Monday, September 28, 2009

SASUKE 23 Obstacles SASUKE 2009秋 障害物

Click on the thumbnails to see the photos.

1st Stage, 120 seconds to clear


1. 十二段跳び Jyunidantobi
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2. カーテンスライダー Curtain Slider
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3. ロッググリップ Log Grip
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4. ジャンピングスパイダー Jumping Spider
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5. ハーフパイプアタック Half-Pipe Attack
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6. そり立つ壁 Soritatsu Kabe
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7. スライダージャンプ Slider Jump
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8. ターザンロープ Tarzan Rope
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9. ロープラダー Rope Ladder
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2nd Stage, 70 seconds to clear


1. ダウンヒルジャンプ Downhill Jump
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2. サーモンラダー Salmon Ladder
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3. スティックスライダー Stick Slider
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4. アンステーブルブリッジ Unstable Bridge
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5. メタルスピン Metal Spin
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6. ヴォールリフティング Wall Lifting
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3rd Stage, No time limit


1. アームリング Arm Ring
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2. 下りランプグラスパー Kudari Lamp Grasper
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3. デビルステップス Devil Steps
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4. 新クリフハンガー Shin-Cliff Hanger
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5. ジャンピングバー Jumping Bar
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6. ハングクライミング Hang Climbing
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7. スパイダーフリップ Spider Flip
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8. グライディンぐリング Gliding Ring
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Final Stage, 40 seconds


1. ヘブンリーラダー Heavenly Ladder
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2. Gロープ GRope
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Sunday, September 27, 2009

SASUKE 23 SASUKE 2009秋 The Sort of Live Blog!

Power! Speed! Balance! Only those with all three of these qualities can become the next Miss Univ...wait.

Power! Speed! Balance! Only those with all three of these qualities can become the next American Idol!

That's not right either, I think.

So You Think You Can Beat SASUKE? America's Best Ninja Warriors!

I think I'm getting my wires crossed.

Since 1997...

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2200 have tried! Only two have ever completed! That's 0.09 percent! Gosh, it's hard!

Don't forget that the 23rd Annual Ube International Sculpture Competition is soon! 第23回 UBEビエンナーレ'09 現代日本彫刻展

Here we go!

Last time! All of the All-Stars failed! オールスターズ 全滅!

It's SASUKE 2009秋!

Nagano! Shingo! (with his personalize SASUKE towel) Yamada! Takeda!

Yuuji Urushihara!

Many comedians! And entertainers! And athletes!

The Final Stage!  There are people! With their arms crossed! Now their fists are in the air! SASUKE~!

1st Stage

Let's go! It's a 130 meters long.

1. Satomi Kohei 里見恒平 is first! Jyunidantobi! 十二段跳び Curtain Slider! カーテンスライダー! Log Grip! Yes! Good showing so far! Jumping Spider...YES! GO! GO! He played in NFL Europe. Spider Walk OK. Half-Pipe Attack coming up. NO!

5. Katsuhide Torisawa! 鳥澤克秀! He ripped off his clothes! Jyunidantobi! Slowly...ye...WAIT! NO!

Emi Sekisui. 関水えみ. She's a girl. She has dogs. NO! She kind of just tried to run all over the place.

10. Hosshan! ほっしゃん Here he goes. Jyunidantobi. 十二段跳び! O! Ouch. Did he hit his face?

12. Spinboy Aichi! Or Aichi Oono. 大野愛地 He's in the Muscle Musical. Whoa! Almost didn't make it. Curtain Slider. Yes! Log Grip. NO! He couldn't hold on.

Eiko Kano wants to quit already.

17. Eiko Kano 狩野英孝 is next! Will his suit get wet? Of course. He went like three steps or so.

19. NOBU! He's also in the Muscle Musical. He's a double dutch specialist. Steps. OK. Everyone is taking it slow there. Curtain Slider is OK. Log Grip coming up. Checking. YES! Jumping Spider is a NO!

Sayaka Nakamura 中村明花 is next! She's a reporter on 王様のブランチ. Can she..NO! Right in the middle area.

Fukutarao Umemoto 梅本福太郎 (number 6) no. Log Grip. Yutti ゆってぃ (11) No on the steps. Atsushi Aoki 青木篤志 of Pro Wrestling NOAH..Steps..no. Nanami Tsukamoto 塚本奈々美 falls on the Curtain Slider. Talento Kurumi Kojima 小島くるみ falls on the steps too. Oonishi Lion. 大西リオン NO! (On the Curtain Slider).

20. Junichi Miyashita. 宮下 純一 WHOA! Good thing he has long legs. Curtain Slider is OK. Log Grip. NO! He was off from the very beginning.

Rie Komiya 小宮理英 is next! She made it to the final of KUNOICHI before. What will she do here? 120 seconds by the way. Steps. NO problem! Curtain Slider. Log Grip. Taking a while. Yes! She failed here before. Jumping Spider. Yes! Spider Walk coming up. Slowly. Slowly. Taking a while. Half-Pipe Attack...NO! Almost!

22. Tetsuro Degawa 出川哲朗 is next. And the shirt is off. Yeah yeah. Two steps and done!

Shot of the second stage for some reason.

38. Aoki Creepy Sculpture Guy. 青木保夫 No!

40. Masami Harashima 原島雅美...NO!

Minoru Kuramochi! 倉持稔 Here he g....wait. There we go.

Beauty Kokubu ビューティーこくぶ (28, steps), Yasumasa Koniwa 小庭康正 (29, Log Grip) and Hori ホリ (30, Curtain Slider) don't make it. They are all monomane specialists.

Momoko Tani 谷桃子 can't get past the steps.

Muscle Musical member Tomomi Arimatsu 有松知美 also fails the Half-Pipe Attack.

31. Takuya Kawahara 川原拓也sweats for a living or is in the Muscle Musical. Take your pick. Steps. Curtain Slider is no problem. Can he do it? Log Grip. Yes! Jumping Spider...Yes! Quite high too. Spider Walk is...squeaky. Half-Pipe Attack...Ye..YES! Soritatsu Kabe. Getting set. ONE TIME! Slider Jump...he's the first. He failed here last time! YES!  He goes over. He has to hurry. GO GO GO! Tarzan Rope...The time is going red...jikan ga nai! Jikan ga nai! Nakatta!!!!!!!

Ninja Warrior! There were ten of them. I guess this is the first.

Ryk Maverick! Or umm...Ryk Felger? I have no idea how to turn リック・フェルガ. He designs jewelry. Yes! He was number 10 by the way. Curtain Slider is no problem. Close to the Edit! He got tied up on the Slider Jump!

Number 9, Jupe Katana ジュープ・カタナ times out on the net portion of the Slider Jump.

Number 8, Shane Daniels シェーン・ダニエルズ got to the Tarzan Rope too late.

Number 7, Jeff Iida ジェフ・イイダ timed out on the Soritatsu Kabe.

Caine Sinclair ケイン・シンクレア....Can he do it? So close..NO! He was six.

The top five are next!

42. Richard King! リチャード・キング He's a Free Runner. And a stuntman. He was 5th. Up to the Log Grip. Sure looks like he's participating in his underwear. Jumping Spider! No problem. Smooth run so far. Half-Pipe Attack. Wait..YES! Richard...KINGU! Soritatsu Kabe is on the first try. Potential! Slider Jump...Whoa...lots and lots of time. Here he goes...

CMs.

Back! Let's see his Slider Jump again. Lots of time. Underwear man. Underwear. Here he goes. Lots of time. Tarzan Rope. Up...can he do it! YES! THAT'S IT! Cue Yagyu-Gaiden! We've got one!

He's tired but happy!

