Sasuke Navi - One hour preview of Sasuke 23

Title for Sasuke Navi for this tournament - note the new 12 steps

UBE'S BLOG FOR TODAY!!
(P.S. A gazillion thanks to Lost in Ube for the massive help on names and general Japanese translations :D)

"New Stars vs Heroes" is the theme of Sasuke 23

It's that time again! This is Sasuke Navi - which is a 1 hour special promoting Sasuke 23 which airs in 4 hours from the end of this broadcast. I really really enjoyed the Sasuke Navi from March in anticipation for Sasuke 22 and Sasuke Navi from last year in anticipation for Sasuke 21! 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. 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).

Part of Montage of Sasuke All-Star being eliminated in Sasuke 22 (this is Toshihiro Takeda 竹田敏浩)

Mental note I will be taking my time doing the blogs this year.. Being that Navi and Sasuke 23 were only 4 hours apart I knew this would be a daunting task.. so patience for the blog is appreciated (and I have received a lot of support for that so thanks :D ). As I mentioned on the Sasuke Short Preview blog - The schedule for the 27th on TBS and this is the Bablefish disaster for it.. LOL

14:00 (Which is 2 PM local time)
ＳＡＳＵＫＥ新旧対決完全制覇はどっちだ!?今夜決着!!家族で楽しんで下さい
SASUKE fully won against old and new plague? Settled tonight! Please enjoying family

LOL wtf.. Plagues?? ROFL!!!! I love online translators.. they make words that totally do not exist.. Makes it that much more fun trying to figure out wtf they are talking about!

Average ages between the "New Stars" (being 22.6 years old) and the "All-stars") being 37.8 years old

I felt bad for the fans at the Sasuke Maniac Forums and those who followed my blog.. since we all did prepare using whatever free software we could get our hands on to see this. Turned out none of them (except KeyHole) was working for this so a lot missed it. If it wasn't for my friend Jason who lent us his stream of WIST.. I wouldn't have seen the tournament at all..

Makoto Nagano 長野誠 training during the summer

As usual they have a montage of the epic failures from the previous tournament Sasuke 22 and then they show the 2 new stars being Hitoshi Kanno 菅野仁志 and Yuuji Urushihara 漆原裕治. From there they start showing highlights from what we are about to see... They moan about how old the All-Stars are by putting up the graphic of the average age (damn Yamada skewing the chart :p mwahahahha ehem.. ) while the New Stars are averaging in the low 20's.. er.. for the record.. Yuuji is 31.. he's only 3 years younger than Takeda.. just.. to let you know :p Moving on!

HOT DAMN.. Sasuke Porn.. We got Takeda taking a bath...

Speaking of Takeda.. HOT DAMN.. wtf.. I mean outside of the sharkteeth and his obsession for waxing his eyebrows.. he's hot.. I mean.. wtf.. this picture.. wow.. dang I'm going to run out of popcorn before Sasuke 23 stars.. geeeeeeeeeeez.. Can I get a poster of Takeda being one with nature? Please? Nah that will only piss off hubby off and he'll get a picture of Jeri Ryan just to get even...

Shingo Yamamoto 山本進悟 not to be outdone by Takeda offers fan service of his own..

Wtf.. seems got the memo too that Sasuke Porn was to be shown on Navi.. I'm not complaining but never seen it so blatant! DAMN I'm going to run out of popcorn.. LMFAO..... Anyway.. what was I saying? OH Nvm.. they are showing ehem.. "training" videos of the guys buff and sweaty and nekkid.. yep.. naked.. well. (Semi) naked.. I mean.. c'mon.. tight shorts under water.. what's this.. Flashdance? Oh and sweaty topless and flexing muscle? I mean.. they are married.. right? Wait.. why am I complaining again? .. lol

Makoto Nagano 長野誠 ... didn't get the memo

Recently whipped Nagano.. didn't get the memo or more likely was fearing the wrath of his wife for showing up nekkid.. offers his fan service in the way of a wifebeater™ shirt :p and serious Kawaii moments with his new son.. again.. not complaining :D He looks great! In shape.. his hair is not "as" crunchy.. recently waxed eyebrows.. wtf Japan.. do all your men wax their eyebrows??

