Sasuke 31 Spoilerific Review

Yay!  We got rid of the Rising! Whoot!
 

Sasuke spoilerific review ;) Warning.. incoming blog of Sasuke 31.. if you don’t want to know.. you have been warned ( ^ . ^ ) (Just remember.. there is NO USA Broadcast of this. NBC has renegotiated out of their contract to show Sasuke on USA soil. Yes.. you read that right.. Now with the death of G4 official and NBC not giving a damn about Sasuke Japan, we will never see Sasuke Rising on US television (or any overseas country for that matter unless everyone buys the original 4 hour broadcast from TBS). This is the 4th tournament in the Rising era (post Monster 9) and I'm happy that they got rid of the "Rising" part in the headlines!  For a preview of this event, please see SASUKE 31 NAVI a half hour preview of Sasuke 31 with fluff pieces of some the major players in the upcoming Sasuke. There were even a couple of runs that were cut from the official broadcast! Thanks for all of the support as I had a horrible past 3 weeks with my health.  I'm taking my time on the blogs as I have to limit how much time I can stare at a computer screen. I'm still getting cluster headaches but the cycle this time seems to be winding down long enough for me to work on getting these out!  I have a backlog of things to do but working through it slowly. I am thankful for all of your patience and greatly appreciate all of your well wish messages on Twitter, SMF and privately through email.  You guys are truly the best!! Special thanks to blt (from SMF) for providing the community stream! This is how I watched this year!
 

UBE'S LIVE-BLOG FOR SASUKE 31 IS HERE!
 

(Massive thanks to TBS for posting the names of all 100 competitors!  Thanks to Ube for his help on the names in English!!)

Just like last year, TBS went back to Nico Nico again a a companion for the main tournament.  This was the er.. 5th time? I'm losing track.. but 2nd tournament where the competitors went to watch the tournament live and talked about their experiences with a live chat.  This broadcast only had the competitors watching the show live (off camera) along with the audience.  The tournament itself was just under 4 hours and Nico Nico ran for just under 5 1/2 hours.

The Nico Nico broadcast itself (just like last year) started an hour before the official airing on TBS.  So my time it was 5 am in the East Coast.  Here we see Shimon Ookura 大倉士門, Ryo Matachi 又地諒 and Tomohiro Kawaguchi 川口朋広 all showing the new low tech banner to show everyone on Nico Nico what the show is about since this year they don't have a screen behind them. LOL

and we see Masashi Hioki 日置 将士 on the right

Sasuke Producer Norihiro Okubo 大久保徳宏 on the left and Sasuke Director Masato Inui 乾雅人 on the right (as usual, barking out orders. LOL)

They did a poll of the Nico Nico chat on who was favored to win the tournament.  Ryo was voted to win by quite a bit.  I cheated when I saw the name.. ehem.. ♥ .. moving on.. LOL

Hitoshi Kanno 菅野仁志 arrives fashionable late and gets picked on immediately by Inui for wearing GOLD jewelry when he should be wearing all SILVER jewelry since he's after all a SILVER jewelry designer!! LOL

These were the men that watched Sasuke as it aired on TV in Japan and spoke with chat on Nico Nico. Time for the broadcast do begin!  Everyone with their ear pieces on and watching the television screen below the camera. This was the view on Nico Nico at all times. I had 2 streaming windows open. 1 for Nico Nico and the other for Sasuke. (well.. along with Skype so I could synch all of this together and twitter so I could keep up with the trending. LOL)

Back to my broadcast feed.. Wait.. no opening? LMFAO "Now.. " (that's what "Sa" means btw - sorta like "up next" I'm told.).. so yeah.. coming up we are totally bypassing filler crap and we are headlong into the tournament.. we got a lot of stuff to show you people!!  Opening? Opening?  We don't need to stinking opening!

Rawr! First Stage baby!  And yes for the record.. I was there during this shot. I was in the first set of bleachers.  There were 2 grandstands separated by the announcer booth.  I hope they keep this (or expand) for next year. It was a lot of fun for those who wouldn't otherwise had had a chance to see the tournament since they weren't related or otherwise connected to a competitor!  The Grandstand furthest away from the start (what you see closest in camera) is the one for the lottery audience.  Then the announcer booth... then closest to the start line was the Grandstand I was in.  That was for the competitor's cheering section and that was constantly rotated whenever said "support" competitor ran.

