SASUKE 35 SASUKE 2018 Live blog!

JIP

5. Pro surfer Murata just failed the Fishbone!

7. Kohei Nosei works at a karaoke shop! He's got a superman shirt! (By the way, we saw a commercial for Last Jedi. SASUKE is canon!) Fishbone. And through! First to get to the Dragon Glider! Trampoliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine!

The regulars react!

11. Karine Maruyama played for the Japanese women's national soccer team! Through the steps! Down the hill slowly. Kore de yada! And she just gets it! Took some time though. Tie Fighter. And no!

13. Hosaka! Sorry, missed his first name. Through to the Tie Fighter! SASUKE Spray. And through! Fishbone. And he got it! Dragon Glider. And he whiffs on the bar!

16. Ryoji Ishii! Is a local announcer! Slowly at the steps. Rolling Hill next. And he just gets it! Tie Fighter and he only has half a minute left. And he can't get into the Tie Fighter. But he hits the water anyway as the time goes red!

17. Shusho Lopez! He's a former ballroom dancer turned geinojin! Get a load of that Winnie the Pooh trampoline.

CMs.

Back. He's all the way through to the Dragon Glider because I was slacking. And he goes face first into the water! Sup, Hard Gay.

21. Hard Gay is next! Slowly through the Quad Steps. Rolling Hill slowly. And he slips! Get a new gimmick!

22. Ooohh, that is what a flag performer is. Hiroshi Tomioka has a giant blue SASUKE flag that I want. Rolling Hill. He just gets it! His flag performer friends are flagging him on. Tie Fighter is no problem. Fishbone. And throu...NO! At the very end! Ato ippo!

23. Frescoballer? I'll look it up later but haya sugiru as he fails the steps.

25 and 26 Sho and Yoh of NJPW fail! And 27 and 28 fail the Dragon Glider. As does 29!

31. Kan Yutaka of Golden Bomber up next. Quads. Rolling Hill. And through! Tie Fighter. Yes! Doing much better this time around. Fishbone. And he got it! Dragon Glider. He got a hand on it! Although with his form I don't know what he was planning to do.

32. Daisuke Matsuda gets the A-Team music. Because he has so many obstacles? Shouldn't he get the McGyver music instead?

Quad Steps. Rolling Hill! Tie Fighter time. And he's through! Fishbone. And he got it! Can he be the first to do the Dragon Glider? He got the bar! And NO! But he was the first to get the bar!

Nakattamon!

Mou tsukirimasu!

I guess it's an arms race between Matsuda and TBS.

33. Gets the bar too! 35 hits the steps. 36 and 37 can't get past the hill.

41. Iwamoto of Johnny's group Snow Man is up next. He gets Smells Like Teen Spirit and a past generation of mopey teens die a little inside.

CMs.

Ooops, back and he's already up to the Tie Fighter. He's through though! And he gets the Fishbone! Dragon Glider next. And he slides right into the water! Usoo!

Darvish is sad for Iwamoto.

44. Sakuma Kota! Is a teacher! And he falls quickly! Kids = Ratings = Fail. Haha.

48. Satoshi Kodama is up! He's a police man? He just gets the platform on the Rolling Hill. And he's through the Tie Fighter! Fishbone. Dragon Glider is a whiff!

49. Shukan Playboy gravure tantou Ishibashi fails the Rolling Hill.

51. Karen fails. 55, 57 and 58.

60. Hioki Masashi gets the full video treatment! Can he be our first clear? Rolling Hill is no problem. Tie Fighter. Fishbone coming up. And through! Dragon Glider. And he gets it! YES! The first!

CMs.

Back.

And he clears the Dragon Glider and gets a big pop from the crowd. Let's see that again! That thing looks reckless. Tackle. Lots of time left if he isn't blown up. Has time for a few tries. But he only needs one! And that's it!

Everyone congratulate Hioki for showing them the way.

Yamada Gundan Black Tiger time.

TBS loves me so they show the crying Yamada clip.

Yamada hurt his foot so perhaps his advice won't negatively affect the guys this time around.

61. Hiroshige Yamamoto is up first for the Black Tigers. And what! He failed the Rolling Hill! Wow!

62. Satoshi Obata had a miracle run last time up to the 3rd Stage. Can he do it again! Yamada decides to get out of his chair to talk to Obata.

Steps. Rolling Hill next. And he almost slipped there too! Abune! Tie Fighter. And through! Fishbone. And got it! Dragon Glider. NO! He missed the bar! Came up just short.

Kore mo SASUKE ya.

63. Seiki Takasui! He's the sort of heir to Makoto Nagano! Steps. Rolling Hill. And he's through! He's the son of the owner of Nagano's company. Through the Tie Fighter! Fishbone. And he gets it! Dragon Glider. He gets the bar! But no! Takasui ochita!