Hitoshi Kanno 菅野仁志 and Yuuji Urushihara 漆原裕治

Sorry back to the program.. ehem.. geez I need more popcorn and we just went through the credits.. I should have gone shopping.. hmm.. I think I have potato chips around here somewhere.. Oh in other news the "New Stars" being Kanno and Yuuji are shown talking about something I can't understand. I see Kanno still loves chunky jewelry :)

I don't know what this means either :p WELCOME TO THE SHOW! mwaahahahhaha

Sasuke Trials!

Oh cool! I see Sasuke Trials will be shown. I didn't think it would even happen seeing how late it was.. but it seems to have been back in Mount Midoriyama.. with events that.. well.. you'll see later..

And the Americans - I see TBS scooped out ANW :p God I love it :)

Tournament spoilers! mwahahhaha ehem.. yet another graphic announcing something I have no idea.. I guess Sasuke 23 watch or be pwned? :p Oh heck I don't care.. I'm too giddy!

I guess it's the 2000 entries thing again. Back to registration line!

And yes the All-Stars have to register too. That's Takeda on the far left and Nagano in the middle with some chick freaked out about something...

Shingo Yamamoto 山本進悟 finally got rid of that freaky JPop haircut he had earlier this year..
Oh cool that's Kenji Takahashi 高橋賢次 (Kongo Express) with a freshly shaved head!

Katsumi Yamada 山田勝己 on the left registering for his goodie bags.. er.. Sasuke 23!

Hitoshi Kanno 菅野仁志 in the registration line (he's #96)

Hoshan ほっしゃん - Comedian

Takayuki Kinoshita 木下隆行 of TKO

Shigeo Takahashi 高橋茂雄 of the comedy duo Savanna サバンナ

LOL this can't be good.. is he trashing Yamada for the "Gloves incident" from Sasuke 12? Or is he saying he hopes not to do a stupid mistake?

Masumi Yagi 八木真澄 from the comedy duo Savanna サバンナ

Eiko Kano 狩野英孝 - Comedian.. omg I need brain bleach..

Takeshi Nadagi なだぎ武 - Comedian

Oonishi Lion 大西リオン

Yuti ゆってぃ - Comedian (more brain Bleach please..)

Ayumu Kato 加藤 歩 from Zambugle ザブングル (hey he was in Sasuke 22)

Gari Nakajima ガリ中島 of Tengen テンゲン (making fun of Kato's shtick)

Three monomane specialists! Hori ホリ is in the middle. Beauty Kokubu ビューティーこくぶ is on the end but I have no idea who the other guy is (Ube found out later who he was - Koniwa Yasumasa 小庭康正 )

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

Wakky ワッキー - Comedian and former Sportsman #1 Winner

Hiroya Kunisada 國定拓弥 and Tetsuji Sakakibara 榊原徹士 from the boy band Shinsengumi Rien 新撰組リアン

The boy band Shinsengumi Rien 新撰組リア - Apparently their single is coming out soon.. and using Sasuke to promote it.. riiiiiiight..

Sasuke 1 premiered in 1997! Kane Kosugi ケイン・コスギ was #89!

Shingo Yamamoto 山本進悟 during Sasuke 1.

The graphic is talking about how there have been 22 tournaments and 2200 competitors so far in 12 years of competition.

Kazuhiko Akiyama 秋山 和彦 (Champion number 1)

Makoto Nagano 長野誠 Champion #2.

They seem to take sick pleasure in writing out that the success rate for the show is 0.09%. They show a bunch of people failing and basically saying that above all the failures rose a group of fan favorites. Next is a montage of who the Sasuke All-Stars are. (This should stop the kids on the boards in guessing if TBS added or subtracted All-Stars.. at least for a while.. )

Katsumi Yamada 山田勝己 - I have no idea what occupation they have him listed under this time... they have him with a forklift again..