SASUKE Trials! Gosh they look so damn young. Six made it.

45. Naoya Tajima! Steps. Curtain Slider. Log Grip coming up. Taking his time. Yes! Jumping Spider. Yes! A little awkward but he's through the Walk. Half-Pipe Attack. YES! Soritatsu Kabe. First time no. YES! Second time is the charm. Slider Jump...Yes! He goes under. Lots of time. Tarzan Rope. Rope Ladder. Can he be number two? YES! YES!

That's two!

47. Koji Hashimoto! 橋本亘司 YES! Edit but YES!

49. Satoshi Nakamura! 中村哲 YES!

50. Jun Sato! 佐藤惇 YES!

Jeez. Don't give them their day in the sun TBS.

51. Takayuki Kinoshita 木下隆行 of TKO! Here he goes. YES! He actually passed the steps. Curtain Slider...UH OH. Huh..OK. Didn't think that could happen.

56. Takashi Fukunishi! 福西崇史 He played soccer. Steps. Curtain Slider. He certainly looks...happy to be there. Log Grip. Yes! Jumping Spider. Yes! Spider Walk...

CMs.

Back.

Spider Walk is iffy...He's losing his grip...He needs to get higher...NO! Aw. Monkiki sighting!

Man, I want one of those towels.

53. Yoshiki Itou! 伊藤圭槻 He was the Miyazaki Sportsman No. 1 winner which is why he gets spray from Nagano. Steps. Curtain Slider. Log Grip. Jumping Spider. Spider Walk. Half-Pipe Attack! All yes! Soritatsu Kabe! First time! Slider Jump. Needs to shave his pits. Yes! He goes over. Stuck in the net. Still has time though. Tarzan Rope. Here he goes! Can he do it? Time is going red...YES!

Wow! That's six! And he gets a hug from Nagano! What a lucky guy.

61. Takeshi Nadagi なだぎ武 is next! Steps! NO! Ouch.

Ayumu Katou 加藤歩 fails the Log Grip. The members of License ライセンス are done early. Takafumi Imoto 井本貴史 on the Curtain Slider and Kazuhiro Fujiwara 藤原一裕 on the Steps. As is Gari Nakajima ガリ中島 of Tengen テンゲン on the Log Grip. One Savanna member Shigeo Takahashi 高橋茂雄 goes down on the Steps.

70. Masumi Yagi 八木真澄 of Savanna! Steps! Curtain Slider. OK! Log Grip. Gosh he's tall. Yes! Jumping Spider! NO! He was up then down.

71. Hey hey hey. Katsumi Yamada! Cue the crying clip! It's been nine SASUKEs since he passed the 1st Stage. And it's time for Genya, an intro that's just too cool for him. Can he finally do it? Can he finally break the curse? Steps. OK. Curtain Slider. Whoa....Log Grip. OK. Jumping Spider. Spider Walk as we go to commercial.

It's hard to work up any passion about this guy anymore.

Only 122000 yen to go to Angkor Wat!

Is the legend over?

Back!

Half-Pipe Attack...Yes! I mean..OK! Soritatsu Kabe. Taking his time. First time..no. Second try. Wait. Try again. NO! Gee. Take your time Katsumi. Did he get hurt again. YES! With one arm. Slider Jump...He looks pained. NO!

TEN!

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Ah. Looks like he hurt his ankle on the first Soritatsu Kabe attempt.

73. Brian Orosco! ブライアン・オロスコ! Steps. Curtain Slider. Log Grip coming up. He was the American number 2. Jumping Spider. YES! He looks serious as he FLIES through the Walk. Half-Pipe Attack. Yes! He's blitzing the course. Soritatsu Kabe first try! Slider Jump. Still lots of time! Here he goes. The final stretch. Tarzan Rope. Slowly. Here he goes. Should make it no problem! YES! That's two from America.

74. Genki Sudo! HE'S DOING THE ROBOT FOR YOUR PLEASURE! Here he goes. Style kankenai! NO! He would have coursed out anyway.

75. Shinsengumi Rien's  Tetsuji Sakakibara 榊原徹士. Shut up Shimada. Steps. Curtain Slider. Log Grip coming up. Dammit, I hate Shinsuke Shimada. Yes! Jumping Spider coming up. NO! He didn't get his feet up in time.

76. Shinsengumi's Hiroya Kunisada 國定拓弥 as we go to commercial...

Back.

Kunisada gets through the Steps and Curtain..ONLY TO FAIL AT THE LOG GRIP. Oh well. Sell them CDs boys!

79. Jordan Jovtchev! He's small. Steps. Curtain Slider. Leznig looks on! Log Grip. Jumping Spider. Yes! Man, he's tiny. Slowly...Half-Pipe Attack coming up. Yes! Soritatsu Kabe. First try! Wow. Slider Jump. He looks worried. YES! WHOA! He dropped down but caught the net! Yes! Does he have enough time? Here he goes. Ten seconds...HURRY! NO! NO! Hard to say what cost him the time. So close.

80. Monkiki! Akira Omori! 大森晃 AKA Monkiki (or Monkickey) モンキッキー He hasn't been to SASUKE in 8 years! Wow. That's a long time. Here he goes. Steps. Uh OH. YES! Curtain Slider. Log Grip. He knows he has to make up the time. Jumping Spider. YE..NO! Ah. His right foot didn't get it. Darn.

Taiji ishimori 石森太二 fails the Jumping Spider. And pro triathlon guy Ryoichi Yamamoto 山本涼一 doesn't take to the Curtain Slider too well. Handballer Tetsuya Kadoyama 門山哲也 muffs the Jumping Spider, Tomoki Kitagawa 北川智規 (81) misses the net on the Slider Jump. Kairi Kouchi 高智海吏 times up on the Rope Ladder.

84. Kenji Takahashi! 高橋賢次! Poor guy always falls to the knife. I know he's not that pretty but still...anyway...He gets to the Tarzan Rope with lots of time. Here he goes! Should make it with no problem! YES! That's...um...EIGHT! That's eight!

89. Wakky ワッキー is up next! Gee...the last Geinojin Sportsman was in 2007 so he still gets the title? He does some comedy with Oonishi Lion. He also gets the King Kull music that Miyazaki got. Here he goes. Steps. Curtain Slider. Log Grip. Yes! Jumping Spider! Yes! He's up..can he do it? Spider Walk is OK. Half-Pipe Attack...Ye...WHOA! He fell but he was OK.

CMs.

 Back.

Soritatsu Kabe...First time! No wait! He couldn't hold on. One more time! Slider Jump...He looks worried. NO! He didn't even reach the net.

91. Leszek Blanik レゼク・ブラニク! Steps. He won a gold medal, ya know. Curtain Slider. NO! Oops. He didn't quite make it to the platform.

We see the ones who are left.

92. Yoshiyuki Okuyama! 奥山義行! His kids are there. Steps. Curtain Slider. Log Grip. He's moving with purpose. Jumping Spider. Yes! He should really reconsider his color scheme though. Up to the Half-Pipe Attack. Yes! Soritatsu Kabe! First time! Slider Jump...Yes! Wow...it was like he was just walking up to some steps. Lots of time! He should make it. Will we get double digit clears for the first time since the renewal? Yes! Clear! Yagyu-Gaiden!

93. The chickens are revolting! Wait..it's just Shingo Yamamoto! He's failed the 1st Stage five times in a row. Steps. But CMs first.

Back.

Steps. Curtain Slider. Log Grip...oops..the announcer mentions "careless miss." Don't jinx it! Everything else is good. Yes! Half-Pipe Attack was no problem. Soritatsu Kabe. YES! On the second try. Can he do it? Slider Jump. YES! He goes over. Lots of time. Can he do it? C'mon! There goes the hat! Tarzan rope. GO GO GO GO GO! Yes! YES! YES! Yatta!!!!

