Who would make a good fifth champion?

[dakohosu]

Who do you think would make a good fifth champion?

I ask this because we’ve had so many close calls from loads of different competitors, like Takeda narrowly missing out on the Final which he’s constantly been hyped up to demolish, Shiratori, Kongu etc and it always makes me wonder how they would’ve been marketed had they won in their respective best attempts. Like how Akiyama was marketed as the first, Nagano as the sort of godfather, etc. I always wondered how the above would’ve fit in that sort of narrative.

Who do you think would make a good fifth champion? Both in terms of fitting the champion vibe as well as them winning actually being a realistic prospect.

I’m also making this post because as much as I like Yusuke and I think him realising his childhood dream is a great story, I would really rather someone new comes and wins rather than him dominating constantly (the latter of which is probs going to happen but oh well). I also find him a touch bland and lacking emotion; unpopular opinion I know and feel free to blast me for it but yeah, I just never found him as charismatic as Nagano or Yuuji.

Anyway, let’s hear your thoughts. Probs not that many to choose from anyway lol.

[Ninja Relaxer]

So far, all the champions have been humble, friendly, supportive, and positive people. They also put in a lot of hard work to succeed. Personally, I'd like to see that trend continue, because I think it's what makes Sasuke great. So I don't really care who achieves kanzenseiha next as long as they have a good attitude.

[dakohosu]

Feb 20, 2022 14:40:54 GMT -5 Ninja Relaxer said:

So far, all the champions have been humble, friendly, supportive, and positive people. They also put in a lot of hard work to succeed. Personally, I'd like to see that trend continue, because I think it's what makes Sasuke great. So I don't really care who achieves kanzenseiha next as long as they have a good attitude.

Cant argue with that.

I mean as long as they’re not going to do an Isaac Caldiero and quit after winning, as well as trash talking his fellow competitors and being derogatory towards Sasuke compared to ANW.... I’m ok with whoever wins. The only other thing I wouldn’t want is for someone to win on their first try, like Rene almost did in 37. Sasuke’s always positioned itself as the world’s toughest obstacle course and that’s how it markets itself to this day and partially what drives the ratings, so to have a rookie just walk on the stage and crush the course completely wouldn’t do wonders for the show’s reputation. It would also somehow probably convince Inui to make the course irrationally harder like creating a Sasuke 33 Stage 3 like scenario which was just impossible. Obviously in Rene’s case he’d competed on NWG, but him winning Sasuke and not NWG (obvs he’s won that now but not back in 2019) would make people think that Sasuke hasn’t innovated or evolved enough compared to the other international shows.

Also, this is probably just my favouritism talking, but I think Yoshiyuki would make a great fifth champion. His dedication goes unquestioned and he’s probably the best all-round competitor we’ve seen in years, and it would also be amazing to see Yamada live his dream through his protege after 25 years of trying. Tada winning would also make the Morimoto Sedai look a lot better lol..... apart from those two I can’t really see anyone else winning, besides Yusuke again, but I’m hoping someone else can break through otherwise it’s just going to be 10 more years of Yusuke domination.

[m4tt3r0x]

I'd like to see one of the "second class" best friends of the champion actually win myself. Like Takeda, Ryo, or Tada, who have always been a bit overshadowed by their friends. Right now Ryo seems to be a lot more serious and his attitude has changed much of late as well. If either him or Tada seriously put in the work I'd like to see one of them as champion as it'd be unexpected and cool to see the underdog finally get chosen. Otherwise, yeah, I think the obvious answer is Yoshiyuki because of his ability and connection to Yamada.

[zoran]

I'd say Kanno to keep the trend of 22 featuring all the champions.

[azn]

As of right now, Tada is the best bet, his run in general was very impressive the more you dive into it,the last of the 90's to beat the soaked wall, and 1 of 3 to do the Falling Shelves, but also still be capable of doing the CLD, and he also is 3/4 on cliffhangers with 180 jumps. If he finds a way to push through the VLK then I think he's a solid Kanzen candidate.

As for my personal pick, It's tied between Yoshiyuki and Hayate. I'm sure Yoshiyuki can avenge his swing edge fail but he also had a reckless scare on the Sidewinder, again probably a nothing moment - although Yoshiyuki's "saaaafe" complete with pose was entertaining - but just those little things make me a tad concerned, but its still Yoshiyuki, he would've likely made the Final if it wasn't for a slippery ledge. In the case for Hayate, he instantly became a favorite for reasons both personal but also bcuz of his breakout run. He's basically Yoshiyuki 2.0 in that they both are fast competitors with similar frame, but clearing the Falling Shelves on his first attempt was what made me reconsider my decision between the two and ultimately it's either one at this point.

[subtleagent]

Pretty much anyone in the current competitor pool who had at least beaten the Cliffhanger or has shown they're capable of doing so.

