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海外ChOverseas reactions (JP)

もっと倫理的なAIモデルは？海外でスイス製「Apertus」が話題【海外の反応】イエスの実弟ヤコブが新約聖書で軽視される理由

即まとchJapanese 5ch threads

任天堂に新作が無いと話題　5ch「マリカしか出してない」川嶋美楓バースデーイベント抽選、昼公演は落選多数　5ch「箱を小さくする事務所の強い意志」

Maria Makino’s Cheering Called “Annoying” — 5ch Users: “I Fully Support Her”

Maria Makino (formerly of Morning Musume。’14) has drawn criticism from some fans over her eye-catching cheering style at Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters games, with complaints like “she’s annoying” and “she just wants attention.” Amid the backlash, Yasushi Kawasaki, who heads the “Jagaimon” (Potato-mon) project in Shihoro, Hokkaido, and Takuo Yoshihiro, deputy mayor of Japan’s second-smallest town, posted messages of support on social media in quick succession. On 5ch’s Hello! Project board, reactions split between users welcoming the show of support and more measured voices arguing that fan passion and public annoyance are separate issues, making for a mixed bag of opinions.

1AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:48
Yasushi Kawasaki (Shihoro, Hokkaido / Head of the Jagaimon Project) @yasu0826
As a fellow Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters fan, I fully support Maria Makino.
She's a genuine Fighters fan.
3AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:50
The Jagaimon Project??
Is that some kind of Hello! Project thing?
5AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:52
Being a die-hard fan and being annoyingly conspicuous are two completely different things
7AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:52
Calling it "annoying" is harsh — she's just doing it within the rules
9AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:53
She's got ties to the team president, so criticism from small-fry fans is just jealousy

11AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:54
She's not exactly a regular civilian (she's a celebrity), so complaining won't get you anywhere
13AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:54
If you'd actually been a fan for a long time, you wouldn't be reacting to Makino at this point
15AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:56
It's not an idol putting on an act of being a Fighters fan —
a genuine Fighters fan just happened to become an idol
16AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:56
Takuo Yoshihiro | Deputy Mayor of Japan's Second-Smallest Town
@TakuoYoshihiro
I got to appear alongside Maria Makino on the shoot for HBC Hokkaido Broadcasting's "Kitakoi"!

She's a Fighters fan overflowing with love for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters ⚾ She talked about her love for the team on the show, and her passion came through so strongly that even I — a Hawks fan of over 20 years — genuinely found myself thinking "I want to cheer for the Fighters" and "I want to go to ES CON Field." That's how fired-up a Fighters fan she is.

Maria is a sincere, hardworking, wonderful person ⚾
#MariaMakino
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HS-53-haMAAfizm.jpg:orig#.jpg

17AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:56
A bandwagon fan who can't name a single song from Makino's time in the group

18AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:56
Re: #1
With a project name like that, isn't he actually a fan of Nagano instead? (referring to fellow Hello! Project member Nagano Momoka)

19AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:56
Both Angerme and Hane should be taking notes from this guy (referring to other Hello! Project acts)

21AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:57
If random people keep butting in like this and it turns into a bigger scandal, she might end up unable to stay with the agency
37AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:06
Re: #21
More like the agency will protect her precisely because of shady connections

23AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:57
Don't mistake "been a fan longer" for "more important"
24AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:58
Maria is amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing!!!!!!!
25AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:58
Wasn't Jagaimon actually Ogawa's thing?
29AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:59
I thought the problem was that it's fans doing the trolling, not unrelated outsiders

30AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:01
Same as always —
Makino acts out, her fans force a defense, and both Makino and her fans end up hated
31AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:03
She wasn't bashed this much before leaving the group — why did the antis multiply after she graduated?
33AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:03
Her mom's got serious pull in fan circles too, so of course insiders come out to back her up
34AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:04
Isn't Jagaimon a show hosted by Makoto Ogawa and Seiko Ito?

35AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:04
Well, it's a small industry run by idiots, so of course she gets piled on by everyone else
38AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:06
A solid backer's shown up
Typical of "Shao" (a nickname playing on Ogawa's name)

39AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:06
This isn't about her love for the Fighters — it's about not busting out huge dance moves in the stands, no?

40AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:06
Is she really getting that much criticism?
Guess she won't be able to do that anymore
Poor thing
41AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:07
Next I want her to dance in something a bit more revealing
43AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:08
I don't get the standard where drumming is fine but dancing isn't

51AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:13
She kept saying "I'm just doing what I like, leave me alone" back in her Musume days too, so she must've been quite the nuisance even then
52AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:13
So I guess that means I, a 30-plus-year Hanshin Tigers fan overflowing with Tigers love, get a pass to chant "Drop dead, Yomiuri" too, huh

56AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:15
She gets picked up by the cameras even during MLB broadcasts
Being cute is a crime
72AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:26
Re: #56
That was a Japanese camera crew, though

Background and Key Points

Maria Makino has been known as a devoted Nippon-Ham Fighters fan since her Hello! Project days, and her conspicuous cheering style at the ballpark has repeatedly made headlines. Opinions in the thread were split, with some arguing that “fan enthusiasm” and “discomfort with attention-grabbing behavior” are separate issues, and others speculating about who was actually behind the criticism. Notably, Kawasaki and Yoshihiro, who spoke up in her defense, both posted under their real names as local figures who know her personally — a different footing from anonymous criticism online. That said, exactly what behavior is being criticized and how seriously remains murky even within the thread itself, and no primary sources such as news reports have confirmed the details. Some speculation tried to pin the criticism on specific individuals, but since that amounts to unsubstantiated claims, it has not been included in this article.

※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “Amid criticism from Fighters fans calling Maria Makino “annoying” and saying she “just wants attention,” a powerful ally steps in to defend her.”

September 25, 2026
Docomo SMTB Net Bank Outage: Users Report Payday Deposits Not Arriving

On the morning of September 25, an outage hit Docomo SMTB Net Bank (formerly Sumishin SBI Net Bank), making some of its services hard to access. The timing coincided with payday and month-end, when transfers tend to pile up, and on X users posted things like “I’m getting a system error when I try to make a transfer” and “Funds I withdrew from my brokerage account still haven’t arrived.” The bank came under Docomo’s umbrella in October 2025 and only took on its current name on August 3, 2026. On 5channel, the thread drew a mix of reactions — speculation about the cause, and users weighing a switch to other banks.

IT Media NEWS, September 25, 2026, 12:32 PM

On the morning of September 25, Docomo SMTB Net Bank (formerly Sumishin SBI Net Bank) revealed that “an outage is occurring that is making some services difficult to access.” It has not disclosed which services are affected or when service will be restored.

On X, users have posted comments such as “I’m getting a system error when I try to make a transfer” and “Funds I withdrew from my brokerage account haven’t arrived.” The outage hit on the 25th — a day when payday and month-end transfers tend to bunch up — drawing an outcry from users.

Source: itmedia.co.jp / Original article here

6AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:13
Docomo can't get anything right, can it.
218AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:41
Re: #6
They've got a ton of ex-Ministry of Internal Affairs bureaucrats parachuted in ("amakudari" hires)
Docomo just keeps getting worse and worse somehow
What happened to them

17AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:17
Pathetic that they got bought out by Docomo of all companies.
19AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:18
Re: #17
Must be sweet for Kitao — pocketing a huge goodwill premium on the sale.

22AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:19
Come to think of it, there was some kind of line at the SMBC ATM today.
Figured it was just a "goto-bi" (a day ending in 5 or 0, common for bill payments) thing, but turns out this was going on.
127AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:18
Re: #22
The staffed branch on Ome Kaido only has 5 ATMs, and people were spilling out the door, queued up outside.

27AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:21
If a company bounces a payment because of the bank's own screwup, who's going to compensate them?
58AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:37
Re: #27
If a withdrawal fails because of a bank error, there's sometimes a remedy available for that.

30AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:24
Didn't realize people still used cash.
34AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:25
Re: #30 That's got nothing to do with cash, does it? Read Re: #1 again.

41AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:29
It's not like the system changed all that much when it became "Docomo Bank" — weird that it'd cause an outage like this.
44AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:29
Re: #41
Must be NTT East/West's classic move — cutting maintenance to cut costs, lol

42AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:29
Now that they've been swallowed up by NTT, pay presumably matches NTT's scale.
Income probably dropped, so maybe the capable people are the ones quitting first.

45AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:29
Guess I should move my account to Shinsei Bank…
47AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:30
Re: #45
I switched to Sony Bank — or "Kusony" as folks here jokingly call it. Bye-bye, Kitao.
55AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:35
Re: #45
Shinsei's transfer system, including Kotora instant transfers, clearly got better sometime last year or this year.
It's a lot smoother now, no more stress.
155AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:35
Re: #45
Surprised there are still people who haven't switched.
If it's a new account, fine, but if you've been using it all along, you'd normally move by now.

67AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:41
Sumishin was supposedly the rock-solid, No. 1 online bank, and the moment Docomo buys it, this happens on the very first payday, lol
There must be a ton of payments going through — total disaster, lol
89AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:55
Re: #67
It became a Docomo subsidiary in October 2025 and was renamed Docomo Bank on August 3, 2026,
so calling this "the first payday" since then is flat-out, unambiguously wrong.

70AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:43
Sounds like MUFG Bank is launching a new online banking service sometime between January and March next year — maybe I'll jump ship there.
74AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:46
Re: #70
There's already au Jibun Bank though.

73AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:46
Wasn't this Sumishin until recently…
Why'd the system go and crash today, I wonder?
77AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:48
Re: #73
Turns out the parent company, NTT East/West, is the real "crapfest" here (playing on the earlier "Kusony" jab).

79AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:50
Re: #74
MUFG acquires all shares of au Kabucom; sells its Jibun Bank stake to KDDI
https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOUB191RX0Z11C24A0000000/
169AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:57
Re: #79
MUFG originally had Mitsubishi UFJ Securities, right?
Though it later became Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.
Can't they just buy it back from Morgan Stanley?

91AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:57
Mine got deposited fine this morning.
Maybe it happened after that?
94AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:59
Docomo-affiliated banks are no good.
SBI Shinsei, Aozora, or SBJ Bank seem like safer bets.
Re: #91
Same as with Rakuten Bank's glitches — this kind of outage only ever hits a tiny fraction of users.

92AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:57
SBI Shinsei gets a lot of reviews complaining the app sucks — wonder how bad it really is.
This one's app icon went lame the moment it switched to Docomo too — white background, red text, hard to read.
103AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:05
Re: #92
The colors overall do seem kind of pale and hard to make out?
Though I wouldn't call it total garbage.
130AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:20
Re: #92
It's bad enough to be off-putting.

For some reason it won't connect over WiFi.
146AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:30
Re: #92
Mine takes longer to find things now that it's Docomo too, but if you're on Android you can customize the icon however you want. Just tweak it yourself.

113AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:11
Just yesterday I got a payout from Aflac's medical insurance for a surgery,
and the online form only showed "Sumishin SBI Bank" as the name, so I worried it might not go through — but it was fine.
114AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:11
Re: #113
Even if the bank's display name is different, as long as the bank's unique code number matches, there's no problem.

118AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:14
Can't believe there are still people clinging to DOCOMO, lol
125AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:17
Re: #118
It was originally Sumishin SBI Net Bank, remember.
It got sold off to Docomo without anyone asking.

122AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:16
After it got bought by Docomo I moved to Shinsei,
but Shinsei doesn't let you schedule transfers for a specific date.
133AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:21
Re: #122
I think there's a setting for the transfer date, but I've only ever used the soonest option every time.
136AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:23
Re: #122
They added that as of last month.

Background and key points of this thread

The bank, formerly Sumishin SBI Net Bank, became a Docomo subsidiary in October 2025 and formally changed its name to Docomo SMTB Net Bank on August 3, 2026. Some posts in the thread claimed this outage happened on “the first payday since the buyout,” but in fact roughly a year had passed since the acquisition and about a month and a half since the name change — other posters pointed out this timeline was wrong (see post 89). The cause and scope of the outage have not been officially disclosed, so claims in the thread like “it’s because NTT East/West cut maintenance costs” remain unsubstantiated speculation and should be treated with caution. That said, several posts noted the practical reality that transfers and ATM use tend to spike on “goto-bi” (days ending in 5 or 0) and on payday, which may have made this particular outage feel more disruptive than it otherwise would have. The thread also featured plenty of grumbling about the app’s usability since the rebrand, along with users weighing a move to rivals like Shinsei Bank or au Jibun Bank — a sign of just how sensitive users are when it comes to choosing an online bank.

*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5channel (News Speed+) thread “Outage at Docomo SMTB Net Bank — cries of “my money isn’t arriving” and “not on payday, please”.”

September 25, 2026
“Chiikawa” Holds the Throne, “Bayside Shakedown” Debuts at No. 2 — 5ch: “Japanese Live-Action Just Can’t Beat Anime”

In the box-office rankings released after the Silver Week holidays, “Chiikawa the Movie: Secret of Mermaid Island,” now nearly two months into its run, held on to the No. 1 spot. “Bayside Shakedown N.E.W.: Dash Through Metropolis,” the franchise’s first new film in 14 years, debuted at No. 2 but failed to seize the top spot. Weekend attendance over three days was reportedly a close 643,000 for Chiikawa versus 605,000 for Bayside Shakedown. On the thread, comments ranged from “Japanese movies can’t beat anime” to harsh criticism of the script, differences in bonus-goods marketing, and the aging fanbase of the older franchise.

Yahoo! Original Article, Fri, Sep 25, 10:15 AM

With Silver Week over, the movie attendance rankings have been released, and “Chiikawa the Movie: Secret of Mermaid Island” remains in first place. “Bayside Shakedown N.E.W.: Dash Through Metropolis” debuted at No. 2.

As strong as “Chiikawa” is, it’s already nearly two months into its run, so many expected “Bayside Shakedown” to seize first place with a strong opening rush. But the newly released weekend three-day figures show “Chiikawa” at 643,000 admissions versus “Bayside Shakedown” at 605,000. Attendance over the following three holiday days appears to have been roughly even between the two.

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

2AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:19
Japanese live-action just can't beat anime lol
82AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:41
Re: #2
The Chiikawa movie was actually a Fuji TV project, so honestly Fuji TV has zero problem with this outcome.

3AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:20
Apparently the script is awful this time (again?) — movie YouTubers are panning it across the board.
5AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:20
They should've just made the plot about catching whoever's been bootlegging Chiikawa merch.

6AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:21
There used to be a Chinese restaurant that made incredible fried rice.
After one last big farewell sale, the owner passed away, the shop was torn down, and 15 years went by.
One day, in a totally different town, a Chinese restaurant opened with the exact same name.
After choking down ramen that tasted like gutter water, a little side dish of mini fried rice came with it.
It tasted exactly like it used to.

I love this review.
13AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:22
Re: #6
Not totally sure I follow, but I think it means: only the fried rice tasted like the old days = only Aoshima (the franchise's lead detective) hasn't changed. Is that the read?

7AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:21
In the end it's only people older than the bubble generation who care about this. A lot of them are too old to go to theaters anymore, so you can't expect huge box office either.
10AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:21
This franchise is honestly past its expiration date. If kids or young people are watching anything these days, it's mostly Chiikawa.
11AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:22
Even I, someone who never goes to the movies, went to see Chiikawa because a friend dragged me along.
12AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:22
Jiro Sato was in it.

Case closed.

14AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:22
So it's still got enough pull to land at No. 2 — I figured nobody cared about it anymore.
16AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:23
Saw Bayside Shakedown on the 18th, then went for round 5 of Chiikawa's bonus goods on the 19th.
17AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:23
Teens: "Never heard of it."
20s: "What's that?"
30s: "I feel like my parents mentioned it once."
40s: "Wasn't that popular a while back?"
50s: "Oh yeah, there was something like that."
60s: "I think the young folks used to watch it."
70s-100s: "I think my kids were watching something like that."
18AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:24
I think Bayside Shakedown is something longtime fans watch with a nostalgic grin.

19AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:24
It made me wish I could go back to the late '90s through early 2000s.
Those were good times.
21AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:24
Japanese films have never really pulled big box office numbers, have they? Most of what gets called a "masterpiece" is some fossil from the prewar or postwar era. It's basically "has there even been a great Japanese film since The Yellow Handkerchief of Happiness?"
24AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:26
The only people still going to see Bayside Shakedown are the ones who followed it back in the day and are now grandpas and grandmas. Pretty much no new fans coming in.

25AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:26
Basically every Bayside Shakedown outside the original TV series has been a dud. Even the old-timers from the TV generation must finally be getting sick of it after being fed this much. And this one's a zombie dragged out of the grave of FINAL, which was an absolute disaster of a movie.

26AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:26
No. 1: "Chiikawa the Movie: Secret of Mermaid Island"
No. 2: "Bayside Shakedown N.E.W.: Dash Through Metropolis"
No. 3: "Detective Pretty Cure the Movie! The Mysterious Garden and the Secret of Two"
No. 4: "The Odyssey"
No. 5: "The Village of Eight Gravestones"
No. 6: "Super Kaguya-hime!"
No. 7: "Swan and Bat"
No. 8: "Puella Magi Madoka Magica the Movie: Walpurgisnacht Rising"
No. 9: "Backrooms"
No. 10: "Look Back"
31AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:28
Re: #26
Pretty Cure's got real strength, huh — movies the whole family tags along to really rack up the head count.

42AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:31
The Odyssey is stupidly good. The story was basically a buff-alpha-male version of Chiikawa.
55AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:35
Re: #42
That's a movie that's not for everyone — you probably need to know the source story to some degree to get it.

58AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:36
Re: #31
This season's Pretty Cure was good. It's made for little kids, but there's something in it that pulls adults in too.
74AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:40
Re: #58
Is that right? My kids outgrew the Pretty Cure age so I stopped watching, but I guess they're working in stuff that appeals to adults too, to keep the series going.

59AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:36
Well, of course there's a gap between something that was popular back then and something popular right now. And on top of that, Chiikawa is pulling in crowds with bonus-goods marketing before the content even factors in. Live-action films can't compete with that.
80AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:41
Re: #59
Huh?

61AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:37
14 years between films is way too long a gap — way too many of the old characters are gone now.
71AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:39
Re: #61
And the new members they added aren't exactly inspired casting either.

68AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:38
Re: #59
I pointed out that Bayside Shakedown has bonus goods too, but for some reason nobody replied.
86AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:41
Re: #68
The value of the bonuses is on a completely different level. To scalpers, resale value goes Chiikawa >>>>> Bayside Shakedown's Yuji Oda.

69AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:39
Bayside Shakedown's bonus goods are lame.
84AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:41
Re: #69
Why would it still lose even if the bonus goods made the ticket effectively free?

83AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:41
Chiikawa needs to get Jiro Sato in the next one too.
96AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:45
Re: #83
Can't reach him, so that's not happening.

87AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:42
Bayside Shakedown was only good through the first movie. Once it started doing character-fanservice stuff it got creepy — like "this is what you guys wanted, right?"
94AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:44
Re: #87
But isn't Bayside Shakedown itself locked into the Aoshima character too? It's all spin-offs, and new characters never get to lead the main series — meaning it's basically the same "push Aoshima and it'll sell" logic…

88AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:43
Watching the recent Bayside Shakedown movies, I honestly think it'd land better if they let a younger generation reboot it. Though maybe it doesn't matter since the fanbase is all middle-aged and elderly guys anyway.
99AnonymousSep 25, 2026 16:45
Re: #88
Not a reboot exactly, but when Dangerous Detectives (Abunai Deka) was remade by a younger generation of staff, it became a smash hit. If Bayside Shakedown were handed to someone from director Motohiro's son's generation, it probably would've turned out better too.

Background and Points of Discussion

“Bayside Shakedown” began as a TV drama in 1998, and this marks the first entirely new theatrical film since 2012’s “THE FINAL.” The sheer length of this “14-year gap” is itself what drove thread comments pointing to a failure to bring in new fans. Meanwhile, “Chiikawa” has already been in theaters for nearly two months and is still holding a top ranking — meaning this isn’t a simple comparison of opening performances, but a match-up between a film on a long run versus a brand-new debut, a nuance the article text alone doesn’t make obvious. The thread split between opinions criticizing the quality of the content and opinions noting that some audiences turn out purely for nostalgia toward the series, with quite a few comments also pointing to differences in the resale value of bonus merchandise as a factor in the box office gap.

*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Entertainment/Sports News+) thread ““Chiikawa” Holds Its Fortress, “Bayside Shakedown” Fails to Debut at No. 1… A New Film After 14 Years — Is This a Fair Result Given the Mixed Reviews?.”

September 25, 2026
Juice=Juice’s Budokan & PIA Arena Shows — Effectively Fan-Club-Only — Sell Out 8,000 Seats in First Round; 5ch: ‘This Is on a Whole Different Level’

Juice=Juice’s upcoming performances at Nippon Budokan and PIA Arena MM sold out all 8,000 combined seats across both venues in the first-round sales alone — tickets offered exclusively to fan club members, before general sales even opened. On 5ch’s Hello! Project board, users expressed shock at this drawing power, but opinions split over the cause. Some argued it’s simply fans flowing in from other Hello! Project groups, while others countered that there’s a clear increase in what look like brand-new fans at the venues. The discussion expanded to cover trends in membership numbers, the ticket lottery system, and comparisons of fan demographics with other groups.

1AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:42
That's honestly on a different level.
2AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:44
It's just Hello! Project fans (otaku) migrating over from other groups.
6AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:53
Re: #2
Seriously, if you actually go to the venue it's packed with new fans.
7AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:55
Re: #2
Why would they migrate over, though?
Are they going back to their original group eventually, or not?
8AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:56
Re: #2
No matter how much evidence from X (Twitter) you show him, this guy still wants to believe new fans haven't increased at all and that it's basically the same as Angerme — poor "Ankasu" (a mocking nickname for die-hard skeptics) strikes again today.

10AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:58
They pulled every string and went all out, but still didn't book anything bigger than Budokan or PIA Arena, and made it a MOALA-verified show.

Rather than cash in and sell out while they're hot, the ticketing approach basically says "we'll just keep quietly doing shows for our fan club members the same as always, even after the momentum fades."

That's very on-brand for this shoddy agency, honestly.
13AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:00
Re: #10
I'll say it flat out — there IS a bigger venue coming.

11AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:00
Well, if you keep holding down the groups that should be playing arena-sized venues based on some internal pecking order, of course this happens.
I don't get why Oda gets Yokohama Arena while Juice gets Budokan/PIA.
26AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:46
Re: #11
Isn't PIA Arena… an arena?

14AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:03
Re: #13
The final show (senshuraku) is locked in for PIA.
There's no way they'd book a better venue than PIA before the finale, so the fall tour ends there.
15AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:06
Re: #14
That's the tour, though — just the tour.
You don't get why they specifically made PIA and Budokan part of the tour too, do you?

16AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:07
Did people actually get rejected in the lottery?
18AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:10
Re: #16
Obviously, yeah — tons of people got rejected.

20AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:17
It just went from 3,500 people/day last time to 4,000 people/day, that's all.
22AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:26
Re: #20
Seriously, face reality already.
Keep spouting nonsense and you'll just get shut down with screenshots again.

24AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:41
BEYOOOOONDS is actually pretty huge too, you know.
30AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:50
Re: #24
There's a real path where new fans drawn in by "Moremi" (a member known for flattering, filter-perfect SNS photos) get hooked on Hello! Project and then move on to BEYOOOOONDS.

27AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:49
Once Danbara and Inoue graduate, the next generation is just "Yafutako"? Man, that's rough.
28AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:50
Re: #27
By the time Danbara and Inoue graduate, more than half the current Mo-An (Morning Musume/Angerme) lineup will probably have graduated too, and the whole thing will be a mess.

29AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:50
A friend of mine just joined the Hello! Project fan club and their member number was over 160,000, so membership has probably grown by around 20,000 in the past year…?
June '25 → mid-142,000s
Dec '25 → mid-145,000s
Today → mid-163,000s
34AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:21
Re: #29
Though a few hundred of those are probably people who've actually passed away (dead accounts still counted in the numbering).

39AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:42
The male ratio among Juice=Juice fans was only 39%.
https://kizuna.5ch.io/test/read.cgi/morningcoffee/1790260527/

If that's true, it's only a matter of time before the women drift over to BEYOOOOONDS.
42AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:45
Re: #39
If they added Kojima Hana anticipating that, that's surprisingly competent for this crappy agency.
44AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:47
Re: #39
Juice (i.e. Juice=Juice) in tears lmaooooooooooo

41AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:44
BEYOOOOONDS honestly appeals more to female fans.
43AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:46
Re: #41
It's probably like — even if Hirai's female-fan ratio is insane, she still loses to Danbara in raw numbers.

45AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:49
Skill-wise BEYOOOOONDS has really matured too, and the songs they do have a huge range, so women probably enjoy that.
47AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:55
Re: #45
Even BEYOOOOONDS fans themselves admit their songs have a narrow range, not a wide one.

49AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:57
Re: #47
You can't just say whatever you want.
"Even BEYOOOOONDS fans admit it," lol.
50AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:59
Re: #49
I meant it positively — there are basically no raunchy songs, mostly cheer-you-on type tracks.

51AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:06
Does Hello! Project even have that many raunchy songs?
55AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:07
Re: #51
For Juice=Juice, I'd say something like "Sunao ni Amaete."
And more recently, if you actually read the lyrics of "BLOODY BULLET" closely, it's pretty raunchy too.

85AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:12
Part of it is that Hello! Project "DD" fans (people who like multiple groups equally, not loyal to just one) are gathering there, but new fans are also increasing a ton.
It makes it feel like other groups are declining even when they're just flat.
Honestly I think Angerme is the only one that's actually declining.
86AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:14
Re: #85
What's crazy is the opposite — existing fans knowingly apply even though they know they probably won't get tickets, because Juice=Juice is the one they truly want to see live.
The other groups just don't have enough appeal.

87AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:17
If you don't get tickets you just don't go, and if you do get them you go — so the barrier to applying is actually lower than for a group where you're guaranteed to get in.
It's like gambling, so it stokes that thrill of chance too.
88AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:18
Re: #87
Isn't the whole appeal of being a Hello! Project fan that you can see them anytime as long as you've got the money? Isn't that why people support Hello! Project?

89AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:22
If you lose the Juice lottery, you just go see whichever group you can see anytime, whenever you feel like it.
90AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:23
Re: #89
But all we ever get is data too vague to tell whether people like that even actually exist.

91AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:25
It's just that "Moremi" happened to go viral, that's all.
Juice=Juice will get old news and decline by next year.
93AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:27
Re: #91
Hello! Project has become a place where Juice=Juice is the only group actually making money, so Up-Front will probably do everything they can to keep it going.
95AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:27
Re: #91
Heard that exact same line at the end of last year too, lol.

Background and Key Points of This Discussion

“MOALA verification,” used for performances on the scale of Budokan or PIA Arena MM, is an anti-scalping system requiring identity verification, and its adoption is spreading for events with hard-to-get tickets. In this case, both venues’ combined 8,000 seats sold out through what was effectively fan-club-only advance sales using this verification system. Where the thread split was over whether this represents genuine growth in new fans or an inflow from other Hello! Project groups like Angerme — some pointed to trends in membership numbers as evidence of new fan inflow, while others argued it can be explained purely by the drawing power of existing fans, and no consensus was reached. The discussion also brought in a comparison of audience demographics (male/female ratio) with BEYOOOOONDS, developing into a debate over shifting popularity between the groups.

※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “Juice=Juice: ‘Effectively fan-club-only events at Nippon Budokan & PIA Arena MM sold out 8,000 seats across both shows in the first round’ — Isn’t that just too amazing?“

September 25, 2026
Leaked Capcom Document Calls Zelda and Mario ‘Outdated’ — 5ch Split: ‘Customers Just Didn’t Buy It’

An image said to be an internal Capcom document caused a stir after it was posted on the Hardware/Industry (“Geha”) board. The document reportedly states that “character designs like those in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Mario are outdated” and that “SIE (Sony Interactive Entertainment) has a better grasp of diversity.” The thread split over the portrayal of female characters in Nintendo games, the long-standing criticism that Street Fighter characters like Chun-Li, Dhalsim, and Blanka are “stereotypes,” and the sales performance of Monster Hunter Wilds versus World.

1AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:41
Men always cast as the protagonist/main character
Fixed, stereotypical roles based on gender or race
2AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:42
Capcom's "black history" (Japanese slang for an embarrassing past best forgotten)
8AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:53
Re: #2
Still haven't managed to make it "Black" enough, huh (playing on the word for "black/dark" in the previous post)
16AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:01
Re: #2
You don't need to make even "history" considerate of Black people…
85AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:09
Re: #2
With thinking like that still around, no wonder Wilds won't cast a proper classic beauty as the lead either — she's got blemished skin, glasses, the works

15AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:00
Especially in games, Princess Peach and Zelda are through-and-through classic damsel princesses who need protecting. Sure, there are exceptions with a twisted setup, but they're just that — exceptions
38AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:32
Re: #15
It's the old "why is the standard formula the standard formula" thing.

At the end of the day, it's that way because people like it, and forcing a twist on it doesn't change basic biological instinct

23AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:07
Nintendo even accepted reality and thought "fine, let's just make Peach the protagonist" with Princess Peach: Showtime! — and it bombed hard. For some reason everyone acts like that never happened
35AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:29
Re: #23
Nintendo put out a Peach-as-protagonist game 20 years ago too. And Metroid's had a female lead for 40 years

40AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:34
What's weird about this kind of thing is that the "damsel who needs protecting" trope isn't treated as "fine to have or not have" — it's treated as something you "should avoid"
57AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:51
Re: #40
Because there are people who flip some weird switch and kick up a fuss… Gotta avoid the risk, right!

42AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:35
Peach and Daisy being like that is just stylistic convention — they've properly headlined other games, throw shells at Mario and Bowser in kart racing, basically saying "I'm not just here to get kidnapped!"…
88AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:11
Re: #42
I don't like that kind of counterargument, because it's like saying if they hadn't done any of that, they'd need to comply with political correctness. It should just be free to do whatever regardless — even if she were only ever a princess who gets kidnapped, that'd be fine too

49AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:43
After World, Wilds kept the losing streak going and crashed all the way down to 980 yen. They put out "rushed job" info at TGS, and sure enough it's got a dead atmosphere — just recycled animation from old titles with a parry ("clash") system slapped on. There's a huge weapon imbalance around parrying too, so it just turns into a game where all anyone does is go for parries. PlayStation as lead platform is such a jinx it even killed off Palworld — no wonder the only thing it's got left is picking the Concord series. Concord is the future of PlayStation. Why not go down together with PS? lol. They just keep killing off one IP after another like this
71AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:02
Re: #49
Lol, calling World a failure when it sold 30 million copies. Meanwhile "half-Rise" (a dismissive nickname for Monster Hunter Rise) couldn't reach those numbers even in a fire sale
89AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:12
Re: #71
That's because World left a massive amount of unsold stock, and major nationwide retailers were literally begging them to stop shipping more, lol. Never seen anything like it — World was just crammed onto retail shelves without actually selling to customers, so retailers got stuck holding that huge pile of inventory and prices crashed. And now it's happening again — poor retailers

54AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:46
Is Resident Evil about the only Capcom game with a female protagonist?
70AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:01
Re: #54
Other than that, the only ones I can think of are Dino Crisis and Clock Tower 3.

