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Monday, August 10, 2015

Sasuke 31 Spoilerific Review - Part 5

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 month 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!!)
  
We are back!  Time for GirlfriendCam™ as we see Yuki 由妃 at the start line of Sasuke

Her boyfriend Kazuma though is looking like a deer in the headlights..

Awwwww During the day of the taping, I heard they were engaged.. wait..

ooooh he also planned to do that in front of the cameras as well.  Ooops I thought it already happened but the rumor was there earlier in the day. LOL

It's still touching though considering that Kanno kept saying that he wasn't going to marry his girlfriend until he won Sasuke.. we know how THAT turned out..

So yeah everyone was packed to see this totally friggin' awesome moment when right at the start line you had Asa ask Yuki to marry him!

Kazuma starts to tear up as Yuki falls apart

She doesn't say anything but only cries.. hysterically.. still.. where's the damn kiss??

Everyone even outside of the grandstands were climbing over each other to see this really cool scene.  And yes we all wanted to see the kiss.. dangit!

LOL She just says "Thank you"  Hey.. as a fan I say thank you too!  She didn't have to suffer like Kanno's girl!

New Generation Star Kazuma Asa 朝一眞

So it seems in 2014 he changed jobs. He's no longer the crying gardener!

He's now in construction!

I still don't know his Father's name! I presume that he is now in his father's business now that he is getting married and has a wife to support.

For long-time Rambling Rican readers, you recognize this picture. This was from Sasuke Trials in Sasuke 21. This was actually my first trials blog back when Sasuke Maniac on TBS television still existed during the summer of 2008. If you look carefully Asa is on the left of the screen and Ryo is on the far right. They were the 2 to survive this heat.

I remember this.. /cries.. Sasuke 22 Trials where he was thrown in a tug of war.. and Ryo's and Asa's group lost (Kanno, Yuuji and Koji were part of the winning group)... that losing group had to do 800 meter run and and only the top 10 of the 30 were able to advance.

Advancing from the 800 meter race, he had to do a Warped Wall simulated hill of which he could not climb.  He again failed to qualify to return to Sasuke.

Sasuke 27 had a trials that Monster 9 never aired (that was the famous "if you pay for it then it will be shown lost episode).  He again failed the Warped Wall but had a 2nd chance as many didn't clear the wall either.  Then everyone who didn't outright qualify by clearing the course had to line up at the end of the day to hear if their number was called to qualify for Sasuke 27.  Out of nowhere, and as the last number called,  his number #9 was called.

Finally given a 2nd chance, in Sasuke 27 he debuted this new kanji.

And it was then where he FINALLY defeated his Warped Wall demons and cleared the First Stage!

Named a Shin Sedai (New Generation) in Sasuke 28, he went on to keep clearing the First Stage and becoming a 3rd Stage figure all while yelling out his famous chant of "Passion/Emotion".

In Sasuke 30 his beautiful girlfriend Yuki debuted

And a tender side of Asa emerged as a hopeless romantic. ♥

Back in the present, Kabira is giving Asa mad props for an awesome display.  And the rest are making fun of the talento in the back as he's tearing up with emotion.

Dude.. you crying??

He is doing everything possible NOT to cry. Well done Kazuma!!

So yeah we are at 14 clear with 6 left to go.

Btw for those asking, since the top group had the bleachers filled, I couldn't find space in the stands after watching Jin's run. So I ended up sitting next to the final tower watching the jumbo screen as best I could with a group of people who also were left out.  I would have loved a screen out there.. but still, this was my vantage point from about #85+

魂:meaning spirit or soul, so his back is meant to read "The spirit of Sasuke or the soul of Sasuke". And yes since it's a temporary tattoo, Yuki smeared it when she hugged him at the start line.  Btw, I'm laughing at Kong cheesing at Drew about his shirt on his knees.

And finally after that long fluff piece and marriage proposal. we are ready!

Thankfully that display didn't curse him and he mounts the Rolling Hill safely!

He steps down decisively and jumps!

safely!

