EXIT -- SUPER STAR

 

Not too long ago, I was writing about sumo wrestlers who also decided to make some of their mark in the entertainment world via the recording booth such as Jesse Takamiyama. Along a similar path, comedy duos have also sung up a storm over the decades and "Kayo Kyoku Plus" has encountered a few of those manzai combi such as Tetsu and Tomo（テツ and トモ）with their "Horoyoi Blues" (ほろ酔いブルース) and Saruganseki（猿岩石）with "Shiroi no Kumo no You ni" （白い雲のように）. 

Since coming back home a decade ago, I haven't kept up too well with the up-and-coming duos since any TV shows featuring them don't show up on NHK via TV Japan all that much, but occasionally I come across them when they appear on commercial network variety programs such as "VS. Arashi". I have no idea who they are aside from the fact that they look funny and they run off at the mouth at warp speed.

One such duo is EXIT which hail from the Osaka-based Yoshimoto Kogyo stable of comedians, perhaps comparable to comedy troupes in the United States such as The Groundlings or Second City. Consisting of Rintaro（りんたろー）and Daiki Kanechika（兼近大樹）, they started out in 2017 and seem to be one of those duos on the way up according to the number of shows that they've appeared on as regulars and how deep the boys have gotten in the M1 Grand Prix, the big contest to pick the best manzai duo. Also, according to their Wikipedia page, Rintaro and Kanechika came up with their duo name from the fact that they "...can be the exit to everyone's pain and stress". You can take a look at the act above.

Well, in the same vein as their fellow duos Tetsu and Tomo plus Saruganseki, EXIT has also been releasing music on their own since 2018 through digital download and tangible CDs. In fact, almost a couple of weeks ago on NHK's "Uta Con"（うたコン）, the duo showed up in outfits that neglected proper trousers to prove that they are a zany couple of comedians. Aside from that clothing-related attempt at comedy, Rintaro and Kanechika came on the show to perform a song, "SUPER STAR", a track from their first CD album "Genesis" released on the 15th this month.

Written by Shizuka Kuwabara（桑原静香）and EXIT with music by Markus Bogelund, Gabriel Brandes, Kevin Charge and Hide Nakamura, it's a dance-beat tune which is pretty well sung by the guys. The music video isn't too bad either although the CG versions of EXIT are along the lines of the characters from "The Polar Express" from 2004, but maybe that's part of the humour.