Nintendo actually has more of these than Capcom

65AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:59
Why did so many companies genuinely buy into political correctness and adopt it? Where did they even get the idea it was worth paying consultants for? Nintendo seems to have rejected it — wonder what was behind that
110AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:27
Re: #65
Because doing business in the West requires the pretense of favoring "people/organizations who understand political correctness." Blame the media. Though honestly, Asians and Asian companies have benefited quite a bit from diversity pushes too

67AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:00
"You can't portray women or LGBTQ people as weak" is actually moving away from diversity. True diversity is having both strong and weak characters regardless of gender
84AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:09
Re: #67
Exactly right! Forcing women to be strong ends up denying the existence of delicate women. Capcom (mockingly written here as "Capunko") really is the height of stupidity

69AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:01
Even as an internal document, the fonts are all over the place and it looks pretty rough — is this even real?
74AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:04
Re: #69
It's an image that leaked during the incident when hackers breached Capcom
79AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:06
Re: #69
It's probably been run through machine translation — the type that overlays translated text right on top of the original, like the camera-translation feature on smartphones

72AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:03
The logic gets twisted from the start when you forcibly deny one thing just to affirm another. Also, lumping the traditional meaning of "political correctness" together with "woke" doesn't really work, does it?
75AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:04
Re: #72
Right. If you're talking about diversity, both should be allowed to exist. But the customers just didn't choose it…

94AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:14
Re: #89
That's a Japan-only thing. Overseas, retailers can return unsold stock, so you can't just over-ship like that. Even on Steam, concurrent player counts have World beating "half-Rise" too
98AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:20
Re: #94
They don't bother counting and announcing how many units got returned overseas — has there ever been an announcement of "this many got returned so far"? Lol. And bringing up Rise's Steam numbers is embarrassing, just stop — that just outs you as clueless, since like 90% of its sales were on Switch, and it's already been said outright that Rise selling well is what bailed them out, lol lol lol

96AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:15
Even Zelda in Breath of the Wild ditched the "proper princess" outfit and got made a bit less pretty
104AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:24
Re: #96
Not just the outfit — the eyebrows too. Thick eyebrows are a pretty niche taste

100AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:21
Chun-Li, Dhalsim, Blanka — characters steeped in stereotypical bias, unforgivable
105AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:24
Re: #100
The fact that nobody said a word about it back when the game launched is the answer right there. Suddenly crying foul now is basically just a shakedown artist after cash

102AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:22
Capcom's a total weathervane, honestly. Back then they got swept up in the "political correctness matters" trend, but now that the trend's died down, they probably don't care much anymore
108AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:25
Re: #102
If they don't care anymore, then Ascendance must be full of gorgeous characters, huh

113AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:29
It's impressive Street Fighter's kept going as a series. In Street Fighter II, almost every character would be "canceled" by today's standards
114AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:32
Re: #113
Way too late for that. Between the main entries and all the version updates, there've been dozens of releases, and those characters have appeared in basically all of them. Making a fuss about it now is just tacky. That's why the Street Fighter series never blows up into controversy — the more you criticize it, the more it just looks like "wait, were you not paying attention this whole time?" It's kept going strong regardless

Background and Key Points of Debate

Within the thread itself, one theory holds that this document is an image that leaked during the 2020 unauthorized-access incident at Capcom, though its authenticity hasn’t been confirmed. Some have also pointed out, based on the inconsistent fonts, that it may have been mechanically generated by machine translation software. It’s not unusual these days for overseas publishers to bring in diversity consultants, so the existence of such a document wouldn’t be strange in itself — but the full content and when it was created remain unknown. Opinions in the thread split because the discussion mixed two different things: an ideological debate over the merits of certain character designs, and a numbers-based debate over the sales performance of Monster Hunter World versus Wilds. Worth keeping in mind on the latter point: shipped units versus units actually sold, and differing return practices by country and region, make simple comparisons difficult.

*This article is compiled as excerpts and a summary from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry, aka “Geha”) thread “Capcom Internal Document: ‘Zelda BOTW and Mario Are Outdated. SIE Is Wonderful’.”

September 25, 2026
Bear Won’t Go Down to 9mm Pistol Fire — 5ch: “.45 Caliber Superiority Was Just a Myth”

A video showing a bear that kept charging even after being shot with a 9mm pistol — and was only stopped by a shotgun loaded with less-lethal rounds — sparked a debate on 5ch’s “Nandemo Jikkyo G” board over whether the common wisdom that “guns can’t stop a bear” is actually true. Posters were split on whether caliber/penetration or raw damage is more effective at stopping a large animal like a bear, and the discussion even expanded to the stopping power of AK-47s used by elephant poachers in Africa.

9AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:24
This is exactly why otaku shoot up schools in America

10AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:24
Wasn't it supposed to be "guns can't stop a bear"?
22AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:27
Re: #10
Aren't you getting that mixed up with the tranquilizer-gun story — like it didn't penetrate because of molting fur or something lol (also, nice one turning "mix-up" into a "condom" pun there)
23AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:27
Re: #10
What are you supposed to do if the gun doesn't stop it?

11AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:24
If it'd been Japan's New Nambu revolver (the standard-issue sidearm for Japanese police), that bear would be dead for sure

12AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:24
No way.
There was a video before where a bear kept lunging even after taking a full mag from a handgun.
17AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:26
Re: #12
It's probably a size issue.
18AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:26
Re: #12
A hit to the torso gets blocked by the thick fur and fat.
But a direct hit to the eyes, ears, or brow will drop it in one shot.
32AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:34
Re: #12
If it's an adult bear, it'll keep coming even after a shotgun blast takes its head off.

13AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:24
As if a wimpy gun like that could kill it instantly 😭

37AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:38
But seriously, even a gun like what Japanese police carry wouldn't cut it
since it barely even kills humans.
62AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:58
Re: #37
No chance.
A gun with that short a barrel and that tiny a round wouldn't even kill a rabbit.

41AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:42
Why'd they switch to a shotgun?
50AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:51
Re: #41
Because it's a shotgun loaded with less-lethal rounds. In the original video you can see "less-lethal" printed right on the shotgun.
105AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:31
Re: #41
Probably because it's a pump-action, right? Can't fire rapidly with that.

49AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:50
A weak gun just doesn't work

54AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:53
Re: #49
It's got enough power to stop a charge, though.
55AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:54
Re: #49
That looks like it worked great, though.

52AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:52
".45 caliber worship" was just a fantasy all along
74AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:07
Re: #52
There are still cops out there who believe the .45 myth and carry one, so I guess it gives them a sense of security.

63AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:58
Pistols are one of those things — think they're weak and they're not, think they're strong and they're not as strong as you thought.
Guess it comes down to the round.
72AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:04
Re: #63
Placement matters too.

67AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:01
So what happened to "police can't beat a bear"?
73AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:06
Re: #67
.38 Special and 9mm Parabellum pack pretty different amounts of power.

78AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:08
And yet African elephants get brutally slaughtered by poachers with AKs…
83AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:11
Re: #78
Well, the AK's round alone packs seriously high power, so you probably shouldn't lump it in with your average gun. That's exactly why it's still in service today.

81AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:10
Penetration or damage —
which one's actually better, I wonder?
84AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:13
Re: #81
Are you dumb? Penetration, obviously. Leaving the bullet inside doesn't kill it (５６す is leetspeak for "kill," used to dodge word filters), it just makes treatment harder.

90AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:19
Re: #87
W-w-wait, an assault wwwwwwwww rifle wwwwwwwwww?!
Using an assault wwwwwwwww rifle wwwwwwwwww to cull bears?! wwwwwwwww?!?! wwwwwwwwwwww ("www" is Japanese internet laughter, like a string of "lol"s)

94AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:21
So what was that thing from Golden Kamuy about bear skulls being too thick to penetrate?
102AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:29
Re: #94
I think it was about the skull being so hard and thick that bullets ricochet off it.
109AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:33
Re: #94
Even with humans, there are cases where a bad hit sends the bullet skating around the skull and out the other side instead of penetrating, so it's not that unusual.

Background and key points of this debate

Less-lethal rounds are designed not to kill but to stop an animal’s movement through pain and blunt impact; because they spread their impact over a wider area and concentrate kinetic energy at the surface, they can be more effective at halting a large animal’s charge than a penetrating pistol round. Pistol rounds, by contrast, tend to disperse their impact even when they do penetrate, often making them insufficient to stop the charging force of a bear weighing over 100kg. The idea that “.45 caliber hits harder than 9mm” was long believed within the U.S. military and police organizations, but recent ballistic research mostly holds that there’s no significant difference in stopping power between the two — meaning the thread’s claim that “the .45 caliber myth is just a fantasy” is close to the truth. This difference in energy transfer is also why shotguns and bear spray, rather than handguns, are generally recommended for bear defense.

*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “Bear-san vs. 9mm Handgun wwwwwwwww wwwwwwwww wwwwwwwww wwwwwwwww.”

September 25, 2026
Cover Corp Hikes First-Half Profit Forecast 76%, But Stock Drops Anyway — 5ch: ‘It’s Tanking, Though?’

