Japan Reacts

Author: Japan Reacts Editorial

  • The Appeal of Manual Transmissions: 5ch Says ‘I Just Want to Press the Clutch’

    A thread on 5ch’s “Live: Anything Goes” board titled “Why would anyone want to drive a manual car?” turned into a mini showdown between automatic and manual fans. The thread starter, who saw shifting gears as a “hassle,” kicked off the debate — manual fans fired back, citing the feel of changing gears and the sensation of working the clutch as the whole appeal. The discussion went beyond everyday practicality in the city, touching on off-road driving, farm work, a new transmission for kei trucks, and even how manual operation differs on motorcycles.

    1AnonymousAug 31, 2026 20:51
    Isn't it normal for people not to want to do tedious tasks?
    6AnonymousAug 31, 2026 20:54
    It's not tedious.
    9AnonymousAug 31, 2026 20:55
    Re: #6 More like annoying, isn't it? It just means more work to do.
    176AnonymousAug 31, 2026 23:09
    Re: #9 Nah, it's not annoying.
    8AnonymousAug 31, 2026 20:55
    The weirdos who actually want to do that tedious work are the ones who buy manuals — it's basically a toy.
    11AnonymousAug 31, 2026 20:55
    Re: #8 But once you get married and stuff, doesn't that get harder to keep up?
    13AnonymousAug 31, 2026 20:57
    I like the 2→3, 4→5 shifts.
    15AnonymousAug 31, 2026 20:59
    Re: #13 What's fun about it exactly?
    16AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:00
    Because revving it up to redline and shifting feels great.
    20AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:02
    Re: #16 I guess it's fun if you've got the patience to keep at it until you get good, but eco-driving is easier and still pretty enjoyable.
    22AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:02
    Re: #19 At driving school I only ever used up to second gear.
    28AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:04
    Re: #22 Wait, where'd that come from?
    23AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:03
    If you want a smooth ride around town, EVs are actually better. Manuals only make sense on a track — otherwise the stress outweighs the fun.
    25AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:03
    Re: #23 I kind of feel like CVT is the way to go.
    26AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:04
    Manual has its own kind of ease. Automatic makes you rely too much on visual information.
    30AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:04
    Re: #26 But most of the information people take in is visual anyway.
    29AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:04
    If you hate hassle that much, you shouldn't buy a car at all.
    40AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:07
    Re: #29 Walking's a hassle, waiting for a taxi's a hassle, waiting for the bus is a hassle — isn't a car already a compromise?
    32AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:05
    I've never seen anyone with dementia who drives a manual — maybe it helps prevent it.
    43AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:08
    Re: #32 Isn't that just because once you have dementia you can't drive a manual anymore?
    53AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:15
    Re: #32 Pedal misapplication accidents basically don't happen with a manual, so driving one might actually be a good idea as you get older.
    34AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:06
    Because you can bump-start it.
    36AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:06
    Re: #34 No you can't. Can you even do that with a half-clutch?
    41AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:07
    Re: #36 Roll down a slope, pop it into gear, and it catches instantly.
    46AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:09
    Re: #41 …who's pushing it, though?
    51AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:14
    Re: #41 Don't modern cars have starting systems that won't do anything unless you disengage the clutch?
    42AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:08
    I just want to press the clutch.
    44AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:08
    Re: #42 I could honestly go a while without pressing one again.
    48AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:11
    Re: #42 My instructors used different words for "pressing" and "disengaging" the clutch and it confused me — I get it once you understand the mechanics, but still.
    47AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:09
    With my parents' kei truck on the terrible roads near their place, a manual is honestly safer.
    50AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:12
    Re: #47 Man, this brings back memories — Suzuki's old attempt at this.

    https://www.suzuki.co.jp/release/a/2014/0826/index.html

    August 26, 2014
    Suzuki equips its kei truck "Carry" with a new transmission, "Auto Gear Shift (AGS)"

    Carry KC, air conditioning/power steering set option equipped, Auto Gear Shift (AGS)
    Suzuki Motor Corporation has added the "Auto Gear Shift" (AGS) transmission — which combines the benefits of manual and automatic transmissions — to its kei truck "Carry"*1, going on sale August 26.
    52AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:15
    Re: #50 I've got that same one in my Solio. The occasional grinding noise from a missed shift is just part of the charm.
    55AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:16
    Re: #1 It's the other way around — for everyday driving, automatic is more convenient, but for farm work or off-road driving, manual is actually easier to handle.
    62AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:19
    Re: #55 Creep is handy, though~
    64AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:20
    Re: #62 Honestly, automatic ends up being better for rough roads too.
    67AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:21
    Re: #62 I use a kei truck for farm work, and since I drive through muddy fields on rainy days, you need at least a diff lock and 4WD high/low switching.
    114AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:56
    Wait, hasn't AT surpassed MT in basically everything now — safety and all? I heard even in drifting, AT is faster these days.
    115AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:58
    Re: #114 Sorry, but I happen to drive a Porsche — can an automatic (lol) even do a 1-3-5 skip-shift (jumping straight from 1st to 3rd to 5th gear)? No, it can't.
    123AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:02
    Re: #114 (Meanwhile automatics) keep plowing into convenience stores all the time (a nod to Japan's frequent news stories of AT pedal-error crashes into shops).
    142AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:41
    Unlike cars, why is it that manuals are easier to ride on a motorcycle?
    143AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:42
    Re: #142 That's because you can grip with your knees.
    145AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:43
    Re: #142 Isn't it because of the sequential shift? It's super easy in cars too — though cars with that setup are pretty rare.

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    Even today, a standard driver’s license in Japan lets you obtain and drive a manual car, but most people opt for an automatic-only license at driving school, and automatics are said to account for over 90% of new car sales domestically. The thread split over a values question — whether the “hassle” of shifting gears is a nuisance or a pleasure — pitting people who praised the thrill of changing gears against those who argued it’s just extra work in city driving. Opinions also diverged on off-road driving: some argued that with today’s advanced 4WD and diff-lock systems, AT and EV are actually safer, while others held that manuals are traditionally better suited to it, with no clear resolution. Worth noting on the topic of bump-starting: most current cars are built so the starting system won’t function at all unless the clutch is disengaged, meaning the old-school image no longer matches reality.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Live: Anything Goes board) thread “Why would anyone want to drive a manual car?.”

  • 91 Anime Shows Coming Next Season — 5ch: “Realistically I’ll Finish Watching 5 or 6”

    A list of fall 2026 anime (broadcasts starting October 2026) has been compiled, drawing a wave of reactions on 5ch’s Entertainment & Sports News+ board. Next season is set to bring a staggering 91 new anime titles, and while some posters were stunned by the sheer volume, plenty of others were already narrowing down their watchlist in advance, saying things like “I already know what I’m watching” and “realistically I can only finish 5 or 6 shows.” Discussion ranged widely — from a new Dragon Ball entry, to whether The Apothecary Diaries would get a marathon rebroadcast, to a correction noting that the new Lycoris Recoil project is a movie, not a sequel season.

    Ao Ashi Season 2

    Blue Box Season 2

    FX Warrior Kurumi-chan

    Source: animatetimes.com / Original article here

    2AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:55
    And this season was such a bumper crop, too…
    7AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:57
    Re: #2
    Probably just Smoking Cat and Yomi no Tsugai.
    Yeah, fall's basically a bust.
    Wait, is that SIREN the SIREN?
    88AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:31
    Re: #7
    Though I Am an Inept Villainess
    Ascendance of a Bookworm
    Saga of Tanya the Evil
    Re:Zero
    Mushoku Tensei
    Cat and Dragon
    The Backwoods Sword Saint
    Kurebadesu
    Mob in an Otome Game
    Dara-san
    The Tent Sorceress

    Something like that, right?
    Those were the good ones this season.
    118AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:51
    Re: #7
    You even spelled it wrong.
    11AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:59
    Even lumped all together, they'd probably still lose to Chiikawa lol
    20AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:02
    It's just Dragon Ball, really.
    25AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:04
    Re: #20
    I can't expect much from Dragon Ball these days, but I've poured so much nostalgia into it (up through Z) that I have no choice but to watch.