So far only Hioki has solved the Dragon Glider.

67. Araki and 68. Tada and 69. all fail the Dragon Glider!

We get to see a bit of Wataru Mori's life before we go to some CMs.

70. Wataru Mori. If he clears the steps he's better than last time. Haha. And he does! Did it sort of slowly though. Gets the Tie Fighter! Fishbone. And gets it! Dragon Glider. And he does it! Tackle next. Needs to hurry though. Maybe only one shot at the wall. Time is red. NO!

72. Hitoshi Kanno! Is a two-time daddy! And is a former finalist. But he had been hurt recently so he's here. Rolling Hill. And gets it! Tie Fighter. He's in the cockpit. Fishbone. Checking. Doesn't have THAT much time. Needs to move. And is through! Dragon Glider but does he have time? AND just shorts the landing! He can't land on the platform and hits the water. The others are shocked. I guess he kind of went off the track.

72 have tried! Only 1 has passed!

73. Ryo Matachi! Reached the final in 30 but that seems so long ago. He's failed the 1st Stage four times in a row. Through the steps. And gets the Hill. Tie Fighter. Fishbone. And he gets it! Dragon Glider. And he gets it! He can do the Tackle sort of! Still lots of time but is he blown up? He needs to go now. NO! One more try. Just needs to get up. NO!

Yuuji is really broken up. He had a good pace going but he just didn't have the power at the end.

74. The chickens are revolting while we go to commercial.

Back.

74. Shingo Yamamoto! Through the steps. Still light out. And through the Hill! With Shingo you never know. Tie Fighter. Fishbone. And no! Right towards the end. Nanda! Ahhh..mata.

75. to 79 all fail and I fail because I was taking a bite to eat as they got digested. Sorry!

We now enter our top athlete portion of the program.

81. Seito Yamamoto is a pole jumper. Steps. He might want his pole at the end of his run. Hill. Tie Fighter. Fishbone next. And gets it! Dragon Glider. But he doesn't use his momentum and gets stopped dead after the first bar!

82. Shun Yokota plays football in Japan. Steps. Rolling Hill. And he gets it! Tie Fighter. And he can't stay in the cockpit! Whoops!

83. Sho Kimura is a WBO champion! Steps. Rolling Hill up. The announcer is DYING to make a KO reference. I know it. Tie Fighter. Fishbone next. And he is out!

And now 86. Ryoichi Tsukada.

But first, the news.

85 have tried! 1 has cleared? Can we get a clear rush from now?

86. Ryoichi Tsukada. Steps. Rolling Hill. He seems to be in a rush. Needs to be careful. And he falls out of the cockpit of the Tie Fighter!

Wataru says it wasn't bad but it wasn't perfect.

He rushed it.

87. Ono and 88. Ugajin don't repeat their performances from last time!

89. Keitaro Yamamoto! Quad Steps hayai! Rolling Hill. Tie Fighter. Slips a bit but is through! Fishbone. And he gets it! Dragon Glider! Gets it! Tackle. Almost there. Does he have the stamina? Gets his legs warmed up. Maybe one shot. And he gets it! He's through! That's two!

What a run!

CMs while we all catch our breath.

90. Takeru! Is a K-1 champ! Heater at the start line cuz it's cold out there. Steps. Rolling Hill. And through! Tie Fighter. And gets it! Fishbone. NO! He stepped wrong and that's it for him!

91. Toshihiro Takeda! 90 have tried! Only 2 have passed! Can Takeda make it 3? Steps. Rolling Hill. And he gets it! Tie Fighter. And gets it! Nagano cheers him on. Fishbone. And...he stumbles at the end but is through! Dragon Glider next. NO! He didn't jump! Not much time left. Needs to get the momentum going himself, I guess. Does he have his own logo shirt? And he takes a dip. Aho!

92. Shunsuke Nagasaki is a trampoline performer! He is a new daddy to boot! Tonda! Up to the Tie Fighter. And gets it! Fishbone. Yes! Dragon Glider. And gets it! Tackle as his dad cheers him on! Still time. Maybe one shot at the wall. Needs to get reset. And he gets it! And he makes three!

93. It's Kong time! Kenji Takahashi! He's thinking that this might be his last time. He feels that it's time for him to give the young guns a chance. Steps. Rolling Hill. Tie Fighter next. And he gets it! Abunakatta! Fishbone. Dragon Glider. King Kong jump! But he is completely off the track! He leaned too much to one side.

Jibun no SASUKE ga saigo desu.

