Japan Reacts

Author: Japan Reacts Editorial

  • Giants Rally Past Carp in Extra Innings, Close Gap on Hanshin to 3.5 Games With Franchise-First 10-Pitcher Bullpen Game

    On September 6, the Giants came from behind to beat the Carp in the 11th inning thanks to timely hits from Takuya Kai and Hayato Sakamoto, taking a series win over Hiroshima for the first time in two years and cutting the gap to first-place Hanshin to 3.5 games. The game also marked the first time in the club’s 11,573-game history that it used 10 pitchers in relief, sparking talk about how often the bullpen arms have been working on back-to-back days. On the thread, the debate over the starting shortstop job pitted error totals against UZR for Yuta Izumiguchi, Kaito Muramatsu, and Hideki Nagaoka, with the two metrics telling very different stories. The same day brought a stack of other news too — Masahiro Tanaka’s demotion to the farm, and Seino Transportation’s first Intercity Baseball Tournament title in 12 years.

    1AnonymousSep 6, 2026 14:08
    Previous thread
    Giants Acting-Manager Thread 126
    3AnonymousSep 6, 2026 14:09
    [Giants] First series win over Carp in 2 years, cut Hanshin's lead to 3.5 games! Kai's 2nd homer, off Okamoto in the 11th; Sakamoto's insurance-run knock part of a 5-run outburst; Norimoto picks up his 3rd win; Masuda's 4th HR & Oshiro's 9th
    https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/7865ade664ff0c2d395ad696c5b39718d9d06599
    5AnonymousSep 6, 2026 14:11
    [Giants] Farm team's game vs. the Dragons rained out — currently 25 games over .500, 2 games behind first-place DeNA
    https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/626f14d163c317db33b3b9b8e8e406a60aa1f075
    6AnonymousSep 6, 2026 14:11
    [Giants] First 10-pitcher bullpen game in the club's 11,573-game history — five relievers pitch on back-to-back days in historic outing, with a third straight day possible as Giants eye a sweep of the Carp at Mazda Stadium
    https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/da5f75525029e3b1fcde6f976cf10c915013283e

    On the 6th, the Giants are going for a three-game sweep of the Carp at Mazda Stadium. Relievers Hotta, Morita, Nakagawa, Ei Tanaka, and Martinez are all working their second straight day. It'll depend on how each pitcher is feeling, but with the team chasing first-place Hanshin by just 3.5 games and every game a must-win, sending some of them out for a third day in a row is very much on the table.
    13AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:12
    Kojima's 4th at-bat: an infield single, so he's 4-for-4
    16AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:21
    Bottom of the 4th
    NTT West 0-2 Seino Transportation
    22AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:38
    [Giants] Yuta Izumiguchi just 6 plate appearances from qualifying for the batting title two years running — hit a clutch game-tying single the day before, his value at shortstop keeps propping the team up
    https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/3b2d2674612a7b2435f2f0dea93380bf2cea2b46
    23AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:39
    Top of the 5th over
    NTT West 0-4 Seino Transportation
    25AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:42
    Is Izumiguchi taking Best Nine and the Gold Glove at short again this year?
    There's really only Muramatsu and Nagaoka in the conversation besides him
    26AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:48
    Izumiguchi: 109 G, .247, 6 HR, 34 RBI, OPS .675, 10 errors
    Muramatsu: 109 G, .262, 5 HR, 38 RBI, OPS .724, 15 errors
    Nagaoka: 107 G, .255, 8 HR, 35 RBI, OPS .686, 9 errors
    27AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:51
    Go develop a shortstop like Kazuo already (a nod to Kazuo Matsui, the star Giants/Seibu shortstop of the '90s-2000s)
    28AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:53
    Kojima's 5th at-bat: grounded out to the pitcher, so no cycle
    30AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:56
    UZR
    1.9 — Izumiguchi
    1.5 — Muramatsu
    -10.5 — Nagaoka
    31AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:57
    Wait, Lotte's Rukeshi was carrying a no-hitter through 7 innings?
    33AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:00
    If you actually watch Nagaoka play, his range is clearly the worst of the three by a mile, but if you only look at the error count, he looks like the best of the bunch
    35AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:05
    [Giants] Team's win leader Onda Inoue back at practice after 6 days out sick — 'I'm just focused on how to win the one game right in front of me'
    https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/d616b13ce051cad5d42dfd36c214c15959bbeea4
    36AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:09
    Active roster moves for September 6, 2026

    Central League
    Added to active roster
    Yokohama DeNA BayStars — Pitcher #12 Yu Takeda
    Removed from active roster
    Yomiuri Giants — Pitcher #11 Masahiro Tanaka
    Hiroshima Toyo Carp — Pitcher #53 Shun Okamoto
    Tokyo Yakult Swallows — Pitcher #70 Yu Hirosawa
    *Players cannot be reactivated before September 16.

    Pacific League
    Added to active roster
    Chiba Lotte Marines — Pitcher #48 J. Rukeshi
    Removed from active roster
    None
    38AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:14
    [Giants] Masahiro Tanaka demoted again — winless in 2 starts since his last call-up, exited the previous night's game after 3 innings with 1 earned run
    https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/1c0c2b6671ee6fd060d2fa0fe114b4a64342d7e6
    40AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:19
    NTT West Hardball Baseball Club
    Ryota Wakiya (infielder) — joined the Yomiuri Giants as a 5th-round pick in the 2005 college/industrial-league draft
    Takuzo Oshiro (catcher) — joined the Yomiuri Giants as a 3rd-round pick in the 2017 draft
    Yuta Izumiguchi (infielder) — joined the Yomiuri Giants as a 4th-round pick in the 2023 draft

    Seino Transportation Hardball Baseball Club
    Taiga Funasako (pitcher) — joined the Yomiuri Giants as a 5th-round pick in the 2022 draft
    41AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:21
    [Carp] Shun Okamoto demoted… gave up 4 runs in the 11th the night before, his 3rd outing allowing runs in his last 5 — the right-hander leads the team with 7 wins and made his first All-Star team this year
    https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/7e462a06c72938749495b7133770e9a6018b42e6
    42AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:25
    Okamoto was doing great as a starter, though…
    Instead of letting him rest when he got tired, they threw him into relief, ran him into the ground, and now he's demoted
    44AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:29
    Re: #42
    That's exactly where the Giants do things differently
    45AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:29
    Re: #42
    'Hard-Luck' Arai (fans' nickname for the manager, playing on the word for 'tough/bitter'): 'We're a poor club short on arms, can't be helped'
    51AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:43
    Re: #42
    Arai: 'I'm tearing it all down'
    46AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:30
    Even without Whitley, Mata and Howard can cover for him
    That kind of depth is what matters
    47AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:35
    Thought it felt cool today, but turns out it's a scorcher in Hiroshima, still over 30°C
    48AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:36
    Weather at Mazda Stadium looks fine
    Koshien's looking iffy though
    49AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:39
    Top of the 8th over
    NTT West 2-4 Seino Transportation
    53AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:46
    Sato-Teru, lol (nickname for Hanshin's Teruaki Sato)

    [All Smiles] Teruaki Sato beaming after getting an award, before the 9/5/2026 game
    https://youtu.be/bHH-SRx7c20?si=AY8G-2TSIfI3dH8m
    54AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:47
    About as exciting as an Orix-Dragons game
    56AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:51
    Top of the 9th
    Tsujimoto, who's suited up for Japan's national industrial-league team before, hits a home run
    NTT West 3-4 Seino Transportation
    63AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:58
    Game over
    NTT West 3-4 Seino Transportation
    64AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:59
    Ogaki City's Seino Transportation wins it all for the 2nd time, first since 12 years ago
    65AnonymousSep 6, 2026 17:00
    [Intercity Baseball] Seino Transportation crowned national champions for the first time in 12 years — manager Naoharu Saeki's first title since 2014, when he was the team's ace pitcher; edges out NTT West in the final
    https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/26be46b6eb0e4436e04dd6ad4ba0865a3b4daaea
    68AnonymousSep 6, 2026 17:03
    Does the Intercity tournament actually get the host cities hyped up?
    70AnonymousSep 6, 2026 17:04
    [Dragons] Manager Kazuki Inoue: 'We're also clearing our schedule the fastest' — plays up the upside of the rainout, says Yuya Yanagi will start against the Giants in the next series
    https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/68ba5c32a078d3933eaea6de43a28b69c9e1309c

    Yanagi, originally slated to start, will instead pitch in the Giants' three-game series at Tokyo Dome starting on the 8th. With veterans like Wakui and Ono also in the rotation, the manager hinted at a shakeup, weighing each pitcher's rest between outings: 'There's also the question of where's best to slot those guys in. We're keeping an eye on how the schedule shapes up too.'
    72AnonymousSep 6, 2026 17:05
    Wonder if Seino Transportation will run a shipping discount to celebrate the title

    Background and Talking Points

    One detail worth flagging is the roster rule buried in the story: once Masahiro Tanaka came off the active roster, he can’t be reactivated until September 16 — a league-wide NPB rule meant to stop teams from shuffling players in and out too freely, and one casual fans often don’t know about. In the shortstop competition, Nagaoka looks like the safest pair of hands going by error count alone, but once you weight in range via UZR, Izumiguchi and Muramatsu both come out ahead — proof, as the thread found, that no single stat settles who’s actually better. Behind the 10-pitcher-relief story is also a contrast in bullpen philosophy: Hiroshima’s new manager, Takahiro Arai, is said to be deliberately holding back on how often he uses his relievers, while the Giants have kept sending the same arms out day after day. The Intercity tournament, meanwhile, is a national championship for corporate/industrial-league teams, and it doubles as a scouting pipeline into the pros — champions Seino Transportation count Taiga Funasako, now pitching for the Giants, among their alumni.