And that's ten!

Hey! Staff boy! Get Shingo his towel! He's happy!

The pressure is on Yuuji!!!

Shingo gets hugs!

94. Lee Yen Chi! リー・エンチ Steps. Curtain Slider...WHOA! He didn't get a running start. Log Grip. Still has lots of time. But he can't take his time. Jumping Spider. He flies through. He knows the clock is going. Half-Pipe Attack. Soritatsu Kabe. No! Yes! Second try. Slider Jump coming up. YES! He can't take his time though. He should have gone under. Hurry! Hurry! Tarzan Rope! Hurry! Hurry! Time is red! YES!!!

That's eleven!

95. And now it's the man TBS would like to be White SASUKE Jesus, Levi Meeuwenberg リーヴァイ・ミューエンバーグ.

Steps. Curtain Slider. OK. Log Grip. Yes! Jumping Spider as he hot dogs over the platform. Half-Pipe Attack coming up. Soritatsu Kabe. YES! Slider Jump..Wait. CMs.

ELT in Yamaguchi!

Back.

Slider Jump. Yes! Lots of time as the crowd starts a chant as he does a flip. Tarzan Rope. Yes! And that's three! And he does another flip.

Nagano and Takeda are like..OK.

96. That body! It's Hitoshi Kanno! 菅野仁志! Steps. Curtain Slider. UH OH...Whew. Log Grip. He still has lots of time. Yes! Did he hurt himself? Jumping Spider. Yes! Spider Walk. Half-Pipe Attack. WHOA! NO! He had to take a while to get to the platform! First time up the Soritatsu Kabe. Slider Jump. He goes under..watch out! He should have enough time...about 30 seconds left. Don't rush man...just do it. YES!

Shingo is all smiles (because he already passed) but Toshihiro Takeda is FOCUSED!

There's the slap (which made Takeda cringe)!

97. Toshihiro Takeda! 竹田敏浩! Here he goes. BUT NOW THE NEWS.

Back.

Steps. Curtain Slider. Yes! Log Grip. Yes! Jumping Spider. Last time..Jumping SPIDEEEEEEEEEEEEER. Yes. Half-Pipe Attack. Soritatsu-Kabe. Slider Jump. He goes over. Yikes. Kind of just dives into the net. Tarzan Rope. Lots of time! Here he goes! He's all smiles now!

Only three left.

98. Hiromichi Sato! 佐藤弘道! He finally lived up to his hyp...er..promise last time. But we need to get those ads in people!

Back.

Steps. Curtain Slider coming up. Log Grip. OK. Jumping Spider. WHOA! Abunakkata! NO! He didn't have the Spider Walk. Doushita! His family was disappointed.

Speaking of shoes...

99. Yuuji Urushihara! 漆原裕治 He's feeling the pressure. Makoto tells him to try being number 100. You tell him! Let's go!

Steps. Curtain Slider. Man, these runs are like a commercial for Descente sportswear. Jumping Spider. No problem. Half-Pipe Attack. WHOA! Same thing as Kanno but he's through! Soritatsu Kabe! YES! On the second time. Slider Jump...He goes over. If he can get through this he'll have a spot on SASUKE forever I think. Tarzan Rope. He's slow but he'll still make it...Thumbs up! YES!

Hey! The New Stars get all 100% through! Although when there are only two people that's a bit easier.

100. Cue the Last Battle! It's the KING OF SASUKE. Makoto Nagano. 長野誠! Here he goes! Steps. But first, a word from our sponsors.

Awww yeah...the Jinro commercial.

Back!

Steps. Curtain Slider. Log Grip coming up. Wow...the pace feels faster for some reason. Log Grip is no problem. Jumping Spider. Yes! He FLIES through. Half-Pipe Attack. Whoa! YES! Soritatsu Kabe. No! He must have slipped...Slider Jump...Douda...NO!!! Hold on...something happened. Malfunction!

IIIIIIIInteresting. So there was a malfunction during the Slider Jump so he has to do it again. And Takeda and Yamamoto's reaction was to LAUGH. LAUGH AT MAKOTO NAGANO.

Here we go again! He has a new shirt! Steps. Curtain Slider. yes! Log Grip. Jumping Spider. And again he flies through. Half-Pipe Attack. Yes! Soritatsu Kabe. YES! On the second try. Slider Jump. There were problems before...YES! He goes over. Tarzan Rope. Lots of time as the crowd chants his name. Yes! YES!

16 through! King of SASUKE. Wait...the announcer just called him Mr. SASUKE. AHAHAHA!

2nd Stage

Let's look at what's there. New obstacle! The Swing Ladder is gone, replaced by the Unstable Bridge.

42. Richard King is up first! At least he has shorts now. Downhill Jump is OK. Salmon Ladder. YES! Stick Slider. Unstable Bridge coming up. NO! Wow that looked hard.

45. Naoya Tajima! Downhill Jump. Salmon Ladder. Some problems. He can't get it balanced on the rungs...NO!

47. Koji Hashimoto. Downhill Jump...WHA? What happened? GAH! He couldn't hold on.

49. Satoshi Nakamura...is out! He used his feet.

50. Jun Sato..NO!

53. Yoshiki Itou too!

Damn. The Salmon Ladder is still the killer.

73. Brian Orosco! Can he do it? A little bit of trouble at the beginning but now he's got it. YES! He's through! Unstable Bridge. Not much time. He has to hurry! GO BRIAN! GO! NO! Damn that thing looks hard.

The eliminations are going fast and furious now.

84. Kenji Takahashi! The Salmon Ladder poses no problem for him. Unstable Bridge. YES! He did it! CMs first though.

He's the first to get past the new obstacle!

Metal Spin is no problem! And neither are the Walls! That's it! Kongo and his shaved head are into the 3rd Stage!

That's one.

92. Yoshiyuki Okuyama! Here he goes. Downhill Jump. Salmon Ladder. Yes! He's through! Unstable Bridge. I think he's unsure how to do it. He needs to hurry...YES! Can he do it? Hurry! Metal Spin. Hurry! ONE! TWO! THREE! YES! WITH 2 seconds to spare!

Shingo really wants to go to the 3rd Stage!

Let's see him and his unshaved pits.

93. Shingo Yamamoto! Downhill Jump...he's never tried the Salmon Ladder before, has he? Here he goes. YES! Unstable Bridge coming up. Wow...he looked he was really going to go for that. YES! Metal Spin! He doesn't have much time!

Commercials.

Geez. I would worry about splinters and ruining my hands doing the Unstable Bridge.

Hurry! There goes the hat! HURRY! HURRY! HURRY! YES! And he lies there in exhaustion.

94. Lee En Chi! Salmon Ladder! Unstable Bridge...Metal Spin. NO! Dammit.

95. Levi Meeuwenberg! Downhill Jump. Salmon Ladder coming up. He stopped here before. No problem! Unstable Bridge coming up. No problems! Metal Spin coming up but some commercials first.

Back.

Metal Spin is no problem! Walls. One. Two. Three. And that's three through.

96. Hitoshi Kanno! Can the new star do it again? Downhill Jump. Salmon Ladder. WHOA! NO WAIT! He's still on track but he has to hurry. Unstable Bridge. Just made it. Hurry man. Hurry. Go! GO! GO! Metal Spin. YES! Walls. No problems! YES! I think he lifted it that high just to show that he could!

That's four!

97. Toshihiro Takeda! But let's look at cars and stuff first.

Downhill Jump. Salmon Ladder! Yes! Unstable Bridge. Yes! Wait... YES! Metal Spin. Walls should be no problem. HAHAHA. Show-off.