Makoto Nagano 長野誠 - Fishing Captain

Shingo Yamamoto 山本進悟 - Gas station Manager

Toshihiro Takeda 竹田敏浩 - Firefighter / Emergency Rescue

Kazuhiko Akiyama 秋山 和彦 - Former Crab fisherman / currently an acupuncture therapist

Bunpei Shiratori 白鳥文平 - Office Worker

Sasuke All-Stars (cue dramatic music)

New heroes! They show Kanno pwning the Shin Cliffhanger in Sasuke 22 (they showed Yuuji too but TBS likes to repeat.. You'll see more of him later :p )

第１８回串木野まぐろフェスティバル - 18th Annual Maguro (Tuna) Festival (Videos of it here)

LOL they just put music that's all springy and happy.. like it belongs to some dramatic love story or some nostagic story filled with hope and romance.. Dude.. it's a fish festival.. in the middle of nowhere..

Nagano (with crunchier hair) is showing off to the crowd

Akiyama (in red), Takeda, Yamamoto at the top while Nagano climbs the warped wall

Takeda doing a "demonstration" for the crowd

Nagano doing gymnastics on a high bar

Nagano, Yamada (partially hidden), Akiyama, Takeda and Yamamoto

Okay this meeting looks funny. They all seem bored except Nagano who's all animated while talking.. LOL Ube and I were talking about this and it did look like a tribal meeting deciding who would be voted off the island..

Takeda with his pretty eyebrows weighs in his decision on who should be voted off

Nagano is insisting that only ONE person be voted off the island and to stop naming everyone else in the room.. Yamada agrees..

Akiyama is pondering his vote, Takeda is distressed he was bricked.. and Yamamoto is the final voter.. and the results are in..

Yamada is not at all happy with the results... Please get up and extinguish your flame..

Yuuji pwning the Shin Cliffhanger in Sasuke 22

Okay sorry had waaaaaay too much fun with that :p Anyway it seems they took the opportunity to rub in their faces how badly they all did in Sasuke 22 (you should be ASHAMED! ASHAMED I TELL YOU!) .. ehem.. anyway.. they go through this whole bit where Yuuji is being shown getting all the way to the friggin final of Sasuke 22 and the All-Stars all failed in the First stage!

They remind us that Mr. Sasuke was watching intently from the sidelines while the others left to drink away their sorrows.. (LOL just kidding :)

Yuuji makes it to the final!

Yamada gives his opinion on the subject

Nagano watching Sasuke 22 from his laptop..

WTF.. They get copies of the tournament and the fans don't? Please sign the Sasuke DVD Petition! Meh..

Hmm.. Maybe Nagano IS watching an illegal YouTube video.. LOL!!!

Nagano is wondering where he can buy Yuuji's lavendar Mary Janes..

It's funny.. you see his eyes traveling left and right.. watching Yuuji .. then staring at the clock..

Well didn't that just suck!! I want those shoes...

Actually what actually happened was interesting. Nagano said that watching the young guys is inspiring him to want to keep up.. then.. he changes his mind.. he changed "keep up".. with to push himself more.

Meanwhile someone's recording on TV..

Takeda is watching from home it seems.. WOW is that Reio? He's getting big!! (that's his youngest son)

He seems.. very.. analytical about something.. and he's not happy about it.. LOL

Incoming cocky Takeda™ alert.. (the eyebrow is up.. dude does not own a poker face)
LMFAO.. I got a translation.. He's... blasting Yuuji for his rope technique! He also says that he does the ropes better than anyone else..

.. Since he's trained to do it as a firefighter.. Dude's showing his pride as a firefighter.. LOL that's just too funny.

Another interesting fact it seems that Takeda refused to watch Sasuke 22 until a week or so before.. Maybe he was frustrated with his suckitude? Either way he didn't see the final until recently so this is actually very new to him since he did not stay for the final but left shortly after his Stage 1 demise.

