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Saturday, August 1, 2015

Sasuke 31 Spoilerific Review - Part 3

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.
 
 
 
(Massive thanks to TBS for posting the names of all 100 competitors!  Thanks to Ube for his help on the names in English!!)
  
Yuka Murofushi 室伏由佳

Now that we fast forwarded history on the Warped Wall (yes I'm bitter about Ayano) we are back to someone with a name! For those who follow Sportsman No.1, she is the sister of the 2002 Pro Sportsman #1 Champion Koji Murofushi.

Actually she's a former World and Olympic competitor in Hammer Throw and Discus!

carefully goes up the Rolling Hill

also carefully going down the other side

Time to advertise another show on TBS while doing Sasuke.. gotta pay dem bills yo!

Carefully on the Music Box

All in all careful is the name of the game but she's really slow..

Taking time to eye up the Jump Hang

And immediately on the other side!

While this is much slower, you can tell she had a plan! I liked that!

She knew he had no upper body strength to handle dangling on the other side so she took her chances on the outside of the cargo net.

Finally out and onto the tackle. As mentioned before, the tackle one of a couple obstacles that is different for the children, old people and women in Sasuke.

This is 70 kg (154 lbs), 80 kg (176 lbs) and 90 kg (198 lbs) so equaling 240 kg (just under 530 lbs) of total weight.

Carefully pushing the weight to the end of the platform

She's at least eyeballing the wall with almost no time left..

And throws her body at it.  I'm not going to begrudge her being shown, just upset that it had to be at the expense of Ayano's clear and proof that more women could have cleared Sasuke if they had the ANW timer.. or lack thereof.

Still a great run by 38 year old Yuka Murofushi 室伏由佳 - Death by Time up on Warped Wall

Kenjirou Ishimaru 石丸謙二郎 is alive and kickin' - never call him a joke competitor despite his age.

Bah another fast forward...

I'm happy I got to see this run though

I saw this whole section with the women and "old people"

I gave him a lot of credit though, he never gave up!

Kenjirou Ishimaru 石丸謙二郎 - Death by Time up on Warped Wall

View from the 2nd grandstand!  All of these are lucky lottery people!  71 have gone and 4 clears!!

Next is a Polynesian dancer!

From Tahiti - Anastase Ragivaru ラギヴァル・アナスターズ

And out like a bolt onto the Rolling Hill

And yes I was there for that! LOL

I've gotten a LOT of questions about this.. and yes..

This was later deemed illegal.. He was the first to try this but he didn't speak English or Japanese..

So they literally had no other way to communicate with him to stop him..

And they figured he was going out early so what's the point in chasing him down..

Besides.. he was running so damn fast there was no way to chase him down.. LOL

He's literally flying through this course..

with each clear obstacle the crowd gets louder

and a nice high catch on the Jump Hang is making even the announcer freak out!

Surely he's going to fail somewhere right??

He must have boarded the Kong Express because this train stops for no one! LMFAO at the announcer going "SO FAST!  SO SCARY!" Aahahahahhaha

That's one determined face!  He knew he had to go fast because there's a timer.. but he doesn't see it..

So he's going as fast as he can and hopes it's enough!

Dude is not even trying to look at the clock.. he's going to EAT this wall!

And sure enough! He's cleared it!  LOOK AT THAT TIME!

By now he sees the clock

But he's not letting up and overshoots the landing!!

Production team is literally crapping a brick right now.. because what to do.. while the announcer is practically losing his voice from screaming!

Do they DQ him because they weren't fast in telling him he couldn't jump a few obstacles ago?

And then of course.. HOW to tell him he technically couldn't jump from the log but had to from the top roller.. when they didn't specifically say he couldn't..

So they said screw it.. he didn't know and now we can tell everyone to not do it.  Besides.. look at his time, even if he jumped from lower on the other side of the rolling hill.. he still would have gotten far with plenty of time to spare!

So we have a new clear and no way to communicate with him! LMFAO!

Btw, yes they did address this in the Nico Nico broadcast as Inui explains briefly that they couldn't talk to him during the First Stage.  They didn't have a French interpreter with them because.. well.. they didn't expect him to clear! LOL My example to explain how they handled it (not on Nico Nico) was the incident with Levi back in Sasuke 25 where using your hands on the Dome Steps was considered illegal but they didn't DQ him because he was the first to be told not to do so (and was given a rerun as a result). Everyone AFTER that would be DQ'ed since they would be properly told.  This is how they handled the Ragivaru's Tarzan jump from the top of the Rolling Hill. Everyone AFTER him was told that they had to jump from the top of the first roller on the backside - not the top of the obstacles like Anastase did.  This also explains why after this a lot of people just crawled to the back of the obstacle to make sure they didn't screw up.

