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  • Illustrator’s ‘Wiping Old People’s Poop’ Remark Sparks Backlash — 5ch: ‘Lol, Way to Look Down on Caregivers’

    An illustrator’s post reading, “Because of AI, this country is seriously finished — now people are stuck wiping old folks’ poop,” drew criticism for looking down on caregiving work. The remark kicked off a 5ch thread debate over whether AI-generated art or human illustrators hold more value. Few defended the original poster; many pointed out their ignorance of what caregiving actually involves, while harsh opinions about the illustration profession itself piled up. At the same time, pushback from posters skeptical of AI use remained strong, and the thread carried on with opinions split.

    3AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:08
    "Anti-AI people are a bunch of unhinged lunatics!" (pasting some random illustrator's barely-noticed post) ← this guy
    5AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:10
    Re: #3
    I'm not anti-AI, but companies are using AI art so much now that I've started thinking it just makes for boring artwork.
    91AnonymousOct 7, 2026 23:16
    Re: #3
    Them being a bunch of unhinged lunatics is just a fact though.
    9AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:12


    Protect illustrators! 😡
    20AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:18
    Re: #9
    Tying a character's identity to one specific artist only ever brings misery to the users in the end.

    KanColle, Azur Lane, and Blue Archive have all had cases where the character designer and the operator had a falling-out or cut ties completely. But KanColle, which never separated character design from implementation, ended up with characters who can never get updates or new art again,
    while Azur Lane and Blue Archive, which kept those separate, kept getting new art for their characters even after severing ties with the original artist.
    33AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:29
    Re: #9
    Something similar happened with a certain GungHo game.

    The first game ended service, and a sequel was announced.
    ↓
    The original illustrator was supposed to continue, but apparently something went wrong and someone else took over.
    ↓
    Players/sleuths discovered the credited art was basically the previous artist's style with just extra clothing bolted on — a heavily doctored piece.
    ↓
    The sequel shut down in under a year.
    17AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:17
    Casually looking down on caregiving work, lol
    95AnonymousOct 7, 2026 23:18
    Re: #17
    Well, of course caregiving gets looked down on.
    31AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:27
    Drawing is something even a kindergartner can do, after all.
    34AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:29
    Re: #31
    And the people doing this kind of harassment can't even do that much.
    Funny, right?
    39AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:34
    I used to commission illustrations from a bunch of different illustrators, but
    there were tons of garbage ones — turning in trash art, blowing deadlines, ignoring instructions,
    yet still mouthing off with opinions like they were hot stuff
    — illustrators like that were everywhere,
    so yeah, you end up thinking AI is better.
    51AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:43
    Re: #49
    You forgot to fly your plane (5ch slang implying you're using sockpuppet accounts to agree with yourself).
    53AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:45
    Re: #51
    What I'm saying is correct, so I don't even need to pretend to be a majority, do I?
    58AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:50
    Is there any other group out there that's gotten so spectacularly 'replaced' by AI?
    102AnonymousOct 7, 2026 23:21
    Re: #58
    The Yomiuri Giants' manager position,
    for one.
    59AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:50
    If you don't even have the effort or guts to post your own drawings online without having AI do it for you,
    then playing 'creator' with AI
    is just a waste of time.
    It's all ripped off anyway, and you can blame every mistake on the AI
    — there's no way you'll ever grow from that.
    104AnonymousOct 7, 2026 23:22
    Re: #59
    That's exactly why you lost to AI — because you never grew.
    61AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:51
    Has anyone actually made a hit work using AI?
    65AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:54
    Re: #61
    So are illustrators who can't produce a hit worthless, then?
    62AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:52
    Just by trolling caregivers and illustrators you can farm impressions, so for AI-art people this is prime feeding ground.
    64AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:52
    Re: #62
    X's (Twitter's) monetization rules got stricter, so farming this level of impressions doesn't get you much anymore.
    72AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:58
    Turns out, for AI, this was one of the easiest human jobs to replace —
    ranking even below the caregiving work it supposedly looked down on, lol.
    74AnonymousOct 7, 2026 23:00
    Re: #72
    The point is how childish it is that someone who can't even do that much
    is having AI do everything for them while playing pretend 'creator.'
    96AnonymousOct 7, 2026 23:18
    Re: #34
    Anyone can do it if they use AI, you know?
    97AnonymousOct 7, 2026 23:18
    Honestly, nobody actually wants to do caregiving, right?
    It's because people hate it that they pay others to do it for them. No point pretending otherwise.
    99AnonymousOct 7, 2026 23:20
    Bottom-tier illustrators can't beat either stock-art shops or AI.
    Nobody's asking for your personal artistic vision, and nobody sees you as a 'creator,'
    but the annoying part is that you see yourself as one.
    108AnonymousOct 7, 2026 23:24
    Re: #99
    With AI you don't need talent, so even you could do it — that old chestnut again.

    And honestly, even before AI, anyone could use tools
    and churn out something decent enough.
    AI didn't change anything all that special.
    113AnonymousOct 7, 2026 23:28
    Re: #108
    Well then, sounds like even bottom-tier illustrators can keep making a living.
    The manga industry's just wrong about this — the job of cheaply doing the grunt work for other people is still around just like before, so good for you.
    114AnonymousOct 7, 2026 23:30
    Re: #113
    I mean, most things in life are just 'anyone could do it, but it's a hassle,' aren't they?

    Background and Key Points of This Topic

    This post went viral against a backdrop of social tension: the spread of generative AI is rapidly displacing illustrators’ work. The thread also brought up rights disputes over artists and character design (such as contract troubles seen with KanColle and Azur Lane), showing that the question of AI’s use is too complex to reduce to simple right-or-wrong. At the same time, it’s worth noting that the original post was just the opinion of one anonymous individual, not a consensus view of illustrators as a whole. In the thread, criticism wasn’t aimed only at the original poster — comments belittling caregiving work and the illustration profession itself were also prominent, and this mutual dismissiveness between the two sides reflects a conflict even deeper-rooted than the reaction the original post provoked.

    ※This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary of the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread 「[Sad News] Illustrator: “Because of AI, this country where people end up wiping old folks’ poop is truly finished” → Massive backlash as discrimination against caregivers」.

  • New Stadium Upkeep Costs: “The Club Should Pay,” Says Akita Mayor — 5ch: “Even the Mainichi Is Calling It a ‘Tax League’ Now”

    On the 7th, Akita Mayor Jun Numatani reiterated his stance that “the club should cover the maintenance and management costs” for the new stadium of J2 side Blaublitz Akita. The August council session, which closed the same day, passed a supplementary budget bill that included funding for drafting a basic plan for the new stadium. On 5ch, alongside discussion of how J.League stadiums are often funded by municipalities covering not just construction costs but even day-to-day operating costs, it became a talking point that the Mainichi Shimbun itself had used the critical term “tax league.” Opinions were also divided over the fact that general public use will be restricted to preserve the natural grass, and over whether regional cities even have the capacity to sustain professional sports at all.

    On the 7th, Akita Mayor Jun Numatani once again emphasized that “the club should cover the maintenance and management costs” for the new stadium that will serve as the home of J2 side Blaublitz Akita.

    At Akita City’s August council session, which closed on the 7th, the city’s FY2025 settlement of accounts was approved, and a supplementary budget bill was passed covering the Sotoasahikawa district development project, the cost of drafting a basic plan for the new stadium, and the cost of revising the basic plan for redeveloping the wholesale market.

    Mayor Jun Numatani:

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

    3AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:49
    Well, it's a tax league, so what do you expect?
    4AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:50
    They can't even scrape together the 500 million yen for design costs, and he's already hammering on about what comes next lol
    6AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:51
    Weird that something this obvious is even news
    7AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:51
    If Akita has money to build a soccer stadium, they should spend more on the aquarium instead
    21AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:11
    Toward a New Stadium for J2 Akita: Club-Led Funding Is the Key


    https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/276940a809c8eb26fda2dc9008b77fa058cc1ce7
    In J.League stadium projects funded by public money, an unbridgeable gap is showing up nationwide between municipalities with strained finances due to population decline and a J.League that demands high-standard facilities. Critical opinions calling it the "tax league" remain persistent on social media.

    Sad news: now even the Mainichi is calling it the tax league
    23AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:17
    Re: #21
    So even the Mainichi is calling it the 'tax league' now, huh
    25AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:18
    Re: #21
    Somebody start a whole thread over this lol
    71AnonymousOct 7, 2026 23:22
    Re: #21
    Should be nominated for Buzzword of the Year (Japan's annual award for trending slang)
    22AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:16
    They get over 20 million yen in subsidies just to barely scrape by in the black,
    and on top of that their corporate tax payment is actually negative.

