Hiroki Nunokawa (41) and Michio Nunokawa (40) of Tom Brown left their mark in the final of &#8220;M-1 Grand Prix&#8221; last year with their one and only chaotic material, such as shooting a gun to avoid the host&#8217;s call for one drink and killing themselves by singing and dancing para para. Michio (40).
Although they came in 6th place, the impact they had on the audience was immeasurable. We asked them to talk about their recent activities as a duo of comedians from Hokkaido, who became a topic of conversation when they performed together on the program, stories related to last year&#8217;s M-1, the background behind their combined manzai and violent blurring, and their goals for the future.
<figure id="attachment_418072" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 7500px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-418072"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="2594d3ad"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/03/4e2afc3ddf51e3204db1d5035af40521.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-418072" class="wp-caption-text">In the final year of the M-1 Grand Prix, Tom Brown&#8217;s Hiroki Nunokawa (left in the photo) and Michio (right in the same photo) left a unique and chaotic impression with their performance.</figcaption></figure>
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<h3>Because of Takatoshi-san, many strange people from Hokkaido have emerged</h3>
&#8212; In February of this year, during the &#8220;Street Walk-1 Grand Prix&#8221; on Aisekishokudo (ABC Television), where M-1 finalists competed to showcase the fun of street walks, Tom Brown appeared with the legendary Hokkaido comedy duo Aqua Gelato and won. It seemed like the two who had been at odds had patched things up, but has Aqua Gelato resumed their activities since then?
Nunokawa: No, they haven&#8217;t (laughs). Hirasawa (Knight), the one whose nose hair doesn&#8217;t show, works at a bar in Hokkaido, so I went to visit him after the recording, and he said, &#8220;I still get irritated.&#8221;
On the show, Yato just comes across as making excuses, but Hirasawa isn&#8217;t exactly a responsible guy either. So, I understand why Yato doesn’t want to apologize. However, personally, I don’t like seeing people I’ve known for a long time in a falling-out, so I hope they’ll work together again as a duo.
&#8212; When did Aqua Gelato perform in Tokyo live shows?
Nunokawa: I think it was around 2004 or 2005. Aqua Gelato started comedy because they admired B-RAP HIGH SCHOOL on Gakkou e Ikou! (TBS), so they often did comedy with musical sketches, similar to what they did on Aisekishokudo at that time.
Michio: Like Park Manser. Once you’ve seen it, you can’t forget it and you get addicted to it. But Aqua Gelato was so weird that they didn’t become popular at all (laughs). Their Tokyo live shows were a reward for winning the Sapporo live competition, right?
Nunokawa: Yes. And they only won that one time. Every month, the comedians who won the Sapporo Yoshimoto live shows would go to Tokyo, and Aqua Gelato just happened to hit it big that time. Other than that, it was always just me, El Kabuki’s (DeLorean) Hayashi, and Aqua Gelato performing in the smaller, lower-tier shows.
Michio: This was back when Nunokawa was still a solo comedian at Sapporo Yoshimoto. At that time, it was almost a miracle that Aqua Gelato won, wasn’t it?
Nunokawa: It was a miracle. Sapporo is the kind of place where that kind of comedy doesn’t really get accepted. But for some reason, something just clicked at that moment.
Michio: And because Takatoshi-san were already established mainstream comedians, maybe after that, a lot of weird comedians started coming out of Hokkaido. People like us, (Hikaru) Yasumura, and Heisei Nobushikobushi, who all have that &#8220;Where did they find these people?&#8221; type of comedy, and they’re all loud, which feels very Hokkaido comedian-like.
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<h3>&#8220;I really wanted to win, but I&#8217;m totally failing.&#8221;</h3>
&#8212; Last year, you finished 6th in the M-1 finals, marking the end of your final year in the competition. Looking back, what does M-1 mean to both of you?
Nunokawa: It&#8217;s the most important competition. Thanks to M-1, we were able to make our name known. If M-1 hadn&#8217;t existed, we probably would have been just hanging out on some street corner forever.
Michio: Because of M-1, I started doing comedy, was able to eat, and started appearing on TV while continuing to perform my material. But then, to finish 6th in the finals last time, it really bothers me (laughs). That said, if M-1 hadn&#8217;t existed, I wouldn&#8217;t be who I am now, so I truly appreciate it.
<figure id="attachment_418084" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 7500px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-418084"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="b1602cc1"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/03/defb4788d5ce36f117021c14b73745b9.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-418084" class="wp-caption-text">If it weren&#8217;t for M-1, I think I would have spent all my time on the side of the road.</figcaption></figure>
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&#8211;(Nunokawa) &#8220;If it weren&#8217;t for M-1, I think I would have spent all my time on the side of the road. (TBS), you had a brief conversation with former Wagyu wrestler Shinji Mizuta.
Nunokawa: There was an exchange of &#8220;I&#8217;m disappointed&#8221; and &#8220;It was interesting, though,&#8221; after which he said, &#8220;Judging is based on the person&#8217;s way of thinking. I was told kindly, &#8220;You guys should think that you made a good story.
Actually, he said something similar to that to me in 2007. When we and Wagyu were both eliminated in the semifinals, Wagyu invited us to have dinner with him. There he said, &#8220;I think it&#8217;s important to have made at least one material in a year that you can be proud of. I was able to do that again this year. I think you should be proud of your work, too. Those words saved me a lot.
Michio：I saw the exchange, but we didn&#8217;t talk about specifics. But after the M-1 final last year, we had a chance to see two of our fantastic films in &#8220;Lovin&#8217;! I was very grateful that he said he wanted to see the second one of our illusions at the M-1 final last year, and I was allowed to perform &#8220;Tsuyoshi.
I think what saved my life was what Yahagi said to me. I was saved by the words of Mr. Yahagi, who I co-starred with in &#8220;Can I Follow You Home? (TV Tokyo), he said to me, &#8220;You went to the finals and did so well, so you get a perfect score of 100 points. Don&#8217;t be disappointed.
Now that I think about it, I feel that people who are not really aiming for the championship are winning. Reiwa Roman was aiming for consecutive championships, but I think he was more interested in making the competition more exciting. When I talked with Tetsuo Sato of Punk Boo Boo, the &#8220;M-1 2009&#8221; champion, he said, &#8220;When I won the championship, I was just trying to be funny and entertain the audience,&#8221; and I thought to myself, &#8220;I really wanted to win, but I&#8217;m totally useless.
Reaction of the audience at the M-1 final, anesthesia gun blur and &#8220;Dame! You can read the full story about the birth of Tsukkomi and his future activities in the paid version of FRIDAY Subscription.
 
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<figure id="attachment_418085" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 7500px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-418085"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="9b11323f"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2025/03/ef049f3dc93dc3677e4f9816dd68a251.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-418085" class="wp-caption-text">I&#8217;m pissed off because I went to the finals one last time and came in sixth (laughs).</figcaption></figure>
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 Asahi Suzuki

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