but actually listen to it on a streaming subscription.
    16AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:24
    > Turns out about half of CD buyers younger than Gen Z
    > don't even own a device that can play a CD in the first place

    Honestly, at that point just make them trading cards instead of CDs.
    18AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:25
    Classical CDs go out of print so fast these days that if you don't keep checking constantly, they vanish before you can grab one.
    19AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:26
    26.4 billion yen (roughly $180 million) in sales — that's an insane number of BTS fans in America. Must easily be over 10 million of them.
    24AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:29
    Re: #19
    That 26.4 billion yen figure is total CD sales, not just BTS.

    There are over 2 million Koreans living in the US,
    and K-pop fandom is famous for "one person buying dozens of copies,"
    so if anything that number seems kind of low…
    21AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:28
    I'd love to see the Screamadelica album cover in person.
    …actually, maybe not.
    22AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:29
    Horses apparently zone out when they see their own reflection in a CD.
    23AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:29
    So it's basically like Bikkuriman candy (famous for kids collecting the sticker inside and tossing the chocolate).
    "Don't need the chocolate~~! Don't need the CD~~~~~~!!
    I just want the stickers and the celebrity merch and the bonus goodies~~~!!"
    25AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:31
    Streaming is convenient for listening and watching, but the platform can yank your access away without warning whenever it suits them. If there's something you really love, you're better off buying the physical version.
    Same goes for manga — when I read a 20th-century Shonen Jump series digitally, the dialogue had been rewritten with phrasing that couldn't possibly have existed back then (it even dropped the name of a singer who hadn't even debuted yet at the time).
    If you love something, hold onto the physical copy.
    26AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:31
    Give it a bit more time and artists and record labels will start their own exclusive streaming services to protect revenue, and everyone will realize that owning a DRM-free CD was the better deal all along.
    Kids today can't even listen to Namie Amuro or Tatsuro Yamashita (major Japanese artists largely absent from streaming).
    27AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:32
    Oh come on, I opened this thread ready to donate mine thinking it was about demand for bird-scarers.
    37AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:39
    Re: #27
    Re: #28
    Went back to my parents' place and found a bunch of my old CDs strung up outside (as bird scarers).
    48AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:49
    Re: #37
    Come to think of it, I never once stopped to wonder what albums those hanging CDs actually were.
    It'd be pretty entertaining if there were a show that tracked down CDs like that and investigated what songs were actually on them.
    Some of them might turn out to be legendary albums.
    63AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:12
    Re: #37
    And now some of those very CDs go for like 100,000 yen (roughly $700) apiece on the resale market with a premium slapped on.
    Even the crows would be shocked.
    28AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:32
    Used to see them out in the rice paddies on the edge of town as bird deterrents. Don't see it much these days though.
    29AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:32
    Are they even still doing the handshake-ticket sales gimmick?
    30AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:35
    Re: #7
    They sell for like 10 yen (about 7 cents) at BOOKOFF.
    31AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:35
    Guess it's the same deal as Chiikawa merch (a hit character franchise plagued by scalping) — just fuel for resellers.
    Like a game of Old Maid, whoever's left holding it at the end just gets stuck with it.
    32AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:37
    Rather than CDs, if we're pulling in new users anyway, I'd love to see DVD-Audio make a comeback.
    I want that master-tape-level sound quality even in my car — I want that rich, convincing depth of sound.
    42AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:45
    Out in the countryside they hang them over rice paddies to keep sparrows away.
    52AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:54
    Re: #42
    That's the image people have, but honestly you just don't see it anymore.
    50AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:51
    To use as discs for Monster Rancher.
    65AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:15
    Re: #50
    Apparently it can spawn a rare monster, so the CD I lent my friend still hasn't come back… 30 years later.
    57AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:59
    Wait, aren't Americans supposed to be anti-K-pop?
    58AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:00
    Re: #57
    There are plenty of Koreans and Korean-Americans living in the US, you know.
    62AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:09
    Records can still be played 100 years from now.
    CDs, maybe a few decades.
    Streaming might as well disappear the instant it's over.
    66AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:16
    Re: #62
    Apparently modern CDs are actually built to last around 50 years.
    69AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:19
    Re: #1
    Lol, this middle-aged reporter is fantasizing that kids younger than Gen Z are even listening to BTS in the first place.
    70AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:20
    Re: #69
    …says the Employment Ice Age generation, jumping to conclusions as usual (lol)
    78AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:32
    CDs, now that's nostalgic.
    80AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:36
    Re: #78
    "I'm on the cutting edge of the times, that's why I don't listen to CDs" — that's this idiot's one and only brag. So lame it's embarrassing.