    *This article was compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “Giants Acting-Manager Thread 127.”

  • Zelda 40th Anniversary Direct Clocks In at About 30 Minutes — Fans Ask ‘Isn’t That Long?’

    Nintendo announced it will stream “The Legend of Zelda 40th Anniversary Direct 2026.9.8” starting at 11:00 PM on Tuesday, September 8, with a runtime of about 30 minutes. The stand-alone episode marks the franchise’s 40th anniversary and is expected to cover a range of series-related news. On 5ch’s hardware/industry (Geha) board, users compared it to the Mario 40th Anniversary Direct — which ran about 20 minutes for a similarly milestone occasion — sparking comments that 30 minutes seemed long for Zelda. Predictions were split over how much time would go to the Ocarina of Time remake and the live-action movie versus how the show would divide roles with the mainline Nintendo Direct scheduled for the following day.

    We’ll be streaming “The Legend of Zelda 40th Anniversary Direct 2026.9.8” starting at 11:00 PM (JST) on Tuesday, September 8.

    To mark the series’ 40th anniversary, we’ll bring you a variety of information about The Legend of Zelda.

    The broadcast will run about 30 minutes.

    Source: nintendo.com / Original article here

    3AnonymousSep 6, 2026 14:03
    For reference
    Mario 40th Anniversary = 20 minutes
    5AnonymousSep 6, 2026 14:04
    I bet the movie, Ocarina of Time, anniversary merch, and Nintendo Museum stuff alone eat up like 20 minutes.
    Still, splitting it off from the main Direct means they don't have to cram it in there, so there's a point to doing it separately.
    6AnonymousSep 6, 2026 14:08
    It'll be a total buzzkill if they spend several minutes on a movie I have zero interest in.
    14AnonymousSep 6, 2026 14:15
    Re: #6
    It's a Zelda Direct, so covering non-game stuff too is unavoidable.
    7AnonymousSep 6, 2026 14:08
    There's also a chance they make you think the Zelda Direct is the whole show, then drop a brand new Zelda game as the grand finale of the main Direct.
    9AnonymousSep 6, 2026 14:11
    Realistically it'll mostly be the Ocarina of Time remake showcase.
    They haven't shown any actual gameplay footage of it yet.
    10AnonymousSep 6, 2026 14:12
    They'll probably do a remaster/remake of Wind Waker.
    Personally I think Spirit Tracks would be a fine choice too.
    11AnonymousSep 6, 2026 14:13
    Even if the Zelda Direct turns out disappointing, it's a big relief that there's still the main Direct tomorrow, so it won't tank my mood too much.
    One way or another, I still think a new entry is coming next year.
    12AnonymousSep 6, 2026 14:13
    For reference
    Mario 40th Anniversary = 20 minutes

    Intro: 3 min
    Movie announcement: 4 min
    Mario Galaxy: 4 min
    Mario Tennis: 3 min
    Mario Wonder: 3 min
    Chatty Flower: 30 sec
    Yoshi: 2 min 30 sec

    3+4+4+3+3+0.5+2.5 = 20 minutes
    21AnonymousSep 6, 2026 14:26
    Re: #12
    Seeing this, no wonder the 10 minutes on FF7 at that State of Play felt like it dragged.
    15AnonymousSep 6, 2026 14:16
    Re: #14
    Well, not doing it at all would be ideal, but if they spend 10 or even 20 minutes on it, that's a letdown.
    16AnonymousSep 6, 2026 14:17
    It annoys me when the main Nintendo Direct burns time on non-game stuff, but I don't mind as much when movie and merch info gets its own dedicated Direct.
    18AnonymousSep 6, 2026 14:20
    Opens with a promo for the Zelda movie
    Miyamoto passionately recounts the origin story of Zelda
    Finally, in the last 3 minutes, they get to the remake
    The end.
    20AnonymousSep 6, 2026 14:24
    The guy who keeps waving RTX around: "Heh, seems like plenty of you are looking forward to my movie!"
    22AnonymousSep 6, 2026 14:26
    Hoping for a limited-edition console.
    A multi-language one, ideally.
    26AnonymousSep 6, 2026 14:32
    Re: #22
    I'd rather it be a Japan-only version.
    33AnonymousSep 6, 2026 14:35
    Re: #22
    Wonder if it'll be a limited console, or just a limited controller.
    23AnonymousSep 6, 2026 14:28
    Movie, nostalgia trip, and cash-grab merch reveals eating up like 29 minutes?
    24AnonymousSep 6, 2026 14:28
    It's just Zelda remake and movie info, so no real need to watch the Zelda Direct itself.
    25AnonymousSep 6, 2026 14:29
    There's a meta theory that it's structured as 20 minutes for Ocarina of Time plus the movie.
    That includes the Pro Controller, Universal Studios tie-ins, etc.

    Can't figure out where the extra 10 minutes goes.
    27AnonymousSep 6, 2026 14:32
    Ocarina of Time is fine, but the movie is genuinely unnecessary.
    Keep it to 1-2 minutes, please.
    30AnonymousSep 6, 2026 14:34
    Zelda alone has too many all-time classics to sum up in one go ☺

    The movie alone would already be huge news, and yet they're showcasing 6 games on top of that — that's just godly 😁
    45AnonymousSep 6, 2026 14:52
    40th anniversary retrospective video: 10 min
    Zelda movie: 10 min
    Ocarina of Time remake: 10 min
    Plus maybe a 1-minute teaser for a brand-new entry
    48AnonymousSep 6, 2026 14:54
    Re: #45
    What's this "retrospective video" supposed to be?
    60AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:00
    Really grateful they split it across two days.
    As a lead-in to the general Direct, it's nice to watch casually without hyping up expectations too much.
    Though if there's a new game announcement, that's obviously a bonus.

    Re: #45
    Probably something like the series retrospective video they did for the Mario 35th Anniversary Direct.
    55AnonymousSep 6, 2026 14:58
    Re: #48
    Who knows… maybe something like Pokémon's GOTCHA thing?
    70AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:10
    Re: #55
    If that were the case, wouldn't it just get released outside the Direct…?
    56AnonymousSep 6, 2026 14:59
    If it were a new game, sure, but dragging a remake out for 30 minutes straight is a bit much. Though I guess it's fine for people who are genuinely hyped for it.
    74AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:16
    Re: #56
    Then just don't watch it.
    There's still the main Direct too — what are you even complaining about?
    59AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:00
    Honestly, I'm not expecting much from this one.
    There'll definitely be Ocarina of Time footage, but expecting other new game announcements is setting the bar way too high.
    66AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:08
    Re: #59
    It'll probably just be the Zelda movie, a Zelda-themed Switch 2 and Pro Controller, Ocarina of Time, and maybe some merch.
    Personally I'm happy as long as there's a solid chunk of Ocarina of Time info — I'm not expecting anything beyond that.
    The real main event is obviously the day after anyway.
    103AnonymousSep 6, 2026 17:35
    Re: #59
    The whole point of this one is the anniversary celebration to begin with.
    84AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:22
    Movie producer Shigeru Miyamoto alone will probably eat up 10 minutes.
    They'll likely introduce the director and cast too.
    86AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:28
    Re: #84
    See: the Mario Movie Direct.

    This isn't a Sony State of Play — it's not going to take up that much time…
    100AnonymousSep 6, 2026 17:31
    Re: #84
    There's also a chance it goes: Miyamoto — "I'm here in Florida right now! ^^"
    93AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:56
    Well, after seeing Raiders flop that hard, even the A-listers can't afford to slack off.
    96AnonymousSep 6, 2026 17:07
    Re: #93
    If even Raiders counts as a flop, then basically every PlayStation game is a massive flop lol
    94AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:58
    Tons of Ocarina of Time, then at the very end — dun dun — "Majora's Mask"! That'd be the worst-case pattern (゚Д゚)
    Because we all know it's coming eventually…
    95AnonymousSep 6, 2026 17:01
    Re: #94
    Is there actually a leak on that?

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    Nintendo announced it will stream a stand-alone “The Legend of Zelda 40th Anniversary Direct” at 11:00 PM on September 8, with a runtime of about 30 minutes. A regular, general Nintendo Direct is also scheduled for the following day — splitting a franchise-specific anniversary segment from the main Direct is a format Nintendo has also used for Mario’s 35th and 40th anniversaries. Since the Mario 40th Anniversary Direct ran about 20 minutes, including a movie announcement and new game reveals, some in the thread compared the two and questioned whether 30 minutes was long for a 40th-anniversary special. Others argued it would make sense given a possible lineup of an Ocarina of Time remaster/remake, live-action movie content, and an anniversary retrospective video, so predictions about the breakdown were divided. As of September 6, Nintendo has not officially confirmed the specific content of the broadcast (including whether there will be new game announcements or which title the remake covers), so it’s worth noting that all runtime breakdowns and content predictions in this article are fan speculation, not confirmed information.

    *This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch Hardware/Industry (Geha) board thread “Zelda Direct: “Runtime is about 30 minutes” — isn’t that long??“

  • Should the Ocarina of Time Remake Go Open World? 5ch Is Torn

    Fans on 5ch’s “Hardware & Industry” (Geha) board are debating the design direction for the upcoming remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

    The thread’s original poster pointed to the rumored Final Fantasy VII Remake, arriving around the same time, which rebuilt the entire overworld map and even implemented the airship — arguing that if Ocarina of Time’s remake just polishes the graphics while keeping the old “zone-to-zone” area transitions, that would be “half-assed.”

