Tuesday, March 31, 2009

A Friendly Reminder...

A friendly reminder from the supermarkets of Yamaguchi Prefecture.

From April 1st...

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Don't forget...

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You need...

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To bring...

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Your own shopping bag (i.e. eco bag)...

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Or suffer the consequences!*

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Listen to the lady!

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* Actually, the consequence is an extra 3 or 4 yen (I forget) per shopping bag.

And yes, this is true.




I could watch the first fifteen minutes or so of Raising Arizona over and over.

SASUKE 22 2009 Spring Competitor and Results List SASUKE 2009春

This is a work in progress...

1. Shouji Tomoharu 庄司智春 1st Stage Log Grip
2. Crazy Jietai Guy 1st Stage Jumping Spider
3. Bobby Ologun ボビー・オロゴン 1st Stage Log Grip
4.
5.
6.
7. Pak Bo Kyung (sp?) パク・ボキュン 1st Stage Rokudantobi
8.
9.
10.
11. Hori ホリ 1st Stage Log Grip
12.
13.
14? Yamamoto Takahiro 山本高広 1st Stage Rokudantobi
14? Kawahara Takuya 川原拓也 1st Stage Slider Jump
15.
16.
17.
18. Kato Ayumu 加藤歩 1st Stage Half-Pipe Attack
19.
20. Akiyama Kazuhiko 秋山和彦 1st Stage Half-Pipe Attack
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26. Haga Tomoyo 芳賀友也 1st Stage Slider Jump
27.
28.
29.
30. Kasuga Toshiaki 春日俊彰 1st Stage Rokudantobi
31. Yamamoto Shingo 山本進悟 1st Stage Half-Pipe Attack (Course out)
32. Harashima Masami 原島雅美 1st Stage Rokudantobi
33. Aoki Yasho 青木保夫 1st Stage Rokudantobi
34. Kuramochi Minoru 倉持稔 1st Stage Rokudantobi
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46. Sato Hiroki 1st Stage Jumping Spider
47.
48.
49. Kanno Hitoshi 菅野仁志 3rd Stage Spider Flip (Course out)
50. David Campbell 1st Stage Tarzan Rope (Time up)
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
57.
58.
59.
60.
61.
62
63.
64.
65.
66.
67.
68.
69.
70.
71.
72.
73.
74.
75.
76.
77. Urushihara Yuuji 漆原裕治 Final Stage G-Rope
78.
79. Lee Yen Chi リー・エンチ 3rd Stage Shin-Cliff Hanger
80.
81. Yamada Katsumi 山田勝己 1st Stage Jumping Spider
82. Miyashita Junichi 宮下純一 1st Stage Jumping Spider
83.
84. Okuyama Yoshiyuki 奥山義行 3rd Stage Shin-Cliff Hanger
85.
86.
87.
88.
89. Wakky ワッキー 1st Stage Jumping Spider
90. Sato Hiromichi 佐藤弘道 2nd Stage Metal Spin
91. Levi Meeuwenberg 1st Stage Slider Jump
92. Takeda Toshihiro 竹田敏浩 1st Stage Jumping Spider
93.
94.
95.
96. Kitagawa Tomoki 北川智規 1st Stage Spider Walk
97.
98. Paul ANTHONY Terek 1st Stage Sliding Jump
99. Miyazaki Daisuke 宮崎大輔 1st Stage Tarzan Climb (Time up)
100. Nagano Makoto 長野誠 1st Stage Sliding Jump



No number (in order shown)
Inada Ayako 稲田亜矢子 1st Stage Log Grip
Someone 1st Stage
Waiter dude 1st Stage
Mohammed Yone モハメド ヨネ 1st Stage
Taiko Drummer dude 1st Stage
Doctor dude 1st Stage
Chiro チロ 1st Stage Rokudantobi
Kojima Yoshio 小島よしお 1st Stage Log Grip
Kishi Manabu 岸学 1st Stage Rokudantobi
Yasuda Kazuhiro 安田和博 1st Stage Circle Hammer
Nocchi ノッチ 1st Stage Log Grip
Komiya Rie 小宮理英 1st Stage Jumping Spider (Course out)
Luci Romberg 1st Stage Jumping Spider
Shimada Hiroyo 島田裕代 1st Stage Half-Pipe Attack
Ishikawa Kiichi 石川 輝一 1st Stage Tarzan Climb (Time up)
Ishimaru Kenjiro 石丸謙二郎 1st Stage Jumping Spider
Miho (Cherry Pie) チェリー☆パイのみほ 1st Stage
Some other dude 1st Stage
TBS Announcer dude 1st Stage
Sakamoto Issei 坂本一生 1st Stage
Yoshikawa Yasuaki 吉川泰昭 1st Stage Slider Jump
Tatsumi 龍美 1st Stage Slider Jump
Izuma Masakatsu 猪妻正活 1st Stage
Nomura 野村 1st Stage
Kawahara 1st Stage
Hashimoto Koji 橋本亘司 1st Stage
Kawaguchi Tomohiro 川口朋広 1st Stage
Takahashi Mitsuomi 高橋光臣 1st Stage
Shirai Ryo 白井涼 1st Stage Tarzan Rope (Time up)
Watanabe Kazuhisa 渡辺一久 1st Stage
Ishimori Taiji 石森太二 1st Stage
Matsunaga Tomohiro 松永共広 1st Stage Jumping Spider
Iketani Naoki 池谷直樹 1st Stage Soritatsu Kabe
Kawashima Takayuki 川島孝幸 1st Stage

Hey where'd they go?? (said they'd be there but not in the broadcast)
Setoda Eiji 脊戸田英次
Nakao You 中尾葉
Tominaga Takeyoshi 富永健義
Suzuki Kotaro 鈴木鼓太郎
Iwanaga Sho 岩永生
Nomura Masaki 野村将希
Takahashi Kenji 高橋賢次
Olivia Munn

Monday, March 30, 2009

SASUKE 22 2009 Spring The Sort of Live Blog! SASUKE 2009春! SASUKE 22回!

Sex! Drugs! Rock and Roll! That's what a person needs to..wait, that's not right.

Truth! Justice! No no.

Say your prayers! Take your vitamins! No. That's not it either. Let me check my notes. Here we go.

Power! Speed! Balance! These are the qualities you need to beat SASUKE!

Fisherman! Firefighters! Freerunners! Swimmers! Wrestlers! Shoe salesmen! Do any of them have it in them to beat SASUKE? Let's find out!

SASUKE!

DO NOT LINK TO THIS IN THE G4 FORUMS.

There is everyone! In front of the Final Stage! Pump those fists! Survival Attack SASUKE!

1st Stage!

Chanting!

1. Shoji Tomoharu! 庄司智春! Steps! Yes! Circle Hammer (it's new!). Yes....no..Yes...OK. He's just kind of floating there. And he's been there a while. Yes! OK. Log Grip coming up. He practiced this with Wakky. NO!

2. Crazy Jietai guy! Is hiding! Steps are OK. Circle Hammer. Not quite. YES! You have to take your time. Log Grip. YES! Jumping Spider coming up. Here he goes! NO! He didn't have the timing.

