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  • VTubers Are Becoming a High-Education, High-Income Career — 5ch: “Nijisanji Has Two Members With Actual Medical Licenses”

    On 5ch’s Hardware/Industry (“Geha”) board, a thread about the growing number of highly educated people entering the VTuber industry blew up. Posters cited concrete examples — a streamer with a PhD in science, others holding teaching licenses, and two Nijisanji talents said to hold medical licenses — with some declaring VTubing a “winner’s career” (a Japanese term for a job that puts you among life’s “winners”). At the same time, others questioned why these people aren’t using their expertise, and skepticism arose over how long the tip-based (superchat) economy can even last, turning the thread into a broader debate about the industry’s future.

    6AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:08
    Academic-type VTubers already existed ages ago, and Nijisanji's "Iinchou" (lit. "class president," a member's nickname) is already a total all-rounder. Hololive was just useless, pushing nothing but idol content until Raden blew up.
    8AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:12
    Re: #6
    Calling her "useless" — look at her subscriber count. That'd already put her in the top tier ("above the cream") even by Nijisanji standards!
    62AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:06
    Re: #6
    Well, Nijisanji's the one losing here. Hololive has gone into a total runaway solo victory. High-career talent obviously goes to Hololive since it treats people better, and it's already partnered with government ministries and the police and fire departments — there's no room left for Nijisanji.

    They lost. It's "Owarisanji" now (a mocking nickname meaning "Nijisanji is finished").
    7AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:11
    This girl's a former VTuber from VEE, the agency Sony shut down.
    20AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:26
    Re: #7
    What was her "previous life" (VTuber slang for her identity before this persona) called?
    11AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:15
    The top tier of VTubers up to now has been packed with idiots who came up through Niconico — I want the whole lot weeded out.
    23AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:30
    Re: #11
    Natural selection's already happening. What's getting the most attention right now is VTubers safe enough for kids to watch. There's no place left for the outlaws from the Niconico livestream generation, and in that sense even Hololive's more adult-oriented side is on shaky ground.
    19AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:25
    Re: #1
    Her resume is kind of a mess lol. Does anyone know why she got all the way to earning a teaching license but never actually became a teacher?

    After all that tax money spent turning her into a science PhD, I wish she'd put it to use in education…
    43AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:58
    Re: #19
    A lot of people end up with a teaching license as a freebie since the required courses overlap with the credits needed for it.
    50AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:04
    Re: #19
    A teaching license is basically a bonus you can pick up along the way, so plenty of people just grab one.

    As for the PhD, I can only assume she flopped at job hunting back when she was a master's student.
    51AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:08
    Re: #19
    Anyone can get a teaching license just by taking the required university credits. Actually getting hired to teach is a separate exam/process after that.
    24AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:32
    I really wish highly educated people would land a proper high-level job that actually uses their expertise. Feels like such a waste.
    48AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:01
    Re: #24
    Like a consultant who peddles garbage advice?
    26AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:36
    Re: #23
    > There's no place left for the outlaws from the Niconico livestream generation

    Come on now… by that logic, Hololive's Gen 0 through Gen 5 would be half wiped out lol. Only Gen 6 and later would survive…
    56AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:30
    Re: #26
    Even within Gen 6, isn't everyone except "Tsuno-gaki" (lit. "horned brat," a member's nickname) on shaky ground too?
    30AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:42
    I do think highly educated people in the US or China are genuinely impressive, though.
    75AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:49
    Re: #30
    What's fallen isn't Sony or Japan — it's just your own life.

    Blaming everything else is the basic survival skill of the bottom rung: "I fell because the country fell!!" That kind of other-blaming mindset.
    32AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:44
    I mean, a job like this can't possibly last forever anyway.
    38AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:50
    Re: #32
    It'll keep going. There's no retirement age. You just want it to end.
    57AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:37
    Re: #32
    The people doing it understand that better than anyone — that's exactly why they're busting their asses to earn while they're still popular.
    42AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:56
    Huge superchats coming from rich people — there sure are a lot of wealthy folks out there.
    45AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:00
    Re: #42
    Drop 100,000 yen at pachinko once and suddenly you're "rich"? Cut it out.
    46AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:00
    Re: #42
    Then again, people who blow money on brand-name goods are the same story.
    47AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:01
    Lately the whole "tipping" gimmick has been drying up, so for Hololive, launching a gacha game was a perfect lifeline. Ordinary people are getting squeezed harder, so quite a few VTuber fans just can't keep supporting them anymore. Obviously it's rough to tip on top of spending on a gacha game too, lol.
    52AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:16
    Re: #47
    Feels like more streamers are asking fans to buy merch instead of sending superchats these days.
    63AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:12
    To begin with, isn't streaming or being a pro gamer something you can only pull off if you've got a wealthy family behind you (lit. a "thick" household)?
    69AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:42
    My coworker's wife does VTubing — apparently there are a lot of housewives in it.
    76AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:51
    Re: #69
    Given the age of the person behind the avatar, it'd honestly be worrying if she weren't married by now.
    80AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:00
    You could just take it as "oh, this kind of culture exists" and leave it there. I don't get the mindset of people who go "this is wrong, unforgivable!" Bottom line, you're just jealous, right?
    83AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:04
    Re: #80
    Is the only thing that stuck with you that she got criticized? What about the actual problems people raised?
    86AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:05
    The poorer someone is, the more they've been taught that making money is "dirty" — that's the vicious cycle.
    88AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:08
    Re: #86
    Looking at actual reality, isn't it more that the poorer people are, the more they think "as long as I make money, anything goes"? Stuff like joining hangure (semi-organized crime crews) or taking "yami baito" (shady, often crime-linked gig jobs).
    90AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:12
    I wonder if these same people would call criticism of actual fraud "jealousy over someone making money" too. They've stopped using criticism to actually improve anything.
    97AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:33
    Re: #90
    "Using criticism to improve things" is the last lecture anyone glued to the Geha (console-war) board should be giving. Your "criticism" has already gotten people arrested, and you still haven't learned?
    92AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:15
    Re: #62
    Both Hololive and Nijisanji fans should realize they're equally hated by otaku from other fandoms.
    94AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:17
    Nijisanji has two people with actual medical licenses — that makes no sense.
    96AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:27
    Re: #94
    Probably pays better than actually working as a doctor.

    Background and key points of this discussion

    VTubers earn income through superchats (tips), merchandise sales, and corporate sponsorships, and top earners reportedly make far more than the average salaried employee. The thread pointed to streamers with science PhDs, teaching licenses, and even medical licenses, sparking debate between those who saw the influx of highly educated people as “winners not using their expertise” and those who lamented it as “wasted potential.” The rivalry between Hololive and Nijisanji over which agency has the upper hand was also tangled into the discussion, and it’s worth noting much of it is impressionistic, without solid statistical backing. There was also talk that as tipping has grown less generous than before, a shift toward merchandise sales is underway, hinting the underlying income structure itself may be changing. Note that the individual backgrounds (past jobs, education) raised in the thread are unverified claims based on posters’ comments, not confirmed facts.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry [Geha]) thread “[Good News] VTubers These Days Have Basically Become a High-Education, High-Income Winner’s Career“.

  • Latest Hello! Project Height Chart Sparks Debate: 5ch Says ‘Juice=Juice Is Fudging Their Numbers’

    A thread on a Hello! Project fan forum lit up over a debate about members’ heights. It started when Ichika Arisawa revealed on her own blog that her company health checkup put her at “155.1cm.” That led to an updated height list for Juice=Juice members, but it quickly drew suspicion that the officially published numbers were inflated — the so-called “saba yomi” (literally “reading mackerel,” Japanese slang for fudging a number). The thread also cited a news article noting that Japan’s average height hasn’t grown in recent years and has been overtaken by China and South Korea, stretching the height debate into international comparisons.

