From our other sites
The story
Yabe Hiroyuki of the comedy duo Ninety-Nine announced on October 8, during an appearance on Nippon Broadcasting System’s “Ninety-Nine’s All Night Nippon” (Thursday late night), that he will graduate from the show after the October 29 broadcast. Yabe previously left the program once before, back in 2014, and joked this time that “graduating twice is unheard of.” Starting in November, Okamura Takashi will run the show solo, while Yabe launches a new program of his own in December. Reactions on 5channel ranged from doubts about whether Okamura can carry the show alone, to claims that Yabe’s quick retorts had previously helped defuse the fallout from Okamura’s past verbal gaffes, to snark about the circumstances surrounding Yabe’s earlier return to the show.
On the 8th, Yabe Hiroyuki of the comedy duo Ninety-Nine appeared on his own namesake radio program, Nippon Broadcasting System’s “Ninety-Nine’s All Night Nippon” (Thursdays, 1am), and announced that he will graduate from the show after the broadcast on the 29th.
Midway through the show, Yabe reported, “I’ll be graduating from ‘Ninety-Nine’s All Night Nippon’ on October 29.” Since he’d already graduated from the program once before, in 2014, he laughed, “Graduating twice is unprecedented.”
On his reasons, he recalled, “It’s exactly the same as what I said the first time — back in 2014, I personally felt like I’d reached the finish line.” He returned to the show six years ago, in 2020, but said, “I never imagined I’d be coming back [to the show].”
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
They can't even do manzai or skits.
Hardly anyone's actually seen Ninety-Nine do manzai or skits in the first place, right?
I've seen bits from Yoiko and Gokuraku Tombo, but never once from Ninety-Nine.
They used to do it every year on September 9th.
It aired on WOWOW.
Near the end of Mecha-Ike there was an episode where everyone seriously worked up original material to perform, and it was disappointing that they ripped off a Tetsu & Tomo bit (a duo known for their signature arm-pumping routine).
Could happen.
Even if Friday and Saturday stay as they are,
dropping Naitsu's one day wouldn't be a big deal (Naitsu, another comedy duo with a show on the same station).
It's the opposite. Unlike up-and-coming young talent, the reason radio doesn't cut veterans these days is that sponsors are attached to the veteran personally. Late-night radio sponsorships nowadays are basically just the company president's pet hobby.
Okamura's been reading them for ages already.
How many times are they gonna go through this same mess?
Kind of nerve-wracking, lol
Is there even demand for it?
When Yabe first quit,
it was because he wanted to be with his family, so he left late-night radio.
I have zero impression of him being funny outside of Mecha-Ike.
Then again, it wouldn't have lasted this long if it weren't funny.
It was funny back when he did ANN solo.
The New Year's talk segment is more fun with Yabe there, though.
But for things like Oka-1 or when guests come on, it's clearly better without Yabe.
Whatever he says, Takasu's got his back, lol (Dr. Takasu, the cosmetic-surgery clinic owner and TV personality who's long backed Okamura).
What do you even mean by 'Shitara's position'? He just hosts one lame daily show.
Even the generation that grew up watching Mecha-Ike probably isn't interested.
Not Yabe — Okamura.
Impressive he kept this up right up to pushing 60.
Younger talent is stacked up waiting in line at this point, so I wish these legends would move up to the 10pm slot. Audrey and the others are probably nearing their limit too.
Radio's the one thing Audrey won't give up.
Now that Okamura's on his own, he seems like an easy target — if he slips up even a little, I feel like he's going to get slammed hard again.
Still, funny how life works out — that whole incident ended up patching things up between the duo and even led to Okamura's marriage, which is what let him finally settle down.
Might actually work out well if they made Watabe his assistant (Watabe Ken, a comedian notorious for his own scandal).
Then if Okamura says something risky: "Hey! You trying to become me, Okamura?!"
Bottom line, he's leaving because he's got new work lined up — same as last time. His old soccer gig ran for quite a while, but the one starting in November might not even last six months.
Don't you dare show your face on radio again once that's over.
It's probably a 'lifetime achievement' kind of hire.
Though if it gets cancelled quickly, he can't really complain.
Wait, is Takasu working as a writer for Ninety-Nine now?
Guess even Mattsun's mellowed out (nickname, likely referring to Takasu).
It's a clinic, though.
Background and Key Points of This Topic
Ninety-Nine’s All Night Nippon has been a flagship late-night radio program since the 1990s. Yabe previously graduated from the show once before, in 2014, and returned in 2020 — this marks his second graduation. Opinions in the thread split largely over whether Okamura Takashi can carry the talk show on his own. Some pointed out that in the past, when Okamura was forced to apologize over a controversial remark, Yabe’s quick retorts had served as a cushion, raising concerns about the risk of future gaffes now that he’s flying solo. Others noted wryly that Yabe’s departure coincides with the end of his soccer program’s run, suggesting he’s “only leaving because new work came in.” Details of the new show Yabe is set to launch in December had not been disclosed as of this article.
※This article has been excerpted and summarized from the 5channel (Geinosuposoku+) thread “[Radio] Ninety-Nine’s Yabe Hiroyuki Announces Graduation from All Night Nippon; Okamura Takashi to Host Solo Starting November, Yabe to Launch New Show in December.”
Leave a Reply