究極の男は誰だ！？最強スポーツ男子頂上決戦 Sports Danshi Grand Prix 2013 Liveblog!

TBS did a better job this time of promoting the show. I knew at least two weeks in advance that it was going to air. Good job!

Here's a preview!



You can also follow the show via twitter and facebook. Links are here. Spodan!

Tonight! Can Wataru Mori defend his title? Or will Gaku Sano come back and regain HIS title? Can Naoki Iketani show these whippersnappers how it's done? Will someone musical make a strong showing? Will I hate on Casper again? It's the latest edition of the Sports Danshi Grand Prix!

Arisa Mizuki is your host once again. (Actually, her title on the Spodan page is 主宰, shusai, which more or less means she's presiding over these events.)

There are more talking heads this time around. Stop making sense!

Your official hashtag is #spodan

Here we go!

Sparkly.

I'm still disappointed the giant head doesn't do anything.

Ooh. Naoki Iketani was apparently a surprise even for the competitors.

OK, this show is officially roman numeral III. But commercials first.

1st Event: Mountain Flag!

10 meters to the flag!

1st Race: Wataru Mori~!, Gaku Sano, (wow they really really want to make it hard for Mori to repeat), Toshihiro Nobuyama (actor) Nobuyama gets One Direction music for his topless shots, Tetsuya Sugaya

Set. Start! Gaku is up the fastest. And he's got it! Not much of a challenge. Sano actually didn't have a good grip on the rope but was up fast enough in the beginning to make up for it.

Looks like Iketani is being marked as a "legend." Will he only do Monster Box?

2nd Race: Akiyoshi Nakao is still living off Rookies, someone oh, it's blonde Casper, Robin! He's from Hawaii? Seiya (actor) He's a spodan vet.

Set. Start! Robin Seiya...Robin...Seiya...Robin gets it!

3rd Race: Masaya Nakamura, KENZO of da Pump, Mendy Sekiguchi of Generations of Exile Tribe with a 1/2 Kid, Eiji Takigawa (still Crystal Takigawa's cousin)

St..wait! CMs first. What in the world was that 3DS commercial?

Start! Mendy! Nakamura slips! Mendy is the fastest up! And he just gets it! Mendy and Takigawa got up at the same time but Mendy was about a half-arms length ahead!

And Naoki Iketani makes his appearance! But let's have that non-spoiler sink in during commercials.

Sportsman No. 1 reference! The other competitors are worried! Let's see a clip of Iketani doing 23 boxes! That's the record!

OK, we've already seen the 23 box clip three times.

4th Race: ELLY of Sandaime J Soul Brothers, Takayuki Suzuki (Mr. Japan - Hey! He was on SASUKE), Yasukaze Motomiya is old, Naoki Iketani is a LEGEND~!

Set. I skipped Iketani being Iketani because I was twitter riffing on the whole LEGEND thing. Start! Iketani is up fast! AND he shows those whippersnappers!

Final Race: Sano, Robin, Sekiguchi, LEGEND

Set. START! Sano up fastest! Iketani next! But it's SANO all the way!

Mountain Flag Winner: Gaku Sano He's on his way! I bet Iketani wants to push Sano off the mountain right now.

2nd Event: Power Wall

I mean, geez, at least have the statue having moving eyes following the wall. That would be great. And creepy.

First let's have some shilling for the next set of TBS dramas.

1st: Motomiya vs. Seiya! They're off! Motomiya with a slight edge. But he's doing most of the work here. Seiya not putting up much of a fight. He's at a weight and height disadvantage. Motomiya can't put him away though. Time is up! And it's Motomiya!

2nd: Mendy Sekiguchi vs. LEGEND! Big height advantage for Mendy here. Go! But first a commercial.

Back.

Not looking good for the LEGEND! And that's it! Not much of a challenge.

3rd: ELLY vs. Nakamura. Go! Even so far. ELLY having problems! Nakamura gets it!

4th: Casper d. Sano

5th: KENZO d. Robin

6th: Suzuki d. Nobuyama

All those were clipped by the way.

7th: Nakao vs. Sugaya. Evenly matched at first but Nakao has the early lead. Almost there. A bit more. That's it!

8th: Takigawa vs. Mori. Mori is not in a good spot so far as Takigawa takes it.

2nd Round

1st: Mendy vs. Motomiya. Start..And another easy win for Mendy![

2nd: Nakamura vs. Casper. Go Nakamura! Er...commercials.

Back. Nakamura is a former basketball player and has a big height advantage over almost everyone. And he easily takes down Casper (who had doffed his shirt - our first of the evening).

3rd: KENZO vs. Suzuki. Suzuki is our 2nd shirt doffer. KENZO goes low. Suzuki stays high. KENZO with the early lead but Suzuki storms back. Suzuki putting his back into it. And he gets it! I think that's an upset.

