Timelesz Kikuchi Fuma to be MC of ABEMA's "I won't be fooled by you and the wolf"

■ “I enjoyed it while empathizing with all the members. I really thought, ‘Pure is the strongest.'” (Fuma Kikuchi)

Natsuko Yokozawa, Fuma Kikuchi from timelesz, and Rei Maruyama have been selected as the MCs for the latest ABEMA original romance reality show, “Don’t be fooled by you and the wolf boy,” which will be broadcast on the ABEMA SPECIAL2 channel from August 11th.

At a press conference held after the first recording, Yokozawa Natsuko, who has previously witnessed many love stories as an MC, commented, “The main characters, the high school girls, have incredible power. It’s so cute and fun to see them get excited about falling in love, and the power they exude is a highlight of the show.”

Maruyama, who gave the show her stamp of approval, saying, “It’s fast-paced so even the first episode is interesting and draws you in,” also mentioned co-star Kikuchi as the person she and Yokozawa both think of as the “best boyfriend.” Maruyama said, “When Kikuchi called me ‘Rei-chan,’ it woke up the ‘wolf’ inside me (laughs),” while Yokozawa said, “It’s amazing how he has had such a deep affection for the show since the first episode.”

On the other hand, Kikuchi, for whom this was her first time as an MC on a romance reality show, commented, “I was so immersed in it that it felt like it wasn’t my first time. I enjoyed it as I empathized with all the members. I really thought, ‘Pure is the strongest.'”

In addition, ahead of the first broadcast, “Don’t Be Fooled by You and the Wolf: Prologue,” in which the MCs and participating members will make their first appearance on the program, will be available for free streaming from 6:00 p.m. on August 1st.

■ MC joint interview report after the first recording
Q: There are many attractive candidates for the “best boyfriend” on this program, but who do you think is the “best boyfriend” out of all the men you have met in your lives?
Yokozawa:It was Kazuma-kun. He was the first MC of a love reality show, and I was moved by how much love he already had for the show. As someone who has been the MC of a love reality show for many years, I feel like more people are loving my children, and I’m really happy about that (laughs).
Kikuchi:I am really enjoying doing this, and above all, I feel like I am on a big ship because Yokozawa-san, who is like the “mother of romance reality shows,” is there (laughs).
Maruyama:I had worked with Fuma-kun on a comedy show before, but we didn’t have much chance to talk then. However, when I met him again today for the first time in a while, he called me “Rei-chan.” I was so happy, it awakened the “wolf” inside me (laughs). Also, as for the “best boyfriend” I met in my private life, when I was feeling down because I’d made a mistake or things weren’t going well at work, there was this guy who encouraged me by saying, “You’ll be fine. I think you’re funny, so have confidence, and that was just the best.
Kikuchi:To me, the “best boyfriends” are the two members of Timelesz. Even though we’ve been performing together recently, for some reason when we go home we choose to take our time and go home together in the location bus. We talk the whole time in the car, stopping at service areas on the highway and having a great time. The things we talk about are all silly. We’re in the middle of auditions, so I’m sure there are plenty of serious topics to talk about (laughs). But being able to have casual conversations like that is also why they’re the “best boyfriends.”

Q: There is a “lying wolf” among the male members who pretends to be in love, but are you MCs good at lying? Please tell us about any lies you have told recently.
Yokozawa:I tell little lies all the time (laughs). When my child says, “I want some coffee,” I’ll tell him, “This is really bitter, it’s poisonous” (laughs).
Maruyama:I’ve gone to a few drinking parties pretending to be a female college student. When I introduced myself, I said I was in the Department of Environmental Globalization, and the party itself was pretty lively (laughs). But I’ve never told a lie that would shake my life up.
Kikuchi:Actually, about 6 or 7 years ago, I felt like I was losing a lot of hair while taking a shower. When I counted the number of hairs I had lost, there were about 20. I decided to go to the hospital, but I thought that 20 hairs wouldn’t be enough to convey to the doctor how serious it was, so I declared that it was 5 times that amount, 100 hairs (laughs).
Yokozawa:It’s like when a child complains that their stomach hurts even though they don’t actually have a stomachache (lol).
Kikuchi:As a result, I had my hair roots examined with a scope, but there was nothing wrong and they were extremely fine (laughs).

Q: This program will be partially live. It has not yet been revealed what will happen, but live broadcasts are always full of surprises. What is the most memorable happening in the lives of the MCs?
Yokozawa:In my debut performance, I did a skit using an electronic piano, but the sound didn’t come out during the performance.
I just ended up opening and closing my mouth (laughs). Since then, I’ve stopped doing piano material altogether.
Maruyama:That’s why Natsuko’s material doesn’t have any rhythm! For me, I was on an airplane feeling really happy and relaxed, and just before takeoff, I happened to bump into comedian Rice Sekimachi, who pointed out to me, “You’ve got the wrong seat” (laughs). It was so embarrassing.
Kikuchi: I remembered on the plane that when I went to America before, security was strict. At the time, I thought that wearing sweatpants loosely was the coolest, so I wore them loosely around my waist, but the moment I raised my hand during the security body check, my sweatpants slid down and I ended up in my underwear in front of the crowd (laughs). I thought it would be dangerous to move around carelessly, so I just wore my underwear as usual, and the security people were laughing at me. At the time, I was still thinking about being a cool guy, but at that moment, I started to think, “Maybe I’ll try variety shows too” (laughs).

Q: This is Kikuchi’s first time as an MC on a romance reality show. How do you feel and what are your aspirations?
Kikuchi:I was so immersed in the show that it felt like it wasn’t my first time. I enjoyed it as I empathized with all the members.

Q: In the program, we follow the members’ true summer romance, but do the MCs have any bittersweet memories of summers from their school days?
Maruyama: When I was a student, I had a crush on a boy in the rugby club at the high school next door. We were both in similar positions in our respective groups, being the funny and good singers. That’s why I felt like we were a bit of a rival, but I was also interested in him. We went to a Bikkuri Donkey restaurant on a date, and although I can usually finish a 150-gram hamburger steak, I was so nervous that I couldn’t finish it, so I had to make him finish it for me (laughs). After that, we went to karaoke together, and I remember sitting alone in a big, hot room, so close that our hands were almost touching.
Yokozawa:I grew up on the Sea of Japan, so when the boys and girls in my class had BBQs on the beach, we always split into a sparkly team and a plain team. The boys treated the popular girls on the sparkly team to things like turban shells and grilled turban shells, and I would look on enviously and grill and eat them myself (laughs).
Kikuchi:I went to an all-boys school for middle and high school, so I don’t have any memories of that at all. The only time I remember going to a friend of a friend’s school’s school festival was when I dressed up like an otaku so that no one would notice that I was there (lol). But because I was in disguise, not only was I not noticed, no one even looked at me (lol). I got a little frustrated, so in the end I took off all my disguises, but I was so obvious that I immediately ran away (lol).

Q: Finally, please tell viewers what the highlights of the show are.
Yokozawa:The high school girls who play the main roles are incredibly powerful. Their love-filled, excited expressions are so cute and fun, and the power they exude is a highlight of the show.
Maruyama:The story moves at a great pace, so even just one episode is interesting and captivating.
There are so many situations that I long for when I read about them.
Kikuchi:I really thought, “Pure is the strongest.” There is a love that can only be experienced through a pure filter, something that we as adults cannot experience. I hope you will look forward to seeing the high school girls’ members’ unique moment as it is.

(C)AbemaTV, Inc.