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    One factor behind the rising CD sales figures is said to be a “variant” sales strategy, where the same song gets released across multiple product versions to boost first-week chart numbers. In the K-pop industry especially, many fans buy dozens of copies of the same title to chase bonus items or trading cards, which helps inflate the aggregate sales data. This tends to get framed as an extension of AKB48-style merchandising, but the fact that roughly half of buyers don’t even own a playback device suggests CDs are shifting in character — from something you listen to, into something you collect. At the same time, commenters in the thread noted that streaming services can suddenly become unplayable due to licensing changes or service shutdowns, so if there’s a work you really love, it’s worth keeping a physical copy — suggesting the discussion isn’t purely K-pop criticism, but also reflects a broader wariness about how fragile digital distribution can be.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “[Music] CD sales are surging! But the reality is nobody’s buying them to listen to music… What’s actually driving CD sales?“

  • Self-driving taxis set for commercial launch in Tokyo by 2027 — 5ch asks: “Who’s liable in a crash?”

    Taxi-hailing app “GO,” Alphabet subsidiary Waymo, and Nihon Kotsu have agreed to a partnership to commercialize self-driving taxis in Tokyo. The three companies aim to launch Japan’s first fully driverless “Level 4” taxi service, with no driver on board, sometime in 2027. On 5ch, attention first focused on who would be liable if an accident occurred. Some posts explained that the operating company would pay damages first and then seek compensation from the manufacturer if a system defect were to blame, while others questioned why the rollout was starting in traffic-heavy Tokyo rather than a rural area.

    Published 9/15 (Tue) 9:00 AM

    Impress Watch

    Taxi app “GO,” Alphabet subsidiary Waymo, and Nihon Kotsu have agreed to a strategic partnership to commercialize self-driving taxis in Tokyo. The three companies aim to launch Japan’s first fully driverless, Level 4 autonomous commercial taxi service in Tokyo sometime in 2027.

    Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Read the original article here

    8AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:28
    If a passenger dies, or a pedestrian gets killed, who takes responsibility?
    11AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:28
    Re: #8
    Does someone even have to take responsibility in the first place?
    21AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:32
    Re: #8
    Well, it'd be the taxi company, based on fault ratio — no different from now, is it?
    64AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:44
    Re: #8
    Serious answer: it's the operating company (Nihon Kotsu, in this case).

    If a driverless taxi kills a pedestrian, Nihon Kotsu pays damages first.

    Then, if it turns out to be caused by a system flaw, the operator (Nihon Kotsu) apparently seeks compensation from the manufacturer (Waymo).

    Unlike the US, Japan has mandatory auto liability insurance (jibaiseki), so a setup like this might actually work better here.
    10AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:28
    Shouldn't they start in the countryside, where there aren't even taxis? Or an understaffed regional city would work too. Why start in Tokyo?
    28AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:34
    Re: #10
    The city center has a lot of people, but the roads are well-maintained. In rural areas, it's the quality of the (human) drivers that's the problem.
    32AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:35
    Re: #10
    Each vehicle costs a fortune, so you need a big city to offset that cost.
    91AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:47
    Re: #10
    Starting in urban areas is a mistake. Heavy traffic means accidents will happen — people will die.

    That'll spread public rejection of self-driving cars. If enough people oppose them, they'll never catch on.

    Limit approval to rural areas — that's where this should start.
    17AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:31
    Re: #11
    If someone you loved got killed, could you really just shrug it off as "bad luck, ha ha"?
    29AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:34
    Re: #17
    The insurance company will pay out, and if self-driving lowers the overall accident rate compared to elderly drivers, it's a net plus for society as a whole.

