Sasuke Navi - One hour preview of Sasuke 24

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

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)

Lord help us all there's going to be a big Yamada fluff piece isn't there? but.. he's not training anyone.. just himself this time?

It's that time again! This is Sasuke Navi - which is a 1 hour special promoting Sasuke 24 which airs just under 6 hours (yes.. you read that right) all on New Year's Day just 4 days away!. (see the airdate page for times in your area) Previous Sasuke Navi's can always be found on my site (Sasuke Navi 23, Sasuke Navi 22 and Sasuke Navi 21) First major gripe.. TVAnts was NOT STREAMING TBS again but thanks to a few fans willing to help stream paid service (WIST) it was at least viewable this time unlike the Sasuke 23 disaster from September where a lot of people couldn't see the tournament live. We do hope more people are just as generous on New Year's Day or we might have a repeat of 23's epic disaster (viewing wise).

Nagano and Kanno sharing a moment after they both lost in Sasuke 23's Final

Here in the USA we were actually pretty lucky to see Sasuke Navi at a reasonable time on a weekend day.. though in Japan this sucker was running at 11 am their time.. on a Monday morning.. when people were at work.. LOL oh well.. It was 9 pm here in the east coast so I was pretty darn stoked! (shoosh Arty.. Sasuke 24 is at like friggin 2 am on Friday.. no complaints whippersnapper!)

Who will be the 3rd man to win!? (yes.. that's what it says.. more or less)

Of course ever since TBS posted their video trailer of 24 online over the weekend, everyone and their mother and grandma have been speculating as to whether or not they are confirming an actual win.. but we do know for sure.. there will be another final. That's enough for me. I have the patience to wait to see who gets there. TBS has bricked us before by showing us "tester" footage so I don't want to fall for it again so I'm utterly ignoring the footage. NO ORANGE PANTS FOR ME! :D

Sasuke.. that's about all I can make out :) WHOOT!! Bring it!

Anyway the show starts with a bunch of images that I'll be showing later.. this blog is already besieged with pics.. so I'll spare ya :p You know the usual.. preview of what you are going to see in Navi and a few Sasuke 24 spoilers with big print over it so you don't exactly get to see who and what is going on. Since the pics aren't HQ and I really don't care to psychoanalyze every detail.. I'll leave it to the maniacs to freak out with the footage for 4 days :p Oh btw.. they rehashed the All-Stars vs. Scrubs er.. uhm.. New Stars theme... again.. Despite Nagano's objection to that concept.

Registration line!! Because even the famous have to stand in line in the cold!

Next is the familiar stroll to the camera shots of the featured contestants to Sasuke. I always crack up at these pictures.. as if everyone has a grand entrance like that .. from their cars.. LOL Oh well .. it's the image so hey I'll go with it. Again.. since a lot of this repeats I'll spare you the walking shots until they have fluff pieces immediately after.

Toshiaki Kasuga 春日 俊彰 from the Comedy duo Audrey オードリー (Sasuke 22)

Masayasu Wakabayashi　若林正恭 from the Comedy duo Audrey オードリー

The comedian's group! WHO WILL PREVAIL!

First fluff of the day! Masayasu Wakabayashi　若林正恭 and Toshiaki Kasuga 春日 俊彰 from the Comedy duo Audrey オードリー

Kasuga was the one that competed in Sasuke 22 back in March.

He didn't get far.. he died on the steps..

Audrey's coming .. for YOU!

Next is Udo Suzuki ウド　鈴木 from Kyain キャイ～ン

His comedy partner Amano 天野　ひろゆき decides he wants to do a good luck slap (you know.. the canning ritual Takeda/Nagano came up with)...

I know this is totally set up for TV laughs.. but that had to hurt..

Yep.. why? Because dorkwad didn't put a towel on his back.. so he now got the Brett Sims treatment.. LOL

Yay...

Someone pass me brain bleach.. it's the rose guy..... Eiko Kano 狩野英孝 I still can't believe TBS called him Mr. Narcissist..

