Tenma Sumeragi/Joke Planning Elaborately

Tenichi’s Improvised Manzai Show

Backstage Stories

Part 1Part 2Part 3

Taichi	Ahaha, that duo was so funny just now!
Citron	They are a favorite to win the young manzai’s gateway to success, “King of Blooming.”
Tenma	The duo before them was funnier.
Taichi	I wanna see the next duo soon! I can’t wait for these commercials to end~
Izumi	I’m home.
Sakuya	Director, welcome home!
Taichi	Welcome home!
Izumi	Oh, perfect. You guys, are you interested in live comedy shows?
Tasuku	Live comedy shows?
Azuma	I’ve never been to one before.
Izumi	Well basically, earlier...
Yuzo	I’m coming in.
Izumi	Yuzo-san! What can I do for you today?
Yuzo	I just happened to pass by on my way home from helping out an acquaintance’s troupe, so I thought I’d drop by here too.
Izumi	I see! Good work today.
Yuzo	Well, it’s not just to say hi. Here.
Izumi	Tickets to a live comedy show?
Yuzo	Yeah. Apparently someone in the troupe that I went to help out today has an acquaintance who’s making an appearance in this.
Izumi	I see. Huh, it’s being held at an event hall in the next town over.
Yuzo	I was planning to go since they were nice enough to give them to me, but unfortunately I’ve got other plans that day.
	I can’t go, but I thought someone in this troupe could be able to.
Izumi	A comedy show, how nice! I bet this would be useful for our plays too.
Yuzo	Exactly. It could work as study for how to insert adlibs, or comedic plays.
Izumi	That’s true! Then, I’ll take you up on the offer and accept the tickets.
Yuzo	I wanted to see it too, but it is what it is. Let me know what you think, if you don’t mind.
Izumi	Alright!
Izumi	–so that’s what happened.
	We’ve got some tickets, so I’m hoping there are people besides me who can go too.
Citron	A live comedy show, I wish to go!
Taichi	It sounds like fun!
Tasuku	Huh, I’m interested.
Izumi	It’s going to be on this day...
Azuma	Mmm... that might be a bit difficult for me.
Tasuku	I’ve got a guest appearance that day.
Citron	Ohh... this day is the day that I go to see kabuki.
Sakuya	It’s a shame, but I also have things to do...
Taichi	Ughh... it’s no good for me either...
Izumi	In the end, it’s really inconvenient, huh.
Tenma	...I’m free on that day.
Izumi	Really? If you’d like to, I hope we can go together.
Tenma	Are there still tickets?
Izumi	Yeah, I have some left.
Tenma	I’ll ask if any of the others can go.
Izumi	Really? Thank you, Tenma-kun!
Izumi	Alright then, let’s have a good time today.
Tenma	Yeah.
Misumi	I’m excited to see a comedy show~
Muku	I’m looking forward to seeing a live comedy show too!
Kumon	Me too me too! I’m excited, this is kind of like a field trip~!
Yuki	I can’t believe the entire Summer Troupe was free.
Kazunari	Isn’t it great? A live comedy show with everyone!
Izumi	I think this’ll become a source of lots of acting tips, for things like getting a feel for the tempo and how to use pauses.
Tenma	Yeah. There could be something that we can incorporate into the Summer Troupe’s comedic plays.
Kazunari	Alright, let’s go to the event hall right away ☆