    I just wish they'd try a little harder — like they did with the Broly movie.
    32AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:07
    There are seriously way too many anime lately.
    Next season alone has 91 titles.
    Come on, anime industry, work together and cut this number down.
    Japan's the only country in the world cranking out this insane number of shows every single season.
    55AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:18
    Re: #32
    If everyone just stopped watching — stopped buying the source material, Blu-rays, merch, all of it — the number of titles would drop.
    Though the budget per show would shrink too, so we'd end up with even more low-budget productions than we already have.
    181AnonymousAug 31, 2026 23:26
    Re: #32
    It's a 4-trillion-yen industry, you know.
    38AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:09
    I never watched Apothecary Diaries season 1 or 2.
    Wish they'd do some kind of marathon rebroadcast.
    90AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:33
    Re: #38
    I know TVer ran season 1 twice.
    41AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:10
    Fuji TV keeps digging up old shows like Ranma and Kimengumi and ruining them.
    76AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:26
    Re: #41
    Ranma's actually a Nippon TV late-night show.
    The old anime was stuffed with anime-original filler and the character designs drifted way off from the manga, but the remake sticks close to the source and is genuinely good.
    48AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:13
    Re: #31
    Here's what I'm actually watching this season — seriously not much:

    The Black Cat and the Witch's Classroom
    BanG Dream! Yumemi ta
    I Have No Intention of Loving You
    Mob in an Otome Game
    The Backwoods Sword Saint
    Smoking Behind the Supermarket
    Reincarnated as a Heavy Knight
    Yomi no Tsugai
    Dodge Danko
    100 Girlfriends
    Smoking Cat
    Kaori-san
    52AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:15
    Re: #48
    What, you're not watching the "Rear Guard" one?
    53AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:17
    Re: #48
    Honestly, one or two shows is plenty for me these days.
    50AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:14
    Diamond no Ace — that's the high-school baseball one from the Initial D guy? They're seriously doing a second season of that?
    77AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:26
    Re: #50
    Diamond no Ace is huge in Asia.
    Well, that's basically just because good-looking guys play baseball in it.
    57AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:19
    Season 2 of Chitose-kun wa Ramune Bin no Naka.
    Is this only happening because of some regional tie-in or something? Doesn't anyone stop these things?
    The only thing I'm worried about is that festival goldfish that fell on the ground back then.
    66AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:22
    Re: #57
    It's not season 2, it's the second cour (same season, second half).
    64AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:21
    They probably schedule the popular shows head-to-head on purpose to kill some of them off.
    Wonder what the worst overlap will be next season.
    69AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:23
    Re: #64
    That's the ugly side of creators and executives, isn't it.
    They talk about chasing your dreams out in public, but behind the scenes it's this.
    75AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:26
    Re: #2
    I'm hoping some obscure, non-adaptation original show like Sayonara Lala turns into a hidden gem.
    93AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:33
    Re: #75
    Is that one actually good? I heard it's aimed at women — more of a yuri thing.
    168AnonymousAug 31, 2026 23:18
    Re: #75
    That garbage turning into a hidden gem? Are your standards broken or something?
    80AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:27
    I check out pretty much everything, but I'll realistically only finish watching 5 or 6 of them.
    91AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:33
    Re: #80
    Damn, respect. (´・ω・｀)
    94AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:34
    As usual there's an insane number of shows, but the only one I'm definitely watching is Dragon Ball.
    Still nothing on Lycoris Recoil?
    167AnonymousAug 31, 2026 23:18
    Re: #94
    There's already an official announcement that the new Lycoris Recoil project is a movie, not a second season.
    98AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:35
    Modern voice actors have to deal with so many throwaway one-cour anime flooding the schedule that they never get to sit with a character for six months or a year anymore. Kind of sad.
    No wonder their acting never really improves.
    107AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:45
    Re: #98
    Since long-running franchises basically don't get made anymore, it's turned into a gacha game — grab as many low-paying roles as you can while you're cheap and hope one of them hits big.

    And with voice actors getting turned into idols now, looks, singing, and talk-show charisma matter more, so I feel like distinctive voices are disappearing.
    102AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:39
    I think A Certain Magical Index lost a ton of fans over that whole Brenda thing.
    Why did they even go with that storyline…
    125AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:54
    Re: #102
    Oh, so that got a bad reputation, huh.

    Background and Talking Points

    Next season (broadcasts starting October 2026) is reportedly set to bring a total of 91 anime titles, and the thread split between posters saying “that’s just too many” and others defending the scale by pointing out that anime is “a 4-trillion-yen industry.” There wasn’t much deep analysis in the thread about whether the sheer volume is actually a good thing, but the sense of viewer fatigue came up again and again. One easily misunderstood point that got corrected in the replies: the new Lycoris Recoil project has been officially announced as a movie, not a sequel season. Likewise, a correction noted that “Chitose-kun wa Ramune Bin no Naka” isn’t getting a “season 2” but rather a second cour of the same season. Some posters said they’d check out nearly everything, but far more said they’d realistically only finish 5 to 6 shows — a split that points to just how polarized viewing habits have become.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Entertainment & Sports News+) thread “2026 Fall Anime Roundup | New and Rebroadcast Anime Info for the October Season.”

  • Baseball Draft’s “No Team Choice” Rule Splits Opinion on 5ch

    In Japan’s professional baseball draft, players can announce which team they’d like to join, but the actual decision on who gets picked by whom is entirely up to the teams. A 5ch thread saw users questioning the fairness of a system where “you can’t even choose your own employer,” while others countered that “regular job hunting doesn’t guarantee your first choice either.” The debate eventually shifted to whether it’s fair to compare NPB to a single company with each team as a department, with back-and-forth over differing pay scales and players’ contractual standing.

    1AnonymousAug 30, 2026 12:41
    When you stop and think about it, not being able to choose your own employer is pretty messed up
    "I want to join the Giants" → "You've been picked by the Rakuten Eagles"
    Apparently stuff like that happens all the time
    4AnonymousAug 30, 2026 12:43
    Whenever the Giants are weak, this kind of talk always starts up
    Just make it a full reverse-order (waiver) draft starting from pick 1
    6AnonymousAug 30, 2026 12:43
    Re: #4
    The Giants are strong though
    8AnonymousAug 30, 2026 12:44
    Can't be much fun for Giants fans either, nothing but draft whiffs lol
    16AnonymousAug 30, 2026 12:45
    If you don't like it, there's always college ball or the corporate leagues
    Re: #8
    lol
    18AnonymousAug 30, 2026 12:46
    "My dream is to play for the Giants!" → Team that drafted him: "The Seibu Lions"
    22AnonymousAug 30, 2026 12:47
    Re: #18
    Just switch there later via free agency
    19AnonymousAug 30, 2026 12:47
    So if someone asked "does everyone working right now actually work at the company they wanted?" — how would you even answer that?
    24AnonymousAug 30, 2026 12:48
    Re: #19
    In baseball, sometimes it's mutual love and you still don't get in
    29AnonymousAug 30, 2026 12:51
    There are probably players who turn teams down before the draft even happens
    33AnonymousAug 30, 2026 12:52
    Re: #29
    You mean that whole "interview" ritual…
    31AnonymousAug 30, 2026 12:52
    You get hired by NPB as a company, and each team is basically a department
    148AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:31
    Re: #31
    That's not actually how it works though
    40AnonymousAug 30, 2026 12:53
    You're playing baseball no matter where you end up, so who cares
    43AnonymousAug 30, 2026 12:55
    Re: #40
    But everyone cares about where they're stationed, and about the company's name value and size
    67AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:01
    This is basically unconstitutional and somehow it just gets glossed over, weird
    92AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:09
    Re: #67
    If you don't like it, you don't have to force your way into becoming a pro ballplayer
    Freedom of occupation exists, you know
    138AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:28
    Re: #67
    It's not a violation at all
    No matter which team you belong to, what you actually do doesn't change
    73AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:05
    Re: #71
    But you can get assigned to a department you didn't want, one where raises barely happen too
    86AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:06
    Re: #73
    If it's just a department, the company itself stays the same
    With the draft, the company you belong to changes entirely
    105AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:17
    Re: #86
    Pro baseball is the company, and the teams are the departments
    108AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:18
    Re: #105
    That's the kind of sophistry a legal expert would just laugh off
    109AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:19
    Re: #105
    Given the nature of a corporate legal entity,
    that logic absolutely doesn't hold up
    80AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:06
    You're employed by NPB
    Just think of each team as a branch office
    84AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:06
    Re: #80
    Experts have already dismissed that as sophistry
    94AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:09
    Re: #80
    If that's the case, they'd need to unify the pay structure
    112AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:19
    It's dumb how people go on about championships when pro baseball is all about competitive balance anyway
    It's basically a rotation system where everyone gets a turn to win eventually
    117AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:20
    Re: #112
    So when exactly do the Dragons get their turn to win?
    135AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:26
    Re: #112
    A BayStars fan in their 30s: "I have never once seen them win in my entire life"
    118AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:21
    Re: #109
    Pro players are basically independent contractors to begin with
    128AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:23
    Re: #118
    Then players should have the right to choose their team too (though of course, if the team doesn't want them, that's the end of it)
    131AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:25
    Re: #128
    There used to be a "preferred team" entry slot, but only for college and corporate-league players
    Naturally it died out because of under-the-table money and player tie-ups
    132AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:26
    Re: #128
    The whole point is the companies jointly made rules to stop exactly that and assign players accordingly
    143AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:29
    It's like getting hired by "Japan Pro Baseball Inc." but not being able to choose your posting
    146AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:30
    Re: #143
    If that's the case, they'd need to unify the pay structure
    156AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:34
    The faces of guys who actually got drafted by the team they wanted

    https://www.sponichi.co.jp/baseball/news/2024/10/24/jpeg/20241024s10001728263000p_view.webp
    https://www.sponichi.co.jp/baseball/news/2023/10/26/jpeg/20231026s00001173392000p_view.webp
    167AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:45
    Not getting hired by the company you want to work for happens in every line of work
    181AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:49
    Re: #167
    This thread is saying the problem is you can't even knock on that door in the first place
    190AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:56
    It's like being hired by a company called NPB and just landing a different posting
    193AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:56
    Re: #190
    That exact take has already been torn apart earlier in this thread

