Author: Japan Reacts Editorial

  • ANGERME Concert: Fan Finds ‘Loophole’ in Message-Board Ban — Ise Suzuran Fan’s Move Sparks Mixed Reactions

    On the Hello! Project 5ch board (the Hello!Pro board), holding up message boards from the audience has long been banned at ANGERME concerts — but a fan supporting Ise Suzuran stirred up discussion by getting around the rule, sticking a sign to their chest instead of holding it up. Opinions on the thread split: some pointed out that while ‘holding it in hand’ is banned, sticking it to clothing isn’t explicitly prohibited, while others criticized the move as clearly violating the spirit of the rule. The show was also a milestone occasion — Ise’s 300th appearance coinciding with Yukiho Shimoidani’s homecoming performance — so alongside the debate over the method, attention also turned to how the organizers would respond.

    1AnonymousOct 12, 2026 15:09
    [Good News] Ise Suzuran's blog makes no mention of the 300th-show uproar. Looking more and more likely that the 'Ise's 300th Celebration' and 'Shimoidani's Homecoming' will go ahead together as planned
    204 Anonymous Recruiting… [] Mon 2026/10/12 12:52:30.83 0
    If holding up a message sign (a 'sukebu'-style sketchpad sign) is banned, there's no way sticking paper to your chest is OK lol
    4AnonymousOct 12, 2026 15:10
    There's no way Ise is happy about this either.
    They should really stop.
    6AnonymousOct 12, 2026 15:11
    Between ISE's fans and this, seems like she's stuck with nothing but tasteless otaku.
    8AnonymousOct 12, 2026 15:13
    People who don't even get what actually matters here.
    9AnonymousOct 12, 2026 15:14
    They were probably told holding it up is banned.
    All I can say is: if something's against the rules, don't do it.
    10AnonymousOct 12, 2026 15:14
    This Ise fan…
    I really wish they'd finally realize this is basically harassment-level behavior.
    11AnonymousOct 12, 2026 15:14
    Stuff like this is exactly what drives casual fans away.
    12AnonymousOct 12, 2026 15:15
    Wasn't it also an Ise fan selling stickers or something at the venue?
    Ise's fanbase is full of problem fans — guess they take after their favorite.
    14AnonymousOct 12, 2026 15:19
    Reference image
    Hello! Con, January 2, 2024
    A fan of Natsukihime Nakayama named Ai stuck a sign to her body in the front row
    The next day, Nakayama sent a personal thank-you message


    Honestly, there were so many moments throughout where I almost lost it and cried 😭

    But there's kind of an 'if I cry, it's over' feeling, and I'm super prone to tears…
    I really was trying to hold it together and switch gears to keep performing 💭

    Seeing everyone crying, and writing their feelings down on paper to share with me — watching that, I was right on the verge of tears.

    15AnonymousOct 12, 2026 15:19
    I bet it won't be long before watching with a message sign stuck to your body gets banned too.
    17AnonymousOct 12, 2026 15:24
    @
    Monday the 12th in Kurashiki
    For Yuppyon's (Shimoidani Yukiho's) homecoming show
    and Reira's (Ise Suzuran's) 300th-show celebration
    before the show starts
    'Welcome back, Yuppyon!'
    'Reira, 300 shows!'
    for the first song
    hot pink and orange
    penlights might be nice
    #IseSuzuran
    #ShimoidaniYukiho
    #ANGERME
    #FuurinKazanNi
    19AnonymousOct 12, 2026 15:29
    Even this is already a big compromise compared to what it originally was.
    22AnonymousOct 12, 2026 15:30
    Re: #19
    Even though it's wrong?
    20AnonymousOct 12, 2026 15:29
    ISE
    Selling homemade stickers inside the venue
    Crummy makeshift sign ← NEW
    21AnonymousOct 12, 2026 15:30
    126 Anonymous Recruiting… Mon 2026/10/12 00:38:16.56 0
    People who pull stuff like this think on a totally different wavelength from normal folks.
    The more it hypes up Moimoi's homecoming, the more I bet they're secretly thinking, 'Good thing I went with a low-key sign instead of some flashy stunt that would've stolen the spotlight — I really am sharp,' and basking in their own cleverness.
    24AnonymousOct 12, 2026 15:35
    On the '60-try Club' segment, Ise said her fans feel like friends to her.
    25AnonymousOct 12, 2026 15:35
    Alright! For Ojisan Baby's sake, I'm gonna chug Yakult 400 at the venue!
    26AnonymousOct 12, 2026 15:37
    Now I get why attendance has been dropping even without any actual scandal.
    27AnonymousOct 12, 2026 15:38
    Hi there, I'm Ken Nakazawa, UMA (cryptid) researcher. (a recurring 5ch copypasta impersonating a real cryptozoologist)
    32AnonymousOct 12, 2026 15:48
    As a newbie, I don't really get why this is such a big deal.
    People should just do what they want — if you want to join in, join in.
    Also, not everyone's even on X (Twitter), so it seems like it's bound to end up scattered anyway.
    34AnonymousOct 12, 2026 15:49
    Holding it in your hand risks someone raising it up high.
    Stick it to your chest and you can't do that.
    It's a completely different thing.
    36AnonymousOct 12, 2026 15:50
    Re: #34
    Then penlights should be banned too.
    43AnonymousOct 12, 2026 15:55
    Re: #34
    Actually, raising penlights up high isn't banned anymore.
    54AnonymousOct 12, 2026 16:58


    64AnonymousOct 12, 2026 17:56
    Total victory for the problem fans

    405 Anonymous Recruiting… Mon 2026/10/12 17:48:31.41 0
    Every member was sharing warm, heartfelt stories about Yuppyon, and the whole venue had this lovely atmosphere — but right at the very end, Ise went and said something like 'Hey, I can see you guys put that sign up for me, 300 shows huh?' and the place went '…uneasy murmur.'
    81AnonymousOct 12, 2026 18:29
    Re: #64
    She couldn't just not acknowledge it, could she? Honestly, Ise is the one to feel sorry for here.
    95AnonymousOct 12, 2026 18:47
    If they let this slide, it's going to be anything-goes from here on.
    105AnonymousOct 12, 2026 18:50
    Re: #95
    Yep.
    So basically the ANGERME scene is officially fine with problem fans.
    96AnonymousOct 12, 2026 18:47
    Is Pia Arena MM going to be okay with this?
    101AnonymousOct 12, 2026 18:48
    Re: #96
    No chance.
    Guaranteed to be empty.
    104AnonymousOct 12, 2026 18:50
    Re: #96
    Oh, it'll be fine.
    Message-board cheering just got deregulated, after all.
    106AnonymousOct 12, 2026 18:50
    Doesn't the agency tell members not to acknowledge what's going on in the audience?
    At this rate it just turns into whoever gets the most attention wins.
    113AnonymousOct 12, 2026 18:52
    Re: #106
    Haven't you seen Kamiko (another member's nickname)? Her crowd-teasing is way worse than this.

    Background and Points of Debate

    At Hello! Project live shows, holding up message boards from the audience has long been banned, originally over concerns like blocking other fans’ view. What sparked discussion this time is that the ban is worded specifically around ‘holding it in your hand’ — meaning sticking paper to your clothing may not actually be covered by the rule as written. The thread split between those arguing this isn’t technically a rule violation, and those arguing it clearly goes against the spirit of the rule regardless of wording — a classic ‘letter of the rule vs. spirit of the rule’ debate that comes up often at these shows. Some also pointed to how the ban on raising penlights high was later relaxed (see post #24), raising doubts about how consistently the rules are even enforced. Readers should note that the thread mixes hearsay and speculation, and the text doesn’t actually confirm the specific content of any response from the organizers.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello!Pro) thread “[Good News] ANGERME’s Ise Suzuran Fan Exploits a Loophole in the Message-Board Ban Rule [Organizer Response Included]”.

  • Okayama and Kagawa see over 3% net outflow of women in their early 20s — 5ch: ‘Well, if you can get out to the city, you should’

    According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications’ population migration statistics, Okayama Prefecture’s net outflow rate for women in their early 20s hit 3.07% last year, while Kagawa Prefecture’s reached 3.71%. That means more than 3% of women in their early 20s left each prefecture within a single year. The original article presents this figure as one factor behind rural population decline. On 5ch, opinions split between those citing structural causes — a lack of appealing jobs and universities locally — and those citing cultural ones, namely a desire to escape the gender-role pressures and conservative atmosphere that persist in rural areas.

    Special feature: the decline of young women in Okayama and Kagawa is accelerating.