    Pushback came fast: some cited past titles that forced their way into open-world design and flopped, while others argued that Ocarina’s charm comes precisely from its enclosed, “garden-style” (hako-niwa) dungeon structure. Opinions split right down the middle over whether going open world is even the right call.

    1AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:20
    Square Enix rebuilt the world map it had given up on for years for the FF7 Remake, and even went so far as to implement the airship.
    If Square Enix is going that hard, and Ocarina of Time's remake ends up just polishing the graphics a bit while keeping the same old zone-to-zone area transitions, that's honestly half-assed.
    Stuff like that shouldn't get a pass.
    2AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:21
    What happens if it goes open world?

    Will that alone make it more fun?!
    4AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:24
    Going open world makes it more fun.
    That's just an established fact these days.
    If anything, it's the bare minimum for a modern game.
    Anything that falls short of that bare minimum shouldn't even be released as a remake.
    5AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:26
    Re: #4
    Getting suckered by that baseless argument
    and carelessly slapping open world onto a series
    has wiped out pretty much every one that tried it.
    19AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:38
    Re: #4
    >Going open world makes it more fun
    Dynasty Warriors 9 (aka Shin Sangoku Musou 8) says "come again?"
    45AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:02
    Re: #4
    What about the FF you yourself brought up one post earlier?
    6AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:27
    Open world is just a hassle — nobody benefits from it and it's not even fun.
    8AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:29
    Re: #6
    That's because it comes with a scenario and systems built around being open world from the ground up.
    Force that onto something that wasn't designed for it and all you get is a joyless mess.
    7AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:28
    Why do I have to bow to some mediocre outside standard?
    Back with A Link Between Worlds (Kamigami no Triforce 2), the answer was already given — you end up stuck building puzzles around dungeon-entrance item requirements and mural links, which makes for shallow puzzles and a more compact game overall.
    Open world is boring.
    12AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:31
    Loading's way faster now, so there's really nothing wrong with sticking to a map-based structure, is there?
    17AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:34
    Re: #12
    So if they just get rid of the zone transitions, that's enough to count as "open world"?!
    13AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:32
    Nobody's even bashing this one for "another remake, seriously?" The remake itself got a pass this time!
    15AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:34
    Re: #13
    That's because it's already a confirmed losing platform. Honestly, people probably just don't care anymore.
    20AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:38
    When are people going to understand that slapping open world onto everything doesn't automatically make it fun?
    23AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:40
    Re: #20
    Mario Kart World only moved 3,000 copies in its first week, remember?
    And that's supposed to be the textbook example of failure.
    26AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:43
    Next they'll be saying Majora's Mask should go open world too lol
    29AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:46
    Re: #26
    If anything, that game could be called the origin point of Zelda's whole open-world system.
    34AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:49
    If it basically turns into a different game, they'd just make a new entry instead of a remake — I'd bet this ends up being a graphics-only remake.
    Though I really do want the dungeon layouts and puzzles changed, at least.
    38AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:54
    Re: #34
    Hard to tell if this is aimless drift from a team that actually understands brand management, or reckless behavior from one that doesn't understand it at all.
    It's a situation where you can tell success or failure before the thing even ships — so can they even judge what's okay to change, what shouldn't be touched, and what they changed with real intent?
    40AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:58
    If they land on a good open-world idea, they'll just fold it into the next new mainline game.
    I doubt the Ocarina of Time remake changes much of anything content-wise.
    41AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:00
    Re: #40
    They might change the seasoning, but they're not touching the recipe itself.
    Star Fox is exactly the series that's stuck to that philosophy the hardest.
    47AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:03
    Way too spooked by the Nintendo Direct.
    54AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:08
    Re: #47
    Ah, so that's the setup for a big anticlimactic letdown later. Raising the bar on purpose.
    53AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:07
    What if they added new cutscenes?
    57AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:08
    Re: #53
    If it's just adding more cutscenes, I'm all for it.
    55AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:08
    It's the opposite. A game that's fun precisely because it's a garden-style, enclosed design just turns bland and generic once you make it open world.
    The mindset that "everything should just be open world" is outdated.
    Do you know how many games have flopped because of that?
    59AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:09
    Re: #55
    Third parties and Sony got played by that same argument over and over — that's exactly why they want to drag everyone else into the same mess.
    60AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:11
    Overseas markets just went through a console price hike — there's no way they'd ship a remake that's just a visual upgrade. Making that the centerpiece of the holiday lineup would be pure stupidity.
    68AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:17
    Forgot to tag the reply.

    Re: #60
    But this is Nintendo we're talking about — the same company that's recycled Star Fox 64 through Virtual Console and 3DS re-releases over and over, and would still smugly ship a "just improved the graphics" remake. If both titles are coming out this year, the projects probably kicked off around the same time, so I doubt they'd give a from-the-ground-up rebuild to only one of them.
    64AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:14
    Why not just keep the Ocarina of Time remake faithful to the original, and if they want to do open world, do it separately in the Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom style?
    67AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:17
    Re: #64
    It's the overall story arc that's the issue there.
    As for a Majora's Mask remake as the "Ocarina of Time expansion," though — since the original was already open-world-ish, that one I'm genuinely looking forward to.
    70AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:22
    Once it goes open world, you just know there'll be a hate thread about it every single day.
    77AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:32
    Re: #70
    Either way, that's just how it always goes lol
    72AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:27
    Wasn't the original basically already a kind of open world too, in its own way? Somebody needs to just define the term already.
    78AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:32
    Re: #72
    It's a garden-style (hako-niwa) game — you can't freely go anywhere, there are set routes, and the reachable area gradually expands, Metroidvania-style.
    76AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:31
    Re: #68
    Momentum's already dropping because of the price hike, and if the remake's just a graphics change on top of that, it's basically throwing away the holiday season. If you want to play the original, you can already do that through the Switch Online expansion pack, so that covers it. Nintendo can do whatever it wants, but if it's just a graphics-only remake, I'm not buying it — and I'll mock it too.
    79AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:32
    Re: #76
    What do you even think the holiday sales season is?
    How was Nintendo's holiday lineup last year?
    What about the year before that?
    82AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:35
    Re: #79
    Without a headline title, sales volume's going to drop, right? There are probably a fair number of people who've already lost interest in buying a Switch 2 because of the price hike.
    84AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:36
    Re: #82
    Behold my very own idea of the ultimate holiday lineup! (riffing on the classic internet meme format "my idea of the greatest ___")
    83AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:36
    I mean, haven't Zelda fans themselves already gotten tired of Nintendo's loose brand of open world after Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom? Whether it's the Ocarina remake or any new entry going forward, there are probably a fair number of people who'd rather have a dense, old-school Zelda experience than another open world.

    Background and key points of the debate

    Released for the N64 in 1996, Ocarina of Time is widely credited with establishing the grammar of the 3D action-adventure genre. Its structure links dungeons together across an overworld map — innovative for its era, but classified today as a “garden-style” (hako-niwa) design. Nintendo, meanwhile, has already established its own brand of free-roaming open-world design with Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, and several posters in the thread expressed outright fatigue with that approach. It’s also worth noting that whether the remake will actually go open world is not confirmed — the thread is largely speculation and wishful thinking, drawing a comparison to the FF7 Remake’s restructuring. The real point of contention was the broader question of whether going open world is a prerequisite for quality: some pointed to commercial disappointments like Dynasty Warriors 9 to argue that “open world” doesn’t automatically mean “fun,” while others countered that keeping the old garden-style structure would make the remake look like a lazy cash-in. The two sides never really met in the middle.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware & Industry/Geha) thread “If the Ocarina of Time remake isn’t open world, it honestly deserves to get roasted.”

  • Etrian Odyssey I, II & III HD Remaster Hits ¥3,400 — Is Now the Time to Buy?

    With Atlus’s dungeon RPG series “Etrian Odyssey” now available as an HD remaster (bundling I, II, and III) for just ¥3,400, a debate over the series’ merits broke out on 5ch’s hardware/industry (Geha) board. The DS and 3DS entries were known for their stylus-drawn maps, and the battle balance and directorial vision shifted with each new installment. Opinions in the thread ranged from “just play the first one” to “IV is the series’ finished form” and “III is the best pick if you want something playable on current hardware,” with posters also debating why the pace of new releases has slowed.

    3AnonymousSep 6, 2026 12:10
    Isn't playing just Etrian Odyssey I enough?
    Honestly, as a dungeon RPG it wasn't as good as people say.
    It only got hyped up because it was a Nintendo exclusive.
    12AnonymousSep 6, 2026 12:20
    Used copies were ¥2,980 at Geo, so brand new at this price seems fine.

