Are Comedians Funny Even in an 'Extreme State'? The Forbidden Variety Show 'Kantetsu: Sleepless Strongest Comedian Determination Battle', Where 24 Comedians Stay Awake for 36 Hours, to Broadcast on April 12! Kirin's Akira Kawashima Appointed as First-Time MC for an ABEMA Original Program

The new future television "ABEMA" will celebrate its 10th anniversary on Saturday, April 11, 2026. To commemorate the 10th anniversary of "ABEMA", the special program "30-Hour Limit Breakthrough Fest" will be broadcast live from 3:00 PM on Saturday, April 11 to 10:00 PM on Sunday, April 12. As a project within the "30-Hour Limit Breakthrough Fest", it has been decided that the original variety program "Kantetsu: Sleepless Strongest Comedian Determination Battle" will be broadcast on Sunday, April 12.

In the special program "30-Hour Limit Breakthrough Fest", in addition to special editions of popular original programs, many challenging projects typical of "ABEMA" have been prepared, broadcasting a group of projects interweaving history and challenges that symbolize the past and future of "ABEMA" non-stop for 30 hours. On the day of the event, the entirety of "ABEMA" will be likened to a "festival venue", proceeding simultaneously across 3 channels. Viewers can freely move between channels while experiencing entertainment that breaks through conventional common sense.

"Kantetsu: Sleepless Strongest Comedian Determination Battle", which has been decided to be broadcast on Sunday, April 12, the second day of the special program "30-Hour Limit Breakthrough Fest", is an unprecedented variety program in which comedians challenge comedy without sleeping for 36 hours. In this program, combining "limit breakthrough", the theme of the "30-Hour Limit Breakthrough Fest", with "comedy", an unprecedented verification project will be implemented in which comedians in a 36-hour sleepless state take on serious comedy. Can comedians continue to be funny even in an "extreme state"? Furthermore, it will exhaustively portray the reality of how comedians' funniness changes before and after 36 hours.

A total of 24 comedians will participate in the verification, including Onigoe Tomahawk, Fruit Punch's Kenji Murakami, Sanshiro, Love Letters, Cacaroni's Kuriya, Linda Color Infinity's Den, and Yadan's Long Size Ito. The diverse members will be divided into 6 teams: Team Yoshimoto, Team Maseki, Team Monomane, Team Champion, Team Gold, and Team Character, waging a team battle with a prize of 3 million yen on the line.

To compare "funniness" in the contrasting states of "just woken up" and "after pulling an all-nighter", this program will proceed in 2 stages. Comedians who have been sleeping soundly will be suddenly woken up at 1:00 AM to participate in the recording of "Awakening: Best Woken-up Comedian Determination Battle", hosted by Torosalmon's Kazunobu Kubota and Reiwa Roman's Kemuri Matsui as MCs.