3. Bobby Ologun! ボビー・オロゴン! His brother did the course before. Steps. OK. Bobby is a big guy. Circle Hammer. Yeeees! Log Grip. NO! He fell the same place as Shoji.

7. Pak Bo Kyung (maybe...not sure about that spelling there)! パク・ボキュン! He's Korean. Steps! NO! Abunai! He had to put his hand up and couldn't get it. Oh well. Sell them CDs!

Yamamoto says "Oh my god."

14. Monomane specialist Yamamoto Takahiro 山本高広 does his Kane Kosugi impersonation! Can he channel the spirit of Kane to do it? He does a Kane yell. Steps. Hai hai hai...NO! He points to his gold number as fact that he is a champion already.

Muscle Musical member Inada Ayako 稲田亜矢子 has no number. Steps. YES! Circle Hammer. Spins around. Yes! Log Grip. Can she do it? Here she goes. NO! Almost there!!!

11. We've gone back in time to see monomane specialist Hori ホリ do his Takuya Kimura. Steps. OK. Circle Hammer. Yes! Log Grip...NO! And then he does his Kinpachi sensei.

Someone, a waiter, Mohammed Yone モハメド ヨネ, a taiko drummer and doctor all meet their watery dooms.

Dramatic music!

14. Kawahara Takuya! 川原拓也! Here he goes. Steps. Circle Hammer coming up. Yes! NO! YES! He almost leaned back too far. Log Grip. Yes! Jumping Spider...YES! Ikeru! Spider Walk. through! Half-Pipe Attack. Tobu! Yes! Soritatsu Kabe! First try! Here he goes. Slider Jump (it's new!). NO! He couldn't reach the net! He kind of lost control at the end. I think you have to let momentum carry you.

Nagano looks on in fear!

Kawahara is the first to the try the Slider Jump.

Nagano: "Kowai desu!"

Comedian Kojima Yoshio! 小島よしお! Here he goes! Steps. 120 seconds by the way.

And our first commercial break!

Red Cliff Part Two! Go see it!

Back!

Kojima. Steps. Yes! Circle Hammer. NO! Yes..wait. Yes! Log Grip. Can he do it? He's taking a long time. NO! He had it then he didn't. Darn. And then he gets the comedy bump of getting hit in the head by the log. Oh pa pi!

Chiro チロ is too small for the Steps.

18. Zabungle's Kato Ayumu! 加藤歩! The announcer will say kuyashii if he fails. Here he goes. Steps. WHOA! OK. Circle Hammer. They're getting all the comedians out of the way I see. YES! Log Grip. Here he goes. YES! Is he blown up already? Jumping Spider. Taking his time. UP! YES! Here he goes. Can he get through the Spider Walk. Not much time left. He goes through slowly. Stamina is not his strong point. Half-Pipe Attack. And....NO! He couldn't get the momentum. Kuyashii desu! He used to play handball. But he is NOT a man of hands on balls!

Our first All-Star sighting!

Akiyama Kazuhiko! Last time he failed the Half-Pipe Attack. Can he do it?

Akiyama has crabs!

20. Akiyama Kazuhiko! 秋山和彦! Steps are OK! Circle Hammer. Whoa...OK..wait. OK! Log Grip. Sets. No problem-o! Jumping Spider...YES! NO problem! Hayai through the Spider Walk. Half-Pipe Attack. NO! He slipped on the run up!

The slo-mo shows that he slipped coming off the platform. Damn.

Yes, we can! Yes, we can!

It's Obam...er..Nocchi of Dangerous! It's Dangerous and Dokidoki Camp's Kishi Manabu.

Kishi Manabu! 岸学! He does a Jack Bauer impersonation. Steps. Jack Bauuuuuuuer!

The other guy in Dangerous, Yasuda Kazuhiro 安田和博 fails the Circle Hammer.

Nocchi up next! ノッチ! Here he goes. Can he? Steps. Yes, we can! Circle Hammer. Yes..wait...no. Yes, we can! Log Grip coming. O-ba-ma! NO! No, you cant!

KUNOICHI finalist and Muscle Musical member Komiya Rie! 小宮理英! Steps! OK! Circle Hammer. OK! Log Grip. Short prayer. Yes! Jumping Spider. Pumping herself up. Yes! NO! WAIT! She falls back. Ah. OK. That's why she wasn't wet. I guess she coursed out.

26. Haga Tomoyo! 芳賀友也 Damn you scnoi, you were right. Here he goes. He's another Muscle Musical member. Steps. OK. Circle Hammer. OK! Log Grip coming up. Yes! Is it me or does the Log Grip go farther this year? Jumping Spider. Yes! Spider Walk is no problem. Half-Pipe Attack. YES! Soritatsu Kabe. First try! The Muscle Musical members must have trained. Slider Jump. Can he be the first. Setting himself. YES! NO! He couldn't hold on to the net! The All-Stars are scared of the new obstacle.

30. Kasuga Toshiaki of Audrey! 春日俊彰! Can he do it? So far Kato is the comedian who has gone the farthest. TBS has done the most hyping Kasuga. Can he live up to it? It's been a while since a legit talento has reached the 2nd Stage, right? Muscle Musical people don't count.

CMs.

Take a drink every time you see the Hyper Variety Week commercial!

That's one!

Back.

Kasuga! He does his slow walk! Steps...NO! He tried to hold on for dear life and then...

Ah, the classic TBS/Monster 9 misdirection. See: Yamamoto, Hiroshi

Luci Romberg! Can she be the 2nd woman to clear the 1st Stage?

Here she goes! Steps! OK! Circle Hammer. Yes! Log Grip. Always a dangerous place. Yes! Luci!!! Jumping Spider. Yes! NO! She had it and then...no. There's a new wind-up chat thing when people get ready to do the Jumping Spider. Doushita Luci!!!

Just didn't get high enough. Darn.

Shimada Hiroyo! 島田裕代! She's from the Muscle Musical too! She was a gymnast. Steps! Yes! Circle Hammer. Yes! Log Grip. Can she do it? The women have bee doing well this year. Yes! Jumping Spider. Yes! She's up! Spider Walk. Half-Pipe Attack. NO! She didn't really have the speed. Darn. She can't swim! She can't swim!

Yet another Muscle Musical member. Ishikawa Kiichi! 石川 輝一! Here he goes. Steps. OK. Circle Hammer. Wait. Yes! Log Grip. Here he goes. Whoa. OK! Jumping Spider. Yes! Wait..he was slipping a bit but on to the Half-Pipe Attack. Yes! Soritatsu Kabe. He's taking his time. Yes! First try! Slider Jump. Yes! He did it!

And of course CMs.

That's two Hyper Variety Week commercials! You better be drinking along!

Back!

Let's look at him doing the Slider Jump again. He has to go through the net. Tarzan Rope coming up. Does he have time? The time is going red! Go! GO! GO! NO! The net took too long.

Ishimaru Kenjiro! 石丸謙二郎! He almost made it the last few times. Can he do it (and be the oldest to finish the 1st Stage?) Lots of chanting this year.

