Author: Japan Reacts Editorial

  • Juice=Juice’s New Song Hits 7,911 TikTok Uses — but Is That Really a “Hit”?

    On the Hello! Project messageboard, the number of TikTok videos using Juice=Juice’s song “Kurakura☆Climax” became a hot topic. The figure cited was 7,911, beating out Morning Musume’s 1,369, BEYOOOOONDS’ 1,233, Tsubaki Factory’s 848, and Angerme’s 725. However, many pointed out that this pales next to the earlier buzz around “Moretara Kochira de” (aka “Moremi”), and the thread split over whether this really counts as a genuine "trend" at all.

    2AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:56
    Even the members themselves have noticed "Kurakura" getting played more often lately
    3AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:03
    Re: #1
    Current TikTok usage counts for each Hello! Project group's push single:

    7,911 Juice=Juice


    1,369 Morning Musume.


    1,233 BEYOOOOONDS


    *,848 Tsubaki Factory


    *,725 Angerme
    17AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:14
    Re: #3
    So Tsubaki's gone up 60 in three days?
    4 Anonymous (default poster name) 2026/10/03 (Sat) 07:14:43.80 0
    787
    48AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:00
    Re: #3
    The way these numbers are being counted doesn't seem to be a pure measure of actual song usage.
    To put it in extreme terms — if an account literally named "Kurakura☆Climax" uploaded 7,911 videos set to a completely different song, those would still get counted here.
    5AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:04


    Only a measly 7,900 uses
    Hello! Project "villagers" (slang for the fandom's insular bubble) really need to look outside once in a while
    9AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:07
    Re: #5
    Exactly this.
    Angerme and Musume's new songs are being used at like 10x that level.
    Juice fans need to look outside their bubble.
    11AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:09
    Re: #5
    Even within the Hello! Project bubble, that's bottom-tier.
    22AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:20
    Re: #5 Re: #1
    That's not good at all.
    Why are you lying about it?
    6AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:05
    "Look outside" nothing — given they're doing basically zero active promotion, this is actually decent.
    They're not pulling the technical tricks other agencies use, like getting influencers to post at the exact same day and time.
    10AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:07
    Re: #6
    If we're just saying "decent by Hello! Project standards," sure, fair enough.
    But the thread title said "trend," so I was just offering a sober correction.
    24AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:21
    Re: #6
    It's just "the one that comes after Moremi," that's all.
    12AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:10
    Re: #10
    Exactly.
    They're calling it a trend by comparing it to Moremi, but Moremi itself never actually trended either — it was just hype within the fan bubble.
    13AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:10
    Honestly, if Hello! Project starts pulling technical tricks beyond this,
    it'd get annoying. "At this level, please don't get too aggressive about it" is probably closer to how people really feel.
    14AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:11
    Like a Nikkei article mentioned, compared to other agencies Hello! Project basically does nothing on social media.
    On TikTok, their own-account video output is about 1/50th of Kawaii Lab's.
    15AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:13
    It's 1/200th.
    Last year they put in real effort on various fronts and got it up to 1/50th.
    16AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:13
    Re: #10
    I get it.
    Angerme and Musume's songs are the ones that are actually trending.
    18AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:14
    Harumi Ogata's new idol group is dancing to Kurakura too
    19AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:19
    Re: #17
    That's way too few.
    Calling this "almost going viral" is exactly why people mock it.
    45AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:54
    Re: #19
    When Moremi was "almost going viral," how many uses did it have one month after release?
    20AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:19
    Johnny's is the same way — given their scale and fandom size, their TikTok and Spotify presence is surprisingly weak.
    Since they were one of the last agencies to get on board, a fan-support culture that skips TikTok and streaming subscriptions is deeply ingrained.
    Changing that will probably take about two years.
    23AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:21
    Re: #20
    It's simply that there aren't many young fans.
    21AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:19
    People need to accept the reality that even Moremi only hit 60,000.
    25AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:21
    Re: #21
    Put another way — as long as you're in Hello! Project, you can be all over TV without needing to hit Kawaii Lab-level numbers; 60,000 is plenty. So Hello! Project members outside Juice=Juice should take heart and aim for 60,000 first.
    26AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:22
    Re: #22
    No one's lying.
    The "villagers" don't know what's outside, so they genuinely believe this counts as going viral.
    Don't bully grandpa too much.
    28AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:23
    Re: #26
    It's a group that originally wasn't even treated as having "human rights" (idol-fandom slang for being neglected by management), so I think it's fair to call a song they get to perform on TV a "viral hit."
    32AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:25
    Re: #26
    Exactly this.
    Morning Musume and Angerme's latest songs are used way more, but "Juice" (nicknamed "Shiru," meaning "juice/broth") fans only know their own little community.
    27AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:23
    When your favorite group drops a new song, fans usually jump straight into action to help it go viral, right?
    Liking, saving, and commenting are the three things essential for boosting engagement, and fandoms generally do all of that automatically en masse.
    But I don't think Johnny's or Hello! Project fans do any of that at all.
    50AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:20
    Re: #27
    Johnny's fans definitely do that.
    They're constantly promoting in YouTube comments, and isn't the whole "you have to write view counts in symbols or you'll get flagged" thing a Johnny's-fan theory too?
    29AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:23
    A flop of a song.
    Plain garbage.
    31AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:25
    Re: #29
    Even if you insist "Ai = Un + En + On" is better than that garbage, "Ai = Un + En + On" is below garbage.
    47AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:59
    Re: #31
    "Ai = Un + En + On" was at least a small plus for Tsubaki, even if only slightly.
    Kurakura is a net negative — it's just not standing out because Moremi is overshadowing it.
    35AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:28
    If we're going there, "Glasses Boy" got used about 40,000 times, but UP-FRONT didn't move on it at all, and Roppongi didn't move either.
    40AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:33
    Re: #35
    BEYOOOOONDS can't help it — the members themselves have caught "artist syndrome" and don't want to do skits anymore.
    Also, "Toei" was being gently pushed at the time.
    37AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:30
    Even on this front, Juice is losing to Musume and Angerme.
    Where exactly is the viral hit here?
    41AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:36
    Even Bamiyan's had enough — they put up a "No Mononofu" sign (Mononofu = Momoiro Clover Z fan nickname), and even Lawson has half its profits eaten up by kwkm.
    42AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:38
    Re: #41
    Wrong thread, my bad —
    turns out it was a Mononofu posting anti comments, caught red-handed.
    58AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:27
    That's why I'm saying Kurakura is a good song.
    Only the highly skilled members of Juice can really pull it off,
    but because Moremi was just too amazing, it inevitably gets compared.
    61AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:32
    Re: #58
    I'm not knocking personal taste, but no matter how much you insist it's good, I just can't see it that way.
    That's really all there is to it.
    The numbers don't lie either, that's all.

    Background and Key Points of This Debate

    The “TikTok usage count” cited in the thread measures how many videos used the same song — a different metric from view counts or actual virality. As >>48 points out, if an account named after the song itself posts a large volume of unrelated videos, the count can get inflated, so the figure needs to be read with caution. Also, as noted in >>14 and >>15, Hello! Project is said to post far fewer videos on its own social media accounts, including TikTok, than rival agencies — leading some to call this count “a solid showing given they’re doing almost nothing.” On the other hand, “Moretara Kochira de,” the comparison point raised in the thread, reportedly only reached around 60,000 uses at its peak, meaning Hello! Project’s overall social media footprint is relatively small within the industry — and that gap is at the heart of the disagreement over how to read today’s numbers.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project) thread “Juice=Juice’s “Kurakura☆Climax” Is Apparently Blowing Up on TikTok Without Anyone Noticing lolololololol.”

  • Hacker Claims to Be Selling Data on 101 Million Rakuten Members, Posts Sample — Authenticity Unverified

    On October 4, 2026, a post appeared on a cybercrime forum claiming to be “selling approximately 101 million Rakuten member records for $700.” The sample data reportedly includes names, email addresses, home addresses, dates of birth, and Rakuten Point balances, but the source of the leak and the authenticity of the data remain unverified. On 5ch, the thread lit up with a mix of reactions — shock that the number approaches the size of Japan’s entire population, calm reminders of past phishing attacks targeting Rakuten, and debates about the limits of password-based authentication.