94. Yusuke Suzuki! SASUKE sensei for the newer generation. Tie Fighter. Clear! Fishbone. NO! He got tied up and that's it!

95. Yuuji Urushihara! Is a two time champion. He vowed last time that if he didn't pass the 1st Stage he would retire. Can he do it again tonight? Steps. Rolling Hill. Tie Fighter. And through! Everyone starts high and lets themselves slip a bit. Fishbone. Yes! Dragon Glider. And yes.. YES! He got it! Ike! Tackle. Will he have enough left at the end? Almost there. Maybe one shot if the others are any indication. Getting ready. NO! Time goes red. NO! Maji de. Ryo really shouldn't be talking about people having a mental block as we watch Yuuji do it one last time and lets out a yell of exasperation.

96. Kenji Darvish is up next. He's had more than enough camera time at this point. Steps. Rolling Hill. Tie Fighter. And he is through! Fishbone. And he is through! Dragon Glider. And he gets it! Tackle next up. He'll have one shot at the Soritatsu Kabe. Time going red. And he gets it with 1 second left!

96 have tried! 4 have cleared!

97. Jun Sato is next! He does the dreaded parkour. Haha. Is this the first time they've ever used a dramatization during SASUKE?

Steps. Rolling Hill. And clear! Tie Fighter. And through! He almost rolled off the platform though. Fishbone is no problem. Dragon Glider. And through! Tackle. No problem. And hits it the first time! That's five!

98. Drew Dreschel points out that in Japan the obstacles aren't as big but they are more technical. Already up to the Fishbone by the way. And through! Dragon Glider. Not much of a run up but he has no problem. Tackle. Just needs to go up the wall. And gets it!

99. Tomohiro Kawaguchi has become a climbing shoes maker. But first, a word from our sponsors.

Back.

Steps. Slight slip on the hill but he's through. Tie Fighter. Fishbone next. And yes! Dragon Glider. And through! Tackle. That was reckless on the Dragon Glider. Tackle. Maybe two shots at most next. Taking his time. He is taller than others so he doesn't have to run as much. And he's through!

100. Yuusuke Morimoto! He debuted when he was 15! And he is the man known as SASUKE-kun! No clear steps tonight.

Not exactly graceful on the steps but whatever works. Tie Fighter. And through! Fishbone next. And through! Dragon Glider next. And through! Tackle next. Just needs to do enough and preserve his legs. Maybe one shot. And gets it!

2nd Stage time! Eight are through! No big surprises tonight. Everyone still alive has been here before.

Hioki Masashi is first up.

110 seconds to clear. Ring Slider. Salmon Ladder. At the transition. Downwards. Through. Spider Walk. Spider Drop. Backstream next. Pushes off. And through! Reverse Conveyer next. And got it! Wall Lifting. 1st. 2nd. 3rd. Lots of time. And gets it!

Keitaro Yamamoto up next. Ring Slider. Salmon Ladder. At the turn. Downwards now. And good to go. Spider Walk. Wait...NO! He slipped at the very end. His left leg slipped as he was transitioning to the Spider Drop.

2 have tried! 1 has cleared!

Shunsuke Nagasaki will take his turn now. Ring Slider. Salmon Ladder. Transition. Downwards. And gets it. Spider Walk. Slowly. Maybe too slow? Tentative because of Keitaro? And he slips down too! Ryo says that the usual way should be OK. So not sure what happened. These wall interviews are new. Is that on-site?

Kenji Darvish up next but let's hit some commercials first.

Back.

Ring Slider. Through. Salmon Ladder. Transition. Downwards. Slight problem on the last rung but he's got it! Spider Walk. Not all that fast. Spider Drop is OK. Backstream. Not a whole lot of time left for him though. Can't quite reach the end. Needs to hurry. I don't know if he'll make it. Reverse Conveyer as the time goes red. Wall Lifting and the timer goes off as he's between walls!

Now who will TBS show reaction shots of?

4 have tried! 1 has cleared! Can the last four join him?

Jun Sato up. Ring Slider. Salmon Ladder. Downwards. And through. Spider Walk. Everyone is worried about the drop now. Backstream. And no problem. Lots of time. And through!

98. Drew Drechsel is through too!

6 have tried! 3 have cleared!

Tomohiro Kawaguchi is next. Ring Slider. Salmon Ladder. Up. Transition. Downwards. Spider Walk. Spider Drop is clear. Backstream next. Lots of time if he does this right. And he gets caught up in the stream! Still has time so he has to get going!

Back.

He's all the way to the middle of the tank! Needs to get going! Mada maniau! He still has time but really really has to rush. Go! Go! Time going red. YES! HE DID IT! OH MY!

That's one more to the next stage!