Here he goes! Steps. Smooth. Mondai arimasen. Circle Hammer..wait. Yes! Log Grip. Yes! Clear! Jumping Spider. Yes! NO! He couldn't hold on! I think if you touch the ramp under the trampoline you are out. That's why Rie couldn't go on (in case you were wondering).

Miho of Cherry Pie. チェリー☆パイのみほ! Some other dude. A TBS announcer and Sakamoto Issei 坂本一生 go out. Yoshikawa Yasuaki 吉川泰昭 and Tatsumi 龍美 of the Muscle Musical are out via Slider Jump. And Izuma Masakatsu 猪妻正活 of Miyazaki's team.

31. Shingo Yamamoto! It's been a while for Shingo. Can he regain the glory? Here he goes! Steps. Circle Hammer. Take your time, Shingo. Take your time. OK! Log Grip. OK! Jumping Spider. He's fallen here before. YES! No problem! And now the Half-Pipe Attack. Up and yes! AND NONONONONO! Careless miss!

CMs.

Ba..wait. Stupid fake-out. It was just Nagano running along to Shingo's run. More CMs.

Back for real. And yes, there is a slight incline and narrow plank from the Half-Pipe Attack to the Soritatsu Kabe. And Nagano was pissed. Isoi sugi!

Ouch.

Hang glider guy!

32. Kawashima Masami! 原島雅美! Steps! Ye..NO!

33. Aoki Yasuo! Sculptor guy! 青木保夫! Taking his time. And...he falls in the middle of the 3rd and 4th steps!

34. Kuramochi Minoru! 倉持稔! Or Octopus guy. Taka-tencho. Iku! Steps! NO!!!! The gap was too wide I guess. Or perhaps having an octopus stuck to his face took a bit more out of him than we thought.

Zannen deshita!

34 (supposedly) have gone! None have passed!

46. Sato Hiroki! He's an STQer (SASUKE Trial Qualifier). Our first. Steps. Circle Hammer. OK! Sorry, missed his number at first. Had to go back. Log Grip! Clear! Jumping Spider. YE...NO!!!!

Woo. Clips of him training. SASUKE training only! Kanno Hitoshi? 菅野仁志! Steps! OK! Circle Hammer. OK! Log Grip. YES! He's another STQer. Jumping Spider. Yes! A little unsure but through the Spider Walk. OK! Half-Pipe Attack. You can hear Yuji Urushihara in the background. Soritatsu Kabe! First try! Slider Jump. Yes! He goes the under. Watch your feet! Whoa! Almost! Yes! Tarzan Rope. Lots of time! Kanno! Kanno! Go! Go! Go! Hurry! Hurry! YES!!!!!!!! Cue Yagyu-Gaiden! With 3.7 left!

Shots of the crowd. The other STQers are going nuts. Yamada looks..salty.

50. David Campbell! Ninja Warrior! Steps. OK! If the commercials are right, he'll have a slight challenge on the Slider Jump. Circle Hammer...Log Grip. OK! Jumping Spider..Yes! A little unsure on the initial grip but OK! Half-Pipe Attack coming up. Yes! Can he make it two in a row? Soritatsu Kabe. First try! Slider Jump....Takes his time. Needs to hurry. YES! WHOA!!! He almost fell but held on! Hurry! Hurry! Yes! GO GO GO! Hurry! Time is going to go red! HURRY! HURRY! HURRY! HURRY! Jikan ga nai! NO!

Good job David!

So close. He underestimated the cardio!

88. Nakao Akiyoshi! He practiced with Mr. SASUKE. Will that matter? It didn't help Miyagi last time. Steps! Yes! Jeez. Jump the numbers why don't you TBS. Circle Hammer. Yes! Log Grip. Here he goes. Yes! Jumping Spider. Did Mr. SASUKE help him?

CMs.

Back!

Jumping Spider...And of course Mr. SASUKE did nothing to help him. He whiffs completely.

Well, at least it was dramatic.

STQers Nomura and Kawahara and Hashimoto Koji 橋本亘司 and Kawaguchi Tomohiro 川口朋広 all fall. Wow.

77. Urushihara Yuuji! 漆原裕治! Steps! Yes! It seems like he's the de facto STQ leader. Circle Hammer and Log Grip are OK. Jumping Spider. Yes! Yes! I bet he has the right shoes for this. Half-Pipe Attack. Yes! What does it say on his shirt? Soritatsu Kabe. Yes! Slider Jump! Yes! Up and over! Lots of time! Almost no problems! Tarzan Rope! Yes! Rope Ladder! Lots of time! Go! Go! Go! YES! YES! 7.5 seconds left!

All-Stars 0
STQers 2

Kanpeki na performance!

I won't make fun of his voice. I won't make fun of his voice. I won't make fun of his voice.

And shots of the high numbers! Jeez. Did people between 50 and 80 do absolutely nothing?

82. Miyashita Junichi! 宮下純一 He was a bronze medalist swimmer at Beijing. Steps.

CMs.

Take another Hyper Variety drink!

Back.

82. Junichi Miyashita! Steps! OK! Circle Hammer. OK! Log Grip. Takes his time. Yes! Jumping Spider. NO! He whiffs mid-air! Oh well.

79. Lee Yen Chi! リー・エンチ! Can he bring glory to Taiwan? Their baseball team sure didn't (!). Steps. Circle Hammer! Girigiri Safe! Log Grip. Jumping Spider..Yes! Uh OH..OK! Half-Pipe Attack. Lee Yen Chiiiiiiiii! Ikemen Rock Climber. Soritatsu Kabe. OK! Slider Jump. Yes! Don't take your time man! Hurry up! UH OH. Having problems on the net. HURRY! Go! GO! Tarzan Climb. GO! GO! YES! 2.6! That's three!

He was moving very confidently up until he got messed up in the net.

I have a theory that Slider Jump with the net is there to slow down people from...running around freely if you get my drift.

HERE WE GO! Mr. SASUKE! OH good. It's the kid again. OK, he's not currently dying so I believe Yamada is fair game.

81. Jeez. Hurry up.

81. Mr. SASUKE Yamada Katsumi! 山田勝己! Here we go! FALL! I mean...GO! Steps! And of course...

CMs.

Back.

81. Yamada Katsumi! Steps! I won't begrudge him if he passes this time. If only because of the child. Circle Hammer is unfortunately OK. Log Grip. OK. Yeah yeah. Jumping Spider as the crowd chants his name...YES! I mean NOOOOOOOOOOO! YAMADA HAS KILLED A CHILD!

Wow, if Yamada couldn't do it for a sick child, who can he do it for? He was up and then down again on the Jumping Spider. Sheesh. Do it for the hot dogs Katsumi!

84. Okuyama Yoshiyuki! 奥山義行! Here he goes. Steps! He's all dressed up this time. Circle Hammer. OK! Log Grip. Jumping Spider. YES! A little giri giri but yes! Through. Half-Pipe Attack. YES! Soritatsu Kabe. Time is OK. First time! Everyone is OWNING the Soritatsu Kabe tonight. Slider Jump. Yes! He goes the under. Watch your feet! Tarzan Rope. Lots of time. Tarzan Climb. And...the time is going red! Hurry! Yes! 3.3 seconds left!

You have a choice. Going over is safer but going under takes less time.