    Background and Key Points of the Debate

    Under NPB’s draft system, when multiple teams compete for the same first-round pick, negotiating rights are decided by lottery, while second-round picks and beyond proceed in reverse order of the previous season’s standings (a waiver-style format) — so it isn’t a full waiver system. From the 1990s through the 2000s, a “preferred entry slot” (also called reverse designation) system let college and corporate-league players negotiate with teams beforehand, but it was abolished in 2007 after under-the-table payments to star players came to light. As mentioned in comment #131, a system letting players choose their own team has, in fact, already collapsed once before. What split the thread was whether it’s fair to describe teams as “departments within one company” — commenters repeatedly pushed back on this “department theory,” citing differing pay structures between teams and the view that pro players are independent contracting parties. Whether this can really be equated with a simple case of new-hire job placement is the crux of the disagreement.

    ※This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary of the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “[Mystery] Isn’t it weird that players can’t go to the baseball team they want in the draft?.”

  • Maneki Kecak’s Iroha Mitsui Dropped From Agency Over Contract Violation, Birthday Event Canceled

    On August 29, 2026, the official X account for idol group Maneki Kecak announced that it had terminated its management contract with member Iroha Mitsui effective the same day, after discovering what it called a “serious contract violation involving private exchanges with a specific fan.” Her previously scheduled birthday celebration event has also been canceled. On 5ch’s Geinou/Sports News+ board, the thread lit up with debate over whether contract clauses restricting dating and private contact are even legally valid in the first place, alongside discussion of the group’s name recognition, the financial fallout from the canceled event, and talk of members who’ve left in the past.

    Oricon, 2026-08-30 08:20

    The official X account for idol group Maneki Kecak was updated on the 29th, announcing the discovery of a “serious contract violation” involving member Iroha Mitsui and the termination of her management contract effective that day.

    In a statement titled “An Important Announcement,” the agency reported: “Regarding Maneki Kecak member Iroha Mitsui, we have discovered a serious contract violation involving private exchanges with a specific fan, among other matters. Upon confirming the facts with her directly, she admitted that this was true. Taking this situation seriously, collet promotion Co., Ltd. has decided to terminate the management contract with Iroha Mitsui as of today, August 29, 2026, and we hereby inform you of this decision.”

    Source: oricon.co.jp / Original article here

    7AnonymousAug 30, 2026 09:39
    Idol groups like this that nobody really knows about
    who cares what she does
    161AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:14
    Re: #7
    Probably because it hits sales
    These days stuff like this gets found out and spreads instantly, and you can't cover it up anymore, must be rough
    17AnonymousAug 30, 2026 09:43
    Isn't a contract banning free romantic relationships against public order and morals, and therefore legally invalid?
    28AnonymousAug 30, 2026 09:48
    Re: #17
    Strictly speaking, yeah
    But since ties with otaku fans can hurt the group's own popularity, even if it went to court, the ban could still be ruled reasonable
    41AnonymousAug 30, 2026 09:58
    Re: #17
    If she's being managed and produced on the premise of a "pure" image, then agreeing by contract not to date isn't really something you can call illegal, is it?
    It's just a contract violation
    117AnonymousAug 30, 2026 11:16
    Re: #17
    It's like a teacher dating a student, that's probably why it's written into the rules as forbidden
    If they wrote "dating is banned" outright they'd get called out for it being illegal, but phrased this way it just barely passes
    18AnonymousAug 30, 2026 09:43
    I only know the group's name, so I guess they're pretty well-known in the underground idol scene?
    96AnonymousAug 30, 2026 10:53
    Re: #18
    They did the GeGeGe no Kitaro ending theme twice
    25AnonymousAug 30, 2026 09:46
    Kecak
    158AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:08
    Re: #25
    "World Martial Arts Champion! Spider-Man! (self-proclaimed)"
    33AnonymousAug 30, 2026 09:55
    I've heard of this group
    Did she commit some kind of crime?
    93AnonymousAug 30, 2026 10:48
    Re: #33
    It says "private exchanges with a specific fan"

    Classic pattern: either a handsome guy, or an ugly rich kid whose family flies first class every time they go to America
    That's exactly the type you'd want to connect with privately, right
    36AnonymousAug 30, 2026 09:56
    What's "Kecak"?
    64AnonymousAug 30, 2026 10:20
    Wasn't there something like this a little while ago, is it the same thing?

    Re: #36
    It's a dance performed by half-naked men in Bali
    71AnonymousAug 30, 2026 10:28
    Re: #36
    An Indonesian ritual
    37AnonymousAug 30, 2026 09:57
    Mii-yan's outrageous ketchup (a pun on "Kecak" sounding like "ketchup")
    74AnonymousAug 30, 2026 10:29
    Re: #37
    Are you a reader of Ribon magazine from the 1980s?
    85AnonymousAug 30, 2026 10:41
    Re: #37
    The man who outdid both Amin Okada and Momoko Sakura
    39AnonymousAug 30, 2026 09:57
    Management seems genuinely furious, but does just having a boyfriend really lead to this?
    Was there a problem on the boyfriend's end?
    165AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:43
    Re: #39
    Because it's the idol business
    Say this girl has 100 fans and she dates one of them, and the other 99 quit being fans
    Then you lose the profit from those 99 people
    57AnonymousAug 30, 2026 10:13
    "Private exchanges with a specific fan"
    means she actually did the deed, huh (lol)
    166AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:45
    Re: #57
    Even if it didn't go that far
    Just exchanging DMs
    or hanging out together, if it comes to light it's usually a suspension or leaving the group
    58AnonymousAug 30, 2026 10:13
    As if there could be a Maneki Kecak without Miyu Nakagawa
    102AnonymousAug 30, 2026 10:57
    Re: #58
    Guess she left at a good time
    I mean, it's not like I don't know her, and there's some connection there too
    87AnonymousAug 30, 2026 10:43
    Oh, that group that strikes the beckoning-cat pose while doing traditional Indonesian kecak
    182AnonymousAug 30, 2026 14:55
    Re: #87
    You almost believed that for a second, huh (lol)
    90AnonymousAug 30, 2026 10:46
    Three days after advance ticket sales opened, a lightning-fast contract termination

    91AnonymousAug 30, 2026 10:47
    Japanese Girl Group 2026 National Tour Attendance Rankings

    #1 Nogizaka46 — 1 stadium venue/4 shows + 7 arena venues/14 shows (approx. 240,000 attendees)
    #2 FRUITS ZIPPER — 8 arena venues/20 shows (approx. 200,000 attendees)
    #3 HANA — 3 arena venues/7 shows + 17 hall venues/23 shows (approx. 185,000 attendees)
    #4 CUTIE STREET — 7 arena venues/13 shows (approx. 130,000 attendees)
    #5 Sakurazaka46 — 6 arena venues/12 shows (approx. 120,000 attendees)
    #6 CANDY TUNE — 19 hall venues/23 shows (approx. 115,000 attendees)
    #7 ≠ME — 5 arena venues/11 shows (approx. 110,000 attendees)
    #7 NiziU — 4 arena venues/10 shows + 1 hall venue/2 shows (approx. 110,000 attendees)
    #9 Chotokimeki♡Sendenbu — 3 arena venues/5 shows + 10 hall venues/11 shows (approx. 105,000 attendees)
    #10 Hinatazaka46 — 3 arena venues/9 shows (approx. 90,000 attendees)
    99AnonymousAug 30, 2026 10:54
    Re: #91
    For this year's Kohaku (New Year's Eve music special), the top 3 or so would be a fair pick, I guess
    101AnonymousAug 30, 2026 10:56
    Re: #99
    Wanna see Cutie Street
    Itakura is the best
    173AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:56
    Re: #99
    People say Nogizaka is already past its peak
    118AnonymousAug 30, 2026 11:19
    Re: #60
    Guess this is just a group with behavior problems to begin with (lol)
    But canceling the event is gonna cause financial damage too, right? She can't pay for that, so does the agency eat the cost?
    168AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:48
    Re: #118
    If it's just the birthday celebration getting canceled, they usually don't cancel the venue booking
    and instead run a solo live show in place of the birthday event
    151AnonymousAug 30, 2026 12:37
    I don't know much about idols, but this whole "contract termination as entertainment" thing is what WWE's Vince McMahon used to do in pro wrestling, right, the "You're fired!" bit
    It was a long time ago now, but yeah, the drama of a contract termination is always compelling