    Would you be satisfied if your loved one died and the human driver responsible got executed for it?
    40AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:38
    Re: #17
    Japan could pull this off — just enshrine it as a "car god" or something (a nod to the Shinto custom of enshrining objects as deities).
    54AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:42
    Re: #17
    If the system was working properly and the situation simply exceeded what it could handle, then it's nobody's fault — force majeure. Victims get compensated through insurance.
    37AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:37
    Why has Japan fallen this far behind?
    49AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:41
    Re: #37
    Because everyone kept dodging the issue with "Who's going to take responsibility if something happens?!"
    105AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:49
    Re: #37
    Bureaucrats: "But the regulations…"
    Out-of-touch old guard: "Who's going to take responsibility when there's an accident?!"

    And that's how we ended up lapped by the rest of the world lol
    41AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:38
    Re: #29
    Who's actually carrying the insurance here?
    71AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:45
    Re: #41
    The taxi company
    84AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:47
    Re: #41
    Probably the taxi company
    96AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:48
    Re: #41
    It'll probably end up being the taxi company, and if the accident rate turns out lower than with human drivers, the premiums the taxi company pays could even go down.
    65AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:45
    Things self-driving will eliminate:

    Speeding
    Falling asleep at the wheel
    Driving the wrong way down the road
    Mixing up the gas and brake pedals
    Tailgating/road rage
    Elderly people having to surrender their licenses
    85AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:47
    Re: #65
    Seriously, nothing but upside here
    168AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:57
    Re: #65
    Drunk driving, driving without a license — those will fade away too
    202AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:02
    Re: #65
    It'd be a shame if elderly people no longer had to give up their licenses
    104AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:49
    So when do we actually get flying cars, lol
    126AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:52
    Re: #104
    Realistically impossible, what with aviation law and all
    216AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:04
    Re: #104
    Drone taxis might actually spread faster than self-driving cars — they could stand in for ferries on remote islands without a bridge
    111AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:50
    Huge if self-driving frees up all the manpower currently tied up in logistics and pickup/drop-off driving
    131AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:52
    Re: #111
    Once humanoid robots can handle loading and unloading too, logistics won't need a single human being at all
    147AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:54
    Re: #131
    Wonderful. A labor-short country like Japan should be first in line to adopt this
    117AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:50


    Tokyo is full of streets like this the moment you step off the main roads… is this really going to work?
    124AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:51
    Re: #117
    Places like Suginami Ward are a no-go for this (wordplay on "ikan" — "no good")
    223AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:05
    Re: #117
    This is rough enough in a Fiat 500, let alone a driverless car
    251AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:07
    Re: #117
    Downtown/entertainment-district streets are the real problem — with people constantly walking around the car, once it stops it can't confirm it's safe to move again and just gets stuck
    211AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:03
    Re: #194
    The dark truth about China's driverless taxis — they were all remote-controlled.
    237AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:06
    Re: #211
    The driverless buses planned for Japan are apparently also lightly remote-monitored — though it sounds like one operator watches around ten vehicles at once, stepping in only when an alert comes in
    260AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:09
    Re: #211
    That's a cheat code only possible because Chinese cities have such robust 5G coverage

    Background and key points of debate

    Under Japan’s Road Traffic Act as revised in 2023, Level 4 driving with no driver on board is already legally possible under certain conditions, and this partnership looks set to operate within that framework. In the US, Waymo has already been running commercial driverless taxi service in cities like San Francisco and Phoenix, and Tokyo appears to be importing that know-how directly. Opinion in the thread split mainly over two points: who’s liable in an accident, and whether it makes sense to begin testing in traffic-heavy Tokyo. On liability, some replies laid out a scheme where operator Nihon Kotsu pays damages first and then seeks compensation from developer Waymo if a system defect turns out to be the cause, while others argued that starting in an urban area makes sense given the cost of the vehicles and road conditions. The original article doesn’t go into operational details like remote-monitoring setups, so how much of this will actually run driverless in practice remains to be seen as testing proceeds.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Breaking News Plus) thread “[Transportation] Self-driving taxis in Tokyo to launch in 2027 — GO and Waymo.”