Takahashi Mitsuomi 高橋光臣 and Ryo Shirai 白井涼 (at the Tarzan Rope) go out. And K-1 fighter Watanabe Kazuhisa 渡辺一久.

Wakky wants to be the first celeb to get through.

89. Wakky of Penalty. Steps! OK! Circle Hammer. In the world of Monster 9, Wakky is a proven commodity. Log Grip is OK! In the world of non-Monster 9 programming SASUKE fans, Wakky is unproven. Jumping Spider. He's up! Really high! But he couldn't hold on! No!

Miyazaki and Hiromichi Sato are nervous.

Clips of Sato. He's arafo - around forty. Can he do it? I think there will be no cuts from here on out as...

90. Sato Hiromichi! 佐藤弘道 And his grin! Wait, he's not arafo..he's forty. Steps. Circle Hammer. Yes! Log Grip coming up. Readies himself. OK. Jumping Spider. Yes! A bit unsure on the Spider Walk though. OK! Half-Pipe Attack. Attack!! Yes. Soritatsu Kabe. This is his killer. First time! Jeez, is the wall lower or something. Slider Jump. Yes! Can he do it? He'd be the first legit celeb in ages. And...

CMs

Back.

The Slider Jump! Yes! He goes the over. Does he have time? Here he goes. Tarzan Climb...time is going red...Hurry! YES! 1.5 seconds left!

That's five! Heh, Shingo looks a little pissy in the background there.

And White SASUKE Jesus is waiting.

More clips of Sato actually doing something for once and earning his number.

91. Levi Meeuwenberg! He's the last hope for G4 today. JET got theirs man, JET got theirs.

The clips of Levi doing freerunning and meeting Nagano.

Here he goes. Steps. OK! Circle Hammer is OK. Log Grip. OK! Flip. Jumping Spider is no problem. Slightly awkward Spider Walk. Half-Pipe Attack is OK. Soritatsu Kabe. First try! Slider Jump. NO!!!!!!

Wow. He looked really confident going into that part. Erm..so was my theory correct? Ouch. Cue the overly dramatic music.

And it all makes sense now. G4 delays the broadcast and adds a live event to draw away from their overall showing in SASUKE 22.

He can't believe this happened. Most people can't. Wow. The crowd is really subdued.

92. Takeda Toshihiro! 竹田敏浩 Steps! Heh. Cocky guy.

CMs

And we're back! Wait. We're not. More teaser. They point out that three of the five All-Stars have failed and Takeda at the Jumping Spider.

CMs

Back.

Takeda! Step. OK! Circle Hammer. whoa...OK! Log Grip. He'll get through this no problem. Jumping Spider. Breath. ES!NO !NO!N!O!NO! I mean..NO! Wow.

Ah..He didn't get a clean jump. He was up...then he wasn't. Cue the dramatic music!

Ishimori Taiji 石森太二(NOAH) and Matsunaga Tomohiro 松永共広(silver medalist) and Iketani Naoki 池谷直樹 and Kawashima Takayuki 川島孝幸 (Muscle Musical) all fall to SASUKE.

96. Kitagawa Tomoki! He's a rugby player. Steps. Circle Hammer. Whoa....OK! Need a slight tug there. Log Grip. Yes! Jumping Spider. YES! He's up! And...Slowly...He's not used to this I think. Her..NO! He didn't have it.

Next up. Paul ANTHONY Terek! It's time for some revenge! Terek should come to Japan as pro wrestler or something.

98. Paul ANTHONY Terek! Here he goes! Steps. Circle Hammer. Whoa..OK. Log Grip. Yes! Jumping Spider! Yes! Man, he's too big for that thing. Slowly. He has on tabi. Half-Pipe Attack. Yes! Soritatsu Kabe. NO! YES! Slider Jump coming up. Taking his time. Ye...NO! I guess he lost control at the end.

I guess it was time for SASUKE's revenge.

Slider Jump = White man killer. Damn racist.

Alright, I admit, I said double digits going to the 2nd Stage. I stat cursed SASUKE.

Clips of Mr. HANDBALL! By the way, did we see his teammate Sho Iwanaga?

Cue the King Kull music! It's Miyazaki Daisuke!

99. Miyazaki Daisuke! 宮崎大輔! Steps. Circle Hammer...whoa. OK. Log Grip. Yes! Jumping Spider. Yes! Here he goes. The walls must be slippery or something. Through. Half-Pipe Attack. Wow. Kind of a low run. Wait..He swings back and forth. Only once chance here. And he does the Soritatsu Kabe! Slider Jump. Yes! He goes over...is that a tactical mistake? Go! Hurry! He doesn't have much time. Tarzan Rope. Daijobu kanaa? Masaka! Masaka! Masaka!

Dammit. Miyazaki times out.

The Half-Pipe Attack took time but DO NOT GO OVER THE NET IF YOU DON'T HAVE TIME. It takes too long.

Apparently I missed Levi asking why he timed out. Um. OK.

Highlights and privacy invasion of Makoto Nagano's life.

The All-Stars are in a bad spot! Once again, Nagano is their only hope!

There's over an hour left, one person on the 1st Stage left and possibly three more stages to go. Interesting.

100. Nagano Makoto! 長野誠! Here he goes! Steps. OK. Circle Hammer is OK! Log Grip. Yes! Jumping Spider. Yes! Wow, he just kind of floated in the air there. Cool. Only he knew what he would do. Half-Pipe Attack. Yes! Soritatsu Kabe. Yes! Wow, only Terek missed it the first time (of those shown).

CMs

Back.

Here he goes...SlidinNO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have a joke here written down about something blue and something about balls helping Nagano first attaining Kanzen Seiha that I will refrain from using out of respect to him.

Wow. He just missed getting a hand on the net.

Arsenette totally called it by the way.

2nd Stage!

Hrm..If Okuyama = Yes, then Nagano = No. Interesting.

A look at the stages. Nothing much changed yet. Let's see lots of people failing the Salmon Ladder. OK. The thing hasn't changed at all. 80 seconds to clear.

Here's the first! Kanno Hitoshi! 菅野仁志!

Wow. Sato and no All-Stars. Downhill Jump OK. Salmon Ladder. YES! No problem! Swing Ladder. OK! Metal Spin. Whoa..OK! YES! More than enough time! Wall Lifting. Yes! Yes! Yes! Wait...YES! He's through!

Wow, that was easy.

Shoes! It can only be Urushihara Yuji! 漆原裕治!

Wow, the crowd is super pumped up.

Downhill Jump is OK. Salmon Ladder. Slip. But re-aligns. No problem! Swing Ladder coming up. Metal Spin. OK! Wow, this is FAST! Wall Lifting. Hurry! Can he do it! YES! STQers represent!

Lee Yen Chi is up next! リー・エンチ! It's time for his revenge. Downhill Jump is OK. Salmon Ladder. He can get through this but he took too long last time. Yes! Damn, I think having the STQers there brings the energy level. Metal Spin. Yes! Wall Lifting. YES! YES!

That's three for three! Taiwan REPRESENT!

Wow. The STQers and Lee Yen Chi say "All-Stars who?"

