Description: After winning Japan's King of Conte comedy competition, Gerardon joked that former member Yuji Unno wanted back in. Here's why the duo also insisted that his departure wasn't the secret to its victory.
The short answer: Kamichii, one half of Japanese comedy act Gerardon, did not want its 2026 championship to sound like a verdict against former member Yuji Unno. The group had been funny as a trio, he said, even though its current two-person version had just won Japan's televised sketch-comedy championship. That sincere point came immediately after some very cheeky jokes about Unno trying to rejoin.
The night, the show and the conversation
TBS broadcast the King of Conte 2026 final live on October 17, beginning at 6 p.m. Japan time. Gerardon, now Attack Nishimoto and Kamichii, scored 671 points in each of its two performances. Its 1,342-point total won the contest, which had attracted 3,445 entries. The act had previously reached the 2021 final as a trio.
At the winners' press conference that evening, a reporter asked what they would say to Unno. Nishimoto explained that he still meets his former bandmate for meals back in their hometown area. When Nishimoto tries to chat normally, he joked, Unno fires off energetic comic retorts, almost as though he is auditioning to come back. Kamichii played along, suggesting Unno was showing that his skills remained sharp.
When asked whether a reunion was on the cards, Nishimoto stressed how hard the pair had worked to establish the new lineup. Kamichii then offered a different point: some aspects of the trio had showcased their strengths especially well. He did not want Unno thinking, in effect, “They only won because I left.”
The joke has two layers
The first layer is a role reversal. The newly crowned champions can pretend to be gatekeepers deciding whether their old colleague gets his job back. Nishimoto's mock-superior encouragement invites Kamichii to tease him for suddenly talking down to his former teammate. This was banter, not an announcement of reunion talks.
The second layer is more generous. Gerardon formed with three members in 2008. Unno stepped away amid health-related difficulties, and his departure was announced in February 2025. A trophy won by the duo in 2026 does not prove the earlier trio was inferior. In fact, the winners said their first routine had originated as a sketch they put on YouTube while still a three-piece, later adapted for two performers.
That detail changes the story: the old lineup's creative work helped supply material for the new lineup's biggest night. Rather than erasing its past, the winning act carried a piece of it onstage.
What did Unno say?
According to reporting published October 18, Unno congratulated the winners on Instagram on October 17. He joked that he had never seen either of the two winning routines and wanted to be included. The public response was affectionate and playful; it should not be treated as evidence of a formal comeback plan.
Bottom line
Kamichii's remark was an attempt to celebrate the duo's achievement without turning the former trio into the punchline. The press conference began with jokes about an ex-member pitching for his old job and ended with a reminder that the three of them had made good comedy together. Even a championship couldn't stop them doing what comedians do: turning an awkward reunion question into a routine.
