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  • Nogizaka46 ‘Who I’d Want to Marry’ Ranking: Mai Shiraishi Takes #1 — 5ch Reacts: ‘No Way Manattan Is #3’

    A ranking site’s survey of 1,413 men on “which former Nogizaka46 member would you most want to marry” became a hot topic on 5ch. Mai Shiraishi took the top spot. While some in the thread agreed with the top picks, plenty questioned why popular members like Marika Ito, Rina Ikoma, and Kazumi Takayama didn’t make the list, and others took a skeptical view of the ranking itself. Some posts also revisited the earlier announcement of Shiraishi’s relationship with Fuma Kikuchi.

    We surveyed a total of 1,413 people online for our “Which Former Nogizaka46 Member Would Men Most Want to Marry? Ranking [2026 Edition]”! From the group’s all-time aces to its current lineup, popular members spanning generations made the cut. Who did men support most as their “ideal marriage partner”…?

    [Which Former “Nogizaka46” Member Would Men Most Want to Marry? Ranking — 2026 Edition]

    1st place: Mai Shiraishi (145 votes)

    Source: rankingoo.net / Original article here

    4AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:12
    I'll take Ayame Tsutsui.
    14AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:15
    Re: #4
    Some co-star actor's already snapped her up.
    15AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:15
    No way Manattan's #3 lololol ("Manattan" = nickname for Mai Shin'uchi)
    19AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:17
    Re: #10
    Being already married is a bit much…
    Re: #15
    Nah, that's totally fine.
    54AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:43
    Re: #15
    Probably her cooking's popular.
    16AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:16
    Back in the day, Genda's wife probably would've made this list. (baseball player Ryosuke Genda's wife is former member Rina Ikoma)
    18AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:17
    Re: #1
    Doing a top 50 with no "all-time" restriction would be funny — you'd get a bunch of "who even is this?" picks.
    21AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:18
    It's ridiculous that Marika Ito isn't on here.
    24AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:20
    6th place: Mai Shin'uchi…

    eh, that's a bit of a stretch.
    26AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:22
    Kakkii (Haruka Kaki) or Saku-chan (Reika Sakurai) work for me — those two are my picks.
    27AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:23
    This has just turned into a plain popularity contest. If we're talking who I'd seriously marry, it's Mayu Tamura, no contest.
    31AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:26
    What kind of ranking doesn't have Ikoma-chan on it?
    36AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:28
    Ikoma was never that popular to begin with, honestly.
    Maichun, seriously?
    38AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:29
    It's supposedly the 2026 edition but it's all old graduated members.
    65AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:11
    Why did Shiraishi announce she'd been dating Fuma Kikuchi for ages, when she was never even caught on camera with him? I feel like that announcement tanked her popularity.
    70AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:16
    Re: #65
    I think a marriage was supposed to follow soon after — announcing it in stages, like Haruna Kawaguchi did. For some reason it's stalled out now, though. Probably something on Fuma's end.
    67AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:14
    No Asuka on the list? Are you blind?
    Though yeah, she doesn't seem like the cooking type.
    74AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:30
    Re: #67
    She found even blow-drying her own hair too much hassle and had her mom do it.
    84AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:48
    If I were rich I'd put every member under a mistress contract and build myself a harem!
    85AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:50
    Re: #84
    What are you, Trump?

    Background and Talking Points

    This ranking comes from a web survey run by a ranking/entertainment site — it is not an official Nogizaka46 announcement. The respondents’ age range and other attributes weren’t disclosed, and even the #1 pick only drew 145 votes out of 1,413 respondents, suggesting the result may skew toward a vocal slice of dedicated fans rather than reflect broad consensus. Debate in the thread centered on the “all-time” framing: a result weighted toward graduated members rather than those active in 2026 fueled questions about the selection criteria. Discussion also circled back to reports from a few years ago about Shiraishi’s relationship with Kikuchi; since nothing has been made public since, it’s worth noting this remains unconfirmed rumor rather than established fact.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Entertainment/Sports Express+) thread “Which Former “Nogizaka46” Member Would Men Most Want to Marry? Ranking.”

  • Tsubaki Factory’s New Single Direction Sparks Debate — 5ch Fans: ‘Stop With the Dumb Songs Just to Go Viral’

    On the Hello! Project board, opinions clashed over the direction of Tsubaki Factory’s new single. It started with a post saying: “Tsubaki can just be the group that puts out great songs even if they don’t sell — please stop releasing dumb songs aimed at going viral.” The group has previously put out songs aimed at TikTok virality, like “Mousou Furifuri,” choreographed by Sako Makita, and their new song “Aiueon,” written by Hyadain, was seen as following the same pattern. The thread split between those who said “they don’t need to go viral” and those who argued “chasing virality is part of what makes Hello! Project what it is,” with comparisons drawn to the currently thriving Juice=Juice, and some pointing out jealousy lurking behind the criticism.

    1AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:33
    123 Anonymous [] 2026/09/05 (Sat) 13:36:53.64 0
    Tsubaki can just be the group that puts out great songs even without selling well
    Please stop releasing dumb songs made just to go viral
    2AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:36
    And yet they're a cheesy group that keeps hiring Sako Makita for choreography over and over
    4AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:40
    If you hate dumb songs, don't watch Hello! Project
    7AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:40
    Did you seriously think they'd sell well doing it "properly"?
    8AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:41
    Even after suppressing the wish that they'd joined Juice=Juice, that lingering feeling of still wanting to be as successful as Juice=Juice — it's just plain pitiful to watch.
    13AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:47
    You mean "Mousou Furifuri"? The legendary one where they even filmed the MC segment in vertical video and it still didn't become a topic of conversation
    15AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:48
    Let's just pretend "Mousou Furifuri" never happened…
    19AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:51
    Re: #15
    Among Tsubaki otaku, it's not considered a dumb song
    17AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:50
    Thank you for having me.
    I'll give my all for your company. (job-hunting-style lyric)
    24AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:54
    Re: #17
    Don't put something like this on the album.
    Is there anyone who can actually enjoy listening to that? Most people struggled through job hunting.
    26AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:56
    Re: #17
    And yet otaku these days are all about their own "end-of-life planning" sensation, not job hunting (a pun on shūkatsu — job hunting vs. end-of-life prep)
    20AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:51
    It's not enough to just say "I hope Tsubaki gets rewarded" —
    be the kind of person who can genuinely say "good for Tsubaki" when they actually are.
    23AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:53
    Aiueon? Don't tell me that's another song made just to chase virality.
    Fine, forget going viral then — just get Zakiyama and Kouga to write us a blush-inducing song.
    A messy affair number like "Konnyaku" or "The Swede" would work too (likely nods to past Hello! Project song titles).
    27AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:57
    Tsubaki's the group with the most messy two-timing songs and vapid, all-vibes-no-substance tracks.
    28AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:58
    Tsubaki Factory has the most vapid, substance-free songs written by SHOCK EYE.
    29AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:59
    Whether it actually goes viral or not aside, just looking at Hyadain's lyrics and melody for this new song, it doesn't feel all that different from a cheap song made purely to go viral.
    31AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:59
    Tsubaki's always gotten great songs.
    They've always gotten the most idol-like songs of any group.
    32AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:00
    Re: #1
    It's over the moment members and fans alike turn cynical and start acting all too-cool-for-it.
    That's exactly what's happening with Angerme right now, and it's how the original-lineup Juice=Juice fans used to be too.

