The Deal (Japanese game show)

) and on April 5, 2007. It should be noted that while the show is called as such, Shimada uses the familiar catchphrase "Deal or No Deal."

Overview

The show follows a modified version of the traditional Dutch format, and it is modeled after the US version: 26 briefcases each held by a model. The case values range from just one yen up to ten million yen (about US$85,031.35).

Since Japanese law prohibits game shows from giving monetary prizes that are worth more than two million yen (US$17,000) to a single person, each game is played by a contestant with three beneficiaries or a team of up to four people (with beneficiaries numbered according to the number in the team) who would share the prize they would win. As is common practice in Japanese game shows, all contestants have thus far been Japanese celebrities.

The case values in the first episode (and their value in US dollars in white background) are as follows.

It should be noted that in the show, the case values are written in kanji, so for instance ¥8,000,000 would be written as 800 _ja. 万円 ("happyaku man en").

Below are the certain modifications to the game:
*The number of rounds have been reduced to just six to speed up the game. The first round involves opening seven cases, the second round involves six, the third round involves opening five, and the fourth round has four briefcases opened. In each of the last two rounds, one case is opened. Of course, at the end of each round, the banker makes his offer.
*When the banker gives Shimada the offer, Shimada then writes the offer (again in 万円, "man-en" or "myriads-of-yen" format) on a whiteboard and shows it to the team. In many other versions, the host orally states the offer, which is then flashed on a screen nearby.
*The contestant/team does not have to say "Deal" or "No Deal" or even do hand gestures. They just have to raise a sign that states their response to the offer ("Deal" or "No Deal").

In the first episode aired so far, the largest amount won was by the team of Tsutomu Sekine, Tomomi Nishimura, Yūko Ogura, and Masayuki Watanabe, who all took the banker's offer of ¥4,000,000 at the end of the fourth round; their suitcase contained twice that amount. The each of other teams in that episode played on to the end, but won four-digit prizes (two teams won ¥8,000, one got ¥3,000).
In the second episode, the largest amount won was by the team of two duos, Kano sisters and FUJIWARA, who all took the banker's offer of ¥5,000,000 at the end of the last round; their suitcase also contained twice that amount, which was the top prize.

It is unknown at this time if the show will become a full-fledged series, although there have been two episodes so far.

External links

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