Author: Japan Reacts Editorial

  • Nagano: “We Need to Sort Out the Line Between Idols and Comedians” — Comedian Takes Aim at STARTO’s Variety Show Takeover

    Comedian Nagano put forward a proposal to improve television on TBS’s “Weekly Sanma and Matsuko,” which aired on the 13th, arguing that STARTO ENTERTAINMENT (formerly Johnny’s Entertainment) appears too often on variety shows and that the roles of idols and comedians should be sorted out. On the same program, Matsuko Deluxe also voiced frustration with “comedians who get laughs by teasing idols.”

    On 5channel, the discussion focused less on whether people agreed with the proposal itself and more on the fact that Nagano has close ties to former Johnny’s talent, including co-starring with them in films, along with comments looking back at the power dynamics between the TV industry and Johnny’s since SMAP’s heyday.

    Nagano Speaks Out on TV: “STARTO ENTERTAINMENT Is Doing Too Much Variety”

    Comedian Nagano appeared on TBS’s “Weekly Sanma and Matsuko,” aired on the 13th, where he spoke out about the state of variety programming.

    Under the theme of making TV better, Nagano submitted a “TV improvement proposal,” saying, “I want to sort out the line between idols and comedians.”

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

    2AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:06
    Guess I'll crack open a beer while watching Peace-kun, the world's most famous capybara, from Omiya Zoo, on YouTube.
    3AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:06
    This complaint is like 20 years out of date already.
    How many times has this been said?
    4AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:07
    Sort out the comedians sitting in the commentator seats spouting nonsense too, while you're at it.
    5AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:09
    Re: #1
    Improv skills.

    Especially their talk skills.

    I think they're better and easier to use than comedians.
    6AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:09
    At the end of the day, it's because a lot of people want to watch them.
    It's about likability and fan enthusiasm.
    8AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:09
    Isn't Nagano the guy Jinnai used to smack around?
    61AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:20
    Re: #8
    Jinnai's scary.
    Not even funny.
    9AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:09
    So variety shows where idols are the main draw should have idols as MCs too?
    13AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:10
    Re: #9
    That'd be boring though lol
    19AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:11
    Re: #13
    But the viewers are watching for the idols anyway, so maybe that's fine?
    20AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:11
    Nagano always looks like he's ready to drop everything and walk away at any moment, so he's not much of a target for the public's urge to drag someone down.
    34AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:14
    Re: #20
    It's his all-or-nothing comedy style — maybe that's why he doesn't get bashed, same as Egashira (Egashira 2:50, a comedian famous for extreme stunts).
    38AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:15
    Nagano Movie Channel (April 5, 2026 – , BS-TBS) – Cinemanist [46][47]

    Wait, what?
    45AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:17
    Re: #38
    It's actually pretty well-regarded among movie buffs.
    54AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:19
    The way other celebrities desperately hype up Johnny's talent is really something.
    63AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:21
    Re: #54
    The funny thing is, the ones hyping them up most are Yoshimoto comedians, who throw their own weight around just as much in the industry.
    Are there really that many guys who are huge Arashi fans?
    62AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:20
    He's right about Johnny's — and Yoshimoto's overrepresented too.
    If Nagano can call that out as well, then he's the real deal.
    68AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:22
    Re: #62
    Unfortunately he works with Johnny's talent all the time, and even cast an A.B.C-Z member in his own movie 'Mad Mask' — he's benefited a lot from Johnny's connections.
    73AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:23
    They say SMAP was incredibly edgy in the early '90s.
    After Hikaru Genji ended and Johnny's went into rapid decline,
    SMAP got treated like a nuisance everywhere they went.
    In dramas, actors looked down on them,
    on variety shows comedians hurled abuse saying they weren't funny,
    on music shows artists gave them cold stares,
    and even TV stations and staff treated them carelessly.
    Everyone was basically an enemy, so SMAP got aggressive too.
    96AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:29
    Re: #73
    And once they made it big themselves, they turned around and started treating everyone else carelessly.
    119AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:36
    Re: #73
    Kimutaku got lightly mocked by Kiyoto Hagiwara lol
    81AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:25
    TV got boring once they started putting Johnny's talent on variety shows.
    Johnny's morning, noon, and night.
    105AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:32
    Re: #81
    Blame SMAP for that.
    86AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:26
    If more comedians are only at the level of talking trash, of course idols become an acceptable substitute.

    Viewers have lost interest in comedy too.
    89AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:27
    Re: #86
    That's just you, man.
    90AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:27
    Johnny's, Watanabe, Burning — these agencies are the root cause of TV getting boring.
    92AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:28
    Re: #90
    Yeah, honestly, that.
    95AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:29
    What do you mean 'just you'? The TV ratings speak for themselves.
    The only people still watching TV are the ones who think trash-talking is funny.
    124AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:36
    Re: #95
    It's just you.
    Only someone that twisted up about it would think that.
    126AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:38
    So that's how Nagano is.
    That attitude he had, cursing after getting dropped into a hole on the Tunnels show,
    totally failing to read the room —

    I remember watching that and thinking, 'ah, this guy's no good.'

    Guess he's actually pretty capable these days,
    enough to say something like this.
    135AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:40
    Re: #126
    He's always been edgy, so he hasn't wavered.
    Even a guy like Nagano has only just now become able to complain about Johnny's.

    Background and Key Points of This Topic

    STARTO ENTERTAINMENT is the successor organization formed when the former Johnny’s Entertainment changed its name in 2023 following the sexual abuse scandal — without knowing that background, the context of this story can be hard to grasp. Opinions in the thread split along two lines, both framed as structural issues with Japanese TV: one holding that casting idols, who more easily draw ratings and sponsors, is simply market logic, and the other arguing that comedians have come to rely so heavily on insults and teasing that they’re no longer chosen on merit. At the same time, many commenters pointed out a possible contradiction in Nagano’s stance, since he himself has appeared alongside former Johnny’s talent, including in his own independently produced films. The discussion also branched into anecdotes about how SMAP was given the cold shoulder by the entire TV industry during their slump years — background that’s easy to miss from the comments alone, since the thread reads less as a reaction to this single remark and more within the long-running context of the shifting power balance between TV and Johnny’s/STARTO.

    *This article is compiled by excerpting and summarizing the 5channel (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “[Entertainment] Nagano Speaks Out on TV: “STARTO ENTERTAINMENT Is Doing Too Much Variety” / “We Need to Sort Out the Line Between Idols and Comedians”.”

  • Welfare Recipient’s ‘Monthly Splurge’ Post Sparks Fraud Accusations

    A welfare recipient posted on 5ch about treating themselves to a once-a-month “splurge” at a tiny standing-bar-style eatery. Photos from a two-seat-table joint called Renge Shokudo — showing chili shrimp and a drink — drew warm reactions like “nice one.” But when the poster revealed they also work for Uber Eats, accusations flared up that they might be hiding income to fraudulently collect welfare. The poster explained they report everything to their caseworker every month, but the back-and-forth with skeptics went in circles for a while.

    Let’s eat 🥺🙏

    Source: imgur.com / Original post here

    3AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:02
    Wait, is this eating out?
    5AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:03
    Re: #3
    It's Renge Shokudo 🥺🍺
    9AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:04
    Re: #5
    Huh, kinda looks like a standing bar 🥺
    12AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:07
    Re: #9
    It's a two-seat table so it was a bit cramped 🥺🍺
    I hate standing bars so I've never actually been in one
    4AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:03
    BTW I'm on welfare
    6AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:04
    Re: #4
    Go make your own thread 🥺🍺
    108AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:46
    Re: #4
    Thought you were eating a moth but it was clams
    10AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:05
    Re: #8
    I do work 🥺🍺
    Got Uber again tomorrow morning
    11AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:06
    Re: #10
    Don't you have to report Uber income?
    13AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:07
    Re: #11
    You're allowed to earn a small amount
    14AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:08
    Re: #11
    I report it to my caseworker every month 🥺🍺
    It's an annoying monthly chore
    15AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:09
    Nice
    If you go to a grubbier place there are cheap spots with good booze and snacks
    17AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:10
    Re: #15
    I live out in the countryside 🥺🍺
    It's all chain restaurants around here
    23AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:12
    Re: #17
    Ah I see
    If it's chains, Saizeriya's escargot and wine is great value for getting buzzed (Saizeriya: a cheap Italian family-restaurant chain)
    31AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:14
    Re: #23
    There's a Saizeriya near me so I go sometimes 🥺🍺
    39AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:16
    Re: #23
    Had it Saturday
    Always gotta get the escargot, focaccia, and the free olive oil
    18AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:10
    You're doing Uber Eats while on welfare?
    So you're underreporting income and fraudulently claiming welfare
    20AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:11
    Re: #18
    Earning a small amount is fine, it just adds a bit extra
    It's allowed
    28AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:13
    Re: #18
    Why would I make fraud that obvious 🥺🍺
    If I were gonna do it I'd secretly open a separate account
    22AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:12
    Re: #20
    You're underreporting though, right?
    That's basically tax evasion too
    25AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:13
    Re: #22
    Dude, what are you even talking about?
    26AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:13
    Re: #21
    Underreporting income to fraudulently receive welfare makes you a criminal, you know?
    At least know that much
    32AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:14
    Re: #28
    You're stashing money separately from what you report, aren't you
    Receiving welfare like that is a crime
    43AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:17
    Re: #32
    Jumping to conclusions isn't cool 🥺🍺
    Well, honestly, part of me kinda wants to, but…
    47AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:18
    Re: #32
    Who said you get to decide that?
    33AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:15
    Re: #1
    Oh, chili shrimp guy
    This much is fine for an occasional treat
    Could go a little fancier though
    Looks tasty though
    52AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:19
    Re: #33
    Thanks as always 🥺🍺
    Even this counts as a splurge for me
    37AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:16
    Sipping drinks with Ohsho's yakisoba is great 👍 (Ohsho: a popular Chinese-food chain)
    57AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:21
    Re: #37
    Ohsho's good but pricey 🥺🍺
    Sometimes I just get the gyoza using the app
    41AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:16
    Don't ignore OP
    What's this bean sprout thing?
    49AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:18
    Re: #41
    Sorry, the thread's moving fast so I'm behind on replies 🥺🍺
    Seems like it's ground chicken seasoned with miso and garlic
    50AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:19
    Re: #47
    It's not jumping to conclusions, it's a fact
    That's exactly what fraudsters say
    55AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:20
    Re: #50
    He's saying he reports to his caseworker every month like he's supposed to, right?
    You're the one who started throwing around "underreporting" and "tax evasion"
    51AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:19
    I'm a part-timer with 300,000 yen in debt eating cup noodles all the time
    Very jealous of this
    65AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:27
    Re: #51
    Debt scares me too much, couldn't do it 🥺🍺
    56AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:21
    Re: #36
    Gout made me unable to work 🥺🍺
    Medication's made it a lot better lately
    61AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:24
    Re: #56
    Didn't know gout could get that severe
    64AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:26
    Re: #61
    I panicked the first time I had an attack 🥺🍺
    Never felt pain like that — standing up was so brutal I ended up peeing into a plastic bottle
    68AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:28
    Re: #64
    So is it that the meds don't work well on you, or the symptoms are just too bad for them to help, and that's why you can't work?
    72AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:30
    Re: #64
    Well, once your gout settles down
    Maybe something like taxi driving could work?

