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Claims that the streaming service “Downtown Plus” is struggling less than a year after launch have spread across 5ch. With annual subscriptions set to renew next month, threads buzzed with reports that even members who signed up for a full year right from the start are now talking about canceling. Posters also raised the fact that the service has begun partial distribution on Netflix, and that Hamada Masatoshi’s appearances have been kept to a bare minimum. Meanwhile, some argued “we don’t actually know if membership has really dropped,” and opinions were split over the reliability of the widely reported figure of 500,000 subscribers.

21AnonymousOct 19, 2026 13:16

They packed the audience seats with young women, but this is supposedly the real fanbase…
There are even rumors they're hiring paid shills (sakura), lol

27AnonymousOct 19, 2026 13:19

Zero energy in this, probably because the end of service is near

29AnonymousOct 19, 2026 13:20

The comedy bits show up as shorts
and they're absolute garbage
Can't believe people pay money for that

55AnonymousOct 19, 2026 13:29

Re: #29
So this is apparently the funniest comedy bit Matsumoto's done all year…

70AnonymousOct 19, 2026 13:39

Re: #55
The old Matsumoto would've probably snapped, 'You're losing points with how you wrote that flip board' (フリップ, the cue cards used in variety shows)

*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “[Sad News] Downtown Plus Is Already Done In Under a Year.”

TCG, the overseas counterpart to Japan’s Yu-Gi-Oh! OCG, implemented a major Forbidden & Limited list update effective October 19. The changes mainly target splashable “engine” staples, bridge/extender gimmicks, and generic lock-down power cards, with players overseas saying the game has “basically become a different game.” On 5ch, threads erupted with complaints about the gap between this and Japan’s OCG rules, as well as frustration with the current meta where whoever goes first simply locks the game down and wins outright — discussion also spread to the strength of individual cards like Dragoon and Magicians’ Soul.

※This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “[Image] Yu-Gi-Oh! Gets Massively Overhauled Overseas, Becomes a Different Game.”

A man in his 20s, a company employee living in Kakegawa City, Shizuoka Prefecture, was reportedly scammed out of roughly ¥15,000 after a “You’ve won ¥1.2 billion!” text message led him to a site that told him he needed to pay a “deposit.” Following the instructions, he bought prepaid e-money cards at a convenience store three separate times and handed over the card numbers to the scammer, according to police. On 5ch’s Hello! Project board, the news drew a wave of mocking replies like “Hope that ¥1.2 billion gets transferred soon,” alongside genuine surprise that “even someone in their 20s these days falls for this kind of scam,” with posters also comparing it to other scams targeting young people, like the “yami baito” (shady under-the-table job) schemes.

On October 2, a man in his 20s, a company employee living in Kakegawa City, Shizuoka Prefecture, was the victim of a scam in which a “You’ve won ¥1.2 billion!” notification on his smartphone led him to be defrauded of roughly ¥15,000 worth of e-money usage rights.

According to police, on October 2 a text message notification reading “You’ve won ¥1.2 billion!” arrived on the smartphone of a man in his 20s, a company employee living in Kakegawa City.

To pay the “temporary deposit” listed on the site he was directed to, the man followed the scammer’s instructions and bought e-money cards at a convenience store on three separate occasions. He relayed the card numbers to the scammer and was defrauded of approximately ¥15,000, police said.

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

*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “[Sad News] Man in His 20s Who Won ¥1.2 Billion Still Hasn’t Received Payment, Heading to the Police.”

Fukumura Sei, who continues performing as a Hello! Project OG, called out to the crowd during the MC segment of a release event: “Think about how fun today was and soak in the bathtub — no skipping your bath before a show!” The moment blew up on 5ch’s Hello! Project board. “Furo-kyan” (bath-skip) is otaku slang for skipping a bath or shower before rushing to a live venue, and it had usually been told as an anecdote about a different member. Because Fukumura herself brought it up this time, the thread filled with fans’ concrete stories about body odor at venues and how the smell varies from one venue to another.

*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project) thread “Fukumura Sei tells otaku to take a bath during her release-event greeting — “no skipping baths!” lmaooooooooooooooo.”

A thread on 5ch’s Hello! Project board reported that the term “Known-Content-Rumination Guy” — referring to “a middle-aged man who’s lost the stamina to digest new content and only touches stuff he’s already familiar with” — had started trending. Posters piled on with examples like remastered titles outselling new releases, and the feeling of being overwhelmed by the sheer volume of new manga volumes, while others pushed back, arguing it’s really a problem on the creators’ side, who can only churn out rehashes. The thread showed a clear split in tone: some embraced this return to nostalgia, while others saw it as a kind of age-based excuse-making.

※This article is compiled as an excerpt/summary from the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “[Sad News] “Known-Content-Rumination Guy” Trends wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.”