Btw.. isn't Eiko a girl's name? Oh well I digress.. he goes to the health club and looks like he is on it for the first time.. LOL

And to top it off he's attempting to balance on the ball and fails miserably.. LOL

... TBS hates me... anyway.. Mr. NHK himself.. Sato Hiromichi 佐藤弘道

Sato shocked the crap out of me when he passed the first stage for the first (cough) only (cough) time back in Sasuke 22

But he splattered on the Metal Spin being the only one to not advance out of the 2nd stage :D

I assume they blamed the fact that he lost a lot of energy on the salmon ladder? (more on that later)

I see he's back in Muscle Musical マッスルミュージカル (gotta promote the show one way or the other M9...)

Yep.. so he's training by himself in a dark alley and still gets pwned..
(LOL Ube - Is it too much to ask for a mugger to um..mug him in that dark alley?)

It's dark haired Cloud!! Wait.. it's those Menudo guys again.. boy band Shinsengumi Rien 新撰組リアン This is Tetsuji Sakakibara 榊原徹士 (he was in Sasuke 23 but got pwned by the Jumping Spider)

Yoshiya Seki 関義哉 is the other guy competing this time.

Well I guess looking at them train.. er.. choreography is better than watching their manager talk for 20 minutes about their new album...

Throw out your hands.. stick out your tush.. hands on your hips.. give them a push.. you'll be surprised you're doing the French mistake.. VOILA!! (20 points if you figure out the reference...)

YAY! Nagano! (LOL seems this segment is all Pirates of the Caribbean music :p )

Takeda training the wall (finally)

Yamada finally training again...

ZOMG FINAL ZOMG...

More commercials.. oh.. cross bridge is back.. oh that's totally going to suck for a lot of people..

Aww crap.. Takeda and Nagano having kittens over someone's loss....

Yuuji making dogs wail again...

Salmon Ladder still kicking ass... LOL

Hmm and so is the Unstable Bridge.. (strange angle.. they must have redesigned where this is).. and where are my sharks with friggin' lasers? I thought they'd paint this sucker red and black and have spikes on it.. ehem...

Ooooooooh that sucks.. who was the poor soul that fell off the green bar of safety right before the Gliding Ring? Wow.. I hope it was a tester and TBS being mean.. because if it was a competitor.. that had to hurt ..

Yuuji Urushihara 漆原裕治

Hitoshi Kanno 菅野仁志

Shingo Yamamoto 山本進悟

Toshihiro Takeda 竹田敏浩 (I swear.. I'm going to invent a drinking game.. take a drink every time you see a Descente Logo.. )

Makoto Nagano 長野誠 (LMFAO they keep giving Nagano clothes.. I think they got tired of me bitching that the man has no clothes and keep wearing the same ones.. ahahahahah) (P.S. Take a drink.. Move Sport is Descente..)

Hang on.. need a moment.. you know.. it's greatness.. must stop for that..

Yep.. if you live in Japan you can play this on your phone :p ©SasukeMania

This course has a 0.1% success rate!!

Scrubs.. er. New Stars vs. All-Stars!

Nagano without his summer tan :) Mwahahhaha ehem.. (he's also between hair dyes here..) ahahah you see him fidgeting with his shirt? Uhm.. Dude.. this is yours.. we can't help you if you like your clothes applied via spraycan..

Awww.. no Sasuke Porn from Takeda this time..

Or from Shingo either.. Oh.. he's actually doing physical therapy again.. meh.. I knew he fubarred his shoulder..

Er.. uhm.. they didn't do anything.. :D (Kanno and Yuuji)

Yay Allstars! Aww.. no Bunpei Shiratori 白鳥文平 mention.. and bottom right of your screen IS Kazuhiko Akiyama 秋山 和彦 .. blond.. and crewed.. he's back though so I'm still stoked!

Last battle music.. that can only mean one thing!

Makoto Nagano 長野誠 - Everyone's favorite fishing Captain Bada$$ of the Millenium.

LOL Nagano's favorite expression while fishing.. the .. smirk..

LOL sorry.. thought this was a funny shot :) There's a whole lot of captions I came up with for this.. none I really should print though..

He was sooooooooooooo close the last time..