    ■ Over 3% of women in their early 20s leave Okayama and Kagawa in a single year

    According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, last year Okayama Prefecture’s net outflow rate for women in their early 20s was 3.07%. Kagawa Prefecture’s was 3.71%. That means more than 3% of women in their early 20s left Okayama and Kagawa within a single year.

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

    5AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:34
    Let's clean up the language in here — 'deeree' and 'bokkee' are banned (Okayama dialect words meaning 'really/very')
    54AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:55
    Re: #5
    Okayama already has words like 'hanakamitai' that'll get you punched if you say them carelessly, so banning a few more is no big deal (a local phrase that sounds offensive out of context)
    13AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:37
    Women who are heavily dependent on others just don't feel safe unless they're somewhere crowded
    140AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:43
    Re: #13
    If anything, leaving the turf you grew up in takes more guts — women are the braver ones here, really. Zoom out and rural men are basically shut-ins who don't know the world, big fish acting like the boss of their tiny pond, when in reality they're just hopeless cowards
    15AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:39
    (´・ω・`)
    At the very least, there's no happiness in Tokyo… especially brutal for women I'd think (he uses 'man-san,' a dismissive 5ch slang term for women)
    57AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:56
    Re: #15
    Unless a woman gets into a Tokyo university on the level of Waseda/Keio or better, or heads to Tokyo from Okayama University holding a ticket in — a confirmed offer for a full management track at a major company — she's basically stuck
    132AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:35
    Re: #15
    Unlike the countryside, you can at least scrape by somehow in the city
    134AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:38
    Re: #15
    Even so, it's apparently still better than Okayama.
    It's become the kind of place young women feel they have to flee from.
    And wherever young women are fleeing from is usually some place pushing outdated gender roles and meddling in everyone's life, completely oblivious to it
    16AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:39
    If they really want to stop this, everyone over 40 — old men and women alike, government or private sector — should retire and stick to part-time work.
    Do that and young people will show up on their own
    40AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:48
    Re: #16
    Nobody's aiming for a region or company where you 'retire' at 40 and get rehired part-time.
    Treating someone like an old fogey and switching them to a rehire contract while their kids are still in elementary or middle school is just insulting.

    Go post a job listing at your company offering 300 million yen paid out by age 40 and see who shows up
    60AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:59
    Re: #16
    If anything, I think it'd be better if women between 40 and 65 could land stable, well-paid jobs
    22AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:41
    It's because there are no appealing companies or universities anywhere in the Chugoku-Shikoku region
    137AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:41
    Re: #22
    That's not it.
    They're leaving right after they graduate from university
    32AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:45
    The day before yesterday I went to Ikebukuro's east exit for the first time in ages and there was this insane crowd of young people — I came home practically in tears.
    There's nothing there but Sunshine City, so why do people always flock to places that crowded?
    42AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:49
    Pass a prefectural ordinance requiring anyone who moves out to pay the prefecture 10 million yen.
    In exchange, give women who move in a 5 million yen settling-in grant, plus 1 million yen per child born
    47AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:51
    Re: #42
    Legally impossible.
    You can't restrict where people live
    55AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:56
    Re: #42
    What is this, defecting from your feudal domain?
    45AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:50
    Okayama's the middle of nowhere with nothing but an AEON mall, of course people leave — nobody wants to be a farmer, and mamakari (a local pickled fish dish) isn't even that good.
    Women get literally pointed at and laughed at for speaking Okayama dialect
    130AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:33
    Re: #45
    Okayama Prefecture does have an adult shop called Book Mate
    70AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:05
    Well, there's really nothing going on if you stay in Okayama.
    I mean, if you can get out to the city, you should
    83AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:08
    Re: #70
    If you can land a job at a top-tier company, sure, leave — but if not, I think you'd be happier staying in the countryside.
    Especially ten years from now
    89AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:11
    Re: #1
    Like the feudal Edo era, set up checkpoints and don't let anyone defect from the domain.
    Guess it's back to 'guns in, women out' (an Edo-period checkpoint policy restricting incoming firearms and outgoing women)
    100AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:14
    Re: #89
    Anyone who defects from the domain will be hunted down by order from above — searched out to the last blade of grass and cut down
    153AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:49
    Even with a degree from a top university, there's no job to match it, for men and women alike.
    Everything's concentrated in Tokyo, with only a handful of options in Kansai
    161AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:55
    Re: #153
    The jobs concentrated in Tokyo are mostly liberal-arts-track office jobs, so that's risky — AI could wipe them out within ten years
    162AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:56
    Re: #153
    Though doesn't Okayama just not have any top-tier universities to begin with…?
    177AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:03
    Okayama Prefecture has no choice but to revive old Kibi Province from before the ritsuryō system — split into Bizen, Bichu, Bingo, and Mimasaka
    https://kotobank.jp/image/dictionary/nipponica/media/81306024018325.jpg
    186AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:09
    If you're not good at studying or sports, I think women are better off just staying local and marrying a civil servant
    187AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:11
    Re: #186
    Studying, sure, I get that — but making money off sports is such a rare case, why bring that up like it's a normal option?
    197AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:18
    Re: #191
    He means getting into college on an athletic recommendation.

    So really, Re: #186 should've said 'can't get into a top university through academics or sports' instead of just 'not good at studying or sports'
    191AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:14
    Re: #187
    If you're at the level of having competed in the Inter-High (the national high school athletic championships), even without an athletic scholarship you can still get into a well-known private university through a designated-school recommendation
    199AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:19
    Re: #191
    Use your sports record to get into 'Mākan' (slang for a certain junior college), and with decent looks and a bit of charm you can land something like a region-limited general track job at a big company (what used to be called the 'office lady' track).
    Then marry an elite there, lol.
    Though even then, buying a house in today's Tokyo is probably still out of reach

    Background and key points of this discussion

    It’s worth noting that this “3% net outflow rate” measures the share of women in their early 20s for whom outflow exceeded inflow within that single year — it is not a cumulative population decline figure. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications publishes this kind of “young women leaving” data every year, and the same trend holds not just for Okayama and Kagawa but across rural regions generally, including Tohoku, San’in, and Shikoku. Since Hiroya Masuda’s “regional extinction” theory gained traction, two explanations have run side by side: a structural one, pointing to major companies and competitive universities clustering in Tokyo, and a cultural one, pointing to the pressure of gender-role expectations that persist in rural households. The thread reflected that same split, with some blaming the lack of jobs and universities and others saying people want to escape the conservative atmosphere of rural life. Folk theories like “whether there’s an adult shop or not,” meanwhile, have no empirical basis and were left out of this write-up.

    ※This article excerpts and summarizes the 5ch (News速報+) thread “How do we stop it? Outflow of young women from the prefecture accelerates — over 3% of women in their early 20s left Okayama and Kagawa in a single year.”

  • Moshing Breaks Out at Gunma-chan Idol Fest, Show Halted — Otaku Mob Issues Dogeza Apology

    At an idol festival held in Gunma, moshing — a banned activity in the audience area — broke out, forcing the event to a temporary halt. The organizers apologized, framing the stoppage as “the organizer’s decision,” while adding, “In the near future, we are planning a real "festival" unbound by regulations.” Fans of the group whose set was cut short complained that fans of other groups committed the same violations at the same venue without being warned, sparking a split on 5ch over whether the organizers’ response was fair.

    @

    [Chaos Erupts at Idol Fest]

    Banned moshing breaks out in the audience

    Source: video.twimg.com / Original article here

    2AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:09
    They probably think drama like this is good for business.
    3AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:10
    Not our problem — just some underground idol stuff.
    4AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:10
    They moshed and now they want a refund?
    53AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:26
    Re: #4
    The ones moshing were the deadbeat otaku who don't pay. The paying otaku up front are furious because freeloaders are shoving into the paid front-row area ("pinchike") without paying, which is what caused this — they're demanding their money back.
    5AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:10
    In response, the management harboring these troublemaking otaku put out this official statement:


    @
    [Regarding Today's Live Show Interruption]

    Regarding today's performance being halted partway through: this interruption was a decision made by the organizer.
    We apologize to everyone in attendance for the worry and confusion caused by the sudden stoppage.

    In the near future, we are planning a real "festival" unbound by regulations.

