The final of the M-1 Grand Prix 2024 (TV Asahi), which determines the best manzai comedian in Japan, was held on December 22nd. This year, the lineup of judges has changed significantly, which has been a hot topic, but comedy fans in the Kansai region are voicing their anger over Tomoko Umihara (52), one of the judges from Umihara Yasuyo and Tomoko, who served as a judge for the second year in a row. (Omitted) “Many of the judges this time were logical thinkers who were very adept at putting things into words when evaluating their material, especially Hanawa-san, Ishida-san, and Yamauchi-san, who have all published books on manzai. On the other hand, Tomoko seems to be an intuitive, genius type of person. As a result, it seemed that he was not very good at putting his analysis of manzai into words. And although she is a famous talent known to everyone in the Kansai region, she is not that well known nationwide, so after “M-1″ ended there were some voices criticizing her without knowing much about her. That caused a huge outrage among the people of Kansai, who know how amazing Tomoko is.” (Entertainment agency source) A particular point of contention among viewers was Tomoko’s comments on the “rice ball shop” skit performed by the second group of Yarens in the first round. When Tomoko was making her comments, she frankly admitted, “I kind of… wanted to see something a bit more silly,” and added, with a look of disappointment, “It was silly, but I wanted to see something even more silly.” Host Koji Imada (58) tried to help him out by saying, “Maybe you wanted to see something a little different?” but he remained at a loss for words. Eventually, Imada grew impatient and cut him off, saying, “Let me know when you’ve finished,” which drew laughter. (Omitted) On x, “Tomoko Neesan” became a trending topic, and a controversy erupted. “Umihara Tomoko, what are you talking about?” “Umihara Tomoko is so rude to the Yarens. “Isn’t your response to being asked for a comment terrible?” “She doesn’t have the vocabulary to express herself well, and I don’t want someone like this to be judging the show.” In addition to harsh comments such as these, people who don’t know her also posted comments such as “Who is she anyway?”, which especially angered comedy fans in the Kansai region. In response to the critical comments, many users who seem to be from Kansai have said things like, “I think many Kansai people will understand what Tomoko-nee-san is trying to say about her stupid comments. Calling them stupid isn’t a harsh comment in response to Yarens’ jokes. It’s the stupidity that makes it funny.” “Preface your Tomoko-nee-san diss with, “I don’t know much about Kaihara Tomoko, but…” It really gets Kansai people on edge, so stop doing that.” “Kansai people who found the tweets bashing Kaihara Tomoko are already starting to get their act together.” “I’ve never seen a Kansai person (especially a girl) who dislikes Kaihara Yasuyo and Tomoko’s manzai, but when I saw the trending “Tomoko-nee-san,” Kansai people were united in their pride as people born in a comedy powerhouse, saying, “People who don’t know Yasutomo’s manzai, stop talking about manzai.” They are protecting Kaihara Tomoko-nee-san with all their pride in being born in a comedy powerhouse.” Please see the source for more details Previous thread “People who don’t know Yasutomo’s manzai should stop talking about manzai” M-1 judge Umihara Tomoko’s criticism angers Kansai people “Kansai people are already starting to get their act together” [muffin★].
>>1 He’s usually a very eloquent and sharp-tongued guy, but he’s a genius when it comes to analysis, so maybe that’s why he couldn’t do it? If the male-female duo and the female comedian win, the competition will be over, right?
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