As the year slowly comes to a close, there is always one show that I can expect to be announced. ENTA! is one of the most brilliant two hour experiences that always has me on the edge of my seat in anticipation for what is coming next. Performed by STARTO ENTERTAINMENT group 4U. (ふぉ~ゆ〜), there are elements that are consistent year after year, but each show has its own unique edge that makes it worth attending multiple times.
In the simplest definition, ENTA! is akin to a Japanese variety show. It’s a combination of song, dance, talk show, and skit that is a laugh out loud experience from beginning to end. Having completed five years of performances, one would think that 4U. would slowly run out of ideas to make each iteration unique, but that is far from the case. ENTA!6 feels completely fresh without feeling as if it’s a copy and paste of the previous years.
This year’s shows felt very laid back in comparison, taking on a radio theme and a mature vibe for a large portion of the show. Instead of starting the show with a bang of song and dance, one member of 4U. takes over the radio waves, giving a message to the audience in a calm and soothing voice before the stage lights come up and 4U. come flooding into the venue’s audience to perform the upbeat ENTA! anthem, ENTA for You (ENTAふぉ~ゆ~) dressed in member color baseball shirts and fluffy afros.
After ENTA for You, the songs take a slower approach. Both of 4U.’s new songs, Seichi Junrei Love Love Bye (聖地巡礼Love Love Bye) and Tokyo Lover aren’t necessarily ballads by any definition of the word, they are by no means additions to 4U.’s catalogue of high energy songs. Seichi Junrei Love Love Bye feels as if it’s a old school Japanese number with dramatic overacting during its performance that adds a touch of hilarity. Tokyo Lover on the other hand is easily to bump your penlight along to while adding a bit of diversity to 4U.’s repertoire.
The shining moment of ENTA!6 is by far the skit and is its crowning achievement. Like some skits from previous years, 4U.’s roles are randomly assigned via card selection. Unlike other skits they have performed in the past, there are more roles than members of the group which encourages fans to attend multiple times to see each member as a different character.
This year’s skit revolved around a family dealing with an ailing father as they tried to decide who will obtain his inheritance. A random member of 4U. also plays the father during the few scenes he appears. During the particular show I attended, members Yuki Koshioka, Tatsumi Yudai, and Yuta Fukuda played sisters while member Yusuke Matsuzaki played a brother in the family but it was possible to see one of them as the mother.
What I liked so much about this year’s skit was that it fully encouraged improv, something that 4U. do so brilliantly. During one part of the skit, where the family runs through the audience to meet their father after he calls them, audience members called out to Tatsuko, Tatsumi’s character’s name, and he thanks them for the compliment. Upon running back to the stage, there were a flurry of audience members calling him cute once more. He was caught in the audience as fans continuously called him cute.
Because of this, Koshiko and Fukuko both took their turns being in the audience and having the fans call them cute, and, despite taking his turn as well, there was a bit of comedy surrounding Yusuke wanting to be called cute. It’s little improved moments like these that bring joy to the audience as they enjoy the scenes. Even if the members of 4U. forget their character names, something that would surely be frowned upon in any normal production, these little moments are laughed off as they slowly meander their way to the final conclusion.
Something else that was quite unique to this year’s ENTA! was the game corner. Usually a separate corner during the production, the game corner was included in the skit this time. In the context of the play, the game is used as a way to narrow down the members of the family to decide who will get their father’s inheritance. In the show I attended, 4U. had to throw a ball into one of two baskets. Whoever made their ball into the basket would continue on. Upon those simple rules, they built their own, deciding that there would be one person who would use their breath to try and interfere with the ball landing in the basket. In a second round, a member held a bat and attempted to hit the ball away. It’s little moments like these that, although they’re playing characters, gives the audience a chance to sit back and enjoy the silliness 4U. comes up with on stage.
This year’s ENTA! also including a talk portion that comes and goes throughout the years. This year’s talk corner also had a small game called “Who is this person?” (この人誰だ？) where only one member knows the theme of the conversation. With the audience’s help, the member that knows the theme has to the place the remaining members on the stage to decide how close they fit the theme. After the theme is guessed, the members stand on stage and discuss stories or anecdotes surrounding it until it’s time to move onto the final few songs of the show, including a jazz version of Everything 4 You as well as a final radio moment by one of the members to wrap up the show.
Even though it was a bit of departure from the standard level of songs I’ve come to expect from an ENTA! show, from start to finish this variety filled time highlighted everything good about 4U. to not only their fans but anyone who came to watch them for the first time. 4U. are truly masters of comedy and masters of putting together an entertaining show that will keep audiences hooked from start to finish.
Truly, there is nothing like ENTA! in the Japanese entertainment scene. It is a show like no other that is an indescribable joy as winter slowly takes hold. It is a breath of fresh air, a new color Crayon to brighten a grey day. But, most importantly, it is the kind of production that only 4U. can put on, and I cannot wait to see what they’ll come up with for ENTA!7 next winter.
ENTA!6 was performed in Tokyo from December 16th to 20th, in Osaka on December 23th and 24th, and in Nagoya on December 27th and 28th.
For more content from 4U., check their Official YouTube channel where they post videos every Saturday at 4:44pm JST!