    1AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:39
    171cm Saya Eguchi
    170cm Nia Hayashi
    169cm Akoto Yumiketa / Kokoro Maeda
    2AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:40
    155.1cm Ichika Arisawa
    2026-08-24 21:30:12
    https://ameblo.jp/juicejuice-official/entry-12976692771.html
    https://stat.ameba.jp/user_images/20260824/20/juicejuice-official/e9/3c/j/o1080081015815462097.jpg
    I had my company health checkup the other day
    and my height was… 155.1!!!!
    I grew!!!
    Yesss!!
    3AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:41
    Saya Eguchi, Nia Hayashi, Akoto Yumiketa / Kokoro Maeda, Homare Okamura, Sakari Endo, Momo Kitahara

    Form a tall-girls unit with these
    6AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:46
    Re: #3
    166 is too short
    10AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:49
    Re: #3
    This tall lineup ("dekabo") would be popular
    4AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:42
    These days
    even girls under 160cm probably feel self-conscious about it
    28AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:04
    Re: #4
    No need to feel self-conscious
    the average is 158
    61AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:33
    Re: #4
    Fruits Zipper is nothing but shorties
    5AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:45
    Japan's average height, for both men and women, hasn't grown in decades
    "Kids today are all tall" is pure fantasy

    Meanwhile China and South Korea's average heights are climbing fast



    Why has Japan fallen behind China and South Korea in height? It's not just about nutrition
    https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOSG073HZ0X00C26A8000000/



    8AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:48
    Kawashima just inflated her number when she joined
    she's probably not even 160 in real life
    42AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:13
    Re: #8
    Same as Ebata, 159
    12AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:52
    JUICE=JUICE (average height 162cm) is a tall group by Japanese standards,
    but in Korea it'd be an average, maybe even slightly short, group

    Don't tell Korean fans "Juice is tall and has great proportions!"
    They just won't get it




    15AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:54
    Re: #12
    People who got crushed by Rescene wouldn't understand that (lol)
    17AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:56
    Members who look taller than they really are (reverse saba yomi — suspected of underreporting)
    Kitahara, Nakayama, Kobayashi, Shimoitani, Inoue Re, Otsubo, Kudo, Fukuda, Soma, Nishizaki, Tamenaga


    Members who look shorter than they really are
    Danbara, Okamura Mi, Yokaze, Kasai, Tanimoto, Matsumoto, Seino, Hirai, Hirayama
    18AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:57
    Re: #17
    Tamenaga just has a tall-looking face — she's never actually looked tall
    20AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:59
    Here's Juice's latest lineup, rounded to the nearest cm
    Hayashi 170
    Endo 169
    Danbara 165
    Ishiyama 164
    Inoue 163
    Matsunaga 162
    Kudo 161
    Kawashima 160
    Ebata 159
    Irie 157
    Arisawa 155
    24AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:02
    Re: #20
    No way Endo is 169
    go look at various idols who really are 169cm
    Endo is clearly shorter than that
    27AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:03
    Re: #20
    Feels like they fudge it 2cm at a time so they can get on TV
    22AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:00
    Average height for Japanese women is 158
    hasn't budged in decades

    Meanwhile China and Korea's average heights are rising at the fastest pace in the world

    25AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:02
    Okamura and Yumiketa
    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GVtmEQmakAAgDq.jpg:orig#.jpg
    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GQpIvktakAA3DpX.jpg:orig#.jpg
    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GvovXsWWkAATYAG.jpg:orig#.jpg
    30AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:05
    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GVtmEQmakAAgDqq.jpg:orig#.jpg
    36AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:08
    Juice is probably fudging their numbers a little
    if they were really that tall they wouldn't need those super-thick-soled high-heel boot outfits every single time
    38AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:10
    Re: #36
    Hayashi is genuinely tall, which is why her heels are low
    the other members' published heights are a bit suspicious
    39AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:11
    Juice=Juice is fudging their numbers way too much
    47AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:17
    Re: #39
    Every single number out of Juice is fudged
    44AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:14
    No way Kawashima is 160 or 161
    it's 158

    which would drag Juice's average down a bit too


    49AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:20
    When Kawashima stood next to someone from another group she looked taller than expected
    is that other group just full of short girls?
    50AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:21
    Re: #49
    Groups like the Tokisen (Tokimeki Sendenbu) senbatsu really are stacked with short members
    54AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:24
    Juice's average height of 162 is the average height for Korean women
    that'd make them on the shorter side for a K-pop group
    Don't tell overseas fans Juice has great proportions
    59AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:29
    163cm is considered a height complex in Korea

    Don't tell Korean fans "Juice has great proportions"

    https://youtube.com/shorts/Z50qY2gzAeg?si=7ROloyT0UXF-GAs4
    64AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:35
    Re: #59
    They were like "Whaaat, 163?!" lol

    Hello! Project lol
    69AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:42
    If they're doing health checkups every year anyway, the agency should just officially release the latest numbers
    75AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:45
    Re: #69
    They deliberately wear those super-thick-soled high-heel boots every single time, so they probably don't want their real heights out there

    It'd shatter the fans' dreams
    77AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:46
    Re: #75
    That's because Hello! Project trains their core strength
    72AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:43
    Height being low really is one reason Hello! Project doesn't catch on overseas
    they don't even get noticed visually to begin with

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    Idols’ officially published heights, including at Hello! Project, come from agency profiles and can differ from measured figures like health checkup results. The “saba yomi” (number-fudging) suspicions that circulated in this thread are just unofficial fan guesses based on things like thick-soled boots in stage outfits or comparisons with members of other groups — they’re not backed by verified evidence, which is worth keeping in mind. The claim that Japan’s average height has been overtaken by China and South Korea is based on an August 2026 Nikkei article, which points to nutrition and lifestyle changes as factors. Meanwhile, posts comparing Juice=Juice’s average height (around 162cm) to K-pop groups rely on users’ own calculations and comparison points, not official data. Since the numbers in this thread come from a mix of “official announcements,” “fan observation,” and “news articles,” it’s worth tracking which claim rests on which kind of source.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project) thread “Latest Hello! Project Member Height Chart.”

  • Juice=Juice’s TikTok Views Are 10x Other Groups’ — 5ch: ‘And Today, People Still Drink Coca-Cola’

    On 5ch’s Hello! Project board, a thread blew up over how Juice=Juice’s TikTok videos are pulling dramatically more views than those of other Hello! Project groups. Posters shared side-by-side screenshots of each group’s TikTok pages along with concrete post-count figures for specific choreography trends (63,000, 117,000, 175,000, and so on), and opinion split over whether this comes down to a plain popularity gap, differences in how ‘sexy’ the presentation is, or simply the algorithm giving already-viral videos even more exposure.

    1AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:46
    They're all doing basically the same thing though?
    2AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:47
    Re: #1
    What's different? Popularity is different.
    3AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:48
    There's no way they're 10x more popular.
    Maybe 1.5x, tops.
    31AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:24
    Re: #3
    Honestly it could realistically get close to 10x.
    5AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:52
    Re: #1
    The thread title might not be an exaggeration after all.

    Juice=Juice


    Morning Musume。'26


    ANGERME


    Tsubaki Factory


    BEYOOOOONDS
    21AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:13
    Re: #5
    Morning Musume's lineup is just full of rough-looking girls, yikes. (ブス = derogatory slang for 'unattractive')
    6AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:53
    Re: #1
    Domestic craft cola might be healthier, might even taste better — but today, people are still drinking Coca-Cola.
    7AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:55
    The real test is whether the singles and albums actually sell.
    8AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:55
    Re: #7
    Why hasn't OCHA NORMA played the Nippon Budokan yet?
    9AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:57
    32: Anonymous (this board's default username) 2026/09/25 (Fri) 00:53:08.12 ID:0

    Even 'Moremi' isn't blowing up all that much, if we're honest.