I see he's wearing black wifebeater™ #3 (the one with no lettering)

(insert coy caption here)

Then he runs to the other side of the boat (all 5 feet over) and does his pull ups there

(Ube: Shave them pits Makoto, every one can see.)
Btw Ube.. REAL MEN DON'T SHAVE THEIR PITS!!

That really is a tiny boat..

KAWAIIIIIIIIIIII It's The Nagano family and check out his wife Asami holding their son Kaiou 塊王 in a cute animal coat!!! It's got ears!!!

Wow.. he's cracking out crane again.. I haven't seen this thing since like before he won Sasuke 17.. LOL

OMG this is too cute.. check out the ears on the top of the coat!!!!!

This scares the living crap out of me.. no safety harness no mat on the ground.. no nothing...

He did it in 14 seconds

Crap.. 14 seconds..

I'm totally getting too old for this.. (actually he did say this in the segment but not sure where he said it).. he's trying to do it in 12 seconds.

Alright.. must beat 14 seconds..

OMG he's so cute! Look at that smile!! I love watching happy babies :D

Btw Kaiou.. Daddy failed.. he did it in 13 seconds.. not 12.. He doesn't care.. omg he's smiling!! he's so cuuuuuuute

Daddy coming down hoping he got 12 seconds or less...

Dude.. you got 13..

WTF.. 13.. I want 12 damn you TWELVE!!

I'm getting too old for this.. LOL - somewhere in the segment he was talking about how he was confident he would make it to the final again but was hoping to be faster in the final.

Aahahhaahahha Kaiou is totally mesmerized by the camera.. look at the ears...

He's ignoring Daddy..

Dude.. you are crimping my style.. I'm on camera.. Dude I'm on camera!!!

Can I eat the camera?? LOL LOOK AT THOSE CHEEKS! I WANT TO CHEW ON THEM.. sorry.. having a moment.. not all kids are this cute..

Oh I hear Pale Warrior from Star Ocean EX... and see a tiny tiny fire station out in the boondocks.. (cough.. Gifu, Japan .. cough)

Oh check it out Ube.. they caught them surfing porn again...

memories of Sasuke 21 where Toshihiro Takeda 竹田敏浩 sucked on the rocks..

And had a bear of a time with it (even though he passed it) in Sasuke 23

TBS reminding us at home where he failed in 23..

Aww crap.. they pulled out the chart.. 19 tournaments.. 12 3rd stages.. (impressive).. 0 Finals (ouch)

Because it's winter.. everything is dark like at 3 pm.. Takeda goes out to some place to drown his sorrows.. no wait.. it's worse..

He relies on G4 to save him! Noooooooooo.. just kidding :p Long live google.. the place is called Climbing Space G4 (Indoors) (Location: Gifu-shi, Gifu, Japan)

Here his lack of skill is evident..

He's not Taiwan's Lee En Chi リー・エンチ that's for sure..

This sorta reminds me of Ryo's video (crap he took it down.. oh well)

And DOWN GOES TAKEDA!!

Seems the trainer in the facility is giving him tips as to what went wrong..
(LOL Ube: He gets some help from a kindly old man, not unlike a sifu in a kung-fu movie. Later, he will die and Toshihiro will have to avenge his death.)

He wants him to put more spring in his climb.

Like bending your knees before jumping.

Seems to be working

He gets all the way to the top easier now!

Hello!!

He's beside himself with joy :)

I did it!!! I did it!!

Now he's cocky and wants to try everything... (LOL they cracked out the Pearl Harbor music for this) Seems all the All-Stars are getting 2 theme songs these days

Hey Ube he still has "some" bling :p

I'm still not as fast as Nagano.. that blows.. (LMAO at the channeling Elvis talking again)

Sasuke 24 is the year of family! He finally unchains his wife from the basement and even brought the rest of the family! LOL

That's Reiya in the middle, wife Miyako (I think) and Reio (who's totally doing a Shingo and messing up the moment by spazzing out)

Dude.. I'm totally going to let your Mom whip you.. she's closer..

Ha! Ha! He's getting in trouble!! My Dad is cool :)

The family walks into the sunset.. while Reio = "Oh look.. KITTY".. No wait.. I found something better.. I WANNA EASTA EGG!