    Re: #3
    I think a lot of its praise comes from how well it used the dual screens and stylus, not just how fun the gameplay itself was. It wasn't unfairly hyped just because it was exclusive.
    46AnonymousSep 6, 2026 13:05
    Re: #3
    I and II were still prioritizing ideas over polish, so they're not that fun. I played I, thought "eh, this is it?" and drifted away, but from IV onward it's been great.
    13AnonymousSep 6, 2026 12:20
    Etrian Odyssey is a game built specifically for the DS/3DS — about 80% of its appeal comes from drawing your own maps with the stylus on those dual-screen handhelds (´・ω・`) In a way it's an "experience" game.
    Take that away and it becomes a pretty generic, unremarkable dungeon RPG.
    38AnonymousSep 6, 2026 12:51
    Re: #13
    Nah, from III onward the turn-based combat is top-tier, so it doesn't become generic even without the map-drawing.
    17AnonymousSep 6, 2026 12:24
    Etrian Odyssey and Atlus's other dungeon RPGs are basically educational tools where you get through by reading the map layout and picking the right class composition, so they're weak on the "get excited about finding unique gear" side that other DRPGs have.
    44AnonymousSep 6, 2026 13:00
    Re: #17
    I get that. But I guess Atlus just doesn't want players muscling through with absurdly strong weapons — they get anxious if the player isn't suffering.
    18AnonymousSep 6, 2026 12:26
    I actually love I. I'm the type who gets attached to raising fixed characters, so I never warmed up to II onward, where there are bosses that basically require a specific class with a specific skill or you're stuck.
    37AnonymousSep 6, 2026 12:46
    Re: #18
    Wait, what? I is the game where you're stuck without a Medic, Protector, and either a Bard or "Kasume" (fan nickname for a job class). From III onward things got more flexible.
    20AnonymousSep 6, 2026 12:28
    IV was Etrian Odyssey's finished form (´・ω・`) It even supported 3D stereoscopic display, you know? Stereoscopic 3D and dungeon RPGs are a perfect match.

    Thinking back on it makes me want to play on 3DS again.
    I like the Switch-era games too, but I loved the DS-era ones.
    21AnonymousSep 6, 2026 12:29
    It's a game with a pretty tightly laid-out path where you enjoy fitting into exactly what the developers intended.
    It's basically a different genre from other dungeon RPGs.
    26AnonymousSep 6, 2026 12:31
    Re: #21
    It's kind of like solving a tsumeshogi puzzle (a shogi puzzle with one forced solution).
    22AnonymousSep 6, 2026 12:29
    Re: #20
    IV, which old-school fans trashed at the time, is now treated as the series' masterpiece.
    28AnonymousSep 6, 2026 12:34
    Re: #22
    What didn't the old-school fans like about it?
    32AnonymousSep 6, 2026 12:36
    Re: #28
    Wasn't it things like the music, and the dungeons dropping to 3 floors per stratum? I and II had 5 floors per stratum, III cut it to 4, and IV cut it down even further.
    43AnonymousSep 6, 2026 13:00
    Re: #28
    I often saw comments like "it lost its edge and became too mass-market, it doesn't feel like Etrian Odyssey anymore," so I think a lot of people just couldn't handle the design shift that came with the director change.
    27AnonymousSep 6, 2026 12:32
    Needing a specific finishing move on a boss to get rare drop materials is part of why leveling classes is such a pain.
    In the end you have to raise a character in every single class, which gets exhausting too.
    Knowing Atlus these days, they'd probably just sell a grinding map as DLC.
    30AnonymousSep 6, 2026 12:34
    Re: #27
    Back with Shin (New) II they already pulled the nonsense of "the map won't be complete unless you buy the DLC," though — apparently it got criticized so hard that they didn't do that again for V or X.
    40AnonymousSep 6, 2026 12:55
    Re: #27
    They added the Dissection Solution item for people annoyed by conditional drops, and you don't actually need to raise every single class.
    68AnonymousSep 6, 2026 14:19
    Re: #27
    Without it, you'd have to keep grinding until the rare item finally drops.
    33AnonymousSep 6, 2026 12:40
    There's almost no hack-and-slash loot element, and outside of I — which has messy balance — the range of viable strategies is pretty narrow.
    So much of the experience relied on the unique niche gimmick of drawing your own map with the stylus that, as a dungeon RPG proper…
    48AnonymousSep 6, 2026 13:07
    II isn't really refined enough to call it a "fixed-up version" of I anyway.
    The skill trees in this era are just a mess.
    Just play III.
    49AnonymousSep 6, 2026 13:10
    Re: #48
    I actually thought II's game balance was worse than I's. IV is the easiest one to recommend overall, but among what's playable on current hardware it's III.
    55AnonymousSep 6, 2026 13:28
    Re: #48
    II's balance is broken because enemy evasion and attack power are way too inflated. Damage-dealing classes like Swordsman or Gunner miss so often that Ranger and Dark Hunter actually deal more damage. And enemy attack power is so inflated that wasting a slot on defense makes wipes more likely, so putting a Protector or a pet in your party actually makes things less stable, not more.
    52AnonymousSep 6, 2026 13:14
    Isn't this thread full of people bashing the series with opinions that reek of never having actually played it?
    That line from Re: #33 about "the range of viable strategies being narrow outside of I" is something you'd never say if you'd actually played the series.
    53AnonymousSep 6, 2026 13:18
    Re: #52
    Maybe they're just an efficiency-obsessed min-maxer? It is a game where some party compositions are unfairly overpowered compared to others.
    57AnonymousSep 6, 2026 13:33
    Re: #53
    If you think the whole series has a narrow range of solutions, fine, that's consistent. But thinking I specifically has relatively high freedom is baffling — if anything, I is the narrow one.
    58AnonymousSep 6, 2026 13:35
    Re: #53
    If anything, I bet they just had so many choices they didn't know what to do, so they leaned on a walkthrough site and played it like checking answers. Worst case, they might just feel like they "cleared" the game because they read a guide.
    54AnonymousSep 6, 2026 13:24
    Sounds like one of those extremist fanboys from the Experience (a rival dungeon-RPG developer) threads who trash every other game.
    72AnonymousSep 6, 2026 14:38
    Re: #54
    I bought Yomi wo Saku Hana and Stranger of Sword City (both by Experience), but the moment I got Elminage Original, those became worthless. The UI's way too rough.
    70AnonymousSep 6, 2026 14:24
    Re: #40
    It's a precious item, and landing the finishing blow on the exact turn you use it is pretty hard. I wish they'd make it so the drop is guaranteed no matter when you finish the enemy off, or at least guarantee first-turn action.
    77AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:10
    Re: #70
    Getting the drop nets you that class's strongest weapon — not wanting to put in the effort for that is just being spoiled.
    79AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:40
    IV, V, X, and the New I & II remakes, right? I thought they'd just keep pumping out new entries. I wonder if it's a sales issue?
    81AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:45
    Re: #79
    Etrian Odyssey used to release fast once they had a template to work from, and it's been three years of silence since the remaster — so it's probably a sales issue.
    83AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:48
    Re: #79
    A big factor was that Atlus, known for being slow developers, could crank these out back-to-back by reusing the system. It's also how they managed to put out Persona Q.
    94AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:56
    Re: #79
    Well, it's less that Etrian Odyssey isn't profitable and more that Atlus just can't spare staff for a title that sells 100-150k copies. That used to be fine, but nowadays just recycling Persona sells 1-2 million copies every year. So it's cheap to make, but the time-efficiency is bad.
    82AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:45
    X clearly used assets that were probably originally meant for a New III, and the volume of content is obviously different too — you could kind of tell the direction had changed and this was meant to be a stopping point.
    89AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:41
    Re: #82
    There's a theory that Buroto and Enrika were originally meant to be party members for a New III.
    88AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:38
    To begin with, the whole series started from map-drawing, so not being physically able to do that anymore is a huge, huge change no matter how you look at it.
    If they judged that wasn't working out, it wouldn't be surprising.
    90AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:43
    Re: #88
    If you're going to say that, doesn't it mean nothing new will ever come out unless Nintendo releases a third DS-style dual-screen system?

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    Etrian Odyssey is a series that began on the DS in 2007, selling itself on dual screens and stylus-drawn maps. In the 3DS entry “Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold: The Fafnir Knight,” part of the dungeon maps were sold as DLC, a decision that split opinion even at the time — the thread’s comment that “the map won’t be complete unless you buy the DLC” is believed to be referring to this. Meanwhile, on the topic of why new entries have become less frequent since the 2020s, posters offered a commercial theory: that with Persona alone projected to sell over a million copies a year just through repeated re-releases, Atlus can’t easily spare staff for a title like Etrian Odyssey that sells around 100,000 copies. It’s worth noting, though, that this isn’t something Atlus has officially stated — it’s purely speculation from 5ch.

    *This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry, aka “Geha”) thread “Etrian Odyssey I, II & III HD Remaster Hits ¥3,400 — Is Now the Time to Buy?.”

  • Car Hits Concrete Block on Private Property — Driver or Homeowner at Fault? 5ch Weighs In

    A dashcam clip posted to 5ch shows a kei car clipping and damaging a concrete block and white pole set up at the entrance to a private residence. Cutting the wheel wide on a narrow residential street, the driver swung into the property line, knocked the barrier flying, and drove off. The thread split between those saying “the driver’s the one at fault for cutting into private property in the first place” and those countering “the homeowner’s placement of the block on a low-visibility street is also a problem.” The debate didn’t stop there — it spread into the legal treatment of hit-and-runs and whether the victim was right to hand the dashcam footage over to the media, with opinions sharply divided.

    Who do you guys think’s at fault here?