    We appreciate your understanding.
    12AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:12
    Re: #5
    Did an otaku write this… "Runo"? (probably autocorrect mangling "wrote this, huh?" into the idol's name)
    14AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:12
    Re: #5
    That's insane. What group is this?
    8AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:11
    I wonder where Araiguma-chan (a pun on "raccoon" plus the Gunma-chan mascot) is and what she's up to these days.
    16AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:13
    Yeah, this group's gonna get banned from venues left and right.
    18AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:14
    Fans from the opening act were committing violations nonstop, yet this group was the only one whose song got cut — of course they're pissed. And the even worse stuff that happened afterward got completely ignored.
    19AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:14
    Don't know which management this is, but they're out of their minds. The girls in this group should all quit.
    20AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:14
    Meanwhile
    44AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:23
    Re: #20
    Haha, oh sure, sure, lol. This is FES☆TIVE, the group that brands itself the "live show boss" but can't even break into the mainstream, lol.
    21AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:15
    Never thought the Gunma-chan fest would turn into a riot scene… that's just sad.
    22AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:16
    That's a pretty lame mosh pit. If you're gonna do it, do it properly.
    23AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:16
    Huh? Rosy wasn't booked this year. Scheduling conflict or something?
    26AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:16
    Re: #23
    I don't think they've appeared since debuting.
    24AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:16
    If you can't handle getting banned from co-headlining shows, don't show up in the first place. What a nuisance.
    27AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:17
    DEVIAN's set right after this one was peaceful, but the UTAGE crowd (nicknamed the "UTAGE Cannon" for their chaos) probably went off.
    28AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:17
    Sounds like one of those shouting matches among nuisance train-photographer otaku.
    31AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:18
    Re: #28
    Same IQ level, honestly.
    29AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:17
    Oh, it's FES☆TIVE? They're actually fairly well-known.
    30AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:18
    Well, with this management's attitude, they're probably getting banned from the big co-headlining shows.
    32AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:19
    So a "real festival" means enjoying the show as animals instead of as human beings?
    33AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:19
    The reason they didn't stop the chaos even when other groups' sections were going wild is that it was this group's own otaku causing it there too.
    34AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:20
    Someone's gonna get hurt and this'll blow up again. They'll probably end up making otaku sign waivers before long. Who'd even want to go to a show like that?
    35AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:20
    Wow, so basically "we didn't make the call, so it's not our responsibility" — that's the line, huh?
    39AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:21
    What is this lame excuse for a mosh pit? Go learn how it's done at Dead Pop Festival.
    40AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:21
    The otaku here have zero manners. Is this an underground idol group? The fans are all men though.
    48AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:24
    Re: #40
    Shosen (the bookstore chain), Lime-sta, and President Iwashita (the pickled-ginger company president famous for being an idol otaku) all follow them — this is a pretty major group.
    41AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:22
    FES☆TIVE otaku: "This is our idol Danjiri Festival!" (a reference to a notoriously rough, injury-prone float festival — i.e., bragging about the chaos)
    42AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:22
    If they ever clashed with Hello! Project fans, the Hello! Project fans would probably win.
    46AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:24
    Re: #26
    I'm pretty sure they were there last year. I remember debating whether to travel all the way out to Gunma for it.
    55AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:27
    If this means this idol group can't appear at other festivals anymore, then Juice — who's got plenty of nuisance otaku policing the front row too — should get banned as well, right?
    59AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:30
    Re: #55
    If they don't actually get called out for a banned act, that's not gonna happen, is it?
    67AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:35
    I absolutely hate Kira Fore, UTAGE, and FES☆TIVE.
    73AnonymousOct 12, 2026 22:43
    Re: #67
    Wait, does the management actually encourage people to go wild?

    Background and Points of Debate

    Because of the risk of accidents like falls or crowd-crush injuries, moshing has in recent years become an explicitly banned activity at many live shows and co-headlining festivals. In this case, the organizers’ comment explaining the stoppage used the phrase “we are planning a real "festival" unbound by regulations,” which readers took as reading like an apology and a defiant excuse at the same time, sparking reactions in the thread. There were also claims that fans of other groups at the same venue broke the same rules without being warned, while this group alone was forced into a stoppage and apology — making the fairness of the organizers’ response a central point of debate. That said, it’s worth noting that the specific group names and claims about “who’s to blame” raised here remain unverified testimony and speculation from the 5ch thread, with no third-party confirmation.

    *This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary of the 5ch (Hello! Project) thread “[Video] Banned moshing breaks out at the Gunma-chan Idol Festival, halting the event, and the otaku mob who moshed issues a dogeza apology.”

  • Fond Memories of ‘Knight Gundam Story’: Fans Reminisce About Carddass and Superior Dragon

    A thread on 5ch’s “Nandemo Jikkyou G” board got nostalgic about the Famicom-era game “Knight Gundam Story.” Posters got fired up discussing Cannon’s betrayal plot twist, memories of reluctantly resetting the game after losing Carddass battles to tough kid opponents, and the ever-popular power-up forms “Superior Dragon” and “Full Armor Knight Gundam.” The thread also touched on generational theories about how SD Gundam carried the franchise through the gap between Zeta Zeta Gundam and Victory Gundam, dug up memories of what the in-game Carddass cards were actually for, and even shared images confirming a scene where an enemy character swaps places with an ally.

    1AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:34
    Anything come to mind?
    5AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:36
    Cannon betrays you
    6AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:36
    Re: #5
    Was that really how it went?
    Why?
    50AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:50
    Re: #6
    I think there was something like him being mind-controlled by the enemy
    11AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:38
    Got stuck resetting the game in tears after some brat kid busted out a Kakurikon card in a Carddass battle (a notoriously broken card)
    13AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:39
    Re: #11
    Yeah, that special medicine item is absolute garbage, isn't it
    17AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:41
    Isn't that the one where the GM turns into a Gundam?
    I played the Famicom game when I was a little kid.
    18AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:42
    Re: #17
    No it doesn't
    A GM stays a GM forever
    If you're born a GM, that's just how it ends
    20AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:43
    Re: #18
    Wasn't there a scene where a GM raises its sword and goes 'Actually, I was a Gundam all along!' and then turns into one?
    21AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:44
    Re: #18
    You're thinking of Indy Gundam
    26AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:45
    Superior Dragon is honestly one of the coolest-looking Mobile Suits of all time.
    It scorched itself into my brain back in elementary school.
    31AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:46
    Re: #26
    Thanks to that thing, I ended up with a fetish for light-and-darkness fusion too
    34AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:46
    Re: #26
    They've been re-releasing a bunch of stuff lately, including Superior Kaiser
    28AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:46
    It's the one where it fuses with the enemy boss to become Super Gundam, right?
    33AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:46
    Re: #28
    Is that a homage to Piccolo fusing with Kami (God) [from Dragon Ball]?
    37AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:47
    As a game, the Famicom version of the second one has the most content, but the BGM is absolute trash
    93AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:20
    Re: #37
    I thought the field theme was good, but the regular battle theme was way too mediocre
    42AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:48
    I survived the dark ages between ZZ Gundam and Victory Gundam thanks to SD Gundam
    46AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:50
    Re: #42
    It's not an exaggeration to say SD Gundam and G Gundam are the reason the Gundam franchise survived at all
    43AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:48
    Do each of the Gundam characters here have a human pilot inside (like Amuro)?
    44AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:50
    Re: #43
    Nope
    They're their own race called the 'Mobile Suit tribe'
    Humans like Amuro are a separate 'human tribe' that exists on its own
    45AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:50
    Re: #43
    There are also human-sized humans existing separately, and there's even a thing called 'Kihei' where a Gundam rides inside another Gundam
    48AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:50
    What was even the point of the in-game Carddass cards?
    I feel like I tried hard to collect them, but I don't remember why.
    52AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:51
    Re: #48
    You summon them with a spell called 'Call,' and they join the battle like a monster ally, kind of like in Dragon Quest
    53AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:52
    Re: #48
    If you collect the letters on the right edge, you find out how to get to Carddass Island
    56AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:53
    I'm 45 and not even from the Gundam generation, but for some reason I played Knight Gundam Story.
    I collected the Carddass cards too.
    58AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:54
    Re: #56
    Not the Gundam generation exactly, but people in their 40s are the generation that got hit directly by SD Gundam
    57AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:53
    Re: #31
    There's also one now called 'Superior Formula Final Dragon' that borrows elements from a different SD series
    59AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:54
    Re: #57
    Isn't that a different thing from Gundam Mk-V?
    67AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:58
    Wasn't there a Full Armor Knight Gundam?
    74AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:06
    Re: #67
    The one equipped with the Three Sacred Treasures is Full Armor Knight [Gundam]
    73AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:05
    Re: #6
    I feel like he was temporarily swapped out with a fake
    I remember realizing 'wait, the face on the status screen looks slightly different!' if you looked closely
    75AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:07
    Re: #73
    This is it