Meanwhile.. DAMN check out that TV.. ahahahhahahahahh Surround sound and everything.. Hmm... seems his entertainment center is bowing under the weight of the TV! Way to go Shingo! LMFAO!!!!!!

LOL sorry still recovering.. Takeda was sitting on the floor while this dude has recliners.. he takes his TV watching SERIOUSLY!! GO SHINGO!!!

Aww.. he's trying to grow a mustache.. GO Peach fuzz!!

They go back to Nagano and remind him of his failure in 22

Oh that sucks.. (giggle fit.. LOL)

LOL he looks a bit embarrased.. hell.. I would be if I had a camera up my face watching my disaster

He's just giving his analysis of what he thought he did wrong.

After the break.. Awwww.. the happy Nagano family going out somewhere. She looks great and he's wearing a nice tie! LOL he gets baby bag duty.. ahahahhaha Go Asami!!

Sasuke 23 commercial - WATCH AT 7 PM.. lol

K we are back! Incoming forklift!!

Seems he's going to make a Slider Jump replica of some sort!

K.. this is off the same dock as the Kushikino Takasui offices (the company he works for)

Okay it's basically a slanted pipe slider

LOL! He stops at the end without jumping to give way to an attack of the giggles!

He just turns pipe to it's side and drops off.. but forgets about the pipe.. which almost beams him over the head! Again.. he giggles with embarrassment.

He starts laughing again.. then they show him doing the jump .. over.. and over.. and over again.. to his theme song "Last Battle" from X (TV Series) OST 2

Oy vey.. that's twice my height.. Did I explain how crazy he is for doing this training on CONCRETE? Dude.. they have mats you know.. or better yet.. suspend this over water for the full effect..

He really does look in shape this time..

They show him training on his boat again

Nothing like having a built in final stage replica to train in every day...

Not sure what this is.. but he's reaaaaally high up over concrete.. again..

Okay now he's just showing off..

Asami and Makoto showing the world their little baby :)

Awwwwww KAWAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Okay I'm having a massive cute attack.. If you remember from my Blog in June, Makoto Nagano welcome his first son with his new wife Asami (they got married in January, 2009).

Back in June I also tried to figure out how to spell his name in Kanji since Nagano had been emailing people his son's name in Hiragana かいおう as if to make sure that people know how to PRONOUNCE his name. Either way the Full kanji spelling of his name is 長野 (Nagano) 塊王 (Kaiou)

He says his name is かいおう (Kaiou) , and that it makes him sound like a man of the high seas. So perhaps the kanji is 海王.. 海(ocean) 王(king). Also possible: 海皇 → 海(ocean) and 皇(emperor), kanji names can be tricky and vary widely (as in American spellings Lindsay, Lyndsey, Lindsey)

Judging by the kanji used in this program they definitely used "King" but the first part of the Kanji that should mean "Sea" or "ocean" is not used.. Still figuring out which one was used.

Another friend of mine emailed me back about the kanji.. (same one that had the previous name translation)

That kai (蝪・ means a clump of earth. The right side 鬯シ represents the circular shape of a spirit, like ones you see represented as fireflies or glowing balls.

Then the left side 蝨・is earth/soil.

From the you get "a round clump of soil."

It can also mean a clump or cluster of other things and is actually the part of the title 蝪企ュ・Katamari Damacy.

Could he be a fan? :D

You mean I'm a clump of soil??? wtf..

Yet another translation came from another friend of mine. 塊 also has different meaning due to the fact that Kanji shares different meanings in general depending on what it's attached to. Because the first character is for "a solid mass" or even "a clump of".. there's another minor meaning which makes it also mean "massive" so it means "massive king."