    Juice=Juice's current success isn't luck at all — it's the fruit of hard work and real ability, and without the attitude to learn from that, you won't sell.
    Though some members are trying to learn.
    33AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:00
    Bombing so spectacularly with "Mousou Furifuri" must really still sting.
    Hearing "Aiueon" is bound to bring it right back, whether you want it to or not.
    34AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:01
    Which song is even the "dumb song made to go viral" one?
    35AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:01
    For "Mousou Furifuri" they had Makita do the choreography and, at every release event, begged the otaku to learn the dance and spread it around — wasn't that literally aimed at going viral?
    That song was also the first in Hello! Project to get daily TikTok posts.
    36AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:05
    Morning Musume sold well with dumb songs, and that's the reason Hello! Project exists today.
    37AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:08
    If you hate viral-bait songs but you're seriously saying "Aiueon" is going to become the next "Moremi" (nickname for a past hit single), that's next-level psychopath behavior.
    38AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:09
    Re: #37
    This really exposed how quite a few otaku are straight-up seething with jealousy toward Juice=Juice.
    39AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:09
    So is "Idol Whatever Ondo" fine then?
    41AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:10
    "Danshari" (a term for decluttering/letting go) is a great song
    58AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:48
    Re: #41,43
    Hideko Yamashita: "That's trademark infringement." (Yamashita is the real-life author who coined the decluttering term "danshari")
    43AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:13
    "Danshari" lost its charm as a song-and-dance number once they sealed away the bow-legged high kick…
    44AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:14
    Whenever that NHK-kids'-show-sounding intro plays on "Radi-Sui," "Mari-Radi," or "Ukare Radio" (member radio shows), I get embarrassed and rush to skip it.
    45AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:17
    I think the cleanest move would be to hand "Aiueon" off to Beyooooonds' new members and get "Utterly Ridiculous" in return, but a digital-only release for just that one track feels kind of thin…
    48AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:24
    You have no idea how much we were made to practice the "Mousou Furifuri" dance at release events.
    49AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:27
    Are they even putting in enough effort to deserve being rewarded?
    51AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:44
    Tsubaki can just be the group that puts out great songs even without selling well
    Please stop releasing dumb songs made just to go viral
    But if Kawanishi goes on network TV, it'll go viral
    52AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:45
    Admittedly, "Aiueo" does seem kind of dumb.
    53AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:45
    Both "Mousou Furifuri" and "Job-Change Ondo" get huge reactions live, after all.
    54AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:46
    The "well, I guess it's fine…" reactions are actually harsher, aren't they.
    57AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:47
    "Aiueo" barely has any solo parts, and the chorus is just an AI-unison vocal — it doesn't feel like Tsubaki at all.

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    Tsubaki Factory has previously released buzz-oriented songs like “Mousou Furifuri,” choreographed by Sako Makita and aimed at spreading on TikTok, but the gimmick never quite caught on. Meanwhile, fellow Hello! Project group Juice=Juice has been standing out with its recent success, and underlying the thread is the temperature gap between these two groups. The debate splits broadly into two points. One is over production philosophy — quality songs versus chasing virality — with some pointing to Morning Musume’s past success built on “dumb songs” as proof that going for virality can’t simply be dismissed outright. The other is the suggestion that the criticism is really jealousy toward Juice=Juice in disguise, making fan psychology itself a subject of debate. What readers might easily misunderstand is that the new song “Aiueon” hasn’t actually been judged yet — the opinions are all speculation based only on the lyrics and melody ahead of its release.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “Tsubaki Factory otaku: ‘Please stop putting out dumb songs just to go viral’.”

  • PS5’s Street Price Hits ¥55,000, Stunning Ordinary Shoppers — 5ch: ‘I Was Picturing ¥50,000-80,000’

    The fact that the PS5’s street price has dropped to ¥55,000 became a hot topic on 5ch’s Hardware/Industry (Geha) board. The thread was started by someone who tried to buy a PS5 for GTA6, originally expecting to pay somewhere in the ¥50,000-80,000 range, only to be caught off guard once they learned the actual price. From there, the discussion spread — from how it stacks up against the Xbox X’s ¥120,000 price tag, to price gaps in the used buyback market, to sales comparisons with the Switch 2 — ranging from a simple mismatch in price perception to broader market trends. Optimists argued that sales would take off if more people simply knew the price, but skeptics pushed back by pointing to past companies that failed using that exact same logic, leaving opinions split.

    1AnonymousSep 5, 2026 12:50
    @205T16E2
    Tried to buy a PS5 for GTA6 and about fell over at the price — way more than I expected
    I was picturing something like ¥50,000-80,000
    3AnonymousSep 5, 2026 12:50
    If word gets out, this thing's gonna sell even better.
    5AnonymousSep 5, 2026 12:51
    Xbox X: ¥120,000
    PS5: ¥55,000, remember that?
    That's an insane gap.
    6AnonymousSep 5, 2026 12:51
    It doesn't even come with a disc drive, so it ends up costing more in the end.
    18AnonymousSep 5, 2026 12:54
    Re: #6
    Here's a fun fact — GTA6 isn't even on disc, so you don't need a disc drive anyway.
    7AnonymousSep 5, 2026 12:51
    It's cheap and this price won't last, so I bought one too
    though it's just collecting dust now.
    10AnonymousSep 5, 2026 12:52
    Sure, whatever — go ahead and get the word out to your heart's content.
    12AnonymousSep 5, 2026 12:53
    I went into the store thinking it'd be around ¥50,000, saw this price, and just had to laugh.
    13AnonymousSep 5, 2026 12:53
    Once you get used to playing Switch 2 or your phone lying in bed, being glued to a TV or PC just to game starts to feel kind of dumb.
    14AnonymousSep 5, 2026 12:53
    Word got out that you can flip these for profit
    Pro model buyback price: ¥180,000
    15AnonymousSep 5, 2026 12:53
    Not totally sure, but why isn't there a Japanese-language version?
    16AnonymousSep 5, 2026 12:53
    You have any idea how many companies went under saying 'it'll sell once people know about it'?
    21AnonymousSep 5, 2026 12:56
    PlayStation 5 Pro (CFI-7000B01)
    Buyback: ¥180,000
    PlayStation 5 Slim model (CFI-2000A01), new type
    Buyback: ¥110,000
    PlayStation 5 Slim model (CFI-2000B01) Digital Edition, new type
    Buyback: ¥95,000

    PlayStation 5 Digital Edition, Japan-only (CFI-2200B01)
    Buyback: ¥46,000

    You can tell exactly where the demand's coming from lol
    29AnonymousSep 5, 2026 13:00
    Re: #21
    Lol
    But if you ask whether the games are actually selling overseas — they're not.
    So what are these things even being used for, seriously lol
    23AnonymousSep 5, 2026 12:57
    Meanwhile you can find piles of used Switch 2s for around ¥30,000.
    39AnonymousSep 5, 2026 13:06
    Re: #23
    That's the buyback price — the actual resale price is more like ¥50,000.
    44AnonymousSep 5, 2026 13:08
    Average person: 'So what can you even play on this?'
    47AnonymousSep 5, 2026 13:10
    Re: #44
    This is why normies just don't get it… the PS5 has tons of games, you know
    Fanboys, I'll leave the rest to you
    48AnonymousSep 5, 2026 13:12
    Re: #44
    For some reason I read that in Yamauchi's voice (comedian from the duo Kamaitachi).
    60AnonymousSep 5, 2026 13:33
    In this smartphone-dominated era, a home console you can't even play without hooking up to a TV is outdated junk.
    71AnonymousSep 5, 2026 13:53
    I think the reason Switch 2's momentum is shaky right now is less about the price and more about the software lineup.
    This fiscal year probably hinges on next week's 75-minute Direct.
    73AnonymousSep 5, 2026 13:54
    Re: #71
    Even if they put out games, some could still flop because of the hardware price, so things probably won't pick up for a while.
    Same goes for Sony — SIE doesn't seem to want to put out a PS6 either, and PC graphics cards aren't advancing fast enough either.
    75AnonymousSep 5, 2026 13:57
    The reason Switch 2 is struggling right now is the price.

    If they don't cut it soon, this could get really bad.
    Like I've said all along, that ¥50,000 mark is a huge hurdle.
    It's less about the actual price and more about the psychological one.
    76AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:04
    Re: #75
    That said, there's no way they can lower it for the next few years.
    Just gotta grit your teeth and wait.
    79AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:15
    Re: #73
    If even Nintendo itself is just waiting around for the price to drop, that's game over in more ways than one.
    It's not even clear it'll drop anytime soon.
    Every month spent waiting is a month kids aren't growing up playing Nintendo games,
    and fewer of them will even get the experience of playing one at a friend's house.
    83AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:23
    Re: #79
    That's exactly why it's such a tough call.
    Though doing everything right and still flopping is a more forward-looking kind of failure than not trying at all, I guess.
    81AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:17
    If it gets out that a smartphone alone is all you need to play cheap Chinese mobile games, Switch is completely finished.
    94AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:07
    Re: #81
    So you're admitting Switch is just an oversized smartphone, huh?
    93AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:04
    Like I keep saying, the general public's awareness of PlayStation is now about on par with Xbox.
    'On par' might be overstating it, but between Switch and Xbox, Xbox's buyer base is way closer to PS's.
    It's a console that normal people never touch in the first place — made for self-styled core gamers, i.e. bitter middle-aged guys.
    It's been like ten years since this became reality, yet it's baffling that people are still out here fighting an imaginary hardcore Nintendo fanboy in their heads (a '脳内ニシくん,' 5ch slang for a strawman Nintendo defender invoked in console-war arguments).
    What exactly are you people seeing?
    98AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:23
    Re: #93
    So that's exactly why PS5 is actually outselling it, see?