I'm saying wow a lot. This maybe what SASUKE needs - the STQers are bringing such energy that everything feels..fresher. It's like Urushihara and Kanno are treating the course like it's SASUKE Park. Something you just do. Not something you obsess over (although they obviously do).

Next up! Okuyama Yoshiyuki! 奥山義行 Can he make it four for four?

Downhill Jump is OK. Salmon Ladder. YES! Swing Ladder. Still has lots of time. Metal Spin. YES! WOW! Wall Lifting. YES! YES! YEEEEEEEES! Four for four!

And now...Hiromichi Sato. 佐藤弘道 One of these things is not like the others.

Downhill Jump is OK. Can he do the Salmon Ladder? Halfway now. Oh wow. He did it! I'm amazed. Seriously. Swing Ladder. And break time.

CMs.

OK, the four who have made it through have maybe less than fifteen tries at the course total between them (Yamada has 21. Yamamoto, 22). This is crazy.

Back.

Metal Spin coming up. NO!!!!!!!!!! Whew, I needed someone to disappoint children. In that category, Hiromichi Sato did not LET ME DOWN!

Let's kill some time and look at his run again.

Wow, four of five move on.

3rd Stage

Arm Ring. Kudari Lamp Grasper. Devil Steps. Shin-Cliff HangerJumping Bar. Hang Climbing. Spider Flip. (Not so) Gliding Ring. No time limit. Wow. absolutely no shots of the All-Stars at all.

The Final Stage is waiting!

菅野仁志 Kanno up first. Arm Rings. OK. Kudari Lamp Grasper. Clip. I guess he needed another can of SASUKE Spray. Good rhythm. And OK! Looks a little shaky.

Devil Steps. This took out Miyazaki last time. Here he goes. At the turn. OK. NO problem! Rest time. Shin-Cliff Hanger. Here he goes. At the slant...Going for the jump. He'll make it. YES!

CMs

OK, his Shin-Cliff Hanger attempt was in a commercial (one of the commercials) so that shouldn't have been a surprise. But I guess since no one knew who he was, most probably dismissed it.

Back.

Shin-Cliff Hanger. Yes! Jumping Bar coming up. Lee Yen Chi looks on! His family is pumped! I'm sorry but this is the most excited I've seen a crowd in ages.

Jumping Bar. One. Two. Three. Four. Hang Climbing coming up. OK. OK. OK. Ikeru! Ikeru! Yes! Spider Flip coming up. Daijobu! Some time getting set.

WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

COURSE OUT!!!! NOO!!!!!! He was pretty much spent.

Once he put his legs on the bar, he was out. But hey, he's in the company of the All-Stars. And even surpassed Takeda.

Shoes. Shoes. Shoes. Shoes. Muscle Park. He lives with his mom! It's Urushihara Yuji! 漆原裕治!

UNCLI represent! Arm Rings. No problem. Hahaha. His UNCLI shirt has the kanji for shoes on the sleeve. He's the No. 3 Cliffer.

Kudari Lamp Grasper. OK! Devil Steps coming up. Good - really freaking fast - Devil Steps rhythm. Wow. Hey, that teenager is there. Shin-Cliff Hanger coming up. At the slant. YES! NO PROBLEM! Wow. He totally pwned that thing as the kids say.

Is our hero of the new age Urushihara Yuji? Lee Yen Chi? Okuyama Yoshiyuki?

Back.

He hits the Shin-Cliff Hanger like he went to some indoor amusement park and practiced it over a dozen times!

Rest as he gets ready for the Jumping Bars. One. Two. Three. Four! Hang Climbing coming up. I guess you can use it like a rock climb. Spider Flip coming up. Don't touch the poles man! He's up. Getting ready. Ikeru yo! Resting. Or praying. Hard to say. Getting ready again. He changed his shoes I think. Yeah, he has different shoes on. Only Nagano has passed this. Here he goes. YES! The jump is not the point. It's that you have to get down and get ready later. Gliding Ring! Wow. This is awesome. Here he goes. It glides! JUMP! YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Final Stage here we come!

The SASUKE Park All-Stars and Ultimate Cliffers jump for joy as Katsumi Yamada looks on. Heh.

OK, see, this is the thing. Because Nagano did it for the All-Stars. Urushihara is doing it for a bigger, just as dedicated group of people. That's why this is so emotional.

Poor Lee Yen Chi and Okuyama Yoshiyuki don't have much time to do their thing.

JET has to be happy about this. Lee Yen Chi! リー・エンチ!

Arm Rings. Kudari Lamp Grasper. He looks more ripped than usual but can he do it? Does he have it in him? A bit hangy, as opposed to the other two. But he's through! Devil Steps. He'll rest and spray up here. Up. Yes. At the turn. Yes! This the big one. Shin-Cliff Hanger. Here he goes. At the slant. Whoa...OK. Here he goes. Wait...NO!

He wasn't set. Still, JET has to be happy. Let's give him a hand!

Replays.

He wants to do this again!

Okuyama! 奥山義行! We have about twenty minutes left and we know that someone is moving on. I'll be frank, it doesn't look good for Yoshiyuki.

Arm Rings are no problem. Can he make his children happy? Or will THEY GO HOME IN TEARS! Kudari Lamp Grasper. No problem! Yoshiyuki impresses me and then we go to commercials.

CMs

OK, it's those stupid Baby Cokes. Hurry up!

Back.

Kudari Lamp Grasper is no problem. Here comes the Devil Steps. Getting set. Up. Methodical. At the turn. And he's through!

Shin-Cliff Hanger...Everyone is waiting...At the slant...Here he goes. NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And the kids are surprised. The girl is on the verge of tears...stay on her! Stay on her! No. Darn it. Kuyashii node mata ganbarimasu!

It's like his real Olympic dream!

Urushihara Yuji is the first man to make the new Final Stage! And Mr. Yamada drops his two cents. Let's see...there wil be a montage and then what?

Rope Climb for 4. Spider Climb to Rope Climb for 17. But since then...no one. We don't even know what it is.

NEW FINAL STAGE!

COMMERCIALS!

Here's a theory: THE OTHER ALL-STARS HAD ENOUGH CLASS TO STAY AWAY AND LET SOMEONE ELSE TAKE THE STAGE. GO AWAY FOR NOW. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE.

The New FINAL STAGE: Heavenly Ladder to the G Rope. 45 seconds? Yeesh.

BUG IN MIKI footage. And then shots of him training at a playground. Can he be the third man to finish SASUKE?

Woooooo..Okuyama is PIMPING in that jacket.

I've never liveblogged a Final Stage before. It's uncharted territory for everyone!

Jeez. That's high.

ONE MAN LEFT STANDING. He is URUSHIHARA YUJI. 漆原裕治!

And he has the support of the STQers. The Unlimited Cliffers. The SASUKE Park All-Stars. If he does it. It's for them.

Here we go!

Up the Heavenly Ladder.

10 M mark.

CMs

Of course.

Don't complain. You knew it was coming.

Back.

Here he goes. Heavenly Ladder. At the 10 Meter mark. At the G Rope! GO MAN GO!

19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12

Time is going red! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

SO CLOSE!

Damn.