But you are MY little clump of soil :) *kiss kiss*

They do look very happy so I'm ecstatic :) I think I like Kaiou's name better in Hiragana :p

Of to another shrine

Seems like a baby blessing ceremony (which explained the earlier picture of them all dressed up and him in a tie)

As Ube says - THE HOLY NAGANO BABY KAIOU~!! (he's 3 months old now)

Proud Daddy watching intently..

And there goes Asami cracking the whip already! DO PULL UPS DAMN YOU!
"YES DEAR!"..

Kawaiiiii.. he's got a little hat!! Okay I'll save you all the comments my dear husband said about the fact that baby is nice and chubby and Asami's.. ehm.. milk feeding apparatus is on full... tilt.. /sigh.. pervert... of course he'd notice her boobs...

Kaiou's going "Thaaaaaaaat's right.. They are mine.."

OMG I WANT TO EAT HIM HE'S SO CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTE Nom nom nom.. look at those cheeks!!! and that smile!!

Okay.. for real: Nagano goes to say that he intends to bring Kaiou to Sasuke 23 since it brings him inspiration.

Then he corrects himself.. and says "Oh I'm the one who should be an inspiration to him.. Haha.. It's the other way around"..
Asami then says "Yeah, that's the way it should be!"

Ah! It's Gas station time and I hear a theme! Shingo's theme music is "The Chickens are Revolting" (the second part around 1:30) from the movie Chicken Run - and no.. I'm not kidding..)

Yay! Shingo Yamamoto fluff piece!

He's been doing this for all 23 competitions! This is him in Sasuke 1

They then of course go through a montage of his failures.. Basically showing his silly mistakes.. over.. and over.. and over...

LOL.. determined to not be out of shape again.. he's working hard! NEKKID! Okay.. semi nekkid..

He works hard for the money so you better treat him right!!
LOL he's laughing.. yes this seems awkward :D

Shingo GYM TIME!!

Somehow.. I don't think he does this often..

Or this.. but of course he can't be outdone.. he has to outshine the Takeda nature scene..

Hmm.. I don't quite think of him this way though.. nice try though.. he's working hard!

I'd probably fall off that stupid thing...

What.. that didn't do it for you? LOL Sorry just kidding. Hope he kicks some serious butt in Sasuke.. I am desperately hoping he doesn't do another stupid mistake...

Hmm.. someone drives a Toyota..

Yep that's Toshihiro Takeda

Not sure where he's going but judging by the opening sequence.. this is the location of that holy waterfall...

Way to go and shatter that image... Dude drives a minivan.. Seems like it's the Toyota WISH. He is a father of 2 boys after all..

Commercials!

Okay back to the holy waterfall.. I swear this guy is a billboard.. BUY ADIDAS!!

Even his shoulder is promoting Adidas..

Hmm is he doing a show for everyone? Kinky..

Okay.. I did a logical search on wiki for "Japan Waterfall, Gifu Prefecture" (since that is where he lives..) and sure enough BINGO.. Amida Falls 阿弥陀ケ滝 ,.. son of .. apparently it was voted to be one of the top 100 waterfalls in Japan.

Ooooooooh yeah I see it..

Becoming one with nature has never been so sexy..

This definitely is the most "open" I've seen this guy..

SHHH.. a moment of silence.. (dangit.. ran out of popcorn.. and chocolate.. going for the big guns.. this calls for Ice Cream and Doritos)

I don't know if he's doing this as a religious experience but I know for a fact that a few women I know are having one right now...

Are those.. scuba shorts? They can't be any tighter on him...

TBS is a perv too.. they are zooming up..

...................

.. "innie"..

There.. this is the highest resolution I got of this shot.. Long live YouTube.. /cough..

Now.. Takeda doesn't corner the market for the whitest guy under a waterfall.. the record is still safe in Moody's (Makoto Yahagi) hands.. VERY safe.. Heck even Yamada has a Sasuke porn scene under a waterfall.. but he does nothing for me either.. besides.. I think he was crying too.. totally kills the vibe.. ya know?

Sorry back to Takedaland™ I see him in a whole new light..