Onto the Log Grip

Mounting the Music Box

Safely dismounts the Music Box

Powering through the Jump Hang with no issues

And yells in the Tackle

Slllowly gets to the end of the Tackle

Concentrating on 1 shoting the Warped Wall..

And he does!!

Nice time left!  43 seconds as she grabs the Tarzan Rope!

Safely on the mat as he he prepares to go up the Lumberjack Climb.

Quickly up the Lumberjack!

And HE takes the 2nd fastest time now!

Yuki overcome as she sees he didn't crumble under the pressure.

Can I get a YELL YEAH!!!!!!!

Darvish having fun with the clear group as we see a chart of the final 5 competitors listed.

Kazuma Asa 朝一眞 - FIRST STAGE CLEAR!

Oooooh we have a fast forward clear reel again!

 Kissing both guns as he clears!
New Generation Star Hitoshi Kanno 菅野仁志 - FIRST STAGE CLEAR!

That's Kanno's wife Emiko 笑子 and their (sleeping) son Yuuto 雄仁

Awww Tomo's fast forwarded as well!

Tomohiro Kawaguchi 川口朋広 - FIRST STAGE CLEAR!

Sasuke All-Star Makoto Nagano 長野誠

He realizes the crowd is getting louder now that he's been introduced.

He's reaaaally feeling the pressure. He's been down all day and now with both of friends eliminated, he's again.. the last All-Star standing..

As most know by now, he has a new ship. The 50th Konpiramaru 第50金比羅丸

Captain of the 50th Konpiramaru. 第50金比羅丸
Seriously.. you don't watch the show if you don't know who Nagano is by now

Because I can..

Winner of Sasuke 17 and the face of Sasuke for a solid 10 years

Sadly his record has been spotty for a few years.  Failed in the 1st stage in Sasuke 29

Unceremoniously disqualified because of a bullshit rule in Sasuke 30 on a broken obstacle..

and now showing how again his life has changed in the past year.

First time in his life he had BUILT his own home back in his hometown.  Heck.. it even has secret trap doors for the kids to play as ninja in! LOL

I had to look this up but I know for a fact that Nagano is a devout follower of the Shinto Religion so I figured it was a good luck thing.  Takeda and Nagano are throwing mochi (rice cakes) from the top of Nagano's new home during the housewarming.

According to a blog I found, Mochi is thrown from an elevated position, imitating the folk belief that fortune falls from heaven.

I'm just so happy that after years of living off his boat primarily or going back to his parents (after his divorce), he finally has built new roots in a home to raise his 3 children with Asami.

Ah.. the ceremonial caning™

And it seems Takeda is throwing the rest of his energy into Makoto's back since he didn't use it during his run. LOL

Proud mother Asami 阿紗美 with her sons Kaiou 塊王, baby Genou 玄皇 swaddled on her lap and Taiou 太皇 (btw I think that's Asami's brother on the left)

97 down.. 17 clears with 3 left!

Sasuke All-Star Makoto Nagano 長野誠

Okay.. he's on the Rolling Hill and every commercial spoiled he was past this..

Gaaah that's why I hate commercials that spoil things..

Rolled last roller though scaring the crap out of everyone..

Onto Log Grip

Climbing onto the Music Box

Crawls like a cat across the top!

Carefully eying the landing pad

And an easy clear on the Music Box

Glad he doesn't have issues with this version of the Jump Hang. I think the only version he's never failed?  All others he has before.

Onto the tackle!

Laboring.. granted he is 43 years old and a chain smoker.. but he reaaally looks slow on this..

Slowly dismounting..

He looks like he saw a ghost...

Shakes his head.. Omg.. no.. he's had this face all day... seriously.. ALL DAY..

He looks resigned..

Finally gets up after sitting and gasping for air..

Aaaaaaalmost.. but not quite enough.. You hear him yell..

Yuuji feeling that internally as Ryo is panicking..

Everyone horrified he's failed it..

Everyone praying he gets the next one.. not a lot of time left..

Takeda staring at the only clock in the entire course as Shingo yells support to Nagano who is clearly hurting..

Gasping for air.. as that timer just keeps going..

Tries again.. but fails worse..