One man left to go. SASUKE-kun! Yuusuke Morimoto!

Ring Slider. Salmon Ladder. Transition. And through. Spider Walk. Ii tempo. Spider Drop is no problem. Backstream next. And he is through! Reverse Conveyer is no problem! Wall Lifting. 1. 2. 3. YES!

3rd Stage

Hioki Masashi is first up. And he THSOFEP! Thanks. Flying Bar. And through to the Sidewinder! 1st pole. No time limit so he can set himself.

2nd pole. 3rd poooole! Whew. That was close. One more to go. And through! It's cold out there so it's nice TBS sprung for a heater.

New obstacle time! NO! His hands slipped off!

Jun Sato is up next so let's look at a dramatization of his childhood.

Flying Bar. Sidewinder now. 1st pole. 2nd pole. 3rd pole. One more to go. Got it! Needs to get on the platform. Needs to rest. Planet Bridge but time for some CMs.

Back. First Globe. 2nd. Hand on a 3rd. Three more to go. Next one. Two more to go. Stopping. Might be struggling. But he gets it! Height is definitely a factor here.

Ultra Crazy Cliff Hanger next. He's been stopped here before. NO! Whoops, turned my head and he was in the water.

Yubi ga subeta!!!

Drew Drechsel up next! One of the most consistent competitors anywhere. Can he finally make that final step? Sidewinder. Already up to the last pole. Drew gets set before he tackles the Planet Bridge.

And quickly through! And no problem! Tomo and the rest get their minds blown as he zooms through it.

Getting ready for the Ultra Crazy. Gets the first jump! Moving next. And gets it!

Green pole of rest before he goes for the Vertical Limit. Three parts to go. First. NO! Maji ka!

Two are left.

Someone will reach the final tonight. Will it be Kawaguchi? Or Morimoto? Or BOTH?

Tomohiro Kawaguchi up first. Flying Bar. Through to the Sidewinder. Almost slips on the third! But he's up. And slips off the last onto the platform!

Planet Bridge next. Gets set. Not as smooth as Drew but he gets it!

Takes his time before going for the Ultra Crazy Cliff Hanger. At the first jump. Gets it! Moving next. YES! He got it! Green pole of rest next.

He's more of a climber than any of the others which might bode well for him.

CMs.

Back. Firs..AHH!

Oops. Well, now we know what is about to happen.

That's new. "Watch yourself fail!" He didn't get his hand on cleanly before he started moving.

99 have come and gone! There is only one man to take on the course and he has already conquered it once before. Yuusuke Morimoto!

Flying Bar is no problem. Haha. The chalk is flying all over the place as he takes on the Sidewinder. He reps his company on his shirt.

Planet Bridge next. Getting set. 1st. 2nd. 3rd. 4th. One more to go. And gets it!

Ultra Crazy Cliff Hanger. He is the first to have cleared it. Looks like he is timing his start with the moving portion. First jump and he gets it! Moving part. Gets it! Green pole of rest next!

He flashes the smile that makes him a fan favorite!

Everyone left is cheering him on.

Here he goes.

SASUKE-kun versus Vertical Limit!

YES! He is at the last one! Almost there! YES! He's on the Green bar of safety! Pipe Slider next.

CMs first though.

Back.

Last area!

Here he goes.

Almost there. Swinging. Swinging. Swinging. YES! YES! YES!

It's been three years since someone has made the Final Stage!

35 have tried the Final Stage. Hey, Kane Kosugi! He is clearly the most powerful geinojin.

Final Stage. Spider Climb, Salmon Ladder, Rope Climb.

Here we go.

45 seconds to clear.

CMs first, of course.

Back.

Good pace on the climb. Salmon Ladder as the crowd cheers him on.
Almost there. Needs to hurry but he's slightly stuck. On the Rope Climb but time is going red. Needs to hurry. NO!

And he gets the lowering down of disappointment. He lost his Salmon Ladder rhythm right at the end and it caused him to lose time.

That's it for today! Thanks for watching!

SASUKE 30 Live Blog SASUKE RISING 2014!

Welcome back!

It's time for SASUKE 30! A nice round number, true but it has been 17 years since the first show. Back then this was the biggest song in Japan:

Also! Toshiro Mifune died. The Osaka Dome was built. Princess Mononoke was released. PRIDE had it's first show. Basically, lots of stuff.

If you are reading this in real time, the hashtag is #sasuke_tbs and you can listen to the producers and others talk about the show here: http://sp.live.nicovideo.jp/watch/lv184087505

Sorry, I'm a bit distracted. Chatting and watching things at the same time.

Here we go!

1st Stage! 105 Seconds to clear.