  • Strongest ‘Super El Niño’ On Record Hits — 5ch Reacts: ‘Cooler and More Comfortable Than Last Year’

    CNN reported that this year’s El Niño has reached the level of a “Super El Niño,” said to be the strongest on record, pushing global weather patterns into “uncharted territory.” Following the report, 5ch’s News Speed+ board saw a wave of comments about the gap between the headline and what people actually experienced. In eastern Japan, posts like “cooler and more comfortable than last year” and “we only ran the AC a quarter as many days as last year” were common, while in western Japan users pointed to more scorching-hot days — the impact clearly split by region. The thread also touched on typhoon formation and intensification trends, Europe’s heat wave, and questions about the relationship between global warming and El Niño, blending personal weather experience with concerns about planet-scale change.

    Posted 9/15 (Tue) 10:05

    CNN.co.jp

    (CNN) This year’s El Niño has reached a level being called “Super,” entering uncharted territory.

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

    2AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:17
    Come on, Ultra El Niño, hurry up already
    46AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:24
    Re: #36
    The country that planted a ton of palm trees and started saying 'Aloha'
    75AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:28
    Re: #2
    Next up, 'Great' goes at the front
    Calling dibs on that one
    149AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:45
    Re: #2
    Two, three… it's 'God'
    Don't make me say something this embarrassing
    178AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:52
    So what ever happened with that Middle East crisis anyway

    41 Anonymous Donburako (a generic 5ch throwaway username) 2026/03/20 (Fri) 05:35:08.12 ID:Az+IKYP60
    Re: #2
    If 70% of the raw material for window sashes disappears,
    then sash makers' work drops 70% too, right

    43 Anonymous Donburako 2026/03/20 (Fri) 05:42:48.27 ID:Az+IKYP60
    Re: #42
    If raw materials drop 70%, production drops 70% too, so the work drops 70%,
    and staff get cut 70% as well

    51 Anonymous Donburako 2026/03/20 (Fri) 05:55:14.23 ID:zlyhQQA/0
    Re: #46
    Never been affected by this before, so…

    mind if I save this?
    I'm hoping you're not lying

    A 70% drop means 100 orders a month turns into something like 30-odd
    That's easy enough to check later, so I'm going to save this properly — that okay with you?

    52 Anonymous Donburako 2026/03/20 (Fri) 05:58:58.36 ID:Az+IKYP60
    Re: #51
    Sure
    3AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:18
    So what does that impact actually look like?
    25AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:22
    Re: #3
    Go ask the Sun or the Earth, humanity's actual 'owners'

    As for the planets of the solar system — those guys are just stuck clinging to the surface of the third planet
    60AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:26
    Re: #3
    The weather was bad this year all through Kanto up into Tohoku, though.
    246AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:07
    Re: #3
    Europe's about to get wiped out by a heat wave
    8AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:19
    I live in Osaka, and this summer was more comfortable than last year. Power usage was also only about 80% of last year's.
    201AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:56
    Re: #8
    Kyoto (oh, sure) Osaka (oh, sure)
    12AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:19
    'Super' is still nothing special
    37AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:23
    Re: #12
    Hyper, Greater, and Infinite are all still waiting in the wings
    49AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:25
    Re: #37
    I totally misread that as 'Greta' lol (as in Greta Thunberg)
    51AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:25
    Re: #37
    Ultimate El Niño
    16AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:20
    Way cooler and more comfortable than last year
    Honestly this feels like good old traditional Japanese summer weather
    74AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:28
    Re: #16
    It's only eastern Japan though
    Sounds like western Japan had a lot of scorching-hot days
    Glad I'm in the east
    87AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:31
    Re: #16
    This should just be permanent
    Let's sacrifice western Japan
    168AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:49
    Re: #16
    I'm in the Tama area, and I only ran the AC about a quarter as many days as last year.
    Seriously, a fan alone was plenty.
    Though last year was the worst heat on record, so it's an extreme comparison.
    17AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:20
    Is that why there've been so many typhoons?
    118AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:38
    Re: #17
    Typhoons aren't even hitting Kyushu, yet fire insurance premiums just keep climbing
    236AnonymousSep 15, 2026 12:04
    Re: #17
    Roughly speaking, the spot where tropical depressions tend to form shifts southeast (won't get into why).
    That means they're not blocked by land, so they develop into typhoons more easily, and by the time they reach Japan there's a higher chance they've grown into big ones.
    22AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:21
    Global warming feels like it's somehow humanity's fault, with no way to stop it from progressing
    El Niño feels more like some prank nature is pulling, like it'll just fade away on its own eventually
    150AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:45
    Re: #22
    Maybe there are just too many humans now — once everyone had a smartphone and a car, things started breaking down
    188AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:54
    Re: #22
    There's an international climate body called the IPCC, and they've flatly concluded that 'warming is real and human activity is the cause.'
    24AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:22
    Someone go figure out the weather conditions during the Jōmon marine transgression already
    76AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:29
    Re: #24
    The rate ice melts and the rate the seafloor sinks under the added weight of water aren't the same, so…

