■Three pairs of couples – mother and daughter Aikawa Nanase and RIO, husband and wife Honnami Kenji and Maruyama Karina, and sisters Yuchami and Yuichami – will compete for the title of “strongest buddy”!
The quiz show “THE Buddy: A Quiz Show to Decide the Strongest Two,” hosted by Kikuchi Fuma (timelesz), has been airing on Nippon Television for six consecutive weeks since May 17th.
In the show, the best-friend buddy duo in the entertainment industry, who boast, “We are the strongest buddy (duo)!”, will participate and take on a quiz that only the two of them can answer. It is a new type of quiz show full of talk in which unknown true nature and true faces are revealed through the challenges with the buddy who knows everything about them, including their private lives and true feelings.
The second episode, “Family SP,” will air on May 31 at 1:05 a.m. Three pairs of buddies, the parent-child pair of Nanase Aikawa and RIO, the husband-wife pair of Kenji Honnami and Karina Maruyama, and the sister pair of Yuchami and Yuichami, will compete for the title of “Strongest Buddy.”
■ 1st pair: Nanase Aikawa & RIO / Parent-child buddy
Singer Nanase Aikawa’s partner is her second son RIO (16), who is much talked about for his good looks. He is a professional drummer and plays in Nanase Aikawa’s backing band. During the recording of the show, MC Fuma Kikuchi suddenly said, “Timelesz, that’s right,” and recruited new members to Timelesz. From memories of a family trip to Africa to RIO’s childhood lessons, the rock singer’s family’s private life is revealed in such detail that he looks back and says, “The real me is coming out.”
■ 2nd pair: Kenji Honnami & Karina Maruyama / Husband and wife buddy
The husband and wife duo, Kenji Honnami and Karina Maruyama, who got married in 2020 and had their first child in 2023, will be taking part in the contest. As they answer the quiz, they will find out about fateful photos of their relationship and stories from when they were dating, after having played and coached together. The Maruyama world is in full swing, with Karina Maruyama revealing her slightly unusual ideal family image and her particular way of eating, as well as the food she is picky about.
■ 3rd group: Yuchami & Yuichami / sister buddy
The sisters Yuchami and Yuichami, two gals from Namba, participated in the contest. They were unbelievably unbeatable in the difficult kanji quiz!? The MCs commented, “Yuchami is so smart…” as they answered the difficult kanji questions smoothly. They got so serious about their answers that the sisters got into a fight, and MC Kikuchi warned them, “Please stop fighting.”
■ The second Buddy MC is Hiromasa Yashiki (New York)
Taking over the baton as buddy MC from Shintaro Moriyama (Mitorizu) is Hiromasa Yashiki (New York). The two, who have been MCs on TV shows in the past, are teaming up again. They will show off their great MC buddy skills, with Kikuchi saying, “We were in perfect sync and we could grasp the tempo.”
■It’s become a hot topic on social media! Fuma Kikuchi’s monologue
The monologue by MC Kikuchi Fuma is an unusual opening for a quiz show, and has been a hot topic, with people saying things like, “It’s becoming a habit” and “It has an indescribable atmosphere.”
#1 “Two people can do things that we can’t do alone”
#2 “1+1 is not 2, it’s infinity”
It continues, and attention will be focused on what kind of buddy quotes they will share this time.
Program Information
Nippon Television Network“THE Buddy: A Quiz Show to Decide the Strongest Two”
3rd session: 05/31 (Fri) 25:05-25:34
4th session: 06/07 (Fri) 24:45-25:14
5th session: 06/14 (Fri) 25:05-25:34
6th session: 06/21 (Fri) 25:05-25:34
*Catch-up streaming available on Tver (one month after broadcast)
Cast members appearing on 05/31 (Fri) and 06/07 (Fri)
MC: Fuma Kikuchi (timelesz)
Buddy MC: Hiromasa Yashiki (New York)
Answerers: Nanase Aikawa & RIO Kenji Honnami & Karina Maruyama Yuchami & Yuichami
“THE Buddy ~Quiz Show to Decide the Strongest Two~” OFFICIAL X (formerly Twitter)
https://x.com/thebuddy_ntv
timelesz OFFICIAL SITE
https://ovtp.jp/
https://www.universal-music.co.jp/timelesz/