    Global sales comparison for July 2026
    by VGChartz

    Model…US/Canada..EU……..Japan…….Worldwide
    PS5….188.3k…..301.5k…..40.4k…….784.1k
    NS2….249.1k…..192.9k…..138.1k……707.2k

    Global sales comparison for the first week of August 2026
    by VGChartz

    Model…US/Canada..EU……..Japan…….Worldwide
    PS5…..48.3k……75.6k……10.1k…….204.1k
    NS2…..61.9k……47.3k……31.7k…….172.0k

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    The PS5’s (CFI-2000/2200 series) street price has fallen into the ¥50,000 range in recent years. The thread kicked off with a post saying ‘I tried to buy one for GTA6 and it turned out pricier than expected,’ but once posters learned the actual in-store price, the mood flipped to shock at how cheap it really is. The main point of contention was whether raising public awareness of this low price would actually boost sales — supporters said yes, while skeptics fired back that ‘it’ll sell once people know about it’ is the classic last words of companies that went under. A second thread of debate was the comparison with the Switch 2: some posters cited VGChartz’s estimated sales figures (note: third-party data, not an official manufacturer announcement) to argue the PS5 is outselling it, while others countered that the Switch 2 still holds the edge in domestic market share and retail buzz — meaning it doesn’t resolve into a simple winner. Buyback prices also stood out: only the Japan-only Digital Edition model comes in dramatically cheaper than the rest, and the price gap versus overseas models hints at demand from resellers and parallel exporters — though it’s worth noting this reflects buyback-shop pricing, not actual retail sales figures, a distinction that’s easy to conflate.

    This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch Hardware/Industry (Geha) board thread “PS5’s dirt-cheap ¥55,000 price still hasn’t reached the general public! Spread the word and this thing will fly off the shelves.”

  • Ramen Critic Slams Suiyoubi no Downtown’s ‘Eat-It-All’ Ramen Marathon — 5ch: ‘Don’t Watch If You Don’t Like It’

    On the September 2 broadcast of ‘Suiyoubi no Downtown’ (TBS), a segment called the “National Route Ramen Marathon” aired, in which cast members ran along the Kanjo-8 ring road and had to finish an entire bowl of ramen at every shop they passed. The broadcast included a scene of a cast member vomiting, and afterward food journalist Rikiya Yamaji published a Yahoo! News article criticizing the segment for a “lack of respect toward the ramen shops” and expressing his displeasure. The segment is a recurring, popular one that has aired several times before, but some observers say the addition of a vomiting scene this time intensified the backlash. Reaction on 5ch is split — some defend the show as “gloriously indifferent to compliance and genuinely funny,” while others debated the critic’s credentials and whether his comments were fair.

    Rikiya Yamaji, Food Journalist

    The segment “National Route Ramen Marathon” from the September 2 broadcast of ‘Suiyoubi no Downtown’ (TBS) has stirred controversy. The show had cast members run from Haneda to Ogikubo along the Kanjo-8 ring road under a big-eating-race rule: every time they passed a ramen shop, they had to finish an entire bowl. The broadcast included scenes of cast members vomiting, among other things.

    Since the episode aired, opinions on social media have been split, but as someone who eats his way through ramen shops daily as a ramen critic, I honestly couldn’t help but feel “discomfort” at what was shown.

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

    4AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:48
    The outrage police are what make the world boring
    27AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:00
    Re: #4
    Is this even funny?
    5AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:48
    Then let's add a rule: lose points for making a pained face
    6AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:48
    Jiro: "Whew, hang in there, hang in there… uuurgh BLEUGH" (Jiro is a comedian on the show)
    7AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:48
    Don't watch it if you don't like it.

    Boom. Argument won.
    93AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:41
    Re: #7
    He probably watched it without knowing what it was and got upset.
    If he'd known it would upset him, he wouldn't have watched.
    8AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:49
    You're overthinking the ramen shops' feelings — if a shop didn't want to be filmed, they could've just said no.
    56AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:18
    Re: #8
    They went into shops that had said no filming too — they just didn't show the inside of the shop.
    9AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:49
    Let's just switch to convenience store hot snacks
    10AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:49
    Things have been off since Matsu-chan (Hitoshi Matsumoto) left. Come back already.
    11AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:49
    Well, having someone walk in clearly not wanting to eat is rough too, lol
    12AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:49
    The writers and director are probably just old-fashioned and can't keep up with the times
    14AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:51
    "Respect for ramen shops," lol
    16AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:52
    Coming from a guy whose entire job is eating and then acting all high-and-mighty judging 'this shop's like this, that shop's like that'?
    17AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:53
    If they only used professional competitive eaters, there'd be less momentum to push back against it
    18AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:54
    The one I feel worst for is whoever lives in that corner house in Uenoge where Minamikawa threw up, lol — their address was basically visible too
    19AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:56
    Re: #1
    It's not even that great of a food to begin with. No decent person eats ramen.
    20AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:56
    Well, they're just running a pre-approved route, and they got filming permission in advance. They probably told the shops about the segment beforehand too.
    23AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:58
    The only show on regular TV that's actually funny precisely because it doesn't care about compliance. Anyone can complain.
    24AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:58
    I want to hear what this guy has to say about wanko soba (the bottomless-bowl soba tradition)
    36AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:06
    Kind of dumb to say that with Yadan (the comedy duo) right there
    44AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:11
    Re: #36
    It's impressive he still wrote up ramen reviews after eating in that state and posted them after the broadcast
    66AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:25
    They must have known this would get criticized at the planning stage. They're probably chasing controversy on purpose. If they really didn't realize it, somebody needs medical attention.
    69AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:27
    Re: #66
    They've already done this 4 times. It blew up this time because of the puking scene.
    79AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:33
    Re: #69
    Having done it 4 times also means it's a popular segment
    91AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:40
    Re: #79
    This time was the funniest one yet

    Background and Key Points of This Story

    The “National Route Ramen Marathon” eat-it-all segment on ‘Suiyoubi no Downtown’ isn’t a first — 5ch users pointed out it has aired multiple times before. The sticking point was whether the production had informed the shops in advance about the segment’s content and whether it could air, with some defending the show by assuming prior permission was obtained, while others argued that broadcasting cast members eating in visible distress or vomiting in front of a shop is inherently disrespectful regardless of permission. Opinions on food journalist Rikiya Yamaji’s “ramen critic” title were also split, and the discussion tended to blur together opinions on the segment itself with opinions on the critic who raised the objection — a distinction worth reading carefully. Neither the article nor the thread confirms exactly how much coordination actually took place between the show and the shops beforehand, so that point remains speculation.

    *This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “[Suiyoubi no Downtown] Ramen critic’s discomfort over the National Route Ramen Marathon… a punishment-game-like segment shows ‘lack of respect toward ramen shops’.”

  • Palm-Sized Dinosaur Quiz Gets 5ch’s VIP Board Buzzing — ‘That’s What the Manual Said!’

    A thread popped up on 5ch’s VIP board with a photo of a palm-sized dinosaur figure and the question, ‘Can you guess what kind of dinosaur this is?’ The poster played a character voiced through the text emoticon ‘(っ´ω`c)’, kicking off a naming quiz where other posters threw out guesses like ‘Allosaurus’ and ‘some kind of Honehone Zaurus figure.’ The correct answer was ‘Fukuisaurus,’ and whoever got it right was even promised a handshake. From there, the thread drifted into casual chatter, with another poster showing up to do some palm reading.