    They're probably not even paying proper usage fees
    38AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:47
    Re: #22
    "You guys are a tax league."

    The previous chairman is the one who let that phrase loose in the first place lol lol lol
    26AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:20
    >Governor Suzuki said, "By introducing turf that holds up well to foot traffic,
    >we expect general public use to be possible for roughly 80 to 130 days a year."

    In cold-climate Akita, of all places?
    At a "tax stadium" with a running track that has no open buffer zone to let sunlight in, and where the roof's shadow causes sunlight problems?
    Sounds like BS
    40AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:49
    Re: #26
    I think they mean Kentucky bluegrass — that's a cold-climate turf.
    It's cold-hardy, resilient, and highly durable against wear, but it's extremely weak against heat
    29AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:31
    If the club is footing the maintenance costs, does that mean the stadium belongs to the club?
    33AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:40
    Re: #29
    Natural grass upkeep is only there for the J.League's sake, so the message is basically "you pay for it yourselves"
    30AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:34
    So basically it's exclusively for Blaublitz? General public use is completely off-limits?
    31AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:35
    Re: #30
    Since the natural grass has to be maintained,
    the general public can't use it
    44AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:53
    Watching this unfold, I'm starting to think Akita City has lost its mind.
    Why does a private club have to maintain a municipal facility? If you don't like it, just don't build it.
    There's no actual need to build it — if you don't like the terms, don't build it, period.
    Stirring up controversy for attention like this is going to come back and bite them someday.

    Honestly, Akita should just quit the J.League entirely.
    A municipality that trash-talks a specific organization like this has no business being in football.
    The J.League gets along fine without Akita anyway,
    and there are plenty of other regions with stadiums already hoping for promotion.
    If all you're going to do is bash them, don't build it. Seriously — don't build it
    46AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:58
    Re: #44
    Because of a certain team in Kanagawa, everyone already knows that even if you threaten to "relocate!" there's no city willing to take you in.
    It'll just end with everyone saying "sure, go ahead, be our guest."
    47AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:58
    Re: #44
    Must be so frustrating, huh lol lol lol (a mocking, taunting stock phrase)
    49AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:59
    Re: #44
    I doubt any municipality out there actually wants to take in Blaublitz, but sure, go ahead.
    The Nippon-Ham Fighters did move out to Kitahiroshima, after all
    60AnonymousOct 7, 2026 23:09
    Not to be harsh, but don't rural areas just not need pro sports?
    It's hopeless — these cities don't have the foundation for it to begin with
    62AnonymousOct 7, 2026 23:13
    Re: #60
    Isn't this a prefecture with a pointless surplus of baseball stadiums?
    Might as well keep chasing after pro franchises forever lol
    67AnonymousOct 7, 2026 23:16
    Re: #60
    Exactly.
    Looking at the J.League, it just looks like a broken system.
    Even with stadium usage fees waived or cut, and construction and repairs handled by local government — getting the equivalent of hundreds of millions of yen in backing every single year — almost no clubs turn a profit, since it all gets poured into player salaries.
    That's why even J1 clubs are only valued at a few hundred million to a bit over a billion yen.
    There's no other way to describe it — it's finished
    84AnonymousOct 7, 2026 23:29
    Why does such an obvious statement even count as news?
    86AnonymousOct 7, 2026 23:30
    Re: #84
    It's the J.League and the Japan Football Association who don't get something this obvious

    Background and Key Points of This Debate

    The “tax league” criticism aimed at stadium development isn’t unique to Akita — it’s a pattern playing out at J.League clubs nationwide, rooted in a mismatch between municipalities squeezed financially by population decline and a J.League that demands facilities meeting a certain standard. This case stands out because the Akita mayor took the opposite tack, asking the club itself to cover maintenance costs — an unusual stance, given that municipalities more often end up shouldering operating costs on top of construction costs. The thread blends a practical argument — that natural-grass upkeep makes general public access difficult — with a more emotional one about whether pro sports can even survive in regional cities, both recurring patterns on 5ch. The discussion centers on whether making the stadium club-exclusive is justified and on doubts about profitability, and contains no baseless accusations against any specific individual or company.

    *This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Geisports Sokuho+) thread “[Soccer] New Stadium: Akita Mayor Numatani Reiterates “The Club Should Cover Maintenance Costs” — Related Budget Bill Passed.”

  • Doubts Over Kubo-Doan Coexistence: 5ch Says ‘No Wonder the Middle’s a Traffic Jam’

    In the Kirin Cup 2026 final against New Zealand on the 5th, Japan switched formations from a 3-4-2-1 to a 4-2-3-1, fielding Ritsu Doan and Takefusa Kubo together. Since both are left-footed players who specialize in taking on defenders, a footballchannel article pointed out that their overlapping styles clog up the center, and the discussion spread on 5ch as well. In the thread, opinions ranged from formation arguments like “Junya Ito should be the focal point” and “Kubo suits the attacking midfield role, but Ayase Ueda already occupies it” to evaluations of the two players’ abilities themselves.

    Japan’s national team took on New Zealand in the Kirin Cup Soccer 2026 final on the 5th using a 4-2-3-1 rather than their usual 3-4-2-1, and there were several points worth noting. One of them was the coexistence of Ritsu Doan and Takefusa Kubo. Both possess real skill, but when asked whether this will become a major weapon going forward, a question mark remains.

    The Doan-Kubo combination is…

    Doan and Kubo have long supported Moriyasu’s Japan side, showing combination play on the pitch many times.

    Source: footballchannel.jp / Original article here

    2AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:42
    Kind of like Messi and Dybala?
    8AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:46
    Should've just gone with Doan at attacking mid and Ito on the right like normal.
    Kubo's shaky even as a sub right now.
    9AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:47
    While those two are fiddling around together, Ito just goes forward alone and creates chances.
    Night and day difference in efficiency.
    10AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:47
    They should just put Kubo up front.
    Don't let him drop deep — pin him out wide as a target for keeper Suzuki's long kicks and everything's solved.
    14AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:50
    Re: #10
    He fumbles the trap on Ito's switch of play.
    He can only handle short passes right to his feet.
    21AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:55
    Re: #10
    He's not worth just parking up front.
    Only about 5 players in the world are allowed to play that way.
    Right now Kubo wouldn't crack the top 500, let alone the top 50…
    11AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:49
    True.
    Kubo is a disaster on the left.
    Kubo's an attacking midfielder.
    But that spot belongs to the immovable striker Ayase Ueda.
    Moriyasu knows this too, which is why he's started experimenting with a four-back, two-striker setup.
    13AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:50
    Both Kubo and Doan are 'sponsor picks' who can't be dropped from the starting lineup,
    so they're being forced in together.
    15AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:50
    Well, these two did do well in the Netherlands match.
    16AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:52
    For the Asian Cup, alternating between an A-team and a B-team would be fine.
    I want them to build a squad with real depth.
    17AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:53
    People have been pointing this out for a while.
    Doan and Kubo are both 'fiddly dribbler' types — they look like a good fit at a glance, but most of the time they just dribble around each other in a tight space and nothing comes of it.
    It doesn't suit the current squad's traits or Moriyasu's team.
    That's a waste of time.
    19AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:55
    This has been said for a while now.
    They just play way too close together.
    20AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:55
    The attacking midfielder role itself isn't even needed anymore.
    In four years neither of them will be around.
    22AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:56
    Doan could never pull off a play like this
    29AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:00
    Re: #22
    This one's gonna get replayed forever.
    It's the play that defines Kubo.
    27AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:58
    Honestly, wouldn't just not calling up Kubo solve this?
    28AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:59
    Kubo and Doan just fiddle around without ever breaking through vertically — they just clog things up.
    Junya Ito can carry the ball forward alone with ease, so the right side comes alive.
    30AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:01
    The thing is, Kubo can't even drive forward and he's way too short on end product.
    31AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:01
    Left-footed Kubo out on the right wing,
    right-footed Daizen (Maeda) out on the left wing —
    no wonder the middle's a complete traffic jam.
    32AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:02
    With a back four, it all comes down to how well the fullbacks link up with these two.
    63AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:32
    Re: #32
    You don't need both of them then lol
    Honestly, you don't need either one.
    36AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:07
    Just use one of them.
    What's with this whole 'coexistence' thing?
    73AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:43
    Re: #36
    If they overlap, why not just split them between first half and second half?
    37AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:08
    Japan's stronger right now just pumping crosses into the box.
    Teams have scouted Kubo and Doan —
    they're being defended by cutting off the middle and just letting them cross with the right foot.
    The buildup dying on the right is hilarious lol
    Last time the left died too, with Maeda, lol
    41AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:11
    Re: #37
    And Ueda, who those crosses go to, can win aerial duels even against tough foreign center-backs.
    40AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:10
    Using Ito from the first half doesn't work as well though.
    It's not that simple.
    66AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:35
    Re: #40
    Huh? Do you know how many results he's delivered as a starter?
    42AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:12
    I wish Kubo would stop doing those little fiddly steps that just give the opposing defense time to reorganize.
    52AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:19
    Re: #42
    Why doesn't anyone — teammates or coaches, at Sociedad or the national team — point that out to him?
    Still baffles me.
    62AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:32
    Someone like Yamal is fast, great at making runs in behind, and when a chance opens up he'll instantly flick a pass with the outside of his foot — he's even added new dribbling touch patterns this year and keeps evolving. Meanwhile Kubo's just been doing the same fiddly moves for years. You really feel the gap in talent.
    76AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:45
    Re: #62
    Kubo only has one move, relying purely on a burst of speed.
    His bag of tricks hasn't grown at all as he's gotten older.