    Hacker Claims to Be Selling Personal Data on 101 Million Rakuten Members — Sample Includes Name, Address, and Point Balance Info; Source and Authenticity Unverified

    On October 4, 2026, a post titled “SELLING Rakuten Japan 101M” appeared on a cybercrime forum, offering for sale approximately 101 million records described as Rakuten member data.

    The seller describes the data as a “rakuten.co.jp database,” listing the total record count as “101M” and the price as $700. The post includes several sample lines of data containing names, email addresses, phone numbers, home addresses, dates of birth, membership rank, Rakuten Point balances, and last login timestamps.

    Source: rocket-boys.co.jp / Original article here

    6AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:22
    I got rejected for a Rakuten credit card, so I'm safe!
    Sucks to be you guys 😂😂😂😂
    33AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:25
    Re: #6
    You still handed over your personal info applying, so you're screwed too
    168AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:40
    Re: #6
    Heard you can get approved even writing "sniper" in the occupation field
    38AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:26
    >> Source and authenticity unverified
    Quit writing garbage clickbait articles off unverified leaks
    73AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:30
    Re: #38
    The fact-check-free trash media (masugomi) strikes again lol
    40AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:27
    Rakuten alone is still survivable.
    But if Amazon ("Ama") gets hit too, I'll never be able to get married (´・ω・`)
    54AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:28
    Re: #40
    Come on over, I'll take real good care of you~
    55AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:28
    Guess we're heading into an age of 100 million passkey users.
    The ID-and-password era is officially dead.
    70AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:30
    Re: #55
    Yep, the era of text passwords being useless is here.
    Came faster than expected, but it was bound to happen sooner or later.
    59AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:29
    Rakuten already had that scandal where unauthorized access got people's brokerage accounts forced into buying garbage stocks.
    A data leak barely surprises me at this point.
    75AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:31
    Re: #59
    That one was a phishing scam, so plenty of other companies got hit too, not just Rakuten.
    Feels like after that they bolted on biometric auth, two-factor auth, email alerts, then yet another layer of authentication on top.
    74AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:30
    At this point basically every Japanese person has had some kind of info leaked somewhere.
    151AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:38
    Re: #74
    Keep slacking off like that and the tokuryu (loosely organized scam crews recruited online) will come for you!
    76AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:31
    This is basically a nationwide naked festival (hadaka matsuri) — everybody's exposed.
    83AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:31
    Re: #76
    Even so, apparently it's way worse overseas.
    87AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:32
    Re: #83
    Now I'm worried about Amazon.
    79AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:31
    Well, as long as you haven't linked your bank account to e-money, you should be fine.
    Though it might be game over for all the smug cashless-payment show-offs.
    88AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:32
    Re: #79
    Banks will get hit eventually too.
    93AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:32
    Re: #79
    Mine's linked, but I've got biometric auth on everything so I don't think it can actually be used.
    Plus I basically only use my bank account for automatic debits anyway, and I've set my daily withdrawal and transfer limits to the bare minimum.
    84AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:31
    If they'd just wipe out my revolving credit balance, I'd root for the hackers.
    96AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:33
    Re: #84
    Same thought lol
    like, if only they'd wipe my debt clean.
    101AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:33
    Info on over 100 million people — Japan's population is about 120 million, so that means roughly 90% of everyone's personal info got taken.
    128AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:36
    Re: #101
    Though surely that count is padded with a ton of duplicate accounts.
    132AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:36
    Re: #101
    Foreign residents living in Japan can sign up too, you know.
    103AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:33
    Those were the days.
    Let's just go back to the Showa era.
    106AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:34
    Re: #103
    That era was full of scams too, you know.
    176AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:41
    Re: #103
    Switching back to paper forms would cut down on data leaks too.
    110AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:34
    If this happened to Google or someone in the US, everyone would be asking 'wait, can AI even protect anything?' and it'd be absolute pandemonium.
    126AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:36
    Re: #110
    Everything's optimized for offense these days.
    Even US news coverage is all about the attacks, never the defense.
    209AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:44
    Re: #110
    Big companies hold way more data, so the damage ends up bigger when they get hit.
    131AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:36
    Isn't it weird how foreign-owned services barely get targeted at all (´・д・`)?
    135AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:37
    Re: #131
    Maybe they're just better at defending themselves? 🥺
    148AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:37
    Re: #131
    Unlike Japanese companies, they actually take security seriously.
    I mean, Japan can't even handle My Number (the national ID system) properly — that's hilarious lmao
    234AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:47
    Wait, Rakuten really has 100 million members?
    238AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:47
    Re: #234
    That's probably counting duplicate sign-ups.
    242AnonymousOct 6, 2026 15:48
    Re: #234
    Most Rakuten members are Japanese, so if data on just over 100 million people got taken out of Japan's population of 120 million, that basically means most of the country's info is out there.

    Background and Key Points of the Discussion

    Posts advertising “data for sale” on cybercrime forums commonly inflate record counts and prices to lure buyers, so even if the sample rows turn out to be genuine, the authenticity and origin of the full dataset are a separate issue. The article makes no mention of any official breach disclosure from Rakuten, and the thread repeatedly circled back to the premise that “the source and authenticity remain unverified.” The figure of 101 million roughly matches Japan’s population of about 120 million, but as commenters noted, the total likely includes duplicate sign-ups from the same person as well as foreign residents, so reading it simply as “almost every citizen’s data was leaked” would be premature. Rakuten has also previously made headlines over phishing attacks targeting brokerage accounts — but that involved scammers tricking users into entering their own information on fake sites, not unauthorized access, a distinction that’s easy to confuse with this latest sales claim.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (News Speed+) thread “Hacker Claims to Be Selling Personal Data on 101 Million Rakuten Members — Sample Includes Name, Address, and Point Balance Info; Source and Authenticity Unverified.”

  • Tottori Prefecture’s Population Hits Nationwide Low of 523,073 — 5ch: ‘That’s 200,000 Fewer Than the City of Saitama’

    In finalized results from the 2025 national census released by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications on September 29, Tottori Prefecture’s population came in at 523,073 — the lowest of all 47 prefectures. The decline of 30,334 people and the 5.5% drop rate from the previous 2020 census were both the largest since records began in 1920, and it was also the first time every one of the prefecture’s 19 municipalities saw population decline. On 5ch’s News Flash+ (Newssoku+) board, commenters piled on comparing Tottori’s population to other cities and Tokyo’s special wards, with many expressing surprise while citing specific places like the city of Saitama, Hachioji, and Koto Ward. Meanwhile, plenty of posts also revisited proposals to merge with Shimane Prefecture and looked back at the history of prefectures being split and merged in the past.

    The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications released the finalized results of the census — conducted every five years — on September 29. As of October 1, 2025, Tottori Prefecture’s population stood at 523,073 (250,396 men and 272,677 women), the lowest of any prefecture, down 30,334 from the previous count in 2020.

    According to the prefecture, both the decline in numbers and the decline rate (5.5%) were the largest since the census began in 1920 (Taisho 9). It was also the first time since the census began that all 19 municipalities in the prefecture saw a population decrease compared to the previous survey. By municipality, six towns saw declines of over 10%, including Wakasa (down 18.4%), Nichinan (down 14.6%), and Hino (down 14.3%).

    Additionally, the proportion of the prefecture’s “working-age population” (ages 15-64) fell to 54.3%, the lowest since the census began. The number of foreign residents in the prefecture rose to 6,088, an increase of 1,450 (31.3%) from the previous count.

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

    7AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:23
    Even if Tottori and Shimane merged, they'd still have 200,000 fewer people than the city of Saitama
    9AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:24
    Re: #7
    So a prefecture is losing to a city now…
    11AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:25
    Re: #9
    It's even losing to Hachioji
    57AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:43
    Re: #9
    Shikoku is in trouble too — even all four Shikoku prefectures combined have fewer people than the city of Yokohama. Ehime barely clears 1 million on its own.
    13AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:26
    Re: #1
    With falling birth rates, there aren't enough workers or people to support the social safety net, so we're heading toward a world where you work until you die.