Waxed eyebrows and all... LOL He loves his bling.. always has some sort of neck wear.

Apparently he brought more clothes.. gone are the scuba shorts.. Oh.. Cue up his theme song - Ao no senshi 青の戦士 ("Blue" or "Pale" Warrior) from the Star Ocean EX (anime) soundtrack

I have no bloody clue what he's talking about.. not like I'm exactly paying attention anyway.

NERVOUS TICK! I should make a drinking game (funny since I don't drink at all..) take a drink whenever you see him fidget with his hair.. trust me.. you'll be absolutely hammered in 10 minutes...

Sorry but he's still HOT!! Ehem.. Makoto Nagano...

Sorry.. Cue up the All-Stars at Sasuke - R.O.D the TV OST - "Unequaled Boisterous Dance" (GOD I love that Anime)

Now he's selling Signal

No fair! Shingo has a custom towel!

And it has his name on it..

Oh btw.. that's Shingo Yamamoto with a MUCH better haircut I might add...

Yamada is miffed he didn't get a fluff piece..

Are his eyebrows getting thinner? LOL sorry.. he's still quite awesome :)

Yep.. freshly waxed.. and is he wearing TWO necklaces?

"I've got a Sasuke Towel.. I've got a Sasuke Towel.. and you can't have one"

"Damn straight.. this has my name on it.."

"Now aren't you jealous?"

Yeah.. no love for me this time.. I didn't even get to train someone..

K Sasuke porn break over.. back to the other guys :p LOL Just kidding.. this is Yuuji

Hmm.. this soundtrack here sounds so friggin' familiar.. I can't .. put.. my.. finger.. on it.. whoever knows it please let me know!

And this is Kanno.. otherwise known to me as "Chunky Bling Buff Dude™"

UNCLI #3 Totally representin' Ya'll

STQ'ers in 22 losing their marbles..

Aww crap.. Yuuji misses by THIIIIIIIIS much..

AL BUNDY! Whoops sorry.. Yuuji again. He sells shoes... just like Al Bundy :)

And Kanno again. He was the 3rd guy to beat the Shin Cliffhanger and 1st Non-Allstar to do so

He's super happy :)

This unfortunately is where he ended his ridiculously awesome run. The Spider Flip

There goes TBS making up stuff :p Gotta love the "they train together" stuff they fabricate :D

It's still cool TV so I don't mind watching.. besides.. they did train together once so the story is not completely false.

Kanno on the left and Yuuji on the right

I have no idea what they are talking about.. LOL

Who makes this stuff up? They are not hoping over each other.. that doesn't look right.. in any culture..

Got another translation (not for this exact line) but he says that he feels a strong rivalry with the All-Stars and it pushes him to try to achieve more.

Yuuji practicing his rope climb as TBS reminds him THIS IS WHERE YOU FAILED!!! (Ube said he heard he does this 20 times a day)

One of the MANY visits that Yuuji has done to Muscle Park.. only now he's getting credit for it.. Interesting that I don't see UNCLI anywhere there when I know they were :p

Because climbing ropes is dangerous.. Gotta watch for those snipers..
Sorry.. he was wearing a 10 kg (about 22 lbs) vest to make it harder

He trained hard for this tournament actually

So much so that he actually delayed finding a job after he graduated college so he can train for this competition.. (Please don't turn into Yamada..)

Apparently where he lives

One of his Sasuke numbers. (he was cut from Sasuke 20)

His wall of inspiration.. he's been in a lot of events!

Nagano, Kanno and Takeda (looks like a Sasuke 22 pic)

There goes Kanno sporting all the chunky jewelry! Posing with Yamada

Posing with Levi Meeuwenberg (most likely Sasuke 22)

SASUKE TRIALS!

Over 2000 entries for Sasuke 23...

Lots of videos and DVD and CD's showing their stuff

Sasuke Trials! Representin'

Ube says "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."

.. Don't.. get.. Eliminated!!

