Latest from Japan

From our other sites

  • Hikikomori NEET’s Chat Thread: Saizeriya Memories and Diet Talk Get Everyone Going

    In a casual chat thread on 5ch’s Niche Speed VIP board, a thread starter who self-identified as a “recently-gained-weight hikikomori NEET” kept up a laid-back exchange with other posters. The conversation drifted from fond memories of eating out at Saizeriya, to favorite menu items and the state of local chain restaurants, to mobile game gacha pulls, struggles climbing the ranks in Mahjong Soul, and finally a diet update aiming for 65kg by the end of the year. The thread starter responded throughout in a low-key, easygoing tone, with no real conflict or flame wars — just a relaxed back-and-forth of everyone sharing how they’ve been doing.

    1AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:00
    (っ´ω`c)That's me
    4AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:03
    ૮₍ ・ω・ ₎ა What's got you down?! Spit it out!!
    5AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:04
    Re: #4
    (っ´ω`c)Penne all'arrabbiata from Saizeriya
    8AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:05
    ( ◜ω◝ )Pomi (a nickname for the OP) actually managed to eat out…?! No way!?
    9AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:05
    Re: #8
    (っ´ω`c)My parents took me
    13AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:07
    Who else was at Saizeriya? Did everyone look like they were living their best life?
    15AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:07
    Re: #13
    (っ´ω`c)Everyone from solo diners to families — all ages, all genders. Yeah, they looked like they were enjoying life.
    14AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:07
    The Jusco (an old name for what's now the AEON supermarket chain) near my place just reopened after renovations and now there's a Saizeriya in it.
    Never been, so I'm thinking of checking it out sometime.
    18AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:08
    Re: #14
    (っ´ω`c)I recommend Saizeriya. Because it's cheap.
    16AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:08
    ( ◜ω◝ )My parents (especially my mom) have apparently gotten really into the miso ramen at Yamaokaya lately
    20AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:09
    Re: #16
    (っ´ω`c)Sounds tasty, though I've never been
    17AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:08
    ૮₍ ・ω・ ₎ა Saize (short for Saizeriya) is cheap, so… get a job and treat her sometime
    21AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:10
    Re: #17
    (っ´ω`c)No way, nuh-uh
    19AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:09
    Re: #18
    ( ◜ω◝ )Must be nice
    22AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:10
    Re: #19
    (っ´ω`c)So, what's your favorite thing on the Saizeriya menu?
    25AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:13
    Re: #22
    ( ◜ω◝ )Pizza and minestrone
    23AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:11
    Re: #20
    ( ◜ω◝ )Sometimes the floor's all sticky, which is super gross, but the food's good.
    Try the spicy miso after drinking… it'll blow you away……
    26AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:14
    Re: #23
    (っ´ω`c)Please come with me, I'm scared
    24AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:12
    Yeah, this guy's gotta be a fake.
    Tell us something about Starleap.
    27AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:15
    Re: #24
    (っ´ω`c)Something about Starleap? Nothing really to say… nothing much going on… though I am doing a 10-pull gacha tomorrow……
    28AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:15
    Re: #25
    (っ´ω`c)Pizza, nice. Never had the minestrone though
    40AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:22
    Re: #28
    ( ◜ω◝ )I got into minestrone because the one I had at Tokyo DisneySea as a kid was so good~ though that particular minestrone isn't on the menu anymore………
    29AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:16
    Re: #27
    Did you pull anything on the last gacha banner?
    30AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:17
    Re: #29
    (っ´ω`c)Got all the featured units. Still pulling — aiming for dupes on the two protagonists and Saki-chan
    32AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:19
    Re: #30
    The last banner was better than the current new one, right?? That's what I think, what about you
    39AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:21
    These days you don't even need to eat in — there's takeout, Uber Eats and all, pretty convenient
    41AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:22
    Re: #39
    (っ´ω`c)Yeah, I'd rather eat leisurely at home
    42AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:23
    Re: #40
    (っ´ω`c)Memorable enough that it stuck with you, huh. Been to Disney lately?
    43AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:23
    Re: #42
    ( ◜ω◝ )Haven't been in about half a year
    44AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:24
    (っ*´ω`*c)Heheh, looks like Starleap's gonna get dropped soon too
    48AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:26
    Re: #44
    (っ´ω`c)Who knows……might quit……once Astraeo Ratio drops……
    45AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:24
    Hit the gym again this morning (´・ω・`)
    49AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:27
    Re: #45
    (っ´ω`c)Good work out there, you're really at it. I want to get serious about strength training too — let's both keep at it. Under the same sky, we'll push each other forward
    50AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:27
    Should I set aside a grind period on Mahjong Soul?
    I only need 2800pt to hit Master 2, but I'm stuck hovering around 2000 and getting nowhere.
    Well, not losing badly proves I can still compete, but I'm just treading water and not earning any rank points at all
    52AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:28
    Re: #50
    (っ´ω`c)Hovering right at the edge of a rank-up is the worst — so frustrating and stressful. Better to just push through and get it over with
    51AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:28
    Re: #47
    Anti-itch cream, sure, I've got that (´・ω・`) (a pun on the previous post's "itchy/frustrating")

    Re: #48
    You bet! (´・ω・`)g
    53AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:29
    Re: #51
    (っ´ω`c)Nice, I'm working hard on strength training too right now. Do you have a target weight you're aiming for?
    54AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:30
    Re: #53
    I'm overweight, honestly
    so I want to hit 65kg by the end of this year
    eventually aiming for 60kg
    56AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:32
    Re: #54
    (っ´ω`c)Having a target weight is good — gives you something to work toward. What made you decide to lose weight? Health reasons?
    55AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:31
    ( ◜ω◝ )Nice, I've been dieting since this year too
    Hoping I can get back down to my old weight
    59AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:33
    Re: #55
    (っ´ω`c)You're dieting too, huh. Dieting's tough. But it helps when there are others around you giving it their best too. So, what's your reason for dieting?

    Background and Talking Points

    This thread follows the classic 5ch Niche Speed VIP format of “adopt a persona and chat about your day.” The recurring poster (っ´ω`c) isn’t a real, identifiable individual — it’s best read as a voice/character the thread starter adopted for the thread. VIP is full of threads where posters take on a first-person character to talk about everyday life, and here the topics drifted one after another: eating out at Saizeriya, Mahjong Soul rank climbing, mobile game gacha pulls, and diet goals. There’s no clear conflict or conclusion in the exchange — it’s defined by a loose, easygoing chat where each participant simply shares how they’ve been doing. The gacha and ranking talk leans on game-specific jargon that may be unfamiliar to some readers, but none of it concerns real events or real people — it’s best understood as everyday conversation on an anonymous message board.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Niche Speed VIP) thread “(っ´ω`c) Recently Gained Weight, Hikikomori NEET.”

  • DeNA’s Dokoe Hits Go-Ahead Homer to Take Game 1, Giants’ Martinez Gets Tagged — 5ch: ‘Comedy Baseball lol’

    In Game 1 of the Central League Climax Series, the Yokohama DeNA BayStars took the lead in the 9th inning on a hit from Ryuki Dokoe, winning 2-1. The Giants had a rough night, as starter Martinez gave up a late home run that let DeNA pull ahead. Mid-game, the Giants’ decision to bunt with a runner on second and no outs sparked debate on the forum, splitting fans between those who valued the higher run expectancy of swinging away and those who backed manager Hashigami’s call to prioritize tying the score. The 8th-inning double play and both teams’ track records in short playoff series were also hot topics.

    DeNA  1 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 1 | 2

    Giants  1 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 0 | 1

    [Battery]

    Source: nikkansports.com / Original article here

    3AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:37
    Rai-Maru lol (mocking nickname for Martinez)
    Salary of ¥1.22 billion lol

    Bunting with a runner on second, no outs lol
    Comedy baseball lol
    43AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:41
    Re: #3
    After sending out Rai-Maru, getting taken deep, and falling behind, saying "let's just tie it first"
    doesn't fly.