    If you don't want that,

    working-age people need to have three or more kids,

    current seniors should keep working until their healthy life expectancy runs out,

    and society needs to stop tolerating freeloading NEETs (people Not in Education, Employment, or Training).
    115AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:00
    Re: #13
    Then the government should provide jobs for people, shouldn't it
    193AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:32
    Re: #13
    I don't think there's any obligation to pay welfare to people who haven't worked, paid taxes, or paid into pension
    14AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:26
    Might as well just fill it up with immigrants, like the government apparently wants
    23AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:29
    Re: #14
    Well, at this rate it'll be a genuine ghost region in like 20 years
    24AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:29
    Where people move to
    LOL, they're getting sucked into neighboring Shimane

    Shimane Prefecture (12.7%) is the top destination, followed by Osaka (11.3%), Hyogo (10.2%), Hiroshima (9.9%), and Okayama (8.0%)

    https://www.pref.tottori.lg.jp/38472.htm
    101AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:56
    Re: #24
    I live in the Kanto area so honestly I kind of just lump them together as practically one prefecture, but I guess Shimane's the better option? Now I'm curious where people from Shimane move to, though.
    104AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:57
    Re: #24
    Wait, seriously? lol
    What's even in Shimane?
    158AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:17
    Re: #24
    Shimane was actually the #2 destination

    Osaka (12.3%) is the largest, followed by Shimane (11.3%), Hyogo (9.7%), Hiroshima (9.4%), and Okayama (8.0%) — these five neighboring prefectures account for over half (50.6%) of all moves out of the prefecture.
    32AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:31
    33 Koto Ward Tokyo 524,310
    34 Utsunomiya City Tochigi 518,757

    That's about where it stands right now
    47AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:39
    Re: #32
    Koto Ward's population is actually growing — places like Toyosu are packed with kids
    50AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:41
    They should just merge with Shimane already — they used to be one prefecture anyway

    From August 21, 1876 (Meiji 9) to September 12, 1881 (Meiji 14), for about five years, Tottori Prefecture was absorbed into Shimane Prefecture as a single unit.
    75AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:48
    Re: #50
    Oh, back around then, huh
    94AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:54
    Re: #75
    Weren't Miyazaki, Saga, Tokushima, Kagawa, Nara, and Fukui also abolished back then too?

    Those ought to get merged as well
    117AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:01
    Re: #75
    Ehime and Kochi, lol, that's a good one
    70AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:47
    Koto Ward, the 8th-biggest of Tokyo's special wards, has 524,000 people

    Setagaya Ward 943,664
    Nerima Ward 752,608
    Ota Ward 748,081
    Edogawa Ward 697,932
    Adachi Ward 695,043
    Suginami Ward 591,108
    Itabashi Ward 584,483

    Tottori should just get folded into Tokyo and become 'Tottori Ward'
    152AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:13
    Re: #70
    Other way around!
    I think it'd be better to fold Setagaya Ward into Tottori Prefecture
    77AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:48
    I live in Tottori and my office rent is 2,000 yen (roughly $13) — electricity included
    81AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:50
    Re: #77
    Guess people with no money should just move to Tottori then
    88AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:52
    My wife's family is from Tottori so I go there all the time, but it's a mystery where most people actually work — her dad's a former civil servant. Is the whole place held up by government workers alone?
    91AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:54
    Re: #88
    There's farmland, there are fishing ports, and there are shops too — country-style, but they're there
    97AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:55
    Hyogo Prefecture was stitched together from:
    Settsu of the Kinai region (split off from Osaka)
    Tanba of the San'in region (split off from Kyoto, later partly absorbed into Osaka too), and Tajima
    Harima, Bizen (Fukura in Ako City), and Mimasaka (part of Sayo Town, Sayo District) of the San'yo region
    Awaji of the Nankai region
    which is why it ends up spanning both the Sea of Japan side and the Seto Inland Sea side
    https://kotobank.jp/image/dictionary/nipponica/media/81306024018325.jpg
    100AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:56
    You're all having a laugh about this, but the disappearance of rural areas eventually leads to the disappearance of the big cities and Tokyo too — meaning the disappearance of Japan itself. You get that, right?
    102AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:56
    Prefectural declining-birthrate ranking
    113AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:00
    The only option left is to merge with Shimane and become 'Tottori City, Shimane Prefecture'
    118AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:01
    Re: #113
    Too far from Matsue
    119AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:02
    Wasn't this the prefecture whose governor came out against raising the minimum wage — or was it the one next door?
    131AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:06
    Re: #119
    In an era where entry-level pay for appliance store sales clerks tops 400,000 yen (about $2,700) a month, being against a minimum wage hike is just going to make everyone leave
    129AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:05
    They've got Detective Conan, Kitaro, and Izumo Taisha Shrine — so why is it like this?!
    145AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:10
    Re: #129
    Izumo is in Shimane Prefecture
    132AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:06
    They should merge into 'Shima-tori' Prefecture (a pun splicing the kanji of Shimane and Tottori)
    136AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:07
    Re: #132
    Correct answer
    Tottori Prefecture would be better off as part of Shimane Prefecture
    138AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:08
    Re: #132
    What do we even call it then, 'Chiri'? (a pun — チリ can read as 'scraps/dust' or as the country Chile)

    Background and key points of this discussion

    Tottori was already the least-populous prefecture in the country, so it’s easy to overlook that this result isn’t a ‘first-ever fall to last place’ — it’s simply the existing record-holder breaking its own record further. In the outmigration data that came up on the thread, neighboring prefectures — Shimane, Osaka, Hyogo, Hiroshima, and Okayama — top the list, showing that most people leaving Tottori are moving to nearby cities within commuting or school-commuting range rather than farther afield. Posts proposing mergers or joking that Tottori ‘should just become a Tokyo ward’ aren’t serious policy arguments — they’re spreading as a lighthearted, intuitive way of grasping the scale of the population figures. The drop in the working-age population share to a record-low 54.3% is a metric directly tied to future tax revenue and the shrinking pool of people supporting the social safety net, and in practical terms it may carry more weight than the overall population decline itself.

    *This article is composed of excerpts and a summary from the 5ch (News Flash+) thread “Tottori Prefecture’s Population Hits Nationwide Low of 523,073 — Both Decline Count and Rate at Record Highs.”

  • Shohei Ohtani Dropped to 7th in Batting Order — 5ch Split Over His Slump

    Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani batting 7th in a recent game became a hot topic on 5ch’s “Anything Live Broadcast G” board. With his batting numbers stalling late in the season, many posters floated giving bench player DePaula more playing time, or pointed out where Ohtani now sits in the team’s pecking order. Others pushed back, arguing expectations for Ohtani are simply set too high — so even average numbers get him criticized — while some praised the positive ripple effect on the pitching staff. Opinion in the thread stayed split throughout.

    1AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:07
    1. Betts
    2. Freeman
    3. Smith
    4AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:09
    Honestly, he's lucky they're even letting him play at all.
    8AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:10
    A DH batting near the bottom of the order is basically cursed gear (a game item you equip and then can't take off).
    11AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:10
    So he's ranked below lefties Freeman, Muncy, and Tucker now?
    13AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:11
    Can this guy seriously turn it around from here?
    14AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:11
    Cy Young lefty hits 100 mph for the first time in 8 years — thanks to Ohtani? Set to start Game 3 against the Dodgers, could this be the spark that turns Ohtani's own slump around too?
    https://sports.yahoo.co.jp/column/detail/2026100600001-spnavi

    > A 37-year-old's hidden potential, unlocked by Ohtani. That's really not an exaggeration.