    Background and Key Issues

    Under Japan’s welfare system, having income from work doesn’t automatically disqualify someone from benefits. Recipients are required to report their income to a caseworker every month, and their benefit amount is adjusted after a work-income deduction is applied to whatever they report. In other words, working itself isn’t fraud — hiding income or falsifying reports is what counts as fraudulent receipt of benefits. That’s exactly the line the thread argued over: critics insisted that receiving welfare while earning income is a crime, while the poster kept explaining that they report everything to their caseworker every month. The back-and-forth continued in typical 5ch fashion, but without knowing this background — including the fact that the poster became unable to work because of gout — it’s easy to read the thread as simply someone being “sneaky” or “lazy.” In reality, the system is specifically designed to let people earn a small income from work while stabilizing their livelihood, which is the part that’s most often misunderstood.

    *This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Nanademo Jikkyo G) thread “My Monthly Welfare Splurge lol.”

  • PS6: Big-Name Titles All Landing on Other Platforms Too — 5ch: “No Point If It’s Expensive and Doesn’t Sell”

    In a 5ch thread about PS6, posters pointed out that heavyweight titles like TES6, Fallout, Forza, Diablo, StarCraft, OD, and PHYSINT are all shaping up to launch on other platforms rather than as PS6 exclusives — sparking a debate over what the point of a next-gen console even is. PHYSINT, from Hideji Kojima [director of Death Stranding, Metal Gear Solid], is reportedly caught up in the end of Kojima Productions’ partnership with Sony. The thread split sharply between posters who see a new console as inevitable given slowing PS5 sales, and those who argue that with studio closures piling up, there’s no guarantee a new machine would even be profitable.

    1AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:15
    PS6: "The price is 300,000 yen! Please buy it!!"
    4AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:17
    Re: #1
    But PS6 still has Concord, Marathon, "Space Baldy," "BBA20," "Hairy Arms," and "Busu [Ugly Chick] Online"!
    6AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:19
    Re: #4
    The sense of superiority is incredible
    7Moron-kun ◆fiWfMwznUwSep 13, 2026 20:19
    Both OD and PHYSINT — it's just that Kojima Productions' partnership with SIE [Sony Interactive Entertainment] ended, the games themselves will still come out on PS, right?
    12AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:21
    Re: #7
    Bloomberg: "Microsoft plans to release PHYSINT on Xbox and PC"
    16AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:23
    Re: #7
    Asha: "Why would it have to?"
    22AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:27
    Re: #7
    Amazing that you can still believe that 😰
    Has Sony actually lived up to that kind of hope? If they had, I don't think things would've gotten this bad.
    9AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:20
    Activision has discretion (publishing rights) to act independently of Microsoft's wishes, so it'll probably come out [on PS] too.
    15AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:23
    Re: #9
    They don't have that kind of discretion.
    Activision is only contractually obligated to keep releasing CoD for 10 years.
    And there's no Activision title in the thread title anyway.
    29AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:33
    Actually, given the current situation, would Totoki [Sony CFO/President Hiroki Totoki] even sign off on a PS6? They're cutting the business back this hard — dropping physical discs, even cutting Kojima loose.
    33AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:37
    Re: #29
    If it's just a question of whether it'll come out or not, of course it will.
    Gaming is Sony's single biggest earner.
    What, are you saying it'd be the right call to just throw away their biggest revenue source?
    36AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:39
    Re: #33
    Releasing a super high-cost new console in this day and age would just repeat the PS3 disaster. Are they trying to go underwater on debt and sink the company again?
    37AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:42
    Re: #36
    If they don't release new hardware, they'll go under, though?
    38AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:42
    Re: #36
    High cost wasn't the real problem — PS3's problem was selling at a loss [pricing hardware below manufacturing cost].
    Even with high costs, it's fine as long as they're not selling at a loss.
    If high cost alone were the issue, gaming PCs would be an even bigger problem.
    34AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:38
    No, this is the same as when Microsoft cut Kamiya [Hideki Kamiya, game director] loose. The difference is that Kamiya gave up on Sukeban, but Kojima wanted to finish his game no matter what, so he went and found a different patron.
    Next-gen hardware development is a completely separate issue.
    58AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:13
    Re: #34
    Microsoft owns the Sukeban IP, but PHYSINT is Kojima Productions' own IP.
    40AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:43
    Re: #35
    Well, the PS5 market is shrinking now that it's in its late stage, so sales will just keep dropping from here.
    That's exactly why a next-gen console is necessary as a business matter.
    42AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:44
    Re: #40
    If that next-gen console is expensive and doesn't sell, the whole thing falls apart, doesn't it?
    43AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:45
    Re: #42
    If they do nothing, the division that earns the most just dies. Are you stupid?
    49AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:50
    Re: #43
    Does releasing some new machine priced at 150,000 yen actually avoid that death?
    PS5 has already sold 100 million units, so there's no need to panic.
    They can still make money on subscriptions and software sales commissions.
    Unlike the PS4, which was stuck at 30fps with painfully long load times, the PS5 already has more than enough performance.
    52AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:57
    Re: #49
    That's just not realistic.
    As a publicly traded company, they can't just sit there and let sales decline.
    PS5 sales are already falling, so they need to either make up for it with new hardware or boost revenue some other way.
    If they can see sales dropping and do nothing about it, shareholders will hit them with the obvious, unanswerable question: 'why aren't you doing anything?'
    63AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:23
    Re: #52
    "PS5 sales are falling, so the next-gen console is bound to happen" — lol.
    You think a bunch of incompetents who thought Concord and Marathon would be profitable can build hardware that's guaranteed to make money the moment it launches?
    Isn't the whole point of bringing in Totoki to stop that incompetent crew from doing whatever they want anymore?
    67AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:26
    Re: #63
    There's no such thing as a guaranteed way to profit in business, idiot.
    Totoki's job is to keep the gaming division's sales from falling and to make PS6 a success.
    On top of that, he's aiming to cut costs and improve profit margins.
    68AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:30
    Re: #67
    If profit margin is the be-all end-all, then not releasing PS6 becomes the correct answer — are you fine with that?
    69AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:30
    Re: #67
    They've been shutting down studios left and right, and profit margins are already improving, aren't they? 😁
    Sounds like they don't need a next-gen console at all, in more ways than one 🤣
    74AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:33
    Re: #69
    Cost-cutting contributes to margin improvement, but it doesn't contribute to revenue growth.
    Since sales are falling, even as margins rise, net profit will keep declining going forward.
    So releasing new hardware at some point is inevitable.
    76AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:38
    Re: #74
    So there's no guarantee anywhere that releasing "Trashstation 6" [mocking nickname, playing on "Playstation"/"garbage"] will raise net profit.
    They've gutted so many studios they barely have first-party titles left, and the ones that do come out are garbage — that's Sony's actual track record right now 🤗
    How exactly is "Trashstation 6" supposed to make money? Give me something concrete 😊
    80AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:42
    Re: #76
    Of course there's no guarantee anywhere, right?
    But doing nothing gets you hammered by shareholders even harder.
    If they see sales falling and just sit there doing nothing, the board gets removed.
    The revenue from their top-earning division would evaporate.
    Sales are already falling, so it's just a matter of sooner or later.
    85AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:52
    Re: #80
    "Trashstation 5 is in its late stage, so sales are falling" — "so Sony must be about to do something" — fine, I'll grant you that much.