    It hooks in the "what was the reason" crowd, then delivers a clean, decisive final blow with one sharp declaration
    As a form of mass entertainment there are multiple "chances to put on a show for the public," and the back-and-forth plays out clearly for everyone to see

    Nice, keep it up
    183AnonymousAug 30, 2026 14:56
    Re: #151
    Well, the thing is pro wrestling itself isn't that well known around here

    Background and Talking Points

    Idol contract clauses banning romance sit at the intersection of labor-contract law and image management for entertainment acts, so they often spark legal debate. In past court cases, some rulings have held that because the contract was premised on producing a “pure” image, a dating ban alone doesn’t rise to a violation of public order and morals — while other cases have found such restrictions (or the damages sought) invalid depending on their severity, so there’s no single answer. The phrase “private exchanges with a specific fan” used here could cover a broader range of conduct than a simple romantic relationship, and it’s worth noting the agency hasn’t disclosed specifics. The same-day announcement affecting already-scheduled events like the birthday celebration likely reflects practical concerns such as ticket refunds and venue arrangements — though as noted in the thread, many agencies instead swap in a substitute show, so how this ultimately plays out will depend on further reports.</analysis>

    <parameter name="board">mnewsplus

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “Idol Group Member’s “Serious Contract Violation” Uncovered, Contract Terminated, Birthday Celebration Also Canceled — “Maneki Kecak” Announces.”

  • New ‘Madoka Magica’ Film Rakes in ¥700 Million in Two Days — 5ch: ‘Now I Get How Witches Are Made’

    The theatrical film Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Walpurgisnacht Rising, released on August 29, topped ¥700 million in box office revenue in just two days. Serving as a sequel to the previous film, Rebellion, it reveals the true identity of a new character who calls Madoka “Margarethe,” along with the mechanism behind how witches are born. On 5ch, one thread saw users asking whether the film could be enjoyed by those who’d only seen the earlier installments, with replies like “You’ll be fine, it’s the sequel to Rebellion.” Others reported that opening-day merchandise lines were so crowded they couldn’t even buy a pamphlet. A compilation screening is also scheduled for October 23.

    1AnonymousAug 29, 2026 19:37
    I was bugged by the new character calling Madoka "Margarethe" the whole time, but I liked how it gradually reveals who Margarethe actually is.
    Turns out Margarethe was the one who created the whole magical-girl-into-witch system, so now the reason witches exist finally makes sense.
    That final scene of Homura heading toward Madoka had me in tears…
    2AnonymousAug 29, 2026 19:41
    Maebashi Witches is streaming for free right now, go watch it
    https://youtu.be/a5ZvSmIjEQs?si=o0x-wcmTtmgp1Csj
    3AnonymousAug 29, 2026 19:46
    Since the official channels were making such a big deal about no spoilers, I figured there'd be some wild twist like the final boss, Walpurgisnacht, turning out to be Madoka's parents or her little brother.
    5AnonymousAug 29, 2026 19:48
    Higurashi is more interesting than Madoka Magica.
    7AnonymousAug 29, 2026 19:50
    By the way, why were they so pissed off at the old lady? lol
    9AnonymousAug 29, 2026 19:53
    The way it all connects together is hilarious lmaooooo
    27AnonymousAug 29, 2026 20:19
    I want to go see it, but will it still make sense if I've only seen the previous films?
    30AnonymousAug 29, 2026 20:22
    Re: #27
    Well, everyone's had their spotlight episode for now, so I'm looking forward to where the story goes from here.
    55AnonymousAug 29, 2026 21:31
    Re: #27
    You'll be fine
    since it's the sequel to Rebellion.
    29AnonymousAug 29, 2026 20:22
    Re: #28
    thx
    guess I'll go tomorrow.
    32AnonymousAug 29, 2026 20:23
    Re: #29
    Quit bringing up the mayor lol
    now his face is stuck in my head
    33AnonymousAug 29, 2026 20:24
    Re: #30
    Wait, the film series is continuing?
    35AnonymousAug 29, 2026 20:26
    Re: #33
    There's a compilation screening on October 23.
    37AnonymousAug 29, 2026 20:29
    The story itself wasn't much, but the opening-day merch line was insanely crowded — couldn't even get a pamphlet.
    38AnonymousAug 29, 2026 20:30
    Re: #37
    Poor Az, getting left out.
    56AnonymousAug 29, 2026 21:32
    Re: #37
    I actually liked the story.
    The merch line was packed for me too.
    54AnonymousAug 29, 2026 21:30
    Re: #4
    That take kind of makes sense, honestly.
    57AnonymousAug 29, 2026 21:33
    Re: #54
    If you go see it again, keep an eye on the footprints during the ending.
    Not that I'd know or anything.
    58AnonymousAug 29, 2026 21:35
    Re: #57
    I was already thinking about going again, so I'll watch for that if I do.
    132AnonymousAug 29, 2026 22:25
    'Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Walpurgisnacht Rising' tops ¥700 million in box office revenue in two days
    https://x.com/mtt_75058/status/2093679701491658845
    146AnonymousAug 30, 2026 07:43
    Re: #132
    Madoka Magica is amazing.
    139AnonymousAug 30, 2026 00:53
    Is that wish really worth handing over your soul for?
    142AnonymousAug 30, 2026 07:42
    Re: #139
    If it's for Sayaka's sake, then fine… I'll become… a magical girl…
    140AnonymousAug 30, 2026 02:06
    I was wondering why a cute girl with zero connection to the main story showed up right at the start, but it finally clicked when I heard the first five minutes of Walpurgisnacht were shown at the end of the Rebellion screening. So it really was just bait footage with no actual connection.
    152AnonymousAug 30, 2026 07:45
    Re: #140
    I kept thinking "Who's this? Where's Madoka?" while watching, but that opening's not-knowing-what's-coming excitement was next level.
    154AnonymousAug 30, 2026 07:46
    Re: #152
    Onizuka's dad is the real MVP here
    169AnonymousAug 30, 2026 09:11
    I just can't keep up anymore 🚶
    🛌
    170AnonymousAug 30, 2026 09:16
    Re: #169
    Onizuka's dad tore into someone who said they waited 13 years for a Madoka Magica movie and it just wasn't for them.

    Background and Key Points

    This film belongs to a series that began with the 2011 TV anime Puella Magi Madoka Magica, and counting from the 2013 theatrical film Rebellion, roughly 13 years have passed leading up to this release — the “waited 13 years” comment seen in the thread refers to that gap. Notably, this thread was posted on 5ch’s Love Live! board, yet most of the discussion was actually about Madoka Magica, running out of step with the board’s usual subject matter. Later in the thread, posts comparing box office figures across different Love Live! series entries appeared, but since that topic had nothing to do with this film and included some disparaging language toward fans of other titles, it has been omitted from this article. Several near-identical posts praising a specific voice actor, unrelated to the film’s actual content, were also excluded for being promotional rather than substantive. Core spoiler details, such as the true identity of “Margarethe” and how the story ends, are not covered in depth here, in line with the official request to avoid spoilers.

    ※This article was compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Love Live!) thread “Let’s talk about the theatrical film Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Walpurgisnacht Rising.”

  • Sanma Reacts to Report on Reviewing Baseball’s “Kill” and “Stab” Terminology — 5ch: “During the War, ‘Strike’ Was Fine”

    Tokyo Sports reports that comedian Akashiya Sanma looked pensive discussing the debate over revising high school baseball terminology on MBS Radio’s late-night broadcast on August 22. According to the report, the Miyagi Prefecture High School Baseball Federation is setting up a review committee aiming to change terms with aggressive connotations like “kill” (殺), “stab” (刺), “death” (死), and “steal” (盗). Reactions on 5ch were split: some pushed back, calling it nothing more than “word-policing,” while others argued that “moral standards change with the times” and the change should be accepted. Many posts also cited examples of terms that have already disappeared, like “sudden death,” or terms that stuck around despite being mistranslations, like “dead ball.”

    August 30, 2026, 00:50

    Comedian Akashiya Sanma appeared on MBS Radio’s “Young Town Saturday” during its late-night broadcast on the 22nd, and reacted to the emerging debate over revising baseball terminology.

    According to the report, the Miyagi Prefecture High School Baseball Federation is establishing a review committee aiming to change baseball terms containing aggressive expressions such as “stab” (刺), “kill” (殺), “death” (死), and “steal” (盗).

    Source: tokyo-sports.co.jp / Original article here

    6AnonymousAug 30, 2026 08:24
    Re: #1
    >"…the words. Difficult," (looking pensive).

