"Detective! Night Scoop" (ABC TV, Fridays at 11:17 PM) is a popular variety show where "detectives" tackle bizarre requests and worries submitted by viewers. On May 1st, Detective Seiya investigated the question, "How can I eat 'Usagi Mambo' neatly?" Special Director Kaname Jun, a native of Kagawa Prefecture and the "Vice Governor of Udon Prefecture" for a local PR project, made his first appearance, joined by Assistant Director Takanori Takeyama and Secretary Saori Masuda.
The request came from a 53-year-old woman from Hyogo Prefecture. Four years ago, she suffered from stage 4 cancer and nearly died. Both she and her family had prepared themselves for death, but she miraculously recovered and is now living a healthy life.
While battling illness, I reflected on my life from my bed and wondered if there was anything I regretted. The first thing that came to mind was not being able to eat "Usagi Mambo" neatly. "Usagi Mambo" is a type of ramune candy that comes in a tube. I've been eating it for nearly 50 years since I was a child, but I can never quite manage to eat it neatly, and there's always some ramune left in the tube.
I want to avenge 50 years of frustration. I wanted to do something about it before I die, so I kept eating ramune candy throughout my illness, but all that entered my mouth was crushed pieces, and I didn't really get the satisfaction of having "eaten ramune." So, I was wondering if you could help me extract a "perfect, single piece" from the tube.
The client's unique style is to first chew and break the hard ends, then eat the middle last, but what they really want is to eat it in "stick form." However, cutting the tube with a utility knife or similar tool is a no-go, "so that children can enjoy it too." So, we asked the manufacturer, and they said that warming it in the microwave for 5-10 seconds would make it easier to remove.
They tried it right away, but it turned out to be an extremely delicate process, with the contents melting and even the tube dissolving. As a last resort, the detective and the client resorted to the "fish sausage strategy."
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When Special Director Kaname appeared in the studio, the audience erupted in cheers of "Wow!" and the venue immediately became very lively. Kaname, who is from Kagawa Prefecture, calmly read his opening remarks and reminisced, "I've been watching Night Scoop since I was a child."
However, he said, "In Kagawa Prefecture, it airs in the middle of the night. I discovered this program when I was a teenager. The title is Night Scoop, so I thought it was a program to watch secretly at night, and I looked forward to watching it every week. But the kind of content you're looking forward to doesn't come up very often, does it? I kept wondering when it would come up, when it would come up, and I looked forward to it every week. Night Scoop, when is it coming? (laughs). But the content is interesting, you know," which made everyone in the studio laugh.