    1AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:13
    (っ´ω`c) Can you guess what kind of dinosaur this is?
    2AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:16
    (っ´ω`c) Look, a palm-sized dino! Hehe, so cute

    6AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:22
    (´・ω・`) Junkosaurus (a jokey 'useless' pun on the dino name)
    8AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:22
    Re: #6
    (っ´ω`c) Boo
    10AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:23
    Re: #9
    (っ´ω`c) Boo
    11AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:23
    Re: #10
    Then what character is in Ecuadoru's profile pic?
    12AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:24
    Re: #11
    (っ´ω`c) Lotte
    13AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:24
    Honehone Zaurus (a skeleton-dinosaur toy line)
    16AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:25
    Re: #13
    (っ´ω`c) Which dinosaur from the Honehone Zaurus line is it, huh? Huh?
    19AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:26
    Re: #16
    Fukuisaurus!
    15AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:25
    (´・ω・`) It's an Allosaurus
    18AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:26
    Re: #15
    (っ´ω`c) Boooo
    21AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:27
    Re: #19
    (っ´ω`c) Correct!
    23AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:28
    Re: #21
    I got it right, so it's a handshake — waiting for Pomii-kun to show up.
    25AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:30
    Re: #23
    (っ´ω`c) Sure, I'll shake your hand

    27AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:30
    Re: #25
    I'll be waiting in Kanagawa, so hurry up
    24AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:29
    (´・ω・`) That's totally wrong!
    https://share.google/zl3ZMSzUyD0PrX6DW
    29AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:30
    Re: #24
    (っ´ω`c) Even if you say that… the manual said it was a Fukuisaurus…
    40AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:34
    (´・ω・`) You've already met your soulmate, you know
    44AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:35
    Re: #40
    (っ´ω`c) Are you… a palm reader?
    41AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:34
    I googled Honehone Zaurus and found there's an Evangelion one too — that was actually pretty cool
    48AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:36
    Re: #41
    (っ´ω`c) Oh really, that's pretty cool — the skeleton look suits it
    43AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:35
    Re: #38
    (っ´ω`c) Oh, someone from Zama… so what are we doing in Kanagawa
    45AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:35
    Re: #43
    A handshake, duh!!
    46AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:35
    Can't beat Very Hard on event part two
    53AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:37
    Re: #46
    (っ´ω`c) Seriously? I don't remember struggling much… maybe your characters just aren't leveled up enough?
    47AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:35
    (´・ω・`) One more big turning point is coming your way
    56AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:38
    Re: #47
    (っ´ω`c) Really? When though… that's scary
    50AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:36
    (´・ω・`) Overall, you'll live a pretty happy life
    58AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:38
    Re: #50
    (っ´ω`c) Really? Well, that's good to hear
    52AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:37
    (´・ω・`) You'll probably keep having bad gacha luck too (gacha = the game's random loot-box draws)
    61AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:39
    Re: #52
    (っ´ω`c) I actually pulled a hit on gacha today though
    59AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:38
    (´・ω・`) I think that turning point will come within a few years
    64AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:39
    (´・ω・`) Well, everyone gets a lucky gacha pull sometimes
    67AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:40
    Re: #59
    (っ´ω`c) Well, guess that makes sense at my age
    Re: #64
    (っ´ω`c) This is exactly why you can't trust fortune-telling!

    Background and Key Points of This Topic

    On 5ch’s VIP board, threads where posters role-play as a text-emoticon (AA) character like ‘(っ´ω`c)’ — narrating events and chatting in the first person — are a classic genre; the appeal lies less in the content than in the snappy back-and-forth between posters. The answer to this quiz, ‘Fukuisaurus,’ is the genus name of a real dinosaur whose fossils were discovered and named in Fukui Prefecture, one of the names that symbolizes Japan’s dinosaur research. ‘Allosaurus,’ one of the guesses, is a different genus from North America, treated here as a wrong answer that just happens to sound similar. Once the quiz wound down, the talk drifted loosely into unrelated chatter — a promised handshake, a bit of palm reading — which is typical of the pacing in these AA-character threads. Note that the thread also included some exchanges poking fun at crude jokes and sexual orientation, which have been left out of this article.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Newssoku VIP) thread “(っ´ω`c) Pomii Rabokune Made a Dinosaur.”

  • Comparing 30 Years of Giants Lineups, 5ch Says ‘1999 Was the Golden Year’

    A poster who says they’ve been watching Yomiuri Giants baseball since 1996 started a thread on 5ch’s Nandemo Jikkyo G board listing out the team’s starting lineup year by year. The 1999 lineup — featuring Toshihisa Nishi, Takayuki Shimizu, Hideki Matsui, Kazuhiro Kiyohara, and Yoshinobu Takahashi — and the 2002 lineup, which paired Matsui with Kiyohara, drew the most “this is the best” votes, while commenters said the lineup lost its “special feeling” starting around 2013, when Shuichi Murata, Jose Lopez, and John Bowker were in the mix. Comparing those glory years to the current 2026 lineup, posters also disagreed over whether Hayato Sakamoto counts as a star and why the Giants can no longer land big-name free agents.

    1AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:02
    My beloved Giants — their starting lineup these days is a genuinely pitiful sight.
    I'm going to post the lineup year by year starting from 1996, when I first became old enough to watch baseball.
    7AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:05
    1999
    1 (2B) Toshihisa Nishi
    2 (LF) Takayuki Shimizu
    3 (CF) Hideki Matsui
    4 (1B) Kazuhiro Kiyohara
    5 (RF) Yoshinobu Takahashi
    6 (3B) Daisuke Motoki
    7 (SS) Tomohiro Nioka
    8 (C) Shin-ichi Murata
    9 (P) Koji Uehara
    45AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:18
    Re: #7
    Yeah, 1999 really is the one
    14AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:07
    2002
    1 (LF) Takayuki Shimizu
    2 (SS) Tomohiro Nioka
    3 (RF) Yoshinobu Takahashi
    4 (CF) Hideki Matsui
    5 (1B) Kazuhiro Kiyohara
    6 (3B) Satoshi Eto
    7 (2B) Toshihisa Nishi
    8 (C) Shinnosuke Abe
    9 (P) Koji Uehara

    By the way, this is my favorite Giants team ever
    81AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:34
    Re: #14
    Yeah, this is the best one, hands down, after watching for 30 years
    Sad to think it's already 24 years ago though
    83AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:37
    Re: #14
    The Daiei Hawks had a stacked lineup back then too, but the Giants were still stronger
    39AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:15
    2013
    1 (CF) Hisayoshi Chono
    2 (RF) Yoshiyuki Kamei
    3 (SS) Hayato Sakamoto
    4 (C) Shinnosuke Abe
    5 (3B) Shuichi Murata
    6 (1B) Jose Lopez
    7 (LF) John Bowker
    8 (2B) Takayuki Terauchi
    9 (P) Tomoyuki Sugano
    43AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:17
    Re: #39
    This is around where it stopped feeling special
    49AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:20
    Re: #39
    Wait, Bowker was already 13 years ago?…
    68AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:30
    I didn't think this at the time, but after watching for 30 years…
    Re: #39
    Things really started going downhill once Abe was forced into the cleanup spot in 2013
    41AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:16
    2014
    1 (RF) Hisayoshi Chono
    2 (CF) Itaru Hashimoto
    3 (SS) Hayato Sakamoto
    4 (C) Shinnosuke Abe
    5 (LF) Anderson
    6 (3B) Shuichi Murata
    7 (1B) Jose Lopez
    8 (2B) Haruhisa Kataoka
    9 (P) Tomoyuki Sugano
    46AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:19
    Re: #41
    I liked Lesley (Anderson)
    Wonder if he could've done more if he weren't such a "Spelunker" type (Japanese baseball slang for an injury-prone player, from the old video game)
    44AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:18
    2016
    1 (CF) Hisayoshi Chono
    2 (RF) Yoshiyuki Kamei
    3 (SS) Hayato Sakamoto
    4 (1B) Shinnosuke Abe
    5 (3B) Shuichi Murata
    6 (LF) Garrett
    7 (2B) Cruz
    8 (C) Seiji Kobayashi
    9 (P) Tomoyuki Sugano