    You shouldn't bunt there unless it's an obvious case where extra innings would favor you — like if the other team's been burning through relievers since the early innings.
    182AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:57
    Re: #3
    Doing it in front of Darbeck, who can't even make contact, is one thing,
    but statistically, a runner on second with no outs is literally the ONE case where bunting is the right call to get 1 run.
    11AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:38
    Honestly, honestly, this game just shows how low the level of the Central League is
    Both teams are so weak, they're definitely losing to the Tigers.
    19AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:39
    Losing with Inoue, the BayStars Killer, on the mound really stings.
    28AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:40
    Re: #19
    In the end they couldn't even get a hit off Inoue, and they pulled him anyway.
    27AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:40
    Wait, sorry, wasn't Dokoe supposed to be a total joke of a player everyone clowned on?
    I kept seeing clips of his comedy-tier defense going around on social media.
    154AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:52
    Re: #27
    He finally broke out this year.
    33AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:40
    Could this actually turn into a championship run under manager Aikawa?
    157AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:52
    Re: #33
    Today's game just made that a lot more likely.
    35AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:40
    What do you all think of Izumiguchi's sacrifice bunt with a runner on second and no outs?
    65AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:43
    Re: #35
    I don't think it's wrong
    since the tying run scored off a sac fly from the cleanup hitter, Darbeck
    But if you call it the weak-minded choice, yeah, fair enough.
    164AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:53
    Re: #35
    If DeNA had been burning through their bullpen, playing for extra innings would've been the right call

    but given how the game was actually going, that kind of passive offense was a mistake.
    46AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:42
    Aren't the Giants just bad at the Climax Series?
    Actually, they seem weak in short playoff series in general.
    114AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:48
    Re: #46
    The Giants have never advanced after finishing 2nd or 3rd. If they don't win the pennant outright, their season's basically over right there.
    139AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:51
    Re: #46
    Basically the Yankees.
    47AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:42
    We were struggling against Inoue, but then some Dragons guy showed up at the end and saved us!
    58AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:42
    Re: #47
    It's been 13 years since they were Japan Series champions now, huh.
    60AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:43
    Might as well cut Darbeck too.
    88AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:45
    Re: #60
    If they cut Darbeck, some other team will scoop him up for sure. Sounds like he wants to keep playing in Japan anyway
    so it's really just whether the Giants re-sign him.
    117AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:48
    Re: #88
    If you're running a cleanup hitter at Darbeck's level,
    you're not winning a championship —
    not if you're serious about going all the way.
    73AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:44
    Re: #65
    It's common knowledge by now that bunting lowers run expectancy, and doing it while behind is just dumb.
    105AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:47
    Re: #73
    In a no-outs, runner-on-second situation, bunting should actually raise the probability of scoring.
    123AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:49
    Re: #73
    "Run expectancy favors swinging away" is really just about the odds of scoring 2 or 3 runs.
    If all you want is 1 run, depending on the situation, bunting can actually be the better bet.
    91AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:45
    I figured the BayStars would be in trouble today since they weren't pulling Inoue early, but then they pulled him anyway with plenty left in the tank, and the reliever got hit.
    94AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:46
    Re: #91
    Yeah, they shouldn't have made that switch.
    96AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:46
    Whoever was hyping up Hashigami must be wide awake now —
    he's cut from the same cloth as bunt-obsessed Abe.
    167AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:54
    Re: #96
    Even by sabermetric standards, setting up a 1-out runner on third is a valid way to try to scratch out a run.
    If you can't tie it, it's over,
    so Hashigami's choice to go for at least 1 run instead of the lead isn't wrong.
    113AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:48
    With Abe there might've been an outside shot at the Japan Series, but with Hashigami, no chance.
    133AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:50
    Re: #113
    If it were Abe, they wouldn't even have had a winning interleague record — they'd be sitting 4th or lower.
    119AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:48
    That double play in the 8th was a work of art.
    159AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:53
    Re: #119
    That's what flipped the momentum.
    Just stopping the hit would've been impressive enough,
    but getting TWO outs out of that play is the real shocker.
    183AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:57
    Re: #119
    It was so artistic the Giants dugout was shocked enough to challenge the call.
    138AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:51
    First time watching pro baseball in a while and I have no clue who any of the Giants players are anymore.
    I actually know more BayStars guys at this point — times have really changed.
    177AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:57
    Re: #138
    I only recognize Sakamoto, Maru, Richard, and Kai at this point.
    152AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:52
    It's harsh to pile on Darbeck —
    the Giants are just paying for years of draft and development failures.
    162AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:53
    Re: #152
    Honestly, whoever expected a sac fly out of strikeout king Darbeck is the one at fault.
    153AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:52
    Martinez: ¥1.2 billion
    Kai: ¥500 million
    Norimoto: ¥300 million

    What are they even doing lol
    Blowing all the money they got from selling off Okamoto.
    169AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:55
    Re: #153
    Nothing but bad investments lol

    Background and Key Debate Points

    The first stage of the Central League Climax Series is a best-of-2 format, where winning Game 1 gives a team a major edge. The Giants entered this series as the 2nd-place finisher, and the thread pointed to their shaky history in short playoff series — specifically that they’ve never advanced after finishing 2nd or 3rd. The main sticking point was whether the sacrifice bunt with a runner on second and no outs was the right call, splitting opinion between those favoring the higher run expectancy of swinging away and those backing the lower-risk path to securing the tying run. On the use of high-salary players like Martinez, Kai, and Norimoto, there were plenty of critical comments about how the money from Okamoto’s compensation transfer was being spent — though that reflects forum sentiment rather than a vetted breakdown of contract terms, and the article does not vouch for the exact figures cited. As for Dokoe, he’s often been talked about for his defensive miscues, but it’s worth noting he’s been earning praise for his hitting this season.

    *This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Geisoku+) thread “[Baseball] Central League CS Game 1: G 1-2 DB [10/10] DeNA’s Dokoe hits go-ahead homer! Giants’ Martinez gets tagged.”

  • Giants’ Martinez Gives Up Game-Tying Homer in Climax Series — 5ch: ‘Tsunidora Blows It Again’

    In a Climax Series game, Yomiuri Giants reliever Raidel Martinez surrendered a hit that tied the score, and 5ch’s “Nandemo Jikkyo” (anything-goes live-commentary) board exploded. Threads buzzed with the nickname “Tsunidora” — a riff on the moniker he carried during his Chunichi Dragons days — as fans rehashed how a reliever signed for one of the highest salaries in NPB keeps failing to deliver when it matters most. Talk also spread to the quality of the pitch Dowake hit, pitching coach Inoue’s decision on when to make the switch, and the first-inning sacrifice bunt, with fans split on the team’s overall strategy.

    1AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:21
    Kyojin (the 'hollow Giants' — a pun insult)… *dong* lmaoooo
    3AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:21
    The trash Giants are DONE AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA lmaoooooooooo
    5AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:21
    They send him out to protect a tie and THIS happens lmaooo
    14AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:23
    He Tsuni'd it again, noooooo lol
    15AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:23
    I sense he really just wants to go back to Chunichi
    17AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:23
    ¥1.2 billion (NPB's highest salary) for a run-of-the-mill reliever…
    18AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:24
    That's why guys who spent years on weak teams have zero experience in pennant races
    19AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:24
    Why'd they pull Inoue?
    He could've gone at least one more inning, or until he put a runner on
    20AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:24
    Haven't seen the footage, but was the pitch Dowake hit even that good to begin with?
    29AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:26
    Re: #20
    Belt-high right down the middle — an absolute meatball, textbook homer pitch lmaooooooooo
    https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/2108820577821843456/vid/avc1/1280×720/x7YzdhM7Lxp_4dpv.mp4
    22AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:24
    Tsunidora Martinez lmaoooooooooooooo
    23AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:25
    Tsunidel Tsunitinez lol
    25AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:25
    His Lordship, 'Ruler of Baseball,' losing EVERYTHING — strength, tradition, popularity, all stripped away lolololol
    That's even more pathetic than me — a 30-something corporate drone who's never had a girlfriend and is still a virgin
    31AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:26
    Re: #25
    No, you're the pathetic one here
    34AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:27
    Re: #25
    Nah, you're definitely the more pathetic one, face it
    27AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:25
    Guess he never got to rack up CS experience while he was with Chunichi
    28AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:26
    He never blew it in the postseason back in his Chunichi days, so why now?
    32AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:26
    Re: #28
    Can you even count that if the team never made the postseason to begin with?
    33AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:26
    Re: #28
    Classic reminder: he never actually pitched in one
    38AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:28
    Re: #29
    Huh, gotcha, thanks
    yeah that pitch really was soft
    39AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:28
    Katsumata's ball also nearly flew straight to the fence — had that same whiff of trouble
    He's probably slacking off and not preparing properly
    42AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:29
    I genuinely don't remember Rai-Mar ever blowing a big game though
    45AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:30
    Re: #42
    He blew it in this year's October 1st game against the Tigers though
    48AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:30
    Re: #42
    Already forgot about getting hit by Oyama?
    60AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:36
    Re: #42
    He's blown the save against the Tigers twice already
    43AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:29
    Wait, didn't he not even pitch in CS last year?
    44AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:29
    Getting hit by Dowake of all people lmaooo wait that's just a routine fly ball to right lmaooo the ultimate 'dome run' (a lazy fly that becomes a homer off the dome roof) lmaooo
    50AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:31
    And here comes the screwup showdown ━━━━(゚∀゚)━━━━!!
    51AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:31
    It's like watching a Tsunidorama (Tsunidora + 'drama') play out

    This guy's useless when it actually counts
    65AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:37
    Tsunidora goes down again today
    81AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:42
    Re: #65
    Even once the game was basically decided, he's still incredible at blowing it
    101AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:52
    Don't expect run support from a team that bunts in the first inning
    106AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:55
    Re: #101
    And bunting against a hitter batting .500 against them this year, no less
    even though it did end up scoring a run
    102AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:52
    That's dumb
    Any sensible team prioritizes resting pitchers for next season, so they're not even trying that hard in CS to begin with
    honestly, this whole event that only Yokohama (DeNA) seems fired up about should just end already
    113AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:59
    Re: #102
    Tsunidora, quit hiding behind 'resting pitchers for the CS' 😡
    115AnonymousOct 10, 2026 17:00
    Re: #102
    Although apparently the Giants' ace and closer both pitched today, fyi
    103AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:54
    Everyone was all 'we're winning it, we're winning it' and in the end isn't THIS guy the actual culprit who cost them the game?
    118AnonymousOct 10, 2026 17:02
    Re: #103
    Nobody could've predicted this weakness — choking when it matters most — back in his Chunichi days

    Background and key points of debate

    The Climax Series (CS) is a short, win-or-go-home playoff in which the top pennant-race finishers battle for a spot in the Japan Series, so a single run carries far more weight than in a regular-season game. The “Tsunidora” nickname that kept popping up in the thread plays on the fact that Martinez made his name as a pitcher during his Chunichi Dragons days — it’s become a go-to jab trotted out whenever he fails, no matter how many years have passed since he left the team. Opinions split over whether his past meltdowns against the Tigers justify branding him “weak in the clutch,” or whether this much outrage over a single blown lead is overblown. The arguments over the first-inning sacrifice bunt and the pitching change likewise reflect a broader divide specific to the CS — go all-in for the win now versus manage the roster with next season in mind — so much of the disagreement in the thread comes down to which team-building philosophy a fan favors, rather than a clear right or wrong.