    There's actually a deep geophysical connection between the Jōmon period and 'seafloor subsidence,' called hydro-isostasy (water-hemisphere crustal equilibrium).

    The sea-level rise of the Jōmon period (the Jōmon transgression) is usually explained simply as 'the Earth warmed and ice melted,' but that's not the whole story — the seafloor also sank under the weight of the extra seawater, which had a major effect on the land-shape changes that followed.
    (rest omitted)
    33AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:23
    The funny part is China's the one taking the worst damage from global warming
    96AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:33
    Re: #33
    Well, they've got a huge land area and a huge population
    If it's their own CO2 causing it, that's kind of just karma
    116AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:38
    Re: #96
    They're building things like transcontinental waterways
    and blocking underground water channels too — it's a total mess
    130AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:41
    Re: #96
    They've also done cloud seeding with silver iodide for artificial rain, and that's caused damage elsewhere too
    59AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:26
    This summer being cool was great
    61AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:26
    Re: #59
    Thanks to that my body's been out of whack, though
    63AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:26
    Re: #59
    Yeah, I guess that's how it turned out
    66AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:27
    The Earth will meet its end in about 4.5 billion years, you know (´・ω・｀)
    68AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:27
    Dimensional-Wave Superstring-Excitation Degenerate-Radius Jump Gravitational-Wave Faster-Than-Light Drive (pure technobabble, sci-fi jargon soup)
    79AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:29
    Re: #66
    Actually it'll be way sooner than that (´・ω・｀)
    Re: #68
    Welcome party for the raid on the galactic core
    125AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:40
    Re: #66
    It'll end way sooner than that
    2037: AI achieves total control
    Humanity extinct by 2045
    194AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:55
    But just like how, thanks to Earth's roughly 27,000-year axial precession cycle, the Sahara Desert and Egypt were green paradises some 5,000-6,000 years ago —
    in about another 15,000 years, the Sahara and Egypt will become green paradises again too
    203AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:57
    Re: #194
    The question is whether humanity will even still be around in 15,000 years
    205AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:57
    Re: #194
    Well, guess we'll just have to be reborn around then

    Background and Key Points

    El Niño is a natural phenomenon in which sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific rise above average; it occurs every few years and affects temperature and precipitation patterns worldwide. “Super El Niño” is a colloquial term for an especially strong occurrence, with the 2015-16 event previously regarded as the record-holder for strength. Importantly, this is a natural variability cycle separate from global warming itself — when El Niño’s swings layer on top of the baseline rise from warming, extreme heat, heavy rain, and typhoon intensity can get pushed into “uncharted territory.” The thread’s discussion touched on regional differences in how it felt (cooler in eastern Japan, scorching in western Japan), but this isn’t unique to Japan — El Niño is known to push temperature and precipitation in opposite directions depending on the region. Some posts framed the cause of warming as either “human activity” or “a trick of nature,” but the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) has concluded that human activity is the primary driver, with El Niño acting as one of the factors that amplifies or dampens the swings.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (News Speed+) thread “[Earth] Strongest ‘Super El Niño’ on Record Occurs, World Weather Enters Uncharted Territory.”