    79AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:10
    Re: #75
    Yes, this is it, this is it!
    So nostalgic, thanks!
    81AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:12
    What about Musha Gundam 🥺
    87AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:15
    Re: #81
    I collected BB Senshi figures
    I love the 3rd generation Shogun Gundam (written with the punning kanji '頑駄無')
    91AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:18
    Re: #81
    Musha Gundam is basically a tale of conquering provinces
    95AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:22
    I think Nu Gundam told Double Zeta something like 'You're just a brute who's all muscle, there's no way you could rescue Lord Alex'
    97AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:25
    Re: #95
    Zeta, Double Zeta, and Nu were originally set up to not get along
    100AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:27
    Alex is supposedly the leader of the Algus Knights, but he's such a non-entity
    104AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:29
    Re: #100
    The plastic model had metal armor and it looked so cool

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    “Knight Gundam Story” was one of the SD Gundam titles released around 1990 on platforms like the Famicom, and the fact that it was tied into Bandai’s Carddass (gachapon-style trading card) promotions is central to this thread’s conversation. The “Carddass” elements mentioned in posts #48, #52, and #53, along with the Carddass battle story in post #11, reflect how players at the time collected physical cards alongside playing the game. Where opinions diverged in the thread was over the popularity of fusion/power-up forms like “Superior Dragon” and “Full Armor Knight Gundam,” and over generational theories about how SD Gundam and G Gundam propped up the franchise during the transitional “dark age” between ZZ Gundam and Victory Gundam. Though not mentioned in the article itself, the Knight Gundam Story series had multiple Famicom entries, and the “second game’s BGM” discussed in posts #37 and #93 appears to refer to one specific installment among them. Overall, the thread reads as nostalgic reminiscing from a particular age bracket (roughly people in their 40s) rather than a heated debate over which entry was better.

    ※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (“Nandemo Jikkyou G”) thread “Memories of Knight Gundam Story“.

  • Announcer Shinichi Hatori Confesses the University That Rejected Him — Tokumitsu Kazuo Stunned: ‘Seriously?!’

    Freelance announcer Shinichi Hatori (55) revealed on the October 11 broadcast of BS-TBS’s “Sekiguchi Hiroshi no Sannin Yoreba” that he had failed to get into Rikkyo University during his entrance exams. Hatori is a graduate of Waseda University’s School of Political Science and Economics, and fellow guest Kazuo Tokumitsu and others exclaimed “Seriously?!” in surprise. On the 5ch Geino/Sports News Plus thread, the discussion turned to the gap in difficulty between Waseda and Rikkyo for Hatori’s generation, and how unusual it is to pass Poli-Sci/Econ while failing Rikkyo, with many commenters reminiscing about the private-university exam landscape of that era.

    Freelance announcer Shinichi Hatori (55) appeared on the October 11 broadcast of BS-TBS’s “Sekiguchi Hiroshi no Sannin Yoreba” (Sundays at noon), where he revealed the name of a school that had rejected him during his university entrance exams.

    He appeared as a guest alongside his senior at Nippon TV, freelance announcer Kazuo Tokumitsu. The show’s host, Hiroshi Sekiguchi, and Tokumitsu are both Rikkyo University graduates, and since Rikkyo has produced many celebrated announcers — including Minomonta, Shinobu Oosaka, and Masaru Doi — Hatori remarked admiringly, “Rikkyo is amazing.”

    Hatori is himself a graduate of Waseda’s School of Political Science and Economics, and Tokumitsu said, “That’s a very prestigious school.” Hatori then suddenly confessed, “Actually, I failed to get into Rikkyo,” prompting both of them to exclaim in surprise — “Seriously?!” and “Wait, really?!”

    Source: sponichi.co.jp / Original article here

    5AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:34
    Back in the day the gap between Waseda and Rikkyo wasn't as big as it is now.
    Poli-Sci/Econ being amazing is one thing, but I feel like Rikkyo itself used to be a lot better too.
    82AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:42
    Re: #5
    Watching stuff like Wakatte TV (a YouTube channel that dissects exam difficulty/hensachi), you really learn that a university's hensachi varies wildly by year, department, and early/late admission round.
    7AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:36
    During the private-university bubble, tons of students couldn't even get into the 'Daitoakoku' schools (slang for the bottom-tier private-university group) straight out of high school.
    74AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:35
    Re: #7
    That was the dankai-junior generation — the baby boomers' kids — when the age cohort hit 2 million people.
    9AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:37
    Underneath this whole conversation there's this undertone of looking down on Rikkyo as the 'dumber' school, isn't there.
    15AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:40
    Re: #9
    Now that you mention it, yeah. In this compliance-obsessed era, I wonder if it's even okay to say there's a gap between two private schools like that.
    17AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:40
    Re: #9
    There's definitely some of that. Though if a Rikkyo grad heard this, they'd probably be thrilled anyway.
    11AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:38
    When I took my exams, I applied to 12 private-school/department combos, and the only one I got into was Waseda's First Literature department.
    14AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:39
    Re: #1
    Well, Rikkyo back in 'Bird's' day (a pun on Hatori's name, which contains 鳥/'bird' — i.e. his own exam-taking years) was way harder to get into than Waseda is now.
    35AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:55
    Re: #14
    Even now, pretty much anyone can get into Waseda.
    16AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:40
    Rikkyo straight out of high school vs. Waseda after one year as a ronin (repeat examinee) — which is actually better?
    21AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:44
    Re: #16
    Back in 'Bird's' day, being a ronin was totally normal, so Waseda wins hands down.
    97AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:15
    Re: #16
    These days, Waseda after one year as a ronin, for sure.
    20AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:42
    Thanks to some weird YouTubers, a lot of people are under the illusion that MARCH schools (Meiji/Aoyama/Rikkyo/Chuo/Hosei) are easy to get into, but 30 years ago they were tough enough that even people who'd passed Waseda or Keio couldn't necessarily get in.
    48AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:08
    Re: #20
    But thanks to the Tokyo media, there are also plenty of people who hype up MARCH while looking down on regional national universities.
    28AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:51
    These days it's 'Waseda-Keio-Sophia,' but in the Showa 30s-40s (roughly the late 1950s-60s) it was 'Waseda-Keio-Rikkyo.'
    36AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:56
    Re: #28
    By 'Bird's' era, it wasn't even just Waseda-Keio-Sophia — there was barely any gap between Rikkyo, Meiji, and Aoyama Gakuin either.
    34AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:55
    FYI, back then Waseda's Poli-Sci/Econ department actually outranked Todai's Humanities III (lol).
    49AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:10
    Re: #34
    IIRC math was an elective for Poli-Sci/Econ, not a requirement, and besides, you can't directly compare hensachi between national/public and private universities in the first place.
    64AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:21
    Re: #34
    For some reason Waseda's Poli-Sci/Econ was considered top-tier among Japan's humanities/social-science departments — it had a reputation for being brutally hard.
    42AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:59
    Hiranuma High School is actually closer to Yokohama Station than Suiran High School is.
    47AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:08
    Re: #42
    Suiran used to be Yokohama Boys' Middle School No. 2; Hiranuma used to be Yokohama Girls' High School No. 1.
    44AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:02
    I took the Rikkyo exam at the Ikebukuro campus, and my chair was so rickety and badly put together that it drove me crazy. I told the proctor, but they just said 'deal with it' — and I ended up failing.

    That same year, Meiji's entrance exam had about three times the usual number of proctors because of the Nabeyakan exam-impersonation scandal from the year before (a comedian who'd taken an exam in someone else's place).
    66AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:23
    Re: #44
    Apparently even Nabeyakan's scandal only came out because of a whistleblower — kind of wild.
    45AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:03
    Comedy duo Cream Stew:
    Shinya Ueda: dropped out of Waseda University's School of Education, Japanese Language & Literature
    Teppei Arita: dropped out of Rikkyo University's Faculty of Law
    72AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:31
    Re: #45
    Arita actually got into Meiji straight out of high school, but Ueda talked him into becoming a ronin instead.
    46AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:08
    Passing Poli-Sci/Econ but failing Rikkyo really is rare. I wonder what percentage of people that happens to.
    52AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:13
    Re: #46
    If you spend all your time cramming for Waseda Poli-Sci/Econ and only squeeze in Rikkyo as an afterthought, yeah, you'll fail it.
    55AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:15
    Re: #46
    About 40%, I'd guess.
    54AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:14
    If he's 55, his exam years must have been brutal. If he got into Waseda Poli-Sci/Econ, he probably also tried for Todai as his national-university pick and failed. But if he failed Rikkyo straight out of high school, then became a ronin and got into Waseda Poli-Sci/Econ, that says he really buckled down during his ronin year. Honestly, schools like Rikkyo, Meiji, and Hosei were the kind of places top prep-school kids wouldn't even glance at back then.
    59AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:17
    Waseda and Keio have basically turned into regional/local universities now, so just by being located in the Kanto area, even a high school like Hiranuma has seen a bit of an uptick in Waseda/Keio acceptances compared to before.
    Hiranuma High School, 2026 results: Waseda 24, Keio 14.
    60AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:19
    Re: #59
    Since the school-district restrictions were lifted, Koryo's popularity has probably dropped while Hiranuma's has risen.
    61AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:19
    Re: #59
    Since the school-district restrictions were lifted, Koryo's popularity has probably dropped while Hiranuma's has risen.
    85AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:45
    Back then the number of examinees was enormous and the ronin rate was sky-high, so even at the Waseda/Keio level, one small slip-up could get your legs swept out from under you by a MARCH school.
    94AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:08
    Re: #85
    Really? My impression is that back then there was a pretty big gap between Waseda/Keio and MARCH. Passing Waseda/Keio but slipping on a MARCH school in the same exam season seems pretty rare to me.
    103AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:20
    Re: #85
    Yeah, if you didn't specifically prep for them, MARCH schools could be risky. There were even efficiency-obsessed types who flipped that around — only studying for, say, Chuo's non-Law faculties or Hosei's Tama campus, aiming purely to land a MARCH acceptance.

