It was announced on December 23rd that the "Double Impact 2026 Manzai & Conte Dual-Sword Style No. 1 Showdown," the second comedy award race to determine the best in both manzai and comedy sketches, will be held. A press conference was held in Tokyo on the same day, and six comedy duos who had announced their intention to enter the competition, including Dondecollete, who came second in the "M-1 Grand Prix 2025" held on the 21st, gathered together.
When asked how he would use the 10 million yen prize money from the tournament, Dondécolleté's Watanabe Ginji replied, "Long-term, savings, and diversification. I would like to manage it by adhering to these three principles..." He added, "First of all, I would like to have my utility bills automatically debited." He added, "(Right now) I pay by paper," drawing laughter from the audience. When asked about his aspirations, his partner Kobashi Kyosaku joked, "We came in second place in this great tournament called M-1, and I think it's thanks to M-1 that I'm standing here today. So, I really want to help make M-1 more exciting," drawing laughter.
Furthermore, when Kobashi revealed that "it seems that my partner has been receiving quite a few DMs (on social media) (since M-1)," Watanabe confessed, "From both the left and right parties..." Watanabe, who declared that he would not run for office, added, "When I was performing (my material) on TV, I tried to stay in the middle (politically), so I received messages from both sides (left and right)... That's why I'm thinking about doing material that is not socially relevant."
The press conference was attended by Nippon no Shachou, the first Double Impact champion, as MC, as well as Dondécolleté, Cotton, Stamina Pan, Cellulite Spa, Danbiramucho, and Nanamagari, who have all announced their entries this time.
When asked about the changes since his last victory, Nippon's president, Kohei Tsuji, said with a wry smile, "As the first champion, I jokingly said on social media, 'Call me the first'. Then, in Osaka, people really said, 'First!'... An older lady who looked like a bar hostess said, 'First! First!'" Meanwhile, Ketsu shared an anecdote, saying, "Right after the victory, in the short time between the end and the press conference, I got a call from my father, whom I had been separated from for the first time in five years. He was like, 'I was watching you.' It was a moment of relief right after the victory, so I thought to myself, 'Does this guy still not know what's going on?'"
"Double Impact" is a competition organized by Nippon Television and Yomiuri Television to judge both manzai and comedy sketches to determine the true "two-sword style comedian." 2,875 groups entered the first competition, with the finals held in July of this year. Finalists including "Long Coat Daddy," "Stamina Pan," "Cellulite Spa," "Nanamagari," "Nippon no Shachou," "Kamometaru," and "Cotton" performed two acts each, one manzai and one comedy sketch, with "Nippon no Shachou" crowned the first champion.
For the second tournament, a new catchphrase was created: "Comedian, give it your all." In the first round of the preliminaries, contestants choose to perform one act, either a manzai or a comedy sketch, and from this year onwards, they will perform two acts, in that order: a manzai and a comedy sketch. The prize money for the winner is 10 million yen. Whether they have experience as a professional or amateur is not important, and entries open from December 23rd, with the preliminaries scheduled for March 2026. The finals are scheduled to air in the summer of 2026.