    But "therefore Trashstation 6 is bound to be released" — that's the delusional part.
    You haven't shown one piece of evidence that Trashstation 6 would actually raise sales.

    And in the first place, given there's a good chance you won't even be able to play the titles listed in the thread title on Trashstation 6, do you really think it'll sell?
    87AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:55
    Re: #85
    There's no such thing as "evidence" that PS6 will raise sales.
    There wasn't any for PS1 through PS5 either.
    90AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:58
    Re: #85
    Then show me the evidence that it won't come out on PS6.
    Same standard you're demanding of me.
    Nothing less than 100% certainty allowed, right? Only fair, since that's what you're demanding of me.
    82AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:42
    Isn't Diablo 5 coming out [on PS] though?
    102AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:09
    Re: #82
    At least so far it's only confirmed for PC and Xbox.
    93AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:59
    Re: #87
    Well, in the end they might just choose to sell off the business and cash out big, right?
    Totoki, who's busy restructuring studios right now, is basically an expert at exactly that kind of thing, isn't he?

    You get mocked because you won't even rule that possibility out and just assume "Trashstation 6 is bound to be released" 🤣
    95AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:02
    Re: #93
    That's not going to happen.
    One-time income from a sale doesn't grow or sustain the gaming business —
    it just ends as a one-off profit at the moment of sale.
    Do you really think a manager who refuses to invest in growth would be seen as doing the right thing?
    Shareholders would fire them first.
    101AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:09
    Re: #93
    And say they did sell off the gaming business — how do they maintain revenue after that?
    Suppose they sold it for 3 trillion yen, three times the division's revenue — or four times, or five times, doesn't matter.
    Even if they pocket several years' worth of earnings up front, what happens after that?
    A few years down the line, they'd have made more money just by holding onto it.
    100AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:08
    Re: #95
    So why are you assuming the gaming business keeps going in the first place?
    You yourself admit there's no guarantee of making money with Trashstation 6, right?
    So what happens if Totoki decides that releasing Trashstation 6 would only produce a loss?
    105AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:12
    Re: #100
    You think they'd shut down the single most profitable business Sony has right now?
    That's your brain being broken, not reality.
    Don't insult Totoki, or anyone else, by projecting your own low intelligence onto them.
    Other people aren't as stupid as you.
    I get shutting down the top earner after it's failed — but nobody's dumb enough to sell it off before it's even failed.

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    As of September 2026, PS6 has not been officially announced, and the way the thread treats the titles listed is based on speculation, not any official statement. TES6, Fallout, Forza, Diablo, and StarCraft all belong to Microsoft’s Bethesda or Activision Blizzard stable, or were always built around PC/Xbox release — none of them were ever expected to be PS6 exclusives to begin with. PHYSINT was being developed by Kojima Productions, led by Hideo Kojima [director of Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding], but reports of Sony ending its partnership with the studio have surfaced, making whether development even continues a key open question going forward. The thread split between a camp arguing that “launching a next-gen console is unavoidable as a business matter,” pointing to slowing sales in the PS5’s late lifecycle, and a camp countering that “there’s no guarantee a new machine would even be profitable,” citing the wave of major studio closures — ultimately, both positions come down to differing readings of Sony’s management judgment. One thing readers may easily misunderstand: the thread title’s claim that “none of them are coming out [on PS6]” doesn’t mean exclusivity deals have collapsed — these titles were multiplatform releases from the start.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry [“Geha”]) thread “PS6: “TES6, Fallout, Forza, Diablo, StarCraft, OD, PHYSINT — none of them are coming out!”“

    A few translator’s notes: “Anonymous” renders 名無しさん必死だな, a stock joke username on this board roughly meaning “Anonymous, desperate as ever.” “Trashstation” (ゴミステ) is a longstanding derogatory nickname for PlayStation used by critics on this board. “Totoki” refers to Sony Group President/COO Hiroki Totoki. Several items in post #4 (Space Baldy, BBA20, Hairy Arms, Busu Online) are sarcastic nicknames for PlayStation titles/characters mocked on the board; I’ve kept them as close transliterations since I can’t independently confirm which specific games each one refers to.
  • Hanshin loses 5 straight right after championship countdown special — 5ch: ‘Are they the worst team in the Central League?’

    A thread went up on 5ch’s “Live Everything General” board about the Hanshin Tigers’ late-season collapse. Right after MBS aired a championship countdown special featuring Yuko Ando on September 13, Hanshin dropped into a 5-game losing streak — and lost again that same day, giving up the go-ahead run in the 11th inning. September has exposed the slump of key hitters, with Morishita batting .208 and Sakamoto a flat .000, and the team’s magic number has barely budged. The thread split between posters saying “Hanshin might genuinely be the weakest team in the Central League” and others countering that “at least their magic number is shrinking — it’s the Giants who are really cornered.”

    1AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:36
    Lost to the Chunichi Dragons ('ChuniDora,' a mocking nickname for the struggling team) again, lol
    34AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:49
    Given their roster, they should already have this pennant locked up by a mile.
    What's with this lack of cohesion so late in the season?
    37AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:50
    Why'd they bench Tateishi when he was hitting well just yesterday?
    40AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:51
    Re: #37
    Because it disrupts team harmony, you know.
    Can't have just one guy hitting well.
    38AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:50
    Giving up the go-ahead RBI in the bottom of the 11th… lol
    63AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:59
    Re: #38
    Still better than the self-proclaimed "League Overlords" the Giants (lol), who gave up 4 in the first and then got shut down by a bullpen relay 🥹
    41AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:52
    Hanshin's been on a 5-game losing streak ever since this special aired (updated 9/13)

    [MBS aired a championship countdown special]
    Airing today at 4:00 PM on MBS:
    "Gathering with Tigers Fans — Yuko Ando's Mouko Shokudo: Countdown to the Franchise's First-Ever Back-to-Back Title!"

    Tiger fans from every walk of life gather to "pre-celebrate" Hanshin's championship
    Featuring Yuko Ando, Shinichi Tsutsumi, and more!

    https://x.com/Saba_Tigers/status/2096070136088420500
    44AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:53
    Re: #41
    Hasn't something like this happened before…?
    59AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:58
    Re: #41
    Honestly, Ando's kind of a "fair-weather" Hanshin fan for PR purposes, isn't she.
    I've got my suspicions about Yuri Nakae too.
    60AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:58
    Re: #41
    These people never learn, lol
    48AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:54
    Inoue keeps sticking with this and it's clearly not working — cut it out already
    50AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:55
    Re: #48
    Would you rather have Tatsunami [Chunichi's struggling manager] in charge?
    51AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:55
    Is it possible Hanshin is actually the weakest team in the Central League right now?
    57AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:57
    Re: #51
    Honestly, yeah, ever since September started.
    They're already 4 games under .500, and that's with rained-out games still left to make up.
    52AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:56
    Hanshin fans were pumped about a 5-game lead just recently lmaooo
    And their magic number was shrinking faster than the Hawks' back then too lmaooooo
    58AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:58
    Re: #52
    Seriously?
    SoftBank's magic number is already down to 5, you know.
    65AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:59
    Re: #63
    Losing to the last-place team after burning through your best relievers is way more pathetic, lol
    95AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:10
    Re: #65
    The "Fake Giants" (derogatory nickname for Yomiuri) racking up hit-by-pitches is unavoidably hilarious 🥺
    Even funnier that the Fake Giants got into a post-game off-field brawl with each other, pouring all that "fighting spirit" into beating up their own teammates 🥺
    66AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:59
    It's the Giants who are getting cornered — why are people bashing Hanshin?
    Hanshin's magic number went down by 1, you know.
    67AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:01
    Re: #66
    Cornered and then it vanishes again in a single day, lol
    76AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:03
    Hanshin's September lineup

    1 Chikamoto .250
    2 Nakano .259
    3 Morishita .208
    4 Sato .310
    5 Oyama .321
    6 Takadera .200
    7 Sakamoto .000
    8 Motoyama .158

