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The story
On the September 21 broadcast of TV Asahi’s “Mimi no Ana Kappojitte Kike!”, comedian Tōru Hotarubara appeared on the “Poison Out Notebook” segment and spoke candidly about how he was treated by staff back when he was one half of the comedy duo Ame Agari Kesshitai. After his remark — “Even toward the ‘other guy’ comedian in a duo, staff should treat both partners equally, from greetings to meetings” — turned into a news article, a 5ch thread lit up with a mix of sympathetic takes (“he’d never have made it without Miyasako”) and blunt jabs at Hotarubara’s own talent and looks, with commenters also citing other comedians — like Higashi Bukuro and Iwai from the duo Harai Ichi — who’ve faced similar ‘other guy’ treatment.
Tue, 9/22, 4:14 PM
Comedian Tōru Hotarubara appeared on TV Asahi’s “Mimi no Ana Kappojitte Kike!” (Mondays, 1:55 AM) on the 21st, looking back on how he was treated by staff during his duo days.
That episode featured the segment “Poison Out Notebook.” Framing it as an “honest message to staff,” Hotarubara let it out: “Even toward the ‘other guy’ comedian in a duo, staff should treat both partners equally — greetings, meetings, all of it.”
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Miyasako was funny and good at running the show, so he got way more credit — Hotarubara couldn't cut it as a straight comedian, so he leaned into being the 'short-fuse' character instead.
Yabe's reaction shots — the little cutaway 'wipe' inserts — are the funny part.
There's an 'Okazile' bit (Okamura joining EXILE), and a version without Yabe's wipe reactions exists on an EXILE live DVD, but without him it's just 'oh, Okamura's a good dancer' — not funny at all.
If Miyasako hadn't been around, Hotarubara never would've made it big.
And yet he's still surviving even after the duo broke up — that's actually impressive.
Same deal with Westland — no point talking to Kawamoto either.
Hotarubara still doesn't have any work outside of Ametalk, does he.
He's MCing some mystery show on Fuji TV, but honestly anyone could handle that gig — doesn't have to be Hotarubara.
And Hotto-chan (Hotarubara) too — back in the duo days he'd just toss out a punchline whenever he got fed a line, so no meeting needed with him either.
Probably because he's with Yoshimoto, has a long career and name recognition, and reads the room well enough to stay safe in conversation — that's likely where the demand comes from.
Kind of the same slot as Ariyoshi or Takeyama.
Whether that still counts as being a comedian whose actual job is making people laugh is questionable, though.
Maybe these days he's more of a script-dependent TV talent than a comedian.
The ones who survive are the Nakayama Hidemasa type.
Ariyoshi reinvented himself into that same Nakayama Hidemasa mold too, and Imada Kōji and Kunimasa were already saying 'Hide-chan is amazing' back when Downtown was trashing Nakayama Hidemasa.
Miyasako was always all about himself, so the chemistry was off from the start.
Ryo's role is being the good-looking one.
But according to Miyasako, Gori's drag character Gorie blew up so huge that eventually everyone except Gori became the 'other guy.'
Kind of ironic that you barely see any of the three on TV much anymore.
Fuji TV tends to pull that kind of stunt.
It was a Fuji show that literally CG'd out Iwai from Harai Ichi too.
Plenty of them blow up big later, and it comes back around on you.
Someone like Ariyoshi probably still holds a grudge against the staff who treated him carelessly back in the day (lol)
From back when he was worked to the bone on late-night shows —
he probably doesn't have warm feelings for the comedians who were more successful than him at the time,
like Fukawa, say.
That's probably a girl who wasn't popular with guys herself.
Girls who are popular with guys have the social skill to stay friendly and actually talk to the other one too, even if they're only interested in one of them.
Ignoring one of two good-looking guys is no big deal, but if the one who gets ignored happens to be the unattractive one, it turns into a whole thing.
Strip away the underground material and Tamori's not really different from Hotarubara.
These days he's hard at work bribing his way into the afterlife, so to speak, pretending the past never happened.
He buried the affair scandal too.
Background and Key Points
Ame Agari Kesshitai was a manzai duo made up of Tōru Hotarubara and Hiroyuki Miyasako, which effectively disbanded in 2019 following Miyasako’s undisclosed-fee scandal. Hotarubara’s latest comments illustrate that so-called ‘other guy’ treatment — where staff belittle one half of a duo while favoring the other — is hardly unique to his case. On the thread, many argued it was simply unavoidable that Miyasako drew more attention given his popularity at the time, while opinions split over how to judge Hotarubara’s own talent and looks. Commenters also raised similar cases — Higashi Bukuro, Iwai from Harai Ichi, and even Sanma’s early struggling years — suggesting this isn’t limited to one particular duo but a deep-rooted custom across the industry. It’s worth noting, though, that Hotarubara’s comments were specifically about how ‘staff’ treated him — a distinct issue from any difference in fan support, a nuance that’s easy to overlook.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5channel (Entertainment/Sports News+) thread “Tōru Hotarubara Reveals Past ‘Other Guy’ Treatment From Staff: ‘They Never Once Even Looked My Way…’ / ‘Only Greeted Miyasako’.”
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