<figure id="attachment_460448" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-460448" style="width: 3648px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="5d7acbb9"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2026/03/7402627478975d6b69854af092f0d577.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-460448" class="wp-caption-text">Former &#8220;SMAP&#8221; member Tsuyoshi Kusanagi (51), who is also an established actor, is pictured at the 59th Galaxy Awards presentation ceremony.</figcaption></figure>
<h2> The seal of a masterpiece is broken.</h2>
<p> It has been announced that the drama series &#8220;Food Fight&#8221; (NTV, broadcast from &#8217;00 to &#8217;01), starring former &#8220;SMAP&#8221; member Tsuyoshi Kusanagi (51), will be distributed on the video distribution service Hulu starting March 6. Netizens have been expressing their joy since the series was loved by many viewers, but for various reasons had become a &#8220;phantom work.</p>
<p> This unique drama depicts Mitsuru Ihara, played by Kusanagi, as a &#8220;food fighter&#8221; who fights to the death. While working as a janitor for a food company, he participates in a food fight, a big-eating gambling game, to earn money to donate to an orphanage where he has been helped.</p>
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<p> Fukada Kyoko (43), Rie Miyazawa (52), Toshio Kakei (63), and Shiro Sano (71) made regular appearances, and the play&#8217;s glamorous guests also made appearances during the gluttonous eating battles. Screenwriter Shinji Nojima (63) planned the show, and his signature line, &#8220;My stomach is the universe! and the key line, &#8220;My stomach is the universe! The drama was so popular that two special dramas were produced after its broadcast in 2000.</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The theme song was &#8220;Raion Heart&#8221; by SMAP, for which Mr. Nojima wrote the lyrics, and the song became a huge hit, selling over a million copies. The popularity of &#8220;Food Fight&#8221; probably helped to spread the song&#8217;s appeal. However, due to an accident in &#8217;02 in which a junior high school student died as a result of a quick bread-eating contest, the drama has been ″sealed off. It has never been released on VHS, DVD, or Blu-ray, nor has it been distributed on the Internet, and it is said to be a &#8216;phantom masterpiece'&#8221; (entertainment writer).</span></p>
<p> (Entertainment writer) Despite the fact that &#8220;Food Fight&#8221; had such a large fan base, it was difficult to see it on film. However, in September 2012, when &#8220;New Map&#8221; consisting of Kusanagi, Inagaki Goro (52), and Katori Shingo (49) appeared as guests on Nippon TV&#8217;s music program &#8220;with MUSIC,&#8221; footage from the drama was shown, causing some surprise among SMAP fans.</p>
<p> Not only SMAP fans but also netizens who are familiar with &#8220;Food Fight&#8221; are excitedly saying, &#8220;I have to subscribe to Hulu! and &#8220;I have to subscribe to Hulu!</p>
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<div data-friday-nextpage-lead=" The names in the lineup..."></div>
<h2>Fans were overjoyed!</h2>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The X (formerly Twitter) account under the name &#8220;Hulu Customer Support&#8221; sent a reply to an account that had previously posted a request for the &#8220;Food Fight&#8221; series, &#8220;Hulu is now offering the previously requested &#8220;Food Fight&#8221; series Happy Happy Watching! The ban may have been lifted in response to the requests of users.</span></p>
<p> Kusanagi, who plays the lead role, commented on the start of distribution, &#8220;I am once again very happy that this work is now being distributed! It&#8217;s a drama filled with charm that won&#8217;t fade away with the passage of time. Everything is a point of interest! Please look forward to watching it!&#8221; Please look forward to watching it!</p>
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<p> The voice of &#8220;Kutaro,&#8221; the nine-headed bird kept by the main character Mitsuru, is voiced by former SMAP member Takuya Kimura (53), and the official website of &#8220;New Map,&#8221; which announced the news of the distribution, lists &#8220;Takuya Kimura (voice performance)&#8221; in the performer column. Since the breakup of the group in 2004, Kusanagi and Kimura have gone their separate ways, and fans,</p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> Takuya Kimura&#8217;s name on the &#8220;New Map&#8221; website: &#8230;&#8230;</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> It&#8217;s very moving to see &#8220;Takuya Kimura&#8221; and &#8220;Theme song is by SMAP&#8221; on the &#8220;New Map&#8221; website.</span></p>
<p><span class="strongInContent"> The distribution of &#8220;Food Fight&#8221; is a great news, and I&#8217;m crying to see Kimura&#8217;s name on the &#8220;New Map&#8221; website.</span></p>
<p> I&#8217;m so happy to see Kimura&#8217;s name on the New Map website.</p>
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<p><span class="strongInContent"> Incidentally, Kusanagi&#8217;s film &#8220;Shinkansen Dai Bakaku&#8221; on Netflix is also attracting attention again. Distribution began in April &#8217;25, but recently the number of Netflix subscribers has been increasing in conjunction with the exclusive distribution of baseball&#8217;s &#8220;WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC 2026&#8221; (opening on March 5). Along with this, several new users&#8217; posts about watching &#8220;Shinkansen Daihaku,&#8221; a film starring Kusanagi, went up. Actor Kusanagi Tsuyoshi&#8217;s performance must have stuck with various generations.</span></p>
<p> The distribution of the film on Hulu has triggered some calls for a sequel to &#8220;Food Fight&#8221; on social networking sites. Expectations are high for future developments.</p>


 Kazuhiko Nakamura

 The drama series "Food Fight," starring former SMAP member Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, will be available for preview on Hulu. Takuya Kimura, a former SMAP member, voices the nine-headed bird that is kept by the main character, to the delight of his fans.

The &#8220;Food Fight&#8221; drama starring Kusanagi, a ″phantom work″, is unveiled! Takuya Kimura&#8217;s name is also listed on the &#8220;New Map&#8221; website&#8230;

The “Food Fight” drama starring Kusanagi, a ″phantom work″, is unveiled! Takuya Kimura’s name is also listed on the “New Map” website…

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