    Everyone acts like he's off-limits for criticism, but I honestly think Morishita's the real culprit here.
    Caught in the tension between chasing the pennant and padding personal stats.
    90AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:07
    Re: #76
    Sakamoto's numbers are brutal.
    They should seriously platoon him, for real.
    105AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:12
    Re: #76
    Gotta admire Manager Fujikawa's "baseball instincts" for not pinch-hitting for Sakamoto with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th today!
    79AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:04
    Hasn't Hanshin basically become the team that can only reliably beat up on the last-place Chunichi Dragons ("ChuniDora," a mocking nickname) in the second half?
    86AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:06
    Re: #79
    Apparently the players got fired up after seeing the reports about a new manager coming in to replace Tatsunami.
    81AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:05
    Morishita's the type who's just going to get trash-talked no matter what, so it's fine.
    What really stings is Sakamoto — his August hot streak is exactly what locked him into the lineup, and then he goes hitless all of September.
    87AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:06
    Re: #81
    To begin with, that magic number was basically built on Sakamoto's lucky hot streak ("kakuhen," pachinko slang for a lucky bonus mode).
    It was always destined to disappear the moment he cooled back down to normal.
    92AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:09
    Nah, it's fine — win or lose, Hanshin's magic number keeps shrinking on its own as long as the Giants keep losing.
    (rolling eyes)
    96AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:10
    Re: #92
    And if they both lose out every remaining game…?
    93AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:09
    Hanshin's just weak against both Hiroshima and DeNA.
    They were only ever strong against Yakult and the Giants.
    103AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:12
    Re: #93
    They've only got 1 game left against the Giants anyway, you know.
    99AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:11
    Looks like Inoue's finally realized that unless the starter is having a total disaster outing like Wakui's yesterday, it's better to stretch him out as long as possible.
    Too bad it's already too late.
    106AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:13
    Re: #99
    Though to be fair, they're smack in the middle of a last-place battle, and as of today they've actually pulled ahead of Hiroshima in the standings gap.
    109AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:14
    Re: #106
    If they'd figured this out sooner, they might've been in the playoff race…
    nah, who am I kidding.
    118AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:20
    Re: #106
    Even setting aside Tatsunami's "triple-six" [three straight 6th-place finishes], being a perennial 5th-place team doesn't even help much in the draft, so honestly 5th and 6th aren't that different.
    3rd might be out of reach, but just getting to 4th matters — since Hanshin's likely to give up their season-opener hosting rights in two years, landing 4th would lock in the opening-day slot.
    101AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:12
    Hanshin's magic number is shrinking at like 1/7th SoftBank's pace??
    It's basically not moving at all.
    108AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:14
    Re: #101
    That's an exaggeration — while they knocked 12 off theirs, we still knocked 3 off ours.
    107AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:14
    47 innings without a timely hit, lol
    Just 3 more innings to set the record, lol
    111AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:15
    Re: #107
    Sounds just like the Giants' lineup.
    117AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:19
    How does the home team lose in a situation like that?
    Normally it's the visiting team that cracks first and gives up the walk-off.
    123AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:21
    Re: #117
    Can't score runs, so what do you expect.
    This might be a curse on the level of the famous "Hiroshima Moeyu" jinx (a hyped-up Weekly Baseball cover feature that famously preceded a team collapse) — did Weekly Baseball ever run a special on this one?

    Background and key points of this discussion

    A team’s championship magic number doesn’t move based solely on its own results — it also shifts depending on how the teams below it fare against each other. That’s why the thread spent so much time comparing how fast Hanshin’s and SoftBank’s magic numbers were shrinking: even without a direct win, the number can move based on other teams’ results. What sparked this particular discussion was confusion over that very mechanic — bewilderment that Hanshin seemed to be winning yet not closing the gap — colliding with September’s batting slump (low averages from Morishita, Sakamoto, and others) and runs surrendered in extra innings. It’s also worth noting this isn’t the first time MBS has aired a championship countdown special; past broadcasts have reportedly been followed by team slumps too, and posters seemed to enjoy riffing on that “pattern repeating itself.” The thread’s opinions split roughly into two camps: one holding that Hanshin itself is simply in a slump, and another arguing that the Giants and other rivals are struggling just as much, meaning Hanshin still holds the relative advantage.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (“Live Everything General”) thread “[LOL] The Chunichi Dragons (‘Chin-kasu,’ a mocking nickname) are toast w w w w w w w w w w w w w.”

  • Book on Science Denialism Sparks Anti-Vax Feud — 5ch: “Heliocentrism Is a Different Story”

    Associate Professor Kazushi Matsumura of Osaka University’s graduate school appeared on a Bunka Broadcasting radio program to discuss his book, published in June, “Why Does Science Denialism Attract People? — From Flat Earth Theory to Anti-Vaccine Sentiment,” sparking discussion on 5ch. While some questioned lumping flat-earth theory and anti-vaccine sentiment together under the single label of “science denialism,” opinions split between those arguing “anti-vaccine views are the truly unscientific ones” and those saying “wariness over the shortened clinical trial period is only natural.” A back-and-forth over rising and falling life expectancy also continued.

    What Are “Science Denialism” and “Flat Earth Theory”?

    Bunka Broadcasting News, 9/9, 2026

    Sociologist Kazushi Matsumura, an associate professor at Osaka University’s Graduate School of Human Sciences, appeared on the September 9 broadcast of “Otake Makoto’s Golden Radio” (Bunka Broadcasting, weekdays 11:30 AM–3:00 PM, hosted by Makoto Otake), and spoke about the contents of his book published in June, “Why Does Science Denialism Attract People? — From Flat Earth Theory to Anti-Vaccine Sentiment” (Otake Makoto was absent that day).

    Source: joqr.co.jp / Original article here

    3AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:32
    Well, established scientific theories do change sometimes, so it can't be helped.
    9AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:38
    Re: #3
    Some things have a chance of changing, and some things have zero chance of changing.

    Heliocentrism is the latter.
    4AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:32
    The root of most crackpot theories in the West is usually religious.
    5AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:32
    ???: "The Earth was flat."
    7AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:35
    It's a fact that vaccines have side effects lol
    10AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:38
    The number of idiots has really gone up.
    Like people who think you can survive on 30 minutes of sleep a day.
    12AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:39
    There's quite a bit of skepticism about the COVID vaccine overseas.
    14AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:41
    "The Earth is round, therefore the COVID vaccine is harmless and safe" — what a hilarious bait-and-switch argument.
    15AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:42
    Scientifically speaking, not getting vaccinated is the only correct call.
    It was still under Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) — basically the human-trial phase — so there's no long-term safety evidence.
    On top of that, past drug-scandal history means there's every kind of fraud risk: falsified papers, doctored trial numbers, cover-ups of serious danger info, and experts being bought off with money.
    17AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:43
    Bringing up evolution in front of devout Christians feels like a dangerous move.
    18AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:44
    The "dream building material": asbestos.
    The "dream oil": PCBs.
    The "dream chemical": CFCs.
    The "dream medical technology": mRNA.
    Why does science keep getting it wrong?
    21AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:46
    Reading the novel series Ring (Koji Suzuki's horror series, which centers on a virus-like curse), it feels incredibly realistic.
    22AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:46
    Just learned about the "heat transport theory" a few days ago (a fringe theory claiming ground heat readings predict quakes) — got hooked by the claim that the Nankai Trough earthquake won't happen.
    24AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:46
    Re: #9
    The heliocentrism/geocentrism debate and flat-earth theory are two completely different things, but I guess you don't know that and you're acting smug anyway.

    Both heliocentrism and geocentrism agree the Earth is a sphere.
    25AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:46
    If anything, going anti-vax is the real science denial.
    For the COVID vaccine, the government has officially recognized roughly 1,000 deaths and about 10,000 cases of health damage.
    Ignoring things that are actually happening seems a lot less scientific to me.
    31AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:48
    Even legitimate scientists will say things like "the universe has 9 dimensions" or bring up string theory with a totally straight face.
    33AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:48
    The funny thing about the anti-COVID-vaccine crowd is that they didn't oppose it from day one — they only started kicking up a fuss after vaccination was already well underway.
    36AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:50
    Re: #33
    What's scientific about people who got scared of a cold-like illness with an average death age over 80 and then went and got an untested vaccine? lol
    75AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:21
    Re: #33
    They were making noise about it even before it reached Japan.
    51AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:01
    Are they still pushing COVID vaccine propaganda? And it's completely incoherent too.
    89AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:34
    Re: #51
    There was another article recently recommending COVID vaccination, so it's probably part of the same package deal.
    61AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:07
    The president of Tama Home (a major Japanese homebuilder) said stuff like "if you get vaccinated you'll die in 5 years" — I wonder if he still believes that.
    Thought to myself, wouldn't that tank his house sales?
    64AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:08
    Re: #61
    Because of antigenic original sin, if a variant emerges that triggers ADE (antibody-dependent enhancement) against the Wuhan-strain antibodies, it'll be the vaccinated people dropping like flies lol
    79AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:25
    There have always been a certain number of idiots who fall for stuff like Nostradamus, but the real problem is the internet now lets that idiocy spread far and wide.
    83AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:30
    Re: #79
    Nostradamus's prophecies themselves are basically no different from religious end-times predictions.
    81AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:29
    Still saying this?

    The anti-vaxxers are (mostly) the ones who got vaccinated.

    You won't find more credible testimony than that.

    The unvaccinated true believers in vaccines are the real conspiracy theorists.
    90AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:35
    Re: #81
    Adding to that —

    Here's the source:

    > Common factors: "young," "low income," "gets info from the internet/social media" — Over 60% of people who believe anti-vaccine claims have actually been vaccinated themselves, according to a 30,000-person survey by the University of Tokyo and Tohoku University [Shichihara Tanteidai★]


    .
    87AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:32
    92AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:37
    The anti-vax crowd is completely ignoring that life expectancy has been rising.
    95AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:39
    Re: #92
    That's just life expectancy recovering a bit after it dropped from getting the shot lol
    97AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:43
    Re: #95
    Oh really, so it turns out there wasn't much lasting impact then.
    99AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:44
    Re: #97
    There WAS an impact — that's exactly why life expectancy dropped lol
    100AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:47
    Re: #1
    I get the flat-earth thing, but being anti-vax isn't necessarily unscientific, is it?

    A proper clinical trial normally takes close to 20 years.
    They skipped all that necessary caution, so of course people are going to be wary.
    102AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:01
    Re: #100
    That much is just common sense.
    You weigh that and then decide whether to get the shot or not.

    Though the people who've made anti-vax their whole reason for living and wish death on every vaccinated person — those guys are scary.
    103AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:04
    The COVID vaccine wasn't built from scratch in a single year.
    It was built on mRNA and LNP technology that had already been researched for a long time, and governments poured in massive funding to run trials, manufacturing, and approval all in parallel — that's how it got to market so fast.
    They didn't cut corners on safety, they cut the waiting time.

