Sasuke 23 - Spoilerific Review - Part 1

SASUKE 23!!

PART ONE

Sasuke spoilerific review ;) Warning.. incoming blog of Sasuke 23.. if you don’t want to know.. you have been warned :D (Just remember.. the USA Broadcast of this.. will be DECEMBER, 2009!.. wtf... which of course delays the rest of the world's release to next year since they buy the G4 ridiculously Americanized version of the same show... JET will be much earlier - I expect late October/November) For a preview of this event.. Please see SASUKE NAVI FALL 2009 (1 hour review of Sasuke 23 with fluff pieces of all the major players in the upcoming Sasuke!) Oh.. and as Ube says: If you are from the G4 Forums, DON'T POST THIS THERE. They expect everyone to stick their head in the sand and pretend it doesn't exist..

UBE'S Sorta-LIVE-BLOG FOR SASUKE 23 IS HERE!

(Massive thanks to Ube for his help on the names in English and Japanese of all the competitors!!)

Shingo Yamamoto 山本進悟 - Start of the show.. again.. it's Shingo's failure in Stage 1 of Sasuke 22.. TBS is brutal aren't they?

Anyway.. I'll be doing this in chunks.. Thank you again to everyone for being so patient after my getting sick last year while doing the 21 blog. First major gripe.. TVAnts was NOT STREAMING TBS as intended so a lot of people were stuck watching KeyHole as it froze and crashed all morning during Sasuke Navi. It was worse for Sasuke 23.. This is why I am so adamant about having an official DVD.. Please sign the Sasuke DVD Petition! I'd love for EVERYONE to be able to have their own copy of Sasuke to watch at their leisure. I mean c'mon.. here in the USA there's DVD box sets of every major show .. even the crappy ones.. LOL Why can't M9 see that they have a goldmine here? Anyway.. I digress. Hoping this petition gets more signatures. (okay shameless plug out of the way). Thanks to the community for a great event and for everyone doing what they could to enjoy the broadcast together. There were approximately over 150 people watching together not including the several hundred online waiting to see if TVAnts was going to show Sasuke. On KeyHole alone the numbers were well over 600 watching at once time (before it crashed).. This number doesn't even include the people who paid for subscriptions to online streaming programs like WIST. I do hope it does show how much the online community has grown!!

Hitoshi Kanno 菅野仁志 as he cleared Stage 2 in Sasuke 22

This time the show started off immediately at 7 PM local time without a preview. There was a preview on Friday and Navi just 5 hours before. The first shot was of Shingo Yamamoto.. again.. missing stage 1. Gah.. I hope it's not a friggin omen.. ya know?? Anyway it's a big montage of the epic fail of the All-Stars. Not one passed the first stage. NOT ONE! TBS likes to remind you.. the last time they yelled over the loudspeaker that they should all retire. Will they get their crap together this time and win?

Yuuji Urushihara 漆原裕治 the last man standing in Sasuke 22 was sooooooooo clooooooose.. Gah..

Next they show the new stars! Kanno and Yuuji. Yes.. I use Kanno's last name and Yuuji's first name .. get used to it.. it just rolls off the tongue better than Hitoshi and Urushihara :p Aaaaaanyway.. They show each of their accomplishments (Kanno got to the Spider Flip in Sasuke 22 and Yuuji got to the Final of Sasuke 22). So the theme of this show is... NEW STARS VS. HEROES (or is it All-Stars..) either way.. you get the general gist! BRING IT ON!

New first obstacle! 12 steps called Jyunidantobi 十二段跳び

Now starts the rest of the program where they promptly show you spoilers (if you know what you are looking at and recognize people in a split second) and reaction shots that were unrelated to the previous scene just to get you thinking OMG who could that be?? Classic TBS bait and switch :)

Makoto Nagano 長野誠 and his fiery red scarf.. er.. Towel.. going through pain.. someone must have bricked pretty badly for that face to come out..

An unusually animated Levi Meeuwenberg リーヴァイ・ミューエンバーグ and a couple of ANW guys reacting really badly to someone's demise.. "OH NOOOOOO!!!!!!"

A glimpse at the Unstable Bridge (new Stage 2 obstacle replacing last year's Swing Ladder).. and yes someone was pwned.. or was it a tester? Gonna have to hang around to see if it was or not!

New Stars vs. Heroes WHO WILL PREVAIL?!?!

SOMEONE'S IN THE FINAL! There .. first major spoiler.. Thanks TBS..

REGISTRATION TIME! The line for Sasuke 23 registration is busy as usual!

Btw.. in the interest of time.. (and space on the server..) I'm only putting pictures of the Sasuke 23 that are "newer".. so any repeat images (especially in the beginning) that were in Sasuke Navi I'm just ignoring.

"Mr. Sasuke" Katsumi Yamada 山田勝己

Toshihiro Takeda 竹田敏浩 (sorry.. still recovering from Sasuke Porn from Navi.. /sigh)

Shingo Yamamoto 山本進悟 .. Hey! I recognize that shirt! That's the shirt Luci gave him!