    Start of the Yoshinobu Takahashi managerial era
    Brings back that feeling from back then of "he could still do it as a pinch hitter…"
    59AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:25
    Re: #44
    The previous year, the best pinch hitter on the team was Yoshinobu himself, with maybe Donki (nickname) or someone a distant second
    And on top of that, Ibata was gone too
    47AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:19
    2017
    1 (CF) Dai-Kang Yang
    2 (2B) Magee
    3 (SS) Hayato Sakamoto
    4 (1B) Shinnosuke Abe
    5 (3B) Shuichi Murata
    6 (LF) Yoshiyuki Kamei
    7 (RF) Hisayoshi Chono
    8 (C) Seiji Kobayashi
    9 (P) Tomoyuki Sugano
    82AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:37
    Re: #47
    Re: #57
    Looking at it point by point, this stretch isn't actually bad even after the decline had started
    55AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:23
    2021
    1 (LF) Seiya Matsubara
    2 (SS) Hayato Sakamoto
    3 (CF) Yoshihiro Maru
    4 (3B) Kazuma Okamoto
    5 (1B) Wheeler
    6 (RF) Takayuki Kajitani
    7 (C) Takumi Oshiro
    8 (2B) Naoki Yoshikawa
    9 (P) Yuki Takahashi
    58AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:25
    Re: #55
    That's pretty rough
    57AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:24
    2022
    1 (2B) Naoki Yoshikawa
    2 (SS) Hayato Sakamoto
    3 (CF) Yoshihiro Maru
    4 (3B) Kazuma Okamoto
    5 (1B) Sho Nakata
    6 (RF) Polanco
    7 (LF) Walker
    8 (C) Takumi Oshiro
    9 (P) Shosei Togo
    63AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:27
    2026
    1 (LF) Cabbage
    2 (CF) Tsuyoshi Matsumoto
    3 (SS) Yuta Izumiguchi
    4 (1B) Dalbec
    5 (C) Yukinori Kishida
    6 (RF) Raito Nakayama
    7 (3B) Hayato Sakamoto
    8 (2B) Shunsuke Urata
    9 (P) Kazuyuki Takemaru

    No matter how many times I look at it, this year really is the worst
    66AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:29
    Re: #63
    Still impressive they stayed in first-place contention with the "star-studded" Hanshin Tigers until September with this lineup
    65AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:28
    Why couldn't Sakamoto become a star?
    70AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:30
    Re: #65
    He's obviously a superstar
    74AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:31
    Re: #70
    I barely ever see him in commercials though
    78AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:32
    Re: #70
    If you haven't gone to the majors, you're not a "star"
    Not in this day and age, anyway
    67AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:29
    Will the Giants ever produce another core player?
    If they don't get another Sakamoto- or Okamoto-caliber talent, the team is finished
    73AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:31
    Re: #67
    Well, over a span of decades, every team eventually produces a monster talent
    75AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:31
    Is finishing 2nd really that impressive?
    Even a Hanshin team that was all foreigners except Toriya, or one leaning on MLB returnees and imports, managed that before
    79AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:33
    Re: #75
    Please, lay off the Chunichi Dragons
    77AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:32
    Re: #73
    Is there anyone who looks like they could become that guy?
    Guys like Asano or Ishizuka don't seem capable of it, right?
    80AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:33
    Re: #77
    That includes players who aren't even born yet, you know
    We're talking about a span of decades here
    91AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:49
    It's funny how everyone overlooks that the Giants never ran out of homegrown, high-school-draft franchise players
    Though I guess poaching stars from other teams makes a bigger impression
    93AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:50
    Re: #91
    If Asano or Ishizuka actually develop properly, they'll get their due credit
    Though it's probably not happening
    97AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:54
    Foreign players are a lot tougher to land than they used to be, too
    Someone like Dalbec doesn't hold a candle to Ramirez
    100AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:56
    Re: #97
    They actually have a pretty good hit rate scouting their own imports
    Not many NPB teams can match the Giants when it comes to homegrown-scouted foreign players
    101AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:56
    Maru was the last big free-agent signing, wasn't he
    Poaching a player of that caliber again seems impossible now
    Everyone just heads to the majors instead
    106AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:01
    Re: #101
    When it comes to money, SoftBank is on another level now
    108AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:03
    Re: #101
    Even if they miss out on someone like Kondo, they still land guys like Moritomo and Yamakawa — it's not that the Giants have declined, it's just that their old-time pull doesn't reach as far anymore and they keep getting beaten to the punch
    110AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:05
    Re: #74
    Come to think of it, did Hideki Matsui — a bona fide superstar — even appear in commercials?
    112AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:07
    Re: #110
    Yeah, he was in tons of them

    Background and Key Points of This Debate

    The Giants earned their reputation as a “star-studded team” largely thanks to the roster from the late 1990s through the early 2000s, when free agency let them sign top players away from other clubs — Kazuhiro Kiyohara from the Seibu Lions, Satoshi Eto from the Hiroshima Carp — while also fielding homegrown franchise names like Hideki Matsui and Yoshinobu Takahashi. The turning point the thread identifies is around 2013, which coincides with the aging of that core, a growing trend of Japanese stars heading straight to MLB, and the rise of deep-pocketed rivals like SoftBank in the bidding war for top free agents. Opinions split over whether Hayato Sakamoto counts as a “star”: some point to his lack of media and commercial appearances, while others argue his on-field record alone makes him a clear superstar — a subjective debate that the facts cited in the thread (his commercial history, the fact he never went to MLB) don’t really settle either way. It’s also worth noting that some posters attribute the fading “pull” behind the Giants’ big free-agent signings not to the Giants’ own decline, but to rival clubs getting stronger — so this isn’t simply a one-sided knock on the team.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “When Did the Giants Stop Being a Star-Studded Team?.”

  • Sandwichman’s Tomizawa: ‘I Visited Date Yesterday’ — Reveals Condition, ‘His Speech Is Hard to Make Out at Times’

    Sandwichman’s Tomizawa Takeshi revealed on his September 5 radio show that he had visited his hospitalized comedy partner, Date Mikio, the day before. He shared how he greeted him with “You haven’t lost any weight at all!” and described Date’s condition and rehab progress, saying “it can be hard to make out what he’s saying at times.” On 5channel’s entertainment/sports news board, reactions split between posters who read that single comment as a sign of a serious condition (“not exactly mild”) and those who took an optimistic view given that visits and conversation are already possible. Many also brought up celebrities who recovered from speech impairments after similar illnesses, such as Saijo Hideki and Nasu of the duo Nasu Nakanishi.

    9/5 (Sat) 13:44

    Tomizawa Takeshi (52), of the comedy duo Sandwichman, appeared on the 5th on Nippon Broadcasting’s radio show “Sandwichman The Radio Show Saturday” (Saturdays, 1:00 PM), where he reported that he had visited his hospitalized partner Date Mikio (52).

    Filling in for Date on the show was Kano Eiko. Tomizawa reported that he had “gone to see Date yesterday,” revealing that his very first words to him were “You haven’t lost any weight at all!”

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

    3AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:31
    "Hard to make out" sounds like he's got a mild speech impairment.
    42AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:47
    Re: #3
    Well yeah, the reason he even went to get checked out in the first place was "something's off, I can't talk right today."
    77AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:56
    Re: #3
    Honestly if he's recovering this fast I think he'll be okay. Though he might be left with some residual paralysis.
    5AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:32
    Literally "I can't tell what you're saying" right now.
    113AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:07
    Re: #5
    They should really turn that into a bit.
    8AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:33
    Do Osakans — who are notoriously harsh judges of comedy and manzai — actually rate Sandwichman?
    9AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:33
    Worse than I expected. I had a cerebral infarction too, and I figured nothing would change for me — but it did.
    10AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:34
    Sounds like his condition isn't too bad. ://youtu.be/vJ0Hipt9ehw
    12AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:35
    So it really is the stroke messing up his speech.
    13AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:35
    If he can't even say "Aina-chan," that's rough.
    18AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:38
    "I can't tell what you're saying."
    19AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:39
    This is scary. If it happened to a regular person, they wouldn't be able to work.
    22AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:39
    Is he gonna end up like Saijo Hideki? The guy couldn't speak properly after his.
    63AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:53
    Re: #22
    He didn't rehydrate after the sauna, right? Sweating out water weight to cut like that is basically suicidal.
    36AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:45
    Seriously, let's all cut back on high-sodium food. One heavily seasoned restaurant meal alone can pack in something like 30g of salt. Even if you've never had a stroke or heart condition, keep your salt under the 6g/day doctors recommend (it used to be under 7g).
    40AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:47
    Re: #36
    It's sugar that wrecks your blood vessels.
    45AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:49
    Re: #36
    Noodles are basically all off the table then. Honestly, it's a wonder the Japanese diet produces such long lifespans.
    55AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:51
    Re: #36
    Wasn't it under 7.5g? Even that's hard enough — under 6g is flat-out impossible, you'd barely be able to eat anything lol
    38AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:46
    So it's literally gotten to the point where you can't tell what he's saying…
    43AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:47
    The moment he says "hard to make out," that tells you it's not mild.