    It's a radio broadcast — how would you even know what his face looked like?
    19AnonymousAug 30, 2026 08:29
    Re: #6
    People who are good at radio work talk in a way that lets you picture their expression.
    That nuance doesn't come through even when it's transcribed into text.
    188AnonymousAug 30, 2026 13:10
    Re: #6
    Tokyo Sports has psychic vision, apparently.
    8AnonymousAug 30, 2026 08:25
    Back then it was a rough, violent era where "kill," "stab," and "steal" didn't feel out of place.
    92AnonymousAug 30, 2026 09:37
    Re: #8
    Pretty soon they'll probably say even "rough and violent" is a bit much.
    10AnonymousAug 30, 2026 08:26
    "Sudden death" — the rule itself is gone now anyway.
    51AnonymousAug 30, 2026 08:53
    Re: #10
    To begin with, baseball — which has top and bottom halves of an inning — never actually had a "sudden death" rule.

    Though people used to call the current tiebreaker system that.
    67AnonymousAug 30, 2026 09:11
    Re: #10
    It does technically exist in penalty shootouts, at least.
    22AnonymousAug 30, 2026 08:33
    What about "dead ball"? Is that okay just because it's not written in kanji?
    28AnonymousAug 30, 2026 08:37
    Re: #22
    English doesn't even use that expression — it's "hit by pitch."
    35AnonymousAug 30, 2026 08:40
    During the war, "strike" was fine
    but "ball" wasn't allowed.
    Just a little trivia for you.
    55AnonymousAug 30, 2026 08:56
    Re: #35
    And yet they still wanted to play a sport that was born in America — that's the real mystery.
    41AnonymousAug 30, 2026 08:47
    Soccer got rid of terms like
    "own goal" (literally "suicide point")
    and "sudden death"
    pretty early on.
    46AnonymousAug 30, 2026 08:50
    Re: #41
    First you'd have to start calling it "football."
    45AnonymousAug 30, 2026 08:50
    Old guys can't keep up with how language changes.
    They keep using dead words forever.
    That's exactly why generation gaps happen.
    109AnonymousAug 30, 2026 09:54
    Re: #45
    "Dead word" (死語) evokes death too, so shouldn't that get reviewed as well?
    53AnonymousAug 30, 2026 08:55
    This is so pointless.
    If it clearly led to discrimination, fine, but if we start regulating things just because someone reacts like this,
    it's going to be endless, absurd word-policing forever.
    A world that caters to weak people who say "this makes me feel bad" just breeds more and more oversensitive, easily-hurt people.
    A world full of Spelunker-types who "die" the moment someone scolds them a little is far less healthy.
    145AnonymousAug 30, 2026 11:16
    Re: #53
    Improving morals along with the times is what a civilized society does.
    Praising the Showa era is fine, but compared to the Sengoku or Edo periods, people in the Showa era would look pretty sensitive too — did Japan collapse because of that?
    Are you saying the world, and Japan, would've developed further if we still had witch trials or the right to cut down commoners on the spot?

    If anything, I'd argue the Ice Age generation, forced to cling to whatever single job they could get, listened too much to their elders and stalled moral progress — and that stagnation itself became one cause of Japan's economic stagnation.
    61AnonymousAug 30, 2026 09:02
    Before baseball, shouldn't they get rid of sumo's ban on women entering the ring first?
    62AnonymousAug 30, 2026 09:07
    Re: #61
    Funny thing is, women's sumo was totally normal back in the Edo period… so what even is "tradition"??
    64AnonymousAug 30, 2026 09:08
    I wish they'd stop changing terminology.
    I still almost say "loss time" for soccer even now.
    65AnonymousAug 30, 2026 09:10
    Re: #64
    Loss time = the lost hourglass.
    70AnonymousAug 30, 2026 09:14
    Even in stuff like this, baseball can't keep up with soccer.
    74AnonymousAug 30, 2026 09:19
    Re: #70
    Soccer never gets reported on like this — they just suddenly announce "it's already decided."
    73AnonymousAug 30, 2026 09:19
    This isn't really "word-policing" — it's just about renaming things to something more fitting.
    People are way overreacting.
    79AnonymousAug 30, 2026 09:22
    Re: #73
    Sure, words changing is inevitable.
    But us old guys are just saying, let us keep using the old terms.
    If anything, aren't you the one reacting emotionally here?
    84AnonymousAug 30, 2026 09:26
    Re: #79
    Just change it without asking for anyone's opinion.
    The out-of-touch old farts who can't keep up can just get left behind.
    126AnonymousAug 30, 2026 10:24
    Re: #79
    You're the one reacting emotionally here, lol.
    I never said a single word about banning the old terms, lol.
    85AnonymousAug 30, 2026 09:28
    "Dead ball" is just too dumb.
    How does "hit by pitch" turn into that, lol

    It really seems like someone mixed it up with the other meaning of "dead ball" (a ball not in play).

    I think this is a good chance to fix an embarrassing made-up word.
    104AnonymousAug 30, 2026 09:51
    Re: #85
    Japanese people who can't speak English would probably translate "hit" here as "base hit."
    111AnonymousAug 30, 2026 09:54
    Before that, they should get rid of the siren at Koshien
    and the buzz cuts too —
    my kid said the players just look like North Koreans and was creeped out by it.
    137AnonymousAug 30, 2026 11:09
    Re: #111
    Back then there was no sound system that could put out that much volume, so they just used a hand-crank siren anyone could operate.
    183AnonymousAug 30, 2026 12:45
    Re: #111
    At the prefectural tournament level, schools with buzz cuts are actually becoming the minority now.
    185AnonymousAug 30, 2026 12:52
    Re: #111
    This came up in Kuwata Masumi's thesis too — Japanese baseball itself is a sport that still carries strong traces of prewar military-style coaching.
    If you don't like that, you can just stop watching Japanese baseball.
    Rugby's the same way, actually — it was valued abroad partly for being good military training, so it's another sport with a strong war/military color.
    122AnonymousAug 30, 2026 10:10
    If they've got time to come up with pointless rewordings like this, they should make Hanshin fans drop their "one more out, one more pitch" chant instead.
    136AnonymousAug 30, 2026 11:08
    Re: #122
    That chant actually has a bad reputation even among Hanshin fans, but even the ones who badmouth it end up chanting along once they're at the stadium…
    170AnonymousAug 30, 2026 12:25
    Porn actress → adult video (AV) actress → "sexy actress" →

    "Dementia praecox" → "split-mind disorder" → "integration dysregulation syndrome" (successive Japanese terms for what's now called schizophrenia)
    173AnonymousAug 30, 2026 12:28
    Re: #170
    So "tōshitsu" (5ch slang shorthand mocking schizophrenia, literally "sugar/carb") was originally treated like dementia.
    Repeating the same thing over and over —
    that's genuinely rough.
    177AnonymousAug 30, 2026 12:31
    Re: #170
    Might end up as "sexy actor" for men too.

    Prostitution → "enjo kōsai" (compensated dating) → "papa katsu" (sugar-daddy dating)
    Dial Q2 (phone chat lines) → dating sites → matching apps
    It just keeps getting more casual and convenient.

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    Baseball terms like “kill” (殺), “stab” (刺), and “steal” (盗) aren’t direct translations from English — they’re Sino-Japanese expressions applied when the sport was imported during the Meiji era, and they don’t necessarily match the nuance of the original American English. “Dead ball,” for instance, is Japanese-made English (wasei-eigo); in actual English it’s simply called a “hit by pitch.” The review committee set up by the Miyagi Prefecture High School Baseball Federation that sparked this discussion is only the starting point for debate — no terminology change has been officially decided. Opinions split on the thread largely over whether to view this kind of review as “word-policing” or as “a reasonable update for the times,” with many commenters pointing to soccer’s past renaming of terms like “own goal” (literally “suicide point”) and “sudden death” as precedent. At the same time, the fact that similar shifts in terminology have played out repeatedly outside baseball too — in the names for mental illnesses or certain professions, for example — was only touched on piecemeal in the replies rather than laid out systematically, making it an easy point for readers to miss.

    *This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary of the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “[Entertainment] Sanma laments report on reviewing baseball terms like “kill” and “stab”: “Getting rid of these words now… I don’t feel bad about it at all” [Ailuropoda melanoleuca★]” on 5ch.

  • Buyers of Prostitution Could Face Punishment Too — 5ch: “Crack Down and It’ll Just Go Underground”

    As a countermeasure against “tachinbo” (streetwalkers soliciting customers), a proposal to make buyers punishable too was a hot topic on 5ch’s “Nandemo Jikkyo G” (Live News) board. Under the current Anti-Prostitution Law, licensed sex establishments are regulated separately as “managed prostitution,” while only street soliciting and waiting for customers are punishable — leaving little in the way of penalties for buyers. In the thread, opinions split between those who said tightening regulation would just push things underground, and those who said it would at least reduce the problem on the streets, with some also explaining that brothels/parlors aren’t the subject of this particular debate.