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

Aww.. that's UNCLI #5 - Keitaro Yamamoto

Gah.. so this is where he was eliminated!!

(Also explains Ryo Matachi 又地諒 #2 Cliffer's video...)

AH! That's Keita Tomino 富野恵太 (#4 Cliffer)

Poor Yamamoto.. he's depressed

Ube says "Then they have to do the Jump Hang! Old School!"

Geez.. Koji Hashimoto 橋本亘司 had to qualify.. AGAIN??

Phew! Seems to have made the Jump hang!

Finally, a speed trial. It tests speed (a sort of shuttle run),

jumping power (hurdles)

and balance (a pipe walk)

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! HE WAS AT THE END!!!!!!

HOLY CRAP!! Nooooooooooooo! That's Tomino Keita 富野恵太 (#4 Cliffer)

Apparently this guy made it

This is a very short line of survivors..

They get their Golden Tickets...

1. Jun Sato 佐藤惇 (Highlighted in Green since he made Sasuke 21)
2. Satoshi Nakamura 中村哲
3. Ryoma Kato 加藤僚馬
4. Koji Hashimoto 橋本亘司 (Highlighted in Green since he was in Sasuke 21 AND Sasuke 22)
5. Takuya Ueno 上野琢也
6. Naoya Tajima 田島直弥

Jun Sato 佐藤惇 (From Sasuke 21 makes a return trip)

This is where he failed the last time...

Ryo and Asa can't believe it..

Koji Hashimoto 橋本亘司 is going on his 3rd trip

Sasuke Trial Qualifiers (STQ'ers) - REPRESENTIN'

Btw.. was this coverage of Sasuke Trials ridiculously short? Wtf...

Ah.. someone is arriving in Tokyo.. er.. Chiba.. er.. the main international airport.. Narita

ANW guys.. totally representin' (Levi is the only one I recognize.. for now..)

Aahahahahha TBS scoops out G4 because G4 is retarted in waiting THREE MONTHS to show ANW.. idiots.. Apparently they had more than 250 people show up in 3 days of qualifying

Ultimately 10 were chosen

Don't.. get.. eliminated!

LOL I was waiting for this one.. This is Dustin Sims.. Brett's brother.

LOL Tried to somersault onto the spider walk..

And.. bricked.. big time.. LOL I KNEW he was going to make the Japan highlight reel!

Meanwhile.. Sasuke Drummer of the American Shorts...

Nooooooooo.. he shifted the pipe slider pole off the tracks..

And down he goes.. :( /sigh.. No Brett Sims in Sasuke 23

They had Jumping Bars

And steps with reaaaaaaaaaally large landings.. LOL

Btw.. that's Levi Meeuwenberg.

And yes despite what I may think of his stupid tricks.. he did have to qualify just like everyone else. Kudos for going through TWO actual courses (ANC2 and ANC5). BTW TBS goes into this long description of how he does performance tricks on the course but he still failed Sasuke 22.. LOL TBS is brutal..

ANW 10 Americans arrive. Oh there's Brian Orosco on the left :) (Sasuke 20 and Sasuke 21)

"It's going to be an awesome group"

NINJA WARRIOR.. (/sigh.. they forgot what show they are competing in.. /bashesheadonwall)

Commercials.. crap.. there goes Ishikawa...

Apparently this guy was also in Sportsman #1 (doesn't show year..)

Demonstrating he still has soccer skills

Takashi Fukunishi 福西崇史 - Former Japan National Team soccer player

Genki Sudo 須藤元気 - Former MMA fighter

He's.. famous more for his ridiculous entries to the ring.. Makes the WWE look.. like preschool performances...

LOL probably his only win :p

Oh cool it's Tomoki Kitagawa 北川智規 - Rugby player (Sasuke 22) and placed 4th in the 2009 Sportsman No. 1.

Wait.. that's Daisuke Miyazaki 宮﨑大輔

Wait.. nvm I thought so.. Daisuke Miyazaki 宮﨑大輔 thanks the academy via satellite from Spain and regrets not being in attendance..