    ※This article excerpts and summarizes the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “Raidel Martinez wwwwwwwwweeee.”

  • SoftBank Group to Raise ¥16 Trillion — 5ch: ‘This Has Gone Beyond Investment, Into Madness’

    SoftBank Group is reportedly considering raising up to $100 billion (about ¥16 trillion) to fund AI investments and set up a buyout fund, according to the UK’s Financial Times. Masayoshi Son’s AI strategy is known for its stake in OpenAI and its data center investments, but has also drawn criticism over mounting debt. On 5ch threads, some see this fundraising as “a golden chance to win the bet,” while others warn it’s “madness that’s gone beyond investment” and that SoftBank “should cut its losses” — with the debate spreading to OpenAI’s profitability and past decisions like selling off NVIDIA shares.

    SoftBank Group considering raising up to ¥16 trillion, FT reports

    It emerged on the 9th that SoftBank Group (SBG) is aiming to raise up to $100 billion (about ¥16 trillion), the UK’s Financial Times reported. The funds are reportedly earmarked for AI investment and for setting up a buyout fund.

    (details omitted)

    Source: nikkei.com / Read the original article here

    8AnonymousOct 10, 2026 13:16
    Trust 'Baldy Bank' (mocking slang for SoftBank, a jab at Son's baldness)
    and you'll end up getting your data hacked
    48AnonymousOct 10, 2026 13:29
    Re: #8
    They'll hand out some V Points (a loyalty-points program) and call it settled
    12AnonymousOct 10, 2026 13:17
    Baldy's investments looked sketchy, but defense AI seems to be getting more important lol
    Looks like SoftBank's gonna win this bet lol
    37AnonymousOct 10, 2026 13:24
    Re: #32
    Either way it just means more junk
    Constant data center swap-outs, nothing but e-waste
    Regular people get AI features forced on them, prices go up, and all the current gear turns into junk
    50AnonymousOct 10, 2026 13:30
    Elon Musk was mocking SoftBank, wasn't he
    53AnonymousOct 10, 2026 13:32
    Getting trolled by hairy Elon Musk, who's basically saying 'everyone who hands money to Baldy is an idiot'
    96AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:06
    Re: #53
    Baldy's rival

    Speaking of which, whatever happened to that hair-growth drug you were developing, Elon?
    63AnonymousOct 10, 2026 13:35
    Didn't know if they were anti-AI, but apparently SoftBank has haters overseas too
    70AnonymousOct 10, 2026 13:40
    Re: #63
    Well, people who've been lending them money for ages are bound to get angry
    it'd be weirder if they weren't
    75AnonymousOct 10, 2026 13:46
    Have they lost it?
    Just cut your losses already
    Everyone already knows OpenAI has no future
    80AnonymousOct 10, 2026 13:49
    Re: #75
    Isn't it because if SoftBank's money doesn't get cycled back to NVIDIA through this 'circular AI investment,' the whole bicycle tips over lol
    90AnonymousOct 10, 2026 13:58
    Looks like SoftBank's finally run out of road and the end is near
    Son's about due to retire anyway, so I guess the timing works out
    But if SoftBank goes under, the chain of related bankruptcies would tip Japan into a massive recession
    better start bracing for it now
    101AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:08
    Re: #90
    Existing shareholders and bondholders would take a huge hit, but even with some asset sell-offs the company itself would survive — it won't get that bad
    94AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:06
    'Who'd have thought SoftBank would go bankrupt like this…' — feels like something people will be saying a few years from now
    116AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:23
    Re: #94
    Nah, this turd's always been running on fumes, so this is just business as usual
    99AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:07
    Geez… back in September it already reeked of 'way too far, seriously risky,'
    and they're still accelerating in that direction…
    Actually, once the debt's piled up this high, correcting course from it is probably impossible anyway.
    And before any of that — Son's whole thing has already gone beyond investment, into pure madness.
    160AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:08
    Re: #99

    The grudge that drives Baldy onward
    117AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:23
    What kind of world has a company with a ¥1,000 trillion market cap
    in a country whose entire national budget barely tops ¥100 trillion
    You don't even need to think about it to see that's insane
    119AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:25
    Re: #117
    Market cap can be juiced however you like through borrowing…
    though manufacturers like Toyota are a different story
    127AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:39
    I honestly can't get work done without ChatGPT anymore
    so I kind of get why people invest in this
    186AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:04
    Re: #127
    True, if there were no competitors
    136AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:50
    People can broadly be split into memory-types and thinking-types

    and honestly, AI isn't something worth pouring this much money into in the first place
    141AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:53
    Re: #136
    It's basically a weapon that can take down infrastructure too, so the development race with China can't be stopped now
    139AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:51
    It's like watering the desert
    just stay out of it
    142AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:53
    Re: #139
    The revenue model isn't even established yet, but the capital spending to keep greedy users happy is just enormous lol
    157AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:06
    Re: #139
    Watering the desert — exactly this
    144AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:54
    Son's probably going to end up being Japan's last big-name business leader
    I feel like nobody who grabs headlines like this is going to come along again
    149AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:58
    Re: #144
    As a businessman though, he hasn't really done that much, has he?
    145AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:55
    Can't get loans in Japan anymore, so now Son's eyeing funds backed by Middle Eastern oil money lol

    the century's greatest debt king lol
    148AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:57
    Re: #145
    When he borrowed from the Saudi prince, failing to repay meant they'd pluck every hair off his head and backside, so he scrambled to pay it back lol
    147AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:57
    I'm actually starting to worry about Masayoshi Son
    I guess he really is an old man now
    151AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:59
    Re: #147
    Free users: "Go OpenAI, you got this!"
    Baldy: "OpenAI goes fully paid"
    Free users: "OpenAI, drop dead!"

    and then it goes fully paid, users plummet, and that's the end of it lol
    159AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:08
    OpenAI needs to rein in infrastructure spending and shift into recoup mode soon, or it's in trouble
    on current actuals they're losing about ¥1.2 trillion a year
    cumulative losses are said to total as much as ¥43 trillion
    the question is how much of that they can claw back by switching to paid subscriptions
    162AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:11
    Re: #159
    But then there's the dilemma that without constant infrastructure investment the service goes stale, and they lose both free and paid users lol
    170AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:25
    Re: #159
    A ¥43 trillion deficit is honestly insane.
    It's only existed for 11 years and has racked up losses on the scale of a national budget, and it's still standing — that's wild.
    Granted, the AI boom did have tons of people throwing money at anything just because it was labeled 'AI.'
    161AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:09
    Masayoshi Son is a guy who burned through 90% of his fortune — ¥8 trillion — in a single year, and then clawed his way back up to ¥15 trillion
    his dopamine must be firing nonstop at all times
    165AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:16
    Re: #161
    He sold off his NVIDIA shares and missed out on ¥30 trillion in profit,
    which was a huge embarrassment for him as an investor,
    so now, trying to redeem his name, he's bet everything on OpenAI as the clear favorite horse — and it looks like he might lose this bet too

    Background and key points of this topic

    SoftBank Group has a history of swinging between massive investment wins and losses, from the dot-com bubble of the 2000s to the huge Vision Fund losses in 2022, and the thread includes commentary describing him as “the man who came back after burning through 90% of his assets.” Meanwhile, experts have also flagged concerns about OpenAI’s slow path to profitability and the “circular investment” structure in which AI-related firms fund each other and place orders with each other — the thread’s cautious voices echo this same concern. That said, the specific loss figures and market-cap numbers that appear in these posts are not confirmed figures from news reporting and may include posters’ speculation or exaggeration, so they shouldn’t be taken at face value as fact.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (News Express+) thread “SoftBank Group aims to raise up to ¥16 trillion, to be allocated to AI investment and funds.”

  • Rakuten Denies Rumors of 100 Million-Member Data Leak — 5ch: ‘Does It Even Have That Many Members?’

    A post appeared on a cybercrime forum claiming to sell roughly 101 million pieces of data said to be Rakuten member information, sparking concern over a possible leak on social media. In response, Rakuten Group issued a denial, stating “no fact of a data leak has been confirmed.” On 5ch, opinions clashed: some argued the figure itself isn’t unnatural given that Rakuten officially reports “over 100 million” domestic members, while others pointed to the sheer volume of phishing emails they receive and suspected “this has probably been leaking for a while.” Posts also expressed very real, practical anxiety over whether assets held at Rakuten Bank are safe.

