Blackpink's Jennie and YouTuber Dex headline a glittering lineup on Manito Club, which delivered a thrill from its first broadcast reminiscent of the chase sequences in Infinite Challenge.
On the evening of the 1st, the first episode of MBC entertainment program Manito Club depicted the first meeting where Lee Suji, Jennie, Dex, Choo Sung Hoon and Ro Hong-chul became each other's manitos. That day the Manito Club members each hid their identities with Undercover animal chats and proceeded to draw manitos. As a result, No. 1 was raccoon Lee Suji, No. 2 was panda Jennie, No. 3 was bull Dex, No. 4 was rabbit Choo Sung Hoon, and No. 5 was fox Ro Hong-chul, and in that order they became each other's manitos.
The cast were given a mission that they could only begin activities after identifying the manito whose identity they knew only by an anonymous animal. As the first hint, a photo of a part of the manito's body taken by the manito was provided. From these, Lee Suji was the first to recognize Jennie's identity after seeing a photo of Jennie's eyebrow mole. Lee Suji then disguised herself as Santa and rushed off to give Jennie a stuffed toy as a gift.
Afterward, Jennie, Dex and Ro Hong-chul learned the manitos' identities from comment hints about them. Through YouTube, Jennie quickly grasped Dex's hobbies such as working out and collecting figures, and prepared multiple gifts including vitamins and name-labeled snacks as she went to deliver them. Dex at first seemed to take his time and eat, but quickly used his wit and prepared a protein drink as a gift for Choo Sung Hoon and tried to deliver it. Ro Hong-chul prepared a healing picture book to comfort the busy Lee Suji and ran to the office.
Among them, only "The Man from Nowhere" Choo Sung Hoon failed to identify his manito. Despite long hair reaching Ro Hong-chul's shoulders, puzzling comment hints and nearly completing a photo puzzle, he still failed to recognize the identity. Only after showing the puzzle photo to a hotel employee about 2 hours and 20 minutes later did he identify Ro Hong-chul's face and, arriving last, he went to deliver the gift, prompting laughter.
Meanwhile a thrilling gift-delivery sequence began starting with Jennie. Jennie circled by car several times near the restaurant where Dex was eating. When Dex briefly went to get into his car, she barely entered his gym and succeeded in asking a gym employee to give Dex a vitamin gift. Jennie's exit from the gym building was captured just 5 seconds after Dex's car left, providing a tense moment.
Dex, having been told that Choo Sung Hoon was at a hotel, attempted the old-fashioned "bell-and-run." He left a protein drink at the door of Choo Sung Hoon's hotel room, rang the bell and fled. Dex tried to conceal his identity further by receiving a shopping bag from the hotel, and just as Choo Sung Hoon was leaving the hotel they narrowly missed each other, allowing him to barely hide his identity.
Lee Suji even dressed as Santa and visited the agency office where Jennie was. Jennie said, "This is a chase. It feels like we've become secret agents," enjoying the manitos who were hiding their identities. While searching for name-labeled snacks as a second gift for Dex, she remained constantly on guard. Spotting the faint reflected image of Santa at the door, she quickly exclaimed "It's Santa!" and rushed out.
Flustered, Lee Suji left only a doll and a note at Jennie's office door and ran off. Watching Lee Suji's back as she ran up the hill, Jennie said, "She ran up the hill," surprised, and Lee Suji herself said, "I taste blood in my mouth," exhausted by the sudden sprint. Meanwhile Ro Hong-chul's gift had not yet been delivered, and Choo Sung Hoon had just gone out to buy a gift, leaving viewers to watch how the race of the chase-style Manito Club would end.
[Photo] Courtesy of MBC.
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