And we are back! Immediately we start with the status of the All-stars with clips and teasers of Sasuke 30. I find it amusing we start with Katsumi given that by all accounts, his personal run is deleted from the show! Much has been made on social media about his
omission from the official line up online. We'll find out on Thursday how much they actually show of him and if they indeed officially retire him (once and for all) as all directions are pointing.
Shingo wearing a hat! Wait.. Is hubby's hat theory still valid? Totally different era should have totally different rules. Right? Also we'll see what his current uniform looks like.
A freshly shaved (and waxed) Takeda on the start line. Strange considering he's all woolly now. Btw he looks great here! I prefer the clean shaven look!
LOL TBS totally spoiling Nagano telling us that he gets to the wall! It's as if TBS is pleading to the audience saying "please watch he won't suck this time!"..
And omg we see him climbing it! LOL C'mon TBS you don't have to be desperate to spoil half his run! LOL Or wait.. rating suggest that once he fails people stop watching.. oooooooh I see now!
Just as before where TBS was saying the Sasuke All-Stars, now it's the turn of the
Shin Sedai (新世代) literally "New Generation".
Oh I heard him being called Shin Sedai! We have a new member to the group! I don't see Yuuji on the list (though we know he competed thanks to the list TBS provided), however he's not listed with this group. Possibly Morimoto is in the group and Yuuji is out since he has his own title of 2-Time champion? Ohhhhh.. hope we find out!
Next is the prerequisite montage of Sasuke 30 spoilers! I'm not saying jack about who I think these people are..I'm being good folks!
Hedgehog fail
LOL TBS is desperate.. Golden Bomber guy CLEARLY on the very last obstacle. Seriously..
Whiff on 2nd Stage Cross Slider
The &%$#@ Backstream is back...
There's major drama! Tears! Dem Spoilers!
I clearly know who's daughter is this..
And someone else falls from the Crazy Cliffhanger..
And yes.. you already know why they are showing this....
Oh fluff piece incoming!
Wait.. he changed jobs again! He's a plumber 配管工 now!
Back in the All-UNCLI Final of Sasuke 27
Ryo fell just short of the win. Fellow UNCLI member Yuuji won that tournament.
Ryo was in the NBC special that finally aired in January called ANW's
USA vs Japan special.
TBS explaining the match up in that event that made Ryo popular in the USA (Note that's Brian Arnold under all that kanji). Hey, I'd argue that he was already popular and that the crowd was just recognizing him from Sasuke but I digress. LOL
A Stage 3 specialist, Ryo shined in Las Vegas.
A cute moment in the event where Ryo realized that although they were mispronouncing his name.. he realized that the chant was all about him! I can just imagine the confusion in his head "wtf are they yelling about.. it's a chant.. wtf is reeoh.... oooooooooh THAT is what they are saying"
LOL Even TBS has to write out what they are chanting since what they are chanting is actually "Rio" when his name is "Ryo" (which has a vastly different pronunciation in Japan). That said even he (and I) found it cool that the crowd was inventive with using their iPhones to show the Japan flag and chanted his name. Awesome use of technology and I totally approve of it!
Even with a fall on the obstacle, the crowd continue to pull for both countries regardless of who was up. I adored that crowd. THAT is what a crowd should be like. Pulling for a good competition regardless of where they are from. BOTH sides should have been (and were) supported.
Ryo saying thanks to the crowd that supported him even after he failed the 3rd stage. He was stunned.
Back in Japan during Sasuke 29 (which happened before he went to Vegas), Ryo didn't have the best result thanks to that demonic water tank that was determined to drown people..
Ryo failed on the Backstream, stopping his chance to try to get to the final again. (He and a dozen other people..)
Frustrated at the lack of swimming prowess he vowed to do better the next time. He was embarrassed.
I see this was taped before he was friggin' hospitalized.. now I know what it was that sent him to the hospital in December!
He trained so much underwater that it caused him to develop 気胸 -
Pneumothorax that almost killed him.
Even though this was recorded before his hospitalization, I'm happy to know that he recovered nicely (after surgery and a month stay at the hospital) even if it cemented why I hate the backstream in the first place.
So with the training that almost killed him.. will it make him pass the 2nd stage? Tune in Thursday to find out!
Yay! Finally a good fluff piece on him!
電気店 - Electronics Store - He's an employee here.
Masashi Hioki 日置 将士 (for those who have followed my blog he's an STQ'er)
He is climbing on a ladder to work on a television antennae
I know the younger generation has never seen one of these before but that is a television antennae.
See folks who don't have cable have to use these things. Especially out in the sticks. This is one of the things he does at the electronics store.