    Every vaccine has side effects.
    There's no way one vaccine produces the exact same effect across all of humanity given individual differences.
    In Japan alone, several thousand people die every day from old age, chronic illness, and so on.
    When tens of millions of people get vaccinated, you inevitably get a huge number of coincidental cases ("noise") — people who just happened to die of an unrelated cause the day after their shot.
    108AnonymousSep 13, 2026 22:10
    Re: #103
    It's a technology big pharma poured huge money into for years and then gave up on.
    They only made it viable by suppressing the immune system.
    Suppress the immune system against a virus and of course you're going to get an explosive outbreak lol

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    The book by Kazushi Matsumura featured on the program discusses both claims considered objectively false — like flat-earth theory — and fields where the science is still evolving — like vaccine skepticism — under the same umbrella term “science denialism.” That difference in treatment is part of what’s driving the pushback in the thread. One point the segment doesn’t mention: the vaccine side-effect and death figures the government has “recognized” come from the vaccination injury relief system, which is not the same as cases where causation has been fully proven. Also often overlooked is that the COVID vaccine’s short development time stemmed from a backlog of existing mRNA and LNP research plus running trials, manufacturing, and approval in parallel instead of one after another — not from lowering the safety bar itself.

    *This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Geino/Sports News+) thread “From Flat Earth to Anti-Vaccine: What Are “Science Denialism” and “Flat Earth Theory”? — On Why Science Denialism Draws People In.”

  • Square Enix’s Torneko Remaster, Built With AI-Driven QA, Riddled With Bugs

    Square Enix brought in Google’s Gemini AI to handle quality testing on its remaster of Torneko’s Great Adventure, a Dragon Quest spin-off, but reception has been poor since launch, with bugs turning up even on the official website. On 5ch’s Hardware/Industry board (Gehazai), posters questioned the whole premise of AI-driven automated debugging, with some pointing to Monster Hunter Wilds as an earlier case where AI use reportedly led to insufficient testing. Others called for outsourcing to Chunsoft or a proper remake of the older titles, while still others took issue with a development setup that seems to depend on AI in the first place — the discussion never settled on a single takeaway.

    Square Enix automates game quality testing with Gemini — AI watches the screen and operates the controller itself to run checks

    And apparently even the official website is buggy

    RIP to all the paying customers turned unpaid debuggers who can’t even get a refund…

    Source: itmedia.co.jp / Original article here

    2AnonymousSep 13, 2026 19:52
    Crapenix (a snide nickname for Square Enix) is way too hooked on Gemini.
    They pulled the same 'AI chants the spell' stunt before with Dragon Trash (a mocking nickname for Dragon Quest) too — just unequip that cursed gear already.
    3AnonymousSep 13, 2026 19:53
    Can't be helped, it's just in-house training for new hires who've never actually played the games (i.e. "airplay" devs).
    Look forward to Square Enix-sensei's next release!
    57AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:26
    Re: #3
    That 'blame the new hires' excuse keeps popping up lately.
    Don't need a next release — stop parroting that brain-dead line.
    Your post is just as lazy as Square Enix.
    4AnonymousSep 13, 2026 19:53
    Did no human even check that this worked?
    Or did they check, but couldn't fix it because AI wrote the code?
    5AnonymousSep 13, 2026 19:53
    Wilds (Monster Hunter Wilds) ended up like that too because they left testing to AI…
    6AnonymousSep 13, 2026 19:54
    AI is such garbage.
    It's supposedly great at mimicry, yet it can't even manage this?
    7AnonymousSep 13, 2026 19:56
    'Dragon Quest' x Google's generative AI 'Gemini' team up for the real-life event 'Gemini Quest' — feel like a wizard! Cast a flashy spell and score a 'Mini Medal'
    https://www.famitsu.com/article/202607/82951

    Why Square Enix's dev team needed 'Gemini' to protect the world of Dragon Quest X
    https://kn.itmedia.co.jp/kn/article/2608/18/1260818041/
    86AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:52
    Re: #7
    So basically, without AI they couldn't even nail the world-building properly lol
    So what did they do before AI existed, then?
    8AnonymousSep 13, 2026 19:56
    Fine, use AI to build it,
    but actually play the thing and check it works.
    9AnonymousSep 13, 2026 19:56
    Not totally sure, but couldn't they have just asked Chunsoft for help?
    10AnonymousSep 13, 2026 19:57
    Re: #9 If anything, isn't "they didn't ask" basically the whole story?
    If Spike Chunsoft (スパチュン) had properly made this themselves, it never would've turned out like this.
    11AnonymousSep 13, 2026 19:57
    Re: #9
    Even relying on today's Spike Chunsoft, they'd probably have served up garbage that's barely any different.
    14AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:00
    Re: #11
    Has this guy never even played Shiren 6?
    18AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:01
    Re: #14
    Well, you can't play it on PSW (PS/Switch), so… lol
    16AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:00
    It's understandable for an individual to end up relying on AI,
    but a company as big as Square Enix should have actual people for this.
    21AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:01
    This has probably been asked a hundred times already, but if sloppy work like this is 'new hire training,' shouldn't those hires have grown into competent staff by now?
    Did they finish their rookie years still useless?
    44AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:18
    Re: #21
    Square Enix basically outsources everything, so does 'new hire' even factor in?
    Well, the Torneko remaster was made in-house, though.
    24AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:02
    If they're going to remaster Torneko 3, I want them to get Chunsoft on board.
    Torneko 3 was the one I sank the most hours into.
    32AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:11
    https://x.com/Y_Mokko/status/2098761824749649964

    Can't be helped — the whole dev team are 'airplay' devs (they never actually play their own games).
    36AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:13
    Re: #32
    Reminds me of FFT — the pathing bug, wasn't it?
    Isn't this the same kind of thing happening again lol
    71AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:31
    Re: #32
    The DQ remake had messed-up window widths too, didn't it
    And they're using RPG Maker on top of it
    37AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:14
    Rather than half-assing it like this, they might as well just port the emulator as-is
    42AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:16
    Re: #37
    Then you wouldn't get to see the users' pleading faces, would you? (written in exaggerated 2ch-speak)
    'Just porting an emulator is a cop-out' — according to AI
    48AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:21
    Even for chess or Othello, they run AI nonstop for months straight, having it play tens of thousands of games to build up its skill, right?
    Couldn't they do the same thing here — auto-play through every possible pattern to debug it?
    50AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:22
    Re: #48
    This is a problem way more basic than that.
    54AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:23
    Kids today grew up on 16:9, so I guess it can't be helped.
    They've probably never even used 2ch, so really it's the users' fault.

    58AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:26
    Re: #54
    There's just no way a human actually playtested this.
    102AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:18
    Re: #54
    Kids today might see something broken down at the bottom of the screen and just go 'huh? is something off?' without even noticing it's actually wrong.
    59AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:26
    Even for a proper remaster, 3,500 yen for a single game is already a bold ask — and this is the content we get?
    63AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:28
    Re: #59
    Square Enix learned this from the DQ3 remake —
    even if the content's garbage, suckers will still buy it as long as the name carries some weight.
    65AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:28
    Wasn't Star Ocean 2's port from PSP to PS4 also a disaster? (´・ω・`)
    72AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:34
    Re: #65
    Gemini didn't even exist back in that era, come on.
    74AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:36
    If you have AI build it, nobody understands the internals, so in the end only AI can fix it… I saw a post going around on X saying it's basically like pulling a gacha and mashing 'please work' prayers — how true is that?
    77AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:40
    Re: #74
    I don't think the AI actually understands what it should be doing when debugging a game.
    It's not like it shares a vision with the director either.
    In the end, I think it's hopeless unless skilled staff are the ones training and directing the AI.
    106AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:22
    'A Slightly Lovely Remaster' ← come on, that's way too ironic
    114AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:27
    Re: #106
    'A Slightly Lovely Remaster,' is it?
    What an extravagant name.
    From now on, your name is 'A Slightly Shoddy Remaster.' Got it? 'A Slightly Shoddy Remaster.' (parodying the famous renaming scene from Dragon Quest III)

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    In July 2026, Square Enix told ITmedia about a system in which Gemini watches the game screen and automatically operates the controller to run QA checks, and the Torneko remaster drew attention as a real-world example of that approach. That said, theories floated in the thread — that this was ‘new-hire training,’ or that the AI was never properly ‘trained/directed’ — remain speculation; Square Enix has not officially confirmed that development was actually left to AI. The disagreement centered on whether to fault the use of AI itself or a botched QA process: alongside concrete bug reports, like a broken UI aspect ratio, there were plenty of posts that oversimplified the cause as simply ‘blame the AI.’ Since the Torneko series’ SFC and PS entries still command a devoted fanbase, comparisons to those earlier games make for fertile ground for harsh criticism.

    *This article was compiled and summarized from the 5ch Hardware/Industry (Gehazai) board thread ‘[Square Enix] Here’s the verdict on the unpopular Torneko remaster →.’