4th: Nakao vs. Takigawa. A double doff! Takigawa with the early lead. And he gets it!

3rd Round

1st: Sekiguchi vs. Nakamura. Power versus height! Mendy with a slight lead but Nakamura is holding him off so far. But then Mendy gets momentum. And does it!

2nd: Suzuki vs. Takigawa. Hey, I don't count it when you take your shirts off more than once. Evenly matched so far. Takigawa with a slight edge. Is Suzuki losing his footing? No! He's in the lead! Takigawa fighting off the edge! But he's close! Too close! That's it!

Power Wall Final!

Sekiguchi vs. Suzuki! Mendy's shirt is off so that's five. Sekiguchi hit the wall first! Suzuki has momentum though! Just about at the middle right now. Sekiguchi gets a couple of steps! And he's almost there! And he gets it!

Power Wall Winner: Mendy Sekiguchi!

3rd Event: Monster Box! LEGEND! Wataru Mori needs to get a good showing here to stave off elimination (the bottom after 1st three events get dropped).

12 boxes

Iketani up first to show everyone how it's done.

Wataru up next. Can he show up Iketani? Iketani doesn't think so.

Sano also flips. Iketani is not worried. 

Motomiya drives his crotch into the top of the box and is done. Nakamura gets higher but is done too.

Mendy is a bit nervous. But he gets it! He knows this isn't his event.

Seiya...would have broken his neck if there wasn't a pad to land on.

Nakao is through!

13 boxes

14 boxes

Yikes, they clipped a bit and I got lost. Sorry! Old age. Some unimportant people got eliminated.

16 boxes

2 chances from now on.

Iketani, Mori, Sano are through!

ELLY up next. Yes! No shuffling! Good sign.

Newcomer Robin is up. Not very smooth but he gets it! Lots of shuffling of his feet.

Mendy Sekiguchi is looking to keep up with Sano. But he doesn't!

Takigawa is done at 16 (well, 15). As is Suzuki.

Sekiguchi's 2nd chance. With room to spare! He actually has the run up. No shuffling. Iketani is not impressed though.

17 boxes

Nine are left.

Casper is unfortunately through. And Nobuyama and Seiya. And ELLY.

Mendy up next. His best is 16. And he beats that! It's a challenge tonight!

18 boxes

Iketani is through with no problem! Iketani is repping Monster Box history versus all these young guns!

Commercials.

Back! Wataru Mori is up next. And he's through! Mori points out that 18 used to be enough to win.

Sano is through!

ELLY and Robin and Mendy don't get it on their first tries.

And Seiya! Iketani doesn't care. Masaka no shippai!

2nd Try

ELLY..NO!

Robin is next. And that's another shirt! And he does it! With a run that is pretty much textbook what not to do usually. He shuffled AND skipped.

Mendy TAKES HIS SHIRT OFF FOR EXTRA POWER! And it works! The shirt was holding him back.

Casper is through. As is Nobuyama!

The pressure is on for Seiya. Seiya THSOFEP! It doesn't work! Wataru is sad. Iketani has to hold back a smirk. Masaka no shippai!

19 boxes

This is high level for everyone except Iketani.

Iketani keeps his shirt on because he doesn't need the extra power yet.

No problem!

Wataru Mori~! is up next. No problem!

Sano next. Yes! With a flip after he lands!

Everyone else blows their first chance.

2nd try

Did Robin just let out an f-bomb?

Casper THSOFEP somewhere along the line. But it didn't work!

Nobuyama...YES! Tonda! He THSOFEP.

Mendy is last. This is do or die! If he fails here he's out of first. But let's pause him first.

Back.

No! That was anti-climatic.

20 boxes

Four are left! Iketani, Mori, Sano and Nobuyama!

Iketani has THSOFEP! But he still looks confident. Yes! Wait! Lets go to the slow-mo. He doesn't get it! He just clipped the box.

Wataru Mori~! is next! He has also THSOFEP. YES! Iketani smiles for that.

Nobuyama doesn't get it.

Sano next! NO!

The Legend is in a pinch.

Commercials.

Back.

Iketani's LEGEND is in trouble. No problem though! Lots of shouting!

Nobuyama is an afterthought but he fails.

Sano THSOFEP! Do or die time. Either he goes or he stays. Dramatic music. YES!

21 boxes

Three are left!

The legend versus the new stars!

Iketani up first. NO! I think he hit the trampoline a bit late.

Wataru Mori~! NO! He may have had the height but he couldn't angle his body at the right time. Although on second look he may not have been high enough.

Sano last. NO! He may have been running TOO fast.

2nd try

This is it for everyone.

Iketani first. He is in 6th place overall. Here he goes...douda?? After these words from our sponsors.

Back.

Slo-mo time! Iketani doesn't think he made it. His butt just grazed the end! That's it for the LEGEND!

Down to Mori and Sano.

Mori up. NO! He couldn't clear his shoulders at the end! That's it for him!

