A South Korean high school girl recently interacted with viewers on the Japanese livestreaming platform niconico (ニコニコ生放送). During the stream, she asked viewers, “Can you tell what’s different about me compared to a month ago?” Unexpectedly, the comment section was soon flooded with the Chinese character 「膜」 . At first, she didn’t understand its meaning, but after looking it up, she was horrified to learn that it implied her hymen had been broken. She slammed the commenters, calling them “disgusting.”
During the livestream, the second-year high school student said she had gone on a trip with friends — her first outing in two years — and casually asked viewers, “What’s different about me compared to a month ago?”
Initially, users speculated about physical changes such as breast augmentation, new hair styling, or joked, “Did you get a boyfriend?”, “Are you cheating?”, “Maybe it’s your weight?”
But soon, the most repeated comment became the character 「膜」 , along with other words like 「貫通」 (“penetrated”). Not understanding the reference, she searched the meaning and realized viewers were implying she had lost her virginity.
She immediately expressed her anger, saying the comments were disgusting and emphasizing that she had never invited or consented to such sexual remarks.
The livestream clips were later reposted on X (Twitter) and the Japanese forum 5ch, sparking heated discussion. Some commenters criticized the platform culture:
– “Don’t expect good behavior from niconico users.”
– “Men driven by sexual desire are disgusting.”
– “No matter who is streaming, someone on niconico will always make sexual harassment comments.”
However, a minority of Japanese users argued that the girl should have understood the nature of the platform:
– “If you choose to stream on niconico, you should know what the viewers are like.”
– “If you want to make money off Japanese viewers, you need to be able to handle this.”
Their tone suggested that she should have been prepared for such risks, implying partial responsibility on her part.
Sources: ETtoday新聞雲