  • Most Switch 2 Games Turn Out to Be “Key Cards,” Sparking Debate Over Long-Term Playability

    After buying a Nintendo Switch 2, an illustrator posted their disappointment upon discovering that most of the games they’d picked up were “key cards” — cartridges that don’t actually contain the game data itself. A key card only stores licensing/authentication info; playing the game requires a separate download, raising fears that the games could become unplayable if Nintendo’s distribution service ever shuts down. The post was picked up on 5channel’s “Hardware & Industry” board (nicknamed “Geha,” short for *geemu hard* — game hardware), where posters debated the fact that Nintendo still offers re-downloads for old 3DS and Wii U purchases, and whether retailers are limiting key-card stock simply because game file sizes have grown too large.

    2AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:41
    You can still download Wii Virtual Console games to this very day. "Once the distribution service ends you can't download it anymore" — what Sony-verse is this guy living in?
    6AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:46
    That's an ugly bit of misleading spin. Even if future re-downloads for the 3DS or Wii U eventually stop, whatever's already installed on the console keeps working fine. He's fabricating a scenario where it's suddenly game over the moment authentication fails.
    18AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:56
    Re: #6 It literally says "if the service ends AND the console breaks." Can you not read Japanese?
    35AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:09
    Re: #18 Before worrying about a console's lifespan 20 or 30 years from now, maybe worry about your own lifespan first. There's no guarantee you'll even be alive in 30 years.
    55AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:21
    Re: #18 Is that only true for Nintendo?
    7AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:48
    Been thinking about this lately — even buying the packaged game data doesn't mean much when like 90% of games are buggy unless you patch them anyway.
    28AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:02
    Re: #7 Re: #24 All the more reason it's fine to keep dreaming of a standalone, offline world forever — a little escapism for the end times.
    10AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:51
    Younger people don't even bother going out to buy games anymore. It's basically just grandpas and grandmas in their 40s and up who still do.
    14AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:55
    Re: #10 There's still a hardcore "beat it fast, resell it fast" budget-conscious crowd among young people too, so… a little, maybe?
    15AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:55
    Don't turn this into a "well PlayStation does it too" whataboutism thread already.
    23AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:59
    Re: #15 That's because people conveniently ignore PlayStation's own issues lol
    16AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:56
    I wonder which will happen first: today's cartridges physically wearing out, or the download service getting discontinued? Even the 3DS still lets you re-download to this day, after all.
    22AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:58
    Re: #16 A disc, maybe — but this is a cartridge we're talking about. Compared to an online service, which lasts what, ten years at most, cartridges will easily outlast that with room to spare. Exhibit A: Famicom carts are still being traded secondhand to this day.
    24AnonymousSep 15, 2026 09:59
    If we ever end up somewhere without internet access, I don't think anyone's going to be worried about gaming lol
    33AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:09
    There's a faint possibility the original poster stopped caring about PlayStation a long time ago.
    89AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:46
    Re: #33 I see that possibility too.
    42AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:14
    Re: #1 That's what you get for buying the underpowered Switch 2. Or at least look it up before buying.
    48AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:16
    Re: #42 Buying a different console wouldn't have solved OP's problem anyway.
    50AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:17
    So are you actually digging out your Famicom, GameCube, or Wii U and playing them every single day, then? It's a mystery why people cling to stuff they'll never actually use.
    65AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:27
    Re: #50 Sorry, not every day, but I did spend this summer playing Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance on the GameCube… And soon I'm going to transfer my save to the Wii and play Radiant Dawn…
    60AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:25
    For the Switch and Switch 2, even if your console breaks, as long as you bought the digital version, can't you just link your account to a new console and re-download from your purchase history? Am I wrong about that? Sure, decades from now downloading might not be possible anymore, but still.
    68AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:29
    Re: #60 You say downloading might not be possible decades from now, but ask yourself how many people are still playing PS2, Dreamcast, or GameCube on the actual original hardware today…
    63AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:27
    Re: #48 It seems like it'd make the environment even worse, since you'd lose the ability to financially hedge your risk at all.
    69AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:30
    I hadn't factored Xbox in under "other consoles." Correction: please read Re: #63 with "in PlayStation's case" added to the front. My sincere apologies to the fans.
    80AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:38
    Re: #68 It's not about whether people currently ARE doing it — it's about whether they CAN.
    84AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:41
    Re: #80 If you're not actually playing it, at that point you're just a collector.
    81AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:40
    The ideal: keep the physical copy on hand because you want to play it again someday. The reality: farsightedness, declining stamina and motivation from aging, and shifting tastes mean you won't even feel like playing it anymore.
    91AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:49
    Same goes for games that ship on one disc but require a mandatory extra download. Re: #81 Even a game you used to love can feel off in the controls when you replay it now. You'd probably end up thinking "I'll wait for a port or remaster" — though honestly you'd probably just buy it and let it sit unplayed anyway.
    83AnonymousSep 15, 2026 10:41
    Meanwhile… the PS5 did away with discs entirely, leaving you with nothing but a rental license — meaning you can no longer actually own your games.
    105AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:08
    Re: #83 Coming from a crowd that's been pirating downloads left and right, suddenly posing as physical-media purists now seems pretty suspicious.
    90😊 ◆SN/.T…..Sep 15, 2026 10:48
    Re: #1 Asked an AI, and here's what it said 🥺