GASOLINE STANDO.. and I hear revolting chickens again.. must be Shingo time!

Shingo Yamamoto 山本進悟 in his heroic Stage 1 appearance in Sasuke 23

FINALLY Passing the first stage!!

I heard the word Sugui.. so I assume he was talking about how cool it was to be the 3rd stage again? I'm sure I'll be corrected :p

But.. we all know what happened to him once he got there.. he had fubarred his shoulder (We are assuming after the 2nd stage dive to the finish)..

This is where the guys tell him to drop in to the water as to not exacerbate his injury

Shingo goes to drown his sorrows too!!!

Whoops no wait.. he's going to get physical therapy..

He practices at home by putting the elastic band on a not-so-stable object.. like a dining room table..

Aww.. I was denied the fun of watching his table come hurling towards him...

LOL Shingo loves to smirk too..

Aahhahaha look at the left part of the screen.. It's Sasuke his pet poodle getting airtime. Btw. is he the ONLY All-Star to actually wear his wedding band?

He's doing therapy at work too (LMFAO at Ube's comment about this)

Pumping gas, doing receipts and pull on rubber.. er.. elastic bands..

And for my next amazing feat.. I'm climbing objects! (P.S. theme here sounds like Pirates of the Caribbean again)

Doesn't he look like a young Shinji Kobayashi here?

I don't know what was funny but he does have a cute smile. OH btw.. he was training his "inner muscle".. don't ask me.. I don't know either..

That's one messy FRONT yard in the middle of a city.. it can only one person..

Okay.. TBS is letting us know THEY DIDN'T STRIP HIM OF THE TITLE.. lmao..
Mister Sasuke Katsumi Yamada 山田勝己

Channeling Ube.. let's relive his failures.. (Sasuke 23 where he got pwned by the wall and sucked all kinds of time)

All-Stars doing their best to stay optimistic..

Only to see him get pwned by the Slider Jump with almost no time left on the clock

Now the 2nd most famous Yamada Quote of all time.. He will retire if he sucks again in 24..

Speaking of Sucking it seems he's noticed he's got a bit .. pudgy lately (at least for him)

167.77 lbs ya'll and 20.9% bodyfat just before Halloween this year

This part is hilarious.. only in Japan would they do this..

LOVE HANDLE CAM™

LOVE HANDLE CAM™ (ouch.. that looks like that hurt.. wtf did he do to himself?)

TBS reminding you of the #1 famous Katsumi Yamada quote "Sasuke is everything to me"

Reliving the 10 years of suckitude.. one of the more painful ones Sasuke 15's inexplicable fall off the landing area after the cross bridge

Followed by the time up just a couple feet from the end of Sasuke 16's stage 1

One of the many Jumping Spider fails.. this one from Sasuke 22

Seems Yamada promoting Muscle Musical is out to train himself this time

Cool shot from the lake..

er.. he's going up the mountain..

.. and promptly running out of gas..

Seems like some time has elapsed and he's now no longer promoting Muscle Musical

And doing a Rocky run up the hill

Standing triumphant above the world

Man TBS loves being all dramatic.. LOL

December 4th.. he's dropped 12.55 pounds to 155.22 lbs and lost 4% in body fat

LOVE HANDLE CAM™

LOVE HANDLE CAM™

Hmm.. why does he look emaciated?

Oh btw.. he did confirm in his interview that he is serious.. if he fails Stage 1 again he will be true to his word and will retire.. oh boy.. cracking out popcorn.. WILL HE OR WON'T HE? If he does.. TBS will be merciless.. you can count on that.. If he does pass first stage they will make an epic of that too!

Now for the scrubs.. er.. New Stars :p LOL j/k I love these guys

P.S... (Ube: Enough of the old people. Wait, where's Kazuhiko Akiyama 秋山和彦? Too expensive to send a crew to Hokkaido I guess?) Uhm.. yeah.. I totally agree.. I wish we could actually see a fluff piece with him again.. C'mon.. he's now got blond hair.. that has to count for something!!