    TikTok post counts:
    Moremi: 63,000 (12 months since release)
    Cute na Kyuutai: 117,000 (4 months since release)
    Koi Hajimemashita ('I Started Falling in Love'): 175,000 (1 month since release)

    It's getting crushed by new songs from CUTIE STREET and =LOVE — groups nobody even calls 'viral.'
    11AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:58
    Re: #9
    CUTIE STREET's group TikTok account numbers are kind of underwhelming, honestly.
    12AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:59
    If you're asking what's different, it's whether they're selling sex appeal or not.
    Even ANGERME could out-viral Juice=Juice if they leaned into it.
    14AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:00
    Re: #12
    That one capped out at 20,000 likes, so by Juice=Juice standards that's just upper-low tier.
    29AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:23
    Re: #12
    Why'd they delete the booty-shake video?
    13AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:59
    Didn't expect the gap with Momusu to be this big either.
    15AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:02
    Re: #14
    If the first one already did that well, keep it up and they could double their virality.
    17AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:07
    If we're talking popularity in terms of concert turnout, it's nowhere near 10x — but for the light kind of popularity where people just watch a video, the gap could really be that big.
    Plus, videos that are already circulating tend to get pushed even harder by the algorithm.
    19AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:08
    Re: #17
    Turnout can be held down artificially, but you can't hold down social media the same way.
    18AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:08
    Whether the new fans are 'locusts' (fickle, here-today-gone-tomorrow types) or not, we'll find out soon enough.
    20AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:12
    Tsunku♂ apparently thought female fans were locusts — wonder if that applies to the people showing up here.
    24AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:18
    Sounds like the die-hard Juice=Juice fans are suffering because of the locust fans, but it's obvious that whoever keeps starting these 'Juice is superior' threads isn't even a real Juice=Juice fan.
    25AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:19
    Re: #24
    It's not that getting popular is a bad thing — it's on Up-Front (their management company) for not expanding capacity to match.
    26AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:20
    Re: #25
    That's a deliberate strategy, not an oversight.
    27AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:21
    Re: #26
    Deliberately keeping ANGERME playing to half-empty venues is a strategy too.
    28AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:23
    Even without the 'Moremi' trend, they're growing now.
    30AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:24
    Management clearly has groups it coddles and groups it doesn't — if that ever changed, that'd honestly be shocking.
    35AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:26
    Re: #32
    56: Anonymous 2025/11/08 (Sat) 01:36:02.78 ID:0
    Up until now, Hello! Project groups have danced to other idol groups' songs plenty of times.

    And sure, groups they shared a bill with at joint concerts have sometimes danced along to Hello! Project songs together with them.

    But other idol groups voluntarily dancing to Hello! Project songs on their own — and several groups doing it at once, no less — that's a genuinely big deal.
    67AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:33
    The name recognition gap with the other Hello! Project groups is just too huge.
    68AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:36
    If you follow Juice=Juice, the algorithm should start surfacing the other groups too — but people just scroll right past them.
    69AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:37
    Wait, did you seriously just call view count 'name recognition'?
    71AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:38
    Re: #69
    If you look at likes, the gap is even bigger.
    70AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:37
    It's about whether you get pulled into this system or not.
    Get filtered out, and you basically don't exist.
    72AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:39
    The video really racked up the views and likes.
    Probably means money for the agency —
    whether any of it reaches the members, who knows.
    73AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:40
    Re: #72
    Hope it's actually getting kicked back to the Juice=Juice members properly.
    74AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:42
    Members are starting to get their own individual accounts now, so it sounds like the group itself won't see much of a return.
    75AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:43
    Re: #74
    With Kawaii Lab or =LOVE, individual accounts sometimes do grow faster than the group one — but with the wave of individual Hello! Project accounts opening lately, they're not outgrowing the group accounts.
    76AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:48
    Quite a few people are dancing to 'Aiueon' these days.
    Feels like Juice=Juice is making Hello! Project more approachable.
    77AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:50
    Re: #11
    A lot of fans have already drifted away from Kawaii Lab, so nothing gets traction anymore unless money's been spent on the video.

    Background and Points of Debate

    In recent years, TikTok has become a primary way for idol groups to reach new fans, and Hello! Project is no exception — each group’s official account has been ramping up choreography-video posts. What split the thread was whether the gap in view counts comes down to a plain difference in popularity, a difference in presentation (specifically, how much sex appeal is used), or a compounding algorithmic effect where videos that have already gone viral get pushed even harder. Some posters also pointed out that concert attendance figures don’t necessarily track with social media view counts. One thing readers could easily misread: the ‘post count’ figures cited in the thread refer to the number of videos posted using a particular song or dance, not the view count of Juice=Juice’s official account itself — those are different metrics. It’s also worth noting that all of these numbers come from posts on an anonymous message board, not official statistics published by TikTok or the talent agency.

    ※This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread ‘Juice=Juice’s TikTok views are like 10x other Hello! Project groups’ — what’s actually different?‘

  • Okinawa Development Finance Corp throws ¥3 billion bridge loan at JUNGLIA Okinawa — 5ch: ‘So it really was just a fluke’

    It has been reported that the Okinawa Development Finance Corporation is in final coordination to provide an additional ¥3 billion in bridge financing to keep cash flow afloat at the “JUNGLIA Okinawa” theme park in Nakijin Village, Okinawa Prefecture. The public corporation also took part in a ¥36.6 billion syndicated loan at the park’s opening, and just this past April added another ¥2 billion in financing alongside Shoko Chukin Bank and Bank of the Ryukyus, among others. With renewed financial support arriving in under six months, 5ch’s reaction split between the cynical view that “the opening-day boost was nothing but pent-up post-COVID travel demand” and voices pointing the finger at the park’s location and facility lineup itself.

    The government-affiliated Okinawa Development Finance Corporation has entered final coordination to extend a fresh ¥3 billion loan to the “JUNGLIA Okinawa” theme park in Nakijin Village, Okinawa Prefecture. With the park continuing to run in the red, the funds will be provided as a bridge loan to keep cash flow going. The park’s operator plans to hold a shareholders’ meeting on the 25th to explain its financial situation.

    The Okinawa public corporation took part in a ¥36.6 billion syndicated loan at the time of opening, and in April added a further ¥2 billion in financing together with Shoko Chukin Bank (the Central Bank for Commercial and Industrial Cooperatives) and Bank of the Ryukyus, among others.

    Source: nikkei.com / Original article here

    3AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:40
    Isn't this supposed to be the genius producer who turned USJ into a massive success?
    70AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:25
    Re: #3
    Looks like a V-shaped recovery, but that 'dip' was just the COVID slump — the 'recovery' after it is just the natural rebound that would've happened anyway.
    71AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:25
    Re: #3
    So it really was just a fluke.
    5AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:41
    I hear customer numbers have been increasing like crazy lately.
    12AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:45
    Re: #5
    Can we really believe that, Mr. Vegetable Gyoza?! (nickname for a poster known for over-hyped takes)
    11AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:44
    They should've just made it Chiikawa Land instead. (Chiikawa: a hugely popular cute-character franchise in Japan)
    23AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:52
    Re: #11
    That's a dull blade [pun: "Katana" is the name of Morioka's production company]. They'll probably just dot little character statues along the paths between attractions, like the Pokémon stuff at Yomiuri Land.
    Having zero indoor, high-throughput attractions like Frozen, Beauty and the Beast, or the Haunted Mansion is the worst move you could possibly make.
    16AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:47
    It's basically empty and attractions are still selling out from the morning?? On top of that it's 2:40 from Haneda to Naha, then a 2:20 bus ride to get there — over 10 hours round trip. New Chitose Airport gets you 100 times more fun for the trouble.
    79AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:27
    Re: #16
    What's with this 'look how bad I am at my job' flex?
    25AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:52
    Still, Legoland is doing great business too, so who knows how this'll play out.
    58AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:13
    Re: #25
    Legoland managed to pull in the whole Tokai region's population by making annual passes cheap, but Okinawa just doesn't have the population base for an annual pass to work the same way.
    An annual pass there would have to be limited to just the main island of Okinawa — not even all of Kyushu, not even the whole prefecture.
    33AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:56
    Does Okinawa really not get that many tourists? These days everywhere else in Japan is swarming with foreign tourists getting in the way — they should all just go to Okinawa instead.
    42AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:06
    Re: #33
    There's plenty of them, it's more that they'd rather just go to Churaumi. (Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium)
    46AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:08
    Re: #42
    The bet was that since it's near Churaumi Aquarium, people would stay a night in that area and swing by JUNGLIA too — and that gamble totally backfired.
    53AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:12
    Re: #42
    If there's already plenty of tourists around, there was no need to go build a whole theme park…
    49AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:09
    Re: #46
    Was there really anything around Churaumi worth staying overnight for in the first place?
    59AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:13
    Re: #49
    There's Nago and Nakijin right there.
    76AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:26
    The megabanks that didn't invest sure have sharp crisis-avoidance instincts. Guess that's what you get from scooping up the cream of the elite.
    Makes it pretty clear by comparison that the regional banks are just a bunch of leftover underachievers.
    85AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:30
    Sooner or later they'll probably build some theater where Demon Slayer characters hunt dinosaurs, or Spider-Man takes down dinosaurs, or Harry Potter beats up dinosaurs.
    That's their whole playbook here — bring in collabs for indoor-type attractions that don't need outdoor space.
    99AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:39
    Re: #85
    The licensing rights all belong to different companies, that'll never happen.
    Even USJ let go of its popular Spider-Man stuff once it went the Disney route.
    87AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:31
    Amusement parks only really work in the Tokyo-Nagoya-Osaka corridor. Even Space World went under.
    90AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:31
    Re: #87
    Koyama Yuenchi: 'Yeah, tell me about it.'
    Mukogaoka Yuen: 'Ugh, you're not wrong…' (both are real defunct Japanese amusement parks)
    113AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:48
    Re: #87
    Space World was profitable every single year right up until it closed.
    It only shut down because it couldn't renew its land lease.
    89AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:31
    You guys really think Shoko Chukin and Bank of the Ryukyus are lending because they actually believe this thing will turn a profit? Are you living in some fantasy land?
    95AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:37
    Re: #89
    The government's going to clean up the mess anyway, so of course it'll pencil out for them.
    110AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:45
    Places like USJ pour in massive advertising and bring in even stronger IP to somehow draw the crowds in, right? That approach isn't wrong for this era, but if the underlying potential is too weak to begin with, it backfires.
    111AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:46
    Re: #110
    Even with IP, the northern part of the island is just a tough sell.
    Even locals only go once a year if that — that's the kind of location it is.
    115AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:49
    Honestly, at this point they should just force it and bring in Chiikawa.
    The thing that turned USJ around was Harry Potter, after all.
    121AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:53
    Re: #115
    Better to swallow your pride and use whatever works instead of clinging to some weird sense of dignity — if you actually want to draw crowds, ditch the ego.
    118AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:50
    They should've just built an entertainment facility around a quintessentially Japanese anime/game world and drawn in foreign tourists that way. This place has zero elements that would actually sell.
    120AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:52
    Re: #118
    I don't think any IP would save this — it's over two hours from the airport.
    Unless it's built around a casino as a full integrated resort people can actually stay at, it's just not going to work.
    125AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:54
    Re: #120
    A Dragon Ball & Naruto & One Piece Super Land might've actually had a shot.
    127AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:55
    Re: #125
    Even then, I think it'd still be tough unless it's near Naha.