After the market close on September 24, Cover Corporation (5253, TSE Growth) announced it was raising its ordinary income forecast for the first half (April–September) of the fiscal year ending March 2027 from ¥1.93 billion to ¥3.4 billion — a 76.2% upward revision. That works out to 27.2% profit growth year-on-year, putting the company on track for its highest first-half profit in two fiscal years — yet its full-year forecast of ¥7 billion was left unchanged. The announcement landed on the same day a new Hololive talent held her debut stream, adding to the buzz, but on 5ch, posters pointed out that the stock had actually fallen, with comments like “It’s tanking, though?” Replies piled up debating why the stock got sold off despite the strong earnings.

1AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:27
Whoaaaa!!

3AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:29
Cover <5253> [TSE Growth] announced an earnings revision after the market close (4:00 PM) on September 24.
The company revised its forecast for cumulative ordinary income (non-consolidated) for the first half (April–September) of the fiscal year ending March 2027, from a previous ¥1.93 billion to ¥3.4 billion (versus ¥2.67 billion in the same period last year) — a 76.2% upward revision.
That's a sharp turnaround to 27.2% profit growth, putting the company on track to post its highest first-half profit in two fiscal years.
Meanwhile, the full-year ordinary income forecast was left unchanged at the previous ¥7 billion (versus ¥7.06 billion last fiscal year).
4AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:30
It's tanking, though?
5AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:30
An oil tycoon, snapped up by the rich.
7AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:36
Well yeah, they beat by ¥2.5 billion and still left the full-year forecast unchanged — that's way too cautious, no wonder it's getting sold off.

9AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:38

For reference, back when Amane Kanata (a Hololive talent) graduated, she alone wiped out ¥6.5 billion in market cap.
14AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:49
Reply to Re: #9:
Yeah, that's exactly why they basically don't want any of their talents to quit.

10AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:40
They already put out a mobile game — is there anything left for them to expand into?
Is there any growth potential left at all?
12AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:47
Reply to Re: #10:
Let's release a PC metaverse game.

11AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:43
How'd the Hololive trading card game actually turn out?
13AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:48
I mean, the stock should at least go up on a rookie's debut day, come on.
15AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:49
That's gotta be a lie-peko (a riff on Usada Pekora's catchphrase 'peko').

16AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:49
Duel Masters and Yu-Gi-Oh have already been claimed by Nijisanji, so they rolled out a Magic: The Gathering-themed VTuber instead.
But can the "Hololive piggies" (a derogatory nickname for hardcore Hololive fans) actually keep up?
Magic's a world where a single deck can run you hundreds of thousands of yen.
18AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:53
Reply to Re: #16:
Male viewers just cheer from under the kotatsu, but female viewers actually go out and work for their oshi.
20AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:54
Reply to Re: #16:
MTG? Doesn't seem like there's anyone around with enough know-how to even coach her, so it probably won't take off.
90AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:02
Reply to Re: #16:
Just grab a Commander deck and you can easily get started for around ¥30,000.

17AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:52
Shigure Ui is holding her debut stream from Hololive today!!

19AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:54
Which one's bigger, Hololive or Nijisanji?

21AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:55
Ow, hot hot lol (a pun on "atchichi" and the crackling-fire sound "mera") — Mera-chan's definitely gonna blow up.
22AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:55
Reply to Re: #21:
I do like the name, at least.

115AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:05
The two who debuted yesterday looked promising, and yet the stock's still dropping?
218AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:17
Reply to Re: #1:
I was screening stocks on Market Speed (a trading platform) too, and about jumped when I saw Cover down roughly 10%.

Background and Key Points

Cover is a VTuber talent agency listed on the TSE Growth market. It raised its ordinary income forecast for the first half (April–September) of the fiscal year ending March 2027 from ¥1.93 billion to ¥3.4 billion — a 76.2% upward revision — marking 27.2% year-on-year profit growth and its highest first-half profit in two fiscal years. At the same time, it left its full-year forecast of ¥7 billion (versus ¥7.06 billion in actual results the previous year) unchanged. This combination — a blowout first half paired with an unrevised full-year outlook — appears to have triggered selling from investors worried the good news was already priced in, or that growth will slow in the second half. What fueled the thread was the mismatch between what should have been “great news” — a rookie debut plus strong earnings — and the stock actually falling, with the mocking thread title clashing with the real market reaction. Cover has also seen its market cap swing by billions of yen in the past purely on news of a single talent’s graduation, a reminder of the unusual structure in which an intangible individual VTuber can directly move a listed company’s stock price. Without that context, all that’s left is the simple question: “the earnings were great, so why did it drop?”

※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “Hololive’s stock price explodes on new talent addition + record-high sales outlook wwwwwwwwww”.

September 25, 2026
Takafumi Horie Baffled by ‘I Hate Him But I Like Him’ Comment — 5chers: ‘Why’s He So Bothered?’

Entrepreneur Takafumi Horie shared on X that he’d stayed at a “high-end sushi restaurant you can stay overnight at” in Imizu City, Toyama Prefecture. In response, a regular user wrote, “I hate Horiemon, but just for spotlighting Toyama, I might end up liking him.” Horie shot back with a question: “Why bother saying you hate me at all?” — and the exchange blew up on 5ch. In the thread, opinions split: some found it surprising that Horie, who’s supposed to have thick skin against criticism, bothered to respond at all; others coldly noted that given his usual behavior, being disliked is only natural; and still others took issue with the very habit of prefacing a compliment with “I hate you.”

Entrepreneur Takafumi Horie posted on X (formerly Twitter) on the 24th, raising a question about a comment directed at him.

It started when Horie shared on X that he’d stayed at a “high-end sushi restaurant you can stay overnight at” in Shinminato, Imizu City, Toyama Prefecture.

In response to the post, a regular X user commented, “I hate Horiemon, but just for spotlighting Toyama, I might end up liking him.”

Source: ggtnews.net / Original article here

5AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:30
Guess even Horiemon gets bothered by being called ‘hated’ lol
6AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:31
Probably because anyone who says they like him gets treated like a weirdo
8AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:31
And besides, they never actually said they liked him

13AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:32
He's an ex-con (a jab combining ‘Horiemon’ with 前科, meaning ‘prior conviction’) — guess he hasn't learned any humility

15AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:32
I hate Horiemon, but if he gave me 100,000 yen I'd probably like him
So it's only a little bit of hate, huh

16AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:33
What a petty guy

17AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:33
That's literally what you do all the time — slapping an ‘I hate this’ disclaimer on your opinions
Does this guy not own a mirror?
18AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:33
Horiemon's shadiness is off the charts too. I saw a documentary that followed him around back in the Livedoor days — the guy would turn into a sulking kid just because the internet wasn't working in the morning
21AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:33
Saying ‘I might end up liking him’
means they don't like him yet
So it's either ‘I hate him’ or ‘neither like nor hate’

Going from hate to like
and going from neutral to like
those are probably very different journeys
22AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:34
Horiemon's greatest quotes

• Cried 4 times watching Poupelle (his animated film)

• Jungle-ia Okinawa is fun (his theme park)

• This token is amazing

23AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:34
‘Might end up liking him’ → Nope, couldn't do it!!
25AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:35
He should just eat his veggies, drink some milk, and calm down
27AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:35
He probably just wants to stress that ‘I'm in the negatives right now, but getting closer to zero’

28AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:35
Bare minimum, at least be self-aware that people generally hate you lol
29AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:35
Don't act all hurt like you're somebody
32AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:36
He never says anything but stuff that gets him hated
so why's this guy so bothered by it lol
33AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:36
It's the ‘delinquent version’ of the effect where a bad boy doing one good thing gets his rep boosted

52AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:48
He was promoting Jungle-ia too, if I recall
though that one's not exactly a lucky charm lol
73AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:57
Re: #52
Honestly, that's kind of what set things off, right

54AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:49
Let's stop slapping ‘-emon’ onto ‘pig’ — it's disrespectful to Fujiko Fujio (creator of Doraemon)
Unless you're using it to mean ‘dozaemon’ (slang for a drowned corpse), in which case, fine
57AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:50
Pot calling the kettle black much (‘look who's talking’)
Does he not realize he's the one who always says stuff he doesn't need to say?