Yuuji Urushihara 漆原裕治 totally representing in the final of Sasuke 22

And even with 45 seconds he still didn't win :p

Hitoshi Kanno 菅野仁志 fought his inner demons and beat stage 3 in Sasuke 23

And joined Nagano in the final

Only to get pwned in the final

REMATCH DAMN YOU REMATCH!! TBS would like you to believe they are fighting each other as well.. /sigh

Hitoshi Kanno 菅野仁志 the gymnast training

Er.. Looks like Kanno still hasn't looked for a serious job..

He's cleaning out Pachinko bars at midnight..

Ladies.. he cooks! he cooks!

LOL he's cracking out the chunky jewelry!

Btw.. it seems Kanno is taken by Yamada.. now he's taken up the mantle in wanting to not get a real job until he gets kanzen seiha.. Rider.. I'm borrowing you for a sec.. bare with me.. THIRD-PARTY FACEPALM!! Wtf.. dude.. you are how old and you are changing your life for a friggin' game show???? /sigh..

And likes to display his 2 best sadlecloths.. the one from Sasuke 20 is on the corkboard along with his various Sasuke Trial saddlecloths.

Meanwhile.. Scrub #2.. j/k :p is Yuuji Urushihara 漆原裕治 who got so pwned on the Unstable Bridge in Sasuke 23 it was painful to watch :(

He said he believes he needs to work on his balance so he is using the new sport in Europe that uses a "slackline" to practice (thanks Ube) wait.. THIS ISN'T new..

Dude.. this is so old.. when I was a kid.. we used to call these things tightropes!!

Bah.. Stupid wiki is telling me that it's not the same thing as tightroping.. BITE ME!!!

Hmm.. this looks awful familiar :p

Kanno and his batman shirt..

Oh look! It's Moody in the background there! (Makoto Yahagi 矢作誠 - the kid that likes to meditate under waterfalls)

Yay! That's Tomohiro Kawaguchi 川口朋広 watching Yuuji practice the Unstable Plastic Bridge :p

Aahahhahahaha Ryo Matachi 又地諒 being a smack:
Matachi:　何で落ちたんですか? (Why did you fall?)

LOL and Yuuji knowing he got pwned..
Urushihara: 知らないよ. (I don't know...)

Yuuji getting cocky practicing with a plastic obstacle :p

Kanno showing that he still can beat it

Yuuji is now doing something smart....

Though I'm getting cold just looking at it..

Okay.. let's simulate being outside.. in the dark.. in the middle of winter.. trying to grab a small ledge with our fingers freezing .. and tired.. Voila.. stick your hands in water for 10 seconds.. THEN Try the obstacle.

Yuuji proves he can do it..

And he backs up his smack

Kanno can't stand the cold water and is freaking out..

And can't do the Cliffhanger with frozen fingers

Koji Hashimoto 橋本亘司 (Sasuke 21-23) (Stage 2 competitor from Sasuke 23) on the left is going back to 24 and is practicing as well

Koji and Yuuji watching Kanno suck with frozen fingers

Now.. because TBS loves races..

Yuuji on the left and Kanno on the right

I give this to Kanno

Training under stairs seems to be a common pastime for Sasuke trainers these days

Er.. duh not sure what they are saying here..

Oh we must be reaching the end of Navi.. this is where they shove all the Sasuke day competitors for us to gawk at :) mmmm Takeda.. all in white.. take a drink...

Shingo again not cooperating.. no wait.. no one is looking at the camera..

Kazuhiko Akiyama 秋山 和彦 proving that even if you screw up a dye job.. if you shave it all off you still look okay.. LOL I'm just so stoked he's back :)

TBS doing everything possible to make this short guy tall :) Even if it includes going up his nose :) LOL!

Hot dang.. major pink girly sideways glance.. she's totally jonesing for him.. LOL

Geez.. how many layers does this guy wear? You'd think he'd be used to it.. it snows in Gifu you dork.. no wait.. Takeda knows how to dress for the cold... nvm .. :)

I'm so glad Shingo lost that Jpop haircut..

Kanno also getting the up your nose treatment.. but not all the way.. he's still in training..

