What do you think Monster 9 could do

They should do 22, 23 and 24 the same as the last few shows but hopefully with more advertising. They've finally realized that using the net to get word out via the Muscle Park site is a good thing and cheap to boot. They should also have a few more events like the SASUKE Matsuri - Events that are more specific to SASUKE than the Maguro Festival etc. Do a traveling circus deal with the Muscle Musical and SASUKE tied together.

And SASUKE 25? At 25 they should go all out, only invite the best of the best - no qualifiers, just people who have proven over the years that they can do it, double the prize money with a four hour show (I recommend only three hours for all other broadcasts) and after that...

Stop the show. Blow up the course. Say that that's it for SASUKE..

And start a new show with slightly different rules and feel (but not cartoony like VIKING). No obstacles that tie the new show to SASUKE. Bring back the All-Stars but treat them as the veterans they are at this point, not the focus of the show. Use the first show to establish a new set of potential stars.

Why do that? Because SASUKE is played out in Japan. You're almost reaching a point where the young people who drive TV programming can barely remember a SASUKE in the single digits, much less Kinniku Banzuke. Create a new show and you create a new history that can grow with a new core audience over the years.

Geez, an 8 million yen grand prize? The mind boggles.

I like the idea of having it end, but I wonder if that'd work. With Sasuke Maniac gone, there's no real way to keep it in the audience's consciousness. Being a semi-annual filler special, it could easily end up running for years and years without any real objections, since it's essentially blink-and-you-miss-it in TV terms.

If you want to reboot, a mini-series may be the best way to go. One idea that popped up was have regional compeititons and then have a representative(s) from each region compete on a final course to see who's got what it takes. The regions would be fairly large, with probably a max of 10, and a sense of local pride gets added once the finals start. Air it twice weekly for a month and you have your filler series.

That part about the new show seems like an interesting idea, but what kind of concepts would they come up with?

Too easy? That would infer that there was a winner every show, and that's far from the case (SASUKE 19? Anyone?).

Or... did I miss some sarcasm in there?

I like Ube's idea to "blow the course up" after 25 because Sasuke is getting pretty drawn out. When Shingo was 21 he did his first Sasuke now he's 34.(I think) For any show to last over 10 years is a great accomplishment, and Sasuke looks to be on its last leg. Besides it'd be cool to see something new after Sasuke to see how that goes.

43 iirc.

last post = March

Blame Ube