    Re: #38
    That phrase isn't funny anymore, ban it.
    51AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:50
    He'd already gotten to the point of noticing symptoms himself, so of course it's not going to heal overnight.
    53AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:51
    Re: #51
    Tanaka got better though, didn't he?
    59AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:52
    Nasu Nakanishi's Nasu managed to come back to where there's no noticeable issue too.
    73AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:54
    Re: #59
    Nasu said back in June this year he still had lingering speech impairment and was doing rehab.
    62AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:53
    That "hard to make out" part bugs me. Is he actually dealing with a speech impairment??
    81AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:59
    Re: #62
    Probably facial paralysis — like half his mouth doesn't move right.
    91AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:01
    Re: #62
    "Something's off, I can't talk right."
    "Idiot! Get to a hospital right now!"

    That's how this whole thing started, so yes, there's a speech impairment. The question is whether he'll recover enough to speak in public.
    64AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:53
    Nasu of Nasu Nakanishi needed surgery too, but he managed to recover enough to get back to doing manzai.
    95AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:02
    Re: #64
    Re: #73
    Nasu said he used to eat out 360 days a year. No wonder.
    82AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:59
    I'm worried about Tomizawa. I think the stress of carrying the show solo is bigger than it would've been if it were Date left alone — Tomizawa's the one who just does bits and jokes, Date was in charge of the actual communication lol. The agency should give him a backup comedian while Date's out.
    103AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:04
    Re: #82
    Just bring in Kuchibue Naruo as the sub already.
    87AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:00
    Date's comedy relied on quick reactions, so this has to be really rough for him.
    96AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:02
    Re: #87
    They already said early on they're looking at six months. That's presumably the doctor's prognosis, so yeah, it's not exactly mild.
    90AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:01
    Tomizawa: "I can't tell what you're saying."
    98AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:03
    Re: #90 Re: #93
    Tomizawa wouldn't actually say that, right? He's clearly decided illness isn't something to joke about.
    93AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:02
    Tomizawa: "Uh… I can't tell what you're saying."

    Background and key points of this discussion

    With cerebrovascular conditions like cerebral infarction, depending on where the damage occurs, patients can be left with not just limb paralysis but a speech difficulty known as “dysarthria.” In this thread, the single remark “hard to make out” drove a lot of speculation about how serious the condition really is, splitting posters between those who saw it as serious and those who took an optimistic view given that visits and conversation are already happening. Posters cited the aftereffects Saijo Hideki experienced and the rehab journey of Nasu Nakanishi’s Nasu, but it’s worth remembering these are entirely different people’s cases and don’t guarantee anything about how Date will recover. It’s also worth noting that this radio appearance never specified exactly what condition Date is hospitalized for — the thread’s comments remain speculation based on symptoms alone. With celebrity illness coverage, secondhand details like this tend to take on a life of their own beyond what the person involved actually intended, so waiting for further updates seems like the sensible approach.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5channel (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “Sandwichman’s Tomizawa: ‘I Visited Date Yesterday’ — Reveals Condition, ‘His Speech Is Hard to Make Out,’ Plus Rehab Details.”

  • Fighter Rukiya Abo Dodges Food Poisoning from Kome-o’s Ramen: “This Isn’t Food”

    Fighter Rukiya Abo revealed on his own YouTube channel that the moment he took a bite of ramen served by chef Kome-o at the Azabu-Juban Summer Festival, he thought “this isn’t food” and set down the bowl without taking another bite. The ramen is said to have caused food poisoning, with some people actually falling ill afterward. On 5channel, opinions were split — some praised it as “the danger-sensing instincts of a top-tier fighter,” while others were skeptical, noting that bacteria like salmonella are odorless and tasteless and can’t be detected by taste alone, suggesting the story might be an embellished tale told after the fact.

    Sat, Sep 5, 11:30 AM

    Fighter Rukiya Abo updated his YouTube channel by September 5, confessing that he had tasted the ramen served by chef Kome-o — who has competed in the one-minute fighting event “Breaking Down” — at the “Azabu-Juban Summer Festival,” ramen that was later linked to food poisoning.

    Abo, who attended the Azabu-Juban Summer Festival with three acquaintances, ended up trying Kome-o’s ramen. He said, “The moment I took one bite, regardless of whether it was spoiled or not, I just thought, ‘this isn’t food.’ It wasn’t to my taste,” and set the bowl down.

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

    6AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:12
    "This isn't food" lol
    Abo's amazing
    7AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:12
    If it's not food, then what is it?
    Garbage?
    10AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:14
    >He set down the bowl
    You'd normally say "set down the chopsticks," lol
    11AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:14
    You can intuitively tell something's bad from the smell and taste.
    Even so, that "mottainai" (don't-waste-it) mindset sometimes gets in the way
    52AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:29
    Re: #11
    The broth at a soba shop was a little off once, but since nobody else said anything, I figured I shouldn't be the only one making a fuss, so I just ate it
    12AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:14
    Can you really not tell it's salmonella?
    Doesn't spoiled food taste different?
    14AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:15
    He probably just asked the buddy who ordered it for a bite, lol
    15AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:15
    "Tastes kind of weird"
    Maybe it's just because it's my first time having crab ramen
    18AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:16
    "What do you mean by 'normal'?"
    Would you really say that to a customer?
    And "that's my own way of complimenting it" makes no sense either
    19AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:16
    Following up on a downed opponent is just standard practice in fighting
    20AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:17
    I've also thought "this is bad" but ate a spoiled hamburger-steak bento anyway because I didn't want to waste it
    23AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:19
    Re: #20
    You should stop doing that
    I've thrown up a few times from doing exactly that
    31AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:22
    Re: #20
    I once had to reluctantly toss a grilled mackerel bento from the supermarket because the fish was undercooked and mushy
    Still kind of traumatic
    36AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:24
    Re: #20
    Unless I'm literally starving, I think you're happier eating food that's tasty and you can trust
    With that in mind, I don't eat something while wondering "is this spoiled?"
    21AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:18
    Impressive
    Figured it out in one bite
    Happens to me a lot too
    24AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:20
    I just took a sip of vegetable juice and spat it out too
    If the taste's off, toss it immediately
    25AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:20
    As you'd expect from a top-tier fighter
    Great instincts for dodging danger
    26AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:20
    Truly a hellish bowl of ramen
    28AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:21
    There's no way you can detect an odorless, tasteless bacteria, lol
    32AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:22
    Re: #23
    I bought it half-price and then left it at room temperature for about 3 days without realizing
    94AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:56
    Re: #32
    Guys like this are probably the ones who end up causing food poisoning incidents
    33AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:22
    The crab on top just pooped on its own, so nobody's really at fault
    34AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:22
    Among the people who got food poisoning, there were probably some who ate it while thinking "is this dangerous?"
    38AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:25
    As expected of a fighter
    40AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:25
    Re: #38
    There's also a fighter who finished the whole bowl of crab ramen and ended up getting sick!
    39AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:25
    Salmonella is odorless and tasteless, so it's impossible to judge safety with your senses
    So this is just a case of dressing up the story after the fact to look good
    47AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:28
    Re: #39
    Call it a sixth sense, or a "seventh sense" kind of thing — some people just avoid danger like that
    I think it was actress Shigeru Muroi who said she just couldn't bring herself to eat something, felt she shouldn't, didn't, and that's how she dodged disaster
    48AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:28
    Re: #1
    Spare a thought for the guy who happily ate it and got food poisoning…
    53AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:30
    Re: #48
    Having an unrefined palate is kind of a blessing in a way
    55AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:30
    I wish people had the courage to just throw it out
    Especially in summer
    91AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:51
    Re: #55
    "Don't be picky, eat it"
    "It's rude to whoever made it"
    "Don't waste it"
    A lot of these Japanese upbringing lessons are actually pretty dangerous
    68AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:36
    I watched this, but don't go saying that about that sketchy black stuff they're calling "Valentine's" chocolate
    74AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:39
    Re: #68
    Abo's probably in a similar boat too, honestly
    70AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:37
    Diarrhea for five whole days?
    96AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:59
    Re: #70
    Mine didn't clear up for weeks — I nearly died
    71AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:37
    What's with the people in this thread going on about bacteria?
    The food poisoning angle is something tacked on after the fact, right?
    76AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:39
    Re: #71
    Well, it says he didn't eat it because it wasn't to his taste
    It's basically like saying "good thing I wasn't on that plane that crashed"
    82AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:43
    Last year about five of us ate raw oysters, and there was just one guy who sensed "this oyster might be bad" and spat it out
    The rest of us didn't notice a thing and went through norovirus hell
    No idea how he knew — they were the exact same oysters as always
    103AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:04
    Re: #82
    I've had norovirus too, lol
    The taste and texture were exactly like normal raw oysters
    There's no way to dodge that one
    After getting hit with norovirus I just can't eat raw oysters anymore
    107AnonymousSep 5, 2026 15:09
    Re: #82
    It's basically intuition at that point
    "This is something I shouldn't eat"
    Some kind of sixth sense
    Like how there are spots where you feel a presence and can't help but turn around, but no one's there
    Even knowing that, you always end up turning around anyway
    Come to think of it, that spot used to have a dōsojin (a roadside guardian deity stone) enshrined there long ago
    A place prone to misfortune
    Probably because they removed it during land readjustment
    Stopped sensing it after a while though