Btw, you can see me here.. Look near the top right (around 3-4 rows up?) of the grandstand and find 3 people wearing sun hats!  Hubby is wearing a pale blue shirt, I'm wearing a royal blue blouse and my friend Cathi is wearing a peach colored blouse! The big jumbo screen was directly in front of us (behind this camera actually) so it was the PERFECT spot IMO.  I wasn't always sitting in the stands, but when I was.. I was always in the same spot!  btw.. Seems according to SMF junkies, we have an oldie announcer making his return!  An announcer from Sasuke 13 returns!  First chair: Kengo Komada 駒田 健吾  This is his 2nd ever Sasuke tournament he announces.

I found the new stage pretty awesome. I never had to wonder what number we were on as it counted IN ENGLISH what "Challenger" was coming up next with the number and the name in English! I was elated!  Personally it made the whole thing look more polished.  Those who missed what I said about the chairs can read the behind the scenes of the First Stage.  The only gripe is that from my vantage point we could NOT see the clock.  There was only one mechanical clock and it was at the end of the stage near the red button way out of my viewpoint.

Former WBA Champion 元WBA世界ミニマム級
チャンピオン

Ryo Miyazaki 宮崎亮

First obstacle is actually an update of an old obstacle already used.  This is the modified Barrel Climb where they fused it with the Rapid Descent.  This now has a new name ① ^Rolling Hill ローリングヒル

 Oh crap!  He spun the bottom rung hard!

Sliding backwards with zero hope of recovery!!

Yep the same people from "The Room" are actually here live!

And everyone is surprised how quickly he failed!

That's a shame. He got further the last time he was here in Sasuke 29.

Ryo Miyazaki 宮崎亮 - Death by Rolling Hill

Quickly to Number 2!

Takahiro Ogata 尾形貴弘 of the Comedy Trio "Panther"  お笑い芸人「パンサー」

They do a schtick and gets the crowd involved.  Seems they are known for a lot of physical comedy as they all slap his face over and over and yell at each other.

 Here is Takahiro Ogata 尾形貴弘 getting slapped in the face

Nooooo he missed his footing right from the get go!

And down he goes.. 

His partners in Panther are doubled over in laughter

And competitors are horrified that 2 people up and 2 people IMMEDIATELY eliminated.

Takahiro Ogata 尾形貴弘 - Death by Rolling Hill

Let's see that again.. he actually got his foot but his body shifted forward and then he .. tip toed?  Yeah.. once you get that roller moving.. it's all over.

Meanwhile with Ogata out of the water and dirt on his face.. wait.. WTF.. CHECK OUT DUDE'S shirt!!!!!! That's Takeru 武 尊 (whose run was shown in Navi) I mean.. I heard about it before.. but I totally missed it when I was there!  OMG!!!!! AHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Sorry.. got distracted.  Comedy schtick between them while the stars come out.  Hioki losing it and Mr. Sasuke rockin' the shades like a pimp!

Soda bottle. wait that's not soda.. iced tea? oooooooooh I know who's next!

It's Katsuhide Torisawa 鳥澤 克 who er... looks mild mannered behind a desk! LOL

Squeezes the contents of the closed bottle so now there's schmutz all over the start line..

 Omg we have our first person to actually not whiff on the first roller!!

Worship me! I have passed the first side of the first obstacle!

Okay.. gingerly.. over the other side...

Oh no.. he gets impatient and starts to move faster..

Aaaaaaand I saw this coming..

Competitors freaking out because no one has gotten past the first friggin' obstacle!

Katsuhide Torisawa 鳥澤 克 - Death by Roller Hill

 AHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA WTF.. we NOW get the opening?  Seriously??

This seems so out of place.. and we didn't get out of commercial.. this just randomly popped up in here like it was a mistake..

Jay Kabira 川平慈英 

Hiromi Kawata 川田裕美

Nana Suzuki  鈴木奈々

Yusuke Inoue 井上裕介（NON STYLE）
Hanamaru Hakata 博多華丸（博多華丸・大吉）

SASUKE SA.. er.. KESU?  Giggles

So yes they are live and we don't have a "room" this year!  YEAH!!