(Sasuke 21 picture) Brian Orosco, Toshihiro Takeda, Luci Romberg, Shingo Yamamoto, Levi Meeuwenberg, Mark Witmer ©Luci Romberg

Makoto Nagano 長野誠 cue dramatic pose..

.. LOL Someone's got a crush on someone.... the bashful female head tilt™ ahahahhahah

Shingo Yamamoto 山本進悟 and his personalized red Towel! (because Yellow Towels were soooo last season..)

Katsumi Yamada 山田勝己 .. he looks sedated this time around.. seriously..

Toshihiro Takeda 竹田敏浩 and his dimples

Warning.. Kazuhiko Akiyama 秋山 和彦 and Bunpei Shiratori 白鳥文平 are NOT in this tournament :( We are only with 4 All-Stars this year (and no I don't know why.. they didn't say anything in the broadcast.)

The flag waving at the top of the Final Stage Tower

Yuuji's attempt at that tower in Sasuke 22

Returning Star Yuuji Urushihara 漆原裕治 (#3 Cliffer)

ANW 10 Americans arrive. Brian Orosco! ブライアン・オロスコ (Sasuke 20 and Sasuke 21) on the left with a white shirt and Levi Meeuwenberg リーヴァイ・ミューエンバーグ on the right :) (Sasuke 20-22)

Aww No Brett Sims in Sasuke 23

This is Dustin Sims.. Brett's brother.

Levi clearing ANW's Qualifying round

ANW's designated leader Levi - "SASUKE" (yay.. somewhere between the Airport and the parking lot.. they magically remembered where the hell they are.. )

"HERE WE GO!!" (ANW top 10)

Ah yes! The initial lineup pics :D

Whoot! All-star sightings!

Ahahaha.. Shingo can't keep still.. You are supposed to look all serious.. stop fidgeting! Why do they put Takeda BEHIND Sato? Meh.. for that matter why is Katsumi still in the front row?

Raise your hand if you are SURE!

SASUKE 23 - GET IT ON!

Satô Fumiyasu (佐藤 文康) - First announcer of Stage 1 for TBS

Stage 1 is 130 meter's long.

Kohei Satomi 里見恒平 - Football player. He's been on Sportsman No. 1 more than a few times.
First VICTIM.. er.. contestant of Sasuke 23!!!

Overhead shot of the first obstacle! Jyunidantobi 十二段跳び (Means 12 steps - it's 5 steps on one side and 6 on the other with the landing counting as the 12th step)

The second obstacle is the Curtain Slider カーテンスライダー!

Anything to show someone's cleavage...

Doing great! He's on the 3rd obstacle - The Log Grip!

He can't believe his luck so far! He's doing great! Now onto the Jumping spider... the 4th obstacle

And.. he's DONE IT! Wow for the first guy out he's doing great!

He's getting ready for the 5th obstacle! The Half Pipe Attack!

And............ oh oh..

Kohei Satomi 里見恒平 - Death by Half Pipe Attack

Gaaaaaaaaaah that sucked! Good show :) It's been a while since the first guy out actually does well!

Katsuhide Torisawa 鳥澤克秀 - Fruit Crushing Guy (Sasuke 20 and Sasuke 21)
LOL they cut 4 guys already.. he's #5

Doh.. Death by.. okay I'm calling these 12 steps for the sake of Sanity..

Emi Sekisui. 関水えみ
They don't care .. they don't even show her number! LOL

Are those.. Llamas? or Sheep? wtf.. Ube these are not dogs...
Apparently those things are called Alpacas (thanks Rider!)

wtf is she doing.. LOL She's doing 2 steps at a time along each side..

2 steps on this side too.. LOL

And into the drink! (ew..) Emi Sekisui. 関水えみ - death by 12 steps

Hoshan ほっしゃん - Comedian
Screw that we are already on number 10!

Hosh.. oh crap he slapped his mouth on the platform! - Death by 12 steps

All-Stars approve of the carnage.. but Nagano is feeling guilty because he noticed he smashed his mouth...

Nagano: Holy crap did he just face plant?
Yamada: Yeah.. wasn't it cool? That should shut him up
Takeda: Most impressive...
Shingo: Oh look.. a kitty!!

Spinboy Aichi! Or Aichi Oono. 大野愛地 from Muscle Musical マッスルミュージカル
Skipped over someone already.. this is #12!

Hmm some of the regulars are still in Muscle Musical Las Vegas so I suspect that a lot of the MM kids will actually not be here.

Crap.. almost fell off the platform.. He hangs on!

Doh.. Spinboy Aichi! - Death by Log Grip

Eiko Kano 狩野英孝 - Comedian (brain bleach please...)
Jumping way ahead.. we got number 17!

LOL really bad death by 12 steps.. LOL Looks like he tried to run back to the starting platform and whiffed..

Wakky ワッキー finds it funny

Double Dutch specialist NOBU - from Muscle Musical マッスルミュージカル
Skipped over someone again.. we got #19

NOBU - Death by Jumping Spider!

