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The story
Chonmage Ramen, the comedy duo formerly known as Indians, appeared at a Tokyo event on October 1 and revealed that one year and four months after their name change, public recognition of the new duo name is “about 60%, still a tough struggle.” In a thread on 5ch’s Geinou Supo Sokuhou+ board, users ran through examples of renames that worked out (Summers, Cream Stew) alongside past cases where a new name never stuck and the act reverted to its old one (Animal Kaidan, Rafurekuran’s switch to Cotton, etc.), fueling a growing consensus that “duos who actually succeed after renaming are the minority.” Meanwhile, some questioned the naming sense itself, while others had fun pitching alternative name ideas.
Thu, Oct 1, 3:12 PM
Comedy duo Chonmage Ramen attended a sampling event for Nobel Confectionery’s “VC-3000 Throat Tablets” in Tokyo on the 1st.
Akihiro Tabuchi, who showed up in a yellow full-body tights costume, spent about 30 minutes handing out the product. Mingling with everyone from kids to foreign visitors, he was thrilled: “I’m so grateful it was such a huge hit. If I get fussed over like this, I want to dress like this all the time — I had almost 100 times more photos taken of me than usual.” His partner Kimu laughed along: “He’s practically sparkling. If he’d bring this look to our manzai act too, I’d actually look forward to smacking him.”
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Right, right — Kimu's actually pretty funny sometimes.
He's just upbeat, not actually funny.
only Summers and Cream Stew really pulled it off, right?
Feels like 90% of acts flop and revert back.
This is something Arita can only say now that time's passed — back then they pushed the line "we got popular because we renamed!", but actually they were already getting popular, and he genuinely hated being forced to rename right as their old name "Kaijarisuigyo" was finally catching on.
On top of that, he had to keep saying "we got popular because we renamed!" even though — as he's been grumbling lately — they would've made it without the rename too!
so they renamed to Cotton… but even that didn't really take off.
1991: Formed
2000: Disbanded
2004: Osaru renames to Monkikki
2004: Koala renames to Happy Happy.
2012: Monkikki reverts to Osaru
2012: Happy Happy. reverts to Koala
2017: Osaru renames to Monkikki again
2020: Monkikki reverts to Osaru again
Sounds like they just got toyed with by a witch.
At the very least, pick a name you can actually abbreviate.
— comes off like something a grade-schooler came up with.
A Bouquet for the Raised Fist
Hepburn on the Dead-End Main Street
Ryugu JOKER (Dragon Palace Joker)
KimTab
Hey Kakkooni
Peni
Happy Carnival
Tsukkomi, Boke, and Sometimes Kimu
Comedy's VIP Seat
Happy Carnival — even abbreviated it'd sound cute, that one's good.
KimTab would've been the obvious pick, but good thing they didn't go with it now that there's a Takurou out there.
"Comedy's VIP Seat" sounds exactly like a catchphrase from Vocabula-tengoku (the old comedy show).
I thought that was a shop from Kochi, but looking it up, turns out they've got locations in Osaka and Kobe too.
I liked them, but I stopped seeing them after the name change — or maybe I have seen them under the new name and just don't recognize them.
You mean 2700? If it's 2700, Tsune left the group, so isn't it just Yasojima going by that name solo now?
"Hey Kakkooni," right? I think so too.
Guess it's the best name to them — someone offered them a good one, but they pushed through with their own pick anyway.
Background and Key Points of This Topic
The rename from Indians to Chonmage Ramen reportedly took place in 2024 out of consideration for Native Americans. Opinions in the thread split over whether the slow uptake comes down to “the naming sense itself” or simply “a lack of exposure and name recognition” to begin with. While Summers and Cream Stew were cited as rare examples of a rename actually sticking, cases like Animal Kaidan and 2700 — which flip-flopped between their new and old names — were also raised, underscoring just how much a rename can affect a comedian’s brand. The original article also notes that despite the low 60% recognition figure, the duo themselves seemed in high spirits at the event — suggesting a gap between how the performers see it and how well the public has actually caught on.
*This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (Geinou Supo Sokuhou+) thread “[Comedians] Chonmage Ramen, One Year and Four Months After Renaming, Recognition Rate “About 60%. Still a Tough Battle” — Formerly Indians.”
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