    But hey, Ohtani's the one who unlocked Sale's potential, so…
    35AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:16
    Re: #14
    The 100 mph that Ohtani unlocked 👈
    18AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:12
    Over on the English-language forums, more and more people are calling for DePaula to start.
    I mean, 92 plate appearances with zero home runs and one RBI? Of course he's getting ripped for that.
    20AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:13
    Meanwhile Betts is hitting .000, lol
    33AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:15
    Re: #20
    Yeah, everyone's cooled off since the "jinx" (sarcastic nickname implying Ohtani brings bad luck) came back — same goes for Tucker.
    21AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:13
    If he's just going to hit 7th anyway, might as well put in someone who can actually hit and move him to defense instead.
    22AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:14
    This is honestly embarrassing.
    If he goes hitless batting 7th and the team loses too, he's getting benched next game.
    Otherwise Roberts might end up getting fired.
    23AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:14
    He can't hit in clutch situations and he's a human strikeout fan (slang for a hitter who just whiffs over and over) — 7th is exactly where he belongs.
    24AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:14
    He may have the MVP locked up over Ohtani, but… "a certified loser" — 24-year-old star's off-field behavior sparks controversy, called "obnoxious"
    https://full-count.jp/2026/10/01/post2024501/


    "Compare him to Ohtani? Lol"… MVP favorite PCA "falls off a cliff" — .125 OPS draws laughter, "what a scam"
    https://full-count.jp/2026/10/02/post2024937/



    But hey, since Ohtani's rivals are flopping too, no real harm done.
    36AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:16
    Re: #24
    This article acts like every single comment in it is gospel.
    26AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:14
    Also,
    if the team wins the World Series with Ohtani contributing basically nothing, that's going to feel pretty anticlimactic lol
    28AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:14
    Re: #19
    If the whole theory is putting a power hitter at number 7, then putting Ohtani there kind of defeats the point, no?
    29AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:15
    If his bat doesn't come around before the World Series, DePaula might seriously take his starting spot.
    31AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:15
    A DH who can't hit is worth exactly zero.
    34AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:16
    Is there even a point to playing him at this stage?
    For the sake of the rest of the team,
    might as well just cut him.
    43AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:20
    No matter how much you guys trash Ohtani, he's never getting benched, and DePaula is never taking his spot.
    Friedman has a say in lineup decisions, after all.
    49AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:22
    Re: #43
    They actually listen to the local fans over there, so he'll be gone before long.
    45AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:21
    At this point he's basically turning into the Dodgers' own Special Grade Cursed Object lol (Jujutsu Kaisen reference — a cursed item so dangerous only the strongest can handle it).
    58AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:30
    Re: #45
    Ever since Ohtani came back, Edman, Tucker, and Betts — who'd all been red hot before that — fell into slumps.
    The lineup chemistry that had been clicking got severed too…
    53AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:27
    If he takes a called strike on the first pitch, there's an 80% chance he strikes out.
    56AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:28
    Re: #53
    Man, his mental game is really weak.
    66AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:37
    It's genuinely sad watching "Otani-san" start getting treated the way old Matsui used to be (Hideki Matsui, former Yankees slugger criticized similarly late in his career).
    72AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:40
    Re: #66
    Old man Matsui didn't strike out this easily, so honestly this is worse.
    67AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:37
    Play defense already, defense!
    71AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:39
    Re: #67
    He can, it's just that he's too valuable on the mound for it to make sense. He can start playing defense once his arm's blown out.
    118AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:11
    Re: #67
    With that heavier build of his, first base is about all he could handle.
    If he tried playing outfield, his knees would definitely blow out and that'd be the end of him lol
    82AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:51
    He's got hits in two straight games and he's doing fine… so why all the hate?
    86AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:53
    Re: #82
    It's because a lot of clueless people think Ohtani's Superman. Plenty of batters are hitting worse than him, but expectations for Ohtani are set so absurdly high that even average numbers get him dragged.
    91AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:55
    Just let DePaula hit leadoff, that guy's insane (in a good way).
    96AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:56
    Re: #91
    Wait, is DePaula even on the active roster?

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    While Shohei Ohtani continues to take the mound as a pitcher, his batting has stalled late in the season, and he appears to have been slotted into the 7th spot based on the batting-order theory of placing power hitters lower in the lineup. The thread’s disagreement centered on whether his slump reflects a genuine decline in ability, or whether expectations for him were simply set unrealistically high from the start, making even ordinary numbers an easy target for criticism. It’s worth noting that topics raised in the thread — such as pitcher Chris Sale’s strong outing or the struggles of other MVP candidates — are separate news stories from Ohtani’s own batting slump, even though they came up together in the discussion. Also, speculation about contract terminations tied to a team sale is an unconfirmed rumor and is not covered in this article.

    *This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Anything Live Broadcast G) thread “[Sad News] Ohtani Dropped to 7th in the Batting Order.”

  • YouTuber “Despair Line Worker Ch”: Single, Low-Income, Temp-Worker Persona Exposed as Completely Fake

    The YouTube channel “Despair Line Worker Ch” (絶望ライン工ch) built its image around being run by a single, low-income temp factory worker — but it’s now been pointed out that the entire setup was fake, sparking a buzz on a 5ch live-commentary thread. The uploader reportedly does have genuine past experience working as a temp or dispatch factory hand, but appears to have kept milking that persona for ad revenue long after it stopped being true. Reactions in the thread ranged from matter-of-fact (“anyone can tell from the view count alone that he’s earning more than an average person”) to outright anger (“he wasted my time”), and the discussion spread into the broader reality behind similar “poverty YouTuber” channels.

    2AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:03
    No idea about the single-guy or temp-worker part, but I think anyone can tell from the view count alone that his income is clearly above average.
    18AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:12
    Re: #2
    Probably his factory-line income was higher than he let on too, honestly.
    3AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:05
    Haven't heard this guy's name in a while — kind of pathetic that he's now getting resentment thrown back at him by the "low-status men" (jakusha danshi, slang for socially/economically disadvantaged men) crowd that used to be his fanbase.
    4AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:05
    Where does lying like this actually stand under YouTube's terms of service?
    Also curious whether it counts as fraud under Japanese criminal law.
    28AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:16
    Re: #4
    I don't think it counts as fraud since he didn't directly con anyone out of money.
    No idea about the corporate terms of service though.
    5AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:05
    Are there actually people who think "poverty YouTubers" are genuinely poor?
    14AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:08
    Re: #5
    Forgot his name, but there's a heavyset YouTuber living in a run-down house that I honestly thought was really poor.
    His channel's blown up since then, so he's probably got money now.
    9AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:07
    Who cares, if people enjoyed watching it.
    17AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:11
    Re: #9
    Can't really say "no harm done" when people had their time wasted by a guy faking being a broke factory worker.
    11AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:07
    Real despair doesn't even leave you the energy to make videos — it should've been obvious it was fake.
    I really can't stand YouTube fanboy comment sections.
    26AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:16
    Re: #11
    Yeah, pretty much this.
    I mean, if you think about it, someone who can actually produce videos and pull in views isn't going to be a genuinely incompetent bottom-rung loser in real life.
    13AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:08
    Is it one of those "relatable factory-line-worker" type videos?
    19AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:12
    Re: #13
    Watched it once — he just travels somewhere domestic and silently eats food.
    Just empty content, the only thing "good" about it being the lack of pointless chatter.
    33AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:18
    Re: #16
    That's the one.
    Used to watch it a lot for a while.
    There was also some heavyset guy who cooked inside his Prius.
    34AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:19
    Re: #33
    Cooking in a Prius? Kind of want to see that now. Thanks (サンガツ, net slang for "thanks").
    44AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:26
    Even if he genuinely started at the bottom, once he gets popular he stops being that, so the whole premise inevitably collapses.
    I get that's a dilemma for the person himself, but viewers failing to notice the shift is a separate problem.
    51AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:31
    Re: #44
    Kind of like the "pure and innocent" persona in porn (AV), huh?
    57AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:41
    Everyone was watching because they thought there was someone worse off than them — makes sense people are angry finding out they were deceived and the guy's actually way better off.
    70AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:53
    Re: #57
    Seriously, this — you sympathize with someone precisely because they're below you.
    58AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:43
    Maybe I should start a YouTube channel too, with a persona of a single guy taking home about 150,000 yen a month.
    62AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:49
    Re: #58
    Stop hiding the fact that you're bald.
    61AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:47
    Someone who's actually at the bottom doesn't have time to run a YouTube channel.
    88AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:03
    Re: #61
    Seems like it's true he was once a temp or dispatch factory worker, but the lie is that he's still doing it now.
    In other words, he's pretending to still be on the factory floor while actually making money from YouTube and other ventures, having quit the factory job long ago.
    65AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:50
    I wonder if those "we're all just part-timers together" YouTuber channels are fake too.
    Do they just rent out the shop for filming?
    84AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:01
    Re: #65
    That's basically just theater.
    73AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:53
    I searched and found another guy doing something similar — he's probably not actually at the bottom either, right?
    76AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:55
    Re: #73
    If a quick search turns him up, he's definitely raking in ad revenue.
    Idiots just don't get that.
    82AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:00
    Re: #73
    Both "Useless Dispatch Worker Masao" and "Despair Line Worker" basically just post videos of themselves cooking with nothing interesting to say — normally nobody would watch that, but everyone tuned in because of the "I'm at the bottom" angle.
    91AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:04
    People end up watching this kind of stuff because they want the reassurance of looking down at someone "below" them.
    93AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:05
    Re: #91
    More like a "fellow sufferer" than someone "below" you, no?
    That's why people feel betrayed and get furious.

