Comedian Rei Maruyama will be appearing as a guest on episode 9 (exclusively broadcast on TVer from 11am on May 12th) of KDDI x TVer's original program "Our Company! ~Secret Talk Lunch Party~," which also features regular appearances by talent Anna Murashige and freelance announcer Maasa Takahashi. After the recording, Maruyama was interviewed and revealed that "I have so many friends that I get invited out to eat every day, which has resulted in me gaining 8kg."
This is the second original program in the KDDI x TVer content co-production project, and is a talk variety show where people listen to the "secret stories" of people working in society. Murashige and Takahashi appear regularly, and new episodes are released every Monday. There are a total of 12 episodes, and Maruyama will make a guest appearance in episodes 9 to 12.
The setting is lunchtime at a certain company. Murashige and Takahashi have a daily routine of chatting over a playlist where working women's worries and "secret stories" are uploaded as audio. They empathize with "Monku-chan" who uploaded the audio to the playlist, and express anger at "Konna-san" who troubles "Monku-chan", while eating "recommended sweets" that accompany their conversation with the guest, and engage in real and refreshing talk.
Maruyama, who appears in episodes 9 to 12, is on good terms with Murashige and they often hang out together in private. This episode was like a girls' get-together between the two, with Takahashi acting as an older sister. In this atmosphere, the three of them had a friendly conversation about the "secret stories" sent in by "Monku-chan."
Comments from the three performers are as follows:
◇Comments from Rei Maruyama, Anna Murashige, and Maasa Takahashi
--First of all, please tell us your thoughts after finishing the recording. Is there any episode with "Monkuchan" that left a particularly strong impression on you?
Takahashi: I didn't know that Murashige-chan and Rei-chan were good friends, so this recording was a lot of fun, as I felt like I was being invited to a girls' get-together with them. It's not a "Monku-chan" episode, but the thing that left the biggest impression on me was when they burst out laughing at the fact that I was using a notebook-style smartphone case. "That's old!" they said!
Murashige-san: It's not that it's old! But I don't think there are many younger generations who use it (laughs).
Takahashi: Last time, we had a young guest named Yui Okada Yui, and there were many moments when I felt the generation gap, but I was most shocked by the notebook-style case (laughs).
Maruyama-san: I was always wondering why older people want notebook-style wallets (laughs). It takes a little effort to open them, right? So I was just genuinely curious as to why. I wasn't laughing or saying it was "old-fashioned" or anything!
Takahashi-san: Well, you can store a lot of things in it, right? I need to store medicine for diarrhea and mouth ulcers in it (laughs).
Maruyama-san: Isn't "antidiarrheal" a bit of a powerful word?! (laughs)
Murashige: For us, that was the biggest shock!
Maruyama: On the contrary, I think it's more confident and cool (laughs).
Murashige: That's true! Sorry for going off topic (laughs). This time, my good friend Rei-chan came as a guest, and I think we were able to record in a different atmosphere. This time, we introduced an episode about "Monku-chan's sexual harassment uncle," but even though they are called uncles, there are people who sexually harass in every generation. What's more, there are cases where they don't realize that what they are doing is sexual harassment, and instead think that it's "funny" or "good." I think it is also "Monku-chan's" role to tell them "that's not okay," and this episode taught us the importance of communicating.
Maruyama: First of all, I was happy to be invited to the show. I often see videos of this show on TikTok, and the official video has 24,000 likes (at the time of the interview)! When I told them about it, they said, "Oh, really?" and I was surprised at the difference in attitude from the general public (laughs). When I participated in the recording, Shige-chan (Murakami-san) said "I don't like this" just as I saw in the video, and I thought it was a show that I could feel good and refreshed. Then, Maasa-san gave me her opinion based on her experience as a working adult, saying, "It's because of this reason," so I was able to learn how to communicate with older people.
--In keeping with the name of the show, we ask our guests to tell us a "secret story." Please tell us a secret story about you, Maruyama-san.
Maruyama: I have too many friends and they invite me out to eat every day, so I ended up gaining 8kg. It's the worst! Shige-chan was in the headlines for losing 9kg, so I want to be in the headlines for gaining 8kg (laughs).
Takahashi: Because your face is so small, it's hard to tell that you've gained weight.
Maruyama-san: I've had a lot of cosmetic treatments on my face, so I've kept it small, but my body is getting bigger and bigger, and I look like the Michelin Man (laughs). I've been lying to my stylists by telling them that I've been feeling swollen lately, but I can't hide it anymore, so I'm going to take this opportunity to tell them! (laughs).
-Finally, please give a message to the viewers.
Takahashi: All 12 episodes have been recorded, but I think there are still many "complainers" who are troubled. I hope I will have another opportunity to listen to the troubles of such people, but first of all, I would be happy if I could find something in these 12 episodes that is similar to my own troubles and help resolve them.
Murashige: I've met a lot of "complainers" and "troubled people" through this program, and I think what both of them need is an outlet. I'd be happy if talking to us gave them an outlet and made them feel a little better. I also hope that by watching this program, they'll find an opportunity to pamper themselves by drinking alcohol, eating sweets, or something other than just complaining.
Maruyama: When you're angry, you want to eat something sweet, right? Listening to "Monku-chan"'s story made me feel angry too, but eating sweets relieved that feeling (laughs). I thought the show was like "Sweets Paradise" (an all-you-can-eat restaurant), so I hope viewers will enjoy eating something sweet while watching. It was fun to participate!
*As an official TVer SNS exclusive content, the three cast members, who tend to poke their noses into everything, will also be broadcasting a segment called "We'll Choose the Best Answer" in which they will arbitrarily decide on the best answer to the "difficult-to-reply-to messages" sent in by "Complainers."