Long-time readers of my blog will recognize this photo. For those with good memories .. we saw him briefly in Sasuke Trials
during one of my very early blogs - Summer, 2008 for Sasuke 21 - He was
in the
group that represented the All-Stars - his was Bunpei
Still the photo has an error. this was from
2009.. Poor guy was also in the Sasuke
22 Trials where he got to the
final only to miss the final jump! This is when he failed and was comforted by his new bride Mayumi 真弓 . It was their wedding where I got the phrase "Lucky Bastard that got Bunpei Shiratori to speak at his wedding". For a long time, this was the only way people even knew who he was. Luckily he has a record now and people can remember his Sasuke history rather than anecdotes from trials.
Ya'll can remember the Geronimo jump that was in every commercial for in
Sasuke 25
Even then his wife as holding that television antennae.
I'm told this is actually in a park and not his home.
From Sasuke 29, This is Ryo trying to get out of the way of the shot of Hioki's wife Mayumi 真弓 and their daughter Miyuna 心結菜
Sasuke 29 marked when Hioki FINALLY cleared the First Stage
He's so close to all the STQ'ers that it looked like a who's who after he cleared. Even Yuuji (shown in the commercials) cried when he cleared. He's also very emotional which is good television to watch!
Hioki discussing that during that time his wife Mayumi was pregnant with their second child.
They welcomed their son Ryusei 琉青 - HE'S ADORABLE!!!!!!!!!!!
They had a couple of clips of how he trains in the garage of their home.
OMG THAT BABY IS SO CUUUUUTE! I want to chew on his cheeks! This is his wife Mayumi 真弓 discussing her support of him.
They even taught their kids (mostly daughter at this point) when a certain phrase is yelled that they would all raise their arm and cheer. "Let's do our best!" "Oh!!"
And a cute clip of that same cheer that father and daughter practiced at home being recreated at the start line of Sasuke 30.
How will he do in Sasuke 30? Tune in on Thursday!
OH! Tomo fluff piece!
Cement Truck Driver
I am still getting used to Tomo having hair again (I'm used to him shaving his head) but it looks good on him!
Tomohiro 朋広 is the youngest in the family.
When he was 15 years old his parents divorced.
Sadly, he didn't deal too well with the divorce and rebelled.
Tomohiro did not deal well with the separation of him from his father. It had been 10 years since they had spoken.
Mother Hiromi ひろみ
Tomohiro rebelled violently to the divorce. He dropped out of high school and became a juvenile delinquent.
Sasuke became an outlet to better himself and focus his energy on more positive aspects in life. Surrounding himself with other Sasuke hopefuls and sharing their passion for the show he started to turn his life around. He qualified for Sasuke 21 (same time as Hioki) in the now famous (for me at least since that is where Rambling Rican really started to take shape) Sasuke 21 trials during the summer of 2008.
In
Sasuke 21, he managed to clear the Half Pipe attack but he Shingo'ed the landing.
The forward momentum he created dismounting the Half Pipe Attack made him lose his balance and he fell off course automatically disqualifying him.
He put his energy into getting better in Sasuke in a lot of ways to make his father proud at his progress in turning his life around. Sasuke created an outlet for him to channel his frustration and anger at losing his father into a positive force.
Father Sugio 杉男
Tomohiro tried and succeeded getting out of Sasuke Trials again in
Sasuke 22 only to fail on the Slider Jump.
Then once he finally cleared the First Stage in
Sasuke 24, he rushed the dismount of the Unstable Bridge and fell backwards into the water.
Now that he's a father and husband himself, he hopes to do well in Sasuke to find something to make his father proud of him. Again, similar to what I said about Ryo and his family situation, the idea that the child is actively and publicly reaching out to the divorcee (meaning the Dad who "left") is HUGE. I am hoping this is further erosion of the archaic divorce system in Japan. I'm so proud of Tomohiro that he is not choosing to chose sides but supports both parents.
With age, Tomohiro has grown to be a better man and that's really encouraging to
see. He's now a devoted husband and father. Also so happy to see his
father in Sasuke as this picture suggests. I'm a sucker for those types of stories coming from a
divorce family myself. It's a moving story and one that has to be said. Knowing more about the culture in
Japan about divorces really makes it important and impactful when seeing
Tomo's father IN Sasuke.
Most don't ever see the divorce parent ever
again. Kudos to both Tomo and Ryo for bringing the divorcee back into
their lives. And being PUBLIC about it. The kids shouldn't have to chose sides when the parent's
marriage is over. I'm happy that Tomohiro managed to grow as a person and seek out the missing person in his life he found important. His father.
I'm really looking forward to seeing Tomohiro in this tournament. I've been following his journey for 6 years and have grown to adore that one group of Sasuke hopefuls from 2008 who literally grew up before our eyes. I'll be cheering loudly!
