MX and Mie TV…Anja Watanabe’s obsession with TV that needs to be abandoned

On March 7, Mie TV announced the discontinuation of “Anjush” (Chiba TV)’s “B&W Anjush” (Chiba TV) featuring “Anjush” Ken Watabe. Although the program was purchased for broadcast, this is the second station, following Tokyo MX, to discontinue broadcasting the program before Mr. Watanabe’s return episode.

Tokyo MX announced the termination of the program by saying

“It’s a comprehensive decision.

Mie TV, on the other hand, took a step further and said

“We received feedback from viewers on both sides of the issue.

The company also made it clear that it is not a “one-stop shop” for all of the company’s products.

According to an interview with this website, Chiba TV and other concerned parties received more than 800 phone calls with complaints after the February 15 broadcast of “Mr. Watanabe’s return episode. Upon hearing of the situation, Tokyo MX decided not to air the program featuring Mr. Watanabe.

The decision by MX to discontinue the program had a major impact on other TV stations. Not only Mie TV, but there may be other stations that are still going on.

It is probably the key stations that are more sensitive. The number of complaints is not comparable to that of local stations.

Before the affair scandal, Mr. Watanabe appeared daily on TV. However, I think it was a mistake for him to try to make a comeback as a “TV personality” as he did back then.

Television is a highly public medium. Anyone can watch it for free, so the stations are required to have a high level of compliance.

For this reason, Mr. Watanabe chose to return to Chiba Television, where he serves as MC. He said that he had done a lot of groundwork with his partner Kazuya Kojima and people from his office.

However, if he had simply thought, “Because it’s a local station,” or “Because it’s my own show,” it would have been a mistake. Even though it was a local station, the fact that some stations had to discontinue the program in succession gave the public the negative impression that it was still unacceptable.

Perhaps Mr. Watanabe should have abandoned his obsession with television and returned to work as a comedian.

There is no doubt that this path would be even more burdensome for Mr. Kojima than television. Creating material and rehearsing would have required much more time together than appearing on TV. The fact that they did not choose to do so cannot be ignored as a sign of the subtle discrepancy between the duo.

Masakazu Mimura, a guest on the March 8 broadcast of “B&W,” commented on Mr. Kojima’s “dislike” for Mr. Watanabe in his return episode.

If you say, “I don’t like it,” isn’t that the end of the duo?　”What’s going to happen after this?” I was worried.

He also lambasted the duo for showing their “disagreement” on TV. Mimura is known to be “good friends” with his partner, Kazuki Otake, so perhaps it was even more noticeable.

In this respect, too, his return to the company backfired.

However, “Anjush” is a duo that can create truly entertaining comedy. I would like to see them go back to their roots and show their power to turn everything into “laughs,” whether it is adultery, multipurpose toilets, or actresses’ wives.

Television may be difficult, but there should be opportunities for them on stage and in YouTube shows. If it is a comedy act, any answer you give will be a “joke” and you won’t be called cocky.

Watanabe-san will have to “put aside his pride and see if he can make people laugh. And Mr. Kojima may be asked whether he and his partner have the love for each other to climb to the top together.