    Background and points of debate

    JUNGLIA Okinawa is a dinosaur- and nature-experience theme park built by Katana, the company led by Tsuyoshi Morioka, known for turning around Universal Studios Japan. It opened in 2025 in Nakijin Village, Okinawa Prefecture. Multiple financial institutions, including the Okinawa Development Finance Corporation, had already arranged a roughly ¥36.6 billion syndicated loan before the park even opened; this latest ¥3 billion bridge loan follows an additional ¥2 billion loan in April, making it yet another round of support on top of that. Opinions on the thread were split over where to place the blame for the park’s struggles. Some pointed to the facility lineup itself — few large indoor attractions and low visitor throughput — while others noted that the recovery in visitor numbers has coincided with the broader post-COVID rebound in tourism demand, making it hard to credit the park’s opening itself. The tendency of regional financial institutions to keep lending out of consideration for the local economy was also raised alongside concerns about the park’s actual profitability.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Nanademo Jikkyo G) thread “[Good News] Okinawa Development Finance Corp provides ¥3 billion ‘bridge loan’ to keep JUNGLIA Okinawa’s cash flow afloat.”

  • Hello! Project Fan Club Numbers Jump 20,000 in a Year — Sign of a New Fan Boom? 5ch Weighs In

    A post on 5ch’s “Hello! Project” board caught fire after someone noted that an acquaintance who’d just joined the Hello! Project fan club received a membership number in the 160,000s — prompting the observation, “About a year ago (around June 2025) the numbers were only in the 142,000s, so doesn’t that mean nearly 20,000 new members have joined?” Thread posters floated Juice=Juice’s popularity and buzz around new members as reasons behind the apparent surge in new fans, but opinions split on whether the jump in membership numbers actually reflects real membership growth, given the presence of people with multiple accounts and the handling of members who’ve quit. The discussion also branched into a debate over whether concert tickets should go digital.

    1AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:12
    @
    My friend just joined the Hello Pro FC and their membership number was over 160,000, so membership's probably grown by around 20,000 this past year…?
    June 2025 → around 142,000
    2AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:19
    Yeah, sounds about right.
    84AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:55
    Re: #2
    Growing is impressive, but stopping the bleeding is the bigger deal for management, honestly.
    Back in early 2025 I was kind of thinking about quitting myself.
    7AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:32
    Joined 15 years ago, my number's 02xxxx.
    51AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:24
    Re: #7
    I joined as a 9th-gen new fan back in 2011, so that used to be me too.
    I left the FC for a while so my number's different now.
    Kind of a waste — if I'd kept 02-something I could've flexed as an old-timer.
    19AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:43
    I actually made 2 extra accounts recently just to get Juice=Juice tickets — I bet a lot of people are doing that.
    20AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:44
    Re: #19
    Hope hall concerts go digital-ticket too.
    66AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:42
    Re: #19
    People like you aren't even 5% of the total.
    21AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:52
    Re: #20
    They can't haul that equipment out to every regional venue, and having local promoters handle it isn't realistic, so tours will stay paper tickets for a while yet.
    22AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:56
    Re: #21
    That just means Up-Front (their management company) might not have the equipment — in other idol scenes, digital tickets are the norm even out in the regions.
    23AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:59
    Seems like the strategy is: skip the mega-venues, and you can't buy tickets unless you're in the FC.
    And since this business model's kept them alive for 30 years, there's not much point criticizing it.
    28AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:01
    Re: #23
    Even so, it's a lottery-loss festival, so bump up the capacity.
    Also, Juice=Juice selling out both Budokan and PIA Arena is just abnormal — Tsubaki Factory's numbers are so rough that MoAn (the Morning Musume/Angerme joint activity) had to loosen its conditions.
    24AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:59
    Why's everyone assuming I'm a Juice=Juice otaku lol
    26AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:01
    Re: #24
    Because there's no way new fans exist for any other group?
    32AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:04
    Re: #26
    There are posts out there like "I just joined the FC as a new Angerme/BEYOOOOONDS fan."
    36AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:06
    Re: #32
    Exactly this.
    The posts I see most are "An Angerme fan joined the FC" type things.
    Don't really see that for Juice.
    37AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:07
    Re: #32
    Probably like 10 to 50 out of that 20,000, right?
    31AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:04
    Re: #22
    For venues outside Kanto, isn't it not Up-Front that provides the equipment?
    Are you mixing it up with merch?
    35AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:06
    Re: #31
    All the more reason they could easily roll out digital tickets by following other fandoms' lead, no?
    39AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:09
    Re: #35
    "Could do it" and "choosing not to" are different things though?
    41AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:09
    Re: #39
    Like, "please don't"-type reasoning?
    47AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:18
    If quitters' old numbers are being recycled for new members that'd be impressive, but is that actually how it works?
    49AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:18
    Re: #47
    If they're not being recycled, that just makes it more certain that it's a straight-up 20,000 increase, no?
    48AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:18
    There's plenty of these on ticket resale sites ("chike-nagare") anyway.
    50AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:19
    Re: #48
    If they think fans relying on resale sites make up the core base, they'll end up loosening entry conditions like they did for Oda Sakura's graduation concert.
    52AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:25
    Whatever members drop off starting December 2025 won't amount to much anyway (the popularity of whoever's graduating around then is limited).
    54AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:27
    Re: #52
    Fair, that's one way to look at it.
    57AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:32
    A 20,000-member increase alone means like 100 million yen in extra revenue.
    And obviously that pulls up concert attendance and merch sales too — all thanks to Juice=Juice, basically.
    59AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:37
    Re: #57
    Out in the regions the "omaitsu" (regular-attendee) rate drops, so merch was flying off the shelves in both Hiroshima and Kyoto.
    61AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:39
    When I joined 10 years ago I was in the 06,000s.
    So it's grown by a full 100,000 since then?
    63AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:40
    Re: #61
    If we're talking that long a timeframe, wouldn't there also be a lot of people who quit?
    86AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:56
    Re: #61
    Membership numbers got reset once in the past, and after that they were assigned fairly randomly, I think.
    I joined about 18 years ago and got an 08,000-something number.
    I also had one from about 26 years ago, but that got caught as a duplicate account and I was kicked out, so I don't even remember the number lol.
    68AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:43
    If half have already quit and half are duplicate accounts, the real number's probably around 40,000.
    70AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:45
    Re: #68
    There might actually be a shot at a dome tour.
    78AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:52
    Re: #68
    Guess I'll just have to take refuge with Tsubaki Factory or Rosy Chronicle for a while.
    71AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:47
    Question is how many will actually stick around.
    Is there like a six-month (membership) option or something?
    72AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:47
    Re: #71
    Hello Project only offers annual memberships.
    76AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:49
    Re: #71
    If you worked at the agency you'd actually know the real numbers though.
    79AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:52
    Rough estimate's fine, but how many existing members were there to begin with?
    88AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:57
    Re: #79
    Judging by Haro-Colle (the Hello! Project fan event), there's at least 30,000.
    89AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:58
    Back in the day I used to support whichever group got the most new sign-ups at the venue.
    In the Berryz Kobo/°C-ute era, apparently °C-ute was on a whole different level.
    90AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:59
    Re: #89
    These days you have to register your favorite group when you join, so they probably track it that way now.