To tell the truth, I thought going in he was going to make it.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. The only thing I can do is laugh.

That is awesome. TBS led me on and got me thinking someone was going to finish tonight.

You know what? Whatever. We just saw a "new hero" born. A dark horse whose group seemed to bring a lot more energy to the later stages than the last few shows.

Is this the turning point? This isn't like 20 when Levi was the last man standing and the All-Stars crapped out. Naturally, this is better if only for the number of people moving on. This isn't even like the All-Stars return to form in 21. Sure it was emotional but this was fresher. Different. It wasn't just because of a new group of faces. Only Kanno was going through his first try at SASUKE. And yet, it didn't suffer at all with the lack of All-Stars. TBS and Monster 9 have been looking for their new stars and really, I've never understood why they've never given Urushihara's group more chances. They have to know who they are. They know that they are at the Trials. That they send in letters and videos. That they are at Muscle Park. And now one of them has gone farther than anyone else in the last five shows. They are the future of SASUKE if it wants to stay alive in Japan. Give them a chance Monster 9.

As far as this SASUKE was concerned it was STQers that stole the show from the All-Stars and maybe that's how it's going to be from now on.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

SASUKE Navi March 29th, 2009 Sort of Liveblog! サスケナビ!

Once we again we must thank the pirates of the internet for my ability to watch SASUKE Navi!

For pictures and more commentary, check out here.

SASUKE 22 was filmed on March 16th and will air on March 30th. Hey! That's tomorrow! So today we get SASUKE Navi to tide us over for a show that will be..um..tomorrow. OK, maybe it's all about whetting our appetite.

Who will we see? Who will we not see? Who will only see today and never again? We've got some info here but today we'll fill in more gaps.

It's been a couple months since I've had to do a liveblog. Let's make sure I have everything. Blog. Check. Sports drink. Check. Midget. Check. OK, I think that's it.

Here we go!

Or maybe not. I'm a bit early. They're still showing commercials. Midget! Get over here!

Here we go!

Ohh...looks like some new obstacles.

The final stage!

Miyazaki! Miyashita! SASUKE Trials! Kazuma Asa!

And we are at Midoriyama.

People are waiting in line! They get numbers. And then they will be SHOT. Oh wait.

The All-Stars! Takeda! Akiyama! Yamamoto! Yamada! Nagano!

Daisuke Miyazaki! Men of balls!

Matsunga! Miyashita!

Hiromichi Sato!

Nakao Akiyoshi, guy from Rookies!

Bobby Olugan!

More comedians than you can shake a stick at:

Audrey guy Kasuga Toshiaki!

The guy who is getting married to Miki Fujimoto from Shinagawa Koji, Shinagawa Tomoharu

Wakky!

Dokidoki Camp's Kishi Manabu!

Yamamoto Hiroshi doing his Kane Kosugi impersonation!

Zabungle!

Cherry Pie!

Muscle Musical girls and guys!

White people!

Lee Yen Chi!

Pakuten!

Highlight of 17 when Nagano completed the course. And then highlights of people failing the various new obstacles.

Miyazaki! Izuma! Iwanaga! Let's look at Miyazaki's win at this year's Sportsman No. 1. And then his second run back in SASUKE 21. And his eventual failure during the Devil Steps.

Miyashita Junichi! He won a bronze medal at Beijing. Oh, he's a swimmer. Forgot about that part. Let's watch him swim. And more training! Should I make a comment about how you almost never see any body hair in SASUKE? I think that would be the main difference if the show were made in America.

Audrey! Toshiaki Kasuga! Oh wow, he played football in high school. I mean, he always looked big.

And then let's go to see Nakao Akiyoshi of ROOKIES. He was in 20. And wait...that's a familiar place. Yep, that's Mr. SASUKE's place, ensuring that Nakao will not make it to the 2nd Stage. And he meets Mr. SASUKE. Let's look at his past jobs. And past failures.

CRY YAMADA CRY!

Let's promote the ROOKIES movie! TBS synergy!

You know, ever since I looked up how much those mini-trampolines cost, I wonder how much building that set has put Mr. SASUKE in the hole and how many hot dogs he had to sell to make up for it.

They practice the Jumping Spider. He can do it! And again! No problem! I'm surprised Yamada is wearing a shirt during all this.

Bold prediction! 70 people will make it through the 1st Stage!

And Sato Hiromichi! He continues the All-Star tour! He goes to visit Shiratori Bunpei's place! Sato wants to practice the Soritatsu Kabe. He failed there last time.

They discuss Soritatsu Kabe strategy. And he can't! What a waste of time!

CMs

Back.

They're still trying. I wonder if he's trying Bunpei's patience. And here he goes to show him how it's done. Or maybe not.

Well, that was pointless.

Wakky! Shinagawa Tomoharu! They trained together! Let's look at Wakky at 20. He failed the Half-Pipe Attack (which quite a few people did). The first time he failed the Log Grip. So he and Shinagawa...practice on a real tree.

Two new 1st Stage obstacles!

2. Circle Hammer. Similar to the Metal Swing.

7. Slider Jump. Not quite the same as the Pipe Slider.

SASUKE Jesus! Makoto Nagano! Now let's invade his private life and take a look at his wedding. Is the Final Stage shaped wedding good or bad? The All-Stars nake an appearance. So Asami's job is to...count. The family that trains together stays together!

And let's look at the SASUKE Trials! 2000 people sent in videos and postcards! Let's look at some of them! And let's review last time's STQers. All of them sadly failed the 1st Stage in 21.

OH WOW. Inside look at them choosing the 60. The last eight STQers are all in.

And they are at a track.

First, let's eliminate 30??? Rope. Rope is the key to SASUKE!

A 50 meter dash and then a 30 second tug of war? What? Ah. OK. That's kind of interesting.

Too many faces. I saw Kazuma Asa on the losing side. Matachi Ryo. Mr. SASUKE's assassin. OK, the losing side has to do a 800 meter run. The top ten I believe. Miygai and Asa are through! The winner was Mori something. Murakami and Matachi are out!

Hashimoto Koji! He has 30 seconds to complete a run and then get up an incline to get the flag. Urushihara Yuji is through! Some guys aren't! Kazuma Asa is up next! Yes! No! One more time. NO! Keep going! Ikeru! NO! NO! Asa is out! Damn. Kuyashii.

Next. 37.5 meter run over benches. Kawaguchi Tomohiro is through! Casey is back! Some other guys are out! Kubota is out! Miyagi doesn't make it! Only Urushihara, Kawaguchi and Hashimoto are though! I believe they have fifteen seconds.

Trampoline time! Hey, I guess Casey didn't do that well. Hint, the guy in the long white jacket will make it.

It's a...dammit, I don't know what that thing is called. It's not a pole vault. The first guy fails! Kawaguchi up next! He just got married! That means that he'll have someone to cry for him.

CMs

What the hell is that Jinro commercial about?

OK. It's a high jump with a trampoline.

Get your phones out and download the SASUKE game!

Kawaguchi up next. Yes! Do they HAVE to do the flip?

His wife is relieved. Maeda something is out. Mr. Youtube video guy Tomino Keita is out!

Hashimoto! He's a sports instructor and former gymnast. Here he goes. YES!

