Fuwa-chan Incident Finally Affects Kanou from A Masso as Online Society Overreacts Against Celebrities

Due to the “Fuwa-chan Incident,” comedian Kanou from the duo A Masso has found himself in a serious predicament.

The whole thing started with an inappropriate post by Fuwa-chan about comedian Yasuko. As a result, Fuwa-chan has disappeared from the public eye.

A recent example is the September 7 broadcast of “Ariyoshi’s Summer Vacation 2024 77 Hours in Hawaii” (Fuji TV). This year, Fuwa-chan was a regular participant, but during the airing, it was as if she didn’t exist at all, completely edited out.

Online, it was mockingly referred to as “divine editing,” but those in the entertainment industry must have felt a shiver at the current atmosphere where one mistake can lead to someone being erased entirely.

 

“Seriously Bad”

A certain mid-tier comedian,

“Seriously bad. Fuwa-chan’s remarks were indeed inappropriate, but is this level of punishment really warranted? Since the rise of social media, people are quick to report things, and TV stations are all about compliance and regulations. I coordinate with my agency beforehand, discussing what’s okay and what’s not, but even then, it’s not foolproof. Comedy on TV is definitely going to become more constrained.”

He stated.

The one who faced the most backlash from the series of incidents was Kanou from A Masso.

According to a report from NEWS Post Seven on August 31, at the time, Fuwa-chan was traveling with Kanou and Shintaro Morimoto from the comedy trio Tontukatan. When Kanou found Yasuko’s post and asked Fuwa-chan,

“What do you think about this post?”

Fuwa-chan misunderstood it as a “prompt” from a senior and ended up making the problematic post.

On August 8, Fuwa-chan explained on her X account:

“At the time of the post, I was talking about anti-comments, and when I happened to see Yasuko-san’s post, I included the content of this post with the intention of saying, ‘If this gets anti-comments.’ I showed the screen to those present, but I accidentally posted it due to an operational mistake.”

She explained. At the same time, Fuwa-chan comment regarding Kanou and Morimoto:

“The two had no involvement in this post.”

She emphasized.

 

Reasons Why Kanou is Treated as the “Mastermind”

Despite this, there are strong voices online treating Kanou as the “mastermind,” and it’s said that the impact is starting to show in his work.

“Since Kanou’s name came up in the Fuwa-chan incident, it’s become harder for him to secure jobs that would have previously been approved without issue. From an outsider’s perspective, he didn’t come up with Yasuko’s post, nor did he incite Fuwa-chan. So why is this happening? This is the ‘risk hedge’ of modern society. Once his name came up, everything was put on hold. Those hiring are scared and extremely cautious about potential backlash,” said a source from the comedy industry.

To break the current situation, we can only hope that the impact of the Fuwa-chan incident will ease, even just a little.

In the quiz segment of the show “Pokapoka” (Fuji TV) aired on the 3rd, A Masso’s senior, Yuu Sawabe from Haraiti, repeatedly called out, 

“Fuwa-chan! Fuwa-chan!” 

The studio was lively, but online, there were still many harsh comments expressing disappointment and saying, “It’s not funny” and “I’m let down.”

“Originally, Fuwa-chan was in the same agency as Sawabe and A Masso. From Sawabe’s perspective, he probably thought that once they could joke around, the incident would ease up a bit, but it seems it was still too soon,” said a source from the TV station.

As for Fuwa-chan, since she paused her entertainment activities on August 11, there has been no news of her whereabouts. According to insiders, 

“The earliest return could be next year.” 

It would be great if the situation improves by then, but who knows.