Background and Key Points of This Story

Beyond his work as an entrepreneur and media personality, Horie has a criminal conviction for violating the Securities and Exchange Law (the Livedoor scandal), and he’s frequently in the news for his blunt remarks on TV and social media. The nickname “Zenka-mon” used in the thread (a pun combining “Horiemon” with 前科, meaning “prior conviction”) isn’t mere slander — it’s a jab rooted in this well-known fact about his past, something readers unfamiliar with the reference might misread as a baseless insult. What sparked this particular discussion was the divide in how people read a common online phrasing pattern: prefacing a compliment with “I hate you.” In the thread, some saw it as petty that Horie, who’s supposedly used to criticism, bothered to respond at all; others said the split reaction is only natural given his usual conduct; and still others pointed out that “I might end up liking him” itself signals a subtle distance — he’s still not liked yet. The responses ranged well beyond a simple nitpick over wording.

※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “Takafumi Horie questions comment ‘I hate Horiemon but I might end up liking him,’ asking ‘Why bother saying you hate me at all?’.”

September 25, 2026
Sakushin Gakuin Baseball Coach Kobari Removed From Duty After Making Players Kneel in Seiza for an Hour: ‘Inappropriate by Today’s Standards’

At Tochigi baseball powerhouse Sakushin Gakuin, it has emerged that head coach Takahiro Kobari (43) made about 20 first-year players kneel in seiza on the ground for roughly an hour starting around 9am on August 20 — a fact that surfaced through an anonymous tip sent to the Japan High School Baseball Federation, and which has now led to the coach being pulled from coaching duties. While the school called it “inappropriate coaching by today’s standards,” it also offered the excuse that “he simply forgot to tell them they could relax into a more comfortable position.” On the forum thread, discussion ranged from how weak that excuse sounds, to fact-checking that the weather that day was actually cloudy with a temperature around 28°C rather than blazing sun, to the fact that the same coach had broken a player’s finger last year by having him field the ball bare-handed.

It was learned on the 25th, through reporting on the school, that Takahiro Kobari (43), head coach of the baseball team at Sakushin Gakuin (Tochigi), has been removed from coaching duties over inappropriate coaching — making about 20 first-year players kneel in seiza for roughly an hour during practice in August.

The matter came to light via an anonymous tip sent to the Japan High School Baseball Federation. After confirming the facts with Coach Kobari and others, the school concluded that coaching out of step with the times had taken place, and said it would decide how to handle the coach in line with the federation’s judgment.

According to the school, the incident in which roughly 20 first-year players were made to kneel in seiza for about an hour took place around 9am on August 20. At the time, the second-years were away watching a Koshien broadcast, leaving only the first-years to handle grounds maintenance and practice prep. Sensing a lack of focus — the first-years working too slowly and sloppily on the grounds, with balls even left lying around the field — Coach Kobari gathered them beside the dugout to tighten up their attitude, said “let’s sit down here for a moment,” and had them kneel in seiza on the dirt infield.

Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Read the original article here

2AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:04
Is this really enough to get him pulled from coaching?
9AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:05
Re: #2

An hour of seiza kneeling in the blazing midsummer sun

Yeah that's a foul, lol
21AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:11
Re: #9
It was cloudy though
25AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:12
Re: #9
Utsunomiya around 9am on 8/20 was cloudy, about 28°C

3AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:04
This is the kind of school that still does that old "essa-ssa" chant routine at sports day (a traditional group cheer/exercise associated with old-school discipline) — 30 years ago they'd casually beat kids bloody

5AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:05
He's the one who made them kneel and watched it happen the whole time, and now it's "oh, he just forgot to mention they could relax"?

That's a stretch 🤔

> The school says: "[Coach Kobari] forgot to say 'you can uncross your legs and sit comfortably while we talk,' so as a result the students had no way of knowing it was okay to loosen up."
36AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:20
Re: #5
He's really bad at admitting defeat, it's funny lol

6AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:05
This is probably why they haven't been able to make it to the summer Koshien lately
7AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:05
An hour of kneeling? That's basically a lucky break compared to the usual stuff
8AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:05
For fielding a bunt, catching bare-handed is fine
11AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:06
No wonder baseball's numbers keep shrinking ("yakyuu" here spelled in that mocking internet style) — let it just die out at this point, honestly

12AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:07
Re: #1

Sakushin Gakuin's Coach Kobari had a player field a fungo bare-handed, broke his finger, and got pulled
https://medaka.5ch.io/test/read.cgi/hsb/1749822556/
60AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:31
Re: #12
That's rough, lol

18AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:09
The kneeling I get
Making the catcher field bare-handed is way too far though

19AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:10
Funny how most of the Yahoo News comments are defending the coach — people saying stuff like "this used to be totally normal back in the day"
38AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:20
Re: #19
Yahoo News comments do seem to skew older than 5ch
Probably mostly people 75 and up
63AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:32
Re: #19
There was a great reply to one of the comments defending the coach — something like "oh, so this builds character for becoming a corporate slave later?" ("shachiku," slang for an overworked company employee treated like livestock) — dead on, honestly
94AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:53
Re: #19
Well yeah, the average age on Yahoo comments is past 50, lol

20AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:10
No no
Dunno about now, but 30 years ago you'd genuinely get beaten bloody
This school's always been unhinged
22AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:11
Honestly, baseball coaching is still pretty tame compared to other sports — judo is a real hell
26AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:13
The school calling this "inappropriate by today's standards" — that framing itself is out of touch with the times

27AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:13
Forget the kneeling — the weirder thing nobody's questioning is why only the first-years have to handle practice prep. I'd get it if this were a paid job, but why are only the first-years stuck doing chores while the second-years watch the Koshien broadcast? Treating upperclassmen like kings, PL Gakuen-style (referencing a famously hierarchical baseball powerhouse), is messed up — and if nobody questions that, you'll get another scandal like Koryo (the school recently hit by a bullying scandal)
28AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:14
Isn't seiza bad for your knees?
Seems irrational and unnecessary for training athletes

46AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:25
Bare-handed catching and an hour of kneeling are both old-school methods, but isn't it because they each had some real effect that people kept doing them?
If you're going to reject them outright, you'd better have solid grounds for it, or it just turns into coddling
56AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:29
Re: #46
For last year's incident, people were pointing out — why was the ball even coming in fast enough to break a finger during a bare-handed catching drill in the first place

57AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:29
Forget which sport it was, but punishment laps were a hot topic too recently
68AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:34
Re: #57
The manager who resigned over assaulting his daughter
[Yomiuri Giants] Farm team loses to Waseda… Manager Abe has the whole team run punishment laps: "Those guys balance it with studying, too…"
https://hochi.news/articles/20200323-OHT1T50017.html?page=1

66AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:34
Ichiro was full of praise for Chiben Wakayama's coach Nakatani — strict coaching, but somehow the players never turn around and report him
Guess it takes hitting exactly the right distance
72AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:36
Re: #66
Ichiro alone isn't going to change baseball at this point
He's only got 7 innings left in him anyway
81AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:44
Re: #66
"This is off the record."
"If you report this, that player is finished."
"You'll never set foot on this field again — you sure that's what you want?"
Being skilled at wielding intimidation and psychological pressure like that is apparently what makes a "legendary coach" in baseball

69AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:34
Way too many people here have no idea how brutal seiza actually is
Try sitting like that for 20 minutes — it hurts so much you can't take it
70AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:35
Re: #69
Monks can do a full 60 minutes no problem while chanting sutras
73AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:38
Re: #69
A lot of monks and rakugo storytellers end up with bad legs
It's basically an occupational hazard from sitting seiza all the time
77AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:42
Re: #69
I used to take calligraphy lessons, so 2 hours is nothing for me

101AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:55
> This is Coach Kobari's second instance of inappropriate coaching, following one last year. During practice in late May last year, he had a player catch throws bare-handed to get a feel for receiving the ball, which left the player with two broken fingers on his right hand — a serious injury requiring one to two months to heal.