He's through! That's two!

Sato Hiroki! Nomura clear! One more guy clear! Urushihara Yuji! Up next!

He's finished SASUKE Park fifteen times!

And he's through! That's it! SASUKE Park All-Stars REPRESENT!

And more fluff as we get Levi on Nagano's boat.

CMs.

Let's go to Narita Airport! Levi! SA-su-ke.

Well, that's awkward. I'm pretty sure that this whole "relationship" is at least a bit manufactured.

Shots of Levi doing..um..fisherman stuff. Levi isn't as strong as Nagano though, so he's a bit slower.

And then let's go to Gifu! And visit Toshihiro Takeda! Hey, maybe they'll fight a fire together! At Mr. SASUKE's house.

This is basically Levi doing the things that we've seen Nagano and Takeda do in their promo videos.

Luci Romberg! David Campbell! Yaruzo!

Lee Yen Chi! He's back!

The Muscle Musical! More Monster 9 synergy as they promote their new show, Treasure.

I see Ayako Inada. Shimada Hiroyo . Tatsumi and Kawashima Takayuki.

Mr. SASUKE! In 20, he fell. In 21, he timed out.

Oy vey. Did he get a letter from a sick child?

Back. The staff give him a letter. On Chip n Dale stationary. Oh crap. A sick child.

His (dying?) message is to see Yamada make the 2nd Stage. Well, that's just going to make me feel like a dick. Note that the he doesn't want Yamada to make the Final Stage. Just the 2nd Stage. He may be dying but he's not stupid.

And the kid is there! He's eight. He meets all the All-Stars and........OH...that's probably what that blog that links to Make a Wish Japan I found is about.

Matsunaga! He's back! He failed the Salmon Ladder last time.

Kitagawa Tomoki! He was at Sportsman No. 1 in 2009.

Paul ANTHONY Terek! He's back! Let's take a look at his run in 17. He failed the Cliff Hanger. He's going all the way to the top!

Okuyama Yoshiyuki! He's back! Remember, SASUKE is like his Olympics! Hey, I can give you a link to where he works. He failed the Stick Slider last time, something most people thought was impossible.

CMs.

And more teasing as we see someone taking on the Final Stage.

Back!

Yamada! Takeda! Nagano! Miyazaki (99). Miyashita! Nakao! Sato (90). Kojima! Yamamoto! Nochi! Kasuga! Wakky! Shoji! Levi! Terek! Kitagawa!

The Final Stage! It's all lit up! And ready! And so am I!

SASUKE 22 tomorrow!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

SASUKE 22 is coming soon! SASUKE 2009春!

While arsenette over at Rambling Rican has been all over the SASUKE 22 information I figured I should get a post up just to remind those who don't venture outside my blog for SASUKE stuff (whoever that might be).

The dirt:

Airing info-

SASUKE 2009春 will be aired on TBS (and it's affiliates) from 20:00 to 23:24 JST on Monday, March 30th, 2009. There will be a short preview (probably only five minutes long, not the full ten minutes - they need time for commercials) for those in the central Japan area at 19:50.

There is also a SASUKEナビ (SASUKE Navi) on Sunday, March 29th from 14:00 to 15:00 JST. Again, this will only be available to select areas in Japan (boo!).

The participants:

The All-Stars

We'll just assume that -

山田勝己 Yamada Katsumi ("Mr. Somethingorother")
山本進悟 Yamamoto Shingo
秋山和彦 Akiyama Kazuhiko
竹田敏浩 Takeda Toshihiro
長野誠 Nagano Makoto
白鳥文平 Shiratori Bunpei

will be there. Well, actually, we know that Takeda, Akiyama and Nagano were there. If that's a recent picture on Hiromichi Sato's site. Well, Takeda and Akiyama for sure.

More comedians than you can shake a stick at


Yikes. There are A LOT of comedians participating this year. And, this may be good or bad, but many of them are more established comedians, rather than the up-and-comers that sometimes appear. Good in that it brings more star power. Bad in that it might be a sign that TBS has to resort to variety programming stunt casting to get more viewers. Anyway, a list (and where we got the info!):

Nochi of Dangerous デンジャラス ノッチ says so here. He's best known as the guy who does the Barack Obama impersonation on Japanese TV.
Cherry Pie チェリー☆パイ was there. Via their photo we know that...
Hori ホリ was there. Well, his company profile says so too. He wasn't the only ものまね specialist on the scene as...
山本高広 Yamamoto Takahiro (best known for his Oda Yuuji impersonation) was there too. But wait! Neither his blog nor his profile says he was there. But what about photographic evidence? Because Iketani Naoki has this and Yamamoto's blog has this. And since we know that Kane Kosugi is in Yamamoto's repertoire, well, that's good enough for me. Watanabe Entertainment also has...
ザブングル (Zabunguru - although I'm not sure how their name romanizes) - was there too.
Chiro of Bicsmalln ビックスモールン・チロ was there.
Kasuga Toshiaki of Audrey 春日俊彰 オードリー was there.
Wakky of Penalty ワッキー ペナルティ was there.
Kojima Yoshio 小島よしお was there too. Or at least that's what OnTV Japan says.

And I think that's everyone. That I could find and confirm somehow anyway.

Muscle Musical

And what's a Monster 9 show going to be without any synergy? We know that the following were there (so far):
Naoki Iketani 池谷直樹
Setoda Eiji 脊戸田英次
Nakao You 中尾葉
Inada Ayako 稲田亜矢子

I'm sure they'll be more.

Athletes

Kind of a difficult time since baseball and basketball are still going on so that lessens the pool. But...

Kazuhisa Watanabe 渡辺一久, K-1 fighter was there.
Takeyoshi Tominaga 富永健義 was there too.
Mohammed Yone モハメド ヨネ、
Suzuki Kotaro 鈴木鼓太郎 and
Ishimori Taiji 石森太二 of Pro Wrestling NOAH were all there.
Miyazaki Daisuke 宮崎大輔 and his men of balls,
Iwanaga Sho 岩永生 and
Izuma Masakatsu 猪妻正活 were there.
Paul ANTHONY Terek was there via photo evidence.
Junichi Miyashita 宮下純一, Beijing Olympic Bronze medal winning swimmer was there.
EDIT! Rugby player Tomoki Kitagawa 北川智規 will be there as well. He placed 4th in the 2009 Sportsman No. 1.

Celebs and others


Nakao Akiyoshi 中尾明慶 of TBS show ROOKIES was there. (synergy!)
Issei Sakamoto 坂本一生, a talento was there.
Ishimaru Kenjiro 石丸謙二郎 and
Sato Hiromichi 佐藤弘道 (via link above)
Nomura Masaki 野村将希
Shirai Ryo 白井涼
Lee Yen Chi リー・エンチ of Taiwan
Takahashi Kenji 高橋賢次 via photo evidence.
This guy.

Those darn Americans


Via G4:
Olivia Munn
Luci Romberg
Levi Meeuwenberg (White SASUKE Jesus - as opposed to SASUKE Jesus, Makoto Nagano)
David Campbell (this year's G4 ANC winner)

There were also six SASUKE Trial Qualifiers (STQers) and some other people most of it was found via mixi so I'd rather not say more.

