Ken Watabe’s Exposure on TV Shows Surges as He Prepares for Full-Scale Comeback! The Reason for the Difference between Watanabe Ken and Miyasako

Hiroyuki Miyasako, 53, formerly of Ameagari Kesshitai, recently announced that he will close his takoyaki restaurant “Miyatako Desu,” which he operated for eight years in Tokyo. Miyatako,” a takoyaki restaurant he operated for eight years in Tokyo, will close at the end of April.

On his YouTube channel, he had stated that “the customers who left with the new Corona model did not come back and the restaurant had been losing money,” and that “employees retired and it became difficult to keep the restaurant running. Gyugujou,” which opened in Shibuya last year, was difficult to make reservations for when it first opened, but now it is possible to make reservations on the day of opening. The decline in Miyasako’s talent value is probably more significant than the impact of Corona.

On the other hand, Un-jash’s Ken Watabe (50) is on an upward curve in his variety exposure as he prepares for a full-fledged comeback.

Last February, he returned to terrestrial broadcasting with a regular program on Ciba Television, “Un-jash in Black and White. However, when he appeared on ABEMA’s “Chance no Jikan” last November, he was teased by MC’s Chidori, which was well received. This led to a sudden increase in offers from variety shows for distribution.

The director of a production company analyzes, “It was a great decision to switch his base of activities to variety shows for distribution, instead of focusing on a return to commercial broadcasting.

A director of a production company analyzed, “Netflix’s ‘Talk Survivor! has appointed Masahiro Higashide (35). The reason for this is that the compliance requirements are not as strict as those for terrestrial broadcasts. On the other hand, using a scandalous celebrity can create a buzz, and it also gives the viewer a sense of “aggressiveness,” so it kills two birds with one stone. As one of his comedian friends and Watabe himself said, before the scandal, Watabe had become a complete egomaniac. He had an arrogant attitude toward the performers and young staff members such as ADs, and his reputation was at its lowest point. The staff members whom Watabe treated roughly have been promoted to directors and other positions, so I hardly hear any calls for ‘bringing Watabe back’ at the onsite level. It would be best to start over from scratch with a distribution program with which he had no contact.”

In order to prioritize child rearing, he has set a condition that he will only work until “the evenings on weekdays when the kids come home from school.

He says he is grateful to his wife, Nozomi Sasaki (35), for not abandoning him when she found out about the affair and cut off his income. Considering Watabe’s personality, which has always been tied to work, it seems as though he is taking this action with an eye toward future business related to childcare (laughs). Either way, it is definitely a good start in preparation for a full-fledged return to work” (producer, key station).

The director of the production company mentioned above sees the difference between Miyasako and Watabe as follows.

Miyasako was not well-liked by the staff because of his superior attitude. The big difference is YouTube. While Watabe had refrained from activities for a long time, Miyasako immediately resumed his activities on YouTube. At first, he got a lot of views, which made him a bit of a dog again. He said, “I want to return to TV,” and collaborated with popular YouTubers one after another. Some of them seemed to be working with people that Yoshimoto Kogyo was wary of as being close to anti-company, making it more and more difficult to use them. He is now treated as a “wacko” YouTube star. It will be very difficult for him to return to terrestrial television.

It seems that what separated Miyasako and Watanabe was their sincerity.

From the May 12 and 19, 2023 issue of FRIDAY