Yuki	Wow... it’s a bigger venue than I expected.
Tenma	There’s a lot of people here too.
Muku	I’m excited to see what sort of jokes they’re going to show us.
Kazunari	Ah, looks like there’s a list of the featured entertainers on the pamphlet we got earlier!
Izumi	It’s not just one duo, but a lot of them.
Misumi	I wonder if there’ll be a triangle entertainer~?
Tenma	What the heck is a triangle entertainer...
Muku	I’ve seen this person before!
Kumon	Awesome! They’ve been making appearances on TV a lot recently with their quick one-liners!
Yuki	I thought they were a solo act, but they were originally part of a duo?
Tenma	Huh? I’ve never seen this duo before.
Izumi	Ah, they’re a new face in manzai that just graduated from training school.
Misumi	What’s training school?
Izumi	It’s a school where you study comedy in depth.
Misumi	Ooh~! That sounds fun~!
Kazunari	I’m too excited, my tension is maxed out!
Entertainer A	I’m starting the impersonations now, so try to guess what I’m doing.
	Meow meooow.
Entertainer B	That cry is... a cat!
Entertainer A	Buzz. The correct answer was... a unpopular idol who thinks that imitating a cat will make her cute~
Entertainer B	That imitation is too specific! Would anyone figure something like that out!?
Kumon	Haha! It’s like Marshmugi!
Misumi	Whaaat!? It wasn’t a cat??
Kazunari	Dark-ish jokes can also be nice~
Yuki	That comeback just now... it could be easy to use as an adlib.
Izumi	Their sense of speed is just right too.
Tenma	Yeah, the timing was perfect.
CHOICE 1: The tempo and pauses were really good. [+] Izumi Their use of tempo and pauses was really good too. Tenma Especially with that routine just now, it seems like it’d work well for the Summer Troupe’s comical performances. It’d be fresh and exciting. Alright, when we get back let’s try incorporating this stuff into practice right away.
CHOICE 2: This is even better of a study reference than I had imagined. [+] Izumi This is even better of a study reference than I had imagined. Tenma Definitely, when you watch it like this manzai and theater surprisingly have a lot in common. It’d be interesting to put on a play with a manzai theme too. Maybe we should borrow and study some DVDs on comedy too.
Izumi	Heheh, I’m glad we came.
Tenma	Yeah. I’m looking forward to the next entertainer’s routine.
Izumi	Just like that, it’s already half over, huh.
Tenma	The next duo is...
	Next is another young duo.
Kumon	What sort of acting style are they gonna use?
Muku	I’m looking forward to it!
Kazunari	Ah, looks like it’s starting!
Mozu	Hello~! I’m Kotaro Mozu!
Esaka	I’m Kanade Esaka. Kanade and Kotaro.
Mozu and Esaka	Together the two of us are Kanako!
Esaka	It’s nice to meet you all.
	I said that thinking we would start right away, but lots of types of people came by today, huh.
Mozu	They did~! Looking out, I see young men and ladies of course, but also moms, dads, grandpas, grandmas, dogs...
Esaka	No no, there’s no dogs.
Mozu	That young man over there, what’s your name?
Audience Member	Um, it’s Inui.
Mozu	What? No joke!? There really is one!
Esaka	There’s a dog here! Wait, why are YOU surprised!?
Kazunari	Haha, so it’s a routine that plays with the audience~
Yuki	Ugh... do your best to not make eye contact.
Misumi	It’s funny~!
Mozu	Aaah!!!
Esaka	Why did you suddenly shout... what’s wrong?
Mozu	O-Over there...!
Esaka	Uh huh, what?
Kumon	Isn’t he pointing at Tenma-san?
Tenma	Wh-! D-Don’t tell me he...
Mozu	There’s a suspicious person~!!!
Esaka	There really is... he’s wearing sunglasses even though we’re indoors. You’re right, that’s too suspicious.
Tenma	H-Huh!?
Kumon	Wait, Tenma-san!?
Izumi	Eh!?
Mozu	Oh! He’s standing up, what a nice suspicious person! Why don’t you come up here for a bit?
Tenma	M-Me?
Esaka	You’re the only one with the spotlight on you, arentcha bro? Everyone, let’s greet him with a round of applause~
	*applause*
Tenma	...I don’t really get it, but I’ll go for now.
Yuki	Eh? You’re really going up?
Muku	He went up...!
Mozu	Welcome, Mr. Hot Stuff!
Esaka	Hm? Doesn’t he have this aura about him? Can I ask what your job is?
Tenma	Uh...
Izumi	Tenma-kun!? Will he be ok...?
Misumi	Tenma...
Yuki	If he says anything like “actor,” it’s all over.
Kazunari	...
Kumon	Kazu-san!?
Muku	Where are you going, Kazu-kun!?
Kazunari	Now, now, leave this to me!