    1AnonymousAug 31, 2026 10:39
    Buyers start getting arrested too
    ↓
    Overall demand drops & the "safe" customers vanish
    2AnonymousAug 31, 2026 10:43
    Crack down on what's already regulated under the entertainment business law and it'll just go underground.
    8AnonymousAug 31, 2026 10:58
    Re: #2
    Nothing changes regulation-wise for managed prostitution, so brothels/parlors aren't affected.
    What gets wiped out is street soliciting (tachinbo).
    131AnonymousAug 31, 2026 12:27
    Re: #2
    Fine if it goes underground.
    Posting about it on X (Twitter) is the weird part.
    7AnonymousAug 31, 2026 10:56
    Nah, it basically means "just get a normal job."
    13AnonymousAug 31, 2026 11:03
    Re: #7
    That's probably not even on the table for them 😅
    20AnonymousAug 31, 2026 11:06
    It's already hell to begin with.
    Just go get welfare already, right?
    28AnonymousAug 31, 2026 11:12
    Re: #20
    Can't happen.
    They want spending money for fun, and they also tend to refuse welfare.
    22AnonymousAug 31, 2026 11:07
    Guess it paid off — the feminists lobbying to bring in the Nordic model 😤
    24AnonymousAug 31, 2026 11:08
    Re: #22
    The Nordic model doesn't punish sellers at all, only buyers.
    Punishing both sides is just the standard — that's not the Nordic model.
    26AnonymousAug 31, 2026 11:09
    If a prostitute gets arrested, does it stay on her credit record?
    30AnonymousAug 31, 2026 11:14
    Re: #26
    It sticks if she's indicted and ends up with a criminal record.
    Prostitution cases are mostly not prosecuted, so an arrest alone won't leave a mark.
    34AnonymousAug 31, 2026 11:16
    Re: #33
    The girls work as independent contractors, so it's a "surely they're filing taxes properly" kind of thing.
    38AnonymousAug 31, 2026 11:23
    Re: #34
    There was a book, written by someone who supposedly worked at the National Tax Agency, saying there's a tendency not to crack down on sex workers.
    At least the author said they'd never heard of a case where a sex worker got nailed for tax evasion.
    57AnonymousAug 31, 2026 11:35
    I've been agonizing over my first-ever trip to a brothel, really looking forward to it,
    but I never worked up the courage to actually go — am I done for now?

    Is there any relief for guys like me? Is the ban only on street soliciting?
    63AnonymousAug 31, 2026 11:38
    Re: #57
    Just go to a regular soapland, you'll be fine.
    65AnonymousAug 31, 2026 11:38
    Re: #57
    Brothels have nothing to do with this.
    This is an attempt to punish certain acts on the seller's side, to balance out the fact that street soliciting and touting by buyers is already punishable. Managed prostitution only punishes the managers (the ones running the operation) in the first place — sellers themselves aren't punished, and there's no incentive to touch the buyer side there.
    61AnonymousAug 31, 2026 11:36
    This policy's aim is probably to help the women involved in prostitution,
    but fundamentally, women who already make their living off it never actually get saved by this — it doesn't help anyone.
    66AnonymousAug 31, 2026 11:39
    Re: #61
    The real goal is grant money, dressed up as a "relief measure" by making both selling and buying illegal.
    NPOs are mixed up in it, so the answer's already obvious.
    That was the goal from the start — what actually happens to the women is beside the point.
    70AnonymousAug 31, 2026 11:41
    Re: #61
    Street soliciting will definitely go down though, so it's good for local residents at least.
    69AnonymousAug 31, 2026 11:40
    Going forward, you could get sued by the woman after hooking up with a street prostitute, so nothing good's gonna come of this.
    71AnonymousAug 31, 2026 11:41
    Re: #69
    I'd like to call this a "solo honey-trap scam" (badger game).
    73AnonymousAug 31, 2026 11:41
    Re: #69
    More like blackmail than getting sued.
    Seriously, it's just a badger game (honey-trap scam).
    87AnonymousAug 31, 2026 11:49
    Guys will just go abroad.
    89AnonymousAug 31, 2026 11:50
    Re: #87
    Developed countries are increasingly turning people away at entry for this.
    There are apparently still lax countries though.
    93AnonymousAug 31, 2026 11:51
    Re: #87
    Anti-prostitution-buying laws came from overseas in the first place.
    90AnonymousAug 31, 2026 11:50
    Making it state-run and turning it into one big theme park would be safer for the sellers too.
    STDs have apparently spread to a point of no return, right? They need protecting.
    94AnonymousAug 31, 2026 11:51
    Re: #90
    No way the women's groups would ever allow that.
    There's no money in it for them.
    100AnonymousAug 31, 2026 11:56
    Re: #90
    Making it state-run would force strictness both substantively and procedurally, which would only make the underground scene flourish even more.
    Overall it's better to have things dominated by the current loose-but-registered brothel system that still maintains some order.
    They should turn a blind eye to brothels that operate quietly and let them prosper, while stamping out street soliciting and the like one by one.
    119AnonymousAug 31, 2026 12:14
    By the way, is street soliciting actually illegal in some way?
    124AnonymousAug 31, 2026 12:18
    Re: #119
    The Anti-Prostitution Law doesn't criminalize prostitution itself,
    but soliciting or waiting for customers in a way visible to the public is punishable.
    126AnonymousAug 31, 2026 12:19
    Re: #119
    Prostitution is a crime 🥺

    Background and key points of this topic

    The current Anti-Prostitution Law doesn’t criminalize the act of prostitution itself, but soliciting or waiting for customers in a way visible to the public is punishable. Managed prostitution is structured so that only the operator side is punished, and licensed brothels/parlors aren’t the subject of this particular debate. The term “Nordic model” came up in the thread, but that model properly refers to a system that punishes only buyers and not sellers at all — an easy point of confusion, since it differs from this proposal, which assumes punishment on both sides. Opinions split between the view that tightening regulation will just push things underground, and the view that it will at least reduce street soliciting, and it’s worth noting that the claim that NPOs are involved for the sake of grant money remains unsubstantiated speculation.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “[Recurring] Punishing buyers of prostitution too — looks like the start of hell for bottom-tier prostitutes.”

  • ‘Knife-Cancel’ Cooking Spreads Among Gen Z — 5ch: “It’s the Cutting Board That’s the Real Pain, Not the Knife”

    As dual-income households increase, “knife-cancel” cooking — skipping the knife altogether — is spreading, especially among Gen Z, AERA reports. It’s a cooking style that might once have been dismissed as “cutting corners,” but it’s being framed as a shift in values in an era that prizes time efficiency (“tai-pa,” short for time performance). On 5ch, commenters focused less on the knife itself and more on the cutting board, with remarks like “the cutting board is the real hassle to wash” and “kitchen scissors are actually harder to clean” — with people who tear vegetables by hand, scissors loyalists, and those who rely on frozen pre-cut veggies all sharing their own specific shortcuts. Meanwhile, some praised the pleasure of sharpening a knife on a whetstone, showing that just how much effort people are willing to cut varies from person to person.

    Published Mon, 8/31, 3:00 PM

    AERA DIGITAL

    “Knife-cancel” cooking is spreading, especially among younger generations. A decade ago it might have been seen negatively as “cutting corners,” but in this dual-income era that prizes time efficiency, this cooking trend hints at a broader shift in values. From the September 7, 2026 issue of AERA.