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    The backdrop to this topic is the fierce competition in private-university entrance exams during the 1980s-90s, driven by the surge in exam-takers from the baby boomers’ children (the “dankai junior” generation). Before the “Waseda-Keio-Sophia” grouping became standard, there was a period when people said “Waseda-Keio-Rikkyo” instead, and some commenters on the thread noted that there was barely any difficulty gap between Rikkyo, Meiji, and Aoyama Gakuin at the time. Opinions were divided on just how rare it is to pass Waseda’s Poli-Sci/Econ department while failing Rikkyo — one guess put it around 40%, though that’s not backed by any verified statistics. It’s also worth keeping in mind that hensachi scores can’t be directly compared between national/public and private universities, or across different departments, years, or early/late exam schedules — so judging the difficulty of that era by today’s ‘MARCH’ framework can be misleading.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geino/Sports News Plus) thread “Announcer Shinichi Hatori Confesses the University That Rejected Him — Tokumitsu Kazuo Stunned: ‘Seriously?!’.”

  • Steam’s concurrent users hit an all-time high of 43.5 million — 5ch: ‘Japanese users are only about 1 million’

    On October 11, it was reported that the concurrent user count on Valve’s PC gaming platform “Steam” hit an all-time high of approximately 43.5 million. On 5ch’s Hardware/Industry (Geha) board, this figure sparked replies analyzing it from various angles — the proportion of Japanese- and Chinese-language users among PC gamers, estimates of active user counts, and comparisons with home consoles. At the same time, posts mocking Nintendo and Sony users were also prominent, giving the thread a mixed atmosphere of number-crunching and console-war trolling.

    On October 11, the concurrent user count on Valve’s PC game distribution platform “Steam”

    hit an all-time high of “approximately 43.5 million.”

    Source: news.nicovideo.jp / Original article here

    2AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:05
    The exodus from PlayStation is going smoothly. Nice.
    6AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:09
    Re: #2
    Probably a lot of users who never touched PlayStation to begin with
    10AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:10
    Re: #2
    More like an exodus from consoles in general?
    Smartphones + PC are just too strong
    4AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:08
    Active users must be around 400 million or so
    14AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:13
    Re: #4
    When concurrent users were 24.8 million, active users were 120 million
    so active users now would be around 300 million?

    https://www.4gamer.net/games/038/G003821/20210114024/
    35AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:27
    Re: #14
    I thought it'd be like 10x consoles, but I guess it's not that much
    7AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:09
    Steam has no boxed copies and no shelf presence in stores, it'll go under any day now, oink (mocking oink-sound used to deride a claim)
    16AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:15
    Re: #7
    Pretty seriously, a lot of Japanese companies used to have the attitude of
    'PC gaming is garbage — even on Steam it's all piracy hell anyway!'
    13AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:12
    But apparently the PC-haters (パソニシ, anti-PC trolls) don't even own a PC themselves
    18AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:15
    Re: #13
    There goes 'Barrier' pathetically posting his wishful thinking again (recurring poster nickname)
    23AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:20
    Re: #13
    Nice try nitpicking about monitor arms, 'Barrier'
    15AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:14
    Don't they ever put out a country-by-country breakdown?
    19AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:16
    Re: #15
    Not sales figures, but you can officially check download volume by country
    Click on a country

    Steam Download Stats
    https://store.steampowered.com/stats/content/
    22AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:20
    Re: #19
    Oh, something like this existed
    21AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:18
    Re: #18
    Show us that gaming PC you're so proud of
    24AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:21
    Huh? Nintendo Switch has 160 million concurrent users though?
    27AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:22
    With full DLSS5 support coming soon, as long as you've got an RTX 5070 Ti or better you're set
    Smooth 4K, mods, indie games, eroge (adult games), tons of AAA titles
    Plus there are sales too — the only reason to keep a console around is a Switch 2 for Zelda
    33AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:25
    Re: #27
    Don't need garbage like the Switch 2
    PC alone is enough for me
    38AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:30
    What percentage are Chinese users, I wonder
    41AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:32
    Re: #38
    Apparently 21%
    42AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:32
    Re: #38
    Don't know the user count, but in terms of download volume,
    China alone accounted for 460 million GB in a week, #1 in the world,
    so it's probably quite a lot?
    45AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:33
    Re: #38
    Ah, there's a breakdown by language share after all
    Looking at that:

    Simplified Chinese 31.39%, up 7.42%

    A 7% jump is way too much… what happened there
    43AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:32
    How many of those are Japanese?
    47AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:36
    Re: #43
    Looking at the Japanese-language usage rate, it's 2.4%, so going purely by 'concurrent users' that's roughly 1 million
    That's actually already a big jump
    It used to be around 0.9% back in the day
    48AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:41
    Steam's concurrent user count keeps rising, and the share of Japanese users is climbing right along with it
    It's probably already beating PlayStation in terms of active users
    50AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:44
    Re: #48
    When you think that right this very moment,
    a million people across Japan are playing games on Steam,
    I'd say it's even surpassed Nintendo
    51AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:46
    Re: #48
    Even Chinese games popular on PS5 (like NTE, Wuthering Waves)
    and Umamusume are now playable on Steam too
    49AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:43
    PlayStation market >> Steam market > Switch market
    That's just how it is

    Steam predicted to make over $20 billion this year for first time ever
    https://www.dexerto.com/gaming/steam-predicted-to-make-over-20-billion-this-year-for-first-time-ever-3414952/
    Steam is projected to top $20 billion in annual revenue for the first time ever

    Steam: $20 billion (¥3 trillion)
    PlayStation FY26: $31.1 billion (¥4.6857 trillion)


    By the way, this Valve revenue estimate is also a gross total figure
    77AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:06
    Weird, considering global PC shipments are declining…
    78AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:08
    Re: #77
    Well, PCs aren't perishable groceries you consume every day…
    80AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:09
    Re: #77
    Roughly 1.5 billion PCs have been sold over the past 5 years
    It's not like 'it's been a year since I bought mine, time for a new one!'

    Background and key points of this discussion

    Steam’s concurrent user count was only around 7 million back in 2013, but it has expanded rapidly over the past decade to reach 43.5 million this time. This figure simply means “the number of people logged in at a given moment,” which is a different metric from monthly active users or cumulative hardware shipments. In the thread, one comment claimed Nintendo Switch has “160 million concurrent users,” but this conflates cumulative unit sales with concurrent user counts — the two numbers are not comparable. Regarding the country/language breakdown, Steam itself does not publish official country-level statistics for concurrent users; the Chinese- and Japanese-language ratios raised in the thread are merely estimates drawn from separate data such as download volume or language-setting share. Because the raw numbers are so large, it’s easy to come away with an impression bigger than reality, so it’s worth reading them with these differences between metrics in mind.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry (Geha)) thread “[Great News] Steam’s concurrent user count hits an all-time high of “approximately 43.5 million”.”

  • Man in his 30s: ‘I have no hobbies’ — 5ch says ‘Raising kids basically IS a hobby’

    A thread where a man in his 30s complained that he “can’t find a hobby” drew a flood of replies from the Live Reporting board on 5channel.

    Some argued that being too busy raising kids to have hobbies of his own was met with “child-rearing is basically a hobby,” while others pushed back, saying that confuses parenting — a basic responsibility — with a hobby. Meanwhile, posters kept listing real hobbies they actually spend money and time on, like golf, running, tailored suits, car washing, and gardening, sparking a wider debate over what “hobby” even means.

