Asakusa Kid
Before he hit it big, Takeshi Kitano got his start apprenticing with comedy legend Fukami of Asakusa. But as his star rises, his mentor's declines.
The Bleep Brothers
Tatsuo and Ikuo have been raised by hard-working parents who run a funeral home. For relief, they practice games of manzai, a Japanese comic vaudeville. Tatsuo grows up to be a handsome chick magnet, while Ikuo is nerdy and unappealing. He spies on his brother to get material for their reality porn show. The show is bleeped heavily, and their bleep language becomes trendy and makes them stars.
Emi-Abi
Up-and-coming manzai stand-up comedy duo Emi-Abi has lost consummate funny man Unno (a surprisingly touching Tomoya Maeno) to an accident, leaving conceited straight man Jitsudo (Ryu Morioka) to contend with his diminished career prospects as a bland, pretty face entertainer. Guided by his manager Natsumi (Haru Kuroki), who demonstrates stronger comedy chops than her own star, Jitsudo comes to learn the circumstances of his friend's passing, as well as the life-and-death stakes of a career in comedy. Demonstrating a careful balance of tone across tragedy and deadpan and gross-out humor, writer/director Kensaku Watanabe expands "Emi-Abi"'s hilarious premise into a strikingly assured meditation on artistic rivalry and self-actualization.
漫才協会 THE MOVIE 舞台の上の懲りない面々
Father and Son
This is a story about a son who pursue his career as a comedian by forming a comedy duo with his demented father. "Kazuki, are you still doing comedy?" "Yes, I am. Right now!" The Abe family is a rice farmer in Nishikan Ward, Niigata. The first son, Kazuki is unemployed, living at his parents' house, and writing comedy plot everyday. One day, his father Yoji fell down from a stroke while he was practicing for the local comedy competition. While facing the severe reality of becoming a home helper to his demented father, his companion, Masakazu told him he is giving up on comedy. Struggling between his dream and the reality, childhood and adulthood, he decides to enter the competition as a comedy duo with his demented father. Can miracle happen on stage for the father who lost his memory and the son who finally made up his mind?
What's Manzai?!!!
Captivated by the classic form of Japanese comedy known as manzai, Stephen, an American, sets out to break into Japan's entertainment world.
MANZAI Conflict
Tsukaguchi, a comedian, is disliked by the public for his bad behavior and vile style, and shows no signs of selling at all. He and his partner, Kunimatsu, spend their days doing MANZAI (comedy dialogue) at a small theater. One day, the two receive an offer to appear on TV. However, Tsukaguchi has a big problem with his girlfriend, and in the midst of the mixture of reality and delusion, he soon finds himself involved in an irreversible situation as a comedian.