    Background and Key Points of Debate

    Hello! Project membership numbers are issued in order of sign-up, so the gap between two numbers works as a rough gauge of how many people have joined. However, it’s never been officially disclosed whether the numbers of members who quit get reused, or how many of the new numbers belong to people holding multiple accounts just to secure concert tickets — so opinions in the thread were split, ranging from “the real figure is much smaller” to “even accounting for duplicate accounts, it’s still grown.” The debate over digital ticketing also split along lines of whether the holdup is Up-Front’s own equipment or logistics at regional venues, with comparisons drawn to other idol fandoms — though all of this remains speculation. Because membership numbers feed directly into ticket competition rates for FC-only shows and into merch sales, the topic draws attention as a proxy for a group’s drawing power. That said, it’s worth keeping in mind that the “20,000 more members” figure raised in this thread is just one person’s guess based on a single member’s registration number, not an official statistic.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “Thanks to the flood of new fans, Hello! Project’s FC membership is up 20,000.”

  • Calbee CEO Thanks Manga Artists Over Black-and-White Packaging: “They Brought Color Beyond Our Imagination”

    Since late May 2026, Calbee had switched the packaging of mainstay products like potato chips to black and white, citing difficulty procuring naphtha, a petroleum-derived resin material. In a message to stakeholders dated September 25, President and CEO Makoto Ebara thanked the manga artists who contributed artwork to the black-and-white packaging, reflecting, “What emerged was a ‘color’ that exceeded our imagination.” On 5ch, opinions were divided over whether the naphtha shortage was actually still ongoing and why other companies kept their normal packaging, with debate also touching on whether price hikes were justified and how well the stock was actually selling in stores.

    Calbee Representative Thanks Manga Artists Over Black-and-White Packaging: “What Emerged Was a ‘Color’ Beyond Our Imagination” | ORICON NEWS

    2026-09-25 09:20 ORICON NEWS

    On the 25th, Calbee released a message to stakeholders from President and CEO Makoto Ebara. It thanked manga artists over the switch to black-and-white packaging for products like potato chips since the end of May.

    Source: oricon.co.jp / Read the original article here

    3AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:20
    So whatever happened to the naphtha problem?
    49AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:34
    Re: #3
    Bad news — the US has started cutting back on exports.
    90AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:48
    Re: #3
    Isn't it kind of pointless if everyone draws way more art than needed?
    8AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:22
    They just wanted to pick a fight with the government, right?
    Can you still say that looking at the mountains of unsold stock in stores lol
    151AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:07
    Re: #8
    Retailers have it rough too, having to display just the black-and-white ones somewhere eye-catching.
    11AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:22
    Where'd all the people seriously freaking out about naphtha go?
    Is Japan's 'doomsday June' still not here yet?
    118AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:57
    Re: #11
    That's because China bailed us out.
    If China hadn't cut its crude oil imports in half,
    Japan would've been done for.
    127AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:00
    Re: #118
    That's just because imports dropped when the construction bubble burst, right?
    It's not like they deliberately bailed us out.
    41AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:30
    Pretty sure a ton of these are still unsold.
    I thought about buying a bag to keep as a memento, but it just looks like a funeral, so I passed.
    52AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:35
    Re: #41
    The glorious result of scalpers who hoarded them and now can't sell a single one.
    184AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:13
    Re: #41
    Maybe you could serve them as snacks at a funeral.
    62AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:38
    Wartime-style packaging —
    it's like being thrilled about wearing kokuminfuku (WWII-era 'national uniform') or monpe (baggy wartime work trousers).
    67AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:40
    Re: #62
    If it were real wartime-style packaging, they wouldn't even print the product name on the front. "We want nothing until we win!" (a famous WWII austerity slogan)
    77AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:45
    They put out this whole 'we're struggling with naphtha so it's black and white' thing, but then look at their other new products — almost all loud, flashy colors.
    It's just contradictory.
    78AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:45
    Just like with rice, there were probably people trying to paralyze distribution and jack up prices to cash in, right?
    The people on the ground were genuinely struggling and this was a real corporate effort —
    it's a shame it got treated as just a publicity stunt.
    88AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:48
    Re: #78
    They actually had to make a major shift in import sources, from the Middle East to the US,
    so it's different from the rice situation.
    Now, what will the US come demanding next — the outlook is uncertain.
    92AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:49
    My local supermarket still has whole cardboard boxes stacked full of the black-and-white potato chips and granola.
    Looks like they'll hit their expiration date before anyone buys them.
    96AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:50
    Re: #92
    Yeah, they look creepy, so I don't want to buy them.
    109AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:53
    Re: #92
    If they drop to about half price, someone will probably buy them all up.
    99AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:51
    Printing '10% more in our budget packaging!' on them — I could only laugh at that one.
    113AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:54
    Re: #99
    Probably because word got around that they could make it cheaper.
    140AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:04
    The naphtha shortage is supposed to still be unresolved, so why are other companies acting totally normal? lol
    142AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:05
    Re: #140
    The shortage's been resolved, but prices are just staying high.
    159AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:08
    Re: #140
    Costs have really gone up. Eventually the mood shifted to 'well, price hikes can't be helped,' which made it easier to pass the cost onto customers — so it became fine to just go back to normal.
    164AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:09
    Re: #159
    No, the explanation was that there's a shortage.
    Lying isn't cool.
    177AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:12
    Re: #164
    Prices are surging because of the shortage.
    We're just not losing out in the bidding because we're paying double.
    178AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:12
    Re: #177
    Shortage?
    Are you saying that based on actual data?
    174AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:11
    By the way, everyone kept saying 'shortage, shortage,'

    but naphtha's total import volume hasn't changed at all.
    199AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:18
    Re: #174
    Isn't it simply that they don't want to overwork the printing plants?
    Not really that big a deal, is it?
    204AnonymousSep 25, 2026 11:18
    Japan's buying up naphtha from all over the world, yet it can only import 80% of last year's volume, and the price has doubled.

    Background and Points of Debate

    Naphtha is a petroleum-derived raw material used to make plastics and inks, and its procurement cost is said to have risen due to Middle East conditions and a shift in import sources since spring 2026. Calbee reportedly adopted the black-and-white design after finding it difficult to secure the ink needed for package printing, and the project grew from there into asking manga artists to contribute hand-drawn illustrations. The thread repeatedly raised the question of “why are other companies still releasing products with normal packaging,” but since each company’s supply routes and the timing of passing costs on to customers haven’t been made public, much of the discussion doesn’t go beyond speculation. Claims about naphtha’s total import volume and price trends also varied from post to post, and it’s worth noting that the debate proceeded without any backing from official statistics.

    *This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary from the 5ch (News Speed+) thread “[Naphtha] Calbee Representative Thanks Manga Artists Over Black-and-White Packaging: “What Emerged Was a ‘Color’ Beyond Our Imagination”.”

  • New Group ‘JUICYJUICY’ Gets Buried by Juice=Juice in Search Results, Fans Say

    New idol group JUICYJUICY has stirred up discussion on 5ch’s Hello! Project board by picking a name confusingly similar to the popular Hello! Project group Juice=Juice. Posters pointed out that searching the katakana rendering “Juicy Juicy” (ジューシージューシー) pulls up Juice=Juice instead, leading many to suspect the name was chosen deliberately to ride on the established group’s recognition. At the same time, some noted that Juice=Juice has unexpectedly surged in popularity on its own, further overshadowing JUICYJUICY — leaving the thread buzzing with the sense that the strategy, if it was one, had spectacularly backfired.