That's five.

99. Yuuji Urushihar. Downhill Jump. Salmon Ladder. Unstable Bridge coming up. WHOA! YES! He's though. NO! WHAT? NO! He lost his balance at the end and couldn't get back to the board. Damn.

Damn damn damn.

100. Makoto Nagano! Downhill Jump! He's the last man. Can he do it? Salmon Ladder. Yes! Unstable Bridge but let's watch something else for a few minutes, shall we?

Back.

Salmon Ladder again. Unstable Bridge. OK! Metal Spin. WHOA. OK! Yes! And he takes a leisurely lift of the walls! Those obstacles pose no obstacle!

3rd Stage.

And of course we see the Shin-Cliff Hanger. The Jumping Bars. The Hang Climbing. The Spider Flip. And then the Gliding Ring.

3rd Stage

84. Kenji Takahashi is up first. Arm Rings and Downward Lamp Grasper are no problem. Devil Steps. No problem either! Shin-Cliff Hanger. Can he do it? Here he goes...WHOA! He didn't even try to jump it. He just reached over. Wow...everyone else is just like..WTF? Levi sums it up by saying "That was different."

He just crossed his arms over and then reached out. It was ...weird.

Jumping Bars. Hang Climbing up next. Wow. No problems. Spider Grip into the Spider Flip. He's getting ready for the Spider Flip. That's kind of a long way to fall. Here he goes...He can see the Final Stage. YES! Yikes...he looked scared.

Gliding Ring...Here we go...His mom is there! You can't disappoint mom! Here we go..NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He was on then he was off.

Dear Kongo, You are out of the will. Love, Mom.

Oh hey. I guess the Gliding Ring wasn't that easy.

92. Yoshiyuki Okuyama is up next! Arm Rings are no problem. Downward Lamp Grasper. OK! Devil Steps coming up next. Would he be the oldest finalist? His wife and kids are there but hey, he already disappointed them last time. Shin-Cliff Hanger. YES! WOW! He did it! WOW!

Jumping Bars. OK! Hang Climbing! OK..wait. OK! Spider Grip. Spider Flip...HERE HE GOES. NO!!!!!!!!!

Hey, that wasn't that easy either.

Damn.

93. The chickens are back! It's Shingo Yamamoto! It's been three years since he made it to the 3rd Stage. Oy vey! What the heck happened? He had problems on the Arm Rings. He couldn't hold on and had to drop into the water.

95. Levi Meeuwenberg is up next. Arm Rings. Downward Lamp Grasper. Devil Steps. Some editing here. Shin-Cliff Hanger coming up. Here he goes! At the slant. NO! And that was it for the United States of America.

And then he does a corkscrew into the water.

96. Hitoshi Kanno! Here we go! He is the last hope of the new stars (all two of them). Arm Rings. Downward Lamp Grasper. OK! Take your time man. Devil Steps. Going to take a breather here. Shin-Cliff Hanger. At the slant...YES!! And CMs.

Jumping Bar, Hang Climbing into the Spider Grip then Spider Flip coming up. Jumping Bar is OK! Hang Climbing. He needs to redeem himself here. YES! At the Spider Flip and holding on for dear life.

Spider Flip. Getting ready. Seeing someone else fail it always plays in your mind. YES! HE DID IT! Going into the Gliding Ring. Now he's on the Green Bar of Safety!

Gliding Ring. He gets ready. Here he goes! Pushed back a bit. CMs.

Back. Getting ready. Swinging. YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!

That's two SASUKEs in a row a new person has made it to the final. Hugs for dad! Unlike Kongo, Hitoshi is IN the will.

97. Toshihiro Takeda! The pressure is on!

Arm Rings. Downward Lamp Grasper. OK! Devil Steps. At the turn. OK! No problem! Shin-Cliff Hanger coming up as he uses the spray that pays. Here he goes. At the slant. Swinging. YES! No problem-o. This is the tough area. Three parts with no rest in between. Jumping Bar. OK! Into the Hang Climbing. He stopped here before. He uses his feet (which is legal). Can he do it? He's shaking. OK! On to the Spider Grip. Shaky shaky. OK! C'mon! Get up then you can rest!

CMs.

KUNOICHI!

Back.

He's UP! At the Spider Flip. Don't rush. Here he goes. NOOOOOOO! He probably shouldn't have stuck his foot out like that.

Damn. Makoto Nagano is alone again..until Hitoshi Kanno goes up to wish him luck.

100. And now..the KING OF SASUKE. MR. SASUKE! No, not that one. It's Makoto Nagano!

Arm Rings are absolutely no problem. Neither is the Downward Lamp Grasper. Devil Steps. Shin-Cliff Hanger. He has failed and passed this. Here he goes. He doesn't have Kongo arms so he has to do the jump.

Yes!

Jumping Bars coming up. One. Two. Three. Four. Going into the Hang Climbing now. No problem! Straight into the Spider Flip. Easy as pie! No wasted motion. No struggling. Getting ready. Yes!

On to the Green Bar of Safety!

Getting ready.

Here he goes. Swinging. YES! YES! YES! YES! That's two!

And now he's all smiles. The crowd is all cheers! As is the wife and his boss who is thinking *Ka-ching! Ka-ching!*

Wow. And it comes down to the All-Stars versus the New Stars.

CMs.

As the kids would say..this is epic.

Final Stage

And then there were two.

The All-Star versus the New Star. The Veteran vs the Kid. The...OK, I'll stop now.

Let's look at the past history of the Final Stage. Akiyama. Nagano. Yuuji was the first man to break the new era Final Stage code.

Shingo's shirt says Surrender the Booty! Awesome.

Unlike before, there is a male reporter at the top. Will it make a difference in our competitor's motivation?

Cue the overly dramatic music!

96. Hitoshi Kanno is first!

Here we go! Forty seconds to the top! But of course we get commercials.

Back.

Here we go! (Again). Heavenly Ladder. The ladder is 13 meters. He's on to the rope. Go man GO! Oy...the time is already going read...Yikes. He barely got up there.

Damn. That sucked.

They let him hang there for a moment to let the shame of failing until bringing him up for the interview.

Of course that leaves more pressure on Nagano.

There's the slap.

He's wearing an EMS shirt. He will bring the All-Stars to the heavens with him!

Except Yamada that is.

100. Makoto Nagano! Here he goes! Climbing much faster than Kanno I think. On to the rope. Can he do it? He's moving fast! Here he goes! But before that...you know the drill.

Depending on how long this last commercial break may tell us if Nagano makes it or not.

Back.

Five minutes left in the show.

Back to the beginning. Do it for the child Makoto!

Heavenly Ladder.

On to the rope with twenty seconds.

Here he goes. Half way up.

Time is red. Almost. He looks so close...

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Damn. Darn. Well now.

16 through the 1st Stage. 7 passed the 2nd. 2 made it to the Final Stage. Not much more they can ask for, really.

Important show because of all the little cliques that we had to pay attention to. There were the ten Americans: 3 pass the 1st Stage, 1 passes the 2nd Stage. The six SASUKE Trial Qualifiers (STQers): 4 pass the 1st Stage, none pass the 2nd. The New Stars had just Yuuji and Kanno but they both get past the 1st Stage. Yuuji unfortunately doesn't make it past the 2nd but Kanno goes all the way to the Final. The All-Stars had three out of the four that were there go to the 3rd Stage and one to the Final. Plus repeat people like Okuyama and Lee both got past the 1st Stage.