    Background and Points of Debate

    Many of the bacteria behind food poisoning, such as salmonella, are odorless and tasteless, and it’s considered medically difficult to judge food safety by appearance or taste alone. Because of this, the thread split into two camps: some took Abo’s account of “knowing from one bite” favorably, calling it “the danger-sensing ability unique to a top-tier fighter,” while others were more skeptical, suggesting it might be an embellished story told only after the food poisoning came to light — added after the fact. Worth keeping in mind: there’s no way to verify either interpretation, since his YouTube statement is the only source available. Meanwhile, the thread drew plenty of replies sharing personal experiences of knowingly eating spoiled food because “it felt wasteful to throw away,” showing that food poisoning risk is a topic people readily relate to through their own past mishaps.

    *This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary of the 5channel (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “[Fighter] Rukiya Abo Avoided Food Poisoning — The Moment He Bit Into Kome-o’s Ramen, He Thought “This Isn’t Food”.”

  • State of Play’s Interview Segment Draws Fire for Running Way Too Long

    Sony’s ‘State of Play’ broadcast on September 5th (nicknamed ‘Sutepure’ by fans) drew a strong reaction on 5ch’s hardware/industry board (Gaming Hardware, aka ‘Geha’). The main points of contention were that the first and second halves repeated the same footage, and that the interview segments featuring voice actors ran long compared to the small number of titles actually showcased. Some posters even timed each segment down to the minute, and the thread also compared the show to next week’s Nintendo Direct (set for the 9th) and discussed the lineup of participating publishers like Bandai Namco and Konami.

    1AnonymousSep 5, 2026 10:07
    Rhapsody in Scarlet & Rev: Noir (5 min in the first half, 8 min in the second)
    Gundam: 2 min
    GT7 update: 3 min
    2AnonymousSep 5, 2026 10:08
    Nice, hearing from the developers makes the game even more enjoyable
    3AnonymousSep 5, 2026 10:08
    Pretty sure some non-developers were mixed in there
    5AnonymousSep 5, 2026 10:09
    Re: #3
    Voice actors are part of the development team too, y'know 😡
    4AnonymousSep 5, 2026 10:08
    It's basically as long as next week's Nintendo Direct (9/9), lol
    11AnonymousSep 5, 2026 10:11
    Re: #4
    Nintendo Direct can showcase like 40 titles in 45 minutes though…
    6AnonymousSep 5, 2026 10:09
    I toughed it out because I believed Konami's two titles were PS5 exclusives.

    …Note:
    7AnonymousSep 5, 2026 10:10
    Wait, people actually watched this live? For real?
    89AnonymousSep 5, 2026 12:47
    Re: #7
    Apparently international viewers found it painful to watch to the end
    13AnonymousSep 5, 2026 10:12
    Why replay the same trailer from earlier in the second half?
    Do they seriously think most people only watch one half or the other?
    59AnonymousSep 5, 2026 11:22
    Re: #13
    Seriously, this.
    The second half was probably tailored for the Japanese audience, but Nintendo Direct sometimes changes which games it highlights between the domestic and overseas versions too. Japan could've just simulcast the second half plus a little extra.
    62AnonymousSep 5, 2026 11:28
    Re: #13
    Some followers were hyped beforehand thinking 'they specifically split it up, so the Japan-focused part must be the real deal!' — and then went dead silent two hours later. Honestly felt bad for them.
    70AnonymousSep 5, 2026 11:53
    Re: #13
    There's also a chance the first and second halves were handled by different production teams that just didn't communicate with each other.
    27AnonymousSep 5, 2026 10:18
    LOL, they spent all this time showcasing third-party titles that are multiplatform anyway

    Rhapsody in Scarlet & Rev: Noir (also on Xbox)

    Gundam (also on Xbox)

    Monster Hunter Wilds expansion (also on Xbox)

    FF7: Revelation (also on Xbox, Switch 2)
    31AnonymousSep 5, 2026 10:20
    Re: #27
    So Gundam isn't coming to Switch 2 currently? That's kind of surprising.
    37AnonymousSep 5, 2026 10:24
    Re: #31
    It's Bandai Namco, so that's just business as usual.
    38AnonymousSep 5, 2026 10:24
    Re: #31
    Surprising? That's just a classic Bandai Namco move.
    34AnonymousSep 5, 2026 10:22
    Do voice actors even count as developers?
    36AnonymousSep 5, 2026 10:23
    Re: #34
    The real question is whether the interview was too long…

    Not whether they count as 'developers' or not.
    40AnonymousSep 5, 2026 10:27
    Re: #37 Re: #38
    Oh I see. Guess that was just my own assumption.
    43AnonymousSep 5, 2026 10:30
    Re: #40
    First time on Geha? Bandai Namco is the kind of publisher that snubs Switch even for casual-friendly Shonen Jump games.
    61AnonymousSep 5, 2026 11:24
    Re: #40
    Gundam's total franchise revenue is in the same ballpark as Sanrio or the Shonen Jump properties, so the industry has propped it up as a counterweight to Nintendo/Pokémon among the older gamer crowd ('on-geezers'). This dates back to at least PS2's 'Federation vs. Zeon DX,' so it's deeply entrenched.

    But that same history means younger generations have had far fewer chances to get into the Gundam IP for decades, and the fanbase keeps aging. The 40th anniversary was clearly more subdued than the 30th.
    45AnonymousSep 5, 2026 10:32
    If you count the duplicated footage between the two halves, this thing runs over an hour.
    Half of it was nothing, and the other half was just follow-up info on already-announced titles.
    SIE apparently felt confident about this show, so there's a huge disconnect with what users actually wanted.
    46AnonymousSep 5, 2026 10:33
    Re: #45
    And on top of that there was movie and LEGO stuff too…
    52AnonymousSep 5, 2026 10:42
    What they really need to take notes from isn't even Nintendo Direct — it's more like the upcoming Elden Ring showcase.
    54AnonymousSep 5, 2026 10:46
    Re: #49 Re: #52
    I kind of think the individual publishers should've just prepared trailers that actually show off the gameplay themselves. Bandai Namco and Konami got long segments, so they definitely could have.
    55AnonymousSep 5, 2026 10:50
    Ai Fairouz (a popular voice actress) can draw in fans from that side of the fandom, so if the goal was to pull in an audience beyond just gamers, having her on isn't really the problem. But if that's the plan, they should've properly advertised beforehand that there'd be an interview with her. The pre-show announcement didn't even mention Ai Fairouz — let alone 'Ghost of Yōtei: Complete Edition.'
    57AnonymousSep 5, 2026 11:15
    Re: #55
    Wait, is there even usually a pre-announcement of the game lineup?
    82AnonymousSep 5, 2026 12:22
    Re: #55
    I glanced at the viewer count during the interview and it had dropped like crazy lol
    69AnonymousSep 5, 2026 11:52
    The shallow 'let's just throw in a popular voice actress!' thinking
    73AnonymousSep 5, 2026 11:55
    Re: #69
    They clearly don't understand their own audience. Why's a male voice actor hosting anyway?
    80AnonymousSep 5, 2026 12:10
    Bandai Namco used to be the undisputed king of the anime/subculture licensing business, but ever since Sony Group restructured after its PS3-era slump and moved seriously into the licensing business, Sony's been steadily stealing that hegemony away. The dominant atmosphere from the old Bandai Visual days is a thing of the past now.