    1AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:13
    Their buzz exploded way more than anyone expected, and JUICYJUICY got swallowed up without a trace.
    3AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:15
    Yeah, because if you search the katakana “Juicy Juicy” (ジューシージューシー), Juice=Juice is what shows up in the results.
    4AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:15
    Search for them and literally only Juice=Juice comes up lol
    That's brutally embarrassing.
    5AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:16
    They tried to suck up some of the sweet juice (a Japanese idiom for freeloading off someone else's success)
    and ended up squeezed dry as the leftover pulp instead.
    6AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:17
    Any decent agency wouldn't pick a name like this
    It's worse than “Chekikko” (a generic, cheesy stock idol-group name).
    8AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:18
    Right after JUICYJUICY was announced (debuted?), Juice=Juice's hype wave broke out big time
    That must've been a genuine shock to them.
    10AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:19
    Feels like they named it out of spite toward Juice=Juice, thinking “we'll end up more popular anyway.”
    12AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:21
    Re: #10
    They probably genuinely believed that at first
    And if Juice=Juice hadn't caught fire, JUICYJUICY might've just gotten swallowed up by ASOBI's own momentum instead.
    20AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:28
    Kawaii Lab (ASOBISYSTEM's idol label): “We're gonna drink Juice dry!”
    22AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:29
    Juice=Juice actually taking off
    must've been a genuine, total “no way” moment for them
    I feel like if Kawaii Lab keeps pulling stunts like this, things are gradually gonna start going wrong for them…
    because the world really does have a way of balancing itself out.
    26AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:31
    Re: #22
    Once Juice started taking off, Kawaii Lab's momentum seemed to dim for some reason
    Even though they could easily coexist in their own lanes.
    28AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:31
    Re: #26
    It's the singing ability, honestly…
    30AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:33
    Re: #28
    More than that, the scary part is they haven't had a single good song all year.
    29AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:33
    Teenage girls have already moved on from Kawaii Lab to iLife.
    34AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:36
    Re: #29
    There was even a meme going around late last year like “born in Heisei Year 1, basically an old hag now,” so maybe younger fans are drifting away from Kawaii Lab since most of its members are already past 20.
    51AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:44
    Re: #29
    Young people's interests really are fickle
    The crowd going on and on about Mrs. [GREEN APPLE] right now will probably move on to something else too.
    38AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:37
    But sure enough, the anti-Juice=Juice crowd (haters) were using JUICY as a club to bash them with at first.
    44AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:39
    Re: #38
    Haters will turn literally anything into a club to swing lol
    43AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:39
    iLife seems like it'd be fun for the hyped-up young-guy crowd
    but is it actually an enjoyable show for female otaku to attend?
    45AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:39
    Re: #43
    Female “otaku” won't enjoy it
    It's aimed at an even younger crowd.
    46AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:40
    Aren't the FRUITS ZIPPER members already fairly old by now?
    50AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:44
    Re: #46
    They were already on the older side from the start
    and they still made it big, so it really comes down to the songs.
    48AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:40
    A quick Google search would've told them the names overlapped
    so picking a group name that's basically guaranteed to be mistaken for Juice=Juice… were they trying to say “Wait, there's a group called Juice=Juice? Never heard of it lol”?
    56AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:50
    Re: #48
    They picked a fight and lost badly
    Normally someone would've said, “Hey, there's already a group called Juice=Juice in Hello! Project, maybe pick a different name?”
    54AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:47
    The problem of young people turning into “old hags” so fast.
    67AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:13
    Re: #54
    Well, there's only so long anyone gets to stay young.
    64AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:03
    Kawaii Lab's group names are all pulled from old fashion magazines, right?
    They must be running out of material soon.
    66AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:06
    Re: #64
    If “Juice” hadn't already been taken, they probably would've made a group called “JJ” too.

    Background and Key Points of Discussion

    Not just in Hello! Project, but across the idol industry as a whole, it’s a recurring topic when a new group’s name is similar enough to an existing one that its search results get swallowed up. The JUICYJUICY and Juice=Juice case is a textbook example, and posters repeatedly pointed out that once rendered in katakana, the search results overlap almost completely. The central point of debate was whether the naming was a deliberate attempt to cash in on the established group’s name recognition, or simply a coincidence — opinions stayed split, with no consensus reached. The thread also touched on the general point that popularity among underground and regional idol groups can shift quickly, but unverified rumors about the internal circumstances of specific groups could not be confirmed, so this article does not cover them.

    Note: This article is compiled and summarized from excerpts of the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “JUICYJUICY, the ASOBI-produced group that totally tried to cash in on Juice=Juice’s name wwwwwwwwwwwwwww.”

  • Japan Beats Uruguay 3-1 — Tatsuhito Kaneko’s “Disappointing Match” Verdict Sparks Debate

    On September 24, 2026, Japan’s national soccer team beat Uruguay 3-1 in an international friendly at Q&A Stadium Miyagi, with Matsuki and Shiogai both scoring their first goals for the national team. Sports writer Tatsuhito Kaneko, however, argued in a column that for a country seriously aiming to win the World Cup, it was a “disappointing match.” On 5ch, the discussion focused less on whether that verdict was fair and more on Kaneko himself — his reputation as a “reverse jinx” (a commentator whose predictions tend to be wrong) and surprise at seeing his name again after so long dominated the thread more than the debate over the match itself.

    [Soccer International Friendly: Japan 3-1 Uruguay (September 24, 2026, Q&A Stadium Miyagi)] We beat Uruguay, two-time World Cup champions and one of South America’s great old powers! And by 3-1, no less! Matsuki and Shiogai both scored their first goals for the national team! Wonderful!

    But the only people entitled to celebrate that way are those who still think Japan’s only goal at the World Cup is reaching the knockout stage.

    By the time the match passed the 90-minute mark, my honest impression was: disappointing match.

    Source: sponichi.co.jp / Original article here

    5AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:56
    It was a word that never came up for Hidetoshi Nakata, Shinji Ono, or Shunsuke Nakamura.

    Genius.
    82AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:28
    Re: #5
    I've even forgotten whether this was Kakitani or Usami.
    7AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:56
    Coach Moriyasu's leaving anyway in early February
    8AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:57
    Kimuko's still alive, huh…" ("Kimuko" is a mocking 5ch nickname for Kaneko)
    10AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:58
    Uruguay may be out of the tournament, but they only let mighty Spain get 6 shots on goal.
    And that was even after going down to 10 men on a red card.

    People need to stop trashing the opponent just to score points against Japan.
    57AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:19
    Re: #10
    'Uruguay is amazing!' — hyping up Japan that way makes people happier, huh.
    11AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:58
    This guy genuinely has no eye for talent.
    12AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:58
    Kimuko's still kicking? Thought he'd died along with Osugi. ("Osugi" is a nickname for fellow soccer journalist Shigeki Sugiyama)
    31AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:03
    Re: #12
    Wait, did Osugi actually die?
    13AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:59
    It's genuinely disappointing how low the bar is for soccer writers when the goal is a real World Cup title.
    That Kaneko guy especially just doesn't cut it.
    14AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:59
    Trashing Uruguay just to bash Japan is disrespectful, come on.
    15AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:59
    Noooiiiiiii

    Feels like something you just gotta shout once every 7 months or so ☺ (an old meme cry that resurfaces whenever his name comes up)
    16AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:59
    > By the way, why did Shiogai, after scoring, do a 'Shh!' toward the stands? I was hoping the article would have the answer somewhere.