It seems like G4's idea seemed to pay off although two of them had been there before. The Trials seemed to pay off in that the people that made it did a good job and most of them are quite young. The new stars showed they weren't a fluke. And constantly ripping the All-Star's IALAC into pieces seemed to motivate them.

Overall, a great show! Exciting and definitely interesting. Should do well in the ratings and ensure at least another year.

And don't forget...

Photobucket

SASUKE 23 Navi Sort of Live Blog! SASUKE 2009秋 SASUKEナビ!

Thanks to the magic of the internet I am able to view SASUKE Navi once again!

Will we see anyone new? Any surprises? Here we go!

And we start by recapping the EPIC FAIL~! of the All-Stars in 22.

And our first new star! Kanno Hitoshi! 菅野仁志!

And our second! Urushihara Yuuji! 漆原裕治 Sell them shoes!

So close...so close.

The average age of the All-Stars versus the new stars! The new stars (~!) have an average of 22.6 while the All-Stars average 37.8.

And we see everyone training! Nagano! Takeda! Yamamoto! Urushihara! Kanno!

That's umm...2 new stars 新星 versus 5 All-Stars/Heroes 英雄. So if they all met in the back parking lot of Midoriyama Studio, I'm going to have to go with the All-Stars. Then again, Yamada and Shingo might slip and fall before the fight even starts and Akiyama wouldn't be able to see until they got really really close to him. Still, experience over youth, I say.

That day! Everyone has to sign in!

Takahashi sighting! You could see his shaved head right next to Shingo.

Kanno got 95? Wait, 96.

Shots of many comedians. Shut up Hosshan.

Kinoshita of TKO. He wants to be the best Boke!

Savanna! Will both of them compete? Ow..talking about Mr. SASUKE. Not a good sign. Then again, he's referring to the Yamada gloves incident.

Kano Eiko does his schtick.

Nadagi Takeshi does his.

Oonishi Lion! Yay!

Yutti is useless people.

Katou Ayumu.

Gari Nakajima.

Three monomane specialists! Hori is in the middle. Beauty Kokubu is on the end but I have no idea who the other guy is.

Oh jeez. That's a lot of comedians.

Shut up Degawa.

Wakky! Will he get past the First Stage this time?

Super athletes! Takashi Fukunishi! Genki Sudo! Junichi Miyashita! Jordan Jochtev. Lezig Blanik!

Your アラフォ celebrities Monkiki and Hiromichi Sato.

Shinsengumi Rien members. Their single drops on the 14th.

Shinsuke Shimada is looking for a female staff member to slap.

Let's go back in time to 1997! 2200 have tried! Only TWO have completed! That's 0.09 percent. That's still higher than the interest rate you'd get a bank in Japan though.

Let's see lots and lots of fails.

The All-Stars get dramatic music! Yamada! Nagano! Yamamoto! Takeda! Akiyama! Shiratori!

Yamada fails the Jumping Spider. Shing fails the Half-Pipe Walk. Takeda fails the Jumping Spider. Nagano fails the Slider Jump.

Hitoshi Kanno! He's buff. He made it to the 3rd Stage.

Yuuji Urushihara! He made it to the Final Stage!

Let's see the All-Stars at the Maguro Festival!

Nagano does some gymnastics.

It's an All-Star meeting! I hope they're voting Yamada out.

Only Yamada stayed to the end last time.

Nagano is HIP! He watches Yuuji's Final Stage run on his laptop! Mottainai ne!

Takeda watches on TV! Subarashii.

Shingo has the biggest TV. And a wispy mustache.

Wait a second. Nagano gets a computer copy? Where's mine TBS? Where's MIIIIIIINE!

CM break.

Because the target audience for SASUKE needs women's cosmetics.

Ba...wait. A commercial for SASUKE.

Now back. We see Makoto Nagano driving a..something. Cue up the Last Battle. So that he can build his own Slider Jump. Umm..Ouch? He doesn't want to fail there again!

And here he goes again and again. Practice makes perfect! SASUKE is difficult!

And he practices his rope climbing on his ship. Convenient, that.

Then he practices climbing a tent frame. But he always makes time for THE HOLY NAGANO BABY KAIOU~!

We see the happy couple get a blessing and the family trains together!

It's a gas station! It can only be Shingo Yamamoto. He's been there since the beginning. The Chickens are REVOLTING.

The last five SASUKEs he's failed in the 1st Stage. Let's see him fail.

Here he is running shirtless up the steps. (Half-) naked Shingo Yamamoto should get me some hits.

And then we cut to Toshihiro Takeda but first, let's sell more stuff!

Yet another SASUKE CM. Because we don't know what we're watching right now.

Back. Takeda is in Gifu. And he is cleansing himself in the waterfall! It's the first time he's doing it but hey, whatever works. Later he'll go to a shaman and practice the Talking Way.

(Half-) Naked Takeda runs up the steps!

And there they are! Shingo has a SASUKE towel.

And Yamada has free stuff from Descente.

Wait...Shingo's towel has his name on it?

Shut up Yamada.

And it's the New STARS!

Yuuji Urushihara does the 1st Stage! Then the 2nd Stage! Then the 3rd Stage! Yay! Everyone goes nuts! And then the Final Stage...will he do it this time? Oh wait. The reporter was egging him on but no.

He sells shoes! And goes to Muscle Park. Ooo..we see his past SASUKE Trial stuff.

Hitoshi Kanno! 1st Stage! 2nd Stage! His parents were there! But then...he went off the course.

Let's see the past clips of him training at his school. And then his awesome jump at the Trials.

He and Yuuji are training together! Because they are training partners! Did Yuuji get them the shoes for free?

Leapfrog!

Are the All-Stars their rivals?

Let's see Yuuji practice the Rope Climb again. He does it 20 times a day?

He intends to go to the 3rd Stage again!

Let's shill Muscle Park while we're at it. And let's see him do SASUKE Park. Anyone we know in the crowd? The crowd is awed! And he does it! Ah...stardom.

So apparently Kanno still has access to some facilities so that he can practice. Yikes. He's adding on some weights to do his Rope Climb.

Let's see Kanno's stalker-y wall of SASUKE.

It's the SASUKE Trials! Let's warm up people! And then let's see people's entry videos!

OK, groups of six have to do a 150 meter run on the BMX course at Midoriyama, partly with sandbags. The top four out of each group moves on.

Then groups of four have to hang on to a pipe until they drop. The top two move on.

UNCLI's Keita Tomino! That was UNCLI's Keitaro Yamamoto they interviewed.

Then they have to do the Jump Hang! Old School! A few guys fail...then Koji Hashimoto does it! Yay!

Finally, a speed trial. It tests speed (a sort of shuttle run), jumping power (hurdles) and balance (a pipe walk)

NO! Keita! He just failed at the end...always at the end.

We see the winners!

1. Jun Sato 佐藤惇
2. Something Nakamura 中村
3. Ryoma Kato 加藤僚馬
4. Koji Hashimoto 橋本亘司
5. Takuya Ueno 上野琢也
6. Naoya Tashima 田島直弥

Sato Jun! He made it in SASUKE 21 but failed the Log Grip! He was the youngest of the STQers from that time. When he studied overseas in Germany he practice parkour!

Koji Hashimoto! He was also an STQer. This time in 22. And he gets some lines!

And here are the Americans! Brett Sims! No!

10 were chosen out of the 250 over three days.

Hey, there's Levi Meeuwenberg. Let's see him hotdog in 21. And then go free running. But THEN..let's see him fail the Slider Jump in 22.

There were 10!  But only Levi got named.

CMs.

CM for SASUKE. Again.

It's Fukunishi Takashi soccer player guy!

Oh hey, he was on Sportsman No. 1. That was a while ago though. Let's see him train...in the middle of the city? OK. He wants to go to the Final!

