Confusion about the title "Last Man Standing"

[Paragus]

I've heard the phrase "Last Man Standing" used to identify both the person who goes the farthest and as the last competitor to compete in a tournament. I prefer using it to refer to the best-performing competitor, but what do you guys think the true meaning of "Last Man Standing" is?

[thatoneuser]

I've seen it used both ways in official capacities. I usually err toward the side of caution and use "Best Result" instead of "Last Man Standing" to avoid the confusion.

[MrTakebuchi]

I always thought of Last Man Standing as just the last competitor to remain, as in if they were to fail, the tournament would end.

[Eclipse]

Mar 30, 2017 14:00:46 GMT -5 Paragus said:

I've heard the phrase "Last Man Standing" used to identify both the person who goes the farthest and as the last competitor to compete in a tournament. I prefer using it to refer to the best-performing competitor, but what do you guys think the true meaning of "Last Man Standing" is?

Last Man Standing is mathematically the highest numbered competitor on the farthest  stage attempted such that it will ALWAYS best the last run shown. "Golden Competitor" or "Best Result" is the furthest.

The clearest example of this would be Sasuke 24. Yuuji very clearly had the best result by winning, but he was #93, so #95 Okuyama Yoshiyuki, the highest # to attempt Stage 4, is last man standing

[wrestlingfan55]

Nagano was the last man standing in 14, even though Shinji (remember him?) got further in the stage before.

The only confusing one is Sasuke 24.

[jba392]

I don't think it makes any sense to refer to the chronological Last Man Standing as "Last Man Standing". It's the LMS by obstacle, not time.

Example: In 32, after the Sidewinder, only 3 competitors were left. After the UCCH, only Drew was left. Therefore Drew was the Last Man Standing, not Tomo, who fell at the Flying Bar.

[TCM]

The confusion is based around the fact the last person to attempt the course in a tournament doesn't always do the best. When one person is left and they have the best result, it's not ambiguous. The problem with the term in general in reference to Sasuke is that its origin is explicitly based within a competitive aspect: it's meant to relay who is the lone person remaining after everyone else has been taken out, aka the winner. While that does apply in Sasuke when someone wins, there's no technical winner all the tournaments when someone doesn't. Someone does the best, but they failed right along with everyone else, doesn't matter whether or not you get wet or time out. I've always taken it literally -- who is the last person remaining to attempt the course. That way you can also have a Best Result/Golden Competitor listing because I think both are important.

Sasuke's own History section on their TBS page only references Finalists/Grand Champions. They make no mention of results outside of Final Stage attempts.

[arsenette]

Apr 1, 2017 21:45:55 GMT -5 TCM said:

Sasuke's own History section on their TBS page only references Finalists/Grand Champions. They make no mention of results outside of Final Stage attempts.

Dude.. they had a T'shirt (that I wish I had omg..) that had the last man standing for the first 20 tournaments.. LOL

[TCM]

Apr 1, 2017 23:02:27 GMT -5 arsenette said:

Apr 1, 2017 21:45:55 GMT -5 TCM said:

Sasuke's own History section on their TBS page only references Finalists/Grand Champions. They make no mention of results outside of Final Stage attempts.

Dude.. they had a T'shirt (that I wish I had omg..) that had the last man standing for the first 20 tournaments.. LOL

Sure, but they had forgone that previous style for just listing Finalist(s) on the website.  Any tournament without a Final, they just essentially have "none" listed.  I remember one of the shirts, Ube posted it a few years ago. It was also on the old Sasukemania site they did; you can't access it without an archive site.

[arsenette]

Apr 1, 2017 23:48:52 GMT -5 TCM said:

Apr 1, 2017 23:02:27 GMT -5 arsenette said:

Dude.. they had a T'shirt (that I wish I had omg..) that had the last man standing for the first 20 tournaments.. LOL

Sure, but they had forgone that previous style for just listing Finalist(s) on the website.  Any tournament without a Final, they just essentially have "none" listed.  I remember one of the shirts, Ube posted it a few years ago. It was also on the old Sasukemania site they did; you can't access it without an archive site.

Yep.. those are the shirts.. /sigh.. That hit me in the feels man... Hopefully at least as Sasuke is concerned should answer questions on how they determine last man standing.

[TCM]

Apr 1, 2017 23:51:59 GMT -5 arsenette said:

Apr 1, 2017 23:48:52 GMT -5 TCM said:

Sure, but they had forgone that previous style for just listing Finalist(s) on the website.  Any tournament without a Final, they just essentially have "none" listed.  I remember one of the shirts, Ube posted it a few years ago. It was also on the old Sasukemania site they did; you can't access it without an archive site.