    Rakuten Group Denies Rumors of a Leak Involving Over 100 Million Members’ Data — “No Fact of a Data Leak Has Been Confirmed”

    A post appeared on a cybercrime forum offering to sell roughly 101 million pieces of data said to be Rakuten member information, and concern spread on social media. There are fears of harmful effects such as leaked subscriber information for services including Rakuten Mobile, along with leaked personal data and fraudulent use.

    (omitted)

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

    4AnonymousOct 10, 2026 12:24
    That's a bad move. If it turns out data really was leaked, it'll just look like they didn't even notice it happening.
    65AnonymousOct 10, 2026 12:41
    Re: #4
    So what would be a good response then?
    11AnonymousOct 10, 2026 12:26
    Wouldn't be surprised at all if Rakuten actually did leak data, but the number being over 100 million is the weird part. Does Rakuten really have that many members?
    35AnonymousOct 10, 2026 12:31
    Re: #11
    Well sure, that's counting dogs, cats, goldfish, and dead people as members too.
    37AnonymousOct 10, 2026 12:32
    Amazon, Rakuten, Apple, the National Tax Agency — I get a ton of phishing emails claiming to be from them.
    176AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:12
    Re: #37
    It's already been leaking for ages, right?
    40AnonymousOct 10, 2026 12:34
    If all the Rakuten points I diligently saved up turn out to be worthless, I might actually lose it.
    53AnonymousOct 10, 2026 12:38
    Re: #40
    I've got over 2 million points built up through investing, so this isn't a joke for me.
    42AnonymousOct 10, 2026 12:35
    I've been with Rakuten since the early days, so this would genuinely be a problem for me… Though honestly, I get weird emails all the time at an address I've only ever registered with Rakuten, so my info's probably been leaked before anyway lol
    49AnonymousOct 10, 2026 12:37
    Re: #42
    Since back then, huh
    https://corp.rakuten.co.jp/about/assets/img/history/1997.jpg
    58AnonymousOct 10, 2026 12:39
    There's no way it's 100 million — that part really sounds fishy.
    63AnonymousOct 10, 2026 12:41
    Re: #58
    If you're counting per card/account, isn't around 100 million about right?
    64AnonymousOct 10, 2026 12:41
    Re: #58
    People have multiple accounts each, so it's entirely possible.
    80AnonymousOct 10, 2026 12:51
    If they genuinely don't even know whether it happened, that's even more incompetent.

    Personally, given the sheer volume of spam I get at the address I registered with Rakuten, I think they've been leaking data for ages.
    82AnonymousOct 10, 2026 12:52
    Re: #80
    Then again, it could just be the same source sending stuff under different disguises.
    86AnonymousOct 10, 2026 12:55
    Is Rakuten Bank okay? Should I withdraw my money just in case? Can someone who actually knows please explain?
    91AnonymousOct 10, 2026 12:58
    Re: #86
    It's not like Rakuten specifically is being targeted, so if outsiders could pull this off, every other bank would be in trouble too.
    93AnonymousOct 10, 2026 12:59
    Re: #86
    Your Rakuten Bank account is actually separate from your Rakuten account. Rakuten Bank doesn't send paper balance statements, so you should make sure your family knows how to access it, just in case.
    90AnonymousOct 10, 2026 12:58
    I got an email saying 'Your Rakuten member account may have been accessed by a third party, so for security reasons we have reset your Rakuten account password.' There wasn't even a clickable link in it, so I figured it must be real, opened Rakuten and logged in myself — but my password hadn't actually been reset. What was that about?
    92AnonymousOct 10, 2026 12:59
    Re: #90
    Wait, you actually logged in?
    99AnonymousOct 10, 2026 13:02
    Re: #90
    That's worrying… please tell me that's a joke.
    202AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:42
    Re: #90
    Just contact Rakuten directly about it. You'd want to know if someone really did log into your account, right?
    98AnonymousOct 10, 2026 13:01
    Re: #91,93
    Maybe I should move my money to MUFG or SMBC, since their security is supposedly tighter than Rakuten Bank's?
    116AnonymousOct 10, 2026 13:08
    Re: #98
    How do you know such detailed internal technical stuff?
    102AnonymousOct 10, 2026 13:03
    As long as nobody confirms the facts, nothing officially 'happened.'
    108AnonymousOct 10, 2026 13:05
    Re: #102 Is this quantum mechanics or something lol
    109AnonymousOct 10, 2026 13:06
    If attackers are using AI for cyberattacks, then use AI to defend too. AI can keep watch 24/7, no problem. And have it trace the attackers back and counterattack.
    123AnonymousOct 10, 2026 13:10
    Re: #109 Saw this on TV. They compared it to a soccer goal — the attacker can kick the ball from anywhere, as many times as they want, while the defender loses the moment even one gets through. That's why they said 'it's just difficult.'
    110AnonymousOct 10, 2026 13:06
    There's no way a company like Rakuten has 100 million members to begin with.
    112AnonymousOct 10, 2026 13:06
    Re: #110
    It's possible the same people are just making tons of accounts each.
    125AnonymousOct 10, 2026 13:10
    Re: #110
    Rakuten officially states it has over 100 million domestic IDs.
    https://corp.rakuten.co.jp/careers/services/
    > Rakuten currently boasts over 100 million* members domestically. Going forward, we aim to expand the 'Rakuten Ecosystem' globally as well, delivering fun, convenient services to over 2.1 billion Rakuten Group service users worldwide.
    130AnonymousOct 10, 2026 13:12
    Someone needs to deal with the trash media ("masugomi," a derogatory slur combining "mass media" and "garbage") that spread this fake news.
    132AnonymousOct 10, 2026 13:14
    Re: #130
    It was only ever reported as 'a hacker claimed this,' so it's not technically fake news.

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    Rakuten’s official site states it has “over 100 million” members domestically, and within the thread, post #125 cites this very figure to argue that a scale of “100 million” isn’t inherently implausible. At the same time, readers can easily misread Rakuten’s statement that “no fact of a data leak has been confirmed” — this is standard corporate-PR phrasing indicating that nothing has been substantiated yet, not a definitive conclusion from an investigation that no leak occurred. The thread split into two camps, neither going beyond speculation: (1) those who see the huge figure as evidence the claim is fabricated or exaggerated, and (2) those who point to the sheer volume of phishing emails they receive daily as evidence that Rakuten’s data must have been leaking for a while already. It’s also worth noting that phishing emails themselves can stem from leaks at other companies or from indiscriminate spam campaigns, so they don’t actually prove a direct leak from Rakuten.

    *This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Breaking News+) thread “Rakuten Group Denies Rumors of a Leak Involving Over 100 Million Members’ Data — “No Fact of a Data Leak Has Been Confirmed”.”

  • Woman: “Men Should Understand the Fear of Unprotected Creampies”

    A thread titled “Men should understand the fear of unprotected creampies” ignited a head-on clash between men and women on 5ch. The original poster argued that the risk of unwanted pregnancy isn’t something only women have to bear — men who finish inside without protection should feel anxious about it too. In response, a wave of pushback followed: “The fear of being cuckolded into raising someone else’s kid is way bigger,” and “If you’re not trying to get pregnant, going in raw is on both of you.” The discussion spiraled into why people skip contraception and whether partners actually feel free to say no, with no consensus ever reached on who should really be responsible for birth control.

    1AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:20
    Fair point.
    3AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:22
    We're stuck with the fear of being cuckolded into raising someone else's kid instead.
    6AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:24
    Period pain, sure, but what's she trying to prove by making us 'get it'?
    Even if we go 'yeah that sounds rough,' the fear's still sitting there either way.
    8AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:25
    Normally if you're really into a guy, you'd want him to finish inside you though.
    9AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:26
    I already know that, what's your point?
    10AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:26
    Women should know the fear of a lifetime of hardship.
    11AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:26
    That whole "you'll get kinder once you've felt the same pain" theory…
    it's basically the same logic as workers resenting management.
    13AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:26
    Just what kind of dating history have you been through, exactly?
    17AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:29
    No, it's on you for having sex without trying to get her pregnant in the first place.
    19AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:29
    Re: #17
    There's a lot of guys like this who dodge responsibility.
    18AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:29
    Going raw but pulling out gives me this weird tension that kills my focus.
    20AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:30
    Re: #14
    In that case, isn't it the woman's fault for not making it clear she wanted it in her backdoor instead?
    41AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:44
    I've had women tell me flat out we don't need a condom plenty of times.
    43AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:45
    Re: #41
    Nobody cares about a virgin's fantasy.
    44AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:46
    Re: #41
    Guys like that tend to get called limp dicks.
    48AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:49
    So then why do you let him finish raw inside you?
    50AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:50
    Re: #48
    I never said I let it happen.
    55AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:54
    Using a condom is for wimps.
    56AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:55
    Re: #55
    Specifically, how is that "being a wimp"?
    58AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:57
    Being too scared to say no is on the woman herself.
    Who you date is your own call.
    64AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:59
    Re: #58
    Then why don't you wear one?
    62AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:59
    They go off with violent guys on their own and nobody makes them.
    Fix that first.
    66AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:01
    Re: #62
    When did who go off with someone? That's just you making stuff up, right?
    67AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:01
    Just say no then.
    Are you dumb or something?
    69AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:03
    If she's your girlfriend, she'll basically let you go raw.