  • Hunt for a home within 30 minutes of Akihabara sparks 5ch train-line debate

    A poster on a solo relocation assignment, hoping to live within a 30-minute commute of their company’s headquarters near Akihabara (Iwamotocho), turned to 5ch’s Nandemo Jikkyo G board for advice on which train line to settle near. With a budget of around ¥100,000 in rent and a company housing subsidy capped at ¥80,000, commenters floated specific stations like Tsurumi, Kita-Senju, Tsudanuma, and Mizue, comparing commute times and crowding on the Hibiya Line, Tsukuba Express, and Toei Shinjuku Line. The Tozai Line in particular was branded “hell” and “traumatic,” ruling it out for anyone hoping to avoid the morning crush. With some posters even saying they’d rather not live too close to the office, the thread offered a glimpse into the particular housing dilemmas faced by employees on solo relocation assignments.

    1AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:09
    Anywhere decent for around ¥100k rent? Bonus points if there are lots of bars nearby
    9AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:11
    Somewhere like Tsurumi's about 30 min, right?
    11AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:12
    Re: #9
    You can get there in that little time?
    Nice
    12AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:13
    Is the Tozai Line packed in the mornings?
    20AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:18
    Re: #12
    For cheap, tasty bars you want the older towns along the Hibiya Line, Joban Line, or Keihin-Tohoku Line
    If your commuter pass lets you get off partway, Keihin-Tohoku's good too
    Kita-Senju even has Hibiya Line trains that start there
    22AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:19
    Re: #20
    Also, the Sobu Line
    The Tozai Line's relatively new when you get down to it
    24AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:20
    Re: #20
    You really know your stuff
    Now I'm curious about Kita-Senju
    13AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:14
    Could you get to Koiwa in 30 minutes?
    15AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:15
    Re: #13
    I'd rather be closer
    18AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:16
    Re: #13
    About 10 minutes
    23AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:19
    Kita-Senju's about 10 minutes
    25AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:20
    Re: #23
    You can get from Kita-Senju to Akihabara in 10 minutes?
    29AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:25
    Re: #25
    On the Tsukuba Express
    Though factoring in underground transfers and crowding, the Hibiya Line might be better even with a slightly longer ride
    That said, if your subsidy is fare-based, you might end up stuck transferring on JR
    There are 3 companies and 3 routes between Akihabara and Kita-Senju
    33AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:27
    Re: #29
    Rent's pricey even in Kita-Senju
    38AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:30
    Re: #33
    At ¥100k for a single, there are surprisingly good hidden gems even in central areas like Kita-Senju — though safety and the surroundings suffer accordingly
    Go past Kita-Senju to somewhere like Soka on the Tobu through-service, still a 30-minute no-transfer ride, and you should get a bit more room and a nicer environment than within Adachi Ward
    65AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:39
    Re: #49
    If it's ¥100k out of pocket + ¥80k subsidy = OK up to ¥180k, that's very different from ¥20k out of pocket + ¥80k subsidy = OK up to ¥100k
    With the former you'd easily find something even inside the Yamanote Line
    But going by Re: #33's comment, it sounds like the latter
    37AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:30
    If you're getting a housing subsidy, isn't Kita-Senju great?
    Besides Akihabara, it's also got good access to Ueno and Tokyo Station
    There's a department store and pretty much every shop you need, plus lots of cheap izakayas if you like to drink
    Yoshiwara's close too (Tokyo's old red-light district)
    39AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:31
    What's there even to do in Akihabara these days?
    43AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:32
    Re: #39
    Same, I thought that too
    46AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:33
    Re: #39
    The head office is in Akihabara, that's why
    40AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:31
    If cheap rent's the priority, wouldn't somewhere like Funabashi or Ichikawa be good?
    Though going as far as Tsudanuma might be a bit far
    42AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:32
    Re: #40
    Ichikawa's pricier than Koiwa
    50AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:35
    Re: #40
    From Tsudanuma it's about 30 minutes on the local train from Akihabara
    You can hop off along the way to bar-hop with your pass, and there are trains that start there too
    45AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:33
    At ¥100k you don't need to go as far as 30 minutes away
    47AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:34
    Re: #45
    Give me your recommendation
    Honestly I'd like to keep my commute under 20 minutes
    49AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:34
    Re: #37
    The subsidy covers up to ¥80k
    57AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:38
    Re: #49
    Then why not just live in Akiba itself

    64AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:39
    Re: #57
    Because I want to keep rent under ¥110k
    66AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:39
    Re: #57
    Maybe they're one of those people who don't want to live near the office
    53AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:35
    The Tozai Line is hell
    It traumatized me
    55AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:37
    Re: #53
    I was considering the Tozai Line, guess that's rough then
    61AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:39
    Re: #55
    Both directions are hell
    If it's gotta be Metro, the Hibiya Line is definitely the way to go
    67AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:40
    Re: #61
    I see
    Guess I'll give up on it
    54AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:36
    Re: #51
    Like I said, the workplace is in Akihabara
    56AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:37
    Re: #54
    That's got nothing to do with me
    63AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:39
    Living in Mizue and getting off at Iwamotocho is great
    The Toei Shinjuku Line doesn't get too crowded either
    68AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:40
    Re: #63
    The head office is technically in Iwamotocho, so this is
    good info
    75AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:44
    If you work in Iwamotocho, the Shinjuku Line's basically your only real option
    78AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:46
    Re: #75
    Are places like Morishita or Kikukawa expensive?
    76AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:46
    I can't really recommend the Sobu Line
    If your office is in Iwamotocho, looking along the Toei Shinjuku Line might be better
    80AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:47
    Re: #76
    Thank you
    Is it still pricey all the way out to somewhere like Nishi-Ojima?
    79AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:47
    I used to live in Kiyosumi-Shirakawa
    One bus straight to Akiba, nice and easy
    81AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:47
    Re: #79
    I'd love to live there but it's pricey, right?

    Background and key points

    The Akihabara/Iwamotocho area is packed with IT company headquarters, and many of these companies offer housing subsidies for employees on solo relocation assignments (typically capped around ¥80,000), which is the assumption behind this whole thread. However, partway through the thread the poster’s own out-of-pocket budget changed (from ¥100,000 to ¥20,000), which dramatically shifted the range of viable options — from Kita-Senju all the way to inside the Yamanote Line — making this a good example of why you need to state your conditions upfront to get useful answers. The Tozai Line’s morning crush is also famous enough to be called “hell,” and dodging it by taking the Hibiya Line or Tsukuba Express instead is shared wisdom among commuters into central Tokyo. The fact that a fair number of posters would rather not live close to the office reflects a dynamic specific to employees on solo relocation: wanting a clean break between work and home life.

    ※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “Want to live within 30 minutes’ commute of Akihabara (solo relocation).”

  • Hayato Sakamoto Ties Shigeo Nagashima’s Career Hit Record at 2,471 — 5ch: “Honestly, Harimoto Looks More Impressive”

    In the September 13 game against DeNA (Yokohama), Giants infielder Hayato Sakamoto (37) reached 2,471 career hits, tying “Mr. Pro Baseball” Shigeo Nagashima for 9th place on the all-time NPB list. He set the mark with a single to left off Takeda, with two outs and a runner on first in the top of the 4th while trailing by five runs. In his 20th season, he’s delivered clutch hits at key moments all year — a walk-off 300th career home run against Hiroshima on May 13, and a walk-off three-run homer against Chunichi on July 17 — building toward this milestone. Discussion on the thread centered on comparing Nagashima’s reputation to Isao Harimoto and Sadaharu Oh, and on how realistic it is for Sakamoto to reach 3,000 hits with 529 left to go.

    ◆JERA Central League: DeNA vs. Giants (Sept. 13, Yokohama)

    Giants infielder Hayato Sakamoto (37) recorded his 2,471st career hit, tying “Mr. Pro Baseball” Shigeo Nagashima (Giants) for 9th on the all-time NPB list. Trailing by five runs with two outs and a runner on first in the 4th inning, he lined a single to left off Takeda to extend the scoring chance.

    In his 20th season, he hit a walk-off home run for career homer No. 300 against Hiroshima (Fukui) on May 13, and a walk-off three-run homer against Chunichi (Tokyo Dome) on July 17. Piling up 24 hits this season, including several memorable clutch knocks, he has now reached this milestone.

    Source: hochi.news / Original article here

    7AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:45
    In the game Pro Yakyu Spirits I play, Sakamoto's already got 3,000 hits.
    10AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:46
    If Nabetsune (Tsuneo Watanabe, the Giants' late hardline former owner) were still alive, they'd have forced him into retirement before he could catch up to Nagashima.
    22AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:49
    Re: #10
    Even Nabetsune wasn't that petty (lit. "small-assed").
    45AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:59
    Re: #10
    Why do you say that? If he were an outsider, maybe — but he's a lifelong Giant, Mr. Tightass himself.
    12AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:46
    Maybe this hit was for Harimoto's sake. Just get 29 more for 2,500 and call it a career — 3,000 is a stretch at this point.
    77AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:10
    Re: #12
    2023 was the last year he put up decent numbers. Honestly, this year's stats would be a fine note to retire on.
    18AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:48
    Sakamoto's been with the Giants a long time too — has he ever declared free agency (FA)?
    42AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:58
    Re: #18
    He already has.
    20AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:49
    529 more needed for 3,000… not happening.
    25AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:51
    Re: #20
    When he hit 2,000 I figured he'd cruise to 3,000 easily.
    24AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:50
    Harimoto's numbers honestly look better — I have no idea what was so amazing about Nagashima.
    33AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:54
    Re: #24
    He won the batting title 5 times as a right-handed hitter.
    51AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:01
    Re: #24
    Well, as a hitter, pretty much only Oh is on Harimoto's level.
    26AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:51
    I really thought he'd break Harry's (Harimoto's) record.
    28AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:52
    Does Sakamoto have what it takes to manage the Giants?
    32AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:54
    Huh. Guess Nagashima wasn't such a big deal after all. He's been deified for so long I assumed he was on Ichiro or Ohtani's level.
    39AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:56
    3,000's out of reach then… I was hoping he'd pass Harimoto.
    41AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:58
    A great hitter, sure — but unfortunately, no flair!
    44AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:59
    How high up the all-time list do you think he can climb?
    78AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:10
    Re: #44
    At best, somewhere between Kanemoto and Tatsunami.
    46AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:59
    Hayato Sakamoto vs. Tetsuto Yamada — who's more valuable right now?
    49AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:00
    Re: #46
    Thinking about that just makes me sad.
    53AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:01
    If even Sakamoto can't do it, nobody's getting 3,000 hits in NPB again. Any guy good enough to grab a starting job right out of the gate just heads to the majors instead.
    80AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:11
    Re: #53
    Though if Ichiro hadn't gone to the majors, he'd have hit 3,000 in NPB easily.
    65AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:06
    This pretty much locks in one of those chrysanthemum-crest commemorative bats (a special award bat given for historic NPB milestones), right?