    Background and Key Points of This Story

    So-called “poverty” or “bottom-rung” YouTubers are a well-known genre that tends to draw viewer sympathy and easily rack up views. What complicates this particular case is that the uploader reportedly does have genuine past experience as a temp or dispatch factory worker, so the persona wasn’t a complete fabrication from scratch. In the thread, some raised the legal angle — that since he didn’t directly deceive anyone out of money, it likely wouldn’t count as fraud — while opinions were split on how it holds up against YouTube’s terms of service and basic content honesty. Since a channel’s real living standard inevitably changes once it gains views and popularity, the view that “someone who’s truly at the bottom wouldn’t even have the energy to make videos” reads as a general rule of thumb worth keeping in mind when watching similar channels.

    ※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Live News General) thread “[Sad News] Despair Line Worker Ch turns out to have lied about being single, low-income, and a temp worker — wwwwwwwwwww“.

  • Denmark leaks 8.8 million citizens’ ID numbers — 5ch: ‘In security, the defenders always lose’

    Someone gained unauthorized access to Denmark’s civil registration system, leaking information on roughly 8.8 million people, including their personal ID numbers. The Danish government has called it an “extremely serious situation.” In the 5ch thread reacting to the news, many commenters worried that, unlike past breaches, this one might involve AI-powered automated attacks, sparking a lively debate about the security of Japan’s own My Number system, which works on a similar principle. The thread also veered off into side chatter comparing Denmark’s population and land area to Japan’s.

    Denmark: Unauthorized access to civil registry leaks 8.8 million personal ID numbers, government calls it “extremely serious” – ITmedia NEWS –

    October 6, 2026, 12:41 PM

    By Yuya Hayashi

    Source: itmedia.co.jp / Original article here

    7AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:55
    Personal data leaks have really been increasing lately.
    Guess it's AI after all, huh?
    20AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:58
    Re: #7
    I bet there are organizations using AI to launch attacks worldwide, plus individuals just doing it for kicks.
    It's been proven that with AI, you can pull off cyberattacks even without any real knowledge.
    9AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:56
    Denmark lol (草 = internet slang for "lol")
    My Number cards would get owned just as easily, right?
    161AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:44
    Re: #9
    It's probably already been hacked.
    The government's just paying to keep it quiet.
    11AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:56
    "A system similar to Japan's My Number"
    The anti-My Number crowd is going to be thrilled about this.
    14AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:57
    Could they be using AI to hack this?
    That's seriously bad.
    17AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:58
    Re: #14
    If AI is the one finding the holes,
    couldn't you just tell an AI to patch them instead?
    43AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:04
    Re: #17
    In the end it's just an AI cat-and-mouse game, I think.
    AI is a double-edged sword for humanity.
    92AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:19
    Re: #17
    In security, the defenders always lose.
    Same goes for crime prevention and war.

    Basically it's the defending side that takes the damage,
    and it's impossible to prepare a perfect countermeasure.

    I think eventually even real-world crime, like burglaries,
    will become something the police can't handle either.
    25AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:59
    Isn't the real question more like, "so what if the info leaked"?
    38AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:01
    Re: #25
    The fact that this was likely done by AI, unlike past breaches, is the real problem.
    It's not even on the same level as just worrying about leaked info anymore.
    27AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:59
    Honestly, going back to analog is the smart move at this point.
    If you're fine with digital, that's on you.
    Old-fashioned cards are good enough — no need for app membership IDs.
    What's scary about digital is that once you're hit, everything gets cleaned out at once.
    It's convenient, but the risk is no joke.
    34AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:00
    Re: #27
    Even if it's a paper card,
    whatever's managing it behind the scenes is still digital.
    46AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:06
    AI is seriously scary, man… I miss the good old peaceful days of the internet…
    54AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:08
    Re: #46
    The early days of the internet were fun, man~
    Everyone was young back then too.
    70AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:12
    Re: #38
    Why's it a problem if it's AI?
    97AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:21
    Re: #70
    Whoa, I think I just touched on something serious there.
    It means even people with zero knowledge can carry out attacks just by giving AI instructions, and if something that directly affects the economy gets attacked, the economy could collapse.
    Plus, since AI's doing the attacking, the attack frequency is insanely high, so the "one hit out of many tries" scenario becomes much easier to land.
    Even a split-second vulnerability is enough to get breached now.
    74AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:13
    My Number's probably already been breached too.
    The government just won't admit it.
    78AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:16
    Re: #74
    Seems more like it was leaked/sold off on the side rather than an actual hack.
    93AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:20
    Going back to standalone (offline, non-networked) systems seems like the quickest fix for data defense.
    140AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:36
    Re: #93
    Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defense moved all its classified info onto an American Big Tech cloud.
    "Defense secrets to be run on the cloud — migration prep starts next fiscal year"
    Jiji Press, August 2, 2026
    https://www.jiji.com/jc/article?k=2026080100280&g=pol

    Re: #92
    Down at the lower levels, until just a few years ago it was one PC per several people, with only a handful of machines connected to the intranet —
    most were standalone, files were swapped via USB drives, and old important documents
    were kept on MO disks, except the drives for reading them don't exist anymore, so you'd have to borrow one from another department…
    and by the way, if you have the physical disk but can no longer read it, that counts as a "lost document" and gets disposed of.
    On top of that, security was so sloppy that until a few years ago it was fairly common for a rank-and-file employee to log into the branch manager's account and read their email.
    95AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:20
    Is some kind of global cyberterrorism happening right now?
    Japanese companies have also been seeing more unauthorized access lately.
    Which country could be behind it, I wonder?
    98AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:21
    Re: #95
    Probably AI gathering intel at a level beyond normal limits.
    143AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:37
    The My Number card data too, maybe…?
    156AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:41
    Re: #143
    Wouldn't surprise me if the My Number card system has already been breached, photo IDs and all, and the Digital Agency either can't even detect it or is just covering it up.
    190AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:54
    Re: #143 Re: #156
    Even if it leaks, it's not a problem.
    Because the Digital Agency is exempt from liability regarding use of My Number Portal and the like.
    They can't be held responsible no matter what happens — it's written right there in the terms of service.
    145AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:37
    Denmark only has 6 million people?
    That's a pretty small country.
    183AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:52
    Re: #145
    Japan's only 370,000 square kilometers?
    That's a pretty small country too.
    192AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:55
    Re: #183
    Ranked 61st out of 197 countries worldwide.
    62nd out of 235 countries and territories.

    So actually it's a bit bigger than average.

    Background and Key Points of This Topic

    Denmark’s civil registration number (the CPR number) is, like Japan’s My Number, an identifier widely used for identity verification in government services and financial institutions. Because it’s difficult to change the number itself once it has leaked, it’s prone to secondary harm such as identity theft. The speculation that kept coming up in the thread — that AI might have been used in the attack — reflects a real concern that the technical barrier for attackers has dropped, making large-scale attacks possible even without specialized knowledge. That said, no reporting has confirmed that AI was actually behind the methods used in this particular incident, so it’s worth noting this remains speculation on 5ch’s part. Likewise, comments claiming “My Number has already leaked too” or “the government is hiding it” are unsubstantiated speculation and shouldn’t be read as fact. What’s worth taking away instead is the structural problem that large-scale personal data databases like this tend to become attack targets regardless of country, and that the defending side is almost always stuck playing catch-up.

    *This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (News Express+) thread “Denmark: Unauthorized access to civil registry leaks 8.8 million personal ID numbers, government calls it “extremely serious”.”

  • Hideaki Anno × Yutaka Izubuchi Team Up for ‘Space Battleship Yamato √2199’ — 5ch: ‘Isn’t This Just the One Where They Go Fetch an Air Purifier?’

    On October 6 — the 52nd anniversary of the TV broadcast of ‘Space Battleship Yamato’ — it was announced that a new theatrical feature anime titled ‘Space Battleship Yamato √2199 (Route 2199)’ is in production, with Hideaki Anno serving as executive producer/director and Yutaka Izubuchi as co-director, alongside the reveal of a teaser visual. It marks the first joint production between Production I.G and Studio Khara. Izubuchi also handled character and mechanical designs on the previous 2012 remake, ‘2199,’ making this a second outing with the same creative lineup. On 5ch, the announcement sparked discussion starting with whether Yamato is next in line for Anno’s run of ‘Shin’ remakes, and opinion split over just how much the Yamato franchise still resonates with younger generations today, with some arguing it’s really nostalgic older fans keeping it alive.

