【ＯＰ】清水ミチコとナイツの漫才
Bakusho Mondai (爆笑問題) comedian Ota Hikaru recounts how he briefly claimed Shimizu Michiko's signature "eh?" reaction gag as his own after she stopped using it for several weeks, only for her to reclaim it and begin insisting "That's mine" every time he tries it. The episode also covers a collaboration week between the Beverly Hills radio show and Ota's program, and a chaotic CBC live broadcast during which Shimizu Michiko spent a full hour tearing apart every one of Ota's food-commentary remarks. Rounding things out are a manzai-writing session derailed by a misdirected email and a surprisingly positive verdict on a convenience-store "Hotcake Man."
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What this episode answers
How did Ota come to believe the "eh?" gag belonged to him?
After hearing Shimizu Michiko use "eh?" just once on Beverly Hills and then nothing for several weeks, Ota decided she had forgotten about it and began using the gag himself; when she later revived it, she immediately began insisting "That's mine" every time he tried it.
What events took place during the Beverly Hills collaboration week?
Naits and Shimizu Michiko appeared on the performance corner of Ota's show to the Beverly Hills theme tune, and at Titan Live, Shimizu Michiko and Minatsu performed manzai that Ota praised backstage as "so funny it brought tears to my eyes"; at a Dera Laba recording, Ota's use of "eh?" was immediately challenged by Shimizu Michiko with "That's mine."
How did Shimizu Michiko's tsukkomi change as the CBC live supermarket segment progressed?
Early on her comebacks were relatively light—"terrible" in response to Ota's food commentary—but as the VTR progressed they escalated into outright insults ("ordinary," "there's no way he's good-looking, you can't even see his face"), and she reportedly fled the studio the moment the broadcast ended.
What happened when the email failed to arrive during the manzai-writing session?
Because Akiba's email address had been changed multiple times, the script email never reached him; Akiba and partner Tanaka then began discussing the missing email with each other while completely ignoring Ota, who was sitting right in front of them, and it was eventually confirmed that Noguchi had received it fine.
How did Ota evaluate the "Hotcake Man" brought by housekeeper Tanaka-san?
After sneaking a bite while Tanaka-san stepped away, Ota admitted it was good—the hotcake dough was filled with plenty of maple syrup—but insisted it was no match for anman and warned that anyone expecting a proper substitute would be completely wrong.
The Ownership Dispute Over "Eh?"
While listening to the Thursday corner that Naits (ナイツ) and Shimizu Michiko (清水ミチコ) host on the Beverly Hills (ビバリーヒルズ) radio show, Ota Hikaru (太田光) of Bakusho Mondai (爆笑問題) caught Shimizu Michiko dropping a single "eh?" as a reaction gag. He kept listening over the following weeks—and heard nothing more of it. His conclusion: she had forgotten about it, which meant it was fair game. He began using the gag himself.
The arrangement lasted until Shimizu Michiko revived "eh?" and Ota found out. From that point on, every time he deployed the line—at a Dera Laba (デララバ) recording, for instance—she would immediately counter with "That's mine." Ota's verdict on the whole affair: she "has moments where she doesn't notice how funny she is, because she's a bit clueless." Today, he concedes, Shimizu Michiko is using "eh?" with full, enthusiastic commitment.
Beverly Hills × Collaboration Week
This week coincided with a collaboration between Beverly Hills and the show Ota appears on. Naits and Shimizu Michiko made a guest appearance on Ota's performance corner, entering to the Beverly Hills theme tune, and Ota and his partner were introduced by name. At Titan Live (タイタンライブ), Shimizu Michiko and Minatsu (美奈津) performed manzai together; watching from backstage, Ota declared he had been moved to tears by how funny it was.
Not every moment earned such praise. During the performance corner, Shimizu Michiko suddenly produced the gag "Please be consistent" out of nowhere, and it landed with a thud. Ota's commentary was unsparing: "If you framed it as pointing out inconsistent word usage—like 'AI' versus 'artificial intelligence'—you could make it work. But she's too clueless to think that far ahead."
The Chaotic CBC Live Supermarket Special
For a CBC live broadcast, Ota, Shimizu Michiko, and Kondo of Niche (ニッチェの近藤) sat side by side and provided reaction-shot commentary while watching a VTR spotlighting a local supermarket in Yokkaichi. Shimizu Michiko turned every one of Ota's remarks into a target.
Seeing basil salmon, Ota offered: "Feels very bread-like, doesn't it?"—"Terrible," she shot back. "Authentic flavor"—"You have no idea." "Looks good"—a double hit: "Eh?" followed instantly by "That's mine." At one point Ota blurted out "Furthermore!" just as the VTR cut away, leaving him to be interrogated afterwards with "Furthermore, what?"
The second half grew sharper. Ota called a squid display "beautiful" and received "Ordinary." Complimenting a fully masked factory worker as "good-looking" earned: "There's no way he's good-looking—you can't even see his face." By the end, her comebacks had crossed fully into insult territory. The moment the broadcast finished, Shimizu Michiko slipped out of the studio before anyone could stop her. Ota reflected that "having to tsukkomi me for a full hour straight must have been rough"—while adding that the experience was "not easy at all" for him either.
The Manzai-Writing Email Fiasco
Bakusho Mondai are currently in the middle of writing new material. Ota compiled their latest scripts and sent a group email to his partner Tanaka (田中), writer Akiba (秋葉), and writer Noguchi (野口)—but the email never reached Akiba, whose address had been updated multiple times without being corrected in Ota's contacts.
When Akiba arrived at the session, rather than simply asking Ota—who was sitting right there in front of him—he turned to partner Tanaka and the two began murmuring back and forth: "Didn't get it." "Seriously?" Ota was baffled: "I'm right here—just ask me directly." It eventually emerged that Noguchi had received the email, pinpointing the outdated address entry as the culprit.
Bonus: The Hotcake Man Incident
During a break in the writing session, housekeeper Tanaka-san (田中さん) went to a convenience store in search of anman, only to find it sold out. Ota explained that anman, despite its loyal following, consistently loses out in popularity to nikuman and curry-man, so stores often stock only one or two at a time. Tanaka-san returned instead with a "Hotcake Man" (ホットケーキマン).
Ota was skeptical. The moment Tanaka-san stepped out of the room, he quietly tried one—and found the hotcake dough packed with maple syrup. His verdict: "It was good." He was quick to add a caveat, however: "It can't beat anman. Anyone thinking this is a proper substitute is completely wrong."
Takeaways
- Ota briefly claimed Shimizu Michiko's "eh?" reaction gag as his own after she went weeks without using it, only for her to reclaim it and insist "That's mine" every time he tries it.
- A CBC live broadcast devolved into an hour of Shimizu Michiko relentlessly roasting Ota's supermarket commentary, with her tsukkomi escalating from mild jabs to outright insults before she fled the studio.
- A manzai-writing session was thrown into chaos when Ota's group email never reached writer Akiba due to an outdated address, leading Akiba and partner Tanaka to discuss the missing message while ignoring Ota sitting right in front of them.
This article is edited from a machine transcript of the first 30 minutes of the episode. It is not an official summary — please listen to the episode itself.