To tell the truth, this year was much easier to find info since so many celebrity blogs have popped up since last time. And it's not like twitter where people may be making fake accounts. Japanese celebs are very self-promotional and very..um..Japanese blogger like, taking photos of food and themselves constantly.

That's pretty much it. I'll probably be liveblogging the SASUKE Navi and of course the main show itself. If only the show had stuck to it's usual Wednesday time so that I could do an April Fool's and say that I wasn't going to do it. That would so disappoint, oh, five people or so.

Oh and don't forget. The TBS site promises the coming of a new hero or some such nonsense.




Man, I think I'm out of liveblogger shape. This might be painful.

A Race for the Ages

Oh man. I was looking up information on something else when I came across this:



Is that not awesome? For those who don't know what Mama Charis are, here's a link.

There are even standard rules for what type of bikes you can use.



To get an idea of how the races are, check out this video via this blog:


Pay special attention to the :45 mark or so when someone (who actually looks like they are falling down) thinks they are in Road Rash or something.

Man, seeing this got me all pumped up to get outside on my bicycle. Then I realized that I had to exert myself physically to get anywhere so that feeling disappeared rather quickly.

Anyway, a photo gallery is here. And to read about someone participating in these races in English, go here.

And yet this isn't the most awesome Grand Prix being held in Japan. There is also a tricycle race and one for Pizza delivery mopeds called the Pizza Cup (which unfortunately had to postponed due to - surprise! - a lack of entries).




There will be SASUKE content soon, I promise.

Somewhere in the TBS studios...

Sometime this month, somewhere in the TBS Studios

TBS Producer (TP): Right. We need a song for our WBC commercials. Something that will get the audience pumped up for the games.

Staff Guy (SG): No problem boss. But our budget is kind of tight. The higher-ups said we can only use songs from these two CDs.

TP: *Sigh* Alright. Well, what have we got?

SG: Here -




*Both look at Edward Furlong album*

Both: Nah.

TP: OK, well that leaves us with Journey. Let's go track by track and..you know what? We're running out of time. Just put a song on at random.

*SG puts on random. CD goes to track nine.*

TP: WOW! That's great! That goes perfectly with what we want! That's the kind of thing that gets the audience to their feet and rocking! Yeah! What's the name of the song Staff Guy?

SG: Umm. Let's see. It says here "Separate Ways" on the jacket.

TP: That's a great title! It can refer to the rift between Korea and Japan especially! Ever since *Insert random controversial viewpoint about Japan/Korea relations* they've gone their "separate ways". Great! Put it in!

SG: You're the boss.

http://www.tbs.co.jp/sports/wbc09/


...

A month goes by.

...

TP: Hey, mail. It's a youtube link from Staff Guy! It says.."Boss, maybe you should see this." I wonder what it is? *Click*

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxxOyGK1pMk

TP: Well, crap.






I kid. I loved that album when I was young.

Japan wins 2009 WBC in 10 innings, 5-3

In a victory sure to irritate lots of people all over the world, Japan beat Korea 5-3 in ten innings to defend their World Baseball Classic crown.

Ichiro basically erased his bad hitting prior to today's final by going 4-6 and driving in the winning runs with two outs in the top of the 10th inning.

Japan hammered out 15 hits to Korea's 5 and left the bases loaded several times, stranding 6 runners in scoring position.

Yuu Darvish got the win while Chang Yong Lim got the loss, making him the goat for Korea (I was only following the gamecast on ESPN but it sure looked like he lost either control or composure in the 10th) but ironically making him a friend to all his teammates on the Yakult Swallows.




For the record, this means that Japan won their overall series 3497 - 3496

Monday, March 23, 2009

Korea and Japan to meet for the 6,993rd time in 2009 WBC

Japan beats the USA 9-4 to finalize the match-up that everyone around the world has already seen 6992 times already in the month of March.

Japan and Korea are currently tied at 3496 - 3496 in the 2009 tournament.







By the way, for those watching in Japan, have they been using Separate Ways as the highlight song all the time? Because they did today and that's just awesome.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

The Gift V and Epilogue

*Ring*

Photobucket Hello?

Photobucket Double T!

Photobucket Oh. Hey Katsumi.

Photobucket Man, it's been a while! I knew you changed your phone number and I thought you gave me your new one and I guess it must have fallen out of my pocket or something.

Photobucket Yeah. Um..you must have lost it.

Photobucket Yeah! So it's a good thing I took a look at your phone while you were doing the First Stage on Monday!

Photobucket You what?

Photobucket Yeah! Anyway, wasn't it great how ******* was able to ****** the ******?

Photobucket Yeah, that was pretty cool.

Photobucket And you! You were able to ****** the ******!

Photobucket Thanks.

Photobucket But I have to ask, did you run out of spray?

Photobucket What?

Photobucket Like, I sent you a box in the winter! But you had to borrow some on Monday. So I thought you must have run out. So I sent you two more boxes when I got home!

Photobucket Really? Umm..thanks.

Photobucket You know, I bet you totally could use this stuff while you're working.

Photobucket While I'm working? Um..Katsumi, I'm a fireman. I don't think a spray can is something I can use when I'm fighting fires.

Photobucket Naw! I'm sure you can! I've got a fire going right here. Let me just spray so...

Photobucket KATSUMI! NO!

Photobucket *FWOOSH!!!!*

Photobucket Katsumi!!!

Photobucket ...

Photobucket Katsumi?!?! Are you OK?

Photobucket Mr. Takeda?

Photobucket Yes?


Photobucket My daddy has to call you back. He set the house on fire...again.

Photobucket Um..OK.

Photobucket






*Ring*

Photobucket Hi! I'm not here right now! Those hot dogs won't sell themselves you know! Leave a message!

*Beep*

Oh, hey, Katsumi, this is Shinji. Shinji Kobayashi. I wanted to say thank you for the double pack of SASUKE Spray you sent me the other day. And also sorry that your house burned down...again. Anyway, I was just wondering..you know the Monster 9 guys right? You're pretty tight with them so I thought maybe for this next show I was wondering if you could do me a favor and ask them to not cu..

*Beep*


Photobucket




You didn't think I forgot about Takeda, did you?

March Madness 2009


(Picture shamelessly stolen from google image search)

Yikes! Been a while! SASUKE stuff and more coming up, I promise. And maybe, just maybe, I'll finally write something for the J Blog Matsuri. Maybe.

Anyway, since it's coming up um...later tonight now is a good time as any to remind those in Japan who have a passion for college hoops that there's no better friend for you on the internet at this time than March Madness On Demand by CBSSports.

You get all the games for free and from what I experienced last year, I didn't have to wait very long to get into games (other than trying to get into a game before it aired). Even switching between games was relatively painless.

The only catch is that if you're in Japan the games are at fairly inconvenient times. The first games tip-off at around 12:30 PM US EST which makes it oh..1:30 in the morning here in Japan. Then again, I guess it depends on your schedule. Tomorrow (the 20th) is a holiday so you can stay up watching games until the sun comes up. Well, I guess if you had a life it would get in the way of all that.

March Madness!

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