    Someone please explain.
    23AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:01
    Re: #16
    On top of getting slammed for his attitude in the Brazil match, he'd also been catching flak for going scoreless since then in the German second division — guess he just snapped.
    64AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:23
    Re: #16
    Isn't that basically begging for the retort 'isn't digging that up literally your job as a journalist'?
    17AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:59
    Oh, this guy's still around. He flopped writing a regular novel and I hadn't seen him since.
    27AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:02
    Re: #17
    He's a regular on Sun TV, you know. (a Kansai regional broadcaster)
    18AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:59
    A rambling wall of text that goes nowhere.
    Can't be bothered to read it.
    20AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:00
    So Uruguay's even worse than that?
    22AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:01
    Wait, Kimuko's still involved in soccer at all?
    25AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:01
    That 'Shh!' thing bugged me too… It's probably about the Neymar incident, right?
    26AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:02
    Meanwhile Seishu Hase, who used to make noise about soccer right alongside him, went on to win the Naoki Prize (a major Japanese literary award).
    28AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:02
    First time I've seen his name in like 20 years. Didn't realize he was still writing soccer articles.
    29AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:03
    Says a lot about the state of soccer writing that Kaneko can still hang around.
    32AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:04
    If reverse-jinx Kaneko says so, we can relax — means passing in tight spaces is pointless, so they'll stop doing it. ("reverse jinx" = his takes are famous for being wrong, so whatever he criticizes tends to work out)
    34AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:05
    Making the round of 32 count as 'winning' — that's a joke even overseas by now.
    35AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:06
    Kaneko's got it easy — toss out lazy negativity and get paid for it.
    36AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:06
    As for Zion, he's probably just been watching Aston Villa's YouTube highlight reels lately lol
    37AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:07
    Does he really need to go out of his way to write that Hayakawa was lackluster?
    It's a pointless column.
    38AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:07
    Doan, who openly declared he wanted to win the World Cup, was trying to transfer to Saudi Arabia lol.
    Nobody's seriously aiming for the top lol
    39AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:07
    We need more players who can win individual battles moment to moment.
    Even ones who can't always win outright still need to be willing to take a man on.
    Thinking only about using teammates just won't cut it.
    40AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:07
    Play-by-play: Crackie, commentary: Kimuko — in the end, it's always this combo.
    48AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:13
    Re: #23
    That's such a minor topic confined to some narrow corner of the internet — the general public watching the national team match has no clue, it's just youthful foolishness.
    Though Shiogai himself reportedly said that Ueda, who calmly scored the third goal without any theatrics, looked more composed and cooler, so he's probably self-aware about it.
    Point being, scoring one goal in a friendly is no reason to put on a little solo drama.
    52AnonymousSep 25, 2026 10:16
    Re: #48
    Shiogai's still just a kid, after all.

    Background and Key Points

    Tatsuhito Kaneko is a veteran writer who has covered Japan’s national team for years, known for columns that hand down harsh verdicts even after a win — on 5ch he’s earned the nickname “reverse jinx,” mocking how often his predictions and assessments miss the mark. In this thread too, reactions focused less on rebutting the column’s actual claim (that the performance wasn’t up to World Cup-winning standard) and more on surprise at seeing his name again after so long, plus commentary on his track record. This kind of “pile-on-the-columnist” thread tends to turn into a referendum on the writer’s reputation rather than a technical assessment of the match, so readers shouldn’t mistake the thread’s energy for a verdict on the game itself. It’s also worth noting that opinions on just how strong Uruguay actually was are divided, and the thread alone doesn’t offer objective confirmation either way.

    *This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Entertainment/Sports News+) thread “[Soccer] Tatsuhito Kaneko: If this is a country seriously aiming for the top of the world… a disappointing match“.

  • Palworld Loses Players to Similar Game ‘Animo,’ Sales Rank Plunges to 149th

    It’s become a hot topic on 5ch’s hardware/industry board (Geha) that Palworld’s App Store sales ranking has plunged to 149th place, after the free-to-play game “Animo” — said to be nearly identical to Palworld — earned a Metacritic score (78) almost matching Palworld’s own, sparking comments like “if the scores are the same, might as well go with the free one.” The thread also brought up reports that Palworld’s operating company posted a 42 million yen loss, along with news that resale prices for related trading cards have been falling both in Japan and overseas, with many posters contrasting this against Pokémon’s reportedly strong financial results.

    1AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:21
    Is that seriously okay?
    6AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:26
    Pokémon's doing great, so why…
    7AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:28
    Re: #6
    If people are fine with a ripoff, they'll be fine with any other ripoff too 🥺

    Even setting aside the Pokémon skin, Palworld is blatantly a ripoff of Ark.
    12AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:30
    Re: #6
    You mean "not doing great," right? lol
    16AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:32
    Re: #12
    The Pokémon Company's revenue has grown about 4.4x over 5 years, reaching roughly ¥531.4 billion for the fiscal year ending February 2026. Net profit is up about 13.6x over 8 years, to around ¥120 billion.
    https://news.denfaminicogamer.jp/news/2609072e
    37AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:43
    Re: #16
    LOL they're absolutely thriving.
    Bigger than Disney at this point.
    14AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:31
    ■This year in Palworld:

    – Full release → sales end up mediocre

    – Full release means Metacritic finally scores it → lands at a crappy 70

    – Trading cards launch → flop hard

    – Gets eaten alive by a ripoff → completely finished


    What a year of collapse this turned out to be 🥰
    21AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:34
    The cards are crashing hard too, is that fine?


    [September 2026 Update] Palpagos Dawn Buyback Price Rankings — How Has the Market Changed One Month After Release?
    https://palcardlab.com/palpagos-dawn-buyback-price-september-2026/?utm_source=chatgpt.com


    Tsuppa-nyan Soul SSS, the biggest chase card from "Palpagos Dawn":

    August: ¥110,000–150,000
    ↓
    September: ¥72,000–120,000
    25AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:36
    Re: #21
    Of course it's not fine lol
    71AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:02
    Re: #21
    Only one card went up in price, and even that was a measly ¥1,000 → ¥1,300 — both the base price and the increase are pathetic.
    Outlook's grim.
    23AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:35
    Meanwhile, here's Palworld's company earnings…

    Palworld
    Loss: ¥42 million
    https://gamebiz.jp/news/408257
    24AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:35
    Re: #23
    Oh… (yeah, I get it)
    27AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:37
    Re: #23
    Palworld spent 3 years making the 1.0 release, and it only sold a million copies.
    With a dev team that size working for 3 years, there's no way you break even on just a million units…
    55AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:53
    Re: #23
    It's obviously a tax write-off scheme~ 😊
    31AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:39
    Palworld cards are crashing overseas too, not just domestically.


    What's more, according to overseas price indexes, 253 tracked card types fell an average of 11.8% over the 13 days from September 9–21. In just the last 7 days alone, prices dropped 7.8%, with 170 cards falling and only 35 rising.
    35AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:41
    Re: #31
    It's over…
    36AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:42
    Re: #31
    Sounds like the scalpers who bought in thinking "maybe this'll sell!" are starting to realize it's a lost cause.
    32AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:40
    It really hurt Palworld that streamers hated it and basically refused to stream it.
    34AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:40
    Re: #32
    Big streamers treated it like a cursed item guaranteed not to sell if they touched it 🤣🤣🤣🤣
    54AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:53
    Re: #32
    No one wants to voluntarily attract crazies, whether they're fanboys or haters…
    It's basically guaranteed the comment section turns gross.
    40AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:44
    149th is rough.
    Before the ripoff showed up, it was at least holding in the low double digits even at its worst.
    42AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:46
    Re: #40
    That's a massive drop.
    41AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:46
    Palworld
    – Paid, Metascore 78

    Palworld's ripoff
    – Free, Metascore 78


    Yeah, the ripoff's just the better deal.
    43AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:47
    Re: #41
    LOL.
    Same score? Obviously going with the free-to-play one.
    53AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:53
    Animo's just doing to Palworld what Pocketpair's president did to Pokémon, so it can't be helped.
    56AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:54
    Re: #54
    Mokou was wild, huh — the moment he streamed Palworld, Palworld fanboys swarmed his comments and just started bashing Pokémon nonstop.
    61AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:55
    Re: #56
    Those aren't Palworld fanboys, they're Nintendo haters.
    There's no such thing as an actual Palworld fanboy.
    65AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:57
    Re: #56
    It was huge that a big-name streamer basically demonstrated exactly what happens if you touch it.
    If nobody's willing to even give it a shot for the small chance of it blowing up, that says everything.
    57AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:54
    Re: #53
    Is Animo doing controversy-marketing on purpose?
    60AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:55
    Re: #57
    In the West it actually blew up pretty badly with people calling it a Palworld ripoff — it got bad enough that Palworld's company had to put out an official statement.
    63AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:56
    Re: #60
    That's hilarious lol
    64AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:57
    Re: #60
    From that alone it just sounds like Palworld's the one making noise.
    Did the Chinese side actually copy the character designs on purpose or something?
    67AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:58
    Come to think of it, Palworld threads don't get made anymore.
    Guess the "Palworld cudgel" (slang for the stick antis used to beat Pokémon with) didn't just break — it shattered into dust.
    75AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:04
    Bottom line, the characters are just gross-looking, it's got nothing to do with Pokémon comparisons.
    Honestly, I'd hesitate to even go on an adventure with these things.
    77AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:06
    Re: #75
    Bringing up the character designs just ends up proving how good Pokémon's designs actually are.
    94AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:35
    ■To put it simply, here's the timeline:


    – Animo, a blatant Palworld ripoff, launches free-to-play

    ↓

    – Animo's Metascore ends up almost tied with Palworld's, sparking a "might as well just play Animo then 😄" mood

    ↓

    – Palworld, having lost customers to Animo, crashes to 149th on the sales chart ♥
    95AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:36
    Re: #94
    Looking at it this way, if Palworld had actually been a masterpiece that scored high on Metacritic, none of this would've happened.
    98AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:38
    Re: #94
    Palworld losing out is an extremely fitting outcome.