Yep.. those are the shirts.. /sigh.. That hit me in the feels man... Hopefully at least as Sasuke is concerned should answer questions on how they determine last man standing.

Based on that shirt, Final Contender means the last person to attempt the course in that tournament, irrespective of result if they weren't also the best result that tournament.


1: Omori (Best Result [highest up on rope])

2: Omori (Best Result: Tanaka [higher up on rope])

3: Omori (Best Result: Yamada [higher up on rope])

4: Akiyama (Best Result -- Kanzenseiha)

5: Yamamoto (Best Result)

6: Yamada (Best Result)

7: Yamamoto (Best Result)

8: Kosugi (Best Result)

9: Yamamoto (Best Result: Nagano [Pipe Slider])

10: Yamada (Best Result)

11: Nagano (Best Result)

12: Nagano (Best Result [reached top])

13: Nagano (Best Result)

14: Nagano (Best Result: Kobayashi [Devil Balanco])

15: Takeda (Best Result)

16: Nagano (Best Result: Shiratori [Pipe Slider])

17: Nagano (Best Result -- Kanzenseiha)

18: Takahashi (Best Result -- tied with Nagano and Nagasaki)

19: Washimi (Best Result -- Koji Yamada [time out])

20: Meeuwenberg (Best Result)

(how far the shirt goes)


21: Nagano (Best Result)

22: Urushihara (Best Result)

23: Nagano (Best Result [highest up on rope])

24: Okuyama: (Best Result -- Urushihara [Kanzenseiha])

25: En-Chih: (Best Result -- tied with Hashimoto)

26: Okuyama: (Best Result -- tied with En-Chih)

27: Urushihara (Best Result -- Kanzenseiha)

28: Kanno (Best Result -- tied with Urushihara)

29: Kanno (Best Result -- Morimoto [Pipe Slider])

30: Matachi (Best Result -- highest up on rope)

31: Morimoto (Best Result -- Kanzenseiha)

32: Kawaguchi (Best Result: Drechsel [Vertical Limit Kai])

[arsenette]

Interesting result! So it's not at all what I thought!

[yasuoyujji]

How about this : Create MWF to stand for 'Man Went Furthest' As we all know, Last Man Standing is the last guy to run the course. 'Man Went Furthest' is self-explanatory.

[arsenette]

Apr 2, 2017 10:42:01 GMT -5 yasuoyujji said:

How about this : Create MWF to stand for 'Man Went Furthest' As we all know, Last Man Standing is the last guy to run the course. 'Man Went Furthest' is self-explanatory.

There is a phrase though.. Best result. That alone is self-explanatory.

[SRW]

Whoever goes furthest that tournament imo

[TCM]

Judging by merchandise, the show takes Last Man Standing literal -- as in the very last person to attempt the course after 99 people have finished. The Last Man Standing can do the best on the course (and typically does), but the best on the course isn't always the last to go

[Shuberb674]

Yeah, if Number 100 goes the furthest then he is last man standing not because he's number 100, but because he is the last undefeated competitor.

Akiyama was last man standing in Sasuke 4 with the number 86. He was the only person to make it to the final stage, and he ran the final stage at the point in time where the 99 other competitors were out of the competition. He made the last run of the tournament.

[flipthelegend]

In ninja warrior UK it is the best performer defiantly

[blah123]

Who coined the term anyways? TBS? G4? Us (SMF)? It'd be ironic if the very people that invented the term were the ones confused by it now.

[TCM]

Apr 21, 2017 15:38:01 GMT -5 flipthelegend said:

In ninja warrior UK it is the best performer defiantly

That's how the UK defines it because there has to be a 'winner' each season if someone doesn't actually beat the entire course. Japan doesn't give such credit the way the other spinoffs do.

Apr 21, 2017 15:41:57 GMT -5 blah123 said:

Who coined the term anyways? TBS? G4? Us (SMF)? It'd be ironic if the very people that invented the term were the ones confused by it now.

The show to my knowledge has given praise to those who went far without winning but the specific phrase "Last man standing" has never been a thing.  They just give good runs high numbers for the next tournament.  In the old Sasukemania site, Sasuke has given credit to 3rd Stage appearances and Final Stage appearances a la their Wikipedia article. Currently, in Sasuke's history section on their TBS site, for each tournament there's two 'stats' of sorts: Finalists and 'Complete Ruler' as Google likes to put it (kanzenseiha-sha). If there was a Finalist (complete Stage 3/attempted Final Stage) they are listed. If there was a winner, they are listed in addition to the time left on the timer when they completed the Final. If there wasn't a Finalist and/or there wasn't a winner, simply "None" is listed. There's no credit for anyone who made it the furthest without winning.