    Source: video.twimg.com / original clip here

    3AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:28
    I've got a license myself, and even I say this one's on the driver in Re: #1's clip
    4AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:28
    Re: #3
    So true.
    9AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:33
    Forget visibility — the second you cut a line that crosses onto private property, you're out
    Car's 100% at fault, case closed
    14AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:35
    Re: #9
    Sounds like you're from Kyoto (Kyoto natives have a reputation for that passive-aggressive brand of politeness)
    13AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:34
    Did they actually get permission from city hall for this?
    Can't just plop it down without asking
    15AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:35
    Re: #13
    If it's within their own property line, that's not an issue
    23AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:41
    Re: #13
    Is that really true, though?
    The homeowner's spite does feel pretty "Kyoto" though
    18AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:38
    Why bother handing the footage over to the media at all?
    Just give the plate-number video to the police and be done with it
    Kind of a nasty move, no?
    75AnonymousSep 6, 2026 17:09
    Re: #18
    If it makes guys like you squirm, that's a win in itself
    28AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:44
    Isn't the turning radius way too wide for a kei car?
    Was the driver just yanking the wheel around carelessly?
    30AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:46
    Re: #28
    Giving the driver every benefit of the doubt, maybe visibility was bad and they pulled out too far
    Though they clearly never even noticed the block itself
    31AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:46
    The fact that there's footage at all means this spot probably gets hit a lot
    35AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:48
    Re: #31
    Probably cars were already cutting into the property all the time before the block went up, so they installed a camera and the block together
    40AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:50
    Re: #35
    I mean, it's their private property, so they can do whatever they want with it, but…
    is it really that annoying having cars clip the edge of it now and then?
    My place isn't built like that so it'd never happen to me, and honestly I can't picture how it'd feel
    45AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:53
    Re: #40
    Of course it'd be annoying
    46AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:53
    Re: #40
    Obviously it'd be annoying
    36AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:48
    Can't be helped on a narrow street
    Even I, on foot or on my bike, end up drifting into
    someone's driveway when there's no room to pass a car
    39AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:50
    Re: #36
    That makes no sense
    There's no need to drift onto someone's property
    48AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:53
    Wouldn't a block like this make it harder to pull your own car out too? Seems like a bad call
    53AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:55
    Re: #48
    They probably figured an open-style yard would be cheaper and easier for pulling the car in and out at first
    Goes to show — if you're building a house, go with a closed, gated layout
    55AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:58
    What can the resident actually claim from the driver who fled the scene?
    Cost of the block wall? Damages for "emotional distress"?
    Push for criminal charges over property damage?
    61AnonymousSep 6, 2026 17:01
    Re: #55
    Trespass and property destruction charges are a tough sell when it's just negligence
    and the video clearly shows it wasn't intentional

    If they've got a legal-fee insurance rider, about the best they can do is claim against the other driver's property-damage insurance
    If the other driver isn't insured, they're just out of luck and eating the loss
    62AnonymousSep 6, 2026 17:01
    Re: #55
    Probably damages for emotional distress
    Pretty spiteful move ("ikezu," as they'd say in Kyoto)
    58AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:59
    Where I live, the private road only leads to a handful of houses, and every now and then a car takes a wrong turn and pulls in
    They turn around right in my yard and I've never once been bothered by it
    Some people say something before pulling in to turn around, some don't — honestly couldn't care less either way
    89AnonymousSep 6, 2026 17:16
    Re: #58
    Not everyone out there is as big-hearted as you
    66AnonymousSep 6, 2026 17:03
    The bricks go flying and hit the car, so they need something sturdier there
    68AnonymousSep 6, 2026 17:04
    Re: #66
    If anything, it's probably designed to go flying and hit the car
    Otherwise why set it up like that?
    73AnonymousSep 6, 2026 17:09
    Re: #66
    It was never going to stop a car from plowing through anyway, so lighter is actually better
    69AnonymousSep 6, 2026 17:05
    Re: #18
    What exactly is wrong with that?
    74AnonymousSep 6, 2026 17:09
    Re: #69
    Once you've got the plate number, you know who did it
    from there, a scolding from the police and any civil back-and-forth should be straightforward
    But going out of their way to hand the video to the media too
    piling on social punishment with a "look at this idiot driver" story — isn't that overkill?
    Whoever drives through a spot like this is definitely a neighbor, probably someone they know by face
    Of course it'll become the talk of the neighborhood — at that point it's basically just personal spite
    80AnonymousSep 6, 2026 17:12
    Re: #74
    You think they went out of their way to offer it up themselves?
    More likely some media outlet sniffed the story out and came asking, "would you mind sharing the footage if that's okay…?" and since handing it over doesn't hurt them as the victim, they just went along with it
    86AnonymousSep 6, 2026 17:15
    Re: #74
    So what's actually the problem here?
    If you don't want this happening to you, just don't hit-and-run in the first place
    76AnonymousSep 6, 2026 17:09
    The bad driving is on the driver, sure
    but if they don't want to get hit, they should put up a wall that's actually a noticeable height
    Why go with such a low wall and a flimsy pole-with-chain setup?
    79AnonymousSep 6, 2026 17:12
    Re: #76
    Sure, cost is a factor, but a taller wall also kills visibility
    and if it ever falls over, the secondary damage would be even worse
    Think it through a little more
    88AnonymousSep 6, 2026 17:16
    The one who hit it is 100% at fault, but come on, just build the wall higher already
    93AnonymousSep 6, 2026 17:18
    Re: #88
    There's already a white pole there
    Any taller and they'd need rebar reinforcement, plus it'd block sightlines — I think this setup is actually the best compromise
    92AnonymousSep 6, 2026 17:18
    Re: #74
    They're a hit-and-run criminal — isn't it only natural to warn the neighborhood to stay on guard?
    98AnonymousSep 6, 2026 17:20
    Re: #92
    If the media reported every single case like this, there wouldn't be enough airtime in the news
    It'd turn into a YouTube compilation channel
    94AnonymousSep 6, 2026 17:19
    This exact car soaked me with a huge splash once — there's no way they didn't see me, right?
    Got drenched first thing in the morning and it totally killed my mood
    96AnonymousSep 6, 2026 17:20
    Re: #94
    If they were going fast enough to splash you like that, there's basically no way for them to know afterward whether they actually splashed you or not

    Background and Key Points of the Debate

    Placing a concrete block or white pole at the entrance to one’s property is a common self-defense measure in residential areas with “open” yards (no gate or wall), where the boundary with the road is ambiguous — and, as in this case, that kind of setup isn’t rarely prone to inviting collisions. A hit-and-run involving only property damage and no injury tends to be treated as a minor offense, like a violation of the duty of safe driving, rather than full-blown property destruction, unless intent can be proven — which makes the thread’s talk of “legal-fee insurance riders” and “property-damage insurance” a fairly realistic read of how this would actually play out. The real point of disagreement was over how to weigh fault: the principle that “any driving that crosses even slightly onto private property is 100% not okay” clashed with the local custom that “on narrow residential streets, people have always quietly tolerated a bit of encroachment.” The other flashpoint was whether the victim was right to hand the dashcam footage to the media — some argued it amounted to a de facto public shaming, while others countered that it’s a legitimate countermeasure as long as the driver never came forward. None of this has a clear legal answer, and it’s worth remembering how much it comes down to regional and personal differences in perspective.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Nanademo Jikkyo G) thread “[Video] Apparently if you’re unlicensed, you think it’s the homeowner’s fault here, not the car’s.”

  • Marketed as a Set, But Is Kawashima the Real Ace? Hello! Project Fans Debate “Eba & Mifu”

    A thread comparing members across multiple Hello! Project groups heated up on the group’s message board. It started with a post claiming, “Ebata and Mifu (Kawashima) tend to get talked about as a package deal, but in terms of raw talent, Kawashima is a clear step above.” Commenters weighed in with rankings across four categories — looks, singing, dancing, and talk-show charm — while others pushed back using Instagram follower growth as evidence, splitting the thread into pro-Ebata and pro-Kawashima camps. The debate even got into specific numbers around the response to the Utacon appearance and the impact of recent TV spots, turning it into more than just a simple matter of taste.

    1AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:27
    You could tell clearly from the "Wink" performance (a bit where each member throws a wink at the camera).
    7AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:31
    It's basically the same story as "Kago was obviously the stronger one, yet somehow there were still tons of Tsuji fans" (a nod to the old Kago Ai vs. Tsuji Nozomi debate).
    16AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:39
    Re: #7
    This.
    People spin it differently now, but back then Kago was the only one who really had it.
    8AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:32
    Call it underdog sympathy or just contrarians gonna contrarian — there's always someone rooting for the less popular pick.
    9AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:33
    Honestly Endo or Hayashi could work fine as Mifu's (Kawashima's) partner too, depending on the occasion.
    34AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:50
    Re: #9
    The pairing is built around things like hometown and height difference, so Endo and Hayashi are both out of the question.
    Besides, even by the antis' ("Ookami" crowd's) favorite metric — Instagram followers — Ebata holds her own just fine against Kawashima.
    10AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:34
    Re: #1
    But then there's her casting as "Sacchin."
    Granted, that might make sense if we're just talking singing ability (lol).
    11AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:36
    14AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:38
    That's true of the group as a whole too — there's real synergy that comes from being together. Every OG (former member) who's gone solo has proven that.
    15AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:39


    21AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:43
    Well, Mippuru (Kawashima) is your textbook classic-beauty center type.
    It's probably less the fans or the agency and more that the TV industry itself sees her that way first.
    Not that Eba (Ebata) isn't cute too, though.
    22AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:44
    Re: #21
    Sounds like she'd fit right into a Sashihara-produced group.
    23AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:44
    If Eba is like Nacchi (Nakazawa Yuko), then Mippuru is like Gomaki (Goto Maki).
    Hayashi's maybe more of an Ai Takahashi type.
    32AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:50
    Re: #23
    Though don't forget about the "Ai Gaki" (Ai Takahashi's notoriously rowdy fanbase).
    ttps://youtu.be/k1BewQY2oZU
    24AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:45
    Can we at least post enough pictures to make a fair comparison before we start this?
    25AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:45
    It's basically Tackey & Tsubasa — Takki is Mifu (Kawashima) and Tsubasa is Eba (Ebata).
    26AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:47
    Juice=Juice's crowd:





    Tsubaki Factory's crowd:

    36AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:51
    Re: #26
    Angerme's crowd:
    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HO8r-47awAAeM8c.jpg:orig
    31AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:50
    I see — so the industry wants to turn Eba and Mifu into stars like the old Kago/Tsuji duo.
    33AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:50
    Dambara Looks B Sing S Dance S Talk A
    Inoue Looks S Sing A Dance A Talk B
    Kudo Looks B Sing B Dance B Talk A
    Matsunaga Looks A Sing A Dance B Talk A
    Arisawa Looks B Sing A Dance B Talk B
    Irie Looks B Sing B Dance B Talk B
    Ebata Looks S Sing B Dance B Talk B
    Ishiyama Looks S Sing B Dance B Talk A
    Endo Looks A Sing B Dance A Talk B
    Kawashima Looks S Sing A Dance A Talk A
    Hayashi Looks B Sing B Dance B Talk A
    38AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:52
    Re: #33
    If this were a Power Pro stat card (the baseball game where red stats mean elite ability), that'd be all-red and amazing — though whether the real floor is actually a "B" is seriously questionable.
    39AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:52
    Lately there's just nothing left to bash Juice=Juice for, so the antis are reduced to infighting — stuff like "Inoue's getting more buzz than Dambara" or "it's basically Kawashima carrying the group alone." You can tell they're running out of ammo.
    Must be a lot easier when they can just flex Angerme members instead.
    47AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:56
    Re: #39
    Juice=Juice fans have spent so long stirring up rivalry wars on Ookami (the antifan board) that they end up turning that same mindset on their own group…
    41AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:53
    https://stat.ameba.jp/user_images/20250107/17/juicejuice-official/c6/80/j/o1080143915530629703.jpg
    42AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:53
    The moment Hayashi puts her glasses on, she's basically treated as a gimmick pick.
    But watching TV, it's clear Juice=Juice's whole image is built around Dambara —
    the way she's treated is just on another level.
    51AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:58
    Angerme getting exposed with a half-empty crowd at Lucky Fes on NHK lmaoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
    https://imgur.com/bCLHLin.jpg
    54AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:00
    60AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:04
    Looks: Ebata.
    Singing: Kawashima.
    63AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:06
    Re: #60
    I kind of just assumed that, but after watching the "Wink" performance, honestly Kawashima wins on looks too.
    66AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:07
    Ebata sings by carefully matching pitch and rhythm — the total opposite of the belt-it-out style that Angerme and Morning Musume fans love to nitpick.

    If anything, the rhythm-obsessed Morning Musume otaku should be the ones praising her singing the most (lol).
    70AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:09
    Re: #66
    If belt-it-out singing is what's being criticized, then Oda and Hirayama must get hated by their own fans nonstop.
    82AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:10
    Actually, looking at last week's Instagram growth starting from the Utacon appearance, Eba's numbers grew more.
    91AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:16
    Re: #82
    For the record, Kawashima had the bigger reaction from the Utacon appearance, and the bigger Instagram follower increase too.
    But counting just this week, Ebata's got extra posts about her Sandwichman show appearance and how good her outfit coordination was that are close to going viral — so her growth numbers actually come out ahead.

    Background and Key Points of the Debate

    Among Hello! Project fans, there’s a deep-rooted culture of ranking members’ popularity or ability across categories like “looks, singing, dancing, and talk-show charm,” and comparing growth in Instagram followers. What often gets overlooked, though, is that follower counts can be heavily swayed by the agency’s promotional pushes or TV appearances, and don’t necessarily reflect pure popularity on their own. There’s also a recurring pattern — as with Juice=Juice and Angerme — where inter-group rivalry bleeds into debates over individual members, and some in the thread even suggested this looked like infighting among the antis themselves. Read with this fandom-specific dynamic in mind, rather than as a simple popularity poll, the discussion makes a lot more sense.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project) thread “They market Eba and Mifu as a set, but honestly Kawashima’s on another level.”

  • 7ORDER’s Keigo Hagiya and Former Nogizaka46 Member Miria Watanabe Announce Marriage and First Child

    7ORDER’s Keigo Hagiya and former Nogizaka46 member Miria Watanabe have announced their marriage and the birth of their first child. Their agency issued an apology after some media outlets broke the story first, suggesting the announcement was originally meant to come from the couple themselves. On 5ch, the thread mixed nostalgic reflections on Watanabe’s track record as center for five consecutive Nogizaka46 singles starting with her debut, explanations of how 7ORDER’s entire lineup left Johnny’s Entertainment together, and a fair share of jabs about looks and sarcastic remarks aimed at the agency — reactions were anything but unanimous.

    September 6, 2026

    Keigo Hagiya (7ORDER) and Miria Watanabe (ex-Nogizaka46) have announced their marriage and the birth of their first child.

    After some media outlets reported the news ahead of an official announcement, L&L’s Inc., 7ORDER’s parent agency, issued a statement: “We should have informed everyone who supports us on a daily basis directly, through the couple and our company, before anything else. However, discussions with relevant parties over the timing and method of the announcement took time, resulting in media reports coming first, and we deeply apologize for this.” The statement continued, “As a company, we take seriously the fact that we were unable to make this report to everyone in a manner that fully reflects our sincerity.”

    Source: natalie.mu / Original article here

    3AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:04
    I liked the Miria and Zunna duo (a fan-favorite pairing) lol
    8AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:06
    Guess it really drives home how the unpopular members are the quick ones to get married and have kids.
    14AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:09
    Is this what FLASH (the tabloid magazine) was teasing?
    15AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:09
    He's better looking than the Johnny's idols still around today.
    19AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:10
    Wonder how the baby happened (´・ω・`)
    62AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:55
    Re: #19
    They held hands and fell asleep together under the covers, that's how it happened (・ω・)
    20AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:10
    Miria-chan was the girl who got picked as center for five straight singles starting from Nogizaka's debut single.
    25AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:15
    What's 7Order? Never heard of that idol group.
    36AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:26
    Re: #25
    One of the formerly popular Johnny's groups. For some reason the whole group got frozen out of work back in their Johnny's days, and they all quit the agency together. Doesn't sound like they've done well since.
    27AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:16
    They mention the woman having an illness, but isn't this basically a defensive move — like 'there were circumstances, so please don't bash us for the late announcement'?
    30AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:19
    Wait, is 7Order actually a Johnny's-affiliated group?
    34AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:20
    Just so we're clear, Kenji from 7house has nothing to do with this.
    39AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:29
    Re: #34
    Shut up, you go on your bus tour.
    35AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:23
    Thought the group looked familiar — turns out Inoue's husband is in here too.
    40AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:31
    Re: #1
    So 'WEST-style marriages' (idol group WEST's members marrying one after another) are now the officially sanctioned trend in idol world, huh.
    41AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:33
    This one deserves the criticism — I don't think the 'illness' excuse is gonna save it.
    48AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:42
    Re: #1
    I wonder if there's a lead actor/actress somewhere between photo 1 and photo 2?
    49AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:43
    Is it just a nonstop parade of male idols announcing shotgun marriages after the fact lately?!
    51AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:45
    Miria's peak was when she was eating marshmallows off a drone.
    52AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:47
    Wonder if this group could've actually debuted if they'd stayed with Johnny's.
    55AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:49
    I don't know who's behind it, but it's messed up that creepy otaku are violating people's rights over this.
    57AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:51
    Back in her Nogizaka days she got caught on camera sitting next to a guy on a train.
    58AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:52
    Oh, she's the one from that bus-tour incident — guess she found her lifelong partner after all.
    60AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:53
    Miria Watanabe

    66AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:01
    Re: #60
    How was she not popular looking like this?
    75AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:12
    Re: #60
    Umibe-san's in there too.

    Background and Talking Points

    7ORDER was a group formerly affiliated with Johnny’s Entertainment, and after a period of inactivity, all its members left the agency together. Miria Watanabe was a genuine talent within Nogizaka46, serving as center for five consecutive singles starting with the group’s debut, but after graduating her name recognition diverged sharply from her former groupmates’. The agency’s apology this time comes because some media outlets reported the news before the couple’s own announcement — a response to the kind of ‘scoop’ reporting that often accompanies celebrity marriage news. The thread’s split opinions came down to a gap in tone between people offering sincere congratulations and people mocking Watanabe’s looks or 7ORDER’s low name recognition — worth noting that both sides leaned more on impressions than on any real assessment of the pair’s actual achievements.

    *This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Entertainment/Sports News+) thread “7ORDER’s Keigo Hagiya and Former Nogizaka46 Member Miria Watanabe Announce Marriage and First Child.”

  • Nakama Yukie’s Prime-Era Beauty Stuns 5ch: “Not Even Three of Today’s Actresses Combined Could Match Her”

    In a 5ch chat thread, posts looking back on actress Nakama Yukie’s prime years and her “dark history” (an embarrassing past role) piled up. Users who remembered the era recounted her career: starting out as an idol in the group Tokyo Performance Doll, rising to prominence through the drama TRICK and the film Ring, and her voice-acting role in the anime Haunted Junction, which was singled out as her “dark history.” While some praised her prime-era beauty as beyond even modern actresses like Hirose Suzu and Hamabe Minami, others debated why she never became as big a star as contemporaries like Okina Megumi and Hirosue Ryoko.