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

    3AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:33
    I'm already sick of this whole "-cancel" fad.
    33AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:41
    Re: #3 Feels like the useless mainstream media ("mass-gomi") is just clinging to this for content, lol
    52AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:44
    Re: #3
    And so begins the cancellation of the "-cancel" fad itself.
    5AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:33
    Scissors are way more of a pain to wash, though.
    17AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:37
    Re: #5
    That's why you just tear it by hand.
    44AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:43
    Re: #5
    That's exactly why I bought stainless kitchen scissors from Tsubame-Sanjo (a region famous for Japanese cutlery).
    The kind you can take apart and put in the dishwasher.
    Cost about 5,000 yen, which felt like a splurge for me, but I plan to use it for life and get my money's worth.
    200AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:13
    Re: #5
    Being able to hang it up after washing is a huge plus.
    6AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:34
    It's not the knife that's the pain, it's the cutting board.
    35AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:41
    Re: #6
    My cutting board is just a plastic sheet (like a school desk pad) — easy to wash.
    I've got a heavier one too, but that one's just for weighing down sandwiches.
    43AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:43
    Re: #6
    I think so too.
    If you slack on cleaning it properly, it turns into a black-mold mess in no time.
    66AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:48
    Re: #6
    It really bugs me how cutting eggplant or carrots stains the board.
    It won't wash out, smells like bleach if you try, and it's just a hassle.
    95AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:52
    Went to my local supermarket and noticed — they sell whetstones, but every knife on the shelf is stainless steel.
    Guess the sellers are reckless "Z-Warriors" too (a pun on Gen Z / "Z世代" and Dragon Ball's Z Warriors).
    118AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:56
    Re: #95
    Everyday knives are basically all stainless anyway, even forged Ginsan ("silver #3") ones. For a normal household, a VG10-clad blade is plenty. For ease of sharpening, you want the hardness (HRC) under 60. Carbon steel sharpens easily and holds a great edge, but it rusts, discolors, and can leave a metallic taste.
    125AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:57
    Re: #118
    Like a katana, it comes down to the sheath/care as much as the material — your reply made the gap in knowledge pretty clear.
    135AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:58
    Re: #118
    Tojiro's good enough, right? (a well-known Japanese knife brand)
    120AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:56
    Keep running from shredding cabbage forever and you'll die young — shredded cabbage is the cheapest way to get a ton of raw-vegetable nutrition.
    132AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:58
    Re: #120
    Cabepii Max! (a cabbage-shredder gadget)
    137AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:58
    Re: #120
    For an average household, a Benriner (mandoline slicer) is plenty. Even Michelin-starred restaurants use the commercial-grade Benriner.
    126AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:57
    Don't you care about shredding cabbage as finely as possible?
    Buying a good knife and whetstone just for that…
    What a boring life.
    144AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:59
    Re: #126
    Shredded cabbage alone isn't even that tasty.
    That's just not the point.
    159AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:02
    Re: #126 Don't you just use a dedicated cabbage peeler?
    149AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:00
    When you're as lazy as me, you just dump pre-cut frozen veggies from Gyomu Super (a discount wholesale supermarket chain) and thawed thin-sliced pork straight into the frying pan and stir-fry.
    Don't even touch a pair of scissors.
    161AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:02
    Re: #149
    Same — curry vegetables are such a pain that I just get them from Gyomu Super too.
    163AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:02
    Re: #149
    Some people eat out and order delivery only — they don't even need a kitchen.
    165AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:02
    I tear everything by hand, honey!! I'm gay, but I love making pasta. On my days off I make pasta for lunch. Lately it's been mushroom, shrimp, and zucchini!


    174AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:05
    Got lazy today and cut the garnish scallions for my ramen with kitchen scissors — the flavor really suffered.
    A proper knife is worth keeping around after all.
    Doubles as home security too.
    182AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:07
    Re: #174
    At the end of the day, chopping scallions with a knife right before serving just gives the best flavor.
    194AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:11
    Re: #182
    A santoku or nakiri knife is too big, so lately I do everything with just a petty knife. Though obviously something like napa cabbage is out of the question.
    203AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:13
    Re: #182
    The fibers got all torn up and the texture was terrible.
    Scissors are only good when you're really in a hurry or cutting nori.
    187AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:09
    Washing up is the real hassle.
    Without a dishwasher, I wouldn't cook at all.
    193AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:10
    Re: #187
    Truly a lifesaver.
    We even switched to all flat plastic plates from the 100-yen store just to make them dishwasher-friendly lol
    201AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:13
    Re: #187
    Washing dishes is the best part, isn't it?
    I stockpile huge amounts of Charmy Green (a classic Japanese dish soap) to preserve the proper Japanese kitchen aesthetic.

    Charmy Green
    Kaneyo scouring powder
    A white cotton dish towel
    A wooden cutting board

    Without these it's not even a real kitchen.

    Concentrated detergent?
    A plastic cutting board?
    Cream cleanser?

    Don't even talk to me about that stuff (^ω^)
    207AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:14
    Re: #194
    I eat a lot of kabocha squash so I bought a Chinese cleaver.
    Can't do delicate cuts with it, but it's just as handy as kitchen scissors lol
    221AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:17
    Re: #207
    I used to work part-time in the produce section at a supermarket — there's a dedicated kabocha cutter, and it's really handy. Not sure if regular consumers can buy one, though. We had to cut dozens of them into quarters every single day… doing that with just a knife would be brutal.
    250AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:23
    Re: #207
    I used to admire Chinese cleavers, but I own close to 20 knives and it's not among them lol. Since I fillet fish a lot, it would end up being the least useful knife in my collection.
    218AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:17
    Re: #201
    But let's be honest, the real thrill for guys is sharpening a knife on a whetstone.
    It even makes you want to sharpen the box cutters and scissors lying around the house.
    231AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:19
    Re: #218
    Sharpening scissors feels a bit different from sharpening a blade — it's more like "setting the teeth."
    Next thing you know you'll want to sharpen a saw too.
    261AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:27
    Re: #218
    Nah, not that. I once considered re-toothing a grater but lost motivation lol

    Background and Key Points of This Topic

    “[Something]-cancel” is a recent colloquial, social-media-style term for the life hack of skipping tedious steps — it usually doesn’t mean giving up the knife entirely, but rather partially replacing it with kitchen scissors or hand-tearing. The original article frames this against the backdrop of rising dual-income households and a growing emphasis on time efficiency, suggesting that attitudes toward “cutting corners” in cooking are shifting. Within the thread, opinion split between those embracing time-saving shortcuts and those who genuinely enjoy a sharp knife and the ritual of sharpening it on a whetstone — both sides revealing that what counts as “a hassle” differs from person to person. The strong chorus of comments saying the cutting board and dishwashing are more of a burden than the knife itself is a real-world detail not found in the original article.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (News Speed+) thread “[Tai-pa] “Knife-Cancel” Cooking Spreads Among Gen Z — The New “Effortless Homemade Cooking” Norm of the Dual-Income Era.”

  • Rui Hachimura Erupts for 30 as Japan Crushes Qatar by 100+ to Go 2-0 in World Cup Qualifying

    On August 31, Japan’s men’s basketball national team faced Qatar (Toyota Arena Tokyo) in the second match of Asian qualifying for the 2027 World Cup, with Rui Hachimura posting a team-high 30 points, including six 3-pointers. The team cruised to a lopsided win, topping 100 points and following their opening victory over Saudi Arabia with a second straight qualifying win. On the 5ch Geinou/Sports Express+ board, threads were full of praise for Hachimura’s scoring and physicality, while other posters debated how heavily the presence — or absence — of NBA-caliber players tips these games, drawing comparisons to Japan’s struggles in other sports.

    Aug 31 (Mon), 9:04 PM JST — Sponichi Annex

    ◇World Cup Asian 2nd Qualifying: Japan vs. Qatar (August 31, 2026, Toyota Arena Tokyo)

    On the 31st, Japan’s men’s basketball national team (world No. 22) faced Qatar (No. 76) in their second match of the 2027 World Cup Asian 2nd (final) qualifying round. Rui Hachimura (28, Clippers) starred with a team-high 30 points, including six 3-pointers. The team also cruised to a lopsided win, topping 100 points to move to 2-0 in final qualifying.

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

    5AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:10
    Hachimura really is insane.
    I figured the team would basically be a one-man Hachimura show, but the gravity he creates for everyone else is incredible too.
    8AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:11
    Re: #5
    You could really see how far Japanese basketball has grown.
    Used to be full of guys who'd get open off his gravity and still couldn't finish — now they're knocking it down left and right.
    6AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:11
    With Hachimura, Hawkinson, and Nabe (Watanabe) all in the lineup,
    you can rest any one of the three and the team still holds together — that's what makes them strong.
    74AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:35
    Re: #6
    Exactly. Back when coach Hovasse (Tom Hovasse) only had Hawkinson and Watanabe, he'd play both the whole game and they'd be gassed by the end. I figured once Hachimura joined he could finally rest one guy and cruise to the finish with room to spare — but then he went and played all three wire-to-wire anyway, like some coach from a scrappy underdog high school team.
    7AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:11
    Still, the real question is how they'd fare against teams like Iran or China.
    30AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:17
    Re: #7
    With Hachimura out there, they'd flat-out demolish them, no question.
    That's how big the gap is.
    Without him, they'd probably just lose like usual.
    13AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:13
    Re: #1
    >In the opening game on the 27th (28th JST) against Saudi Arabia, Hachimura had a monster game with a team-high 89 points.
    89 points, insane!
    17AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:13
    Re: #13
    Honestly, just let that guy play by himself at this point.
    16AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:13
    Without Hachimura and Kawamura it probably would've been a closer, more exciting game.
    24AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:15
    Re: #16
    Hawkinson: "You guys can say whatever you want, but…"
    25AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:15
    Hachimura really is a singularity for Japanese basketball. A guy this tall, this built, and this quick — you wouldn't even find that among 'haafu' players (people of mixed Japanese heritage).
    33AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:18
    Re: #25
    He's a bit of an outlier even by NBA standards.
    Having that gorilla-level physicality AND shooting better than pure shooters is just unreal.
    40AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:19
    Re: #25
    In terms of sheer muscle, Zion's got him beat.
    44AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:21
    Re: #25
    His shooting ability is just absurd.
    29AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:16
    I don't know much about basketball, but…
    seeing an NBA-starter-level guy in a game at today's level, the gap is on a whole different dimension.
    Makes you wonder what the actual Dream Team is even like.
    35AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:18
    Re: #29
    At the Olympics you can't win because the opponents are stacked with multiple NBA players.
    Japan could beat African teams, but they never end up in the same group.
    31AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:17
    NBA players really are just on another level.
    Winning internationally basically comes down to how many NBA players you can field.
    Basketball depends way more on individual talent than soccer does.
    43AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:20
    Re: #31
    Sure, that's true, but the team is strong because everyone has a clearly defined role.