In his place.. he sent 2 former teammates! This is Tetsuya Kadoyama 門山哲也
(doing math.. 2 rejects equals 1 Miyazaki.. got it)

Kairi Kouchi 高智海吏 is the other guy and both are from the Japan National Team.. so hardly scrubs :p

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

Leszek Blanik of Poland レゼク・ブラニク - the gold medal winner in the vault at the Beijing Olympics.

Awkward English speaking moment from a foreigner.. "In Beijing I'm gold. In this Sasuke I want to go to top"

OBSTACLE TIME! Okay there are 3 obstacle changes to Sasuke. 2 in Stage 1 and 1 in Stage 2.
This one is called the Jyunidantobi 十二段跳び - this literally means "12 steps". The obstacle is comprised of 5 steps on one side, 6 steps on the other and the landing pad is the 12th step. This guy.. got eliminated...

Curtain Slider! カーテンスライダー

Tester on it. You run full speed.. grab on to the curtain and fly across the crocodile infested waters...

WE GOT CHEERLEADERS! Guys are totally looking up her skirt..

We got.. break-dancers?

We got the .. oh .. it's Sato Hiromichi 佐藤弘道 - TV host- Sasuke 22 Stage 2 competitor (man it hurts to say that)

The family that trains together stays together

Okay this is cute. The kids are doing the rope climb as well..

And this is where he failed.. The metal spin.

Akira Omori (大森晃) - Comedian Monkikki or Monkickey (モンキッキー) (or "Monkey"), is coming back to compete after a 16 tourney absence!

Sasuke 1-7 and 3-time Finalist

One of his 3 consecutive defeats.. and one of his 3 hair colors.. LOL!!! This I call.. the Pepto Bismol look..

Does he look.. YOUNGER now? LOL
Well Damn.. now I got the stupid MONCHICHI song stuck in my head.. (since the announcer calls him Monkicki)

Jordan Jovtchev - Bulgarian 5 Time Olympian and previous Sasuke competitor (Finalist in Sasuke 8 and lastly competed in Sasuke 20).

Er.. not sure what this is for.. but he got a sword..

He was a finalist with Kane Kosugi in the EPIC IN THE RAIN Sasuke 8

Unfortunately holds the record for the slowest Spider Climb... and the only one to ever .. fail it..

Yoshiyuki Okuyama 奥山義行 (Stage 3 competitor in Sasuke 22)

Yoshiyuki Okuyama 奥山義行 - Here he is in the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan in the 200 meters

The one that Michael Johnson fubarred the field :p) - Quarterfinals - Heat 4 - he came in 5th place on August 26, 1991

He made it all the way to the 3rd stage in Sasuke 22!

But was defeated by the Shin-Cliffhanger

Ouch..

He's training his fingers to hang on more...

Okuyama family hoping he returns to the 3rd stage to get revenge!

Taiwan's Lee Yen Chi リー・エンチ (Stage 3 competitor in Sasuke 23)

He also got to the 3rd stage of Sasuke 22

.. and met the same fate

Lee's rock climbing competition!

Okay.. that was .. ridiculous fast.. he blows away the other competitor!

Taiwan's Lee Yen Chi リー・エンチ

Muscle Musical マッスルミュージカル

Takuya Kawahara 川原拓也

Spinboy Aichi Or Aichi Oono. 大野愛地

Double Dutch NOBU

Hmmm.. apparently they were planning to put a steps that were suspended in the air by ropes.. seems they nixed that idea...

Yunidantobi 十二段跳び

Curtain Slider! カーテンスライダー

There it is.. The Unstable bridge.. that's all you get for now as to what this is.. I've only heard about it

Geez stuff! Behind the scenes on what goes on during production!

Lee and Jordan enjoying the tester's demise

And credits roll! NAGANO!!!

And Mr. Sasuke

And.. Oh crap.. he's got orange pants.. SEE YOU TONIGHT!!