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A thread on 5ch began with a poster confessing that since turning 50, movies, manga, games — basically all mainstream entertainment — now strike them as childish and unenjoyable. The poster lamented that even rewatching beloved classic films no longer stirs the same emotions it once did. Replies poured in, ranging from “my senses were already dulling by my 30s” to “that’s not aging, you’re just bored of everything.” The conversation then took a turn when one commenter argued that “if you’re really enjoying something, you should be able to explain how you enjoy it” — sparking a long back-and-forth between two participants over whether the other was genuinely enjoying entertainment at all. What began as a broader discussion of age and sensitivity gradually devolved into a personal dispute between the two.

*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Nanademo Jikkyo G) thread “It’s painful how nothing mainstream is fun anymore once you’re past 50.”

On 5ch’s Livegalileo (“Nandemo Jikkyo”) board, a post arguing “alcohol is no different from drugs, so it might as well be banned” sparked a wide-ranging debate. Opponents pointed to America’s Prohibition era (1920–33), which failed after fueling bootlegging and black markets, while supporters countered that “if you fix what caused it to fail back then, it could work this time.” The thread also touched on gradually curbing demand through tax hikes and tighter rules the way cigarettes have been handled, what to do about cooking sake, and whether home brewing should be allowed — with opinions split over where exactly to draw the line between banning, regulating, and leaving things as they are.

53AnonymousSep 23, 2026 13:17

Just treat it like cigarettes. Look at where smoking is now — prices went up, and smokers ended up looking like this lol ↓


Do the exact same thing with alcohol. Turn bars that serve it into cage-like holding pens, and isolate the people drinking inside. When they want to leave, measure their breath, and the key-lock only releases if they're under a certain level. Not a ban — quarantine.

61AnonymousSep 23, 2026 13:19

Re: #53
Just raise the liquor tax tenfold. Prices go up, but you can still drink if you really want to — so demand for alcohol gradually declines.

*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “Reiwa-era guy: “Isn’t alcohol basically the same as drugs? Might as well ban it, right?”.”

In Hello! Project’s daily “Hello! Q&A” feature, Hana Goto was asked what she considers cute about herself and answered, “For better or worse, I trust people, so I figure I’ll probably get talked into buying a vase myself someday, lol” — a remark that quickly became a talking point on 5ch’s Hello! Project board. “Getting talked into buying a vase” is an old Japanese expression for so-called “spiritual sales” scams run by religious groups (con artists pressuring believers into buying overpriced “spiritually powerful” vases or seals). The thread saw posters invoking Junko Sakurada, an idol who faced similar rumors back in the 1980s, alongside surprised comments wondering whether the joke “still lands in the Reiwa era.” At the same time, the remark also pulled the conversation toward the broader social fallout from the former Unification Church, so the thread ranged from lighthearted banter to more topical exchanges.

*This article was compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “Goto Hana: ‘For better or worse I trust people, so I figure I’ll probably get talked into buying a vase myself someday, lol’.”