Let's start with No. 2902 菅谷哲也 Tetsuya Sugaya. He's past the Long Jump! Log Grip coming up. YES! Hedgehog next. Slow but surely! Does he have enough time? Jump Hang (Kai) next. Yes! Itta! Less than 30 seconds left though. Now he's IN the net. Wasting way too much time. Timer going red. He just gets to the 1st Wall as the time goes!

Up next is No. 2903 鳥澤克秀 Katsuhide Torisawa! He blows himself up by doing some weightlifting! But he gets the Long Jump! Still needs to catch his breath though. Log Grip next. He's through! Will he collapse before he even reaches the Hedgehog? Well he reached it but he couldn't get past it!

Next is No. 2011 オラキオ Orakio! Long Jump. He's a comedian! Yes! I think he was gymnast? Or is that just his schtick? Log Grip. Yes! Will he clear the Hedgehog? Yes! But not the Jump Hang Kai!

Let us relive his fail!

We skip ahead to No. 2916 成田童夢 Doumo Narita! He was/is a snowboarder. Long Jump is no problem! Log Grip too! BUT NOT THE HEDGEHOG!

We see No. 2917 脇 雅美 Masami Waki  fail the Hedgehog and No. 2918 清宮裕太 Yuuta Kiyomiya fail the Jumpg Hang and TV Guide guy No. 2919 田中晴輝 Seiki Tanaka fail the Long Jump.

No. 2921 尾野透雅 Yukimasa Ono is the Hibari Kid One who fails the Log Grip! As does No. 2922 やすこ Yasuko! And the third (No. 2923 井田洋人 Hiroto Ida) fails the Long Jump! Hibari is disappointed.

We're all the way up to the Yamada Gundan! Last time! They all failed! But they are back! 

No. 2928 大西由希子 Yukiko Oonishi falls on the Log Grip!

  

No. 2931 松原慎治 Shinji Matsubara is the first of the Yamada Gundan! He gets the Long Jump! Log Grip up next! Looking good so far. One minute left as he reaches the 1st Wall. And he gets it! And the 2nd is no problem! Tarzan Rope but we go to commercial!

Back!

Does he have enough time? Tarzan Rope. But..he hurt his leg? Something happened? Oooh. He clipped the water. 

No. 2932 山本浩茂 Koshige Yamamoto is the next Black Tiger! (Sorry, I skipped over something). Log Grip is no problem. Sega! Hedgehog as they keep showing Yamada yelling at people. Jump Hang! He makes the jump! Up to the 1st Wall. Yes! 2nd Wall coming up. Yes! Lots of time but we also have lots of time for commercials!

Back! Tarzan Rope coming up! Lots of time left, it seems! Keeps his feet out of the water! Lumberjack Climb! And he does it with 18.42 left! Something Yamada hasn't been able to do in years! Tears all around! Indy hug!

No. 2935 日置将士 Masashi Hioki and family are up! And the nico nico boys are all for him! Long Jump straight into commercials!

Back. All the way up to the Jump Hang already! Chatting and tweeting and doing too many things right now! Up the 1st Wall with no problem! And here he comes to the 2nd! Yes! But does he have enough time? Under 30 seconds left. Nico nico guys are unconcerned! Time is going to go red soon. But he's almost there! And yes! With 5.7 left! 

No. 2941 大倉士門 Shimon Ookura is next! He gets the Long Jump! Log Grip coming up. But he clips the water!

No. 2943 鈴木祐輔 Yuusuke Suzuki is next! He has school kids cheering him on! That's never a good sign! But he's all the way through to the Jump Hang! Moving well so far. About fifty seconds left as he gets to the 1st wall. Yes! 2nd Wall. NO! And again! Time is going red! That's it!

See? Never bring kids! Hrmm...one of those students looks a bit different.

Bunpei sighting!

No. 2948 永瀬 匡 Tasuku Nagase! Is from Kamen Rider! Which one I don't know. Long Jump and Log Grip are no problem! Neither is the Hedgehog! Jump Hang coming up. NO! Kantan oshiteshimatta!

No. 2949 山本涼介 Ryusuke Yamamoto is an actor! He's slim! Long Jump is no problem! Log Grip is OK! Hedgehog coming up. What's next! Jump Hang. NO! He does the flip into the water!

Hatsuta in the house!

50 have gone! 3 have cleared!

No. 2951 飯島豊久 Toyohisa Iijima is back! He claps to the crowd! And makes the Long Jump! Log Grip coming up. He gives a Bruce Lee whoop! And he's through! Hedghog....NO! Achoooo! Thanks for coming!

No. 2952 石丸謙二郎 Kenjirou Ishimaru is up next and let us be respectful! He's 60! Long Jump. YES! He could probably run circles around me. Log Grip! Jump Hang! I'd probably have a heart attack by now. NO! He touched the water! 

