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Nijisanji YouTuber Kenmochi Toya Jokes About Fellow Streamers Having ADHD

On August 22, 2023, Nijisanji VTuber Kenmochi Toya held a birthday stream for himself on YouTube. As part of the broadcast, Kenmochi drew a relationship chart to show how he was connected to Nijisanji's other VTubers. When it came time to talk about Mito Tsukino and Kou Uzuki, Kenmochi cracked a joke implying that the pair suffered from ADHD.

(Comments begin at 1:30:32)

“They're both screw-ups, you know?” he commented, “I think calling them a ‘screw-up’ is a softer way of putting it, like 'HDMI.'”

In Japanese net slang, ADHD is often pejoratively referred to as HDMI.

“As a streamer, I think [having ADHD] is a good thing,” he said, following up on his initial remarks. “[Having ADHD] makes many people better suited to being streamers. Frankly speaking, it's just an inseparable part of being in this industry. I see it as a positive thing.”

These comments have caused more than a bit of controversy in the Japanese VTuber sphere. As one user puts it, there are three issues at play:

I wonder if those who are defending Kenmochi understand what they're doing.

*HDMI is another (internet slang) term to disparage those with ADHD.

*Kenmochi assumes that other people have HDMI (ADHD) without any affirmation or diagnosis.

*Even if they do have ADHD, he is outing them [without their permission]

In Kenmochi's subsequent streams, comments addressing the situation have been automatically blocked, making some fans even more disgruntled.

Looks like they've decided not to apologize for this one, but to leave it alone until the flames die down…

(It seems that the words ADHD, HDMI, disability, discrimination, apology, the names of the persons affected, etc. were automatically muted in the livestream...)

Rather than a debate about human rights, we have this hell for minorities where the 'I didn't particularly care' group of people is being catered to.

[Via Hachima Kikou]