All Stars (Spoilers)

[Badalight]

Simple, which of the all-stars failures was good enough to bring you to tears?

For me it was tough.

Nagano's was by far the most surprising.

Yamada's made him "retire" and left him dead at his nemesis of all time just with the most defeated look. You couldn't help but feel sorry for him. The drama of all his past failures crept up and even if you hate the guy or arn't a fan it was a sad moment.

Akiyama was harsh. He had a very bad attempt at the warped wall and you knew from the start he would never make it up. After a great first stage 1 it just all came tumbling down and we knew if he did get to the wall he'd probably not get up.

Shingo's for me wasn't very sad. He makes mistakes all the time and I saw his failure from a mile away. After taking too long on the HPA he really needed to get up the wall on his first try. Once he didn't his fate was sealed.

Takeda. For me I'm a bit on both sides. I didn't really get to see his run since I didn't watch the broadcast live and there is no download available. Plus all the streams stop earlier in stage 3 before Takeda gets to run. Arsenette was very nice and put the ending of his run on youtube, and gosh that was a tear jerker. 5... almost 6 people passing before him, all relatively new to the course (2 people beating it on their first try, 2 beating it on their second, 1 on his first try failing right at the end). As an all-star he's never beaten stage 3 but then you have these rookies doing it easily. He ends up failing the same obstacle as last time, and even if he tried to his last breathe he didn't have the energy to finish and he knew it, this dropping in the water.

Strange thing is Nagano looked more upset than Takeda himself, lol.

Bunpei, you didn't compete. You watched as all of your closest friends got mercillessly defeated as you could only stand on the side lines and watch! Muhahaha.


So which is it? It's a huge toss up for me. Nagano was more surprising than sad, shingo's wasn't that upsetting, Bunpei... well I'd say he's my least favorite out of the all-stars and we pretty much knew he wasn't going to compete from the start. Akiyama's was expected.

So I'd narrow it down to Yamada and Takeda, though I may give the edge to Yamada because I actually saw his run live and didn't know where he failed. (Spoilers told me Takeda lost before I was able to watch it)

So I voted Yamada. Feel free to disagree because I know he has a lot of haters here.

[intelligentinfer]

For me it is like this.
#6. Shiratori: I agree with bada but I was happy that he came.
#5. Shingo: Shingo's run is just like Kanno's but I found Kanno's to be more depressing.
The rest which I found more depressing:
#4. Akiyama: The HPA screwed him in his 2 previous attempts, now
he finally beat it he might have a chance to clear stage 1 now his
old nemesis cost him victory.(He failed the wall in 10,14,15 and 24)
I almost criedwhile watching this:
#3. Nagano: After 23 everyone expected him to achieve kanzenseiha (including me) in 24 but his impatience caused him. When I watch All-Star's runs I usually notice these stuff:
1. Jump hang/Jumping spider
2. Warped Wall
3. Flying Chute/Slider Jump(Shin-Sasuke only)
4. Time left after these:(30+ after Shin-Sasuke and
20+ before)
So now Akiyama is the only All-Star that never failed the JS.
#2. Yamada: After 23 some thought he had a chance and all he does is repeating 21. And I never watched 8&17's live broadcast(I don't even know SASUKE when they aired) He retires and returns and I still think that he'll return but It just seems so depressing.
I actually cried while watching this :
#1. Takeda: Failed stage 3 for the 13th time. I remember I yelled
like a madman when Hashimoto and Lee cleared. 5 cleared in a row and 4 consecutive from #92-#95 and he is the only one left. I kinda blame that he didn't use his feet on the Hang Climbing which might cost him victory and struggled so much before failing. He couldn't get out of the water by himself and I knew that he had no energy left. I cried until Urushihara's victory is the thing that cheered me up.
So I voted Takeda.
BTW: Now watching Arsenette's clip and crying again.

