On December 21, 2025, the 21st installment of the annual M-1 Grand Prix manzai comedy competition took place in Tokyo. Often viewed as the pinnacle of any comedian's career in Japan, with 11,521 entrants, the competition largely dictates the landscape of broadcast television for the following year. From variety program placements to commercials, the casting of all of this is largely pulled from the nine finalists of M-1 Grand Prix, and most prominently, the winner.

Well, after a nail-biter first round, which included duo Evers receiving the second-highest score in competition history, there was a clear winner in the final round – with comedy duo Takurou taking home the grand prize for their sketch "Beverly Hills".

While the sketch isn't available officially online at the moment, Takurou's "Beverly Hills" sketch was truly a standout in the final round. The tongue-in-cheek parody of Japanese dubs of American dramas, and fittingly that of Beverly Hills 90210 was a hit amongst both at-home audiences as well as the judges, with a rare, seemingly unanimous outpour of praise online for Takurou's victory, and eight out of nine judges voting for them as this year's winners.

But this wasn't just an overnight victory for comedy duo Takurou – it's the culmination of nine years of entries into the M-1 Grand Prix competition, with 2025 being their first time making it to the finals. Since 2016, the duo has near-consistently made it as far as the semi-finals, only to be snuffed out by other duos in the race, so for them to not only make it through to the finals for the first time, but take home first place, truly deserves praise.

For any up-and-comer, the M-1 Grand Prix proves an attractive offer; if you manage to win, not only do you take home the grand prize of 10,000,000 JPY, but also are near-guaranteed headline spots on almost every major TV program, and, of course, join the annals of industry legends such as Sandwich Man, Warai Meishi, Black Mayonaise, and so many other duos who have won the competition in the past.

I'm sure I'll be seeing Takurou taking over the airwaves for the foreseeable future, and hopefully sooner rather than later, an official stream of their performance becomes available online.

For those interested in checking out more information on the M-1 Grand Prix, be sure to check out the competition's official website.