    1AnonymousSep 6, 2026 14:57
    Voice actress
    Singer
    National treasure of an actress
    2AnonymousSep 6, 2026 14:58
    She started out as an idol, right?
    3AnonymousSep 6, 2026 14:59
    Re: #2
    Tokyo Performance Doll
    6AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:05
    Before she made it big, she used to do swimsuit gravure work
    15AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:20
    Re: #6
    That was just normal back then —
    even Fukada Kyoko ("Fuka-Kyon") did swimsuit shoots too
    7AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:08
    She had a beauty and aura that even Hirose Suzu, Hamabe Minami, and Imada Mio combined couldn't beat today
    8AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:10
    There's a thread on nanJ (another 5ch board) too — is Nakama Yukie's "dark history" trending right now?

    What exactly counts as Nakama Yukie's dark history?
    https://nova.5ch.io/test/read.cgi/livegalileo/1788673661/
    9AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:13
    Shinohara [Ryoko] and Nakama weren't even in TPD (Tokyo Performance Doll) at the same time — why do people spread "they don't get along" rumors like they saw it with their own eyes?
    11AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:15
    Re: #9
    Apparently they did overlap as trainees though
    10AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:14
    Wasn't she in one of Komuro Tetsuya's music game projects?
    13AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:16
    I am Akito's eyes, Akito's ears, Akito's hands, Akito's feet, Akito's… Akito's…
    14AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:18
    She said herself that she was bullied back in middle school —
    sounds like it was because others were jealous of her
    17AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:25
    Re: #14
    Heard Adachi Yumi went through brutal bullying too
    Jealousy is scary
    16AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:22
    She sang the theme song for True Love Story
    18AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:25
    I'm actually a big fan of the Mega Man X4 soundtrack
    20AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:27
    Isn't the voice acting itself her dark history?
    That anime was tasteless trash
    23AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:30
    I got bullied and nobody was even jealous of me
    24AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:31
    Nakama Yukie's dark history is the anime Haunted Junction.
    She voiced a psychic high schooler with a shotacon angle, and her acting was shockingly bad.
    It was so rough I actually checked to see who it was.
    Maybe because of the bad acting, or maybe because of the shotacon character, the show ended up shelved and never re-released for years.
    25AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:31
    Maybe being beautiful and too kind-hearted makes you an easy target for bullying?
    Something people get jealous of?
    32AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:43
    Didn't she play a band vocalist dressed in something like underwear in a late-night drama?
    34AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:47
    Re: #32
    Upload it
    35AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:49
    I'm the same age as Nakama Yukie — any questions?
    36AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:50
    Re: #35
    When did she get popular?
    Was it from TRICK after all?
    37AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:50
    Re: #35
    How many people have you slept with?
    41AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:53
    Re: #35
    Was Okina Megumi actually popular?
    Apparently she's the same age as Nakama Yukie
    38AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:51
    Re: #35
    Who were you a fan of?
    40AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:52
    Re: #36
    Yeah, it was from TRICK
    Re: #37
    3 people
    Re: #38
    Uchida Yuki
    45AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:58
    She started getting noticed with the movie Ring, right?
    54AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:07
    Re: #45
    She had that Sadako hairstyle the whole time
    46AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:59
    Re: #35
    Who's your favorite (oshi) now?
    49AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:02
    Re: #46
    SOYO-chan
    53AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:06
    A bit before TRICK, she had a near-lead role in a drama starring Domoto Tsuyoshi —
    that's when I first thought, 'wow, there's a girl this pretty out there'
    55AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:07
    Re: #53
    It's strange someone that beautiful didn't become a bigger star
    For some reason it was Hirosue and Okina who were the big names back then
    58AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:15
    Re: #55
    Was short hair just the trend at the time?
    Strange that a classic beauty like her didn't get more recognition
    70AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:35
    Re: #55
    Maybe it's because the generation just above Nakama Yukie had knockout beauties like Hasegawa Kyoko and Yada Akiko
    63AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:25
    Japan's top 3 late-night dramas:
    ・TRICK
    ・Night Head
    ・

    What's the third one?
    68AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:32
    Re: #63
    HEN (変)

    Background and Key Points of This Topic

    Nakama Yukie got her start in the 1990s idol group Tokyo Performance Doll, before building her popularity through the late-night drama TRICK and the film Ring. The voice-acting work in the anime Haunted Junction that posters cited as her “dark history” was mostly criticized for weak acting, based on the memories of viewers who watched it at the time. Meanwhile, thinly sourced rumors — like claims that she doesn’t get along with fellow performer Shinohara Ryoko — were corrected in the thread as “fake,” a reminder that chat threads reminiscing about a celebrity’s prime years often mix information of varying reliability. Likewise, the debate over “why she didn’t become as big a star” compared to contemporaries like Okina Megumi and Hirosue Ryoko reflects only the posters’ subjective impressions, not any official verification or statement from Nakama herself.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “I Want to Talk About Nakama Yukie’s Prime Years and Dark History.”

  • Arctic Glacier Loses 5m of Thickness in 13 Years — Warming Could Double the Pace

    A research team including Hokkaido University found that a glacier in northwestern Greenland lost the equivalent of 5.4 meters of ice thickness over 13 years, publishing the findings in a journal of the International Glaciological Society. They predict that if temperatures keep rising, the rate of loss could double. On 5ch’s Science News+ board, discussion centered on whether this warming is part of the ice age/interglacial cycles that have repeated throughout Earth’s history, or whether human CO2 emissions are the main driver. Many posters also voiced concern about concrete impacts on Japan, such as a shrinking Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) if Okinotorishima sinks below the waves, and beaches disappearing due to sea level rise.

    Arctic glacier loses 5m of thickness in 13 years — warming could double the pace

    A research team including Hokkaido University compiled findings showing that a glacier in northwestern Greenland, one of the Arctic regions hit hardest by warming, lost the equivalent of 5.4 meters of ice thickness over 13 years, and published a paper on it in a journal of the International Glaciological Society.

    They predict that if temperatures continue to rise, the pace of ice loss will double.

    Source: asahi.com / Original article here

    3AnonymousSep 5, 2026 22:09
    CO2 is the cause of global warming.
    Among major countries, the US tops the list for per-capita CO2 emissions.
    China has a huge population so it's the world's biggest emitter overall, but per capita its emissions are barely different from Japan's (assuming the stats are accurate).
    4AnonymousSep 5, 2026 22:33
    Looks like the current ice age (or rather, the interglacial period within it) will end sometime this century, giving humanity its first-ever experience of a non-glacial era.
    5AnonymousSep 5, 2026 22:37
    The theory that CO2 emissions cause global warming is a conspiracy theory!
    6AnonymousSep 5, 2026 22:42
    We need to cool down the seawater.
    7AnonymousSep 5, 2026 22:56
    Keep in mind that water is denser than ice.
    8AnonymousSep 5, 2026 23:07
    Earth's always cycled between warming and cooling anyway.
    Not really something to freak out about.
    10AnonymousSep 5, 2026 23:59
    Re: #8
    A big part of the current warming is human-caused,
    so it's probably being treated as a separate category from past natural fluctuations.
    9AnonymousSep 5, 2026 23:32
    What's going to happen?
    Are we going to get massive flooding until there's no land left to live on, just ocean floor?
    11AnonymousSep 6, 2026 00:02
    If warming causes Okinotorishima to sink below sea level, Japan's territorial waters will shrink, making it impossible to mine seabed resources like rare metals there.
    19AnonymousSep 6, 2026 02:52
    Re: #11
    Okinotorishima, the EEZ base point reinforced with concrete, may still fully submerge in the future… Japan's territory shrinking as sea levels rise
    https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/20260828-GYT1T00305/2/
    20AnonymousSep 6, 2026 07:01
    Russia's off there fighting a war, wasting resources for nothing, burning power for nothing, pumping out CO2 for nothing.
    Do environmental groups have anything to say about that?
    22AnonymousSep 6, 2026 07:23
    Everyone says 'sea levels are rising,' but has anywhere actually gone underwater?
    People have been saying this since last century…
    27AnonymousSep 6, 2026 08:22
    Re: #22
    > On the cause of the shrinking beaches, Masayuki Tomono (43), group leader at the Port and Airport Research Institute, said:
    > "Sea levels have risen by about 10 centimeters due to climate change, which is likely accelerating beach erosion."
    23AnonymousSep 6, 2026 07:28
    Are polar bears drowning?
    Isn't the ice's surface area actually increasing lately?
    25AnonymousSep 6, 2026 07:47
    Re: #23
    There was a report that as the ice spreads out, more polar bear cubs are drowning.
    24AnonymousSep 6, 2026 07:29
    Rising sea temperatures leading to more torrential rain is the scarier problem.
    30AnonymousSep 6, 2026 09:38
    I just feel bad for young people today and anyone who's going to be born from now on.
    35AnonymousSep 6, 2026 10:57
    At this rate, just bring on a Jomon-era-level marine transgression.
    My place would go underwater, but it'd be perfect timing for a world reset!
    36AnonymousSep 6, 2026 11:48
    Re: #10
    There's zero evidence backing this up though.
    37AnonymousSep 6, 2026 13:15
    Re: #36
    So what's the evidence, then?
    40AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:43
    Re: #36
    In a nutshell, the evidence is that "the current warming can't be explained without factoring in human activity."
    Past climate shifts — like the ice age/interglacial cycles of the Pleistocene — are attributed mainly to periodic changes in solar radiation from the Milankovitch cycles,
    and the high temperatures of the Mesozoic era are largely attributed to CO2 released by intense volcanic activity and the arrangement of the continents at the time.