    1AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:50
    Still going on about fashion past 30 is lame too, honestly
    4AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:51
    If you're a decent 30-something, isn't raising kids basically your hobby?
    32AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:58
    Re: #4
    This.
    Also, once your kid starts a lesson like soccer, you end up playing soccer with them too — your own hobbies end up shaped by your kids.
    5AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:51
    Feel that.
    Still going on about what's trendy past 30 is kind of childish
    about as cringe as a guy past 30 still going on about his love life
    6AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:51
    I got into golf and trail running after turning 30.
    Costs way too much money, can't help it.
    10AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:52
    Taking the kids out eats up your time.
    Other than that, you buy a house or condo and get into fixing that up.
    12AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:52
    Golf's great.
    Switched to a TaylorMade SIM2 driver and now I'm hitting 270 yards.
    13AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:52
    Just go to the gym, spend your time and money on your health.
    15AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:53
    Gateball (a croquet-like lawn sport big with Japanese retirees), haiku, bonsai — these classic senior hobbies have genuinely died out, huh.
    20AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:54
    Re: #15
    Haiku and tanka are kind of having a moment, in a way.
    100AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:30
    Re: #15
    They play gateball every week at my local park.
    16AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:53
    It's the opposite.
    Once you hit 30 and everyone around you stops caring how they look, a guy who's still into fashion ends up looking cool.
    Feel sorry for your kids, honestly
    having an uncool dad really sucks for them.
    39AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:00
    Re: #16
    Totally get that mindset. The older you get, the more you should keep your grooming and style on point.
    96AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:27
    Re: #16
    Same here, I've been trying to get into Korean fashion lately — picking up stuff from MUSINSA and Matin Kim.
    18AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:54
    Whatever you do, people your age are just gonna one-up you over kids and salary anyway, so just do what you like.
    19AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:54
    Golf as a hobby? Only weirdos are into that.
    25AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:55
    Raising kids.

    Your time goes into your kid's baseball, basketball, dance, whatever.
    73AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:12
    Re: #25
    Calling child-rearing your hobby is kind of messed up though.
    Raising your kids is just something you're supposed to do — the real question is what you do with your own time on top of that.
    76AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:14
    Re: #73
    Supporting what your kid wants to do?
    Isn't that a hobby in itself?
    80AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:15
    Re: #73
    A lot of people look for things they can actually enjoy together with their kids.
    31AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:58
    Me: "My hobby is spending money on sharp suits…"

    Am I the weird one here?
    FYI I'm in sales.
    50AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:05
    Re: #31
    Same here.
    My Dormeuil made-to-order suit ran me 230,000 yen.
    37AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:59
    Mine's washing my car.
    Cheap hobby.
    40AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:00
    Re: #37
    You polishing the engine bay and spark plugs too?
    38AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:00
    Early morning running became my hobby.
    It's stupidly fun.
    41AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:00
    Re: #38
    Did anything else change for you?
    49AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:04
    Right now I'm decluttering the garden.
    55AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:06
    Re: #49
    Is that even a hobby…? 🤔
    66AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:10
    How come pets never come up in the hobby threads on NanG (the "Live Reporting G" board)?
    You guys don't have dogs or anything?
    70AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:11
    Re: #66
    I've had a huntsman spider trapped in my bathroom for about a month — does that count as a pet?
    85AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:20
    Now that my kids don't need constant hands-on care anymore,
    my days off are way too boring.
    91AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:24
    Re: #85
    I'm weight training for my future grandkids' sake.

    Background and Key Points of the Debate

    The central sticking point in this thread was a definitional one: can raising kids really be called a “hobby”? Those who framed parenting as a kind of hobby were pointing to how a child’s extracurricular activities end up reshaping a parent’s own interests and pursuits, while those who disagreed argued from the premise that parenting is simply a baseline parental duty, whereas a hobby is something you freely choose to enjoy for yourself. In other words, the two sides were talking past each other because they never agreed on what counts as a “hobby” in the first place. The flood of examples like golf, running, suits, and car washing can also be read as a generational pattern: men in their 30s tend to have more slack in their wallets than in their free time, so their hobbies naturally skew toward the kind that cost money.

    ※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (NanG) thread “[Sad News] Men over 30 can’t find a hobby lololololololololololololololololololol”.

  • Fire breaks out during hornet’s-nest removal in Gifu, main house burns to the ground — 5ch: “Insurance pays out even for minor negligence”

    A fire broke out at a home in Kurokawa, Shirakawa, Gifu Prefecture around 8:30 a.m. on the 12th, taking firefighters three and a half hours to extinguish. The blaze is believed to have spread from flames being used to exterminate a hornet’s nest; the man in his 70s doing the work fell off his ladder in shock, and the main house where the fire started, along with an adjacent building, burned down completely. On 5ch’s Breaking News+ thread, posters eagerly traded tips on real-world extermination methods (electric BB guns, pesticide-filled water guns, freeze sprays), while speculation spread about how fire insurance works — “even minor negligence gets paid out” — spinning into talk of whether the man actually profited by torching an old house.

    On the 12th, a fire broke out at a home in Shirakawa, Gifu Prefecture. It’s believed to have spread from flames being used to exterminate a hornet’s nest.

    According to police and fire officials, at around 8:30 a.m. on the 12th in Kurokawa, Shirakawa, Gifu Prefecture, a neighbor called 119 to report that “a single-story house is on fire.”

    Firefighters responded, and the blaze was put out in about three and a half hours, but the main house believed to be the source of the fire, along with an adjacent building — two structures in total — burned.

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

    20AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:35
    He'd probably just been leaving it alone this whole time. If he'd just kept ignoring it, they'd have cleared out on their own in about a month anyway.
    31AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:38
    Re: #20
    Do hornets really leave the nest after a month? I found a dried-out, empty honeybee nest stuck under my eaves too.
    24AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:37
    The current trend is blasting the nest apart with BB pellets from an electric airsoft gun.
    32AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:38
    Re: #24
    I was sniping a hornet's nest and someone actually called the cops on me.
    40AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:41
    Re: #24
    I just blast mine with a Kärcher pressure washer while they're still small.
    26AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:37
    Getting chewed out by his family to the point of wanting to kill himself would almost make him a decent person. Though he'll probably just get defensive and cut them off instead.
    54AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:44
    Re: #1
    It really burned down without a trace, huh. So the main house plus two outbuildings all went up?

    Re: #26
    If he's got fire insurance, he'll come out ahead with a brand-new house built from the payout ("yakebutori" — profiting off a fire) and everyone will even thank him for it. He could rebuild it barrier-free for his old age too.
    65AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:50
    A slingshot, or a water gun loaded with organophosphate pesticide, works great for removal. I do mine from inside my car when it's raining.
    95AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:59
    Re: #65
    I'm planning to do the same with a yellow hornet nest at my place — dilute Sumithion (an organophosphate insecticide) 20x and hit it with a water gun at night. Saw it online — apparently it's a sure-fire method.
    99AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:00
    There was some idiot in Korea who pulled the same stunt.
    138AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:14
    Re: #99
    Happens plenty in Japan too lol. Burned a whole temple down once lol.
    103AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:02
    He should've just used a hornet-specific insecticide, something like Earth Jet Pro Premium… (´・ω・\`)
    109AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:04
    Re: #103
    Honestly, any insecticide works — the trick is to spray an LP-gas-propelled insecticide can and immediately light the gas with a lighter, turning it into a flamethrower.
    107AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:03
    There's probably an old Chinese fable about this.