    It has been decided that a theatrical feature-length animated film, ‘Space Battleship Yamato √2199 (Route 2199),’ will be produced, with Hideaki Anno serving as executive producer and director and Yutaka Izubuchi as co-director. A teaser visual has also been released.

    ‘Space Battleship Yamato,’ the landmark sci-fi anime whose TV series began airing on October 6, 1974, stunned viewers back when animation was still commonly called ‘TV manga.’ In just 26 episodes it became a social phenomenon, and it remains a beloved legend to this day. In October 2024, the franchise marked its 50th anniversary, with Hideaki Anno — who has said, ‘If I hadn’t encountered Space Battleship Yamato back then, I wouldn’t have the life I have now’ — planning and producing a wide range of anniversary projects, including screening events, exhibitions, and publications.

    Then, on Tuesday, October 6 — the 52nd anniversary of ‘Space Battleship Yamato’ — the production of the theatrical feature-length anime ‘Space Battleship Yamato √2199 (Route 2199)’ was announced. Animation production will be handled by Production I.G and Studio Khara, marking their first joint collaboration.

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

    15AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:28
    Young people don't even really get Yamato, yet it keeps going on some mysterious demand
    24AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:29
    Re: #15
    It's the middle-aged guys and old geezers keeping it alive
    16AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:28
    They've done Gundam, then Yamato — what's next?
    There aren't many other Showa-era national sci-fi anime left to touch
    and they're probably not gonna do another Leiji Matsumoto work
    26AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:30
    Re: #16
    A new Galaxy Express 999 project's already been announced
    No idea if it's a reboot or a sequel though
    95AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:54
    Re: #16
    Personally, I want to see a 'Shin Anpanman' (Anno's trademark 'Shin-' prefix signals a drastic reimagining)
    114AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:02
    Re: #16
    It's gotta be 'Shin Nausicaä'
    Once Miyazaki ('Paya-o') passes, won't Anno be the one to do it?
    Ghibli doesn't have a successor lined up either
    19AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:29
    What are those support-strut-looking things under the Yamato's hull anyway?
    Do they actually mean something story-wise?
    69AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:46
    Re: #19
    It's probably just that keeping them exactly like the model kit looks cool
    30AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:31
    It'll be 'Shin Astro Boy' next
    The original manga has some hardcore, adult-oriented Astro Boy stories, so that'd click with fans of that kind of thing
    'The Greatest Robot on Earth'/Atom's death arc was brutal
    45AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:34
    Re: #30
    Hideaki Anno's only interested in anime and tokusatsu from around 1971-1980.
    49AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:35
    Re: #30
    Naoki Urasawa already drew 'Pluto' (his acclaimed dark reimagining of the Astro Boy story)
    35AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:32
    Is Izubuchi's job just to smear the franchise with garbage before Anno steps in?
    137AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:10
    Re: #35
    For Kamen Rider though, Izubuchi's designs were actually the better ones
    46AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:34
    Everyone died in 'Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato' for that moving finale, and then the next installment just retconned it so everyone was alive — my jaw dropped
    144AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:12
    Re: #46
    I heard that Anno and the other old Gainax members used to mock 'Farewell' though
    57AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:39
    I'd like to see something original from him, but maybe that's just not possible anymore.
    Maybe that creative spark has dried up.
    61AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:42
    Re: #57
    Nobody makes a masterpiece past 60
    Kurosawa, Beat Takeshi, Miyazaki — they all dried up
    Tezuka and Fujiko F. Fujio both died at 60 anyway
    64AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:43
    Re: #57
    He's said himself that the TV version of Evangelion was him packing in everything he wanted to do, and that his peak as a creator basically lasted up through his mid-30s
    78AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:50
    Is Fukui not involved? (presumably Harutoshi Fukui, the screenwriter behind 2199)
    89AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:53
    Re: #78
    It's basically 'your Yamato doesn't cut it' energy
    That's picking a fight head-on, isn't it
    81AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:51
    No 'Shin' in the title this time, huh
    113AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:02
    Re: #81
    Instead, the production credit lists the company as 'Shin-Office Academy'
    83AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:51
    2199 modernized it and it turned out great, didn't it?
    Wasn't that good enough?
    96AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:54
    Re: #83
    It wasn't bad — that's exactly why they're reusing Izubuchi
    It's just that 2199 went off the rails partway through, so maybe Anno wants to fix that
    97AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:55
    Oh, Izubuchi — the Record of Lodoss War guy
    Haven't heard that name in ages
    108AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:59
    Re: #97
    The OVA version is a masterpiece
    'Adesso e fortuna' is a god-tier track too
    104AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:58
    So Yamato's basically just a story about going to fetch an air purifier, right? (joking about the ship's radiation-cleansing device)
    110AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:00
    Re: #104
    Yep, that's right
    They didn't have an air dock yet back then
    109AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:00

    As far as Anno was concerned, by episode 21 of the TV series he'd already revealed that Rei Ayanami's true identity was Yui Ikari
    ↓
    But nobody picked up on that at all, and Rei just became wildly popular, leaving him going 'huh?? huh??'
    ↓
    That made it awkward to reveal that Kaworu's true identity was Gendo, or that Kaworu and Rei were actually a married couple
    ↓
    But then Kaworu became wildly popular too, and he learned that leaving the mysteries unsolved is better for business
    ↓
    So in the Rebuild films, he never revealed that Mari's true identity was Kyoko Zeppelin
    ↓
    Fans kept yelling 'Mari's obviously based on his wife Moyoco! Cut the crap!' and that's where Anno and Studio Khara's story ends ← we are here
    115AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:02
    Yamato otaku are all 'around-60' (a slang term for that age bracket), aren't they
    These old guys sure stick with it
    139AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:10
    Re: #115
    I can't picture who's actually demanding these endless, plodding remakes
    Is it just nostalgia keeping it afloat?
    130AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:06
    It'll be 'Shin Getter Robo' next
    132AnonymousOct 6, 2026 14:09
    Re: #130
    There was already a '真·Rider' ('True Rider,' a 1992 TV special) and he still went and made a 'シン·Rider' ('Shin Kamen Rider') — both read exactly the same way

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    The ‘Yamato’ franchise is a long-running property — 52 years since its 1974 TV debut, having marked its 50th anniversary in 2024 — and it already underwent one remake with 2012–2014’s ‘2199,’ for which Yutaka Izubuchi handled character and mechanical designs. What stands out about this new project is the pairing of that same Izubuchi with Hideaki Anno, who has built a track record of revisiting classic works through his ‘Shin’ series — ‘Shin Evangelion,’ ‘Shin Godzilla,’ ‘Shin Kamen Rider,’ and ‘Shin Ultraman.’ On the thread, this touched off a guessing game over ‘what’s getting the Shin treatment next.’ Opinions split over how much Yamato still resonates with younger audiences, with some arguing it’s propped up purely by nostalgic older fans, against others who pointed to the sheer impact of the work itself. Note: crude, unverifiable personal attacks regarding producer Yoshinobu Nishizaki have been excluded from this article.

    *This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread ‘[Movie] Hideaki Anno × Yutaka Izubuchi Present Theatrical Feature Anime ‘Space Battleship Yamato √(Route)2199’ — Production Greenlit, First Visual Revealed.’

  • Man Attacked in Osaka’s Minato Ward, Robbed of Luxury Watch — 5ch Reacts: ‘He Was Asking for It, Wearing a Watch Like That’

    At a coin-operated parking lot in Osaka’s Minato Ward, two men who spoke no Japanese and threatened their victim in a northeastern Chinese accent attacked a 45-year-old man, pointed what looked like a handgun at him, and made off with his luxury watch. The incident, reported by Kansai TV on the morning of the 6th, also drew claims in the thread that the victim himself was Chinese. Rather than dwell on the brutality of the crime itself, the discussion drifted into side issues: confusion over whether “China” in the headline meant the country or Japan’s own Chugoku region, the risks of wearing an expensive watch out in public, and how the media’s coverage intensity compared to a recent incident in Okinawa.

