Love Live! fans in Japan have recently observed that the domain previously utilized by the official fan club for Aqours – the school idol group featured in Love Live! Sunshine!! – has been listed for auction. While it’s unclear who initiated this, enthusiasts of the series are voicing frustration with publisher Bandai Namco over what they perceive as a disregard for security and the Love Live! brand’s reputation. In the meantime, bids for the domain have soared to extraordinary figures (currently exceeding $615 million dollars).
For context, the official Aqours Club was discontinued in June of last year, after which the “lovelive-aqoursclub.jp” domain merely displayed a farewell message alongside the fan club’s official logo. However, beginning May 1, the domain now directs visitors to an auction conducted by a local domain registration provider named Onamae. The auction concludes on May 27, and the present highest bid stands at 97.11 billion yen or over $615 million dollars, a sum many suspect to be the result of bogus bids or pranks.
In response, Love Live! fans are expressing astonishment that the domain is being auctioned off just one year after the fan club’s shutdown, alongside worries about the consequences if the domain falls into the hands of a malicious entity. According to Japanese news source ITmedia, “should the domain be acquired by a third party, there is a possibility of phishing sites impersonating the official fan club being established. Given that the domain is identical to the authentic one, it is plausible that such sites could evade browser security measures or trigger password managers to automatically input credentials.”
Users have highlighted precedents, such as a domain formerly linked to the official Rilakkuma brand (rilakkuma-tomonokai.jp) now owned by a third party and seemingly illegally hosting pirated explicit manga. Another X user remarked, “As someone who’s been a member of the Aqours Club since its inception, this is deeply saddening. Above all, I’m concerned that someone might exploit this domain to create a deceptively official site, or establish an email address like @lovelive -aqoursclub.jp. If I received a fraudulent email from such an address, I’d likely open it. To prevent misuse, I urge the official team to take accountability and reacquire the domain. The cost of neglecting a few thousand yen annually is too steep.”
Mido