Asami screaming knowing he failed again.. Kaiou is now old enough to really know wtf is going on and he's not happy.. Taiou just looking at daddy on the big screen.. while Genou is looking at the back of his eyelids right now..

Not wanting to get yelled at again by his wife.. he sets up to run up the wall again..

and fails again..

Asami yelling as hard as she can..

Kaiou just throws his head back and screams in disappointment.

It's over.  He's still panting.

Aww I didn't know Lee was also running alongside with the other All-Stars.

Perry I see you!! LOL

Familycam™ as they are disappointed.  This is going to be a quick trip home.

I think I mentioned this before in other places, but he just was not trained this time around.  He finds it harder and harder to get in shape for the tournament.  He was sooo out of his element this tournament and was dreading his run knowing he wasn't fully prepared. He's tired. He doesn't think he can train for this anymore but he feels compelled to show up. He also knows if he shows up he is expected to contend. Others see one last 3rd stage run but he right now doesn't see how that's possible.   Right now, this isn't fun for him. He booked his flight before the tournament and at first I thought it was on Sunday (that was the rumor), but was corrected.  Still though, it wasn't far off from what I heard during the tournament. He booked a flexible flight in the case if he failed the first day, he could get a new flight without massive fees.  He did, and he and his family rescheduled the flight for the following day.

Now everyone is actually thinking the same thing. We were all worried about Nagano the whole day.

Sasuke All-Star Makoto Nagano 長野誠 - Time up on Warped Wall

Nagano: Yeah, I wanted to give it my all, but physically it’s tough…

(btw he was asked to come back next time.)
Nagano: I want to think about (coming back) next time.  Next time will depend on my physical condition.
So to explain this exchange it will take a bit.  In the past if someone publicly said they were done, they had to take at least a tournament off before coming back.   It's happened to Takeda, Akiyama and Yamada.  It's rare that an exchange like this would be aired in the fear that if they air it, then it will become confirmed. Nagano wanted to say he was retiring and even eluded to this during this interview.  He was pleaded to come back but he was still non-committal.  So, at this point, if he feels he's physically able to "contend", he will come back for one last try.  He doesn't think he would just show up and fail all the time without people getting upset about it. He himself has too much pride as well and would only show up if he can live up to his own expectations on top of everyone else's expectations. Our hope (mine and Inui's) is to have him get to the 3rd and then retire. Retire on top instead of a disappointing fail like this time. I personally don't want a Yamada ending for him.  He was just in the 2nd last tournament and had it not been for problems with a broken obstacle we might have seen him in the 3rd again. We will never know.  So right now, this may be the last shot of Nagano on Sasuke.  Let's pray it's not.

Repaying the favor, the boy band guy from ABC-Z, Ryoichi Tsukada 塚田僚一 lends his support for the current and reigning Champion Yuuji.

2-Time Grand Champion Yuuji Urushihara 漆原裕治 (Cliffer #3)

Winner of Sasuke 24

and Sasuke 27.  The only man ever to beat the course twice.

2-Time Grand Champion Yuuji Urushihara 漆原裕治 (Cliffer #3)
btw.. I LOVE HIS NEW THEME!!!!

wtf..

back from commercials as we see Yuuji get ready.

Feeling butterflies in his stomach.. the next champion goes..

Safely on the Rolling Hill

Not taking chances on the back side of the Rolling Hill

Safely through the Log Grip

Mounting onto the music box

Also crawling up the top of it

Sticks his toe out to get to the platform safely

No issues on the Jump Hang as his time is really really good

Wow.. head down for the Tackle..

REAAAAALLY far down ...

Struggling badly.. as his massive lead is evaporating

Holy cow.. almost 20 seconds on this thing..

Just sits down trying to collect himself..

Fails badly on his first attempt

His best friend Hioki is horrified..

Tries again and fails again!!

Panting as he tries to collect himself..

Fails again!!

he knows it's over but he's now pissed off... He could do this in his sleep..

Fails horribly on his next try..

Boy band dude is about to cry..

Yuuji is perplexed..

Tries again and fails worse than before

Times up..

Nagano assuring Ryo that all he has to do is not take the Tackle too low..