    Background and Key Points of This Topic

    The 4-2-3-1 Japan used in the Kirin Cup 2026 final against New Zealand has only one attacking-midfield slot, making how to fit in both Takefusa Kubo and Ritsu Doan a key point of attention. The two have played together for Moriyasu’s Japan since their Tokyo Olympics generation, but since both are left-footed players who specialize in cutting inside, the original article argued that placing them on the same side or in the same attacking-mid role tends to cancel out their strengths. The thread was split over the direction of the fix: whether to give up on the pairing altogether and build around Junya Ito, or whether adjusting positioning and sides could let both play together. It’s worth noting this is only a discussion about the formation for this one match, not a suggestion that the two will be dropped from the national team entirely — a point that’s easy to misread.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geisoku+) thread “[Soccer] Is it difficult for Japan’s national team to have Takefusa Kubo and Ritsu Doan coexist? “Improvisation” alone can’t break defenses down — the limits of the left-footed duo“.

  • Tensura’s Rimuru Called ‘More Disturbing Than Rudeus’ — Fans Debate Isekai Protagonist Archetypes

    A thread on 5ch’s Nandemo Jikkyo G board blew up over Rimuru, the protagonist of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime. It kicked off with a comment calling him more unsettling than Rudeus from Mushoku Tensei, and from there the discussion expanded to the show’s massacre scenes, the propriety of its “revival festival” depiction, and comparisons with protagonists from other isekai works like Overlord, The Rising of the Shield Hero, and KonoSuba. Replies split between posters defending Rimuru’s actions as self-defense and critics asking whether a protagonist who slaughters enemies while gloating should really be the hero.

    4AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:33
    Is he really that disturbing though?
    He's not out here committing sex crimes or anything.
    10AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:36
    Re: #4
    What they've got in common is they're both virgins.
    9AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:35
    Classic Tensura move —
    a savage villain shows up again and again just so the hero gets to commit atrocities and feel good about it.
    22AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:39
    Re: #9
    Also add that the enemy boss is always weak.
    15AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:37
    A sex criminal is way worse though.
    What's scary is the author actually thought that stuff would make good entertainment.
    17AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:38
    Re: #15
    I guess even the author realized that wasn't okay — in the light novel timeline he doesn't secretly film anyone, he just gets kicked out for being too creepy.
    28AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:41
    Between One-Punch Man and Rimuru, which one's the bigger story-wrecker?
    Feels like with both of them, things get boring later on just because that character exists.
    32AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:42
    Re: #28
    Rimuru's not that bad, honestly —
    there are plenty of guys stronger than him.
    31AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:42
    Re: #26
    Not much different, since he uses soldiers who had nothing to do with it to revive his subordinates.
    40AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:43
    Re: #31
    Wasn't that because they were attacked and killed first?
    60AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:47
    Re: #40
    If you're going to excuse Rimuru doing that, it's inconsistent not to also excuse the massacre in Buchigire Reijō (another isekai series, literally "The Enraged Young Lady").
    36AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:42
    The other side being evil and it being okay for you to slaughter them while gloating are two completely different issues.
    Even more so when it's the main character.
    46AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:44
    Re: #36
    That's just self-defense. They're the ones who went after civilians first — and not just with Shion.
    43AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:44
    Manga protagonists are plot-armored by definition —
    is it even fun reading something without that convenience?
    55AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:45
    Re: #43
    Exactly.
    People just want something to hate on.
    47AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:44
    Overlord's protagonist is also absurdly overpowered, but the story mostly follows ordinary people, so it's bearable until Ainz actually shows up.
    Tensura I just couldn't do.
    51AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:45
    Re: #47
    Overlord's worse though —
    I felt way more bad for the characters getting crushed in that one.
    69AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:49
    Tensura sells so well it's baffling, and it's especially huge with female fans —

    what is it that's pulling them in like that?
    81AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:51
    Re: #69
    Obviously Benimaru and Souei.
    87AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:52
    Even in the anime, Tensura was just sitting in meetings the whole time while Mushoku Tensei and Re:Zero were blowing up — cut it some slack 😭
    89AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:53
    Re: #87
    'Blowing up' (among a niche of isekai-hating diehards, anyway).
    94AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:55
    Re: #77
    The massacre phase itself is fine, honestly — if they were going to run the place as an evil nation.
    It's the putting-on-a-righteous-face act afterward that's really hard to take.
    102AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:58
    Re: #94
    Don't trash-talk Kingdom.
    103AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:58
    I've only watched season one of Tensura, Re:Zero, Mushoku Tensei, and Shield Hero so I'm not totally sure, but are these shows actually good enough to keep going that long?
    110AnonymousOct 7, 2026 23:01
    Re: #103
    The scary thing about these shows is they pay off the title within a few episodes and then just coast on momentum after that.
    104AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:58
    The least off-putting one is The Eminence in Shadow —
    I like that the protagonist's selfishness never wavers.
    113AnonymousOct 7, 2026 23:01
    Re: #104
    Nah, it's Kazuma from KonoSuba, thanks to the comedy filter.
    121AnonymousOct 7, 2026 23:03
    Re: #113
    His cocky, cheesy try-hard-otaku vibe is rough — genuinely off-putting.
    126AnonymousOct 7, 2026 23:04
    Re: #113
    The vibe feels dated — rough to watch now.
    107AnonymousOct 7, 2026 23:00
    Thanks to Pekora (the VTuber), isekai/narou titles across the board are getting roasted lol.
    117AnonymousOct 7, 2026 23:02
    Re: #107
    Funny how Overlord isn't getting dragged.
    141AnonymousOct 7, 2026 23:11
    Re: #107
    Turns out VTubers actually have a more normal sense of judgment than narou novels do.
    Narou just never got exposed to public scrutiny and went way too far unchecked.
    109AnonymousOct 7, 2026 23:00
    Both Tensura and Overlord have protagonists who slaughter without hesitation to the point you wonder where their humanity went.
    Does turning into a monster warp your values too?
    116AnonymousOct 7, 2026 23:01
    Re: #109
    It's delinquent-manga logic —
    humanity only gets extended to your own crew.
    132AnonymousOct 7, 2026 23:06
    The massacre itself in season 2 can sort of be excused with 'DD-ron' logic (fan slang for 'different circumstances call for different standards').
    What I genuinely can't wrap my head around is the revival festival afterward.
    140AnonymousOct 7, 2026 23:09
    Re: #132
    Yeah, they really should've left out the subordinate-revival part.
    143AnonymousOct 7, 2026 23:12
    Re: #132
    (Sure, he massacred humans, but) his buddies got revived, so happy ending, I guess.

    Background and key points of this debate

    Tensura is a hugely popular isekai anime in which protagonist Rimuru, reincarnated as a slime, crushes enemies with overwhelming power — a defining feature of the show. The term “DD-ron” used in the thread is isekai-fandom-specific slang for justifying brutal treatment of anyone outside one’s own circle, and it isn’t widely known outside that community. The thread branched into comparisons with protagonists from Mushoku Tensei (Rudeus), Overlord, KonoSuba, and The Rising of the Shield Hero, with opinions divided on how far strength and on-screen violence can be justified. Underlying the debate is a broader tendency for isekai’s stock tropes to come under renewed scrutiny; rather than judging individual series on their own merits, the real axis of debate is whether a story structure built around a protagonist who enjoys inflicting violence is acceptable at all.

    *This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “[Sad News] Tensura’s Rimuru Gets Branded a Protagonist Even More Disturbing and Scary Than Rudeus lmaooo.”

