I think just crossing this narrow street actually takes you into the next town called, "Ninomiyacho". I like this place as there are many pharmacies with some Chinese doctors and Swedish herb shops.
I always buy some Chinese medicines and Swedish herbs for my herpes here.
Now many people online especially on Reddit Sneaker and MoreSneaker sub discussing about which shoe brand is the most underrated one, and it seems like that most of them think NB is the most underrated brand, some say Hoka or Asics, or Solomon, but are they really underrated these days?
I think most of these brands are just rightly rated. Solomons are popular due to Prada and some other Hi-Fashion firms used them for their Spring collection this year. NB and Asics are actually very popular too due to Comme des Garçons and a few other brands used their shoes for their spring collection.
Gucci used some On shoes and other bulky shoes like Hoka One One for their collection last year.
So, they are not as popular as most Nike or Jordan, but still very popular now, I think both NB and Asics are very popular, at least a bit more often discussed than Reebok or Puma or even Adidas at sub-Reddit communities.
Personally, I also think Hoka is very popular, many people at our school use them for work. And they are now considered to be super cool, not just comfy but also super cool shoes.
Solomons are now considered to be some of the trendiest shoes. A few years ago, these brands were all considered to be dad shoes brands and kind of tacky or extremely ugly, but now even Hi-Fashion guys love them. I mean how many NB 991 v2, 2002R, 990 V6 or Asics Kayano 14 or Gel Lyte 3 threads do we have to see these days in Sub like MoreSneakers? I think almost all of their threads in the particular sub are on those shoes. Still, those guys in that sub think these two brands are rare or niche and thus they are supporting them. It is really odd to me; they say they hate Nike or Jordan just because so many hyperbeast morons online especially the main Sneaker Sub of Reddit flexing them online, and they do not want to a part of that mindless Nike comnunity. I kind of agreed with them, and I even try to love only NB for a few years, but now NB is the most popular brand and Asics seems to be the no 2 or 3, so why they still consider these brands as niche or anti-mainstream brands?
Those guys in the Reddi MoreSneakers sub think they are liberal sneaker lovers just because they do not love Nike or Jordan, but what they actually do is replacing Nike with NB, Hoka or Asics, and feeling a bit different or unique.
If you go that particular sub or better become a regular poster or denizen of the sub, you will quickly find out more than 2/3rd of all threads posted there are either on NB, Asics or Solomon these days. I bet you, you will almost never see anything about Adidas or Reebok there, I rarely see some Puma related posts, but very rarely.
So, are they more liberal or honest with themselves than those Nike obsessed guys in the main Sneaker Sub?
I think they are not, and what I cannot get about them is that if they love NB or Asics or Hoka, or whatever considered to be a dad-brand or used to be dad-brand, they must hate Nike and Jordan. That is like some sort of shoe politics to me rather than pure love for these (they call hardcore) shoe brands.
Again, is NB still underrated? Is Asics still underrated? Is Hoka or Solomon or On Cloud still underrated? I think they are not underrated anymore, and I think the really underrated shoe brands are: Under Armour, Puma, Saucony, Reebok and Adidas.
Also, when I see a thread like "NB QC is much better than Nike", I kind get really frustrated even though I have been a NB fan for a few decades already. Why? Because their QC on the Made is really bad now, much worse than it used to be, and I do not consider their QC better than that of Nike or Adidas or even Puma. NB used to make great quality shoes, and their Made series shoes used to be well worth the crazy high price (as these were much better than the rest of sneakers), but in the end of the last decade, just a few months before the first Pandemic era, it really changed, and now many long time NB supporters think the Made shoes are no longer worth the 300 US price.
Their QC on the Made dropped significantly in the end of the last decade, just before the pandemic. I think as the fashion brand ALD took over their design and QC department and Teddy became the head of that department, the QC and the material Quality dropped significantly. Because all what these hype brands like ALD and jjjjound care about is how to generate or maximize the hype to win the hype game.
Those street brands are not really high quality hi-fashion brands like Prada or LV or anything similar, all they care about is temporal or short time popularity of their brand or hype for their products. NB was not a brand like that, they were always a quality brand that really cared about the fit and quality, and of course the real shoe performance. And I think the corporate culture of theirs is too different from that of a hype brand like ALD, jjjjround, Casablanca, etc.
And excessive amount of sells really hurting the Made quality. These Made shoes were great because they were hand-stitched limited shoes carefully produced or more like assembled in US or UK. But now they are no longer limited or rare, they produce really a lot of these shoes these days.
The quality of the 991, the 992, the 990 v4 all became really bad, and many times these supposed to be US made shoes are worse than the high-end Chinese shoes like the 2002R or the 1906R. Many young sneaker fans in US, EU or Japan hate the made in China label, so they cannot really honestly see this issue, or they are simply too young and inexperienced in this game, to see that, but if you are old enough and experience enough then you honestly see the quality drop in their Made Line shoes. I mean how many bad 992, 990v6 or v4 posts you find there? They are not better than any other brands on QC and the material quality.
Sure, the 991 or 993 has a bit better quality upper suede than say the airmax 90, but how much do a pair of the airmax 90 cost these days? They cost you just like 130 US? How much are a pair of those NB Made or Asics Made in Japan or Puma Made in Japan shoes cost? 300US? 260US? And they still compare the 2 very different types and classes of these shoes and call out Nike on QC is really far? I think it is not fair at all.
If compare the QC level of brands, then you must compare SIMILAR shoes across the brands. Not one cheap pair from Nike, and the top of the line from NB or Asics or Hoka.
And another big problem I recently see in the MoreSneakers sub Reedit is that they often criticize Nike as the most overpriced and overrated brand, and they are extremely overcharging for the Jordans and Dunks, etc. To a degree, sure it is true, but almost all the other brands doing the same thing, so why do they criticize only Nike and Jordan?
Some guys there even said SB Dunk prices are just insane now, and they are supporting the Made. I thought what? If you do not mind forking out 300 US for the Made, then what is the problem of you to pay 130 US for a good pair of SB?
Most of these young sneaker fans seem to be really confused the resell price with the retail price. I think Nike never charged 300 US for their shoes. Only the resellers do. I love some NB and now Asics too, but I do not think they are any better than Nike. I think all brands are overcharging just like Nike.
All these casual sneakers are old designs and old silhouettes made with dated materials and techs, so they should never cost anything more than 50 US if they are all honest, but they all cost like 150 or more, so it is not just Nike or Jordan, or Yeezy or Made, but all brands' shoes are really overpriced these days. And if you are honest, you know that it is not Nike who overcharging crazy 1k price for some SB's or J's that's the resell market.