Muscle Musical マッスルミュージカル not happy!

Sayaka Nakamura 中村明花 is next! She's a reporter on 王様のブランチ
No number again!

Doh.. Nakamura .. Death by 12 steps

Cheerleaders! Pervs looking up her skirt.. Wow already we got Fast Forwards!

Fukutaro Umemoto 梅本福太郎- A graduate of Nippon Bunri University 日本文理大学
Death by Log Grip
Apparently he was #6!

Yuti ゆってぃ - Comedian - Death by .. 12 .. steps...
He was #11

Atsushi Aoki 青木篤志 of Pro Wrestling NOAH - Death by 12 steps

Nanami Tsukamoto 塚本奈々美 - Model/Race queen - Death by Curtain Slider

Okay that was.. impressive..

Talento Kurumi Kojima 小島くるみ - Death by 12 steps

Oonishi Lion. 大西リオン - Death by Curtain Slider

Oonishi Lion. 大西リオン
"Stand by my side"? Hard to tell actually..

I see a bronze medal!

Junichi Miyashita 宮下 純一 - Olympic Bronze medal Swimmer (Sasuke 22) (LOL he's the double fail guy)

He's getting stuck on the steps but he's blessed with REALLY long legs.. or this would be over by now!!

LOL Hanging on to dear life.....

Death by Log Grip!!

Sato Hiromichi 佐藤弘道 can't bear to watch..

Junichi Miyashita. 宮下 純一 - sloppy run came to an end!

I hear Kunoichi music...

Rie Komiya 小宮理英
No number either and note they don't put her age.. LOL!!

Perennial Kunoichi competitor

Rie and her boobs have made it to the final stage in Kunoichi before...

And for the love of everything holy.. her name is NOT RYE!!!

Doing well on the Steps!

On to the log grip and success!

Okay.. this is where she painfully disqualified the last time...

And .. she's up!

And stays up! She actually makes the Jumping Spider! Now.. the Spider walk is going .. sloooooooooowww

Okay! Only the 3rd woman to get this far.. will she get past the Half Pipe Attack!?

She' s getting ready for the Half Pipe Attack

No!!! Death by Half Pipe Attack!
HPA is turning out to be the Lady Killer!

I expect fanmail for this..

Tetsuro Degawa 出川哲朗 - Comedian (also from Sasuke 19)

And.. off comes his shirt..
He's 22 btw...

Well that didn't take long.. Death by 12 steps!

LOL I can hear Ube.. SHUT UP DEGAWA!!

Rare Second Stage shot .. during.. the day.. wtf..

OH that's because creepy sculptor guy is next and his model is of the 2nd stage! (I want one btw..)

The first of the Dynamic Trio of Death!!!
Yasuo Aoki 青木保夫
Geez we jumped to 38 already?

LOL he's going really slowly.. he's noticing that the other steps are not there.. this.. could prove painful.. Poor Aoki..

LOL he runs backwards trying to get a head of steam.. My God someone please feed this poor man...

On the first step.. barely.. this doesn't look good..

And.. NO! Aoki .. Death by 12 steps! (as if there was any surprise?)

Dynamic Trio of Death member #2!!
Hang Glider Guy - Masami Harashima 原島雅美
Hmm.. he's #40

He got a bit further again.. he usually at least gets to the last step...

And he got to the last step....

Gah.. and promptly falls back... Harashima - Death by 12 steps

Oh look! David Campbell should be happy.. these are only models! (Probably made by Aoki)

The last time (Sasuke 22) his face was being sucked off by a live octopus!

But these are only models! (PETA must have gotten a hold of him.. LOL)

The Leader of the Dynamic Trio of Death!!!
Mr. Octopus (Tako Man) - Minoru Kuramochi 倉持稔

Hmm.. he doesn't have a number.. could be #39 or #41.. we may never know :P

Kuramochi is doing his best to stay up.. he's getting hung up though!

Doh that didn't last long.. Kuramochi - Death by 12 Steps

Fast Forwards again!
Beauty Kokubu ビューティーこくぶ - monomane ものまね Specialist
Death by 12 steps

Another monomane ものまね Specialist
Yasumasa Koniwa 小庭康正

Koniwa - Death by Log Grip!

And the 3rd of the monomane specialists! Hori ホリ
Hmm he's #30

Hori death by...

Curtain Slider!

... Boob shot.. Er.. TBS.. Kunoichi is NEXT week.. /sigh...
My husband approves this picture.. /sigh...

Momoko Tani 谷桃子 - Idol/Talento and her jugs...
Death by 12 steps

Tomomi Arimatsu 有松知美 from Muscle Musical マッスルミュージカル

WOW!! Arimatsu made it to the HPA and they digested her?? Aww that's a shame..

She's female #4 to get this far! Impressive! Okay.. that's THREE Muscle Musical ladies and a Stunt Woman who made it to this Lady Killer!!

PART TWO