Why wasn't he fired back then?
106AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:58
Re: #101
He's the one who built them into a powerhouse, so realistically Sakushin doesn't want to let him go

118AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:03
This is all it took?
He must be seriously unpopular with someone
119AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:05
Re: #118
Isn't this just the tip of the iceberg
He was probably doing even worse Showa-era spartan coaching that never came out
120AnonymousSep 25, 2026 15:05
Re: #118
"This is all it took"?
Why don't you go kneel in seiza for an hour yourself, in the blazing midday heat of August

Background and key points of this discussion

The Japan High School Baseball Federation has a system that lets third parties anonymously report inappropriate coaching, and that’s how this case came to light. Thread users fact-checked that Utsunomiya’s weather around 9am on August 20, when the seiza punishment happened, wasn’t actually blazing sun but overcast with a temperature around 28°C — worth noting that the real point of controversy wasn’t the heat itself, but the shape of the coaching: lining up only the first-years and making them kneel for about an hour while the second-years watched the Koshien broadcast. On top of that, the same coach caused an incident last May in which a player broke two fingers after being made to catch bare-handed, meaning this isn’t his first controversy. The school’s explanation — that he “simply forgot to tell them they could relax out of the position” — still concedes that he made them kneel in the first place, and it’s worth noting that, separate from whether the coaching itself was justified, many questioned how consistent that explanation really is.

*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports Express+) thread “[High School Baseball] Sakushin Gakuin’s Coach Takahiro Kobari removed from coaching duties after making players kneel in seiza for about an hour, deemed “inappropriate by today’s standards” — last year he had a player catch bare-handed.”

September 25, 2026
‘The Two Who Smoke Behind the Supermarket’ Finale Sparks Cries of ‘Bring On Season 2’

The TV anime “The Two Who Smoke Behind the Supermarket” reached its finale on September 24, 2026, airing 30 minutes later than usual. The series, which portrays the relationship between a middle-aged man and a woman in her twenties, drew a wave of reactions on social media after it ended, with fans posting things like “I cried so hard,” “Thank you for these happy times,” and “Please give us a Season 2.” On the official X account, the directors even ran a special event, posting behind-the-scenes commentary in real time as the episode aired. On 5ch, though, the praise wasn’t universal — some threads pointed out that “it’s just been repeating the content of episode 1 the whole way through,” criticizing the slow pace of the source material, while others said they’d dropped the show partway through. Opinions were split. The threads also lit up with casting debates over who should play the leads in a hypothetical live-action adaptation.

The 12th episode of the TV anime “The Two Who Smoke Behind the Supermarket” (Episode 12, the finale) — “The Two Who Keep Going Behind the Supermarket” — aired on Thursday, September 24, 2026. The broadcast ran 30 minutes later than its usual slot, but many viewers were waiting regardless, posting things like “Already feeling the loss before it even starts” and “Today I’m definitely watching live.” The official X account also held a “real-time viewing party,” with the directors posting comments and behind-the-scenes tidbits as the episode aired.

The anime, nicknamed “Yani Suu” (Smoking), closed out its run to a chorus of praise: “Thank you for these happy times,” “Best three months ever!,” “So satisfying,” “I cried so hard,” “I want to keep watching this forever, next week and beyond.” Social media is already flooded with calls for more: “Season 2… please, give us Season 2…!,” “Please give us Season 2!,” “This absolutely needs a Season 2!!,” “I’ll wait however many years it takes.” Whether fans will get the chance to see “The Two Who Keep Going Behind the Supermarket” again remains to be seen… As for this writer, being a non-smoker, I’ll just wait eagerly while snacking on some tasty rice crackers.

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

4AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:34
I only know the synopsis, but did she actually blurt out
'that's me' in it?
15AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:37
Re: #4
She suspects it, but hasn't said anything.

5AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:35
Creepy structure where middle-aged guys project themselves onto the male lead
7AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:36
I thought 'Mii-chan and Yamada-san' was about this
8AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:36
Guys who smoke look like the type who'd watch baseball
9AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:36
Spinoff

Three People Drinking Canned Beer Behind the Driving School

10AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:36
Oh, the Netflix one?
This is actually good
13AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:36
People who started smoking after watching this anime increased, huh

16AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:37
For a live-action version, who'd play opposite Hiroshi Tamaki?
64AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:00
Re: #16
Mei Nagano (heated tobacco device) https://image.news.livedoor.com/newsimage/stf/3/f/3fa2b_249_20240130011.jpg

17AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:38
I watched up through about episode 3,
but the pacing was so slow I dropped it — still, I'm curious how it ends, so I recorded the finale. Is it good??
34AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:45
Re: #17
If you only watch the finale it won't make sense, delete that recording right now

18AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:38
I just read the newest chapter and thought 'wait, it's not over yet!' — oh, they mean the anime lol
49AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:51
Re: #18
As a manga reader, it's like 'Anime finale? What's that?' lol

19AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:38
Oh, it's on Netflix?
I've been curious, might give it a watch
20AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:38
Re: #16
If Anna Tsuchiya were around 20
22AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:38
Re: #1
Between this and 'Smoking Cat' (a separate viral cat character), is smoking trending or something lol

23AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:39
An unlucky anime that got completely overshadowed by 'Smoking Cat'
26AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:40
Re: #23
Wait, they're different? lol

25AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:39
I've only read the manga so I don't know if the anime included it,
but there's a scene where the women rate the men like a beauty pageant — made me realize this kind of thing is still fine as long as the genders are flipped
27AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:40
By the way, if a celebrity smokes on TV it gets complaints and WHO warnings, but anime gets a pass?
28AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:42
It was good —
a genuine romance between a man just under 50 and a woman in her mid-20s,
but the content felt oddly aimed at a young audience
29AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:42
A 'third place' story about a middle-aged guy moping around

32AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:43
If these two actually dated, I bet the guy would get sarcasm and violence from her every single day
33AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:45
One of those typical manga that's all viral-bait setup and nothing else, from old Twitter
from episode 1 all the way to episode 12's finale, it's just been repeating the content of episode 1 the whole time
they just diluted the viral bit and stretched it out forever

37AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:47
One of my little joys has come to an end

By the way,
where's Ishura Season 3,
I Parry Everything Season 2,
and Kinnikuman Perfect Origin Arc Season 3?
41AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:49
Re: #37
They're all such polarizing shows, I can't tell if you're joking for laughs or dead serious lol

51AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:52
This is a show anti-smokers and virgins hate
63AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:00
Re: #51
Huh, it doesn't smell so I watched it just fine
66AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:02
Re: #51
I hate smoking too, but is there really anyone who confuses a fun anime with real life?

52AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:53
I was looking forward to it, but ended up dropping it partway through.
The middle-aged male lead was too pure/naive, so I couldn't really get invested.
61AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:58
Re: #52,53
Yeah, that's really the whole problem right there

54AnonymousSep 25, 2026 13:54
That was truly the best finale

67AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:03
If both Yamada and Tayama confessed to you, which would you pick?
70AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:05
Re: #67
It's basically got to be Tayama, no other real option — that's the issue

78AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:09
Am I right that this is pretty rough/hardcore content aimed at smokers?
86AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:10
Re: #78
Not even close — this is the kind of show where even people who normally can't stand anything cigarette-related suddenly start calling it 'so emotional' once it's animated

88AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:11
People compare it like 'Smoking Cat is dirty, the Supermarket one is classy,'

but either way they both reek of cigarettes
93AnonymousSep 25, 2026 14:12
Re: #88
There's a girl like that at my workplace, but that indescribable chemical smell from her IQOS (heated tobacco device)…

Background and Key Points of Discussion

“The Two Who Smoke Behind the Supermarket” reportedly started life as a single-panel comic that went viral on social media, before being expanded into a serialized manga and later an anime — the TV series ran for 12 episodes over three months. Where opinions in the thread split was mainly the pacing: criticism that “it’s just been stretching out the content of episode 1 the whole time” coexisted with praise for how “it took its time developing the relationship, and that was great.” Several posts also confused the show with “Smoking Cat,” an unrelated cat character that separately went viral on social media — the two are easy to mix up but have nothing to do with each other. There was also some back-and-forth over the show’s depiction of smoking itself, though the backdrop here is that anime, unlike live-action TV, faces much looser regulation around depicting smoking.

*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “‘The Two Who Smoke Behind the Supermarket’ Finale Is Too Emotional — A Storm of Praise!! ‘I Cried So Hard,’ ‘Thank You for the Happiness,’ ‘Please Give Us Season 2!’.”

September 25, 2026