    Background and Discussion Points

    The top of NPB’s all-time hit rankings is dominated by players who kept up qualifying plate appearances for years on end, like Isao Harimoto (3,085) and Sadaharu Oh (2,786). Shigeo Nagashima earned the nickname “Mr.” for his popularity and symbolic status during his playing days, but by the numbers alone he falls short of Harimoto and Oh — and that gap became a central point of debate on the thread. There’s also a broader trend where players like Sakamoto, who lock down a starting job early, increasingly choose to move to MLB sooner rather than later, meaning fewer players are likely to reach 3,000 hits within NPB alone in the future. Sakamoto needs 529 more hits to reach the 3,000 mark, but most posters agreed that at age 37, getting there won’t be easy.

    *This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5channel (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “[Baseball] Giants’ Hayato Sakamoto Ties “Mr.” Shigeo Nagashima with 2,471 Career Hits, Tied for 9th All-Time in NPB.”

  • Dragons’ Akira Neo Struggling in Farm League with 7.25 ERA — Ex-Samurai Japan Manager Ibata: ‘His Outfield Defense Is Top-Class in Pro Baseball’

    Chunichi’s Akira Neo, now in his 8th pro season, is struggling in the farm league since converting to pitcher, posting an 0-3 record with a 7.25 ERA. He earned his first career win against DeNA on April 10, but was demoted from the first team on May 4 and has remained in the minors since. Hirokazu Ibata, the former Samurai Japan manager, appeared on Chunichi’s official supporter program on the 13th and praised Neo’s usage, saying his outfield defense is ‘among the best in professional baseball.’ On 5channel, this feature sparked discussion about Neo’s history of position changes — shortstop to outfield to pitcher, shifting with each new manager — and debate over whether the team’s development approach has been the right one.

    [Chunichi] Former Player Hirokazu Ibata Shares His View on How to Use Akira Neo: ‘This Is Just My Personal Opinion’

    Hirokazu Ibata (51), the former Samurai Japan manager, appeared live on the Chunichi Dragons supporter program ‘Sunday Dragons’ (CBC) on the 13th, where he spoke about pitcher Akira Neo (26), now in his 8th professional season.

    That day’s episode of Sunday Dragons aired a feature on Neo, based on footage the show has been following since last year. Neo picked up his first career win in an April 10 game against DeNA (in Yokohama), but was removed from the first-team roster on May 4.

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

    2AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:06
    Did they get rid of the active-player draft (NPB's offseason draft for surplus bench players) or something?
    6AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:08
    Re: #2
    It's still around, but Chunichi's never gonna put him up for it.
    3AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:07
    I wonder what the right way to develop him would've been.
    8AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:09
    Re: #3
    He should've skipped pro ball and gone to med school instead.
    21AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:17
    Re: #3
    He should've gone to college, built up his body properly, and played shortstop for four years.
    68AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:40
    Re: #3
    Joining the Swallows and being handed over to Miyamoto (legendary Yakult shortstop-turned-coach) would've been the right call.
    7AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:09
    They've been jerking him around forever just because his family's loaded ("実家が太い" — deep-pocketed family background), and now this, lol.

    He wanted infield → "not as good as Tatsunami" → outfield → can't hit → pitcher, lol.
    Enough already.
    14AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:12
    Re: #7
    Yoda drafts him
    → "Don't underestimate pitching!" (sticks him at shortstop only)
    Tatsunami takes over
    → "Don't underestimate shortstop!" (moves him to outfield)
    Inoue takes over
    → "Don't underestimate the outfield!" (moves him to pitcher)

    Honestly, you gotta feel bad for the guy.
    9AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:09
    Normally he'd have been cut by now.
    Lucky he's popular.
    29AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:22
    Re: #9
    He doesn't draw crowds, so it's obvious he's not really popular — they just can't cut him because of his contract.
    Same deal with "Handkerchief" (nickname for ex-pitcher Yuki Saito, famous for wiping his face with a handkerchief).
    Classic baseball thing.
    20AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:16
    Just let him try being a two-way player already.
    As a last-resort option.
    23AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:19
    At this point just commit to developing him as an analyst.
    He comes from a family of science types, so he could probably handle that too.
    Put that brain to use for baseball from a different angle.
    26AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:21
    Seriously, why does Neo alone keep getting converted over and over just to keep him on the roster?
    Any other player would've been cut long ago, right?
    It's not even good for the team.
    39AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:25
    Re: #26
    Well, of course — he was a first-round pick that four teams fought over.
    Even if it's not good for the team on the field, the front office has a responsibility here, and fans, amateur coaches, and future draft prospects are all watching how this plays out.
    27AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:21
    Re: #14 "Yoda drafts him
    →Don't underestimate pitching! (sticks him at shortstop only)"

    Yoda just rejected the two-way idea, so his sin is relatively minor.
    The real problem was Tatsunami not being able to teach him hitting.

    Tatsunami's just too talented himself — he doesn't seem like the type who can teach others.
    60AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:37
    Re: #27
    Hitting isn't something that gets better just because someone teaches it.
    Both Ichiro and Matsui could already hit in the farm league from day one. Players who go on to become regulars after only six months to two years in the minors always show something exceptional right away.
    53AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:33
    How long are they gonna keep going on about Neo, Neo, Neo?
    There's a world of difference between him and Kozono and Fujiwara.
    54AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:34
    I mean, his hitting is failing-grade even in the farm league, so he's a bust as a position player.
    Outfielders are actually in surplus, so there's no spot for him there.
    He's already been given plenty of pro-level chances — normally he'd have been released by now. He's only still around because Chunichi prioritizes local-connection players and he was a first-round pick.
    Position players who actually make it to the first team start hitting well in the farm league almost immediately.
    64AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:39
    Re: #54

    You have to take a long view on hitting.
    Do you know what Furuta's (Yakult) rookie-year stats looked like?
    He was a first-round pick, the No. 1 catcher out of the corporate leagues.

    Yaegashi used to joke that his batted balls wouldn't even go forward.
    They played him anyway, turning a blind eye to his hitting, just to let him gain experience as a catcher.

    And in year two, he won the batting title.
    61AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:37
    Re: #29
    It's less that his contract literally can't be terminated, and more that Chunichi (backed by the newspaper company) can't give up on a player who joined as their pet local-connection pick — plus if he suddenly blossomed on another team they'd get slammed for it. It's really just the front office covering itself by avoiding a trade or release, lol.
    67AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:39
    Re: #61
    It's probably just a contract situation where they can't cut him.
    Baseball has a fair number of players like that.
    65AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:39
    The only guys who ever held a roster spot purely as a late-innings defensive replacement in the outfield were Nammure and Eichi.
    81AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:46
    Re: #65
    Lotte's Okada, too.
    74AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:43
    Furuta actually put up first-team-caliber numbers in his rookie year — he just went on to top the league once he settled in. That's completely different from Neo, who keeps putting up numbers in the farm league that would be unthinkable for someone destined to be a regular.
    82AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:47
    Re: #74
    >Furuta actually put up first-team-caliber numbers in his rookie year

    No he didn't, lol.
    80AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:46
    Does Ibata really see him as a better defender than Okabayashi or Kanbayashi?
    Since Ibata played shortstop himself, he does seem to get that Neo's shortstop defense was a bust, at least.
    86AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:48
    Re: #80
    Guess you can't exactly say he'll be cut this year.
    92AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:50
    Re: #80
    Even Neo's "failed" shortstop defense is a lot better than Kozono's shortstop defense.
    87AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:49
    Given his age, it's probably about time for him to make a decision — whether to give up on baseball and go into medicine instead.
    115AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:57
    Re: #87
    If he hadn't gone into baseball, he'd probably be a doctor by now.
    89AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:49
    He should've cut his losses after three years and gone to med school. Makes you wonder if the whole "naturally smart" thing was even true.
    110AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:56
    Re: #89
    Neo's not actually that sharp, so med school's off the table at this point.
    He's not the genius type — he's the hard-working honor-student type.
    He just studied twice as hard as everyone else to make up for not being naturally gifted.
    90AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:49
    Kozono, from the same draft class, won the batting title, and Fujiwara's also made it as a first-team regular — yet Neo, who was the most popular of the bunch back then, is completely out of the picture. Guess it just came down to which team drafted him.
    99AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:52
    Re: #90
    Neo was never suited for shortstop or pitcher.
    They should've developed him as a late-innings outfield defensive replacement, giving him the occasional start in the outfield along the way.