    Even the strict ones — book a regular hotel instead of a love hotel, say "I don't have a condom," and they'll reluctantly let you.
    74AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:06
    Re: #69
    Don't mistake that for being normal.
    Plenty of girls hate it but can't bring themselves to say no.
    79AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:11
    Re: #74
    Well, I've never made anyone feel bad about it.
    The real thing's loose enough to kill the mood as it is — no way I'm putting a condom on top of that.
    87AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:16
    Re: #40
    Honestly, same — I got a girl I was messaging on Instagram pregnant and then ghosted her, so yeah, that tracks.
    90AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:18
    Re: #87
    Yeah, guys like this scumbag are out there.
    I'd love for the kid to meet him a few years down the line
    and go "this is your real daddy."
    88AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:18
    Re: #82
    Amateur girls have it made — they can just lie there and still feel like they're "working."
    91AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:19
    Re: #88
    Are there really girls like that? Wouldn't know.
    100AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:31
    No, it's the guy over here praying "please just let her period show up!"
    Are you even for real, or just talking out of your depth? lol ("エアプ" — slang for someone who talks like they have experience but clearly doesn't)
    103AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:33
    Re: #100
    By the way, I'm a guy.
    Lol, got you.

    Background and Key Points of This Debate

    Arguments over who’s responsible for contraception are a recurring staple on 5ch, and this thread was no different, weighing “the pregnancy risk women bear” against “the risk of being cuckolded or dragged into custody disputes that men bear.” That said, everything raised in the thread amounts to anonymous gut feelings and personal dating anecdotes — no statistics or data on pregnancy rates or actual condom use ever showed up. The question of consent — the power dynamics behind who refuses protection and who feels unable to — is arguably the real issue here, but the thread barely dug into it, ending instead in a stalemate over “who’s got it worse.” Readers should keep in mind this is an exchange of emotional arguments, not an objective survey.

    ※This article is an excerpt and summary of the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “Woman: “Men Should Understand the Fear of Unprotected Creampies”.”

  • Juice=Juice Is Running Away With Hello! Project Alone — 5ch: ‘It’s Not About the Numbers, They’re Making Kōhaku’ (NHK’s Prestigious New Year’s Eve Song Special)

    Within Hello! Project, Juice=Juice alone has seen a sudden surge in popularity, and a thread popped up on 5ch where fans of the other groups raised questions like “Is it even fun watching Hello! Project in this one-group-dominant state right now?” and “How can people put up with this?” In the thread, voices crediting Juice=Juice’s popularity to a viral hit song clashed with voices suspicious of “staged” manipulation, arguing that view counts and chart rankings don’t actually translate into real sales. Posts comparing the venue sizes of each group’s Christmas events also appeared, along with opinions noting that Morning Musume, Angerme, and Tsubaki Factory stayed completely uninvolved in this whole development — highlighting how differently each group is positioned.

    1AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:07
    Hasn't the recent decline in popularity of Hello! Project OGs been pretty bad lately?
    652 Anonymous 2026/10/10 (Sat) 12:23:26.51 0
    Then again, is Hello! Project actually fun right now?
    9AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:20
    Hello! Project used to basically mean 20 years of "we're not selling, but we're having fun" — but now that Juice=Juice suddenly started selling, both fans and members are getting worked up, acting jealous or newly fired up over it.
    Nothing's really changed except that Juice=Juice is selling well, so the fact that people are even bothered by it means they're already framing everything around Juice=Juice.
    10AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:22
    Re: #9
    Honestly it just makes me think a viral song has this much power — nothing else has really changed. If anything IS different, it's that you guys switched from bashing Hello! Project in general to specifically dragging Juice=Juice. Seriously trash behavior, why are you even alive.
    11AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:24
    There's absolutely no way the other groups start selling just because Juice=Juice loses steam — Hello! Project itself just ends.
    14AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:32
    Re: #11
    Gross, lol — sounds like one of those bitter lurkers who actually wants Hello! Project to become washed-up (オワコン, "has-been content"). Gross, lol.

    Seriously, Juice=Juice should blow up even harder and turn all of Hello! Project into an "organization of light" that drives out the toxic, bitter fans.
    16AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:37
    Re: #14
    Isn't Re: #11 a warning aimed at people who are anti-Juice=Juice but still fans of the other Hello! Project groups? If someone were an anti of Hello! Project as a whole, they'd never think "once Juice=Juice falls off, the other groups will rise back up."
    19AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:54
    Angerme still has that vibe that pulls in female fans, so honestly there's nothing to worry about — if anything, a huge viral moment could still happen for them too.
    23AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:57
    Re: #19
    Would that end up being a "glad Tamenaga's here" kind of moment?
    28AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:09
    Juice=Juice has been leveling up by training with top-tier instructors in Korea, learning dance from the fundamentals up.

    It's unfair not to let the other groups get this same training — they should rotate each group through a Korea training camp.
    29AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:11
    Re: #28
    Angerme and OCHA NORMA, yeah — those two should get to go.

    Morning Musume, Tsubaki Factory, and Rosy Chronicle don't need to.
    30AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:12
    Re: #28
    Oh, so you actually had that perspective too. But Juice=Juice got this opportunity because they properly sold and have the drive to take the job. Groups that don't sell don't get the opportunity, and groups without ambition would just end up on a Korean food tour and call it a day.
    32AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:14
    Re: #30
    Somehow I can picture Ikuta Erina literally just doing a food tour and ending it with "Korea is the best!"
    40AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:16
    Re: #32
    Morning Musume already did exactly that — on a Hulu special last year or so they just did a food tour in Korea and came straight back, so it's already a proven fact.
    37AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:16
    You can put up with it, can't you? Morning Musume was the dominant, favored group forever.
    47AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:17
    Re: #37
    There was this half-resigned mood of "well, it's Morning Musume, so what can you do" — and I think Juice=Juice suddenly selling broke that whole balance.
    38AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:16
    Re: #1
    For starters, they're not even in the running for the awards judging. Their sales are worlds apart from the other groups. Almost all of Juice=Juice's numbers are just rigged online figures (yarase). Their real-world sales are miles behind AKB or iLife.

    "Selling" literally means something has to actually sell —

    fake internet votes don't mean anything actually sold.
    41AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:16
    Re: #38
    Exactly this. I get that fans want to hype their group up, but the other side's fans do the exact same thing. Adults aren't stupid — everyone already discounts for that. When it comes down to real numbers, Juice=Juice is clearly behind.
    44AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:17
    To sum up, it's a cynical jab meaning something like: "Even if you desperately inflate the numbers behind the scenes with a pile of phones to fake a huge viral moment, there's not a single real, living person who's actually interested — doesn't that feel hollow to keep doing?" (along with a mocking sneer at the whole situation).
    45AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:17
    Re: #44
    Seriously, this. Pumping up YouTube and TikTok view counts doesn't mean anything if it doesn't translate into actual sales — pie in the sky.
    48AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:17
    With this whole thing, it's the method itself that's getting rejected by Hello! Project fans. Proof of that: even within the same Hello! Project fanbase, the people pushing back are the overwhelming majority.
    49AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:17
    Re: #48
    This whole thing is a massive blow to Hello! Project.

    Hello! Project fans hate this kind of stuff more than anything — if this is fine, you might as well just be an Akimoto fan (producer behind AKB48-style idol groups). If it's just shady adults working backstage to game the entertainment industry, then that's Akimoto's whole game, not Hello!'s.

    We hate Akimoto's approach — we're Hello! Project fans because we love pure music and pure idols.

    Juice=Juice is about to take damage they won't recover from.
    50AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:18
    This whole thing really put Hello! Project fans' sense of integrity to the test.

    Only Morning Musume, Angerme, and Tsubaki Factory stayed completely uninvolved with "Moremi" (a mocking nickname fans gave the viral song/campaign at the center of this).

    The most impressive were the Morning Musume members and their fans — totally unfazed, acting like Juice=Juice didn't even exist.
    52AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:18
    Re: #50
    I'm going to remember this "Tripartite Pact" (a joking nod to the WWII alliance) well — these three groups are the real deal.
    53AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:18
    The reality: "Moremi" hasn't gone all that viral either.

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

    Getting crushed by new songs from Cutie Street (nicknamed "Kyuusuto") and =LOVE — neither of which even gets called "viral."
    54AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:18
    Re: #53
    "Selling" means, literally, that something has to actually sell.

    This is ugly. Nothing's actually selling.
    55AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:18
    It was staged: off-share purchases juiced the first-week numbers to fake a viral moment, and then the newbie "line-up enthusiasts" (people who like showing off standing in queues) jumped on the bandwagon. That's the real story here. Look at the actual numbers and nothing's really selling.
    61AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:21
    Re: #55
    …But from there, if they've got real skill, they'll stick around! If they've got real charm, they'll stick around! And that's not just the members, or just the songs, or just the costumes — it's the strength of the whole package.