  • Kudo Yua’s Giant Backpack Becomes a Hot Topic — 5ch: ‘That Thing’s Huge’

    A photo of Hello! Project idol Kudo Yua carrying an oversized North Face backpack was posted to the 5ch “Hello! Project” board and quickly became a talking point. These large-capacity backpacks have long been popular among fans, and posters in the thread pointed out that other members, including Kawana Rin, carry similarly sized packs. Some praised the bag’s storage capacity for travel and fan trips to see the group, while others pushed back with comments like “it’d feel suffocating if someone wore that on a packed train” and “that brand is already out of style,” leaving opinions on the fashion side split.

    1AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:29
    Huge
    2AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:30
    A 'homo randoseru'!! (forum slang for the oversized North Face backpack, since it looks like a school satchel/randoseru)
    4AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:31
    Esper Ito's hiding in there (a tarento known for bizarre stunts like squeezing into boxes and bags)
    5AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:32
    This reminds me of that guy from the Budokan show
    6AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:34
    Kawana Rin's backpack is huge too
    7AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:34
    That backpack again
    8AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:34
    Post Yagi Shiori's hideously uncool backpack too
    17AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:40
    The bag's one thing, but isn't that shirt she's got on underneath the one they handed out at the CDTV taping? lol
    19AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:43
    Curious what Nikon model camera-girl Reirei is shooting with
    20AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:43
    Handy for hauling octopus around
    23AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:46
    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E4ulLMSVoAArhn4.jpg
    24AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:47
    25AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:47
    I rock a knockoff 'homo randoseru' myself, but
    it holds a ton of stuff so it's actually really practical
    26AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:48
    Would hate to be the one standing next to someone wearing this on a packed train lol
    27AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:49
    Oh, that's Yasaka Shrine
    sightseeing with a bag that massive strapped to her back
    28AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:51
    When I travel I just go with one North Face backpack with the small one-point logo
    30AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:51
    34AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:54
    Isn't the airline limit 45 liters?
    it's not even that big, should clear even the stricter LCC carry-on rules
    38AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:58
    North Face's logo is tacky, but it still beats dragging a rolling suitcase around
    44AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:06
    Speaking of 'homo randoseru,' this is the classic reference shot
    https://livedoor.blogimg.jp/wxvm/imgs/b/c/bc85f4be.jpg
    45AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:08
    Same as gals and yankees — once you max out a specific look, everyone ends up looking identical
    46AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:10
    Standard reminder: it only looks huge because an idol's the one wearing it
    47AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:11
    You could probably even fit a box of wafer cookies in there
    51AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:14
    https://stat.ameba.jp/user_images/20240428/22/juicejuice-official/d4/eb/j/o1080143915431740744.jpg
    66AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:50
    Reply to Re: #51:
    when these two wear it, it actually looks stylish
    52AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:17
    There was a girl who used to do her fan stuff with one of these at a half-basement livehouse
    set it on the floor and it doubles as personal space
    53AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:20
    Her fashion sense is seriously off, kind of want to fix it for her
    55AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:22
    No joke, I'm genuinely curious what's actually inside that thing
    56AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:23
    North Face itself is already past its prime as a brand
    58AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:26
    Reply to Re: #54:
    unless you're an old geezer like you, it's still totally wearable
    59AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:26
    Can we please stop with the octopus nonsense and just act normal
    61AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:38
    Uemura-san, Danbara-san, Inoue-san, and Ria all gave me a backpack!!!!!

    I'd actually requested it (*´꒳`*)

    Thank you so much㉓🧡🍫🦋

    And the backpack is roomy, and the shape is so cute!

    It even has the member colors of all four people who gave it to me!!!

    This is basically a miracle!

    We were all so surprised😆

    I love backpacks so this made my day (o´艸`)

    Yaaay, it's me, Yua!~ (*´`*)
    62AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:38
    A girl with idol-level looks can wear literally anything and make it work
    63AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:42
    Everything just looks good on them
    and honestly it might even get reappraised as a stylish item because of that
    65AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:49
    Sometimes you see small-town middle schoolers wearing these
    68AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:59
    Kind of want to tell her a no-name bag would look better than something that was trendy years ago
    70AnonymousOct 7, 2026 23:03
    Well, it's become a classic at this point
    there are tonal versions where the logo blends into the body, and mini-logo versions too, so whether you want it to stand out is just personal taste
    71AnonymousOct 7, 2026 23:03
    Guess I'll go buy a North Face backpack now

    Background and talking points

    The large-capacity backpack that sparked discussion in the thread traces back to models originally designed for mountaineering and outdoor use, which later became a staple for fans carrying heavy loads to events and tour stops. The comment about “45 liters for flights” refers to the cabin-baggage size limits enforced by low-cost carriers, reflecting the practical needs of fans who want both capacity and portability. Another post cited the member’s own blog, where she reportedly mentioned that the backpack was a gift she’d specifically requested from fellow members — suggesting the item in question may have come from an exchange with fellow members rather than being her own individual pick. Much of the thread’s disagreement comes down to the point that “the same item looks different depending on who’s wearing it,” which makes it easy to conflate opinions about the brand itself with opinions about the individual wearing it.

    ※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project) thread「Kudo Yua-chan’s North Face backpack is huge!!」.

  • Shioi Kento’s “I Didn’t See Him” Comment Sparks Debate — Deep Regret Over Missed Pass to Nakamura

    Japan national team forward Kento Shioi came on as a substitute in the October 5 match against New Zealand, won the ball back in his own half, and carried it forward alone — attempting to force his way through three defenders before losing the ball. Asked about the play afterward, Shioi explained that it wasn’t that he “chose not to pass,” but that he simply “didn’t see” teammate Keito Nakamura, who was wide open, and expressed deep regret. On 5ch’s live-commentary threads, opinions split over whether to take that explanation at face value. Some argued it was simply a case of limited vision due to inexperience, while others suspected he actually saw Nakamura but chose not to pass — and the discussion expanded into debates about Shioi’s career history and future potential.

    Japan national team forward Kento Shioi has revealed the truth behind the “viral moment” that split fan opinion.

    On October 5, Japan faced New Zealand in the final match of a September–October series featuring four international friendlies. Japan won 2–1, claiming the Kirin Cup for the first time in 15 years.

    Shioi came on as a substitute in the 78th minute, playing at center forward, and it was a single moment in the 85th minute that had the whole stadium buzzing. After collecting a loose ball in his own half, Shioi beat midfielder Alex Rufer with a slick double touch. He then drove forward alone into the opposition half, and even after being surrounded by three defenders — including Rufer — he forced his way to the right. In the end, though, his dribble was stopped just short of the penalty area.

    Source: times.abema.tv / Original article here

    3AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:47
    That's even worse lol
    4AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:49
    Sounds like he wouldn't even get picked for Nadeshiko Japan (the women's national team) at this rate
    5AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:50
    Guys like Mitoma or Junya Ito can actually blow past 2-3 defenders.

    Drawing in three defenders is fine, but the fact he couldn't accelerate at all and got caught so easily was kind of funny.
    6AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:50
    And if he'd held back and passed instead, and the guy missed the chance, people would just say "you should've gone yourself."
    There are plenty of people who'll complain no matter what you do.
    9AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:51
    Re: #6
    He did go for it himself and failed lmao
    19AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:00
    Re: #6
    That's just how pro sports, entertainment, and spectacle work.
    What do you even think football is?
    7AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:51
    Rather than giving him a few minutes in a friendly, wouldn't it have been better to play him a full match or long minutes at the Asian Games?
    10AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:53
    He doesn't need to reflect on it at all.

    Don't play it safe and shrink yourself!!
    12AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:54
    The player named Ozeki who played for the Asian squad looked like he was on a completely different level from everyone else.
    He seems like he'd do even better surrounded by senior national team players.
    Plus he's good-looking too.
    15AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:56
    He doesn't have the ability to finish it off by himself in the first place.
    16AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:57
    No idea why, but Moriyasu keeps calling him up — once Oiwa takes over I doubt he'll ever get called again, so whatever.
    22AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:02
    Re: #16
    Still, Moriyasu genuinely has a knack for picking out young talent, so this guy might still break out.
    47AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:12
    Re: #16
    Nah, unfortunately he'll probably keep getting called up.
    Ueda is the only decent forward Japan has right now, so Moriyasu is deliberately calling him up to plant seeds for the future, for "Oiwa Japan" down the road.
    The national team runs as a collective organization of coaches and staff, so player selection probably won't change drastically just because the manager does.
    20AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:01
    Re: #1
    A striker with a "me! me!" attitude is just about right.
    Guys who just shuffle the ball around with passes won't cut it on the world stage.
    21AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:01
    Not seeing that is genuinely bad.
    Actually, I don't think players like Goto need to be called up either.
    At minimum they should be at a starting level abroad.
    Right now they're just getting called up for being overseas, period.
    63AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:18
    Re: #21
    Goto was a regular starter for a team that finished third in Belgium, and he was producing results too.
    Freiburg are near the top of the Bundesliga this season, and with Matanović in the mix, it's not even clear Ueda would start there either — that's the level they're playing at.

