筋肉番付 公式データブック完全版 ナインフープス Kinniku Banzuke Official Data Book 9 Hoops

In 1998, TBS (no Monster9 yet) published 筋肉番付　公式データブック完全版 (Kinniku Banzuke Koushiki Data Book Kanzenban or Muscle Ranking Official Data Book Perfect Edition). The book included some photos, description of the events from the show, data and recaps from certain episodes and other information that they thought someone might desperately need. Remember, this was almost two decades ago so the internet was just a place for crappy geocities pages and AOL chat rooms.

(click on scans to see larger versions)



Like SASUKE, Kinniku Banzuke always featured a mix of amateur and pro athletes, celebrities, your mom, possibly your dog and whoever else they could grab off the streets.

 
(clockwise from the top right: Ronaldo, Michael Jordan, various Japanese baseball pitchers, Ronaldo, Carl Lewis, Charles Barkley)


(clockwise from the top right: Scottie Pippen, Yuuji Oda, the cast of the first SASUKE, Sir Charles and MJ, bicycle pants)

Currently, Kinniku Banzuke is being shown in the US as Unbeatable Banzuke but certain episodes and events are not part of the package of episodes being aired or marketed overseas. 9 Hoops is one of the events that has not aired. However, we know from the Sportsman No. 1 special that aired this January that Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley (although Barkley's attempts were not shown) gave 9 Hoops a shot (see what I did there?). They weren't the only NBA players though.




 Sorry for the weird looking scans.

According to tables in the book:

Version I
9 - Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls
4 - Charles Barkley Houston Rockets

Version II
8 - Darnell Valentine Retired, former Trailblazers/Clippers/Cavaliers
6 - Kobe Bryant LA Lakers
5 - Hakeem Olajuwon Houston Rockets
5 - John Starks New York Knicks
4 - Clyde Drexler Houston Rockets
3 - Moses Malone Retired, former half of the NBA
2 - Scottie Pippen Chicago Bulls

Sprinter Carl Lewis (from the 2nd scan) got a 3 on Version I.

MJ wasn't the only perfect for Version I. Japanese basketball player Hideaki Toyama 外山英明 and a former Denmark basketball player named Anders Petersen  ペーターセン・アナス got all nine biscuits in the basket.

For Version II, the only listed perfect was a third-year high school student named Hitoshi Nakamura 中村仁.

Unfortunately, the book only goes up to 1998, is inconsistent with facts and tends to ignore certain useful information (like air dates). Still, it's a nice little look at stuff that hasn't been seen in a while. More to come!

筋肉番付 怪傑! 金剛くん Kinniku Banzuke Kaiketsu! Kongou-kun

In 2001 - 2003, Monster 9 main man Ushio Higuchi teamed up with Ouchi Suigun 大内水軍 to create 筋肉番付 怪傑! 金剛くん Kinniku Banzuke Kaiketsu! Kongou-kun. The comic was about Kinniku Banzuke's mascot character Kongou-kun and his adventures with his friends. In one story arc, they take a comic-ized version of SASUKE. (Click to enlarge)

















Most of the obstacles are not very different from the real things other than being exaggerated in size and the fact that the competitors take on the obstacles at the same time whilst fighting. One thing to note though is that in the Final Stage, when they are going up the Spider Climb, rather than the walls separating after a certain amount of time, the walls start closing in on the contestants. So yeah.

Kinniku Banzuke Back To The Glory Trading Cards 筋肉番付 トレーディングカード

Back in 2000, Kinniku Banzuke was hot, man! It was dope! It was what all the kids were watching! Or maybe not. And anyway, a few years later some guys got smashed by rocks and it was all over.

In 2000 and 2001 TBS/D9 released two sets of trading cards, Back To The Glory and Back To The Glory II. The following cards are from the first Back To The Glory set. The set contained:
44 regular cards
44 silver variants
44 gold variants
The 44 includes 2 checklist cards
9 "Impression Replay" cards
9 "Kane on the Court" cards
42 "Hero's Signature" cards
2 "Piece of the Glory" cards (jersey pieces I believe)

Both BTTG sets and I believe most of the めんこスタジアム cards are focused on Pro Sportsman No. 1 rather than either SASUKE or the regular Kinniku Banzuke show.

I guess I picked up a pack of someone's  extras at マンガ倉庫 one day. Click through to see the larger images.

KTLA Story on ANW

I generally ignore the ANW stuff because I can't get G4 here but here's a story from KTLA that is worth posting if only to mock it:


1) Mt. Midoriyama?
2) SASUKI?
3) Nice try with the voice syncing KTLA.
4) Kane Kosugi is American. Don't tell me G4 is going to make it look like Levi and Brian are the Greatest American Heroes.

Kicking and screaming

I will now ignore you on twitter too!