    It feels like they've finally gotten onto the same playing field as K-pop idols, so let's not trash-talk it — morale's finally up, after all.
    57AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:19
    Juice=Juice's numbers are rigged, so their numbers are the last thing you can trust.
    64AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:22
    Re: #57
    Uh, hey boss — I'll lend you Dambara (member Ruru Dambara) for one job, so can we just make this work somehow?
    65AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:22
    Re: #57
    So what IS the most trustworthy thing, then?
    62AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:21
    I've never once thought Juice=Juice was the sole dominant group.
    67AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:22
    Re: #62
    1 Anonymous 2026/09/30 (Wed) 17:11:13.43 0
    Christmas events

    Morning Musume.'26
    2026/12/16 [1,207 seats] Zepp Haneda — evening show only, sold out

    Angerme
    2026/12/17 [1,758 seats] Ichikawa City Cultural Hall Main Hall — both shows, 2nd-round reservations

    Juice=Juice
    2026/12/09 [1,758 seats] Ichikawa City Cultural Hall Main Hall — both shows, 1st round, sold out

    Tsubaki Factory
    2026/12/03 [1,000 seats] Nissho Hall — evening show only, sold out

    BEYOOOOONDS
    2026/12/04 [1,000 seats] Nissho Hall — both shows, 1st round, sold out

    OCHA NORMA
    2026/12/14 [*,802 seats] Hitotsubashi Hall — both shows, 1st round, sold out

    Rosy Chronicle
    2026/12/07 [*,933 seats] Setagaya Egret Hall — both shows, 2nd-round reservations
    68AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:23
    Re: #62
    Right now there's a real chance to become a national sensation through a viral song — even if it makes you "public enemy number one" too (a pun on 国民的, "nationally beloved," vs 国民敵, "national enemy").
    86AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:27
    The reality: "Moremi" hasn't gone all that viral either.

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

    Getting crushed by new songs from Cutie Street (nicknamed "Kyuusuto") and =LOVE — neither of which even gets called "viral."
    95AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:29
    Re: #86
    ………It's not about the numbers for Juice=Juice.

    Just watch — they're going to be on Kōhaku.

    Background and Key Points of This Topic

    Hello! Project is structured so that multiple groups belong to the same agency, so when one group’s popularity suddenly outpaces the others, fans of the other groups tend to feel that “the whole atmosphere has changed.” This time, the trigger was Juice=Juice’s song going viral, and the thread captures a mixed, complicated reaction from fans of the other groups — a recurring fault line that’s long been common on 5ch’s Hello! Project board. What particularly split the thread was the question of which metric to trust as the true measure of popularity: one side points to TikTok post counts and social media reaction, while the other emphasizes traditional numbers like CD sales and live venue capacity, and the two sides talk past each other without meeting. It’s worth noting that the view counts, post numbers, and chart rankings cited in the thread all come from anonymous posts, with no primary sources provided to back them up.

    ※This article is compiled and summarized from a 5ch (Hello! Project board) thread: “Is today’s Juice=Juice-dominated Hello! Project actually fun? Wondering how other groups’ fans can stand it“.

  • Why Do In-House Staff Write Game Scripts Instead of ‘Top-Tier Screenwriters’? 5ch Debates

    On 5ch’s “Hardware/Industry” (Geha) board, a thread asked why game scripts are so often written by in-house staff rather than famous screenwriters — like an Akutagawa Prize-winning novelist. Using Xenoblade and Final Fantasy as examples, posters repeatedly pointed out that writing a game script involves constraints unlike those of novels or film screenplays. Others pushed back, noting that Silent Hill f brought in a writer with a background in visual novels, and that Yakuza had used outside writers in the past — arguing that hiring external writers isn’t actually rare, which sparked further debate.

    1AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:38
    Movies: "We got that Akutagawa Prize-winning novelist to write the screenplay."
    Games: "I love anime and manga and I'm decent at writing, so they let me handle the script!"
    This is exactly the problem.
    3AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:43
    This is such a Xenoblade thing.
    It'd be so much better if they just hired someone who can actually write proper dialogue.
    29AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:12
    Re: #3
    It is written by a proper screenwriter, you know.
    4AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:46
    Probably because they're expensive and ignore what's actually feasible to express in a game.
    5AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:46
    Because it's the juiciest part of the job for the people making it.
    6AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:50
    An Akutagawa Prize novelist just isn't cut out for games lol
    8AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:54
    Are you dissing President Hino!?
    9AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:57
    Honestly, once you write something as a game script specifically, it usually ends up garbage no matter who wrote it, so I don't think it matters that much.
    10AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:58
    For the record, Xenoblade does bring in writers from anime and other fields too.
    11AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:01
    According to Yoko Taro, games often hit cases of "can't do this, can't do that" because of spec limitations, so it's frequently easier to adjust the script instead of forcing the implementation through —
    which is why it's better to have a writer on staff full-time.
    12AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:01
    People keep saying that game scripts aren't a straight line,
    which makes writing them a pretty specialized job.
    13AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:02
    If someone can only write scripts where the protagonist just moves the plot forward on their own, putting them on a game script won't work out.
    Games have their own know-how.
    14AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:03
    Simply because it doesn't sell.
    Even seinen magazines like Young Jump and Young Magazine are running isekai "Narou-style" stories these days (Narou = Shōsetsuka ni Narō, the web novel site tied to isekai tropes).
    15AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:04
    Who exactly counts as a "top-tier screenwriter" anyway?
    111AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:07
    Re: #15
    Someone like Miyuki Miyabe, maybe?
    16AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:04
    Probably because they can't fully trust that person's sense of responsibility.
    17AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:06
    This one really stings for the Nintendo fanboys defending garbage scripts from Kusakihara and KMR.
    18AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:07
    They try to express everything through narrative prose,
    which clashes with games, where you show things through visuals, music, and controls.
    28AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:11
    Re: #18
    All they'd really be asked to do is come up with lines, like writing a TRPG replay collection.
    23AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:10
    Re: #1
    Nah, "it won the Akutagawa Prize so it must be good" is a pretty shallow take too, you know.
    Even famous awards have handed out trash novels decided by rigged judging, right?

    KAGEROU……
    31AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:12
    Re: #23
    The Poplar Prize isn't really that famous.
    It only got attention because an actor won it.
    24AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:10
    What even is a "top-tier screenwriter"?
    112AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:07
    Re: #24
    Someone like Gen Urobuchi, maybe?
    35AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:13
    Whether it's movies, novels, or manga,
    the truly great stuff tends to stay buried.
    Everyone only looks at what's already in the spotlight, and then judges everything based on just that.
    39AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:15
    Re: #35
    You seem like the type who'd like matcha-scented soap.
    40AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:15
    Re: #1
    Depends on the company.
    Yakuza, for one, used to bring in famous writers early on.
    FF has publishing deals and still ends up with weird stories, so they're probably just cheaping out on scenario budgets.
    49AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:22
    Re: #40
    I've been hanging around Geha and following the industry for a long time, and that's not really it.
    That company has a structure where whoever's higher up tends to grab all the control — it skews dictatorial. If that person were genuinely a great creator, the company would've just kept thriving without issue.

    The reason it ended up this way is that the person in that powerful position got there through political clout, not creative talent.
    Most other first-party studios are roughly the same.
    48AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:21
    There probably aren't that many pro screenwriters eager to work on game scenarios, where scenes regularly get cut or heavily rewritten depending on how development goes, and after spending years on it the whole project can still end up shelved and never actually released.
    51AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:24
    Re: #48
    Isn't that true in their main field too, though?
    Editors and sponsors asking for cuts or changes is completely normal there as well.
    The only places you really get to do whatever you want are web novels (Narou) or doujin work.
    57AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:28
    Re: #51
    The production timelines are just too different.
    Games can take five or six years and still get scrapped in the end.
    59AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:30
    Re: #51
    I think the point is that games are especially troublesome to work on compared to other industries.
    54AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:26
    People who can write interesting stories for games mostly end up leaving for other industries.
    That's the answer.
    63AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:31
    Re: #54
    We already know that part — I think they're asking you to explain the reason behind it, lolw?
    67AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:33
    Re: #63
    Game writers quit because development takes so long, and
    because the job includes non-writing work too (implementation, debugging, playtesting).
    69AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:34
    Re: #63
    As a medium, games just put less weight on the scenario.
    The exceptions with high weight are basically visual novels and adventure games.
    88AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:42
    > RP
    There are still people out there who naturally look down on light novels……

    There are also people in the industry who naturally look down on visual novels too — you run into them sometimes, like certain old-school console guys. So honestly, seeing Silent Hill f succeed after hiring a visual novel writer does give me a satisfying little "serves you right" feeling.

    — Motoi Okamoto (@obakemogura) October 20, 2025
    107AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:00
    Re: #88
    The bigger factor was that the protagonist was a young woman, so this take is off the mark.
    92AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:45
    There are plenty of visual-novel writers and light-novel authors who'd take the job.
    What I dislike is the attitude of trying to get by with in-house amateurs.
    114AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:09
    Re: #92
    Well, hiring an outside writer isn't actually all that rare in itself.
    You occasionally hear about writers who got brought in during early development to help with plotting,
    through interviews or social media posts from people involved.
    Sometimes it goes unnoticed because the credit is listed under a different name.

    The thing is, the amount of scenario material a game actually needs —
    for a visual novel it can be dozens of times the volume of a regular book,
    plus you need huge amounts of side dialogue and minor events beyond the main story,
    and whenever a town or field layout changes, the lines have to be rewritten too,
    so handling that in-house is overwhelmingly more efficient in a lot of cases,
    which is why it rarely turns into the kind of job where you'd hand a professional author or scenario writer
    enough work to credit them as the main scenario writer.