    Shioi, though, has never managed to stay a regular starter throughout his career — not in Japan, not in the Netherlands, not in the Bundesliga 1st or 2nd division.
    So I think he's just fundamentally lacking in experience.
    23AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:02
    His name had gotten famous so I watched expecting something, but…he was unbelievably bad lol
    24AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:02
    He's the selfish type who only thinks about scoring himself.
    Never call him up again.
    25AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:02
    If he could've easily squared a simple pass, I already question his football IQ at that point.
    26AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:03
    Is there even a chance he didn't see that? lol
    It was a 100-0 situation where he had to pass, so isn't he just pretending he didn't see it?
    37AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:08
    Re: #26
    It can happen that you look right at something and still don't register it.
    Low-level referees do that all the time, and it leads to bad calls.
    27AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:03
    Well that's still bad lol. Even elementary schoolers glance around before receiving the ball or taking someone on.
    Not checking your surroundings means you don't even know where the opponents are, let alone your teammates lol
    28AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:04
    Not being able to see the bigger picture is even worse.
    36AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:07
    A forward who opts to pass isn't a threat.
    One who's always looking to score himself is the scarier one.
    41AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:09
    Re: #36
    Shioi has no technique and is just bad, so passing to Nakamura was his only real option…
    45AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:11
    He won the ball himself and carried it all that way — passing to Nakamura was the correct choice, sure.

    But Shioi wasn't wrong either.
    49AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:13
    Re: #45
    Shioi himself admitted he made a mistake though lol
    At least his excuses are top-notch.
    48AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:12
    It's not that he couldn't see him, he just didn't try to look.
    The reason he deliberately tried to break through the tighter right side was because he didn't want to look left — because Nakamura was waiting there wide open.
    69AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:23
    Re: #48
    Probably something like that.
    Shioi isn't all that fast by overseas standards, so it might genuinely be tough for him.
    56AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:15
    Re: #47
    Do you not have a brain?
    If you think Shioi is next in line after Ueda, don't even talk about football anymore.
    There were plenty of players better than Shioi on the Asian select squad too.
    83AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:30
    Re: #56
    Shioi scored a hat-trick against Italy's U21 side — two years older than him — at the Maurice Revello Tournament with the Japan U19s, and he transferred to Wolfsburg at age 20 for 1.7 billion yen. He's a genuine prospect.
    59AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:16
    If Nakamura had been ahead of him, fair enough, but not looking back for a guy making a run from behind and just going straight for goal isn't a bad attitude to have.

    On a counter-attack, frantically looking around in front of goal to find a pass is the worse option.
    86AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:31
    Just like he kept using Zion, maybe master tactician Moriyasu can already picture Shioi leading Japan to the dream stage someday.
    89AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:32
    Re: #86
    Maybe we don't need Zion either
    that guy concedes a lot of shots lol
    90AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:33
    Is it even possible not to see that?
    96AnonymousOct 7, 2026 22:36
    Re: #90
    There's no way a player good enough to go pro wouldn't see a guy running alongside him like that — he's just making excuses and saying whatever.

    Background and Points of Debate

    Kento Shioi is a young forward who transferred to Wolfsburg at age 20, and he built a strong reputation during his U19 national team days, including a hat-trick at a tournament. On the other hand, he has rarely stayed a regular starter at his clubs, and some see his decision-making in situations where he creates a numbers advantage as still a work in progress. What split the thread was whether to take his own explanation — that he “didn’t see” Nakamura — at face value as a case of limited vision due to inexperience, or to view it skeptically as an excuse covering for a deliberate choice. In football, it’s hard to tell from the outside whether a player’s situation is “he registered it visually but couldn’t process it in time” versus “he physically didn’t see it,” and the player’s own account alone doesn’t settle the matter. The thread also brought up concrete details about his career — his record at his clubs, his transfer fee — making this more than just an emotional argument, but one grounded in his track record.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geisports Sokuho+) thread “Kento Shioi’s forced breakthrough splits opinion — it wasn’t that he “didn’t pass,” but that he “didn’t see” — overlooking Keito Nakamura, he deeply reflects, saying “all I was thinking about was taking him on”.”

  • Kaede Kaga Kicks Off Second Dance Study Trip in LA

    Former Morning Musume.’15 member Kaede Kaga has started her second dance study trip to Los Angeles, sparking discussion on 5ch’s Hello! Project board. Her first stint was a one-year study abroad, and this marks a return trip following that one. The thread buzzed with stories about her mentor relationships with fellow ’15-generation member Rio Kitagawa (now a TV Tokyo announcer), whom Kaga reportedly coached, as well as current Morning Musume. leader Homare Okamura and ace Ai Yamazaki. Speculation that she might be aiming to become a choreographer or stage director fueled excitement, while opinions were split over the purpose of the trip and what she’ll do next.

    1AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:06
    I absolutely cannot wait to see what the future holds for Lady Kaede Kaga!!!!!
    5AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:11
    The other girls who did the one-year LA study trip with her are back in Japan and thriving again,
    but Kaedi went back for round two.
    Maybe she's chasing some seriously high-level goal.
    8AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:12
    Back in her idol days, especially near the end,
    she talked a lot about wanting to be a choreographer, a general director, or a stage manager,
    so maybe she's seriously going for that now.
    10AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:14
    Is she turning into Alex from the movie Flashdance?
    15AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:17
    But seriously, though?
    Her '15-generation classmate Marai-chi
    and her star pupil Rio-chan, also from '15,
    are both doing so well out in the world
    that it's gotta be inspiring Kaedi to chase her own dream for real too.
    16AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:17
    Kinda like a kid who's scared of becoming a working adult and goes to college just to buy themselves more time (a "moratorium").
    17AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:17
    Since she left for the US at this time of year, does that mean Moulin Rouge is off the table now?
    23AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:18
    Re: #17
    Moulin Rouge is in summer — there's still half a year.
    22AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:18
    Next year's Morning Musume. 30th anniversary — I'd love for Kaedi to come back leading a whole squad of Americans for that one.
    24AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:18
    Only Michishige fans ever start these threads, yet "otaku" in general get blamed for it.
    25AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:18
    Is this person trying to become like Sayashi (Riho Sayashi)?
    28AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:19
    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HNd1XUyWEAA8bXU.jpg
    29AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:20
    This kind of Asian look is super popular overseas, you know.
    32AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:22
    Re: #29
    Exactly.
    Honestly, even to Japanese eyes, Kaedi is drop-dead gorgeous.
    30AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:20
    Oh right, Kaga completely retired from showbiz, didn't she…
    35AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:23
    Re: #30
    Kaga's fans must be gutted… so bittersweet.
    47AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:31
    These days,
    Rio Kitagawa is TV Tokyo's star ace announcer.

    Morning Musume.'s current leader Homare Okamura. Its absolute ace Ai Yamazaki.

    Kaede Kaga mentored and raised all three of them from early on.