Yuuji also got a haircut..

ZOMG WATCH THE FINAL ZOMG

Because TBS hates me.. they run this stupid Sato Hiromochi commercial like every other commercial break..

Aww man.. this goes perfect with what I just ate.. I WANT ICE CREAM!!!!!!!!

Wtf.. TBS MADE A Mr. SASUKE COMMERCIAL!!!

Wow they are milking his threat to retire...

Using his words against him..

Come watch the spectacle.. wow.. he's so screwed if/when he does lose.. TBS is going to be utterly merciless..

Sports group!! Katsuhiko Nagata 永田克彦 - Silver medal wrestler at the Sydney Olympics and is currently with New Japan Pro Wrestling.

Apparently he's the younger brother of pro wrestler Yuji Nagata.

Takashi Fukunishi 福西崇史 - Former Japan National Team soccer player (Sasuke 23)

He fell off the spider walk in Sasuke 23

Kazuyuki Toda 戸田和幸 - Soccer player

Kazuyuki Toda 戸田和幸 - Ube said this guy says he can do it.

Takehiro Ishikawa 石川雄洋! He plays for the Yokohama Bay Stars!

Takehiro Ishikawa 石川雄洋! Baseball player

Genki Sudo 須藤元気 - Former MMA fighter (Sasuke 23)

Yoshiyuki Okuyama 奥山義行 Former World Sprinter

Stage 3 competitor in Sasuke 23 where he revenged his loss from Sasuke 22 on the Shin Cliffhanger

Only to painfully lose on the Spider Flip

That looked painful...

Apparently celebrating Christmas with his family or it someone's birthday?

Okuyama practicing the spider flip

By jumping off ledges to un..

Yoshiyuki Okuyama 奥山義行 ready to pwn the course!

WATCH ZOMG WATCH!! SOMEONE MADE IT SOMEONE MADE ZOMG...

Commercials again..
Harumi Edo エド・はるみ

Udo Suzuki ウド　鈴木 from Kyain キャイ～ン

Dandy Sakano ダンディ坂野

Yoshio Kojima 小島よしお - Comedian (Sasuke 22)

.. Sato.. wow it's nighttime...

ZOMG FINAL ZOMG...

Muscle Musical マッスルミュージカル
Hmm who can we identify:
Rie Komiya 小宮理英, Satomi Kadoi 門井 佐登美 - Kunoichi 8 Co-Champion, Terukazu Ishikawa 石川輝一, Hiromitsu Takahashi 高橋博光, Takuya Kawahara 川原拓也, Spinboy Aichi 大野愛地, Rie Komiya 小宮理英 and some blurry faces. Another two guys (?) and a female. Ube hopes it's Tomomi Arimatsu 有松知美 (the 3rd girl from Kunoichi 8 final).

Katsuhiro Higo 肥後　克広 Jimon Terakado 寺門　ジモン and Ryuhei Ueshima 上島　竜兵 - comedy trio Dachou Club ダチョウ倶楽部

Tetsuro Degawa 出川哲朗 - Comedian (Sasuke 23)

Udo Suzuki ウド　鈴木 from Kyain キャイ～ン - Comedian

Eiko Kano 狩野英孝 - Comedian (Sasuke 23)

Toshiro Shimazaki 島崎俊郎

Wakky ワッキー

Akira Omori (大森晃) - Comedian Monkikki or Monkickey (モンキッキー) (or "Monkey") - Sasuke 1-7 and 3-time Finalist and Sasuke 23

Kojima doing his nekkid shtick

LOL The interviewer isn't even looking at Wakky.. she doesn't have a thing for him

Wtf is Monkikki doing? He's doing some motion like he's pregnant or something.. LOL

Kojima again

Last few scenes letting you know who's coming. Audrey!

Wakky!

Udo!

Yamada!

... Sato...

Kanno!

Yuuji!

Takeda!

Nagano!

Final notes: Here is the link to the Airtimes and dates of all Sasuke 24 related events with timezones... please don't ask me again.. /cry And if you want to see it and not rely on the hoping there's enough streamers.. BUY WIST!