Genki Sudo! He's charismatic! Choke that American!

Tomoki Kitagawa! He was there last time!

And we have two handball players! Since Daisuke Miyazaki won't be there I guess. They were both on the Japan National Team. Their names are Tetsuya Kadoyama 門山哲也 and Kairi Kouchi 高智海吏!

Junichi Miyashita! He was also there last time. It's time for revenge! He looked for a trampoline like the one for the Jumping Spider!

Let's go back to the airport! It's Leznik Blanik! You must only think about win!

Yeah yeah. You've got a gold medal. In Beijing I'm gold! In SASUKE I want to go to top!

Let's see the new areas and a few more people. But let's go to a commercial first.

CM! Again. Hey, maybe an American failed the Spider Walk.

It's Hosshan! And Degawa! And Shinsengumi Rien! And more!

And let's see Hiromichi Sato finally get past the 1st Stage! Sure sure. You'll reach the Final Stage so you should practice that Rope Climb. Sure.

Ah...he's practicing so he doesn't fail the Metal Spin again.

It's Monkiki! He was a three time finalist. But the last time was in 1999. It was a different show back then. Having kids has changed everything!

Jordan Jochtev! He got a sword! Let's see the only man to fail the Spider Climb! HEY! THIS ISN'T A GAME DAMMIT!

Lee En Chi! リー・エンチ! Yoshiyuki Okuyama! 奥山義行! They are back! Let's see Okuyama work and train! I admit, I didn't think he'd make it to the 3rd Stage last time. I'm sorry Yoshiyuki.

Lee! He reached the 3rd Stage the last time but failed the Shin-Cliff Hanger.

The Muscle Musical! Synergy! Takuya Kawahara! Spinboy Aichi! Double Dutch NOBU!

Oooh...behind the scenes in building of the set!  Cool.  Let's see some of the new obstacles and see how they make the magic! They don't really tell you much about the new obstacles so I guess we'll have to learn later. However, there are two new 1st Stage Obstacles. The 2nd Stage should have one new obstacle. The Soritatsu Kabe is still there!

Now my innocence is gone.

And now the credits! Comedians. Kanno.

See you tonight!

Friday, September 25, 2009

SASUKE 23 Short Preview Live blog!

He totally cut that puppy.

If I write an opening, it will probably take longer than the preview so I'll just stop here.

Shingo Katori: Actor~!

Rambling Rican has your photos here.

SASUKE!

Yamamoto! Takeda! Nagano! All of the All-Stars failed at the last SASUKE!

But now it's time for SASUKE 2009秋!

Oooh..a new obstacle. They take your laundry pole then make you slide across the water whilst holding on to someone else's dirty underwear.  Gross Monster 9. Gross.

Someone failed there.

The new first obstacle! You have eleven steps/logs to get to the other side! Like the Rokudantobi but..with more of them.

Someone failed there too. And someone failed the Half-Pipe Attack and the Jump Slider.

Whoa! Makoto Nagano and his styling red neckerchief is shocked by something! Possibly the dirty underwear.

The comedians in the audience react! Who is that girl next to Degawa?

Degawa!

Blanik!

Kano! (Eiko that is).

Genki Sudo!

Degawa points to the Final Stage! Not because he'll make it but because it's there.

Eiko Kano. Hosshan. Two members of Shinsengumi Rien. One of the guys from TKO. Takeshi Nadagi. Hiromichi Sato (at 98?). Wakky at 89! Shingo Yamamoto at 93! Takeda just has a black shirt! I hope he has the orange pants. Yamada Mr. Somethingorother. And Makoto Nagano!

And then a shot of the Final Stage! Who was it? We'll find out in two days!

Crappy version uploaded by someone *cough cough*...

SASUKE 23 Competitors SASUKE 2009秋 出場選手

The following is a list of competitors at SASUKE 23.

January 5th, 2010: The list has been revised according to the SASUKE 23 iPhone App released by Monster 9. In many cases, famous athletes and comedians are only referred to by their occupation and initials. For example, Hosshan is referred to as お笑い芸人H. Thus, some parts are inferred. Some are simply a matter of comparing the list to the broadcast. However, some have no relevant information other than their initials (such as in numbers 8, 23, 54, and 86). In the case of 86, the initials and the results with the person originally given that number in various sources do not match.