    Sony also couldn't manage to absorb Nintendo's dominance by the DS era, so it went after the weaker target instead.
    100AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:37
    Re: #80
    On the games side too, they were blatantly trying to be the star of the kids' market — though that failed.
    84AnonymousSep 5, 2026 12:34
    Fairouz is strongly associated with Jolyne (from JoJo), so if the interview had actually been about JoJo, there'd probably have been people willing to listen.
    98AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:28
    Re: #84
    Didn't she become a voice actress specifically because she wanted to play Jolyne?

    Background and Key Points of the Discussion

    ‘State of Play’ is Sony’s regularly-held in-house broadcast, often compared with Nintendo’s ‘Nintendo Direct,’ scheduled for September 9th. On the Gaming Hardware board, the density of new information relative to runtime is a perennial topic, and this time complaints centered on the structure of repeating the same trailer across the first and second halves, as well as the length of the voice-actor interview segment. Within the thread, some speculated this structure resulted from poor coordination between the overseas and Japan-specific broadcasts, while others criticized the lack of advance notice about the interview segment — leaving opinions split on whether this was simply a runtime-balance issue or a lack of preparation on the PR side. Note that the discussion around Bandai Namco’s Switch strategy is speculation based on the company’s past patterns, not an official statement.

    *This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (Hardware/Industry, “Geha”) thread “We Timed How Long That Excessively Long State of Play Interview Actually Was.”

  • Who Are Hello! Project’s 10 Most Important Figures? 5ch Debate Rages Over Ai Takahashi

    The Hello! Project board on 5ch lit up in response to a prompt: “Pick the 10 members who played the most important role in Hello! Project’s history.” Nearly everyone agreed on the founding-era members — Yuko Nakazawa, Natsumi Abe, Maki Goto — as automatic locks, but the fiercest fight was over one of the remaining slots: Ai Takahashi. Voices calling her an unremovable pick (“if she’s not on the list, the whole thing’s pointless”) clashed head-on with those who dismissed her contribution (“she didn’t do anything”). Support also ran strong for Ruru Danbara as “the symbol of Hello! Project’s revival,” laying bare just how much selection criteria differ across generations of fans.

    1AnonymousSep 5, 2026 13:33
    Who would you pick?
    3AnonymousSep 5, 2026 13:35
    This'll just end up packed with scandal-hit members
    4AnonymousSep 5, 2026 13:35
    Ruru Danbara
    She'll go down in history as the symbol of Hello! Project's revival
    5AnonymousSep 5, 2026 13:36
    Yagishiori!
    6AnonymousSep 5, 2026 13:36
    You can't leave out Fukumura
    7AnonymousSep 5, 2026 13:37
    ANGERME's savior, Nagano Motchi
    8AnonymousSep 5, 2026 13:38
    ?
    Yuko Nakazawa
    Natsumi Abe
    Maki Goto
    Mari Yaguchi
    Nozomi Tsuji
    Ai Kago
    and 4 more
    18AnonymousSep 5, 2026 13:41
    Thanks, Ritokyame
    19AnonymousSep 5, 2026 13:42
    Even all-time, it's gotta be Ruru Danbara at #1
    20AnonymousSep 5, 2026 13:42
    Morning Musume's OG five:
    Ai Takahashi
    Michishige
    Sayashi
    Miyamoto
    Sato
    22AnonymousSep 5, 2026 13:44
    There's gotta be someone you could cut from that Morning Musume OG five~
    23AnonymousSep 5, 2026 13:45
    Masaki Sato here — I'd like to throw my hat in the ring!
    24AnonymousSep 5, 2026 13:45
    The revolutionary, Ayacho (nickname for Aya Matsuura)
    25AnonymousSep 5, 2026 13:47
    Just lump Yaguchi, Kago, Tsuji, and Takahashi together under Mini Moni
    26AnonymousSep 5, 2026 13:48
    Hello! Project founding member Michiyo Heike
    27AnonymousSep 5, 2026 13:50
    The handshake-event revolutionary, Yukanya
    30AnonymousSep 5, 2026 13:55
    Yuko Nakazawa
    Natsumi Abe
    Maki Goto
    Aya Matsuura
    Sayumi Michishige
    Momoko Tsugunaga
    Airi Suzuki
    Masaki Sato
    Karin Miyamoto
    Daniel
    31AnonymousSep 5, 2026 13:55
    If Ai Takahashi's not on there, it's pointless — redo it
    32AnonymousSep 5, 2026 13:56
    It really depends on your criteria —
    by whatever standard gets Michishige on the list, Takahashi's off it, and vice versa
    33AnonymousSep 5, 2026 13:57
    Just put Ai Takahashi on there
    Otherwise I'm not accepting it
    34AnonymousSep 5, 2026 13:58
    If Chayu (nickname for Ai Takahashi) hadn't been there, Musume would've been finished
    35AnonymousSep 5, 2026 13:59
    Koharu Kusumi, the only one who actually made it as a soloist, right?
    36AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:04
    Ai Takahashi is the root of Hello! Project's whole current direction
    37AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:04
    No Karin-chan, no Juice=Juice
    38AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:05
    Ten is tough
    Nakazawa
    Abe
    Matsuura
    Takahashi
    Michishige
    Miyamoto
    Sato

    And Kawashima might grow into that kind of figure too
    39AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:06
    Michiyo Heike
    Natsumi Abe
    Maki Goto

    These are locks
    41AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:07
    Ai Takahashi
    Ai Takahashi
    Ai Takahashi
    Ai Takahashi
    Ai Takahashi
    Ai Takahashi
    Ai Takahashi
    Ai Takahashi
    Ai Takahashi
    Ai Takahashi
    42AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:07
    Chayu! Michishige, Chayu!
    43AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:07
    Yuko Nakazawa, Aya Ishiguro, Kaori Iida, Natsumi Abe, Asuka Fukuda ← where Hello! Project began

    Five more to go

    Maki Goto, Tsuji, Kago ← they started a revolution

    For the last two — is there really anyone else on that level?
    59AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:12
    If Ai Takahashi's not in there, something's off
    Nobody's gonna accept it
    So — Ai Takahashi
    62AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:15
    Re: #59
    This
    Without Ai Takahashi it's meaningless — invalid
    63AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:16
    Ai Takahashi
    Sayaka Ichii
    Miki Nonaka
    69AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:24
    Re: #63
    Koharu, Rikako, Miyamoto too, and the Kawabe girl too
    66AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:19
    Tsugunaga just shouldn't have leaned so hard into the weird variety-show gimmick
    67AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:23
    Golden-era members plus Ayaya, Momochi, and Danbara, I'd say
    Conclusion
    68AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:24
    Re: #64
    At least for 2010s Morning Musume, she was a key figure
    71AnonymousSep 5, 2026 14:42
    Maki Goto
    Aya Matsuura
    Airi Suzuki
    Ruru Danbara

    Background and key points of this discussion

    Since Morning Musume’s formation in 1997, Hello! Project has kept reshaping itself through new members, graduations, scandals, and slumps. The thread was nearly unanimous in treating early members like Yuko Nakazawa, Natsumi Abe, and Maki Goto as the group’s “foundation.” Where opinions split was over how to treat Ai Takahashi: some backed her as “the root of Hello! Project’s current direction,” while others dismissed her as having “done nothing” — a divide that came down less to who has the most visible track record and more to how you weigh someone’s role in holding the organization together. The strong support for Ruru Danbara reflects a recent reappraisal following the group’s slump years. Which faces make the cut shifts depending on whether “importance” is measured by track record, symbolic weight, or longevity — a familiar pattern in this kind of member-ranking debate.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread “If you were told to pick the 10 members who played an important role in Hello! Project’s history.”