    Background and Key Points of Debate

    Neo joined Chunichi as a shortstop after being a first-round pick contested by four teams in the 2018 draft, and has since been repeatedly converted between shortstop, outfield, and pitcher every time the team got a new manager — Yoda, Tatsunami, and now Inoue. The thread split over the question of “whose responsibility it is that he’s still being given chances after all this time,” with some pointing out that as a team tied to a local newspaper, Chunichi can’t easily let go of a first-round pick, while others blamed failures in the order and judgment behind his development. Comparisons kept coming up with fellow 2018 draftees Kaito Kozono and Kyota Fujiwara, who are now thriving, fueling persistent questions about why Neo alone keeps getting converted. Ibata’s comment that his “outfield defense is top-class in the sport” was meant to praise his defensive potential, but it sparked debate precisely because of the gap with his stalled batting and pitching numbers — pointing to a backstory behind the team’s handling of him that isn’t visible from the raw stats alone.

    *This article is compiled as an excerpt/summary of the 5channel (Geino/Sports News+) thread “[Baseball] Chunichi’s Akira Neo Struggling at 0-3 with a 7.25 ERA in the Farm League — Hirokazu Ibata Weighs In on His Usage: ‘His Outfield Defense… Is Top-Class in the Sport’.”

  • Married Men Outlive Bachelors? Marriage’s Life-Extending Effect Is Stark for Men

    According to a survey featured by Forbes Japan, marriage has a far bigger impact on life expectancy for men than for women. Married men tend to live longer, healthier lives, but the same benefit is hard to find for women. On 5ch, a thread debated the reasons behind this gap: some pointed to lifestyle and “someone’s watching over you” effects — “if you live with someone, they’ll notice quickly if you collapse,” “single men have no one to rein them in, so their drinking and diet go downhill” — while others argued it’s really an economic effect (“higher-earning men are just more likely to get married”), and still others pushed back, saying “if you can manage yourself, being single shouldn’t matter.” The thread never settled on a single, simple explanation for marriage’s benefits.

    Forbes Japan — 2026.09.08

    A certain set of statistics has recently caused a lot of surprise, confusion, and even anger online. It found that when it comes to life expectancy, men benefit far more from marriage than women do. In other words, men can live longer, healthier lives with a spouse’s support, but women don’t seem to get the same boost to their lifespan or quality of life.

    That said, the idea that husbands are draining life out of their wives and tacking it onto their own isn’t backed up by research on the subject. Even so, there does seem to be a real difference in how being married or not shapes men’s and women’s lives.

    Source: forbesjapan.com / Read the original article here

    11AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:40
    Isn't it just that if you live with someone, there's a higher chance they'll find you quickly if you collapse from illness?
    173AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:06
    Re: #11
    Also, if you have kids, they'll keep you on life support.
    Whether that's good or bad is another question.
    189AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:08
    Re: #11
    That's a huge benefit for society too — if you're alone, you end up being a burden on neighbors, relatives, the government, your landlord, everyone.
    20AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:41
    Single men's happiness levels are pretty low.
    164AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:04
    Re: #20
    Depends on the person, I guess. Like in the rakugo story "Onaoshi" (about a down-and-out man rebuilding his life through remarriage) — if you're lonely, marriage might not be a bad option. Though if there's no one around, there's not much you can do about it.
    22AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:42
    It's probably just that men who can get married earn more, so they can afford better food and healthcare.
    26AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:43
    Re: #22
    I don't think pricier food is necessarily healthier though.
    101AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:54
    Re: #22
    That's part of it, but also people suffer less when they're living for someone else.
    55AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:47
    All the married guys I know have died before 60.
    57AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:47
    If most people around me were happily married, I'd feel more pressure to hurry up, but all I hear is complaints about divorce and child-support court battles,
    so my impression is that marriage sounds like a lot of trouble.
    67AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:48
    Re: #55 What world are you living in?
    72AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:49
    Re: #55
    Re: #57
    Funny how the married guys around single men always seem to be miserable and pathetic, lol
    75AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:50
    If you marry someone you genuinely, truly think is great, it might make you happy
    — but a calculated marriage seems more likely to end in misery.
    84AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:51
    Re: #75
    Aren't pretty much all the couples who meet through matchmaking activities or dating apps these days calculating?
    Especially the women.
    I wonder if those couples end up divorcing once the kids leave the nest.
    86AnonymousSep 13, 2026 20:51
    Re: #75
    Someone like that will never show up, so just settle for whoever's decent enough.
    165AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:05
    Re: #1
    If you can take care of yourself properly, a single man's lifespan shouldn't be any different.
    It's the guys who can't even cook a proper meal who wreck their health and die.
    193AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:08
    Re: #165
    True enough.
    195AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:09
    Re: #165
    If a single guy actually cooks properly, his healthy-life-expectancy might be fine too.
    But once his healthy years run out, being single until death probably gets rough in all sorts of ways — that's probably why singles don't outlive married people after that point.
    187AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:08
    Being old and single is brutal.
    Just remember that.
    190AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:08
    Re: #187
    Wait, so what, you're supposed to double-suicide once you're old?
    192AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:08
    Re: #187
    Single people just drop dead quickly.
    It's married people who awkwardly live long and suffer.
    308AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:23
    Re: #187
    I don't know if it's a single guy or someone caring for a senile old woman, but I often see men around 80 with a backpack on,
    out shopping at the supermarket.
    If you can keep living a normal life like that, it doesn't matter whether you're single or married.
    197AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:09
    Haven't read the article, but I'd bet food is what shortens lifespans.
    If you're eating what you love, that's a happy life.
    225AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:13
    Re: #197
    Can't you eat what you like once you're married?
    That's not really true, is it?
    242AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:15
    Re: #225
    If you have surgery and end up living longer, there tend to be all sorts of dietary restrictions too.
    My dad had two-thirds of his stomach removed and can't eat what he likes anymore.
    248AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:16
    Re: #197 Re: #225
    I think it's half-true that marriage stops you from eating what you like.
    Even when picking a restaurant, you often end up prioritizing your wife's preferences.

    I'm not picky, so it doesn't bother me.
    And I do feel like it's broadened the range of things I like and eat.
    When I was on my own, I just avoided things and never chose them.
    203AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:10
    I wonder how many men actually seriously want to live a long life.
    Once you hit 50, married or single, there's not much left to do, is there?
    It'll probably just be work.
    234AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:14
    Re: #203
    My dad died at 60, and I think it must have been hard for him to accept.
    He probably wanted some time to relax after retiring.
    He seemed to want to play with his grandkids, but he didn't even make it that far.
    245AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:16
    Re: #234
    Same here — my dad passed before his grandchild was born, so I get it.
    Still, that's just fate, I guess.
    258AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:17
    Re: #234
    There are a few people like that at my workplace.
    I have no way of knowing how they felt about their own lives, but bluntly put, I just want to fully collect the pension I paid into and enjoy it.
    211AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:11
    Re: #195
    It's the same either way once one spouse passes first.
    You can't exactly tie your kids down with caregiving duties.
    What everyone needs, married or not, is decent social connections and building up assets so you don't become a burden.
    221AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:12
    Re: #211
    Keep saying stuff like that and people will call it sour grapes, lol
    237AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:14
    Re: #211
    I mean, being called that again doesn't feel great, but…
    wouldn't even someone with kids think about that stuff normally?
    Being a burden on your wife and kids is just the worst.
    260AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:17
    For single men, the number one thing that shortens your life is alcohol.
    Without anyone to stop them, men drink like crazy.
    Next up is unhealthy food — ramen, fried stuff, meat.
    281AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:20
    Re: #260
    Men left on their own tend to be self-destructive, or rather, their urges don't stop, so they just do whatever they want.
    Maybe that's a valid way to live too.
    303AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:23
    Re: #260
    I'm married, but on a day off like today I've been drinking at home since 11am.
    My snack is a 1kg bag of Aogappa from Gyomu Super (a discount supermarket chain).
    Yeah, I'm not living long.
    285AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:20
    I'm 45 and single.
    I look like I'm stuck at 25.
    No sun exposure, exercise regularly, crush stress immediately,
    no ramen or snacks — I've kept this up since I was 16.
    My checkups always come back A, and my health age reads as 29.
    293AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:21
    Re: #285
    For most people, not eating ramen or snacks would be stressful in itself.
    304AnonymousSep 13, 2026 21:23
    Re: #285
    What actually makes you happy? What do you enjoy doing?

    Background and talking points

    Surveys linking marriage and life expectancy like this one have been reported repeatedly across various countries, but it’s worth noting that most are observational studies — they don’t prove that marriage itself causally extends life. What’s likely happening instead is a selection effect: men who are already healthy and financially stable tend to be the ones who get married in the first place (healthier people are more likely to remain in the marriage market). Some in the thread raised the income angle, but this selection-bias perspective barely came up. It’s also easy to overlook that the original article itself rejects the folk theory that “wives are draining their husbands’ lifespan.” The more mundane — and probably more accurate — conclusion is that lifestyle habits and self-care, not marital status itself, are what really drive lifespan differences.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (News Speed+) thread “[Society] Are married people happier than singles? Marriage tends to extend average lifespan, especially for men.”