Not for anything but.. we are (still) in the First Stage! LOL

Magically at number 9!  Looks like someone who dances at Festivals. (Yep!  神輿担ぎ which means bearer of portable shrines!)

Daigoro Kurokawa 黒川大吾

We sorta know how he does. his.. er.. posterior was in the commercials..

Oh that's bad.. he got all the way almost to the top!

But slipped down..

Daigoro Kurokawa 黒川大吾 - Death by Rolling Hill

And we have a boooold prediction.. 

FINAL STAGE! ファイナルステージ

Yeah.. right.. woo...

Up to number 11 now (I was there until er.. about 20's? I lost track)

Abareru-kun あばれる君

Survives Barrel Climb part!

Okay.. that's not looking promising..

 NOPE!  Immediately started to roll downhill!

Tries to jump but falls short!

Oh hey! I know them!!  Mori on the left is a former competitor and I know his wife on the right!  She's the competitor this time! LMFAO with Mr. Sasuke pimpin' a snake!

Yeah.. he's not doing so hot right now.. looks like a bloodbath.

Throws a tantrum! LOL

Abareru-kun あばれる君 - Death by Rolling Hill

Mental note.. don't go down this way...

This is his attempt of saving himself but he fell way short on his jump.

 Guess he shouldn't be shouting lofty claims!

Golden Bomber rookie is all freaked out because everyone is failing early.

Oh I've seen him before. He's the actor that was in Sasuke 30!

My God he's skinny..

Ryosuke Yamamoto - 山本涼介

And easily clearing the first half..

And he's also forward on the back end.. but he's got long legs..

And he clears it!  (cough.. someone else cleared before him but this is the first in the broadcast)

Rolls to his back to make sure he didn't fall in the water

Ahahhahaha  he's really tall and makes this look really small.  Next obstacle is the ② Log Grip ロググリップ and it is a bit steeper this year.

This is called the Music Box. Japanese name is ③ ^Orugōru オルゴール

He's taking a couple swipes to figure out how fast he needs to go to stay on.

Jumps as high as he can!

Now for the dismount while it's rolling..

OMG HE TOTALLY MISCALCULATED!

Wow.. into the water.

Mori's wife is freaking out..

Ryosuke Yamamoto - 山本涼介

Time to chug some milk!

Dairy farmer 酪農家

Koji Iwata 岩田耕司

Nice easy clear on the front half

Foot on the 2nd roller..

And he geronimo's and makes it!

On to the Log Grip doing really good time

On to the Music box just like that!

Quickly across the top

WHOA he jumps!!

AND LANDS IT!!

And the crowd goes wild!

Familycam™ is happy!

Celebs are overjoyed!

Finally we get to see the 4th obstacle! LOL  ④ Jump Hang Kai ジャンプハング改 wait.. they got rid of the kai part.. so it's officially listed only as the Jump Hang.

Didn't matter as he didn't last long on it!

Not high enough and flings himself out of it.

I can't believe I can say it "they are totally having a cow!".. Ehem.. ♥  and yeah.. I was there for that.. LOL

Took the tramp a little too high and he didn't get enough height on his jump

Koji Iwata 岩田耕司 - Death by Jump Hang

.. hey now.. rock hard bod.. totally looks like a wrestler..

LOOK AT MY CROTCH!

Yep!  Called it. LOL

Tensai Professional Wrestler プロレスラー

Kota Ibushi 飯伏幸太

So his uniform is hot pants and hooker boots while bending over backwards?

Never understood Japan's fascination with snaggle tooth and crunchy orange hair...

I'm here to pump... you up!!

The tush is sideways!!

Oh Japan.. don't ever change with your incomprehensible commercials...

Magically back in time as we see Kota Ibushi 飯伏幸太 about to start!

Okay he managed to miraculously save himself!

 Carefully climbs on top

Almost rolls off and manages to save himself again!

Slowly moves down...

and safely clears the Rolling Hill!

Log Grip time!

Clears it with ease so it's now Music Box Time!

Jumps high as to not roll off of it

Caaaaarefully eying the landing.

Clears it!

Front somersault onto the platform (yes.. it's flashy but it's faster than climbing it)

Points to it (yep I expect him to fail here)

HA! Proved me wrong as he grabs the Jump Hang!