1. Kohei Satomi 里見恒平 1st Stage Half-Pipe Attack
2. Gari Nakajima ガリ中島 (Tengen テンゲン) 1st Stage Log Grip
3. Ken Kondo 近藤憲 1st Stage Jumping Spider
4. Oonishi Lion 大西リオン 1st Stage Curtain Slider
5. Katsuhide Torisawa 鳥澤克秀 1st Stage Jyunidantobi
6. Fukutaro Umemoto 梅本福太郎 1st Stage Log Grip
7. Hiroshi Yazaki 矢崎洋志 1st Stage Curtain Slider
8. スポーツマンJ.A.V.A. 1st Stage Jumping Spider
9. Go Yokoyama 横山剛 1st Stage Jumping Spider
10. Hoshan ほっしゃん 1st Stage Jyunidantobi
11. Yuti ゆってぃ 1st Stage Jyunidantobi
12. Aichi Oono (AKA Spinboy Aichi) 大野愛地 1st Stage Log Grip
13. Kouhei Kato 加藤康平 1st Stage Jumping Spider
14. Atsusho Aoki 青木篤志 1st Stage Jyunidantobi
15. Momoko Tani 谷桃子 1st Stage Jyunidantobi
16. Kurumi Kojima 小島くるみ Jyunidantobi
17. Eiko Kano 狩野英孝 1st Stage Jyunidantobi
18. Yasushi Adachi 安達靖 1st Stage Jumping Spider
19. NOBU (Muscle Musical) 1st Stage Jumping Spider
20. Junichi Miyashita 宮下 純一 1st Stage Log Grip
21. Ayumu Katou 加藤歩 (Zabungle ザブングル) 1st Stage Log Grip
22. Tetsuro Degawa 出川哲朗 1st Stage Jyunidantobi
23. ボディーガードM.L. 1st Stage Curtain Slider
24. Masafumi Katou 加藤晶文 1st Stage Slider Jump
25. Kota Honma 本間晃汰 1st Stage Half-Pipe Attack
26. You Shigeki 重木洋 1st Stage Jyunidantobi
27. Shinichi Abe 阿部真一 1st Stage Jumping Spider
28. Beauty Kokubu ビューティーこくぶ 1st Stage Jyunidantobi
29. Yasumasa Koniwa 小庭康正 1st Stage Log Grip
30. Hori ホリ 1st Stage Curtain Slider
31. Takuya Kawahara 川原拓也 1st Stage Rope Ladder
32. Rik Huelga リック・フェルガ 1st Stage Slider Jump
33. Joop Katana ジュープ・カタナ 1st Stage Slider Jump
34. Shane Daniels シェーン・ダニエルス 1st Stage Tarzan Rope
35. Geoff Iida ジェフ・イイダ 1st Stage Soritats Kabe
36. Tomomi Arimatsu 有松知美 1st Stage Half-Pipe Attack
37. Rie Komiya 小宮理英 1st Stage Half-Pipe Attack
38. Yasuo Aoki 青木保夫 1st Stage Jyunidantobi
39. Minoru Kuramochi! 倉持稔 1st Stage Jyunidantobi
40. Masami Harashima 原島雅美 1st Stage Jyunidantobi
41. Caine Sinclair ケイン・シンクレア 1st Stage Rope Ladder
42. Richard King リチャード・キング 2nd Stage Unstable Bridge
43. Paul Darnell ポール・ダーネル 1st Stage Half-Pipe Attack
44. Travis Furlanic トラビス・ファーラニック 1st Stage Jumping Spider
45. Naoya Tajima 田島直弥 2nd Stage Salmon Ladder
46. Takuya Ueno 上野琢也 1st Stage Half-Pipe Attack
47. Koji Hashimoto 橋本亘司 2nd Stage Salmon Ladder
48. Sayaka Nakamura 中村明花 1st Stage Jyunidantobi
49. Satoshi Nakamura 中村哲 2nd Stage Salmon Ladder
50. Jun Sato 佐藤惇 2nd Stage Salmon Ladder
51. Takayuki Kinoshita 木下隆行 (TKO) 1st Stage Curtain Slider
52. Tetsuya Kadoyama 門山哲也 1st Stage Jumping Spider
53. Yoshiki Itou 伊藤圭槻 2nd Stage Salmon Ladder
54. スポーツマンS.H. 1st Stage Slider Jump
55. Taiji ishimori 石森太二 1st Stage Jumping Spider
56. Takashi Fukunishi 福西崇史 1st Stage Jumping Spider
57. Kazuhiro Terasaki 寺崎一宏 1st Stage Slider Jump
58. Hidenori Nagasawa 長澤秀則 1st Stage Tarzan Rope
59. Yoshikazu Arashida 嵐田良一 1st Stage Soritatsu Kabe
60. Hiromitsu Takahashi 高橋博光 1st Stage Curtain Slider
61. Takeshi Nadagi なだぎ武 1st Stage Jyunidantobi
62. Terukazu Ishikawa 石川輝一 1st Stage Jumping Spider
63. Emi Sekisui 関水えみ 1st Stage Jyunidantobi
64. Nanami Tsukamoto 塚本奈々美 1st Stage Curtain Slider
65. Satomi Kadoi 門井佐登美 1st Stage Jumping Spider
66. Motohide Ooya 大屋元秀 1st Stage Tarzan Rope
67. Takafumi Imoto 井本貴史 (License ライセンス) 1st Stage Curtain Slider
68. Kazuhiro Fujiwara 藤原一裕 (License ライセンス) 1st Stage Jyunidantobi
69. Shigeo Takahashi 高橋茂雄 (Savanna サバンナ) 1st Stage Jyunidantobi
70. Masumi Yagi 八木真澄 (Savanna サバンナ) 1st Stage Jumping Spider
71. Katsumi Yamada 山田勝己 1st Stage Slider Jump
72. Hirokazu Ooyama 大山大和 1st Stage Jumping Spider
73. Brian Orosco ブライアン・オロスコ 2nd Stage Unstable Bridge
74. Genki Sudo 須藤元気 1st Stage Jyunidantobi
75. Tetsuji Sakakibara 榊原徹士 (Shinsengumi Rien 新撰組リアン) 1st Stage Jumping Spider
76. Hiroya Kunisada 國定拓弥 (Shinsengumi Rien 新撰組リアン) 1st Stage Log Grip
77. Yu Moizumi 茂泉優 1st Stage Jumping Spider
78. Hideaki Kawai 川井秀明 1st Stage Jumping Spider
79. Jordan Jovtchev ヨルダン・ヨブチェフ 1st State Rope Ladder
80. Akira Omori 大森晃 AKA Monkiki (or Monkickey) モンキッキー 1st Stage Jumping Spider
81. Tomoki Kitagawa 北川智規 1st Stage Slider Jump
82. Hiroki Mizuta 水田裕樹 1st Stage Jumping Spider
83. Masahiko Azuma 東雅彦 1st Stage Slider Jump
84. Kenji Takahashi 高橋賢次 3rd Stage Gliding Ring
85. Masashi Kameyama 亀山昌志 1st Stage Slider Jump
86. スポーツマンJ.Y. 1st Stage Jumping Spider
87. Musashi Kubota 久保田武蔵 1st Stage Slider Jump
88. Nagamasa Miyazawa 宮澤永将 1st Stage Half-Pipe Attack
89. Wakky ワッキー 1st Stage Slider Jump
90. Kairi Kouchi 高智海吏 1st Stage Rope Ladder
91. Leszek Blanik レゼク・ブラニク 1st Stage Curtain Slider
92. Yoshiyuki Okuyama 奥山義行 3rd Stage Spider Flip
93. Shingo Yamamoto 山本進悟 3rd Stage Arm Rings
94. Lee Yen Chi リー・エンチ 3rd Stage Shin-Cliff Hanger
95. Levi Meeuwenberg リーヴァイ・ミューエンバーグ 3rd Stage Shin-Cliff Hanger
96. Hitoshi Kanno 菅野仁志 Final Stage GRope
97. Toshihiro Takeda 竹田敏浩 3rd Stage Spider Flip
98. Hiromichi Sato 佐藤弘道 Jumping Spider
99. Yuuji Urushihara 漆原裕治 2nd Stage Unstable Bridge
100. Makoto Nagano 長野誠 Final Stage GRope

Not shown or referred to:
Ryoichi Yamamoto 山本涼一
48. Ryouma Katou 加藤僚馬
Yuji ユージ

Friday, September 11, 2009

SASUKE 23 Possible Competitors!

9/21 Just a few more

9/19 And a few more names.

9/16 Tacking on a few others. Mostly from the latest TV magazines.

9/14 Taping was today. Added a few names.

Update: Get some more info over at the Rambling Rican.

Well, the taping is coming up soon so some people have already started shilling themselves online.

One way to start looking for information is to obsessively click refresh on the TBS SASUKE 2009秋 page until some names appear. Other than that...

Aside from those mentioned in the TV magazine...

Makoto Nagano 長野誠
Toshihiro Takeda 竹田敏浩
Katsumi Yamada 山田勝己
Shingo Yamamoto 山本進悟
Yuuji Urushihara 漆原裕治
Hiromichi Sato 佐藤弘道 (who also has it confirmed on his site)

We also have...

K-1 Fighter Go Yokoyama 横山剛 who is already making the rookie mistake of training with Mr. SASUKE. I wonder if Yamada advised him that working on his tan is important, too.

Lee Yen Chi リー・エンチ says it with a wink.

Is Katsuhide Torisawa 鳥澤克秀 going to be there? Not sure. Weird post for someone (not him) to make if he's not.

Itou Yoshiki 伊藤圭槻 was the winner of the Miyazaki Beach Sports Number One competition.

*Sigh* Tetsuro Degawa 出川哲朗 has it on his schedule.

As does agency mate Eiko Kano 狩野英孝.

Seriously Monster 9? Yuti ゆってぃ?

ものまね specialist Beauty Kokubu ビューティーこくぶ.

Lest you think that it's only a bunch of comedians and overly tanned K-1 fighters going don't forget that...

G4 is sending the ten winners of the Snake-Eyes/Michael Dudikoff/Lee Van Cleef Memorial American Ninja Warrior contest to Japan.

And Monster 9 just held a SASUKE Trial and six out of the sixty pre-approved will make it on to the big stage.

No idea who this person is but they are going. So good for them.

Football player Kohei Satomi 里見恒平 was there. He's been on Sportsman No. 1 more than a few times.

Model/Race queen Nanami Tsukamoto 塚本奈々美 was there.

No. 48 is Ryouma Katou 加藤僚馬 from the Trials.

ザブングル Zabungle will be there. Probably Katou Ayumu 加藤歩again. He made it to the Half-Pipe Attack in 22.

Kazuhiro Fujiwara 藤原一裕 of comedy duo License ライセンス is making people excited for some reason.

Also, they have new shirts for 23.

Hitoshi Kanno 菅野仁志 , who made it to the 3rd Stage in 22, was there.