    Since the volume and format are so different from a novel or TV drama script,
    even when a writer does provide a script for a game, it often ends up staying at the "original concept" stage rather than the finished product.

    Background and Key Points of the Debate

    Unlike novels or film screenplays, game scenarios differ enormously in volume and format — branching paths, minor events, and dialogue that has to be rewritten whenever a field layout changes. The fact that development can stretch on for years, with the scenario itself liable to get cut due to spec changes, was cited as another reason professional writers rarely stay attached full-time. As examples like Yakuza’s use of outside writers and Silent Hill f’s hiring of a visual-novel writer show, bringing in external writers isn’t itself unusual — but posters noted it rarely turns into work substantial enough to be credited as the main scenario. One point that got lost in the thread was that the very premise — “a writer with a prestigious award must be able to write a good script” — is itself disconnected from the practical realities of making a game.

    ※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry, aka Geha) thread “Why do games get handled by otaku-turned-developers instead of top-tier screenwriters?“

  • Sonic Kart’s Wild Lineup: Even Steve and Miku Are Racing Now

    Sega’s new racing game “Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds” has become a hot topic on 5ch’s Hardware & Industry (Geha) board, after it emerged that the roster features a massive crossover lineup — including Minecraft’s Steve, SpongeBob, Hatsune Miku, Evangelion’s Asuka, and Final Fantasy VII’s Cloud. In the thread, opinions clashed head-on between those saying “the game itself is actually solid” and critics arguing that “the gadgets aren’t balanced, so the combinations feel monotonous.” The discussion ranged widely — from complaints that the ad artwork makes the characters too small to see clearly, to speculation about why there’s no voice acting, to suggestions that Sega should go free-to-play to combat poor sales.

    1AnonymousOct 10, 2026 09:27
    ↓
    2AnonymousOct 10, 2026 09:27
    What the hell is this

    3AnonymousOct 10, 2026 09:29
    At least let Joker ride in a Molcar (the car-shaped critters from PUI PUI Molcar)…
    36AnonymousOct 10, 2026 10:48
    Re: #3
    Pui-pui? (Molcar's signature catchphrase)
    4AnonymousOct 10, 2026 09:32
    I heard this game can't stop getting updates because it's some exec's pet project up top — is that for real?
    100AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:02
    Re: #4
    Concurrent player counts are dead (there was almost no period where it was ever "alive"), yet they keep pushing updates — no wonder people say that.
    6AnonymousOct 10, 2026 09:34
    Still better than Wolverine, so it's fine
    8AnonymousOct 10, 2026 09:36
    Re: #6
    Not just real — the game itself is actually really well made.
    The fact that it's not selling anyway is just so Sega.
    7AnonymousOct 10, 2026 09:34
    This is Sega's answer to "Mario Kart's fine, thanks"!
    27AnonymousOct 10, 2026 10:12
    Re: #7
    Mario Kart Arcade GP was made by Bandai Namco, remember.
    Pac-Man and Mametchi are in that one too.

    In the 1st and 2nd games you could pick Pac-Man, Akabei, and Mametchi.
    https://bandainamco-am.co.jp/am/vg/mariokart2/special/character/

    In the DX version, everyone except Pac-Man got cut.
    10AnonymousOct 10, 2026 09:37
    Guess when something's not gonna sell, it's not gonna sell, no matter how far you go.
    12AnonymousOct 10, 2026 09:38
    They went all-out on sponsored content and stealth marketing, but honestly, the game's quality is straight-up garbage, so it's dead.
    13AnonymousOct 10, 2026 09:40
    Re: #12
    It's the opposite.
    This is a case of good quality that just isn't selling.
    15AnonymousOct 10, 2026 09:42
    Re: #8
    Re: #12
    Some of you are probably asking "well which is it," but both are true.
    It's just way too generic-Mario-Kart, and the gadgets aren't balanced, so everyone ends up running the same combo.
    You could say it played things too safe, the opposite of Mario Kart World, and that backfired.
    14AnonymousOct 10, 2026 09:40
    Weird that Rei's in it but Shinji and Asuka aren't.
    16AnonymousOct 10, 2026 09:42
    To begin with, Mario Kart isn't popular because you get to play as the popular character Mario.
    90AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:17
    Re: #16
    Yeah, and sales dropped a lot going from [Mario Kart] 8 Deluxe to [Mario Kart] World too.
    23AnonymousOct 10, 2026 09:50
    What is this ad? The characters are way too small, it's hard to make out — the composition is terrible.
    30AnonymousOct 10, 2026 10:25
    Re: #23
    Same, I thought that too.
    I opened the image wondering what other characters were in it, and it was so hard to see that it freaked me out.
    Made me realize Mario Kart actually put real thought into the size balance between characters and karts.
    31AnonymousOct 10, 2026 10:25
    Re: #13
    Sorry, but that's not what I'd call "well made."
    Though I don't know what you mean by "quality" exactly.
    37AnonymousOct 10, 2026 10:50
    Re: #31
    Games that are crap but still sell are pretty common, you know.
    Like Dora Base 1 (the janky but beloved Doraemon baseball game).
    38AnonymousOct 10, 2026 10:52
    Wonder why they didn't add voice acting.
    Is it really that hard?
    39AnonymousOct 10, 2026 10:54
    Re: #38
    Probably a pay/royalty issue or rights issue?
    47AnonymousOct 10, 2026 11:21
    Re: #38
    Japanese and English alone might be manageable, but preparing it for all the other languages seems tough.
    76AnonymousOct 10, 2026 13:48
    Re: #38
    The director was complaining in an interview about not having the budget for it.
    45AnonymousOct 10, 2026 11:10
    They should drop the "Sonic Kart" branding
    and just call it "Sega Kart," shouldn't they?
    You don't need that many Sonic characters — does anyone even use them?
    Everyone just plays as the crossover characters anyway, right?
    46AnonymousOct 10, 2026 11:18
    Re: #45
    Well then, should we rename Mario Kart to "Nintendo Kart" too?
    52AnonymousOct 10, 2026 11:31
    There are more characters that should've been included, like Axel from Crazy Taxi or Beat from Jet Set Radio.
    81AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:02
    Re: #52
    Axel's already in the game.
    Do a little more research before you post.
    60AnonymousOct 10, 2026 12:04
    They should still go free-to-play, even at this point.
    The party-racing genre is still basically a blue ocean in the free-to-play space, so I think they could dominate it.
    And they could monetize endlessly with skins, Fortnite-style.
    94AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:48
    Re: #60 Re: #62
    Might be better to hook players into spending with new characters.
    63AnonymousOct 10, 2026 12:15
    Only die-hard Sega fanatics would buy this instead of Mario Kart.
    65AnonymousOct 10, 2026 12:50
    Re: #63
    A lot of Sega fanatics basically vanished the moment Sega quit the hardware business (myself included).
    69AnonymousOct 10, 2026 13:17
    Re: #63
    The people supporting Sega now aren't Sega fanatics.
    Even ex-Sega-fanatics have their pride.
    73AnonymousOct 10, 2026 13:26
    Wouldn't a "Project Sekai Kart" (the hit Vocaloid rhythm game) have been better?
    77AnonymousOct 10, 2026 13:49
    Re: #73
    Because Sega doesn't understand at all that Vocaloid and Puyo Puyo are more popular than Sonic.
    83AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:04
    If you look at how well the Sonic movies did, it's clear it's just Japan where sales are abnormally bad.
    I mean, having Minecraft characters, FF7 characters, and Mega Man all in one game — that's Nintendo-level pull.
    89AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:17
    Re: #83
    Even with a worldwide multi-platform release, actual sales haven't even hit 500,000 units. If you count unsold shipped stock sitting in warehouses, it's around a million, but the president himself called it a flop at the earnings briefing.
    87AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:09
    It's a Sega game, so why isn't Rappy (the rabbit-bird mascot from Phantasy Star Online) in it?
    92AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:38
    Re: #87
    If they put that thing on the track, people would say it's ripping off the Chocobo.

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    “Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds” was conceived as Sega’s answer to Mario Kart, and as noted in the thread, its defining feature is a large-scale crossover lineup that goes beyond Sega’s own IP — including Steve (Minecraft), SpongeBob, Hatsune Miku, Asuka (Evangelion), and Cloud (Final Fantasy VII). Oddball crossovers aren’t new in themselves; Bandai Namco’s “Mario Kart Arcade GP” had Pac-Man and Mametchi appear as guest characters too. The thread’s discussion split roughly into two main points. The first was the question of overall quality: some said the core gameplay itself wasn’t bad, while others criticized it as a “generic Mario Kart” where the gadgets aren’t balanced and the lineups end up feeling similar. The second was the cause of poor sales — pointing to the small, hard-to-see character art in ads, speculation about why there’s no voice acting (budget or rights issues), and proposed fixes like going free-to-play or monetizing through character add-ons. Note that one claim in the thread suggesting “Sega deliberately leaked information” has been omitted from this article for lack of supporting evidence. As for actual sales figures, one post in the thread cited “roughly 500,000 units sold worldwide,” said to be based on a remark from management, though this could not be independently verified within the thread itself.