No. 2953 渡邊美香 Mika Watanabe fails the Hedgehog!

No. 2954 澤山瑠奈 Rina Sawayama fails the Log Grip! The women get their own music!

No. 2956 花井瑠美 Rumi Hanai fails the Jump Hang! 

No. 2958 川浦あすか Asuka Kawaura fails the Hedgehog!

No. 2960 天野ジョージ Joji Amano is back! But he fails the Wall!

No. 2962 河野神樹 Kodama Kono fights for right to party! But he catches his leg on the water on the Long Jump! 

No. 2964 割谷泰三 Taizo Wariya is an old school tough guy! But he fails the Jump Hang!

No. 2965 英語教師 洪 恭芹 Kung Cheen-Howng! CLEARS WITH two seconds! But he was mostly digested. Darn.

No. 29 67 川口朋広 Tomohiro Kawaguchi is back! Let's see his father, who looks like he's out of some old timey movie in a box on the screen! Woot. He is blazing through the course! Lots of time as he reaches the Tarzan Rope. 21.5 left! No problem! Kakkoii!

We only see them on the screen but it sure looked like 

No. 2968 上遠野裕也 Yuuya Kadono

No. 2969 星川大我 Taiga Hoshikawa

No. 2970 片伯部浩正 Hiromasa Katakabe 

No. 2971 高見俊治 Toshiharu Takami

No. 2972 守上大輔 Daisuke Morikami

No. 2973 岸本真弥 Shinya Kishimoto

No. 2974 石川輝一 Terukazu Ishikawa all cleared! But I'm not sure!

No. 2979 樽美酒研二 Kenji Darvish gets a lot of screen time! He's through the Long Jump and Log Grip! Jump Hang coming up. YES! Has some trouble though. Needs to pick up the pace. Or not! 1st Wall. YES! He's tall! Next wall. NO! One more try. YES! He's going to have to hurry though. At the Lumberjack Climb...time is going red! And he falls! Well, that was well worth all that time spent!

The All-Stars are coming up next! 

No. 2980 竹田敏浩 Toshihiro Takeda got digested! We come back and he already cleared!

No. 2981 なかやまきんに君 Kinnikun Nakayama too!

No. 2982 ワッキー Wakky actually gets TV time! At the Hedgehog! Clear! Jump Hang. YES! A bit behind. Be nice to hit the wall at one minute. But he's past the 1st! And then the 2nd! Tarzan Rope coming up! Yes! Lumberjack Climb. Lots of time left! YES! 15 have cleared!

No. 2984 染谷幸喜 Koki Someya, No. 2986 長崎峻侑 Shunsuke Nagasaki and No. 2990 リー・エンチ Lee Enchi are all through!

No. 2991 Drew Dreschel was the winner of the ASEAN Cup! He gets some majorly dramatic music! Long Jump standing up! Log Grip. Hedgehog. Jump Hang! 1st Wall! 2nd Wall! All no problem! Lots of time left! Kantan! 28.9 left!

No. 2992 山本進悟 Shingo Yamamoto is through! 

No. 2993 漆原裕治 Yuuji Urushihara is too!

No. 2994 又地 諒 Ryo Matachi. Was sick! But he's better now! Long Jump. Log Grip. Hedgehog. Yes! Yes! Yes! Lots of time left. 1st Wall coming up. Yes! 2nd Wall. Yup! Tarzan Rope. Going up! Yes! 33.91 left! Is that the record for today? His mom is happy! 

No. 2995 高橋賢次 Kenji Takahashi is also through! With 23.96! And he goes nuts!

No. 2996 菅野仁志 Hitoshi Kanno is through! Wifey and baby are glad!

No. 2997 白鳥文平 Bunpei Shiratori! Is back! Let's look at his history! Long Jump and Log Grip are fine! Hedgehog. He's taking it slow. But he's through! Jump Hang coming up. Nervous. And NO! He didn't get the jump! He slipped on the jump. Masaka no retire!

Three are left!

No. 2998 朝 一眞 Kazuma Asa wanted to win the ASEAN Cup! But he didn't! And now he's back for revenge! For the girl! Or something like that. Commercials.

Back. Long Jump and Log Grip are no problem. Jump Hang. Lots of time left. 1st Wall on the first try! 2nd Wall is no problem either! Lots of time! Tarzan Rope! Lumberjack Climb! 35.55! He's through! Fastest time of the night! Tears are shed!