    That's an insane labor record (lit. "Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare" — a joking way of saying her training regimen was so intense it's basically a workplace case).
    49AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:32
    Re: #47
    Except the person herself is apparently unemployed.
    51AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:34
    Re: #49
    Surely even Kaedi belongs to something, right?
    52AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:35
    I figured she'd quietly left showbiz and gone back to being a regular person, but she's not giving up, huh.
    There's a dime a dozen of dancers out there — it's not gonna work.
    55AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:37
    Re: #52
    Haters really don't know anything.
    She retired as a talent, sure,
    but she'd talked endlessly about her behind-the-scenes dreams.
    57AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:38
    Re: #52
    Here's her most recent post so far:

    @
    Once again, to everyone who's been cheering me on —
    following the final curtain call of the musical the day before yesterday,
    I'm ending my activities.
    Thank you so much for everything up until now!
    I got to spend such happy times.
    Over these two years I came to feel
    there's still more I can do, so I won't let up on the effort.
    I hope we can meet again somewhere!!
    53AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:35
    With how expensive everything is in America right now, just the cost of living there sounds rough — I wonder if Kaedi's got the money for it?
    59AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:39
    Re: #57
    That last line is the same thing she always said back in her Musume days —
    she'll definitely come back, just not as a talent.
    62AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:42
    Re: #59
    Coming back as a talent would be fine too, honestly.
    71AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:51
    Coming back as a talent seems like it'd let her shine more.
    78AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:55
    Re: #71
    Realistically speaking, it'd be a waste not to use her past career,
    so I think there's a real chance she comes back in front of the camera.
    75AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:53
    That video where Kaedi fully produced her beloved protégés from the '15 generation —
    original choreography, costumes, everything —
    that one blew up like crazy.
    I've watched it a trillion times myself.
    Watching it again now, yeah, it's still amazing.
    76AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:55
    Re: #75
    Forgot to attach the video, oops
    https://youtu.be/oNu2WhDP2-M?si=rLE_bFxVsYoHUN6i
    80AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:55
    Re: #76
    Aaaaaaaaaaaaah all three of them are so cute I could die
    82AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:56
    Re: #76
    Whoa… this was exactly 10 years ago…

    Background and Talking Points

    Kaede Kaga graduated from Morning Musume.’ in 2023 and has since focused mainly on stage work, announcing — as quoted in the thread — that she was ending her activities following the “final curtain call of the musical.” What split opinion in the thread was whether this new LA trip is simply personal self-improvement, or serious training toward the choreographer/stage-director “behind-the-scenes” path she’d talked about openly during her idol days. Supporters pointed to her track record of fully producing a kouhai’s performance, while skeptics doubted a comeback as a dancer was realistic. Discussion of the ’15 generation also tied her to a classmate who became a TV Tokyo announcer and to the group’s current leadership, showing just how differently members of the same generation can be perceived. Her current affiliation or future plans were not confirmed in the thread.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “Lady Kaede Kaga ❤ Starts Her Second LA 🇺🇸 Dance Training Trip ❤.”

  • “I’ll Tear Your Paternity Leave Form to Shreds”: Male Employee Sues Bridal Company Over Exec’s Paternity Harassment

    A male photographer at a long-established bridal company has filed suit at the Tokyo District Court seeking 2.2 million yen in damages from his employer, saying an executive harassed him over his paternity leave request, including telling him he’d “tear it to shreds.” He also held a press conference on October 7, the day the suit was filed. On 5ch, the report sparked an ongoing debate split between those supporting the man’s right to take paternity leave and those criticizing a full year of leave as something that creates staffing shortages on the ground.

    “A paternity leave form? If you hand that to me I’ll tear it to shreds! Employees are supposed to work!” —

    Mr. A, a male photographer at a long-established bridal company, says an executive at the company said this to him during a round of entertainment golf, after he had requested paternity leave.

    On October 7, Mr. A filed suit at the Tokyo District Court against his employer, Motegi Shoji (Shinjuku, Tokyo), seeking 2.2 million yen in damages, arguing that the president’s and others’ remarks constituted “paternity harassment” (patahara — harassment targeting men over their involvement in childcare), obstructing his ability to take leave. He also held a press conference in Tokyo that same day.

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

    20AnonymousOct 7, 2026 20:43
    Why aren't they naming the company?
    29AnonymousOct 7, 2026 20:44
    Re: #20
    Because it's made up.

    An old-guard villain that cartoonish doesn't actually exist in real life.
    71AnonymousOct 7, 2026 20:50
    Re: #29
    >He is seeking 2.2 million yen in damages from his employer, Motegi Shoji (Shinjuku, Tokyo), filing suit at the Tokyo District Court, and also held a press conference in Tokyo that same day.
    77AnonymousOct 7, 2026 20:51
    But isn't paternity leave basically unpaid anyway?
    88AnonymousOct 7, 2026 20:53
    Re: #77
    It comes out of social insurance. At my company you also get a top-up from the company on top of that, so you get 100% of your pay.
    And the rest of us end up carrying the burden of supporting these guys. Unbearable.
    97AnonymousOct 7, 2026 20:54
    Re: #88
    It just makes things brutal on the ground.
    If a couple announces they're both taking a full year off, I'd want them transferred out beforehand so a replacement can actually be brought in lol
    135AnonymousOct 7, 2026 20:58
    Re: #88
    Do you not have kids or something?
    It's people like you who are the reason the birth rate keeps dropping.
    87AnonymousOct 7, 2026 20:52
    Seriously, thinking there'll still be a place for you after that long a leave…
    So dumb.
    110AnonymousOct 7, 2026 20:55
    Re: #87
    In practice they end up hiring someone to cover that person's position, so it's completely normal to get reassigned when you come back. At a company this small, you're basically just a drain on money.
    152AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:00
    Re: #136
    What do you even do with a whole year off?
    If anything it'd get depressing.
    Wouldn't you want to get back to work sooner?
    174AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:02
    Re: #152
    If you want to study, you get 500,000 yen a year for learning expenses (plus a separate 300,000 yen for language study), so I signed up for an online academy with it and got a national qualification.
    200AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:05
    Re: #174
    You study on your time off?
    That doesn't sound like aiming for a comfortable life — just sounds like chasing every penny you can squeeze out of the system.
    212AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:07
    Re: #200
    Calling self-investment a "cheap" use of your time…
    What kind of brain do you have lol
    233AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:10
    Re: #200
    That's only for people who want to study. It's entirely optional.
    And you can't normally even use up that 500,000-yen yearly allowance while working anyway.
    154AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:00
    Re: #1
    Stop writing articles like they're creative writing assignments lol
    172AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:02
    Re: #154
    The real name's right there lol
    177AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:02
    Re: #154
    >He is seeking 2.2 million yen in damages from his employer, Motegi Shoji (Shinjuku, Tokyo), filing suit at the Tokyo District Court, and also held a press conference in Tokyo that same day.

    Aren't you mixing this up with Bengo4.com (a legal news site)?

    Also, TV Asahi and Nippon TV reported on it too:

    "Paternity harassment" employee sues his company — "I'll tear your paternity leave form to shreds"
    https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/e15f8161ae2e27b995667275a40cafdd937fab8c
    167AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:01
    Re: #135
    For me it was the opposite — because I'm actually good at my job, I got picked for the squad covering for these guys. Reassignment, commute changes, new clients to deal with. It genuinely sucks. People who take a full year at once — normally you split it up.
    But now idiots are seriously showing up who take a full continuous year. Japan itself is finished.
    180AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:03
    Re: #167
    That can't be helped though, can it?
    It's an established rule, so of course some people are going to use it.
    I don't get the point of trying to stop them out of selfishness.
    Is that basically like defying the government or something?
    201AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:06
    Re: #167
    The company that lets that happen is the one at fault.
    Normally you just hire more people.
    173AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:02
    Re: #146
    Isn't that because there are guys who slack off playing pachinko and goof around instead of actually doing any childcare?
    186AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:03
    Re: #173
    Isn't it up to the person what they do on their days off?
    Though I get why a spouse would be angry about it.
    194AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:04
    Re: #186
    So there are guys whose "leave" has nothing to do with childcare at all, and I'm guessing that's what made the wife snap — like, "then this isn't paternity leave at all!"
    208AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:07
    Re: #194
    The wife snapping is understandable, but it makes no sense for the company to demand employees report on their daily life while on leave.
    256AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:13
    Re: #194
    Probably there's barely anything to do. I'd guess it ends up being like watching TV with your wife all day.
    Housework can honestly be knocked out solo in just over an hour.
    Right after birth the baby cries at night, so you just help out with sleep.
    If you carry the baby on your back while working it settles right down too. Though with jobs where you can't piggyback the baby, it just cries and demands attention nonstop, which is rough.
    216AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:07
    Taking a full year off and still thinking your seat will be waiting for you?
    Someone has to be hired to cover while you're gone.
    So when you come back, are you going to fire the person they hired?
    Way too self-centered.
    223AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:09
    Re: #216
    Not keeping the seat open is illegal.
    That's literally what fixed-term temp staffing exists for.
    229AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:10
    Re: #216
    A year of childcare leave is a legal right, set by law.
    Since the seat has to stay open for someone coming back after a year, it's also hard to hire someone new in the meantime. It's hopeless.
    254AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:13
    Still, it's impressive a company can afford to pay salary to someone who's on leave for a whole year.
    268AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:15
    Re: #254
    Isn't childcare leave not something the company pays for, though?
    269AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:15
    Re: #254
    During childcare leave the company doesn't actually have to pay wages at all, though.