If Sano gets it here he'll be in the overall lead.

Here he goes. NO!

Your Monster Box co-winners! Gaku Sano, Wataru Mori and Naoki Iketani!

Iketani is now in 3rd. Mori is now 8th. Mendy is still in the overall lead with Sano second.

4th Event: The Fence!

It's a race for the best overall time. One chance each. 15 meters to the top.

EXILE guys explode!

ELLY and Mendy Sekiguchi. ELLY at a good pace. But he slips! ELLY is almost there. A bit more. ELLY: 33.76 Mendy: 50.86

ELLY is the time to beat.

CASPER and KENZO are now 3rd and 4th with 40 second efforts.

Robin and Suzuki are up next.  Not much to say here. They are climbing!  Suzuki: 26.05. Robin: 34.58. ELLY now 2nd. Suzuki is the new leader!

Takigawa gets 25.88! He's in the lead!

Iketani is confident!

Iketani and Motomiya are next to try. And Iketani lost his grip! He's OUT! Motomiya finishes with a respectable 34 something.

Sugaya and Seiya next. But commercials first.

Takigawa's time is still the one to beat.

Good start for both! Almost there. Sugaya with a 24! Seiya with a 26! Sugaya is the new leader!

24.60 is the new time to beat!

Nakao and Mori next! Mori with a good start! Almost there! Mori with a 21.88! New leader! Nakao with a respectable 26.

Nobuyama and Sano are the last pair! Can they beat Mori? Both are flying up! 16.24 for Sano! 17.95 for Nobuyama! They both did!

The Fence winner: Gaku Sano!

Sano now in the lead! Suzuki third. Wataru fourth. Nobuyama fifth.

Fifth Event: Hard Anchor!

Another time race! They have to drag the 45 kg anchor to the end.

Poor Iketani gets matched with Mendy again.

1st Race: Iketani vs. Mendy! Mendy in the lead! No problem! The legend is far behind.

2nd Race: Takigawa vs. Suzuki! Suzuki with a slight lead! Takigawa now in the lead! Neck and neck! Takigawa! Fight!

3rd Race: Sano vs. Robin! Not really their event. Robin goes through!

4th Race: Nobuyama vs. Mori! Nobuyama through!

Oh, by the way, whoever was 9 to 16 got dropped prior to this.

2nd Round

Commercials first.

1st Race: Takigawa vs. Sekiguchi. Sekiguchi with the early lead! Way ahead now! He's going to the final!

2nd Race: Robin vs. Nobuyama. Robin with the early lead. Neck and neck! Nobuyama now in the lead! NO! He slipped! Robin stays steady and he's into the final!

Final

Robin vs. Mendy Sekiguchi! A win by Robin could knock out Nobuyama or Mori from the final Shotgun Touch. An appearance in the final might not be enough to get Robin into the top five.

Commercials as they start.

Back!

Mendy with a big lead! Just needs to keep it steady! Yes! Robin far behind! That's it!

Hard Anchor Winner: Mendy Sekiguchi!

It's down to two! No one else was close so it's down to Sekiguchi and Sano!

Shotgun Touch

12m00cm

Mendy to keep his lead. Yes!

12m60cm

Sano can get 170 points and take the lead with this. His best is 12m10cm though.

Let's go to commercials first.

Back.

Here he goes. Yes! No problem! Sano now up by twenty!

12m30cm

If Mendy gets this he'll be up by ten.

Yes! No..we have to go to replay. Just did it! He's up by ten!

You can't go back down I guess.

12m70cm

If Sano misses, Sekiguchi is our winner.

He had the last one no problem. NO! Hard to tell. Replay time. NO! YES! All tied up!

12m40cm

If Mendy misses this, Sano is the winner. Yes! Hold on. Replay. No problem! He's up by ten!

12m80cm

Sano needs this to tie. Shotgun Touch scoring always gives me a headache.

Here we go. This is probably it.

NO!

Sano doesn't think so. We'll go to replay but there's like a minute of show left.

NO!

That's it! Mendy Sekiguchi is the third winner of the Sports Danshi Grand Prix! Finally! EXILE gets into the winner's box!

Final Standings:

16. Masaya Nakamura 中村昌也 100
14. Yasukaze Motomiya 本宮泰風 115
14. KENZO 115
13. ELLY 125
11. Tetsuya Sugaya 菅谷哲也 130
11. Seiya 聖也 130
10. Akiyoshi Nakao 中尾明慶 150
9. CASPER 155
8. Naoki Iketani 池谷直樹 170
7. Wataru Mori 森　渉 210
5. Toshihiro Nobuyama 延山信弘 225
5. Takayuki Suzuki 鈴木貴之 225
4. Robin ロビン 240
3. Eiji Takigawa 滝川英治 245
2. Gaku Sano 佐野　岳 475
1. Mendy Sekiguchi 関口メンディー 485