Thanks to the SASUKE Maniac forums for:

Actor and MMA fighter Musashi Kubota 久保田武蔵 was there.

Aichi Oono (AKA Spinboy Aichi) 大野愛地 was there.

According to TV Life テレビライフ for 9/19 to 10/2 the following should be appearing:

Comedians
Wakky ワッキー
Takeshi Nadagi なだぎ武
Hoshan ほっしゃん
Someone from the duo Savanna サバンナ.

Also former Japan National Team soccer player Takashi Fukunishi 福西崇史.

As well as former MMA fighter Genki Sudo 須藤元気.

The magazine also mentions a 北京五輪体操跳馬金メダリスト - the gold medal winner in the vault at the Beijing Olympics. Since I'm pretty sure that the woman's winner probably won't show up since she's from North Korea, I'm assuming that they mean Leszek Blanik of Poland レゼク・ブラニク.

Seems like jewelry designer Ryk Maverick is in Japan for SASUKE.

A graduate of Nippon Bunri University 日本文理大学, Fukutaro Umemoto 梅本福太郎 was there.

And also idol/talent Momoko Tani 谷桃子.

Some TV sites have Olympic swimmer Junichi Miyashita 宮下 純一 and rugby player Tomoki Kitagawa 北川智規 as being there. Both were in SASUKE 22.

Akira Omori 大森晃 AKA Monkiki (or Monkickey) モンキッキー makes his return after many a SASUKE. Thanks to scnoi for the information!

According to Kazuha Sakiyama 崎山一葉 boy band Shinsengumi Rien 新撰組リアン were at the taping but I have no idea how many of them participated.

Talent and model Yuji ユージ was also there.

More as loose lips sink ships.

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

KUNOICHI 8 Competitors

9/19 Just four more names.

9/16 Added some names from the TV magazines

9/13 Just one (or possibly more) more. Oh wait. There's another one.

9/12 And two more.

9/11 Just three more names.

9/7 Add three more to the list!

9/3 A few more entrants found!

A few updates as information trickles in...

Not so much info yet so far since the taping is today and the airing is just over a month from now but thanks to the wonders of the internet we are slowly finding out who will be at KUNOICHI (whether they make it on air or not is an entirely different matter though).

Here's who we know so far:

Pro surfer Narumi Kitagawa 北川成美 says so here. She was in KUNOICHI 6 (2nd Stage) and 7 (1st Stage).

Pro snowboarder Aya Nakada 中田亜矢 will be there too.

Teenage free climber Aya Onoe 尾上彩 just got back from France but will be there. She was in SASUKE 21. Her failed first stage run was only shown on SASUKE Maniac though.

Some other random people here and here.

Finally, 2007 Playmate of the Year Sara Jean Underwood will apparently be there. Is she representing G4? She did some subbing for Olivia Munn on Attack of the Show this year.

Update on Sara Jean Underwood (because the more I mention her, the more hits I may get!): a tweet on the 27th states:
Just finished wardrobe fitting for G4. Heading to Tokyo for them tomorrow! So excited I could pee my pants!12:52 PM Aug 27th from UberTwitter

Added:

Female Pro Wrestler Yuki Miyazaki 宮崎有妃 was there according to one of her supporters. No word on if Tanny Mouse was there too.

Apparently three members of the Fuji Terebi group Idoling!!! アイドリング!!! (if you don't have the three !'s it's wrong!!!) were there according to some obsessive fans. The last link (thanks to rambling rican) is interesting because apparently member Hitomi Sakai 酒井瞳 had that photo of her and Makoto Nagano on her blog but then took it down. Did she break the rules?

Update: From one of the obsessive fans, the other Idoling members there were Eriak Tonooka 外岡えりか and Hitomi Miyake 三宅ひとみ.

Add to the list teen actress Mami Ashaoka 朝丘マミ.

Two more!
Talentos Yui Sato 佐藤唯 (left) and Wakana Fukushima 福島和可菜 (the side that is not your left) were there.

And the beat goes on...
Pro skier Miyuki Hatanaka 畑中みゆき was there.

Was racer Mika Kagoshima 神子島みか there? I say yes since she says on her blog at 8 in the morning that she was at the Midoriyama Studio. She was at the studio. She's female. It all fits dammit.

Teen actress 篠原愛実 Tsugumi Shinohara was there promoting the same show that Mami Ashaoka was.

Comedienne Asako Itou いとうあさこ was there. The time and tell-tale green and white Monster 9 bag is more than enough proof.

Also, announcer Mai Demizu 出水麻衣 was..announcing (probably doing sideline interviews) along with Kazuha Sakiyama 崎山一葉.

Finally, a blogger gives us an inside scoop here and here. Perhaps he worked on the set? From the looks of the word "GOAL" at the top, the second post must be the Final Stage.

Sara Jean Underwood has left Japan. I repeat. Sara Jean Underwood has left Japan.

Aya Onoe has more photos here. She also confirms that her fellow bluetag labelmate Yuki Mori 森友紀 was there.

According to one Sakuma Jennifer Tomoko 佐久間ジェニファー朋子, a lacrosse player of some sort (I think), she was there. And so were pro lacrosse player Sachiyo Yamada 山田幸代 and former Japan National Soccer Team goalkeeper Shiho Onodera 小野寺志保.

You can also add on Manami Hashimoto 橋本愛実, Mikie Hara 原幹恵 and Saki Akai 赤井沙希.

Former Morning Musume member Makoto Ogawa 小川麻琴 will also be appearing.

And tack on 原田京子 Kyoko Harada, who works for a house painting company in Kanagawa. She will be our Number 99 apparently.

And since the airdate has been made public, Hitomi Sakai 酒井瞳 has put the picture of her and Makoto Nagano back up on her blog.

Let's add Double Dutch team Viva Onna ダブルダッチ超人 VIVA女! How many of them will be on the show, I have no idea.

And also shoot boxer 久保田玲奈 Rena Kubota who goes by the ring name of レーナ or RENA.

From the 9/19 to 10/9 issue of TV Pia TVぴあ we have:

Talentos Ami Tokito 時東ぁみ and Rola Chen ローラ・チャン.

Comediennes Sumiko Nishioka にしおかすみこ and Harumi Edo エドはるみ.

Three more: Three members of the Sony Bravia Ladies field hockey team were there. Their names are Yukari Yamamoto 山本由佳理, Haruna Maeda 前田春奈 and Yuka Kato 加藤有香.

Another teen actress, Kayano Masuyama 増山加弥乃 was there. She, Tsugumi Shinohara and Mami Ashaoka are all playing parts in the new fall TBS show 小公女セイラ (starting 10/17!) because TBS is all about the corporate synergy.

I should probably just add on that Maho Tanaka 田中真帆 was in one of the Sara Jean Underwood photos but hasn't said anything herself.

Stage magician Yukari Nishi 西ゆかり was there.

More as information comes in.

Tuesday, September 01, 2009

Possible KUNOICHI 8 Airdate!

Yikes, looks like I was way off.

According to blogger goldtaro2004-o- who is apparently going to be competing in KUNOICHI which will be *shhh* sometime this week...eh, screw it, blogger robthomas722 (who gave us some super secret secret squirrel photos of 22 last time - they work with Monster 9/TBS I guess) lets us know about the waterproof bus prepared for tomorrow's (9/2) KUNOICHI (クノイチ) taping here.

Anyway, according to this:
「KUNOICHI 2009」

TVの放映予定は 10月7日(水)19:55~22:54(変更の可能性あり)

So KUNOICHI won't be airing until October 7th, after SASUKE 23.

I apologize if I led any of you to believe that KUNOICHI would be in September.

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