THE SECOND 2026″ Champion Totto’s “Liberation from M-1,” a Turning Point

My child will start elementary school next year. We were talking about asking each other’s parents for a school bag because they are expensive, but I’m relieved that we will be able to buy one for him with the winnings.”

I’m relieved that we will be able to buy one for them with the prize money!　You don’t have a wife, you don’t have kids!　You don’t have a wife or kids!　You’re dragging out your winning story too much.”

Tomosuke Tada (40) and Masato Kuwabara (40) of the comedy duo Tot, who won “THE SECOND – Manzai Tournament 2026” on May 16, were still in high spirits after an all-nighter.

Tada said, “Congratulations lines have been ringing since yesterday. I was so happy to hear from my brothers who helped me, including Koji Nishida (51) of “Laughing Rice” and Kazunobu Kubota (46) of “Toro Salmon.

Kuwabara: “I received a call from Sakura Ando (40). She said, ‘I just finished Cannes, and the news just blew away my fatigue.

Tada: “Her first words were ‘Cannes is over,’ that’s too much of an impact (laughs).

Tada (pictured right) is the sharp-tongued one and Kuwabara is the blunt one. Their greatest weapon is their chemistry as high school classmates. The winning story, “Fictitious Family,” is a story in which the two expand their fantasies about a family that does not exist. They started the show with low tension and quickly reached the top with their rambling in the latter half of the show.

The days of not being able to achieve the results in “M-1,” which they had been aiming for for a long time, continued. Due to the eligibility limit of 15 years, he was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the “M-1” in 2012, his last year on the show. However, the turning point came when he was released from “M-1.

Kuwabara: “Once, I told Tada that I was going to stop doing manzai with an eye on the awards race. Then Tada started giving me a lot of opinions about my material (laughs).

Tada “For goodness sake, right?　In the first round of the final of “THE SECOND,” I did a story in which I stubbornly refused to use electronic money no matter what he said, but that was just me.

Kuwabara “You’re a bit stubborn, aren’t you? But that’s what I found interesting. I tried to ignore the theories of manzai and develop what Tada wanted to say, and the audience liked it differently.

The May 22 issue of “FRIDAY June 5-12” and the pay-per-view edition of “FRIDAY GOLD” delve deeper into the path to victory. The two have even dared to dance naked at one point because they were so lost in the process. They revealed their honest and naked feelings about their “six years full of setbacks.

From the June 5 and 12, 2026 issue of “FRIDAY