    Meaning: a cautionary tale about panicking while trying to remove a minor pest (the hornets) with a reckless method (fire), and in doing so ruining yourself and losing a great fortune (the house) — a colossal blunder.
    119AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:08
    Re: #107
    "He smoked out the wasps and burned down his own house, losing the very thing he meant to protect." (a mock classical-Chinese-style aphorism)
    113AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:05
    He should've had something to put the fire out ready beforehand.
    114AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:06
    Re: #113
    Can't help it now. (a pun: "shouka-nai" = "no fire extinguishing" plays on "shouganai," meaning "it can't be helped")
    134AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:13
    When one showed up at my place, I didn't have money to call an exterminator, so I hid nearby half in tears and just kept blasting it with freeze spray. Maybe they thought it was just cold rather than under attack, because I never got stung once — they all just froze solid… I was so relieved when the queen finally emerged, slowly freezing, right at the end…
    142AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:15
    Re: #134
    Depending on your local government, they might even give you a subsidy for that.
    145AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:16
    Re: #134
    That might be a huge discovery. What kind of freeze spray was it?
    141AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:15
    The hornet-removal guy I saw on TV was driving a Lexus, so it must be a profitable business.
    146AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:16
    Re: #141
    That's because it's like 10,000 yen a job.
    163AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:21
    If you only use a spray that just grounds the hornets, sure, you get rid of them, but you don't get a fire insurance payout.
    167AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:23
    Re: #163
    Does insurance really pay out for something like this?
    169AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:25
    Re: #163
    Fire insurance distinguishes between minor and gross negligence, and apparently if it doesn't look deliberate on the surface, you get paid out under the minor-negligence category. Burn down an old house, pocket 20 million yen, score sympathy gifts from neighbors and relatives on top of that, then get paid by the media for your story afterward — what a genius.
    179AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:31
    Re: #169
    But I feel like this one wouldn't actually fly. If you try to burn a hornet's nest that's attached to your house, there's obviously a real risk the house itself catches fire, so…
    193AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:37
    Re: #179
    Without evidence, any story holds up. Even people out in the countryside all know hornets don't fly at night and that sprays made for removing them exist. There's no reason to go out of your way to use fire — which is less effective and more dangerous — in broad daylight. Go ahead, show me proof this was intentional — I think that would be extremely hard to prove.
    206AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:41
    Re: #54
    Does fire insurance really pay out even in a case like this? It's basically like he lit the fire himself.
    210AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:43
    Re: #206
    Apparently it counts as minor negligence, so the fire insurance pays out in full as a rule. Since it's a big old house, profiting off the fire is basically guaranteed.
    207AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:41
    I wonder if a swarm of hornets caught fire and came flying straight at him.
    235AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:49
    Re: #207
    So it physically turned into a "heat-killing bee ball"? (a real honeybee defense tactic where workers swarm an intruder and cook it with body heat) (´・ω・\`)
    242AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:50
    Re: #207
    That reminds me, I once heard that to track down a nest, people would catch a hornet beforehand, tie a twisted paper wick to it, light it at dusk, and let it go — then follow the glowing point of light through the dark to trace the hornet's path back to the nest. Not sure if that was for hornets or honeybees. If you're careless, the leftover embers can start a wildfire, so losing sight of the light is absolutely forbidden.

    Background and talking points

    Using fire to remove hornet nests is a method long practiced in rural areas, but fire departments and local governments have repeatedly warned about the risk of fires spreading during dry spells. The claim that spread through the thread — “minor negligence still gets a full insurance payout” — isn’t wrong as a general principle, but actual payouts are decided case by case by insurers after they investigate whether there was gross negligence or intent, so full compensation isn’t automatic. What sets this apart from a simple accident report is that most replies treated the fire as a jumping-off point for swapping tips on real extermination techniques (electric BB guns, insecticides, freeze sprays, and the like), while speculating about just how negligent the man was and where the insurance payout would end up.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Breaking News+) thread “[Gifu] Man in his 70s removing hornet’s nest with fire falls off ladder in shock, fire spreads to building, main house and others go up in flames.”

  • Shonen Jump’s “Nue no Onmyoji” Gets TV Anime Adaptation, Summer 2027

    “Nue no Onmyoji” is a school dark-fantasy series that has been running in Weekly Shonen Jump since 2023, with 16 collected volumes and over 1.6 million copies in print — it even topped the “Manga We Want Animated 2025” ranking. It’s now been announced that the series will get a TV anime adaptation airing nationwide on the TV Asahi network in summer 2027, produced by Studio Hibari and directed by Hiroyuki Hashimoto (“Is the Order a Rabbit?”). On 5ch, reactions clashed between excitement over the author’s joy and debate over the series’ fan-service art style and its sense of déjà vu as yet another Jump title.

    Kota Kawae’s “Nue no Onmyoji” is getting a TV anime adaptation airing nationwide on the TV Asahi network in summer 2027. Production is being handled by Studio Hibari, known for “Classroom of the Elite” and “Togen Anki.”

    “Nue no Onmyoji” is a school dark-fantasy series that has been serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump (Shueisha) since 2023. The protagonist, high schooler Gakuro Yoshima, has always been able to see beings called “Genyo” (phantom spirits). In a room at school that nobody else knows about, Gakuro meets a Genyo named “Nue” — a subculture-loving girl. The manga has 16 volumes out so far, with over 1.6 million copies in print, and it ranked No. 1 in the “Manga We Want Animated 2025” poll.

    The anime will be directed by Hiroyuki Hashimoto, with series composition by Koji Seko and character design by Shunpei Mochizuki. Original creator Kawae shared his joy, writing: “Director Hashimoto’s anime of Is the Order a Rabbit? saved me back when I was a regular company employee. And now, in my days as a manga artist, I’m overwhelmed that he’s reaching out to me again — this time as the director of the Nue anime!”

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

    6AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:40
    Onmyoji again?
    How many onmyoji manga are there at this point
    8AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:42
    Nue, onmyoji…
    isn't this stuff way overused by now❓
    only a kid would find this premise fresh
    ( ´◔‿◔`)
    10AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:43
    Even by harem-manga standards, this one gives off a pretty gross vibe
    28AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:51
    Re: #10
    In a world where "born to be a NEET" gets celebrated as a trait, that's kind of toxic, isn't it? (NEET: slang for someone not in education, employment, or training)
    41AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:58
    Re: #10
    Was gonna give it a quick look, but if it's a harem series, hard pass
    12AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:43
    It felt like it was stuck in cancellation-tier placement in the magazine, then slowly crept toward the center, then dropped back again — over and over. Guess it's actually popular though
    69AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:29
    Re: #12
    The anime's actually been in the works for like 2 years now
    13AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:43
    Well, if it's running in Jump, of course it was getting an anime eventually
    16AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:45
    Don't read Jump, but it's probably just more of the same old stuff
    18AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:46
    Did an image search for "Nue no Onmyoji" and got hit with some weirdly chest-thrust-out creepy female character — closed the tab immediately
    This kind of creepy-otaku-pandering art style should go run in Sunday or wherever the Rumiko Takahashi fans hang out
    56AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:10
    Re: #18
    What's even the difference between Jump and Sunday anyway?
    Starting with One Piece, that kind of fan service has always been Jump's specialty
    83AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:46
    Re: #18
    That's not really a Sunday-style art, though
    More like something for Ultra Jump or Jump+ (Shonen Jump's more mature-leaning spinoff magazines)
    19AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:46
    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HUbSsbJaUAALM4A.jpg?name=orig
    20AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:48
    Re: #19
    Yeah… that's looking like a no
    33AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:53
    Re: #19
    Kinda gives off Medaka Box vibes
    21AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:48
    Might not reach Demon Slayer level, but could it get as big as My Hero Academia or Jujutsu Kaisen?
    23AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:49
    Jump's formulas are basically set in stone at this point
    One Piece-type, Bleach-type, Demon Slayer-type, and the boring gag-manga slot
    Everything just reeks of déjà vu
    29AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:52
    Re: #23
    And that's exactly the problem — they mistake that formula for "what makes Jump, Jump."
    The main magazine feels like it's got no future left. Nothing but stagnation
    34AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:53
    Re: #23
    Yusei Matsui, and the SKET Dance guy
    Someone Hertz is actually good
    24AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:50
    Looking forward to watching people who haven't read the manga get confused by that classmate's behavior in episode 1, then later go "wait, was that whole thing just a one-episode gimmick!?"
    27AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:51
    Leaning too hard into the fan service could tank it, but this is a series that reportedly dodged cancellation thanks to a fan-service push in the first place, so striking the right balance is gonna be tough
    30AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:52
    Re: #20
    That's got nothing to do with the anime lol
    37AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:55
    Re: #30
    W-well… guess I'll watch the first episode at least…
    31AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:52
    Anyone else remember a series called Blue Exorcist that seemed like it could've reached Demon Slayer-level popularity?
    36AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:55
    Re: #31
    Blue Exorcist came before Demon Slayer, so if you want a comparison, Fullmetal Alchemist fits better — lots of similarities, like the sibling-bond theme
    38AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:57
    Re: #31
    That one ran in Monthly Jump — or rather, Jump SQ…
    40AnonymousOct 12, 2026 20:57
    The pacing's sloppy but it's decent enough
    All comes down to the director
    70AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:30
    Re: #40
    It's the Is the Order a Rabbit? director
    47AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:01
    Jump SQ

