Tokai On Air Member Reflects on Disbandment Turmoil, Saying It Might Truly Be the End for 7.05 Million Subscribers

The activities of “Tokai On Air,” a popular video creator with over 7 million channel subscribers, are once again gaining momentum. Leader Tetsuya revealed that his wife, Minami Minegishi, is pregnant with their first child, and Shibayu, who is also focusing on music activities, announced his marriage to fellow video creator Makochi.

Tokai On Air had been on hiatus until March of this year due to the “commotion” caused by Shibayu, his wife Ayanan, and Tetsuya last October. In his new book, “Tokai On Air’s Videos Become 6.4 Times More Fun: REBORN: Mushigake’s Broadcasting Club,” member Mushigake wrote about what has happened since the riot in the form of a “vacation report. We asked him about his true feelings now.

—Many fans thought that Tokai On Air might come to an end, but how did you feel as a member?

“We have been active for ten years. During that time, we sometimes wondered, How will it end? When the scandal happened, I thought, this is also a possible scenario. There was a bit of a reality that it might really be the end. I was anxious,” said Mushimegane.

—At that time, it was widely covered in online news as well.

“I remember feeling like I didn’t want Tokai On Air to be known in this sensational way to people who still didn’t know us. I wished they could have discovered us through something like ‘Hey, Tokai On Air has some funny videos,’ rather than having our name recognized through this news.

It was disappointing and frustrating to think that people might now have a first impression of us as those people who caused a controversy. We’ve been pretty good at maneuvering through things until now. We’re not saints or anything, but we’ve managed things fairly well. Still, there was a fear that this incident could put us in the category of troublemakers or something similar,” Mushimegane commented.

—So you decided to take a break from that point. Was the decision reached smoothly?

“I haven’t talked about this much, but while we didn’t individually consult each member, the atmosphere was like, ‘Let’s apologize’ and ‘Let’s take a break.’ I really didn’t like that. I hadn’t done anything wrong, so I wondered why I had to take a break. It was quite frustrating for me. But well, looking back, I think it was a good decision to take a break, a mature decision.”

—Did the other members take the situation more seriously?

“I thought the other members were people who could apologize even though they hadn’t done anything wrong. I felt like I wasn’t ready to think that way. I was still like a child.”