Another of the Class of 2008 Sasuke Trials is a current Sasuke New Generation Star, the Teary 涙の Tree Craftsman 植木職人 (omg TBS you evil bastards)
Kazuma Asa 朝一眞
As you saw from Part 1 of Navi, Asa was part of the Silver Medal winning Team Japan at the Sasuke ASEAN Open Cup 2014.
It was a life changing event for Asa in many ways. He's
gone on record saying how much those 4 days in Malaysia were the best in his life. One thing that really stood out for him, one thing that made him stand up and pay attention..
.. was the performance of this man. Team
America アメリカ member
Drew Dreschel ドリュー・ドレッシェル. Up until that point, he thought he was on the right track in training and physical fitness. Witnessing the completely dominating and consistent performance he had an epiphany.
When he saw Drew in Malaysia, he thought "there's no way I can beat him! That's the first time I've ever felt that in my life."
He realized how weak he was in the grand scheme of
things, and wants to work hard to reach or surpass Drew's level. Drew's own story is famous in Sasuke and his performance, in light of what where Drew had to go through to GET to where he was in Malaysia, was awe inspiring. Drew became a symbol, a motivating factor in elevating Asa's OWN work ethic.
Inspired by the dominating performance by Drew in Malaysia, he took the opportunity to revamp his entire training regimen to better himself. He realized that he was missing that quality that Drew possessed and wanted it for himself. In order to do that he had to work even harder.
Hoping that dedication pays off he does his rebel yell at the start line of Sasuke 29. Did he train enough? or will he have to start all over again? Find out on Thursday!
Yay I know who is up next! We get a picture outside the campus of 高知大学 Kōchi Daigaku (
Kochi University).
Computer Science Major in Kochi University is "Sasuke Kun"
Yuusuke Morimoto 森本 裕介
Everyone remembers him now as the first man ever to clear the
Crazy Cliffhanger クレイジークリフハンガー in the last tournament, Sasuke 29.
He was just short of clearing the 3rd Stage.
However he was the last man standing in Sasuke 29.
At home, sporting his 2 medals (Team Silver and Individual Silver for Stage 3), he shows the article of his local paper.
He was excited that the local paper wrote a detailed article about him. So was TBS.
I'm still adoring his signed All-Star T'shirt. Those things are rare, especially with all the signatures he has on that.
Here's him at home with his ever changing obstacle course set up. Morimoto was kind enough to let me
interview him where he goes in details as to what was built there before.
Hey I have that Shirt in Red!
How far will he go this time? Tune in Thursday to find out!
Yay the "
Last Battle" theme is playing! For those who are new to the show, this is Makoto Nagano's theme on Sasuke.
The Legend himself is back! Sasuke All-Star
Makoto Nagano
長野誠, and yes he's wearing 2999 in this tournament.
The 2nd man to achieve 完全制覇 -
Kanzenseiha (Complete Domination) in Sasuke 17
Unfortunately Nagano suffered back to back fails on the Warped Walls. First in
Sasuke 28
Stepping up his training (since he started to notice that what was once "easy" going up the huge set of stairs in his hometown was not becoming difficult) he put more effort in trying to get that spring back in his step.
He started to use the weighted belt over the spring time to help him get stronger and get back some of what he lost over the years.
He hopes that the increased stamina training will serve him better in Sasuke to do finally get past the wall recently became an issue.
Nagano Familycam™ GANBARE! がんばれ! (Good luck/Hang in there) By a very LOUD Kaiou 塊王 who is now 5 years old (not 4 TBS - thanks Tiger for the correction!). Meanwhile we welcome the debut of baby Taiou 太皇 (who just turned 1 years old) to Sasuke while Mom Asami 阿紗 美 holds them both.
Proud Papa waving to his own personal midget ninja army™
Will he succeed? We already spoiled his run on the previous page! ZOMG WATCH!
Yay! OMG it's been 6 years since we heard this themesong!!! It's Sasuke All-Star
Bunpei Shiratori 白鳥文平
For the record Bunpei returned to Sasuke to be part of the Anniversary festivities but will be officially retired at the end of the tournament.
Ever the polite gentlemam, he bows to everyone in the audience at all of his appearances.
千葉県印西市役所勤務 - Inba City Hall Worker
I'm so excited to see him!
Rocking the short shorts even then, Bunpei was a Finalist in Sasuke 12
In fact for the tournaments that he was in, he had a really impressive record!
The last time he participated in Sasuke was waaaaaay back in 2008 during
Sasuke 21 where he lost his balance (due to a nagging back injury that has never healed).
Bunpei making light of the fact that he didn't get to participate in two previous Anniversary events! Sasuke 10 nor Sasuke 20. He's happy he was able to participate, even if for the last time, in the 30th tournament.