    [BREAKING] Speaking no Japanese, threatening in a northeastern Chinese accent… two men attack 45-year-old man at coin parking lot, point what looks like a handgun, steal luxury watch — Osaka’s Minato Ward

    Published 10/6 (Tue) 7:45 AM

    Kansai TV

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

    4AnonymousOct 6, 2026 09:40
    Honestly, walking around these days wearing a luxury watch like that is just asking for trouble.
    78AnonymousOct 6, 2026 10:10
    Re: #4
    Tell that to the victim.
    88AnonymousOct 6, 2026 10:20
    Re: #4
    If anything, the watch is probably the reason he wasn't hurt worse.
    5AnonymousOct 6, 2026 09:41
    Re: #1
    http://xxup.org/TlQ0R.jpg
    140AnonymousOct 6, 2026 11:09
    Re: #5
    Wait, why
    Isn't it 700 yen per 10 minutes?
    7AnonymousOct 6, 2026 09:41
    Please make up your mind — is it the Chugoku region or the Tohoku region?
    87AnonymousOct 6, 2026 10:19
    Re: #7
    Same, that tripped me up for a second lol
    Made me wonder if Tsugaru dialect doesn't even count as Japanese lol (Tsugaru-ben: a notoriously thick Aomori dialect often joked about as unintelligible)
    14AnonymousOct 6, 2026 09:44
    Report this with the same intensity you gave the Okinawa incident.
    35AnonymousOct 6, 2026 09:51
    Re: #14
    Nobody got killed here.
    Which matters more to you, a human life or a wristwatch?
    53AnonymousOct 6, 2026 09:59
    Seriously? Tottori Prefecture residents are the worst. (joking that "Chugoku region" means Tottori, a prefecture in western Japan's Chugoku region)
    65AnonymousOct 6, 2026 10:05
    Re: #53
    Isn't it Shimane Prefecture? (another Chugoku-region prefecture — keeping the joke going)
    63AnonymousOct 6, 2026 10:03
    Since the accent description refers to a region of China, you can't actually tell whether the "koi ya" ("get over here") the culprit shouted was Japanese or Chinese.
    67AnonymousOct 6, 2026 10:06
    Re: #63
    That's gotta be Japanese "Ikebukuro dialect." There's no way you'd translate Chinese as "koi ya" (rough, yankee-style Japanese slang for "come here")
    113AnonymousOct 6, 2026 10:40
    Northeast China, huh — so that's around the area Gongsun Zan used to rule? (a warlord from China's Three Kingdoms period)
    128AnonymousOct 6, 2026 10:49
    Re: #113
    Ancestral homeland of the Jurchen people.
    Birthplace of the Qing dynasty.
    138AnonymousOct 6, 2026 11:07
    Do the Chugoku region and the Tohoku region actually have similar accents?
    162AnonymousOct 6, 2026 11:33
    Re: #138
    They do.
    It's the so-called "zuzu-ben" accent. (a nickname for the slurred, blurred vowel sounds shared by parts of Tohoku and Izumo in the Chugoku region)
    146AnonymousOct 6, 2026 11:15
    I get recognizing a Chinese accent, but telling it's specifically a *northeastern* Chinese accent…
    what kind of expert are you supposed to be?
    154AnonymousOct 6, 2026 11:28
    Re: #146
    The victim was Chinese too, you know. Between two Chinese people, picking out a northeastern accent is easy.

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    The headline’s “northeastern China” refers to the northeastern part of the country of China, but in Japanese “Chugoku region” (中国地方) is also the name of a part of western Japan that includes Hiroshima and Okayama, which briefly trips up readers who take it the wrong way. Street and parking-lot robberies targeting luxury watches are a crime type that has reportedly been rising nationwide, often carried out with replica guns or knives for resale purposes. The thread also surfaced information about the victim’s background, including his nationality, but many posts used the perpetrators’ nationality to disparage an entire nation’s people, or veered into political attacks unrelated to the incident; this article excludes those and is composed from what remains.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (News Express+) thread “[Osaka] Speaking no Japanese, threatening in a northeastern Chinese accent… two men attack 45-year-old man at coin parking lot, point what looks like a handgun, steal luxury watch.”

  • Fans Flooding a Yokohama Stadium Beer Girl with Orders Spark ‘Hostess Club’ Comparisons

    During games at Yokohama Stadium, it became a hot topic on 5ch that some customers were placing massive repeat orders — like 15 beers at 800 yen each — with one particular vendor. Some customers even leave without finishing the beers they bought, abandoning them on the spot. The thread kicked off with the observation that “this is the same structure as handshake tickets or Super Chat tipping,” and the discussion expanded to cover customer psychology, manners, and how the vendors themselves might feel about it. Opinions split between those stunned at what they saw as sheer waste of money, and those who argued there’s no problem as long as both sides are satisfied.

    8AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:19
    These guys are ordering like 15 beers at 800 yen a glass
    Not sure what the benefit even is
    38AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:31
    Re: #8
    I don't really know how the CD handshake-ticket system works, but which gets you more talk time: 12,000 yen's worth of chatting while she pours 15 beers, or buying 4 CDs for a handshake event?
    17AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:23
    All that money for just a fleeting moment of feeling superior
    26AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:27
    Re: #17
    That's all it is (doesn't even hit 20,000 yen)
    31AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:28
    Re: #17
    If he just gave the beers away he'd get thanked and feel even more superior — why dump them or leave them sitting there instead?
    23AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:26
    Poverty dulls the mind (old proverb: desperation breeds bad judgment)
    Unstoppable money worship

    Forget the foreigner issue — it's the Japanese themselves losing their minds, the country's finished
    29AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:28
    Re: #23
    Exactly this
    Japanese people have just gotten too stupid
    This isn't even on the 'blame the foreigners' level
    30AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:28
    They can only tell how many were sold from the revenue anyway, right?
    He could just pay 10,000 yen for one beer
    39AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:31
    Re: #30
    There's this thing called inventory reconciliation
    If sales and remaining stock numbers don't match up, it gets flagged as an anomaly and becomes a hassle
    Stuff like 'did she underreport sales?'
    Or 'is the beer girl drinking the stock herself?'
    That's the kind of trouble it causes
    34AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:30
    How far does this actually get you if you keep it up?
    Does it just end with him broke from showering her with gifts?
    48AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:34
    Re: #34
    Probably just tops out at her answering him with a big smile
    43AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:32
    If you're going to buy a ton anyway, wouldn't it be better to hand them out to people nearby?
    That way nobody loses out
    50AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:35
    I don't get the logic where this beer is 'too precious to waste' but dumping beer all over someone during the post-game beer-splash celebration is totally fine
    69AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:43
    Re: #48
    'Buying that much, are you sure your wallet's okay?'

    'You came to watch baseball, right? lol Stop buying beer and watch the game lol'