No. 2999 長野 誠 Makoto Nagano! Is up next! He's not had a good time of it as of late. He doesn't want to look bad in front of his son! Here he goes! Long Jump and Log Grip are no problem! Neither is the Hedgehog! Jump Hagng! No problem! Lots of time. 1st Wall! Yes! 2nd Wall coming up. YES! Can he do it? Tarzan Rope! Lots of time! YES! 12.89!

No. 3000 森本裕介 Yuusuke Morimoto is last! Can he live up to being the 1st new 100 in several years? Sasuke-kun! Commercials while I play the Data game.

Back!

Long Jump and Log Grip! Yes and yes. Hedgehog! Is no problem. Jump Hang.YES! He goes right (forgot all about that!). Lots of time left. 1st Wall. 2nd Wall coming up. YES! Almost didn't get it! Tarzan Rope. Yes! Lumberjack Climb next. Lots of time! YES! 11.16! And that's the 1st Stage!

Let's go to the studio!

Note: 2914 cleared but he was not able to compete after that!

2nd Stage

Let's take a look at the stage! Shingo tells the other All-Stars how it's done! Takeda and Nagano share their thoughts. Drew says don't make a mistake! Good advice.

26 have cleared! How about now?

2932. Koshige Yamamoto is first up! Step Salmon Ladder. Seems to be going OK. Or not! He missed a rung! And he's stuck! And that's it! You can't go back down.

110 to clear by the way.

2935. Hioki Masashi is up next! Cross Slider. Going well so far during the Salmon Ladder. Unstable Bridge. Yes! Spider Walk! Spider Drop! He's through both! Backstream coming up. Doing well so far! Yes! I think he has it! 30 kg! 40 kg...Time is going red. 50...2.0 left! Giri giri da! He brings Yuuji to tears.

1 of 2!

2965. Kung Cheen-Howng! Fails the Cross Slider! NO! He let go too early. Damn.

2967. Tomohiro Kawaguchi is up next! Lets look at old timey dad again. Going well so far on the Salmon Ladder. And he's past the Spider part! Backstream up next. Walls are not proving as much of a problem for him. YES! That's two!

Drama up next!

2968. Yuuya Kadono fails the Backstream! 2969. Taiga Hoshikawa fails the walls! 2970. Hiromasa Katakabe fails the Backstream. 2971. Toshiharu Takami the salmon ladder and 2972. Daisuke Morikami times out at the first Wall!

2973. Shiny Kishimoto clears! 

2980. Is Toshihiro Takeda! Cross Slider is OK! Swap Salmon Ladder. NO! He missed! He's out!

2981. Nakayama Kinnikun fails the Cross Slider!

2982. Wakky! Is our last true non-regular joe, I believe. Swap Salmon Ladder. And...He can't hold on!

2984. Koki Someya is out on the first rung of the Swap Salmon Ladder!

2985. Shunsuke Nagasaki is quietly into the 3rd Stage! As is Li! With only a second left!

2991. Drew Dreschel! But first, a word from our sponsors.

Back.

Drew on the Swap Salmon Ladder. No problems so far! Up to the Unstable Bridge. Yes! Spider Walk. Spider Drop coming up. Whoa! Almost lost it. But he's through! Back Stream. Almost. Yes! 20 seconds left. Walls should be no problem! And they aren't! And he's through! Extra Jin!

2992. Is Shingo Yamamoto! The Chickens are Revolting! OK so far. Salmon Ladder was no problem. Spider Walk. Spider Drop! OK! Back Stream up next. NO! He didn't take a breath before he went in!

2993. Yuuji Urushihara! He stopped at the Backstream last time. OK so far on the Salmon Ladder. Unstable Bridge. Spider Walk up next. Spider Drop. Needs to hurry if his swimming hasn't improved. Ready. He's in. Here he goes. No problem this time! Needs to hurry though. 1st Wall. Uh oh. NO. Hurry! NO!

2994. Ryo Matachi is up next! He's been doing swimming along with rehab. No problems so far! (Sorry, I was playing the data game). Back Stream next. Yes! Lots of time. 30 seconds seems safe. Under the 1st wall. Under the 2nd. Needs to hurry. YES!

2995. Kenji Takahashi! Kong Express! Cross Slider. Swap Salmon Ladder. NO! He missed and he's out! Wow. That's a big one.

2996. Look at dem guns! It's Hitoshi Kanno. Let's catch up on his life. Swap Salmon Ladder coming up. Going good so far. Unstable Bridge next. Spider Walk. Spider Drop. Back Stream next. No strategy here. He just powers through. Or not! Needs to hurry. He's spent! But he's through!

Commercials before Asa's run.

Back.

No major problems. Hopefully he doesn't rush simply to get the best time. 1st Wall. 2nd drops on his leg but he's through to the 3rd. That's it! 10.00 left exactly! Fastest time!