His support team that came with his in-laws are ecstatic as the kids behind them are in SHOCK!

I admit so were we!  However, even his support group were shocked out of their minds that not only did he clear, he had the fastest time by a LOT!!  They had NO idea he was going to do so good.. especially given his lack of Sasuke history.

Anastase Ragivaru ラギヴァル・アナスターズ - FIRST STAGE CLEAR!!!
That's tattooed on him btw not painted like Asa's

I mean damn.. we haven't seen these kinda numbers in a while

Awww "yep that's MY time!"  He's so ecstatic!  First time ever seeing the show! (yes you read that right.. LOL)

Meanwhile back at the chairs behind the start line Hioki is hysterical at that time!

Hioki can't help but cackle considering how he almost timed out!!

Meanwhile ABCDEFG guy is in shock while Arashida in the back is cackling so hard a vein is about to bust out of his neck!

Seriously - this shot right here was a microcosm of what the emotions were - WTF (shock) and WTF (holy crap that was awesome!)

Not the suckitude chart™ but showing how fast of a difference the top times are!!  He's almost over DOUBLE over the next two three (if you count Hioki's) times combined!!!

Awwwww I wish they showed his First Stage run!  It was magical!!

Anyway.. it's a Fast Forward.. again.. yes.. back to back years being Fast Forwarded.  On the plus side he's 2/2 on the First Stage. LOL

Kung-Cheen Howng 洪 恭芹 - FIRST STAGE CLEAR! I know him as "Jin"


And yes this is the run I was there to cheer on! (ehem.. I was on the start line holding that sign)  Thanks Jin for allowing me to share that moment with you!  I'm eternally grateful for the invitation! (yes that's Taiwan's Lee Enchi リー・エンチ behind me since Jin was adopted into Team Taiwan group)

Awwwww We also got a Fast Forward on his FIRST clear of Stage One ever!

Yuuichi Okada 岡田祐一 - FIRST STAGE CLEAR!

Masashi Hioki 日置 将士,  2-Time Grand Champion Yuuji Urushihara 漆原裕治 (Cliffer #3), Yuuichi Okada 岡田祐一, with a very blond Ryo Matachi  又地諒 (Cliffer #2) and Hitoshi Kanno 菅野仁志 ©Hitoshi Kanno

Long-time Rambling Rican readers will recognize that photo.  But for those unfamiliar, these were/are all STQ'ers (Sasuke Trial Qualifiers).  Hioki is the last one of this group that people recognize. He was the "lucky bastard that got Bunpei Shiratori to give a toast at his wedding".  While the guy in the middle named Okada (who cleared for the first time today) was the guy that had his wife wind up the home-made Rolling Escargot by tying a rope to their mini-van! If you don't know the other 3.. then you haven't watched the show! Many a finalist have trained in Okada's training course!

Anyway, it's special to me since he FINALLY cleared the First Stage!

Last in this group of clears can see his time going up the platform!

Hiraki Fukanuma 深沼 開 - FIRST STAGE CLEAR!

And just like that we are at 81!
From ABC-Z it's Ryoichi Tsukada 塚田僚一

There was a whole fluff section dedicated to how much Ryoichi trained in Navi.

Oh look! it's Matsuda (the owner and builder of the training course they used out in Gunma)

Meanwhile ignoring all of this as he's next, is Darvish.

80 people have gone and 8 clears!

They added an actor to the booth.  Sorry sweetie I don't know your name..
Thanks Ube!  Hayami Mokomichi 速水 もこみち

And there's a commercial for his gig during the broadcast..

Yeah.. let's make a note of that..

Mmmmmaking love to Sasuke Spray..

Yeah.. make sure you get it all up in there.. let it stick everywhere!

Meanwhile Fukanuma is greeted by the rest of the clears behind them all.

Soooo.. is Shower Gate controversial like Water Gate?

Or a literal "Shower" + "Gate"?  I wish they knew wtf they were singing to when they randomly pick English words that have no other meanings..
Even fans have theories on wtf the title of the song means..

Anyway.. he's gone Super Saiyan.. oh and apparently the "Johnny's group" of which ABC-Z offshoot group is from is pretty big in Japan right now.

Time for an announcer change now that we are at the top 20!
Kengo Komada 駒田 健吾 - wow he hasn't been back since before Inui left the show previously!

Anyway, time to milk that crane rental!

ABC-Z's Ryoichi Tsukada 塚田僚一

Already better than the last pop star! he's relieved he made it though because he spun one of those rollers pretty hard!

reaaally taking his time on this sucker

So much so that Yuuji's high pitch scream can be heard to move it!

Okay on Log Grip

Mounting the Music Box

Toooooooepick..