    3. Regarding "re-downloading" software you've already purchased: even if the developer goes bankrupt and "new sales" of the game end on the store, as long as you already paid for and own that game, "re-downloading" is generally still possible. As long as Nintendo's own distribution infrastructure is still running, you can re-download anytime from your purchase history. However, if "Nintendo's service itself (the Nintendo eShop) shuts down completely," as with the 3DS or Wii U, then re-downloading becomes impossible for everyone, regardless of the publisher.
    106AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:11
    Re: #90 Wait, has the 3DS/Wii U eShop actually shut down? I feel like re-downloading still works.
    107AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:12
    Re: #106 You can't make new purchases anymore, but re-downloading still works. They've announced it will stop eventually, but there's no set date for that yet.
    95AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:00
    Whatever you say about the distribution service, even physical game cards these days are unplayable without a patch anyway, and what actually vanishes when a console breaks is your save data. With your account, you can just repair or rebuy the console and re-download. I always figured the real root issue here was storage capacity.
    97AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:02
    Re: #95 Right, it's fundamentally a capacity issue. Small-capacity titles sell fine even as key cards. But for big-capacity key-card titles, retailers seem wary and appear to be limiting how much stock they bring in.
    100AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:04
    Key cards have basically become the norm now, so there'll probably be less and less need to even label them as such going forward.
    102AnonymousSep 15, 2026 11:07
    Re: #100 Honestly, Nintendo should've just made everything a key card from the start. Still having regular game cards around too is way too half-hearted.

    Background and Key Points of the Debate

    A “key card” (キーカード) stores only licensing information on the cartridge itself, with the actual game data downloaded separately — an approach that’s become more common as game file sizes have ballooned. Retailers are believed to want to avoid stocking large quantities of expensive-to-produce cartridges for high-capacity titles, and posters in the thread pointed to storage capacity as the underlying driver. As for long-term preservation, Nintendo has a track record of continuing to offer re-downloads for the old 3DS and Wii U eShops even after new sales ended — meaning the end of active distribution doesn’t automatically mean a game becomes unplayable right away. That said, Nintendo has confirmed that re-downloads will eventually become impossible once those services shut down completely, and no date for that has been set. The gap between the reassurance of holding a physical cartridge and the reality of still depending on a download server appears to be exactly what fueled the reaction to this post.

    *This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of a thread on 5channel’s “Hardware & Industry” board (5ch — one of Japan’s largest anonymous forums; the board is nicknamed “Geha”), titled “Famous illustrator: ‘Finally got my Switch 2, but I’m disappointed that most of the games are key cards.’“