{"id":66544,"date":"2026-05-13T16:41:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T07:41:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=66544"},"modified":"2026-05-13T16:41:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T07:41:15","slug":"love-live-fans-alarmed-as-an-official-defunct-franchise-domain-goes-up-for-auction-bids-climb-to-preposterous-615-million","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/love-live-fans-alarmed-as-an-official-defunct-franchise-domain-goes-up-for-auction-bids-climb-to-preposterous-615-million\/","title":{"rendered":"Love Live!\u00a0fans\u00a0alarmed\u00a0as\u00a0an\u00a0official\u00a0defunct\u00a0franchise\u00a0domain\u00a0goes up for\u00a0auction.\u00a0Bids\u00a0climb to\u00a0preposterous\u00a0$615 million\u00a0dollars\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Love Live!<\/strong> fans in Japan recently noticed that the domain previously used by the official fan club for Aqours \u2013 the school idol group appearing in Love Live! Sunshine!! \u2013 has been put up for auction. While it\u2019s not clear who\u2019s responsible for this, fans of the franchise are expressing disappointment<\/a> with publisher Bandai Namco for what they perceive as a lack of care about security and Love Live\u2019s brand image. Meanwhile, bids for the domain have reached absurd amounts (currently over $615 million dollars). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To give some background, the official Aqours Club was shut down in June last year, after which the \u201clovelive-aqoursclub.jp\u201d domain simply displayed a thank you and goodbye message featuring the fan club\u2019s official logo. However, as of May 1, the domain redirects visitors to an auction<\/a> hosted by a domestic domain registration service called Onamae. The auction is set to last until May 27, and the current highest bid sits at 97.11 billion yen or over $615 million dollars, which many believe has got to be the result of false bids or trolling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In response, Love Live! fans are voicing disbelief at the domain being auctioned off a mere year after the fan club\u2019s closure, along with concerns about what happens if the domain ends up being purchased by a malicious third party. As Japanese news outlet ITmedia<\/a> explains, \u201cif the domain falls into the hands of a third party, there is a risk that phishing sites mimicking the official fan club could be created. Since the domain is identical to the genuine one, it cannot be ruled out that such sites could bypass browser security features or cause password management tools to automatically fill in usernames and passwords.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Users have\u00a0pointed\u00a0out<\/a>\u00a0past examples, like a\u00a0domain previously associated with the official\u00a0Rilakkuma\u00a0brand (rilakkuma-tomonokai.jp) which is now owned by a third party and appears to\u00a0illegally\u00a0host pirated\u00a0sexually explicit manga.\u00a0Another\u00a0X user commented<\/a>, \u201cAs someone\u00a0who\u2019s\u00a0been a member of the Aqours Club since it first launched, this\u00a0makes me\u00a0really sad. More than anything,\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0worried that someone might use this domain to create a site that looks official, or set up an email address\u00a0like @lovelive\u00a0-aqoursclub.jp. If I received a\u00a0scam\u00a0email from an address like that,\u00a0I\u2019d\u00a0probably open\u00a0it. To prevent this from being exploited, I want the official team to take responsibility and buy the domain back.\u00a0The price\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0paying for skimping on a few thousand yen a year is too high.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related: Link! Like! Love Live!’s abrupt termination\u00a0leads to discussion about\u00a0the realities of\u00a0sudden\u00a0end-of-service announcements among Japanese developers<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The now-defunct official domain of Love Live! Sunshine!!’s Aqours Club appears to have been put up for auction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":66545,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-66544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"\nLove Live!\u00a0fans\u00a0alarmed\u00a0as\u00a0an\u00a0official\u00a0defunct\u00a0franchise\u00a0domain\u00a0goes up for\u00a0auction.\u00a0Bids\u00a0climb to\u00a0preposterous\u00a0$615 million\u00a0dollars\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The now-defunct official domain of Love Live! 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