Not sure what that technique is..

hey but it works so I'm not complaining!

Doooh almost falls.. kick feet up!!

Safely off the Jump Hang

Cranks his neck waaay down for this one..

taking a while to get to the end there..

I'm sure he has a migraine.. He looked uncomfortable on the Tackle

And he HAD IT!!!!!!!!  HAD IT!! omg he's going to be kicking himself!!

Trying to regroup with what energy he has left..

And he got it!

Darvish intently watching is VERY happy!

Yuuji freaking out as Ryo is running along

He's in agony.. sheer willpower is pushing him right now..

14 seconds.. he has to get over the moat, on the pad, up the wall and over the bridge..

Almost overshoots..

No hope.. he's sliding..

Weird kick.. maybe the shoes aren't sticking?

And he times out.. as he takes a peak at the clock going to zero..

Darvish's reaction was so fast I could barely get a shot of it.

And his Golden Bomber teammate also is upset how close he got... Wish Darvish up next, is this his fate too?

rewind in time as the clock runs out..

Ryo laughing

and Yuuji devastated

Awwwww cute moment as he slowly crawls on the bridge and reaches his hand to get the button..

He touches the box but not the button.. he was sooooo close...

Ryoichi Tsukada 塚田僚一 - Death by Time up on Lumberjack Climb

Yuuji congratulating him on a great first run!

Darvish is up next as he's totally been where Ryoichi was.. just last year!

So this is Golden Bomber.. Darvish is the "drummer"

Kenji Darvish 樽美酒研二 from the music group ゴールデンボンバー (Golden Bomber)

Long Fluff piece of Darvish's epic fall from the Lumberjack last year

cool shot of Darvish looking at the Final Stage, this time with a buzz cut!

Yutaka is also in the band (he was the very blond front guy)

so.. will he get to TOUCH the button?

To say he was gunning for this is the understatement of the year...

He didn't smile on stage.. he trained hard for a year, lost weight, gained muscle and worked on stamina. He was gunning for this First Stage all year..

And he's off and already better than his band mate!

carefully going the other side..

Jumps about 3/4 of the way down

no problems on the Log Grip

Climbs onto the Music Box

Tiiiiiiiippitoe onto the platform

Perfect on the Jump Hang!

Nice and high!

On to the tackle and he has his head up!

We've seen this in a few commercials so we were spoiled a bit.

under 40 seconds and he's dismounting the Tackle..

Stops to eyeball that wall. he cannot fail this.

Tips of his fingers!!!!!!

Now frantically jumping down to get to the Tarzan Rope!

18-17 seconds..

gently on the pad and he doesn't hear the klaxon.

Taking a moment to concentrate.. don't fall.. don't fall.. don't fall..

He hears the klaxon so he knows he has to gtfo

NICE pace up the wall.. MUCH better than last year

HE CAN SEE THE CLOCK..

Dives head first into the buzzer!

HE'S CLEARED!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Band mate is shocked!

Kanno, Tomo and Ryo are ecstatic!  All have had dinner with him over the years. LOL

Kenji Darvish 樽美酒研二 - FIRST STAGE CLEAR!

He's screaming he's so happy!

He can't contain his joy at clearing.  "YATTA!!!!!!"

He willed that wall. LOL  Literally his fingertips

Bear hug from his drinking buddy Kanno.

He's so thankful!

He trained so hard.. he's crying

Huge ovation from the double grandstands as they chant KENJI KENJI KENJI

Kenji crying in make up doing a lot of bowing to the crowd and waving as he does the walk of fame.

Ryoichi congratulating Kenji

Band mate offering his congratulations

Ahahhahaha and Darvish bops him over the head!

wtf was that for???

Just joking!  I love you man!

Chart of people to come as Darvish makes his way to the platform to sit with the rest of the clears

His name gets added to the jumbo screen

We've got 9 clears now!

7 comments:

band97 said...

So Lee was there. Did he compete?

Arsenette said...

He did not compete. His countryman Liao from Team Taiwan (from ASEAN) did so he came with him. They all cheered each other. Wonderful wonderful people the entire group!

Unknown said...

Is it allowed for you to say where Arashida failed in the first stage?

Arsenette said...

I forgot where he failed. I'd have to ask. Once Jin cleared I had to leave the stage so I missed his run. ( > . < )

Arsenette said...

Log Grip I was just told.

Unknown said...

Thank you very much! ^^

Unknown said...

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL at Anastase Ragivaru run. The truth has been spoken behind his run. His run is just too funny in your blog. I entirely laughed when read his run in your blog. That determined face is so gold and no way to communicate with him until he cleared 1st stage LOL.
I'm glad for Jin and Darvish cleared 1st stage.
ABCDEFG-Z try again next time. You did very well for your first run.