[yamfriend]

I didn't see any of their runs yet (boy, do I love spoiling stuff for myself intentionally ), but I nevertheless voted for Takeda for several reasons:

1. many factors and expectations, including being the only All-Star left at that point in the competition/5 consecutive Stage 3 clears (never thought I'd say that about a Shin-Sasuke tournament) before him/last man to take on Stage 3, may have caused a great amount of pressure on him to clear

2. before this tournament, he had been 0-12 with clearing Stage 3, making him the only All-Star (and one of only a few competitors who ever made it to Stage 3 multiple times) to make it to the Final Stage

3. seeing so many competitors clearing Stage 3 before him may have led him to believe that it may be his last chance to clear it in a while (if ever) due to the rather strong likelihood of someone achieving Kanzenseiha, which would almost certainly lead to a course redesign for 25

4. it's where he fell last time

I really thought that this would be the tournament where Takeda finally cleared Stage 3, but I guess that his 13th time taking it on wasn't the charm for my favorite All-Star.

[Deleted]

Nagano just made a dumb mistake. No biggie.

Takeda, I still can't believe he hasn't been to the final stage yet.

This was his big moment to get there. It sucks.

Yamada was actually doing good time wise, until the Warped Wall.

[awee1975]

Takeda.

[Badalight]

Both Yamada's and Takeda's got me all misty-eyed.

[arsenette]

Takeda crushed me.. it utterly crushed me. Seeing him for the first time carry the weight of the All-Stars and that STUPID announcer screaming "THE ALL-STARS ARE DESTROYED" and him desperately trying to cover his ears.. I was crying before he started Stage 3... I've NEVER seen him almost like a person walking up to a guillotine.. Even Nagano stayed away from him a lot cheering others on trying to give him space. It's like he couldn't breathe!!! At the end he was so mournful to have failed his friends he just didn't know what to do. Shingo as usual trying to be cheerful God bless him but Nagano just dropped to his knees and wept like a baby. Takeda needed to cry and he did with his back facing us. Out of the All-Stars they are by far the closest and have been even closer these past 3 months spending just about every waking moment together (well as distance would allow) and to see him die like that with literally EVERYONE screaming at the top of their lungs trying to will him to do it.. then seeing him drop as he couldn't do it.. then falter trying to get out of the septic sludge.. that.. was too much for me.. The individual loss of him losing to that one obstacle was not the killer.. it was the whole day watching everyone pass him and him trying to hold his weighted group on his shoulders. Everyone is so desperate to have them shoved to the side when they carried the show after Kane Kosugi left.. I don't believe any fully understand the pressure the title carries. You have no margin of error and every error is magnified 10 thousand times because they carry a title they never ask to have (except Yamada.. he was the only one to want it).

[awee1975]

"Everyone is so desperate to have them shoved to the side when they carried the show after Kane Kosugi left.. "- Arsenette. Good point. Thanks for pointing out a point i forgot about.

Excuse my ignorance but i didn't even know who Kane was before Sasuke. So he is a Superstar in Japan? I checked the Japanese wiki & saw Sasuke ratings was very high when Kane was on & declined after Kane left. I checked wiki but the impression i get was his dad was the super-star not him. But then again, maybe it amounts to the same thing.

So from TBS's point of view, they needed a superstar like Kane again but instead settled on the All-Stars. I had looked at it from a sports competition pt. of view & I see it should be based on merit / latest form in competition. However TBS is seeing it from a ratings view. Interesting angle i had missed.