    Hachimura can create his own shot, but he's also excellent playing off others.

    If you mix that up, basketball starts falling apart the way soccer does.

    The head coach really matters a ton in basketball.
    37AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:19
    Now that Ohtani's declined, is Hachimura the strongest Japanese athlete out there right now?
    45AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:21
    Re: #37
    Ohtani just needs some rest.
    Anyway, that aside, Inoue (likely boxer Naoya Inoue) is obviously on another level.
    42AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:20
    Re: #35
    That said, not many teams actually have a Hachimura-level player.
    France, Canada, Slovenia with Luka, Turkey with Şengün — those matchups would be tough, though.
    55AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:23
    Re: #42
    Forgot about getting demolished by Germany already?
    Only 12 teams make the Olympics.
    Given the rankings, even if Japan qualifies, they'll almost certainly draw two of USA/Canada/a European power in the group stage.
    It's basically hopeless.
    Last time, the one game they actually had a shot at winning — against Brazil — they got blown out.
    46AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:21
    That was exciting — really showed just how different an NBA-starter level actually is.
    With soccer's Kubo, you honestly can't tell the difference at all… makes you wonder if he's even needed.
    100AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:45
    Re: #46
    If Kubo hadn't gotten injured, they could've brought on Junya Ito in the second half against Brazil, and things might've gone differently.
    57AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:25
    Basketball has so many more scoring chances that having one otherworldly player makes a way bigger impact than in baseball or soccer.
    64AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:29
    Re: #57
    Exactly. Basketball is fundamentally 1-on-1. On a small court, it's a game of the strong guy hunting mismatches against the weak guy over and over.
    And if they send a double-team, someone else gets open. Whoever kept defending old man Hovasse by saying Japan would be fine without Hachimura clearly didn't understand basketball at all.
    91AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:40
    Hey, soccer team, dominate like this too, would you?
    Don't go losing to a team like Qatar, Poichi (nickname for national team manager Hajime Moriyasu).
    95AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:44
    Re: #91
    Japan's soccer team made the Olympic semifinals and quarterfinals — they probably don't want to hear that from a basketball team that's gone winless at the last two straight Olympics.

    And in Paris, both the men's and women's basketball teams went 0-6.
    Add up every win from Japan's men's and women's basketball, volleyball, and rugby teams combined, and it's still fewer than the men's and women's soccer teams got on their own.
    131AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:03
    Re: #91
    Surely soccer would crush a No. 76-ranked team too, right?
    They blew out Tunisia, after all.

    Background and Talking Points

    This match was the second game of the 2027 World Cup Asian second (final) qualifying round, with world No. 22 Japan defeating No. 76 Qatar by topping 100 points. Coming after their opening win over Saudi Arabia, it gave Japan a 2-0 start to final qualifying. Rui Hachimura, an NBA player, was the difference-maker, with the talent gap translating directly into the team’s scoring output. Most thread comments praised the performance, but given the ranking gap with Qatar, some posters tempered the optimism, asking how Japan would fare against teams like Iran or China — suggesting a lopsided win over a weaker opponent shouldn’t be equated with competitiveness against top-tier nations. The discussion also drew comparisons to Japan’s national soccer team, which was reportedly struggling around the same time, developing into a broader debate about how much having NBA-caliber players matters across different sports at the international level.

    *This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Geinou/Sports Express+) thread “[Men’s Basketball] Rui Hachimura Erupts for 30 Points! 6 Threes & a Thunderous Dunk — Japan Wins 2-0, Tops 100 Points in Back-to-Back Blowouts“.

  • ‘I want a relationship without sex’ post sparks debate on 5ch

    A post on 5ch’s Newsoku VIP board titled “I’m so sex-averse my relationships never work out” set off a discussion. The poster, a woman, said every man she’s ever met tells her he won’t date her without sex, and asked whether she’s the weird one. The thread split over questions like: what actually separates a romantic relationship from a friendship, how should a partner’s libido be satisfied if you don’t want sex, and whether couples just have less sex after marriage anyway — with some users sharing their own experience of long-term relationships that never turned physical.

    1AnonymousAug 31, 2026 20:40
    I'm a woman, but I'm so sex-averse my relationships never work out.
    Every guy I meet says he won't date me if we can't have sex — am I the weird one here?
    5AnonymousAug 31, 2026 20:44
    Isn't it just that, minus sex, you don't have anything else going for you compared to other women (who do have sex)?
    12AnonymousAug 31, 2026 20:50
    Why not just be friends then? What's the point of dating?
    13AnonymousAug 31, 2026 20:52
    Re: #12
    With friends you can always keep your distance, right? A partner = someone more important to you than a friend, that's how I see it
    21AnonymousAug 31, 2026 20:58
    So why don't you want to have sex so badly, then?
    26AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:02
    Re: #21
    I just don't feel like it, honestly. For women it's basically nothing but risk, and I hate the idea of my body being used
    29AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:03
    Re: #26
    Is it just penetration you don't like? If you're also against being touched or kissing, that's gonna be tough
    162AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:56
    Re: #26
    The feeling of my body being "used" already makes it feel like they're not seeing me as a person — I can't do it
    24AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:00
    What are you gonna do once you're married?
    27AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:02
    Re: #24
    If anything, most couples stop having sex once they're married. Honestly I'd rather start the relationship already in that state
    31AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:03
    Re: #27
    That's just both of you getting bored of each other
    30AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:03
    I mean, I'm totally fine with normal physical affection — is that not enough? I'd get it if someone wanted kids, but I really don't understand people who want sex even when they don't want kids
    36AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:05
    Re: #30
    If your partner has a normal sex drive, where do you think they should go to satisfy it?
    96AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:36
    As a kid you could fall for someone without any sexual desire involved — I don't get why adults can only fall in love if sex is part of the deal
    124AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:41
    Re: #96
    Because puberty happens. Biologically speaking
    108AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:39
    What do you even want out of dating someone?
    117AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:40
    Re: #108
    Going places together, spending time together, sure, but I want to become part of that person's life. You can totally do that without sex
    122AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:41
    Re: #117
    Isn't that just… a boyfriend, though?
    125AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:42
    Re: #117
    How do you deal with sexual release, then? Asking seriously
    135AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:46
    If guys are after women's bodies, then women are after men's money, huh
    139AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:47
    Re: #135
    I mean, some people are like that, sure
    142AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:47
    Re: #135
    Not really, in my case. I'd be fine with a guy who earns less than me or even works part-time — as long as he stays with me, that's enough
    140AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:47
    I go on trips and stuff with a coworker who's the same age as my wife, and we've gone five years with no physical relationship. We just click, our taste in food and everything lines up, and just spending time together is enough to satisfy me
    161AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:56
    Re: #140
    Are we just gonna let this slide?
    187AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:09
    Re: #182
    The problem is doing this with someone else while you have a wife. So just leave your wife, then?
    199AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:12
    Re: #187
    My wife is my wife. We're just on business trips together for work — being called a cheater over that is honestly insulting. I've never thought of her as anything but a coworker, then or now. I don't want her body, and I'd turn her down even if she wanted mine
    201AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:13
    Re: #199
    From how Re: #140 wrote it I assumed it was personal, but if it's really just work forcing you to travel with a woman, then, well, respect for holding the line
    147AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:50
    Because I genuinely don't get why anyone would be so attached to something you won't die without doing.
    It's not just sex — material desire, appetite, all forms of "want" are basically pointless. Sleep is the one exception since you'll die without it, so that one's unavoidable
    151AnonymousAug 31, 2026 21:51
    Re: #147
    By that logic, whatever you want out of a boyfriend is a pointless desire too.
    So you don't need to date anyone
    193AnonymousAug 31, 2026 22:10
    Re: #147
    And you don't need to be attached to connecting with people or living alongside them either, then

    Background and key points of the debate

    The term “sex-averse” used by the poster is a self-description, not a medical diagnosis. The thread mainly split over two questions: how to distinguish a romantic relationship from a friendship, and how a partner’s sex drive should be satisfied if the couple isn’t having sex. Some pointed out that many married couples end up having less sex anyway, with some users saying what matters is that the relationship continues, not whether sex is part of it. Others shared their own experience of spending years with someone without ever becoming physical, suggesting that whether sex is a prerequisite for a relationship varies hugely depending on the person. Some replies pushed too far into the poster’s health or upbringing, or made sweeping generalizations about women, and those have been left out of this writeup.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Newsoku VIP) thread “Can guys not date a woman without sex?“