    Background and Key Issues

    Paternity leave for men is a right under Japan’s Child Care and Family Care Leave Act, granted in principle until the child turns one year old. Income during the leave doesn’t come from the company’s payroll but from childcare leave benefits paid out of employment insurance. Disadvantageous treatment or dismissal on account of taking leave is prohibited under the same law, so treating a returning employee as having “no seat” isn’t legally permissible either. Much of the backlash in the thread wasn’t really engaging with how the system is actually structured, but came instead from the lived frustration of workplaces that can’t backfill staff when someone goes on long-term leave. The term “patahara” (paternity harassment) itself is a relatively new concept that emerged as men’s uptake of paternity leave spread more broadly in society, and the fact that the employer named in the report had a workforce of 196 women and only 20 men out of 216 employees adds useful context for how a male employee’s paternity leave was received in that workplace.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (News Speed+) thread ““A paternity leave form? I’ll tear it to shreds!” “In my day there was no such thing as paternity leave” — Executives at long-established bridal company accused of harassment, male employee sues.”

  • Kenso Soai Wins Nobel Prize in Chemistry — Even NHK’s Pundits Call It ‘Unexpected,’ While His Handwritten Notes Steal the Show

    Tokyo University of Science Professor Emeritus Kenso Soai has been awarded the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry jointly with Paris-Saclay University Professor Emeritus Henri Kagan. The prize cites “the discovery of nonlinear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis.” This marks the third consecutive year a Japanese national has won a Nobel Prize, and the 10th Japanese Chemistry laureate, following last year’s Susumu Kitagawa. NHK’s “News 7” led with the story, but even pundits said they “hadn’t expected this for the Chemistry Prize,” since Soai’s name was missing from the pre-announcement prediction lists — sparking surprise across 5ch. Meanwhile, the cute handwriting on what looked like a hastily scrawled note at the announcement became its own hot topic, with the thread spiraling into side discussions on the feasibility of fusion power and the annual running joke about Haruki Murakami’s Literature Prize snub.

    10/7 (Wed) 19:36

    Tokyo University of Science Professor Emeritus Kenso Soai has been named a winner of this year’s Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences made the announcement on the 7th. The prize was awarded “for the discovery of nonlinear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis,” shared with Paris-Saclay University Professor Emeritus Henri Kagan. This is Japan’s third straight year producing a Nobel laureate, the 31st Japanese individual recipient overall, and the 10th in Chemistry, following last year’s Susumu Kitagawa.

    The good news broke just after 6:50 p.m. Japan time on the 7th. NHK’s “NHK News 7” ran it as the top story.

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

    10AnonymousOct 7, 2026 20:30
    23 hours until Haruki gets passed over again — the countdown begins
    11AnonymousOct 7, 2026 20:31
    Was watching the Miraikan (National Museum of Emerging Science) livestream on Niconico, but apparently he was a total dark horse
    12AnonymousOct 7, 2026 20:31
    Nobel Prize in Literature
    I wonder if the Harukists are gathering again this year, hoping Haruki finally wins ("Harukist" = devoted fan of author Haruki Murakami)
    19AnonymousOct 7, 2026 20:35
    Re: #12
    Are there actually any Harukists who genuinely believe Haruki's going to win?
    20AnonymousOct 7, 2026 20:35
    Seriously, NHK's predictions never come true.
    They had several names predicted for yesterday's Physics Prize so I was hopeful, but…
    24AnonymousOct 7, 2026 20:38
    Re: #20
    He wasn't even on Nikkei's rankings. And they were so proud of having built a "prediction machine," too.
    21AnonymousOct 7, 2026 20:35
    Winning a Nobel Prize is pointless if it can't be commercialized (dead serious)
    23AnonymousOct 7, 2026 20:37
    Re: #21
    Is there even any cutting-edge science left that can actually be made practical anymore?

    Fusion power sure won't be commercialized within your lifetime either.
    News like this just feels hollow now…
    31AnonymousOct 7, 2026 20:43
    Re: #23
    Fusion's had breakthrough after breakthrough, it's gotten to a point where it seems fairly achievable
    but in the end it's a battle of capital, and that's where it loses
    Plus with the Nobel Prize too, there are people doing similar research all over the world — the winner's just whoever got there first
    If you can't actually roll it out into society and build the right environment for it, it means nothing
    34AnonymousOct 7, 2026 20:47
    Re: #31
    To make it practical you absolutely need
    input < output
    It's made plenty of headlines
    but if you actually scrutinize it, no real breakthrough has happened
    37AnonymousOct 7, 2026 20:50
    Re: #31
    With fusion, it's like room-temperature superconductivity — people have been saying it's coming since the Showa era (pre-1989), and it's just not happening
    27AnonymousOct 7, 2026 20:40
    "We didn't expect this for the Chemistry Prize" — wait, did people think it'd go to Biology instead?
    29AnonymousOct 7, 2026 20:41
    Apparently there are only 30 people in the entire country with this surname
    30AnonymousOct 7, 2026 20:42
    First real surprise since Koichi Tanaka, huh.
    Back then it was genuinely a "who?" moment — not just among the media outlets, but even at the company he worked for, people were saying "we don't even know if this is real" and had to go verify the facts.
    I think the press conference ended up being held the next day, if I remember right.
    33AnonymousOct 7, 2026 20:45
    Re: #1
    > "the discovery of nonlinear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis"

    At times like this, asking an AI to explain it in plain terms really helps
    35AnonymousOct 7, 2026 20:48
    I wonder if the anchors on tonight's news shows will actually understand what the commentators are explaining
    36AnonymousOct 7, 2026 20:48
    Out of all the Nobel Prizes,

    the Economics one is the only category no Japanese person has ever won
    38AnonymousOct 7, 2026 20:50
    The biggest obstacle to making fusion power practical
    This is probably a wall that can't be cleared
    (This is from AI, but it's what I looked up before)

    – The biggest challenge in making fusion power practical is stably sustaining ultra-high-temperature plasma above 100 million degrees for long periods (steady-state operation), and developing reactor walls and materials durable enough to withstand it.

    – Enormous construction costs:
    Even at the experimental-reactor stage, projects like ITER (the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) require trillions of yen in funding, making the economics of commercialization hard to see.
    39AnonymousOct 7, 2026 20:52
    Laughed at how messy the handwriting was
    Guess there wasn't even time to print it out
    41AnonymousOct 7, 2026 20:55
    It's written in such heavy katakana-English that it's weirdly reassuring (katakana-English = Japanese phonetic spelling of English words)
    42AnonymousOct 7, 2026 20:55
    48AnonymousOct 7, 2026 20:58
    Re: #42
    This handwriting's cute enough they could sell it as a font
    70AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:32
    Re: #42
    My parent's a science elite too, and their handwriting is genuinely awful
    71AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:33
    Re: #42
    I was so distracted by the handwriting that not a word of the explanation sank in
    44AnonymousOct 7, 2026 20:56
    He'd always been floated as a candidate, but honestly my first reaction is just "wow, he actually won"
    45AnonymousOct 7, 2026 20:56
    So it's not one of those broad-but-shallow-coverage kind of achievements after all
    47AnonymousOct 7, 2026 20:58
    Well, the Nobel Prize usually goes to research from ages ago,
    so a lot of the time it's already been put into practical use

    like the blue LED
    49AnonymousOct 7, 2026 20:59
    Old media can't help but let their bitterness show through lol
    50AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:02
    I think it's pretty ridiculous how everyone fawns over a prize named after some guy who invented dynamite, picked by a bunch of nobodies from a foreign country.
    People who gush over some foreign tire company's restaurant ratings, done by outsiders with no business judging food, are the same type. (Reference to Alfred Nobel and the Michelin Guide, published by the tire maker Michelin)
    61AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:19
    No news outlet has given an easy-to-understand explanation yet
    I can't even tell if my own understanding of it is right
    65AnonymousOct 7, 2026 21:21
    Re: #61
    Exactly
    It's like explaining benzene-ring theory to someone from the 16th century — they'd never get it
    This is that kind of thing

    Background and Talking Points

    This marks the third consecutive year a Japanese national has won a Nobel Prize, the 31st individual Japanese laureate overall, and the 10th in Chemistry following last year’s Susumu Kitagawa. The thread’s recurring “didn’t see this coming” reactions stem from the annual tradition of outlets like NHK and Nikkei compiling prediction lists based on citation counts and similar metrics — Soai’s name simply wasn’t on them. The slow scheduling of the press conference echoed the same “can we even confirm it’s really him” confusion seen when Koichi Tanaka won. Opinions split between those praising the academic significance of the win (basic research into asymmetric organic synthesis) and a more cynical, practicality-focused camp arguing that “a Nobel Prize means nothing if it doesn’t lead to real-world commercialization” — a debate that branched out into side arguments over whether fusion power will ever become practical. Worth noting: the phrase “awarded jointly with Kagan” doesn’t mean the two collaborated — it refers to them being honored at the same time for separate work in a related field, a point that caused some confusion within the thread itself and is worth clarifying here.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “Kenso Soai Wins Nobel Prize in Chemistry — NHK Pundit: “Didn’t Expect It”; Hastily Scrawled Handwritten Note Goes Viral Online: “Hilarious”.”