    ※This article was compiled by excerpting and summarizing the 5ch (Hardware & Industry / “Geha”) thread “Sonic Kart Turns Into a Game Where Steve, SpongeBob, Hatsune Miku, Asuka, and Cloud All Race Together.”

  • Does Hello! Project Rotate Which Group It ‘Pushes’? 5ch Weighs In

    A thread on 5ch’s Hello! Project (Morning Musume-related) board heated up over the theory that the agency’s “favoritism” has shifted in sequence — from the “One for All” era (when promotion was spread equally across every group), to the Rika/Miko-era Juice=Juice, to the current Juice=Juice lineup, and now to Ochanorma. Posters pointed out that Tsubaki Factory and Angerme have been pushed for years without producing results, and talk also surfaced that Juice=Juice looks poised to return to the Excellent Work Award at this year’s Japan Record Awards. Opinions split between “they sold because they were pushed” and “they sold on their own merit.”

    1AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:47
    They're just rotating budget, connections, and casual fangirl buzz in turn.
    Ochanorma's anime theme song is amazing~
    ↑ (this)
    5AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:50
    If it were that easy to rotate the spotlight, I'd think this agency would've rotated it to Tsubaki by now.
    9AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:52
    Re: #5
    Tsubaki is the agency's favorite — they pushed them for about three years from 2021 onward, but it did nothing, and they've basically given up on them now.
    6AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:51
    It's certain the agency wants to push Ochanorma from next year onward.
    Every time there's a festival or Hello! Con, they get articles written naming Ochanorma as the act set to follow the currently-popping Juice=Juice (slang: "moreru," meaning "thriving").
    Though the agency also seems to be pushing Nagano, so it's unclear whether Ochanorma or Angerme will end up the main favorite.
    It overlaps with that period after Kasai joined, when they were hyping Tsubaki hard while also pushing Jokoryo.
    11AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:53
    Re: #6
    I get the sense they want to steadily build real strength rather than it being like pushing on a noren curtain (getting no response) the way it's been with Tsubaki — but because of that, they probably won't get flashy favoritism either.
    8AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:51






    13AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:56
    It's frustrating because the members themselves did nothing wrong.
    Especially the new members who got tossed into some random extra group as an add-on — their whole idol career just ends up being spent desperately cleaning up the mess their senpai made.
    15AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:57
    Re: #13
    The current Juice=Juice sold because they didn't blame anyone else, though.
    17AnonymousOct 10, 2026 14:59
    Re: #15
    Everyone's working hard building on what the senpai stacked up, isn't that right? Only I'm the one blaming others? every Hello! Pro member is working hard so I don't think it's right for you to act so cocky about it if you were truly part of the Juice=Juice family you wouldn't say something like that because it taints everything honestly get out of Hello! Project you
    19AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:00
    Re: #17
    If everyone's working hard to some degree, then isn't it just that whoever works hardest gets rewarded?
    18AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:00
    Even if they do sell, it's the adults in charge who take the credit anyway, so who cares.
    20AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:01
    Re: #18
    In Hello! Project's current case there's no producer or person in charge, so even if a group or talent that sells does emerge, no adult shows up to hog all the credit.
    21AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:06
    They sidelined Morning Musume itself just to keep pushing Angerme and Tsubaki so hard, and in the end it was Juice that sold.
    22AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:08
    Re: #21
    To begin with, every group besides Juice=Juice and Rosy Chronicle was being actively pushed in one way or another.
    So failing to sell at the level today's Juice=Juice does during that time is just on them, isn't it?
    The fact they're not selling now isn't Juice=Juice's fault at all.
    23AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:10
    Re: #22
    Of course the new groups (the thread calls them "Rabiyo") and the freshly-debuted Ochanorma got pushed during the pandemic.
    Angerme and Tsubaki, though, were genuinely pushed way too much — it got exhausting.
    24AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:12
    Re: #23
    It's kind of ironic that Juice=Juice — who missed Best New Artist at their debut and have been sidelined ever since — might make a comeback to the Japan Record Awards this year with the Excellent Work Award.
    25AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:13
    Juice=Juice threads really do bring out the people with time on their hands, having a blast lol lol

    This is exactly what it feels like when a group is "having a moment."
    The Colorful era, the Rika/Miko era, the Ma-chan era —
    I'm getting that exact same momentum right now.
    The only difference is this time the songs are actually going viral.
    26AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:14
    Re: #25
    When a song spreads outside the fandom, the number of non-Hello!-otaku rubberneckers jumping in skyrockets.
    The three eras you listed only ever drew jealousy from within the Hello! otaku bubble — strictly a local phenomenon.
    30AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:23
    At the very least, it's not Danbara or the members who deserve the credit for that.
    31AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:24
    Re: #30
    They're just parts in the machine after all — in the end, it's the chairman who wins.
    32AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:24
    Re: #30
    The song was written specifically for the Danbara-era Juice=Juice by Aoi Yamazaki, so you can absolutely argue it's built around the members.
    35AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:26
    If it had been a group other than Juice that took off, they'd probably have put out two triple-A-side singles this year alone, like Tsubaki did after Ad Damme.
    But because it's Juice, it seems like they have no intention of pushing it that hard.
    39AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:29
    Re: #35
    Up-Front used to be an enka-style agency that steadily built up acts like KAN and Sha Ran Q, so if the chairman's touch is still alive, Juice=Juice's push this year feels extremely true to Up-Front's style.
    37AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:26
    Re: #32
    It's all thanks to Aoi Yamazaki, honestly. Thank you, Aoi Yamazaki.
    40AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:30
    Re: #37
    That's exactly why the various camps, figuring Juice=Juice itself had nothing to do with it, pushed hard for "Dantotsu de Aishite" and "RED LINE" — but those flopped, didn't they.
    41AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:30
    If you build them up slowly and steadily, the girls just age out though.
    42AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:31
    Re: #41
    The oldest member of =LOVE, the dominant idol group right now, is already in her thirties, so for Juice=Juice, whose oldest member is 25, there's obviously still time. Even Nonaka, Taniguchi, and Hirai — who'll become Hello! Project's oldest generation once Oda graduates — still have a few years of runway left.
    54AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:46
    Sorry for phrasing it like they're disposable goods.

    But in practice, this was an organization that pushed people out at 25.

    I mean, it's not really fair to lump it together with an organization run by Sashihara-P — a former idol herself and an influencer — who puts idols' own feelings first… I want them to make it okay for Hello! Pro members to stay on past 30, starting now? Reiruru especially.
    59AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:49
    Re: #54
    When I think about how the current situation exists because the original members properly handed things off to their juniors, I do feel a bit of "why are you guys still around" about it — I mean, =LOVE and Momoiro Clover Z are original-member groups, right?
    61AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:50
    Re: #59
    Handed off? They just gave up during the pandemic and quit in a hurry, that's all.
    It's always the ones who were being pushed who quit the fastest.
    64AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:52
    Re: #59
    People say this sometimes, but Danbara Ruru joined Juice=Juice as a pure addition at a time when none of the original 5 members had quit yet.
    So whatever's true for the other members, in Danbara's case it's not like she got in because a senior stepped aside.
    65AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:53
    You say "excessive," but things like the McDonald's commercial or being an exclusive model for magazines like Piichilemon, ST, or CanCam are things no Juice member has ever pulled off, for the record.
    66AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:54
    Re: #65
    That was a pointless, excessive hard-push, huh.
    67AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:56
    Re: #65
    For solo bookings, it'd be more like Suzuki Airi, Yagi Saki, or Mano Erina, I guess — group popularity and individual name recognition are different things after all.
    68AnonymousOct 10, 2026 15:56
    Re: #65
    Jokoryo was also capped at just being a regular on "bis" back then, but being an exclusive model means you can only appear in that one magazine — not the kind of job a genuinely popular idol, who gets offers from all sorts of publishers, would take.
    77AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:05
    Wait, exclusive CanCam model, seriously? That's genuinely impressive lol

    Rikako is gorgeous though, makes sense.
    83AnonymousOct 10, 2026 16:09
    Re: #77
    Thank you 😊
    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HTeiGy4akAApHse.jpg:orig#.jpg

    Background and Key Points of This Discussion

    Hello! Project, run by talent agency Up-Front, manages multiple groups, and disputes over which group gets the lion’s share of songs and media exposure are a perennial source of “favoritism” debates among fans. There used to be a clear production structure under songwriter-producer Tsunku♂, but with no clear overall producer in charge today, it’s unclear who’s even making these decisions, so the thread’s speculation remains impossible to verify. Opinion split over whether Juice=Juice’s current momentum comes from the agency’s backing or mostly from the songs going viral on their own merit. Posters agreed that Tsubaki Factory and Angerme have been “pushed for years without results,” but were divided on whether that’s due to the agency simply not trying as hard for them, or a lack of strength in the songs and concepts themselves. Note that the talk of the Excellent Work Award at the Japan Record Awards is speculation ahead of the year-end announcement, not a confirmed fact. Unverified rumors about individual members’ personal lives have been excluded from this article.

    *This article was composed by excerpting and summarizing the 5ch (Hello! Project) thread “From One for All → Rika/Miko → Juice=Juice → Ochanorma, Looks Like the Budget’s Getting Passed Around~.”