2999. Makoto Nagano! Here he goes! Swap Salmon Ladder. NO! And he misses a rung! That's his night! Mottainai!

3000. Yusuke Morimoto is last up! He goes really high during his Salmon Ladder jumps to make sure he clears. Smart. Speeds through the Spider Walk! Back Stream next. No problems. Coming up to the walls. But let's see some commercials first.

Back. 1st Wall. Needs to hurry. 2nd Wall coming up but the time is going red. Needs to hurry. OUCH! He didn't get it in time! His parents are disappointed. Hitoshi is surprised. Makoto Nagano understands.

3rd Stage

No time limit. Let's take a look at the Stage.

Protip: There's like 90 minutes left in the show.

Let's take a look at the home life of one Masashi Hioki.

Finally, nine are left!

2935. Masashi Hioki up first. Rumbling Dice is no problem! Iron Paddler is no problem! Drum Hopper is new! Let's see how it's supposed to be done. Ooooooh. Oh damn. That looks hard. He goes the first one. And almost slips! Uh oh! But let's take a break first.

Back.

Haha. He has great facial expressions. One more set! YES! The first to try is the first to clear! Crazy Cliff Hanger coming up.

1st Ledge. 2nd Ledge. 3rd coming up. Time to jump. NO! Tears are shed.

2967. Tomohiro Kawaguchi is next. Let's take a look at his SASUKE history and olde timey dad. Rumbling Dice is no problem. Iron Paddler is no problm either! Drum Hopper. Whoa! Almost missed on that one. Need to be careful. And he's through! 

Commercials.

Back.

Crazy Cliff Hanger. 1st Ledge. 2nd. 3rd. At the jump. YES! He's got it! Vertical Limit next. Does he have anything left in the tank? Almost there. YES! He's to the Pipe Slider! One more to go! He's on the Green Bar of Safety. Here he goes. At the jump. Swing. Swing. YES! HE'S THROUGH! 

Hey, let's look at Shinya Kishimoto lifting a moped.

2973. Shinya Kishimoto is up next! Rumbling Dice. Yes! Struggling a bit on the Iron Paddler. But he's through! No problem with the Drum Hopper though. Crazy Cliff Hanger up next. 

Chubby Gang!

Crazy Cliff Hanger. 1st. 2nd. 3rd. Jump. YES! Vertical Limit next. Here he goes..NO! His left hand slipped off. No tears here though.

2986. Shunsuke Nagasaki gets digested. Because he fails the Crazy Cliff Hanger! Damn.

2990. As does Lee En Chi!

2991. But what about Drew Dreschel? NO!

2994. Ryo Matachi is next. Let's check out Arashida's place! He really should charge.

Rumbling Dice. No problem. After Ryo, only Asa and Hitoshi are left. Still lots of show time to go. Iron Paddler is no problem! Drum Hopper up next. No problem! Crazy Cliff Hanger. 1st. 2nd. 3rd. Jump. Yes! Vertical Limit next. Almost there. Needs to get to the Green Bar of Safety. YES! He's there! "Only" the Pipe Slider left. Here he goes...but let's sell some stuff first!

Back.

Pipe Slider. At the jump. Swing. Swing. Swing. YES!

Hitoshi Kanno is next up. Can he join Kawaguchi and Matachi?

2996. Hitoshi Kanno. Rumbling Dice is no problem. Iron Paddler next. And he's through! Drum Hopper up. Yes! This is where he failed last time. Crazy Cliff Hanger up. Will it be revenge time? Here he goes but...time for a break!

Back.

At the jump. NO!

Huh? That's weird...voice over narrator sounds different.

Does Asa have his own voice over guy?

2998. Our last man to go! Kazuma Asa! Rumbling Dice and Iron Paddler are no problem. Now on the Drum Hopper. And he's through! He's been stopped at the next one though.

Crazy Cliff Hanger next. He pumps himself up.

1st. Commercial Break.

1st. 2nd. 3rd. Jump next. Here he goes. NO! Boy, Shingo REALLY likes laughing at other people.

Back to the studio as Asa has a mental breakdown.

Final Stage. 30 seconds. 24 meters. Spider Climb 12 m. Rope Climb 12 m. 

Woot. Kawaguchi and Matachi are going all Shield on us.

Kawaguchi up first. Here he goes! Not much time and he's not going up very well. Time is already going red as he reaches the rope. NO! Old Timey Dad is not disappointed.

Commercial break before Ryo's try really gets started.

Back. Here we go! Much faster than Kawaguchi! Could this be it? Slowing down a bit. He's got the rope! Time is going red though! He's not quite there! NO!!! Kuso!!!

Asa cries for Ryo! And that's the show!