  • Persona 5: ‘Should newcomers follow walkthrough sites step-by-step?’ — 5channers split

    A thread on 5ch’s Hardware & Industry (Geha) board picked up on new players of “Persona 5” following a walkthrough site’s schedule from the very start of the game. The Persona series runs on a calendar system, and since it’s easy to miss out on fully maxing your Confidants (Co-op relationships) in a single playthrough, some pointed out that prioritizing efficiency naturally leads players to mirror a walkthrough’s exact schedule. Opinions split between defenders (“if the player’s having fun, who cares,” “even From Software games have tons of people watching video guides”) and critics (“it’s annoying being forced into do-overs just to satisfy the developers’ own perfectionism,” “if you can’t even follow the story without a guide, that’s a design flaw”) — the discussion never settled into one clear direction.

    1AnonymousOct 7, 2026 17:45
    What's even interesting about this?
    2AnonymousOct 7, 2026 17:46
    Not playing this garbage-sona (a derisive nickname for Persona) in the first place is the correct answer anyway.
    3AnonymousOct 7, 2026 17:47
    This isn't really unique to Persona, though.
    4AnonymousOct 7, 2026 17:47
    I didn't follow it to the letter either, but I played while checking a guide and had a blast, so who cares.
    5AnonymousOct 7, 2026 17:47
    I bet more than half of FromSoftware game players are watching guide videos too.
    6AnonymousOct 7, 2026 17:48
    If that's how they have fun, it's fine, isn't it?
    7AnonymousOct 7, 2026 17:53
    It's that person's own business — why not just ask them?
    There are way too many garbage threads here that basically amount to "go tweet that on X instead."
    8AnonymousOct 7, 2026 17:54
    If you want to collect every element in a single playthrough, you pretty much have to follow a walkthrough site exactly.
    Nobody's got time to leisurely replay a game that long multiple times.
    9AnonymousOct 7, 2026 17:55
    Aiming to max out every Confidant with the optimal schedule.
    10AnonymousOct 7, 2026 17:55
    Well, that's just how it goes if you're filling in every element in one run.

    Same as how mobile gacha gamers these days are always chasing the one optimal solution.
    11AnonymousOct 7, 2026 17:55
    'Banshi Senkou' (another calendar-based Japanese game) had the same problem with missable events piling up because of its calendar system.
    Time-limited events really are the villain here.
    14AnonymousOct 7, 2026 17:57
    Re: #11
    Chasing efficiency from the very first week to begin with… is that even fun?
    18AnonymousOct 7, 2026 18:01
    Re: #14
    That's not it — it's just annoying being forced to redo things over and over for the developers' own self-satisfaction.
    Calling that "soft" is basically the same as siding with the just-watch-a-video crowd.
    20AnonymousOct 7, 2026 18:02
    Re: #14
    Replaying a game that easily tops 100 hours, multiple times? No way.
    13AnonymousOct 7, 2026 17:56
    This applies to every game, not just Persona.
    15AnonymousOct 7, 2026 17:59
    Do people start threads like this because they don't have the guts to just ask the person directly?
    16AnonymousOct 7, 2026 17:59
    You can complete it effortlessly on a second playthrough, so that's fine by me — if you insist on doing it all in one run, that's on you.
    17AnonymousOct 7, 2026 18:01
    If you actually want to complete everything, doing about two playthroughs is normal.
    But this time around, replaying is a hassle, so it's better to just finish it in one go.
    19AnonymousOct 7, 2026 18:02
    People who just can't help being curious about how everyone else plays their games.
    21AnonymousOct 7, 2026 18:04
    Enjoying the game without wasting time digging through a walkthrough.
    That way of having fun is great too.
    22AnonymousOct 7, 2026 18:04
    There's nothing wrong with it at all.
    What do you think strategy guides and walkthrough sites are even for?
    Don't go nitpicking how other people choose to play.
    23AnonymousOct 7, 2026 18:05
    I get it — when one playthrough is 100 hours, you really don't feel like doing multiple runs.
    28AnonymousOct 7, 2026 18:07
    Missable content is the real villain here.
    29AnonymousOct 7, 2026 18:09
    Re: #28
    This, plus games where you can't see the true ending unless you're above Normal difficulty — that was genuinely toxic design.
    Though I doubt any game still does that now.
    35AnonymousOct 7, 2026 18:13
    In Persona you can actually see other players' behavior patterns and "answers" through an in-game system,
    so just referencing that is pretty much all you need — it's actually a pretty player-friendly design that lets you collect almost everything.
    39AnonymousOct 7, 2026 18:16
    Re: #35
    If you're aiming for a perfect run on your first try, you'll naturally end up on the exact same schedule as a walkthrough.
    43AnonymousOct 7, 2026 18:19
    This is basically the downside of making RPGs easy for anyone to clear.
    Back in the day, the biggest value was in spending time and finally seeing the ending — but that's not the case anymore.
    Items and events were just means to clear the game, not goals in themselves.
    Precisely because anyone can clear it easily now, people end up obsessing over post-clear extras and completion instead.
    45AnonymousOct 7, 2026 18:20
    Re: #43
    Same goes for 'Banshi Senkou.'
    50AnonymousOct 7, 2026 18:30
    People like this should just go watch movies or anime instead.
    There's no point in them playing games at all.
    52AnonymousOct 7, 2026 18:32
    Re: #50
    That's exactly why sales have dropped, and games that've adapted to the times in that regard are the ones that get loved.
    73AnonymousOct 7, 2026 18:59
    It's a game where even casually blind-playing it gets you 90% of everything, though.
    75AnonymousOct 7, 2026 19:01
    Re: #73
    There's no way you get 90% of the Confidants done playing it casually.
    76AnonymousOct 7, 2026 19:01
    Re: #73
    And to also nail that remaining 10%, you'd have to build a rock-solid, min-maxed schedule — there's no way around it.
    79AnonymousOct 7, 2026 19:05
    I've actually seen someone report clearing the game without even reaching the third term, despite the game repeatedly nudging them to "make sure you do this" — so I guess it can't be helped.
    On social media it's common to see people hit triple-digit playtime hours on their first run, so of course newcomers get anxious.
    96AnonymousOct 7, 2026 19:24
    Re: #79
    The moment you can't even follow the story without checking a walkthrough, the design's already a failure.
    82AnonymousOct 7, 2026 19:09
    Honestly, Persona kind of falls into the "bad game" category.
    84AnonymousOct 7, 2026 19:12
    Re: #82
    That's only because every other JRPG out there is an even worse game than this.
    98AnonymousOct 7, 2026 19:25
    If all you need for the bonus Persona is maxed Confidants, you shouldn't need a walkthrough site for that.
    P5 has negotiation, and the Shadows' insides are the usual demons, so forget the story — the fusion system was actually really good.
    100AnonymousOct 7, 2026 19:27
    Re: #98
    If you're trying to make it on your first playthrough, a walkthrough site is pretty much mandatory.
    110AnonymousOct 7, 2026 19:44
    I just don't get it at all.
    Who cares if you don't complete everything? Is the universe going to have some kind of problem if you don't 100% it?
    113AnonymousOct 7, 2026 19:46
    Re: #110
    What I don't get is you trying to make people understand something you yourself say you can't understand at all.
    It's someone else's business, so who cares.
    However other people choose to play, it's not like it causes a problem for the universe either.

    Background and key points of this discussion

    The Persona series runs on a calendar system that mimics school life, and many of its Confidant relationships and hidden content are designed to be time-limited. Because of this, trying to collect everything in a single playthrough tends to converge on a similar schedule no matter who’s playing, which is where the thread’s point — “of course it ends up matching a walkthrough site” — comes from. The disagreement boiled down to a difference in values: whether this counts as rational play (saving time) or as something that undermines the experience of the work itself, and the thread never reached a conclusion. Other titles such as “Banshi Senkou” were also brought up, but their specific mechanics weren’t detailed in the thread, so this article doesn’t go further into them either. The claim that a single playthrough runs around 100 hours is worth reading simply as a rough indicator of how long this game is.

    ※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware & Industry/Geha) thread “A newcomer who just started Persona 5 immediately peeked at the answers and ended up following a walkthrough site’s schedule”.