Correction.. CLEARS it!

FINALLY.. we get to the 5th obstacle!

This is the ⑤ *Tackle タックル - 140 kg (308 lbs), 160 kg (352 lbs) and 180 kg (396 lbs) for a total of pushing 478 kg (1056 lbs) forward!

 So the trick to this is using your core muscles and legs to get the momentum to push the other 3 blocks forward.. otherwise you are pushing 1000+ lbs on just your shoulders.

The camera here in the first Tackle box is hilarious really.

Just as we saw in Navi, the boxes turn into almost an accordion under the landing to get to the next obstacle.

He's pooped.. and moving sloooooowly..

Just about crawling at this point

With almost no time left we get to the single Warped Wall - ⑥ Soritatsu Kabe そり立つ壁

and his only shot at clearing it before the timer runs out is in vain.

More somersaulting..

hamming it for the cameras

Kota Ibushi 飯伏幸太 - Death by Time up on Warped Wall

Time to take some notes...

Golden Bomber guy really freaked out..

Oh hai! Take double drinks as 2 Descente Gear clothing in the same shot!

Seriously.. do I need to tell you who these guys are?  Do you watch the show?  They don't formally identify Takeda on the neon green shirt that reaaaaally bugged my eyes in the sunlight. LOL with Nagano on the right.

Sasuke All-Star Makoto Nagano 長野誠 and Captain of the 50th Konpiramaru 第50金比羅丸

Because I can.

Longtime Rambling Rican readers might recognize Mori on the right who competed in Sasuke 21.  Those who follow my blog would have a passing knowledge of a certain anime character (that I have used in previous blogs) whom actually is the Japanese voice actress for!

Chiyo-Chan from Azumanga Daioh
Yes!  This one! LOL

And she does a high pitched scream right in her husband's ear!

LOL!  I'm sad I totally missed this!

(I wasn't sitting at my seat as by that point I realized I was getting severe sunburn)

Tomoko Kaneda 金田 朋子 and her husband Wataru Mori 森渉

He goes to high five her..

he's still waiting..

She doesn't see him..

he gives up.. LOL!!

Oh she doesn't have a prayer..

Gaaaaah.. saw this coming unfortunately..

Oh oh.. she can't swim! (neither can I...)

Rewind to when she was going to jump..

And his reaction to her falling in..

No seriously.. she can't swim..

He almost literally flies to save her..

But we all know they have lifeguards ready for anything..

She's almost falling backwards..

not sure what she's saying.. but everyone starts to laugh.

Tomoko Kaneda 金田 朋子 - Death by Rolling Hill

Seaside Park?

Amusement Park Mechanic 遊園地整備士

Kazunori Goto 後藤和徳

LOL He accidentally drops his hammer

Awkward pan to show where it is on the course...

I.. uhm.. meant to do that..

They cleared the hammer for him and he clears the first part of the Rolling hill

slows down after almost rolling off the top..

gently climbs down and then jumps

successfully!

Onwards to the Log Grip

NO!  He's down on the Log Grip!

Kazunori Goto 後藤和徳 - Death by Log Grip

Time for the model!

who's also watching on Nico Nico

Shimon Okura 大倉士門

Who is really popular on Twitter!

He was here last year

And failed the landing on the Log Grip!

Will he survive this year?

Shimon Okura 大倉士門

Jams those feet in the crease

LOL!  And just walks up the side like it's friggin' stairs!

Time for the other side..

reaaally taking his time to make sure he doesn't screw up..

Successfully jumps

Time for the Log Grip that took him out last year

Not this year!

They don't seem impressed lol

On to the Music Box..

Cramming to the right side..

Sticks his toe out to touch the platform..

and squeaks the landing

Looking petrified going into the Jump Hang and does a motion as if he was coughing up a lung or something..

Nope.. too far up.. and hits the metal beam instead of the trampoline!!

Gah.. yeah.. he screwed it up and he's lost in the air..

Whoa! he tried to save it but it was too late as Kanno watches horrified.

That kinda looked painful..

Announcer booth surprised

Golden Bomber is just about having a conniption now.. 

Sorry guys! I totally screwed up!

Shimon Okura 大倉士門 - Death by Jump Hang

PART TWO