    Back in the Blue Exorcist
    Claymore
    Tegami Bachi (Letter Bee)

    days, it was better than the main Shonen Jump
    61AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:17
    Re: #47
    The anime (voice cast included) really brought its A-game back then too
    49AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:03
    Saw a copy of Jump at the supermarket the other day and flipped through it — didn't recognize a single series in there
    One Piece was probably on a break or something, but still
    no wonder it doesn't sell
    59AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:15
    "Too many XX-but-make-it-YY" series, as always
    Is this a Demon Slayer knockoff or what lol
    68AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:28
    Re: #59
    Demon Slayer itself is just a pile of rip-offs with zero originality anyway
    72AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:32
    There are tons of anime these days, yet they keep using the same voice actors — apparently it's because of the talent-agency training-school business, so the industry's oversaturated
    80AnonymousOct 12, 2026 21:40
    Re: #72
    I don't even follow this stuff closely, but I'm always surprised how often Koki Uchiyama gets cast
    Same with Tsuda Ken (Kenjiro Tsuda) — maybe there just aren't many actors who can pull off that particular voice quality

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    “Nue no Onmyoji” went through a period early in its run when its placement in the magazine’s table of contents was unstable, and some posters in the thread speculated that “a fan-service push is what saved it from cancellation” — but that’s just thread speculation, not an officially confirmed detail. Where the thread really split was over how to judge the sexualized exaggeration in the character designs, which spiraled into a debate over whether Jump or Sunday leans harder into “fan service.” In reality, both magazines regularly run titles with titillating content, so it’s less a difference between the two labels and more a matter of each individual series’ own direction. The complaint that “Jump is nothing but One Piece-types and Demon Slayer-types” also stands out, but that reflects how the most popular titles dominate conversation — it’s not an accurate picture of the magazine’s full lineup.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geisoku Speed+) thread “TV Anime Adaptation Decided for Shonen Jump’s Ongoing Series “Nue no Onmyoji”.”

  • First Female Pro Shogi Player on the Horizon via ‘Women’s Quota’ — Eligibility Rules Spark Debate

    A thread on 5ch lit up after a woman aiming to become a professional shogi player met the eligibility requirements for the “women’s quota,” opening the door to her turning pro. The quota appears to have been created at the request of Hulic, a major sponsor of the Japan Shogi Association, and represents a separate route from the existing “transfer exam.” Discussion centered on whether her playing strength was truly “guaranteed,” sparking debate over the system’s fairness and comparisons to former apprentice-school members who tearfully gave up on the pro dream — opinion in the thread was split.

    1AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:14
    Is this really okay?… well, let's at least celebrate it here on G.
    2AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:14
    But is her playing strength actually guaranteed?
    9AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:16
    Re: #2
    Same could be said about those bottom-tier old-timer pros — their strength isn't "guaranteed" either.
    It's only ever a snapshot of your strength at the moment you turn pro, so even Fujii's famous remark misses the point.
    30AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:28
    Re: #9
    Declining with age is just unavoidable.
    Don't lump that in with letting someone in who wasn't good enough to begin with.
    8AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:16
    Seriously, this system was dreamed up by idiots.
    13AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:20
    Re: #8
    Habu is the greatest of all time, come on.
    28AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:27
    Re: #8
    This is the system the Federation's biggest sponsor demanded.
    14AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:21
    Fujii Sota: "Can her playing strength really be guaranteed…? 😯" — Say it again now, Fujii, lol 😂
    15AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:22
    Re: #14
    Fujii Sota: "Well then… shall we go ahead and put that to the test? 🤓"
    16AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:23
    Habu's the one who decided this, and yet shogi nerds still find something to complain about.
    20AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:24
    Re: #16
    Habu's a shogi pro, not a systems-design expert.
    81AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:47
    Re: #16
    A female pro is less Habu's doing than the longtime wish of Wakashima Tadashi, who influenced him.
    25AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:26
    Shogi know-it-all: "This particular woman is strong enough that she nearly turned pro through the regular route, so her strength is guaranteed — it's fine. Amateurs, stop running your mouths (lol)."
    Could you say that to the faces of the hundreds of former apprentice-school members who fell just short of the standard over the years and tearfully gave up on becoming pros?
    26AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:27
    Re: #25
    She's dominating the women's field, so let's just give her credit.
    31AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:29
    Re: #25
    She could just take the transfer exam instead.
    If you meet the standard, you can sit it at any age.
    35AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:31
    The shogi world is just too broke.
    They need to create buzz with a first female pro and suck up to Hulic, the big sponsor throwing around huge money — otherwise things don't stay afloat.
    Reality is harsh.
    45AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:34
    Re: #35
    Unlike chess or go, shogi's market is basically just Japan.

    And on top of that, the female player population is practically nonexistent, and the main sponsor newspapers are on the decline — no wonder they can't afford to be picky anymore.
    53AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:37
    Re: #35
    Exactly that.
    If you're against this, go lobby your own employer to become a sponsor of the Shogi Association instead.
    36AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:31
    Re: #31
    Honestly, I think even that transfer exam is too soft.
    Unless someone can project at least B2-level strength (a mid-tier pro league rank), there's zero upside letting someone over 30 in — they've got nowhere left to climb.
    38AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:32
    Re: #36
    Well, if a soft route like that already existed, then adding one or two more routes doesn't really matter, does it?
    39AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:32
    So realistically, how well would she actually have to do before you all would accept her?
    You're not asking her to win a title or anything, right?
    42AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:34
    Re: #39
    Just getting out of C2 (the lowest pro league) would already be a miracle.
    41AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:33
    Re: #38
    My position is that even the transfer exam is too lax — they should make it stricter.
    62AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:39
    Re: #41
    It's just entertainment at the end of the day, why make it so strict?
    No matter how strict you make it, nobody's beating AI anyway.
    44AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:34
    Well, she's never going above C2 anyway,
    and she's not that different from the old guys just clinging on, so cut her some slack.
    She'll be in Free Class within a few years regardless.
    47AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:35
    Re: #44
    That's exactly why she herself is agonizing over it and avoiding a clear answer — maybe it's better not to force her way into the pros.

    Compared to being at the top of the women's circuit, there's no upside to being a bottom-tier pro.
    54AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:37
    Re: #47
    I looked up what top female pros actually earn and it blew me away.
    Even a male pro with a single title to his name couldn't match that.
    59AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:39
    Re: #47
    Still, if she plans to keep making a living in the shogi world, she probably can't just turn it down.
    This quota was basically built for Nishiyama anyway — the sponsor's not going to just wait around for "the next eligible candidate, lol."
    46AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:35
    "She got incredibly close in the apprentice school."
    A lot of people use this to defend her, but so what? There's a near-miss runner-up like that every single year.
    49AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:36
    Re: #46
    Isn't it because every runner-up who notched 14 wins has gone on to turn pro afterward?
    79AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:46
    I don't really get the whole debate, but if she can beat Fujii Sota, just let her be a pro, no?
    82AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:47
    Re: #79
    There are probably plenty of pros out there who haven't won a single game against him either.
    86AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:47
    Re: #79
    If Fujii Sota just turned into a woman, that'd solve a lot of problems, huh.
    87AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:47
    Not to be harsh, but Nishiyama is basically a sacrificial offering here.
    They call it a "women's quota," but really it's just the old guys crunching numbers behind the scenes.
    95AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:50
    Re: #87
    Some people act like she's taking the easy way out, but that's really not it.
    She's probably the one who wanted to become a pro the "proper" way more than anyone, and now she's being forced into a tough decision.
    92AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:49
    So earning the eligibility and actually becoming a pro are two separate things.
    She has to decide within two weeks, huh.
    94AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:49
    Re: #92
    I mean, turning it down probably isn't really an option.
    The pressure on her must be insane.
    97AnonymousOct 12, 2026 19:51
    Re: #92
    If she doesn't go pro, it makes Hulic lose face.
    The brutal part is that no matter how she actually feels, she has no choice but to accept.

    Background and key points of this debate

    The “women’s quota” is said to be a special measure introduced at the request of Hulic, the largest sponsor of the Japan Shogi Association’s tournaments — a point that’s often misunderstood is that it’s a separate framework from the existing “transfer exam” (a system open to anyone regardless of age, where meeting a set strength standard guarantees passing). Unlike chess or go, shogi’s competitive population is confined to Japan, and the shortage of female competitors along with the declining fortunes of the newspaper companies that have long served as major sponsors are cited as background behind the quota’s creation. What split opinion in the thread was a single question — should pro eligibility be judged on ability alone, or should the intent behind the system be factored in too — and comparisons to former apprentice-school members who tearfully gave up their dream of turning pro added heat to the debate. It was also repeatedly pointed out in the thread that, even after earning eligibility, she reportedly has to choose within two weeks whether to turn pro or remain a women’s-circuit player — meaning she isn’t necessarily someone who sought this spotlight by choice.

    *This article was compiled by excerpting and summarizing the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “First female pro gets mocked as just a “women’s-quota” pro…“