Yuuji is reaaaaally upset.

What was cut from the broadcast is an epic moment that brought a lot of people to tears..

Yuuji ran up that wall after the timer had stopped over and over approximately SIX to EIGHT TIMES..

He kept going over and over.. and over.. and over again convinced he could get over that damn wall.  Each time he failed people would groan.. heck where I was standing near the final tower was a huge group of people all screaming.  He'd set up to jump again and people would fall silent and clutch their heart.

We could see the wall from our vantage point unobstructed since the 2nd set of bleachers finished around the Jump Hang portion of the course.  Each time Yuuji failed people would scream YAMETE KUDASAI!!!!!  (PLEASE STOP!)  A couple of women ran off crying. He was finally stopped by the production staff after begging him because they were terrified that in his exhausted state he would seriously hurt himself.  They knew it was important for him mentally to clear it, but as he failed.. he failed worse and worse and it was clear that his stubbornness would not make him stop. So they intervened.

2-Time Grand Champion Yuuji Urushihara 漆原裕治 (Cliffer #3) - Death by Time up on Warped Wall
So this was the interview after he ran the wall over a dozen times at this point.

Yuuji: This is bad…

Yuuji: This is probably the first time that a kanzenseiha has looked so far away for me.

Up next is #100.  How will he fare?

Apparently badly if you are to believe the dismayed faces!

And who will make it out of the 2nd stage?

How will Darvish do?

And who wins the Final?

Because seriously.. someone does and all freak out..

Mmmmmmmm.. Ice cream...

Back from commercial and Ryo is trying to collect himself after seeing Yuuji fail badly.

New Generation Star Ryo Matachi (Cliffer #2) 又地諒

2 times a finalist in Sasuke with his best run coming last tournament.

Sasuke Vietnam he went as a tester

He cleared that Final in front of a crowd as part of a demonstration.

He also cleared the 3rd stage in ANW's USA vs. World competition.. yeah.. the one that stole his achievement.. but yeah I'm digressing.. moving on..

Please lend me your support!

The crowd collect themselves and we get the announcement of the final runner of the First Stage.

Seems everyone is back from the bathroom!

New Generation Star Ryo Matachi (Cliffer #2) 又地諒

How will he wear the coveted saddlecloth?

Up the Rolling Hill

Carefully jumps from the 3rd roller

Onto the Log Grip

Climbing the Music Box

Carefully off the Music Box

Clears the Jump Hang with ease.

Onto the Tackle..

Slowing down already...

Struggling...

rare view of how they climb up the Tackle

Sits down..

Apparently contemplates the meaning of life.. 7 seconds.. c'mon move it..

I hate when they do this...

Darvish also telling him to move it dammit..

FAILS IT!!!

Starting to panic..

FAILS IT AGAIN!!!!!

He looks for the clock...

The dismay from the commercial.. now you know why they were worried..

Almost gets it.. but fails again!

Dismay as he sees the timer at 15 seconds..

does it again.. c'mon you don't need that weird run up..

One more time for pride.. NOPE!

Irony imprinted on his shirt.. Speed means nothing if you have no overall stamina.

Tries one more time and fails it even worse..

Asa in a million depressions.. while Drew just lets that moment sink in..

Yuuji devastated..

2 cliffers back to back eliminated..

Ryo just staring into space in horror.. not how he wanted to wear #100

Ryo Matachi (Cliffer #2) 又地諒 - Time up on Warped Wall

Blank stares from those who cleared.. Asa

Kawaguchi

Okada and Hioki just throwing his head back in disgust

Our First Stage clears scroll across the screen
Masashi Hioki 日置 将士
Hiroshige Yamamoto 山本浩茂
Riku Hanamoto 花本莉丘 

Zhang Wang Yan 張汪洋
Anastase Ragivaru ラギヴァル・アナスターズ
Kung-Cheen Howng 洪 恭芹
Yuuichi Okada 岡田祐一

Hiraki Fukanuma 深沼 開
Kenji Darvish 樽美酒研二
Alexander Mars アレクサンダー・マーズ
Kikuchi Seiminamoto (spelling?) 菊池正源
Kenji Takahashi 高橋賢次

Kenji Takahashi 高橋賢次
Yusuke Morimoto 森本 裕介
Drew Dreschel ドリュー・ドレッシェル
 Kazuma Asa 朝一眞

Kazuma Asa 朝一眞
 Hitoshi Kanno 菅野仁志
 Tomohiro Kawaguchi 川口朋広

SECOND STAGE IS NEXT!

