Answer: In the 24 October edition of Yoake no Love it! on Japan's TBS, comedian Arakawa asked actor Rinrin whether he had joined the customary closing shout after arriving 108 minutes late on 19 October. He admitted he had not. Host Akira Kawashima said Rinrin had been bowing so deeply in apology that he resembled a folding mobile phone. The exchange was comic teasing, not an official punishment.
What happened on 19 October?
Love it! (ラヴィット！) is a live Japanese weekday entertainment show beginning at 8am. Rinrin plays Zhou Haoran, an intimidating operative of Xinxi in the spy drama VIVANT. He was booked with fellow actor Ryu Kohata but overslept and encountered traffic. He reached the studio at 9:48am, leaving seven minutes before the scheduled 9:55 finish. He bowed in apology and took part in the show's electric-chair prank.
In the later conversation he said he had set an alarm for 4:30am, woke at 7am and had been preparing until roughly 2am. That is his account, not independent evidence of a technical alarm failure.
Why does a closing chant matter?
The Saturday 5:45am companion programme Yoake no Love it! shows highlights and post-broadcast conversations. Arakawa, of the comedy duo Elf, treated the failure to join the final shout as if it were proof of insufficient remorse. The absurdity is the change in priorities: an almost two-hour delay is suddenly eclipsed by a few missing syllables.
Kawashima described Rinrin folded over like a clamshell phone. He was busy bowing, rather than deliberately refusing to participate. The visual metaphor punctured Arakawa's mock-serious argument.
A fictional interrogator is interrogated
Shigeki Nakanishi said he had planned to reenact a VIVANT scene with Rinrin, then theatrically declared that the show would never forgive him. In VIVANT, Zhou threatens secret-unit agent Wada; on morning television, the actor playing Zhou was grilled about punctuality and a catchphrase. On 19 October Kawashima had mimicked protagonist Yusuke Nogi and Rinrin responded with a reference to the drama's finger-torture storyline. The joke is the reversal of roles, not the fictional violence.
Reports say Rinrin continued apologising to the team after the cameras stopped. Arakawa even photographed him and Kohata, joking about exposing their fictional organisation.
What happens next?
TBS announced on 23 October that Rinrin was scheduled to return on Monday 26 October at 8am with Yusuke Hirayama (Wada) and Ryo Tamaki (Hirose) for a Beppan-versus-Xinxi game. The outcome was still in the future on 24 October.
Conclusion
Arakawa transformed a tiny sign-off ritual into a mock trial about sincerity. Kawashima's flip-phone comparison supplied the acquittal. The man who portrays a feared interrogator ended up being questioned over the simplest morning-TV assignment: saying the show's name.
References (5)
- TBS, Yoake no Love it!, 2026-10-24
- ORICON NEWS, post-show exchange, 2026-10-24
- MANTANWEB, alarm and wake-up, 2026-10-24
- TBS, 2026-10-26 schedule
- TBS NEWS DIG, VIVANT Zhou/Wada
Japanese listings and reports checked 24 October 2026; full broadcast not directly watched and international popularity not measured.
