No foreigners

[casuallystranded]

According to this YouTube video, Rene has said that no foreigners have been invited for SASUKE 38. I was hoping we could at least get Rene, but sadly that's not happening. I hope that a few Gaijins (people like Ragivaru and Kane, who lived in Japan but were still considered foreigners) can slip through the cracks, but that is very unlikely since we haven't had any people like that compete since at least 35.

[tns8597]

They said unconfirmed by TBS, but the LMS from Sasuke 37 not being allowed to compete in the following tournament is enough confirmation for me that this is true, and I think we all could’ve seen this from a mile away.

It’s a shame given that Jessie and Rene definitely built a rapport with the other competitors and the show in general due to their performances and personalities. But hopefully TBS will use the spare few slots to invite some old faces that may not have competed for a while, like Anastase, Dai Igarashi who I always thought had potential, Shunsuke’s brother etc. I’m only considering the ones who I think would actually do well, as the return of competitors who did well ages ago but are now in their 50s and are almost definitely going to fail Stage 1, would be a bit disappointing to watch imo.

My only hope is that they invite people who are worthy of filling up the last 10-20 slots due to their potential as this would make for a really exciting and unpredictable tournament, rather than just seeing it as an excuse to invite more joke competitors and comedians. Obvs that sets a good scene for the start of the show, but too many will definitely work to the tournament’s detriment.

[ArbuthnotBlob]

Yeah with the state of the world this was to be expected, if Rene hasn't been invited, and while it's a terrible shame I don't think there was a lot they could do about it, the safety of the production and competitors had to come first.

I wouldn't hold your breath for Anastase, the theory has been he got blacklisted after appearing in KuroOvi and we haven't really seen anything to disprove that, but it would be a nice surprise if he reappeared, assuming he still lives in Japan.

[tns8597]

I don't think that's true because Kongu also competed on KuroOvi and competed in SASUKE 35.

Either way, all I'm saying is that hopefully we'll have a higher influx of new guys and/or those returning from hiatus that could actually do well and create some new excitement beyond the usual Morimoto, Hioki, Sato etc. reaching Stage 3.

Joke competitors continuously failing the Rolling Hill gets boring after about 5 minutes hence my above statement.

[ArbuthnotBlob]

Oct 22, 2020 18:08:07 GMT -5 tns8597 said:

I don't think that's true because Kongu also competed on KuroOvi and competed in SASUKE 35.

Either way, all I'm saying is that hopefully we'll have a higher influx of new guys and/or those returning from hiatus that could actually do well and create some new excitement beyond the usual Morimoto, Hioki, Sato etc. reaching Stage 3.

Joke competitors continuously failing the Rolling Hill gets boring after about 5 minutes hence my above statement.

I'm cynical enough to believe Kong's retirement was perhaps also a consequence of his being on KuroOvi, but hopefully not!

Oh yeah, I agree, some returning strong local competitors to beef up the roster would be nice. I re-watched 24 recently and the first 30 minutes to an hour are excruciating with the sheer volume of joke competitors and bad celebrities and comedians. Thank goodness the current New Years Special theme of the recent tournaments didn't carry that over from 24!

[GlobalNinjaFan]

This... really sucks.

The show kinda has a history with disproportionate backlashes to any western-based controversy, and this is a key example.

Uninviting ALL foreigners (especially a Last Man Standing and finalist!) is just a really backwards way to deal with this year's news. Jessie didn't deserve this, and neither did Rene or any other foreigner.

They should've just switched to having a new representative for the US every tournament.

[Ninja Relaxer]

I don't mind this. The biggest COVID-related buzzkill for me is going to be the absence of a crowd. I hope it doesn't come to that, but I imagine it will.

[Eclipse]

Oct 22, 2020 11:59:57 GMT -5 casuallystranded said:

According to this YouTube video, Rene has said that no foreigners have been invited for SASUKE 38. I was hoping we could at least get Rene, but sadly that's not happening. I hope that a few Gaijins (people like Ragivaru and Kane, who lived in Japan but were still considered foreigners) can slip through the cracks, but that is very unlikely since we haven't had any people like that compete since at least 35.

Japan has restrictions on most international travel, but their other sports shows have had a wide variety of foreigners who either live in Japan or are stranded in Japan. I think its safe to say nobody will fly in, but I would not say this means there will be no foreigners at all.

Oct 22, 2020 18:08:07 GMT -5 tns8597 said:

I don't think that's true because Kongu also competed on KuroOvi and competed in SASUKE 35.

This is not completely accurate. Kong tested and ran the KuroOvi prototype course as part of a YouTube series. He did not appear in the main KuroOvi series or TV broadcast.

I believe it was Koji Saikawa who competed on KuroOvi and was still invited to SASUKE after. It has been shared on social media that due to TBS company policies Inui believes it is very difficult, but not impossible to appear on both.

[Kane-Not-Kosugi]

Ah shucks. Oh well. This is definitely the smartest thing for Sasuke 38 as a whole. I'll be waiting till Sasuke 39 to see the new international reps and get better guesses on which ones will do well cuz I watch every country's Ninja shows LOL