I already miss him. So happy though he's back even if for a short time.
How will he fare after a 6 year hiatus?
Still rocking those short shorts even at that age. Go get'em Bunpei!!
Now the let's flash as many famous people and spoilers we can to raise the hype!
Kenji Darvish 樽美酒研二 from ゴールデンボンバー (Golden Bomber)
Kenji's first tournament was in Sasuke 28
There his demise came early on the
Rolling Escargot ローリングエスカルゴ
He was so frustrated he went out so early
He stepped up his training and vowed to do better!
and.. TBS already spoiled how far he got just in the previous page.. LOL
俳優・「テラスハウス」てっちゃん Tetsuya Sugaya 菅谷哲也
Actor from "Terrace House"
Wow no one will ever say that no one has ever failed the Tarzan Rope again..
Because someone fails the Tarzan Rope in Sasuke 29. Please watch!
Kinnikun and Wacky (and everyone else) is horrified to see someone soooooo close to finishing fails on the 2nd to last obstacle.
Faceplant on the Long Jump! Look forward to it!™
Embarrassingly compromised position on the Hedgehog
Oh check it out! We get to see who's going to be cut from the show! Let's watch!
Wow I thought they'd have him in the main show!
Daisuke Naito 内藤大助 (Former WBC Flyweight Champion)
And he lands with no issues
He's reaaaaally taking his time looking for that small path that exists.
Squeeak! Barely made it
Oh hai! Sasuke commercial interrupted the run and because it's Nagano.
LOL which he totally blows and lands on his butt!
The crowd finds the slip absolutely hilarious
He seems mortified!
He goes at it again but fails!
Ryo and Kong doing their best for the cameras
TBS reliving the mistake. He totally overshot the trampoline and ended up slipping on the outside padding.
I really thought he'd dq for scraping his food on the support but he really didn't land there (nor did he use it to support his weight) so it's legit.
Second time around he overshot the middle and didn't give himself enough height.
That's why he had no hope in catching the netting.
Daisuke Naito 内藤大助 (Former WBC Flyweight Champion) - Death by Jump Hang Kai
Shootboxer シュートボクシング
Rena レーナ
as TBS is showing where she failed lol
Clear on the Long Jump
Doh! She almost made it to the end of the Log Grip
Gotta give her kudos for hanging on as long as she did, she never really got set on the obstacle.
Shootboxer シュートボクシング
Rena レーナ - Death by Log Grip
Little Tiger - ムエタイ世界チャンピオン
Oh she's a girl!
Oh.. that's a fail set up if I ever saw one.. her arms aren't long enough to completely wrap around it.
That's to be expected unfortunately.
TBS using every angle
Little Tiger - ムエタイ世界チャンピオン - Death by Log Grip
HOW many people are on this platform? LOL
Professional Kickboxer プロキックボクサー
Takeru 武 尊
Clear on the Long Jump!
High hand hold on the Log grip but secure!
Time for the hedgehog
Oooooooh nope just let go man.. just let go! LOL
LOL the Hedgehog is coming to a halt as he's trying to will himself back up!
Takeru 武 尊 - Death by Hedgehog
俳優・烈車戦隊トッキュウジャー - Actor
clear on the Long Jump
Clear on the Log Grip
Oooooooooh nope you can't jump that! LOL
Oh he's trying to will himself back up!
LOL Gotta give him props for trying! LOL
Ryusei Yokohama 横浜流星 - Death by Hedgehog
Hey the BMX course! LOL
Sasuke 30! It's coming!
We got Nagano!
We got Yamada's Tigers!
We got .. er.. that's Drew right?
We got drama with a nekkid man running in water!
Goggled man IN water.. /shakesfistatbackstream
We got a total spoiler!
We got another total spoiler!
We got some PDA!
More PDA!
Grinning kids!
Strangely unaffected kids! (cough sorry Ube I'm totally borrowing that)
Pretty ladies crying and not messing up their manicures!
Cliff hanger madness!
Totally someone in the final! Please watch!!
A total last minute edit to the show is the Yamada appearance at
LaLaport
TBS went all out and rented space outside of LaLaport Toyosu.
It was a two day event, free to the public
Where literally anyone could try 3 obstacles from Sasuke.
All of this was to help promote the July 3rd airing of Sasuke 30!
Mr. Sasuke was on hand on day 1 along with the Shin Sedai to help promote the show
It was an ingenious promotional device to introduce people back to the show.
They gave them the opportunity to see the current 2-Time champion in action
And cross promote deals with LaLaport which is a shopping mall.
Don't forget to use your promotional coupon!
See you all on Thursday! I'll be here with bells on! mwahahahahhahaha