    Background and Key Points of This Topic

    Since its release, Palworld has been described as “a mashup of Pokémon and Ark,” and after three years of development, the full release reportedly sold only around a million copies, with the operating company posting a loss of ¥42 million (gamebiz.jp). Meanwhile, Nintendo and Pokémon are thriving — The Pokémon Company’s revenue is said to have grown roughly 4.4x over 5 years to ¥531.4 billion, with net profit up about 13.6x over 8 years to around ¥120 billion (denfaminicogamer). The game at the center of this discussion, “Animo,” is free-to-play and has earned a Metascore (78) nearly identical to Palworld’s, and many posters in the thread felt that “if the scores are the same, of course you’d pick the free one.” It’s worth noting that the 149th-place sales rank and the double-digit-percentage drops in trading card resale prices (both in Japan and abroad) are all snapshot figures at the time this article was written, and don’t guarantee a continuing trend. Still, given that Palworld itself has faced longstanding accusations of copying, the “imitator gets overtaken by its own imitator” narrative drew a lot of attention.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry (Geha)) thread “Palworld, Beaten by a Ripoff Game, Crashes to 149th on the Sales Chart 😭.”

  • STU48’s Financial Struggles Spark Talk — 5ch: “Rumor Has It There’s Debt on the Ship”

    Speculation spread on 5ch’s Hello! Project board about the financial state of STU48, the idol group based on a floating theater in the Seto Inland Sea. Unlike other 48 Group sister branches, its management company, STU Co., Ltd., is backed by Hakuhodo-affiliated Setouchi DMO, and operates on an independent-accounting basis with no subsidies from the main AKB48 office. The thread noted that the group’s formation coincided with a broader decline in the 48 Group’s momentum, compounded by repeated misfortunes — the 2018 Western Japan floods and the COVID-era suspension of the floating theater among them — that have squeezed its finances. Posters speculated whether the ¥890 million net profit booked in 2022 came from selling the theater ship, and rumors about debt tied to the vessel were also raised and debated.

    1AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:37
    Yikes. (Kansai slang for "no good")
    4AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:48
    Even if they're in the red, doesn't the main office cover the losses?
    17AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:04
    Re: #4
    STU was originally run by a different company than the main office.
    Hakuhodo's the one backing them.
    5AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:50
    Even at ¥150,000 a month per member, that's ¥4.5 million for 30 people.
    Factor in expenses running double that, and you're looking at close to ¥10 million a month.
    6AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:50
    Must be rough for groups not based in Tokyo… guess that's why branch-group members end up auditioning for ≠ME (nicknamed "Noimi")?
    8AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:53
    A zombie kept shuffling along just so people don't get to say the 48 Group is on the decline.
    9AnonymousSep 25, 2026 08:56
    No way they turn a profit with a tenth of Kanto's population to draw from.
    10AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:00
    No member's really generating buzz and nobody's interested.
    Might be better to just cut their losses and write STU off as a failure.
    13AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:00
    Aren't they getting work from local government contracts or something?
    14AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:02
    Wait, you think it's just STU?
    The whole 48 franchise is already in the red and past saving…
    15AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:03
    Just a matter of time — depends how long the lenders keep extending credit.
    16AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:04
    Even factoring in COVID, it's not like things got much worse.
    This is probably just normal operations for them.
    Let's make the next one, the Neo STU48, a submarine.
    18AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:05
    Why keep running it if it's not turning a profit?
    22AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:08
    Re: #18
    Rumor has it there's debt on the ship.
    19AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:07
    STU's timing has just been bad all around.
    Formed right as the 48 Group was declining and the Sakamichi groups were on the rise.
    1st single release delayed.
    The floating theater's opening delayed too.
    2nd single delayed because of the Western Japan floods.
    When the floating theater finally opened, all anyone talked about was the striptease-like staging and the rip-off bottled water.
    Promising members like Ichioka Ayumi (now in ≒JOY) kept leaving one after another.
    Then, about a year after the floating theater opened, COVID hit.
    The floating theater shut down because of COVID.
    Since then it's just a handful of shows a month at a Hiroshima livehouse.
    Most of the work is SHOWROOM livestreaming.
    23AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:09
    Re: #19
    Okay, that's genuinely pitiable. Brutal.
    57AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:34
    Re: #19
    That's hell. Members stuck with nothing but SHOWROOM streams can't keep their motivation up.
    26AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:13
    10th anniversary next year







    30AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:16
    Re: #26
    So many cute members and they're not putting them to use. Such a waste.
    29AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:15
    Just get AKB's management to buy out the business.
    37AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:21
    Re: #29
    A few years back all the 48 Group branches switched to independent accounting, so the main office no longer has to support them.
    Because of that, branch members stopped joining AKB's singles, and joint events dropped off too.
    44AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:23
    Re: #37
    SKE sold over 500,000 copies of a single and still didn't get to perform it on a nationally broadcast show.
    47AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:25
    Re: #37
    Isn't STU outside AKB's consolidated accounts?
    If so, with liabilities exceeding assets, bankruptcy might just be a matter of time.
    31AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:17
    STU has quite a few members who came up through ASH, but I don't get the sense they're putting that background to use in their performances.
    36AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:21
    Re: #31
    They were losing the battle to hype up a crowd live to begin with.
    Akimoto-penned songs aren't really built for live performance in the first place.
    Not great for just listening to either, honestly.
    41AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:22
    Re: #36
    The song choices were clearly not suited for live vocals.
    43AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:22
    Re: #36
    This exactly.
    STU's songs just have this gloomy vibe to them.
    A different kind of dark from Keyakizaka or Sakurazaka — more like old Showa-era enka-pop.
    34AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:19
    What's with the ¥890 million net profit in 2022, in the middle of COVID?
    Did they sell off some assets or something?
    Well, if they're still not in the black by 2026, might as well pull out now while the wound's still shallow.
    AKB as a whole is turning a profit, right?
    39AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:21
    Re: #34
    Supposedly they sold the ship.
    45AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:25
    Ike-chan, who landed a Tokyo agency, is the only one who really came out ahead.
    53AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:27
    Re: #45
    A member named Kudo Riko also joined an agency in the same bar-affiliated group as Miyane, but she hasn't been seen since.
    51AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:26
    AKB: DH
    SKE: Zest (Keyholder)
    NMB: Yoshimoto
    HKT: Mercury (Sprout)
    NGT: Flora (Sprout)
    STU: STU Co., Ltd. (shareholder is Setouchi DMO, backed by Hakuhodo)
    72AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:44
    Re: #51
    Oh, NGT's still around?
    52AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:27
    Re: #17
    Huh, so it's not all run by Dentsu after all?
    54AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:29
    Re: #52
    In its early days SKE was partly funded by the pachinko company Kyoraku (run by Ito Misaki's husband).
    60AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:37
    They were actually within reach of Kohaku with "Moshi Kokkyou ga Kietara" ("If the Borders Disappeared")!
    70AnonymousSep 25, 2026 09:43
    Re: #60
    Back then they were getting about as much music-show airtime as Juice=Juice at their peak.

    Background and Key Points of the Discussion

    STU48 is a 48 Group idol unit formed in 2015, based around a floating theater on the Seto Inland Sea. Unlike its sister branches, its management company is STU Co., Ltd., part of the Setouchi DMO group backed by Hakuhodo. Its formation coincided with a broader decline in momentum across the 48 Group and Sakamichi Series, and the group faced a string of setbacks from external factors — delayed single releases, the Western Japan floods, and the suspension of the floating theater due to COVID roughly a year after it opened. Several years ago, all 48 Group branches moved to independent accounting, so there is generally no subsidy from the main AKB48 office. Thread posters cited a net profit of ¥890 million in 2022, but speculated it came from the sale of the theater ship rather than core business earnings, meaning it likely doesn’t reflect the group’s actual operating performance. Some posts floated the idea of “bankruptcy from insolvency,” but none of this is confirmed by public disclosures — it remains user speculation and should be read with that caveat.

    *This article is compiled as an excerpt/summary from the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “STU48’s debt trouble is causing a stir.”