9 comments:

MysteryMan said...

I really hate the Tackle. It's boring to watch. Also way to cut 3 clears, cause we're totally not going to notice *groans*

Robin Yeoh said...

Nice work arsenette, I don't always agree with what you have to say, but i still enjoy reading what you have to say. Eg, I actually think asa and nagano were quite fast on the tackle, but then again, everyone was fast compared to Yuuji and Ryo.

Another thing i noticed after probably my 20th viewing that was cool is that before Ryo's run was drew and asa bantering at the clear chairs, it caught my eye considering we never saw them talk to each other during ASEAN or last tournament.

Robin Yeoh said...

ALso, I'm not surprised there was no Ryo interview, i can just picture him cursing in disgust right after his run and just making the whole thing NSFW.

Unknown said...

Is it true that they put more weight on Tackle for Yuuji so it was very difficult for him to push that thing and he had no strength left for Warped Wall? They wanted to take off that extra weight after his run but didn`t because Yuuji was standing very close. So Ryo also stuck on the same obstacles. Is this all true?

I think that they do everything to prevent Yuuji become kanzenseiha the third time.

Arsenette said...

Eh we can agree to disagree William :D Tehehee I love it. And yes I do agree that it was really crappy to cut 3 clears completely. I'm not happy about it at all so I make note of it when I can.

Hey Robin. Tehehehehehe I haven't taken the time to comparison check how slow/fast people were going through the tackle. Nagano was slower but what really killed him was taking that huge break after the tackle. Some pushed through it and kept going and others like Nagano and Ryo had to stop to try to catch their breath. I swear.. if half of them would stop smoking it wouldn't be so hard on their lungs.. but that's not going to happen. ( > . < ) And yeah there's a lot of love for Drew in Japan. He's been really friendly with them ever since Malaysia and so they love trying to communicate with him even if it's body language since neither speak each other's language. LOL Ryo stood there for a while.. everyone else got up and started setting up for the 2nd stage. They announced an hour break right as he finished and didn't move.. They weren't sure if he was going to try to do a Yuuji either so they just left him alone since he was in no mood to talk.

.. I'm not sure where people get this ridiculous ideas.. but for quelling rumors sake, TBS does not at any time or ever sabotage people. The backstream was the only one where I had major issues with and it was proven that they didn't touch the stream, it was variable only because it's in a residential area and water usage varies according to population. They didn't change it. So no, they didn't change the tackle. They only pushed it back into place and that's it. There's literally no other way to add more weight to it, it's attached at the building of the obstacle and not something they can pile on. Yuuji, Ryo and Nagano all ran out of stamina. Yuuji in particular threw his body waay down below the center of gravity. He did it wrong sadly. Trust me I'm a Yuuji fan and I would have flipped out BIG time if something was wrong. I did with all the others when there are tech issues that are unaddressed.. this was not one of them. He did it wrong and paid the price on the wall because he had nothing else in the tank.

Gamer_2k4 said...

Part of me wants to be upset that they put such a draining obstacle before the warped wall, but plenty of people DID clear it, so I can't really complain.

Thanks for including the part about Yuuji continuing on the warped wall after the time out. Even though I couldn't see it, simply reading about it makes his desperation so palpable. It's one thing to see someone fail; it's something completely different to feel how deeply it broke him.

MysteryMan said...

I will say it's better than the Ni Ren Soritatsu Kabe though.

Anonymous said...

Its Masamitsu Kikuchi Actually. Ube had posted it in a thread. I think it was the competitors?

Unknown said...

I can't believe Inui (or TBS) got away with cutting three clears completely, let alone not fast forward them! If this were to air in the United Kingdom, there would be many complaints sent to Ofcom! Disgusting!