    He's paying big money just to get exchanges like that
    78AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:48
    Re: #69
    I'm not the one buying, though
    73AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:46
    He could just treat everyone in the stands who wants a drink — why does he throw them away instead?
    90AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:52
    Re: #73
    A guy generous enough to treat total strangers wouldn't be this obsessed with some girl in the first place
    Honestly, everything about this just screams 'loser'
    79AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:48
    Cleaning up trash is literally the cleaning staff's job
    Can't get on board with the idiots who feel smug ('horu-horu,' slang for self-satisfied glow) picking up litter after the game
    82AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:49
    Re: #79
    Well, logically that's true, but it really shows a lack of social decency — or just poor upbringing, lol 😅
    80AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:49
    I mean, it's only 10,000-20,000 yen
    Dumb, sure, but throwing 50,000 yen in a Super Chat (YouTube live-stream tipping) is way more baffling than this
    84AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:50
    Re: #80
    Both are dumb
    The world's full of idiots
    86AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:50
    Honestly, I think she'd be happier getting a 1,000 yen tip every time he orders a refill
    92AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:53
    Re: #86
    A tip with such obvious ulterior motives is nothing but scary from the beer girl's perspective
    You never know what he might try later
    If he starts lying in wait for her, she's done for
    93AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:53
    Not just wasteful — the more he does this, the less likely she'll ever see him as a romantic prospect, which is just sad
    104AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:56
    Re: #93
    If anything, her type is probably guys who make HER spend money on THEM
    Same goes for idols probably — a guy like this must register to her as some bug from a different world
    95AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:54
    If it's win-win for both sides, there's no problem at all
    Unlike hostess clubs or host clubs, nobody's going bankrupt over this small an amount
    People just want to bash 'anyone who does this is a dumb idiot' — that's bottom-tier thinking
    100AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:55
    Re: #95
    No, however you look at it, it's dumb and deserves to be mocked
    Calling that 'bottom-tier thinking' totally misses the point
    109AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:58
    A hostess would be thrilled, but some of these girls are genuinely earnest types
    The kind who just love their team and wanted to work at the stadium
    Honestly, she's probably creeped out on the inside
    112AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:59
    Re: #109
    Not sure about the current situation, but isn't it mostly semi-pro types doing this now?
    Back in the day regular high schoolers worked these jobs, and I had classmates who did it
    114AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:00
    Re: #109
    Girls like that work the merch shop or food court instead
    They wouldn't deliberately pick a commission-based job
    116AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:01
    If it buys you like a minute of conversation with the beer girl you're into, I kind of get it
    Better value than being a 'v-tuber pig' (derogatory term for obsessive VTuber fans) who pays the same and gets brushed off in seconds without even a word
    123AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:02
    Re: #116
    For the same money you could go to a girls' bar and talk for like an hour, no?
    124AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:02
    Re: #116
    Well, of course she'll spare time for her big spenders ('whale' customers)
    Basically the same system as AKB (idol group known for pay-to-meet handshake events)
    Like 20 seconds per beer

    Background and Key Points of This Debate

    Ballpark beer vendors typically earn income based on how many drinks they sell, and as the thread notes with its talk of inventory reconciliation, a mismatch between sales and remaining stock tends to cause management headaches. That’s why solutions like “just have her give the beer away to customers” aren’t realistic in practice. As for why customers pile huge orders onto one specific vendor, some draw parallels to idol CD handshake-ticket sales or YouTube Super Chats — framing it as a way of buying a brief conversation or moment of attention. Opinions in the thread are split between those who call it pure self-indulgent waste and those who argue that if both sides are satisfied, it’s not an outsider’s place to criticize. No consensus emerged on which side is right. It’s also worth noting the thread doesn’t identify any specific individual by name — it’s a general discussion about a behavior pattern commonly observed among stadium customers.

    ※This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary of the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “[Tragic News] Yokohama Stadium Beer Girls’ ‘Hostess Club-ification’ Crosses the Line, lolololololol.”

  • Switch 2 Owners Reveal What They’re Actually Playing — 5ch Users Battle It Out in Report Thread

    A thread popped up on 5ch where users who’d bought a Switch 2 started comparing notes on what they were actually playing. The list ranged widely — Momotetsu, Clubhouse Games (Asobi Daizen), Derby Stallion 2, Fantasy Life, Donkey Kong Bananza, a Warriors-style “Musou 2” title, and the Yo-kai Watch 1 remake — and the conversation quickly turned to whether any of it really needed a Switch 2 at all. Anyone who mentioned games also available on PS5 or PC, like No Man’s Sky or Musou 2, got hit with a wave of “just play it on PC” and “PS5 is fine for that,” exposing a split between people who bought the console purely for Zelda and Monster Hunter and are letting it collect dust, and those who are actually putting hours in.

    1AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:12
    ・Momotetsu (Momotaro Dentetsu)
    ・Clubhouse Games (Asobi Daizen)
    ・Mario Party Jamboree
    2AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:13
    Zelda and Monster Hunter are coming soon so that's what I'm planning to play
    No idea if it actually has to be on a Switch 2 though
    3AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:13
    Derby Stallion 2 is insane, I can't stop playing
    8AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:15
    Re: #3
    Is it more fun than Winning Post (the rival horse-racing sim)?
    12AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:17
    A bit late to the party, but Fantasy Life is way too fun — I've been playing it nonstop
    15AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:20
    Re: #12
    Played it on 3DS back in the day — is it still fun now?
    31AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:26
    Just saw this same thread on Edge, but…
    34AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:26
    Re: #31
    It's multiplatform
    38AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:29
    Honestly the only Switch 2-specific games I've got are Fantasy Life and No Man's Sky
    42AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:29
    Re: #38
    PC's fine for that
    44AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:30
    Re: #38
    Both of those are fine on PC
    46AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:30
    Air Riders alone was worth the price of the console
    47AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:30
    Re: #46
    Is it fun? I'm on the fence about buying it
    49AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:31
    Re: #46
    Really? I dropped it pretty fast
    Guess what I actually liked was just hanging out loud with friends at someone's place back in school
    48AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:30
    Re: #42
    Re: #44
    For No Man's Sky, I've got the PS5 version
    50AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:31
    Re: #48
    Oh, it's on PS5 too? Then PS5 is fine
    64AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:36
    You guys don't really talk about Donkey Kong Bananza much
    I think it's the best thing on Switch 2 so far
    82AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:41
    Re: #64
    The gorilla's just too ugly
    66AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:36
    If you're not even into that kind of Nintendo game, I don't know why you bought the console in the first place
    68AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:37
    Re: #66
    Maybe Dusk Blood?
    71AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:38
    Dusk Blood's gonna end up on PC and PS5 eventually anyway
    75AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:39
    Re: #71
    I don't think it will? It's a versus/competitive game
    76AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:39
    Re: #71
    It'll flop on Switch and then go multiplatform, probably
    108AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:56
    Re: #71
    If a PC version comes out and there's still hype for it, I'll just buy that too
    Games like that are most fun in the early feeling-it-out period right after launch
    73AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:38
    The Wii U nightmare all over again
    79AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:40
    Re: #73
    Even if the console undersells expectations, enough units are already out there that Nintendo will probably stick with it for ages — that's the problem
    If it flopped as hard as the Wii U, they could just move on to the next one already
    77AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:40
    Bought Musou 2 (a Warriors-style action game), looking forward to it
    81AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:40
    Re: #77
    I was torn on which version to get too, but I heard the Switch 2 framerate is a mess so I got the PS5 version
    84AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:42
    Re: #81
    I don't have a PS5 so Switch 2 it is for me
    Hope we both enjoy it!
    94AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:47
    I just saw the news about the price hike causing lines, grabbed one on impulse, and it's been sitting there ever since 😭
    95AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:49
    Yo-kai Watch 1 Remake

    Got Namahage (a folklore ogre-turned-Yo-kai) and I'm so happy about it 🥰
    101AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:52
    I just want to play BotW (Breath of the Wild) — do I really need a Switch 2 for that?
    By the way, I play pretty much everything else on Steam
    104AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:54
    Re: #101
    A used Switch Lite will do
    I bought a Switch all excited to play it and it turned out to be such a mediocre game that I was let down
    I think the praise it gets is mostly from people who played it back when it first launched
    105AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:54
    Re: #101
    Of course you need one
    It's night and day, and there's definitely a new entry coming too
    107AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:55
    🤭


    110AnonymousOct 6, 2026 12:58
    Re: #104
    Even if the original is good enough, the Lite is definitely the wrong pick for it
    112AnonymousOct 6, 2026 13:00
    Re: #110
    No, the Lite is fine
    If it's just the cost of the BotW (Breath of the Wild) game itself, sure, but if you're buying a whole console just for BotW, the Lite will do
    Honestly, I don't think the game's performance justifies buying a console just to play it — so if there's nothing else you want to play, I wouldn't really recommend buying one at all

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    Nintendo’s Switch 2 launched in 2025 as the company’s current console, and its lineup mixes carryover flagship franchises like Mario Kart with brand-new exclusives such as Donkey Kong Bananza, alongside multiplatform titles like Fantasy Life and the Musou series that are also available on Steam and PS5. The thread split between posters who say the real reason to own a Switch 2 is to wait for flagship titles like Zelda and Monster Hunter, and those who argue everything else runs just as well on PS5 or PC. A number of posters admitted they’d bought the console but were leaving it on the shelf until a true must-have exclusive shows up. What’s easy to miss from the outside is that most of the games named in the thread aren’t Switch 2 exclusives at all — they’re playable on other platforms too — so there’s a real gap between people’s reason for buying the console and what they’re actually playing on it.

    *This article is compiled and summarized from excerpts of the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “[Sad News] The Games I’ve Actually Played Since Buying My Switch 2 lol.”