Esaka	What’s up, bro?
Mozu	What’s this, what’s this! You jumping in at the last minute too, bro?
Kazunari	Heyo! His job, right? Actually, fresh out of VSC’s 33rd generation, we make up the duo Tenichi! Nice to meetcha ☆
Tenma	What? What are you...
Esaka	Eh? We’re in the same graduating class!
Mozu	No way, are y’all in the same trade!?
Esaka	Alright, this is huge so please show us just a little bit of your routine.
Mozu	I definitely wanna see it too~ Anyone else wanna see Tenichi’s routine?
	*applause*
Tenma	Sigh... remember this later.
Kazunari	Tenten, you gotta have fun like this!
Mozu	Done setting up your routine, bros?
Tenma	Yeah.
Kazunari	Ready enou~gh.
Mozu	A surprise challenger from the outside appears. What sort of routine will they show us? I’m getting excited~!
Esaka	Without further ado, show us what you’ve got. Well then, go for it~
	*applause*
Tenma	Hello.
Kazunari	We’re Tenichi. Nice to meetcha!
	C’mon Tenten, your tension’s so low! Let’s do our Tenten Tension Up shout together!
Tenma	Stop saying tentententen!
Kazunari	Alright, how many times did I say “ten” just now~?
Tenma	Huh!? Umm... Tenten, tension...
Kazunari	Speaking of which, I went to this great ice cream parlor recently. The salesperson’s tension was so totally maxed out!
Tenma	Hey, don’t suddenly change the subject. What sort of salesperson was it to leave that sort of impression?
Kazunari	I’ll do a quick reenactment, so follow my lead, Tenten. I’ll be the salesperson, and you be me!
Tenma	Wait! Why am I playing YOU?
Kazunari	Isn’t it easier to remake it that way?
Tenma	That makes no sense!
Kazunari	Alright then, here we go!
	Welcome~! It’s hot today too, isn’t it? At a time like this, let’s eat ice cream and have a blast ☆
Tenma	L-Lit! No matter which ice cream I look at, it’s totally instablammable! This crackling candy ice cream is rainbow colored and adorbs~!
	I’m seriously getting hyped~!!
Kazunari	Hey, no, not even gyaru talk like that these days.
Tenma	Don’t get all calm and collected!
Tenma	–wouldn’t ever happen!
Kazunari and Tenma	Thank you very much!
	*applause*
Mozu	Considering it was thrown together at the last minute, you’re really getting laughs!
Esaka	One more big round of applause for our last minute heroes, Tenichi~
	*applause*
Mozu	Not bad at all, bros!
Tenma	W-Well, yeah.
Kazunari	Thanks!
Esaka	I have a feeling we’ll meet again someday.
Mozu	Next time, let’s meet at King of Blooming!
Esaka	That’s right, in the finals.
Host	“This year’s King of Blooming has turned out to be a fierce battle too!”
	“Young manzai entertainers competed ruthlessly in this tournament... which duo will take the champion title!”
Citron	Wonderful! It is a very close match this year!
Taichi	In the end, it’s gotta be number 1!
Kumon	What!? It’s totally the last guys!
Banri	Not number 3?
Sakuya	I liked number 2... mnn, but number 1 was funny too...
Muku	They were all so funny, I can’t choose!
Tenma	Everyone’s getting excited.
Kazunari	Well, it IS~ the once-a-year battle to determine who’s the top dog of comedy!
Host	“I’ll announce the results!”
	“The winner of this year’s King of Blooming is...!”
Company Members	...
Host	“Number 2, Kanako!!!”
	*applause*
Citron	Ohh! This year it is Kanako!
Banri	Their dialogue was definitely great.
Tenma	Huh? Aren’t those guys...
Kazunari	Ah! They’re the guys who messed with Tenten at that live comedy show we went to the other day!
Host	“Congratulations on your victory! How are you feeling right now?”
Esaka	“Everyone, thank you so much for your support. We’re happy to have been able to win, but we aren’t satisfied yet.”
Mozu	“That’s right, our victory here isn’t enough! We have a rival that we must win against no matter what!”
Host	“Ohh! And that rival is...?”
Mozu	“They came to a live comedy show before–Tenichi! We absolutely must face them in the finals here!”
Esaka	“I’m looking forward to the day when we can face off~”
Tenma	Wh...!?
Banri	Wait a minute, is Tenichi...
Taichi	Whaat!? Tenchan, you know them!?
Citron	You two, leaving Citrun behind, what is the meaning of this!!
Sakuya	Since when were you comedians!?
Kumon	Kanako’s rival is Tenichi, that’s so awesome!
Muku	Oh my gosh, we could see something like that last live comedy show again!
Taichi	What happened at that live comedy show!?
Kazunari	Yooo! How about it? Are we going on King of Blooming??
Tenma	Obviously not!

Noodle