    But right now, there's no factor other than human activity that could account for warming on this scale.
    38AnonymousSep 6, 2026 13:46
    Scientists used to say an ice age was coming,
    but no matter how long we wait, it just stays hot.
    39AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:38
    Re: #38
    The people saying stuff like that are usually "experts" from some completely unrelated field.
    The worst offenders are scholars from the social sciences or humanities,
    and the media just laps it up and hypes it further.

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    When discussing glacier melt, a recurring point of contention is whether it’s fair to lump the ice age/interglacial cycles that have repeated throughout Earth’s history together with the human-driven warming seen since the Industrial Revolution. In the thread, some pointed out that the current rapid temperature rise can’t be explained by natural factors like solar radiation cycles (the Milankovitch cycles) or volcanic activity alone — without factoring in human activity, the explanation falls short. For Japan, the more tangible concerns tend to be less about the glaciers themselves and more about the practical fallout of sea level rise: the submersion of Okinotorishima and the resulting shrinkage of its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), plus the erosion of beaches. At the same time, some past individual predictions — like claims that Arctic sea ice would vanish entirely by this century — have not panned out, which is a point readers can easily conflate: the accuracy of any single forecast is a separate question from whether the overall warming trend itself is real.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Science News+) thread “[Global Warming] Arctic glacier loses 5m of thickness in 13 years — warming could double the pace.”

  • Azabu-Juban Festival Crab Ramen Food Poisoning: Norovirus and Plesiomonas Also Found in Patients’ Stool — 5ch: “A Full-On Department Store of Germs”

    A food poisoning outbreak at the “Azabu-Juban Summer Festival” in Tokyo’s Minato Ward: 78 customers who ate a food stall’s chilled crab ramen in August reported diarrhea and vomiting, with 3 hospitalized. Tokyo Metropolitan Government and Minato Ward announced that Salmonella had been detected in patients’ stool, but it has now emerged that norovirus, diarrheagenic E. coli, and even Plesiomonas — rare in food poisoning cases — were also detected. The stall was run by chef Komeo, known for appearing in the fighting event “BreakingDown,” and on 5ch, discussion centered on the sheer number of pathogens detected, doubts over hygiene management, and speculation about which ingredient was to blame.

    A new, shocking fact has come to light regarding the case at the “Azabu-Juban Summer Festival,” held in Tokyo’s Minato Ward in August, where 78 people who ate a food stall’s “chilled crab ramen” reported symptoms such as diarrhea and vomiting, with 3 hospitalized.

    Tokyo Metropolitan Government and Minato Ward announced that Salmonella had been detected in the stool of 31 patients and 2 staff members, downplaying it as food poisoning “caused by Salmonella” — but in reality, far nastier pathogens had been detected.

    I was stunned reading the press release on Minato Ward’s official website. That’s because, in addition to Salmonella, norovirus, diarrheagenic E. coli, and Plesiomonas were all detected in patients’ stool.

    Source: asagei.com / Original article here

    2AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:36
    At this point it sounds like there's a separate culprit doing this on purpose.
    42AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:43
    Honestly, that's a talent in its own way.
    51AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:44
    ♪Just one sewer crab and you're down for the count~
    Crab Shock!
    223AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:03
    Re: #2
    That's just what Tokyo tap water is like, isn't it
    11AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:38
    Why would gutter-river bacteria be in the kitchen?
    98AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:50
    Re: #11
    Apparently the hygiene management was just plain terrible

    Crab ramen food poisoning: Chef Komeo denies "reusing ingredients," but his own SNS posts reveal a string of sloppy hygiene practices
    https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/ab30c9003783cd28078b1786a9dd5375e9cd3edc

    >Based on past TikTok videos, critics pointed to sloppy hygiene practices such as 《tucking chili peppers used as ingredients into his headband》《eating ramen directly over the sauce vat》《leaving ingredients outdoors at room temperature》《cutting sashimi with hands that had just touched his phone》
    228AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:03
    Re: #11
    Because Tokyo itself is contaminated
    239AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:04
    Re: #11
    Because they were using water from a sewer ditch
    23AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:40

    Quite the variety of pathogens
    24AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:40
    Plesiomonas doesn't even come up in food safety training courses lol
    Because it's something that's not supposed to show up in the first place
    69AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:46
    Re: #24
    So Plesiomonas isn't something that shows up in a normal cooking process?
    By "training course" do you mean like the one for a chef's license?
    134AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:54
    Re: #24
    Actually I have a chef's license too and diligently attend the local training sessions, but I don't recall Plesiomonas ever coming up in a food poisoning case
    46AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:43
    It's just country bumpkins who don't know how delicious Tokyo gutter water is, criticizing it
    71AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:47
    Re: #46
    Cracking up at this lol
    67AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:46
    (;゚Д゚) Eating something undercooked from a stall run by people who look like mobbed-up thugs is basically suicide lol
    Sauce-flavored senbei crackers and cotton candy are plenty
    94AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:50
    Re: #67
    Getting fed gutter ramen for 2,000 yen — what kind of punishment game is that.
    99AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:50
    Re: #67
    No, actually the crab was deep-fried
    They were probably wary of food poisoning given it was summer
    Also, according to this article

    ・No Plesiomonas was detected in the crab used in the crab ramen

    so there's that
    73AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:47
    Is this article stupid? The real question is whether that Plesiomonas showed up consistently across everyone, right lol. If it turns out that one customer just happened to go swimming in a lake, that's a "oh, I see" kind of story, you idiot. If it came from the ramen, it needs to show up consistently in the other patients too.
    90AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:49
    Re: #73
    It showed up in both an employee and victims, so saying it's just a coincidence and unrelated doesn't really hold up
    74AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:47
    Bet they were using cheap Chinese ingredients again (uses "Shina," a dated, derogatory term for China)
    97AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:50
    Re: #74
    Chinese-made crab itself isn't the problem, that's rude to say.
    103AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:51
    Re: #74 It blew up back in May

    Chef Komeo's new ramen shop erupts in controversy over "food mislabeling" — the uniquely "ramen" reason behind the backlash

    https://news.yahoo.co.jp/expert/articles/102b5bafddcc8867601fcba5249d7563105c59eb

    Chef Komeo, also known for appearing in the fighting event 'BreakingDown,' opened his crab ramen specialty shop 'Kani wo' in Asakusa, Tokyo on May 4th — and just days after opening, it was hit with a fierce backlash, mainly on social media.

    While promoting the shop as showcasing "the goodness of Japanese crab," it came out that he was actually using Chinese-made soft-shell crab, sparking the backlash. But why did Komeo's ramen shop get slammed so hard over this? There's a reason unique to ramen behind it.
    88AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:49
    96AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:50
    Ah…
    136AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:54
    【Patients】
    Salmonella: 31 samples
    Plesiomonas: 9 samples
    Diarrheagenic E. coli: 2 samples
    Staphylococcus aureus: 1 sample

    【Staff】
    Salmonella: 2 samples
    Plesiomonas: 1 sample

    Plesiomonas detected in 9 customers and 1 staff member??

    A full-on department store of germs lmao
    This isn't even at the level of "serving food" anymore!
    150AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:56
    Re: #136
    Wonder if the staph came from a healthcare worker
    153AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:56
    Re: #136
    With 9 people testing positive, this is almost certainly damage caused by the ramen
    156AnonymousSep 6, 2026 15:56
    Re: #136
    It showing up in staff too means their hygiene management just wasn't happening at all
    203AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:01
    🐶 So basically it smelled like a sewer ditch?
    219AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:02
    Re: #203
    I mean, the kitchen itself basically was the sewer ditch 🦞
    220AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:02
    Re: #203
    Isn't that just the smell of crawfish?
    The other day I pulled some dried baby shrimp out of the fridge to put in fried rice, opened the bag, and it had that exact smell — freaked me out lol
    Checked the date and it was way past expired
    257AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:06
    Was it a shop that handled freshwater fish?
    Given the season, maybe sweetfish (ayu)?
    Farmed salmon or rainbow trout?
    It's scary when the cause is unknown
    303AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:11
    Re: #257
    It's speculated to be eel
    313AnonymousSep 6, 2026 16:11
    Re: #257
    Plesiomonas is a saltwater bacteria lol
    Meaning it's a germ that's bad with salt… lol
    But it's weak to heat lol
    What did they even do lmaooo

    Background and Key Points of This Story

    The official announcement attributes the food poisoning to “Salmonella,” but the data released by Minato Ward shows that, beyond Salmonella in 31 patients, there were also 9 cases of Plesiomonas, 2 of diarrheagenic E. coli, and 1 of Staphylococcus aureus, with records showing Salmonella and Plesiomonas detected in staff as well. Plesiomonas lives in freshwater and brackish water and is rarely covered in standard food-safety training, leading to speculation on the thread that “the water in the kitchen itself may have been the contamination source.” Chef Komeo’s shop was also embroiled in controversy back in May over marketing Chinese-made crab as “Japanese crab,” and past reports based on his social media posts have pointed to lax hygiene practices. That said, it should be noted that which sample came from which ingredient has not been officially determined, and the reason multiple pathogens were detected simultaneously cannot be conclusively established from Minato Ward’s data alone.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (News Speed+) thread “A BreakingDown fighter’s shop served it… “Nasty gutter-river bacteria” found in chilled crab ramen from the Azabu-Juban Festival’s “78 food poisoning cases”.”