[artyfowljr]

Jan 3, 2010 4:35:57 GMT -5 arsenette said:

Takeda crushed me.. it utterly crushed me. Seeing him for the first time carry the weight of the All-Stars and that STUPID announcer screaming "THE ALL-STARS ARE DESTROYED" and him desperately trying to cover his ears.. I was crying before he started Stage 3... I've NEVER seen him almost like a person walking up to a guillotine.. Even Nagano stayed away from him a lot cheering others on trying to give him space. It's like he couldn't breathe!!! At the end he was so mournful to have failed his friends he just didn't know what to do. Shingo as usual trying to be cheerful God bless him but Nagano just dropped to his knees and wept like a baby. Takeda needed to cry and he did with his back facing us. Out of the All-Stars they are by far the closest and have been even closer these past 3 months spending just about every waking moment together (well as distance would allow) and to see him die like that with literally EVERYONE screaming at the top of their lungs trying to will him to do it.. then seeing him drop as he couldn't do it.. then falter trying to get out of the septic sludge.. that.. was too much for me.. The individual loss of him losing to that one obstacle was not the killer.. it was the whole day watching everyone pass him and him trying to hold his weighted group on his shoulders. Everyone is so desperate to have them shoved to the side when they carried the show after Kane Kosugi left.. I don't believe any fully understand the pressure the title carries. You have no margin of error and every error is magnified 10 thousand times because they carry a title they never ask to have (except Yamada.. he was the only one to want it).

Yamada half-dead on the bottom of the Kabe was sad. Bunpei not competing was sad. Akiyama going down on the Kabe too. Shingo timing out...he's always been so fast! How come??
Nagano and Takeda...oh man. Seeing them...so desperate...both crying, Takeda because he failed the damn strage 3 again, Nagano in pain both for Takeda and because he felt guilty...you could read in his tears "If only I didn't make that mistake...I could still ahve been hope..."
Something broke in me.

[Deleted]

I said Yamada. In the first stage Yamada and Shingo both made me cry. Shingo's failure itself wasn't so bad, because he does things like that all the time, but I was really counting on him. Takeda's failure also made me cry. Especially when Nagano cried.

[awee1975]

arty - "Nagano in pain both for Takeda and because he felt guilty...you could read in his tears "If only I didn't make that mistake...I could still ahve been hope..."

Ditto. Nagano was probably BOTH sad that his friend Takeda still could not reach the final & at the same time pissed off with himself for that dumb mistake.

[artyfowljr]

yep...you could see Takeda tapping Makoto's shoulder trying to console him after realizing he was crying...
They both looked like they needed a shoulder to cry on. I would have given mines...also because I so damn needed to hug someone and cry all the tears I needed to cry.

[Badalight]

Arsenette, just curious, how did you feel about the other all-stars defeats?

[arsenette]

• Disappointed with Akiyama though Nagano has always complained that he doesn't work on his stamina or his lower body..
  
• Expected Nagano to do something major since the Yuuji Scream hadn't happened yet and it was Nagano's turn (stupid spoiler pic) - though overall shocked he lost his concentration and did a stupid move (and ultimately disappointed he didn't get far this tourney)
  
• Expected Shingo not to do well but happy he got as far as he did not being 100%
  
• Expected Yamada to falter one way or the other (though I expected a time out exactly where he failed) - Happy he didn't do a big scene and quietly walk away.
  
• Disappointed Bunpei didn't compete but happy he didn't because he's not well enough yet and he didn't take up someone's spot in the lineup
  

[j]

Yamada. Dude's been at it for so long, every single time he competes I keep thinking "this is his one." I think it's just a mental block at this point.

Sasuke 24 was the end of the All Star era.

[Anshin]

After unfortunately falling asleep about 3/4ths the way through Stage 1, I didn't get to see any of the All-Stars runs or anything past Stage 1....

With that in mind, after reading about what's happened, I'd have to say Takeda due to the fact that I've been rooting for the guy to get to the final stage for many competitions now...

[davidyko]

Haha, I love how Bunpei, despite not competing, gets more love than Shingo or Akiyama. But I suppose those two fails weren't really anything shocking, so hardly qualifies as "saddest". Takeda for me, for obvious reasons. Nagano was hardly sad either, just stupid, and Yamada was unfortunate, but hardly unexpected either.

[Zorn]

saddest failure has to be a tie between either Yamada or Takeda.

[Badalight]

Yamada's was expected, but still tear-jerking.

I give it Takeda even though the moment was ruined for me due to spoilers, much more buildup to it.