[sasukewarrior333]

It would've been nice to have seen Shingo press that button at some point in his career, after he's the only person who can truly claim to have seen it all. However, I think him not being a champion is arguably more inspiring, the guy was never able to win it all but he didn't care, he was there because he wanted to do the best he could do. So despite what my signature might suggest, I don't mind him not being a champion.

Yoshiyuki or Tada seem like the most viable options at the moment but I think Hayate might be worth watching out for given how quickly his career is progressing.

I wouldn't mind seeing any of them win, as mentioned by others I think the most important thing in a champion is their personality, and all four of them so far have been very likable and kind people and the three I have mentioend just now are also that. I quite like the idea of Hayate winning the most given how his success has developed so quickly.

I'm just glad SASUKE has had four champions who are truly admirable people, meanwhile for ANW... well thank God Geoff exists.

This is an unpopular opinion but I personally don't see anything wrong with someone retiring after a Kanzen. At all. If they're an a*****e afterwards like Isaac then yeah screw them but nobody should be pressured into participating in a sport they wanted to retire at their peak or if they just don't wanna do it anymore.

[subtleagent]

True, this current celebrity pool has proven quite promising. We got 5 celebrities in Stage 2 and 4 of the 5 beat the Salmon Ladder and Hayate got to the Cliffhanger. All of them look exceptionally promising and have shown some decent consistency (I know only being consistent on Stage 1 might not be groundbreaking, but I think those competitors deserve some credit in showing that they didn't just clear by luck, hence why I have respect for competitors like Nakata or Ishikawa).

I agree, if Nagano had retired after 23 after what would've been his second Kanzen I would've been content with that. For some people winning is enough and there's no shame in hanging it up when you've done so.

[dakohosu]

I agree there's nothing wrong with retiring after winning, given that many feel like they want to move on to the next chapter of their life once they've realised their current dream, as well as the fact that they no longer have anything to prove. It's just in Isaac's case that combined with everything else he did just branded him as incredibly arrogant and dislikable. I think Nagano retiring if he had won in 23 would've probably been a good thing, given that he declined pretty much straight after and everyone would've remembered him as having great sportsmanship anyway.

Yeah I agree it's a tie between Yoshiyuki and Tada. It's hard to tell given that the former outperformed the latter in 38 while the opposite was true for 39, and neither have had long enough careers to gauge how they'll progress or regress in the next few years. They're both under 30 but let's not forget competitors like Ryo and Kanno declined pretty early and suddenly at that too. I would give the edge to Tada given that he's a much more experienced rock climber than Yoshiyuki, but Yoshiyuki's been training speed climbing recently and I'd say he has the edge on the Salmon Ladder due to how explosive and fast he is.

That said, I'm no longer counting Ryo out anymore. We've seen how impressive his runs can still be if he's given the chance and doesn't make a rookie error. Keitaro and Araki I've basically lost faith in given that their inconsistency and supposed inability to perform under pressure seems to seep into most of their performances.

Hayate's performance was hella impressive in 39, but a part of me just feels like he might become another Hioki or Sato. Someone who can do the Cliffhanger easily in practice but just flubs in competition constantly. Too early to tell, but I wouldn't say he's on the level of Yoshiyuki, Tada, or Ryo in terms of Stage 3 prowess which is probably the biggest determining factor of whether someone can Kanzen or not at this point.

[sasukewarrior333]

Yeah that makes sense, I'm sorry that I misunderstood your point earlier.

Ryo's got a fair shot, the only problem is that depending on the side of bed he wakes up it's anyone's guess as to how he'll do.
I agree Hayate is more of a wait and see, as the scenario you described might well play out as much as I hope it doesn't. i Just hope he can clear it sometimes and not do a Sato where he can never break past the second transition or even worse a Hioki where he breaks past the first transition once and then regresses and is never able to again.

I would be quite happy for Ryo to win, he did have his personality flaws in the earlier days but they were far from making him unlikable and I feel he's matured so much to the point he'd 100% fit in with Akiyama. Nagano, Yuuji and Yusuke.

[dakohosu]

Feb 21, 2022 9:39:38 GMT -5 sasukewarrior333 said:

Yeah that makes sense, I'm sorry that I misunderstood your point earlier.

Ryo's got a fair shot, the only problem is that depending on the side of bed he wakes up it's anyone's guess as to how he'll do.
I agree Hayate is more of a wait and see, as the scenario you described might well play out as much as I hope it doesn't. i Just hope he can clear it sometimes and not do a Sato where he can never break past the second transition or even worse a Hioki where he breaks past the first transition once and then regresses and is never able to again.

I would be quite happy for Ryo to win, he did have his personality flaws in the earlier days but they were far from making him unlikable and I feel he's matured so much to the point he'd 100% fit in with Akiyama. Nagano, Yuuji and Yusuke.

No problem at all, your point about retiring after winning was 100% valid and I'm honestly surprised more competitors haven't done it, but I suppose if you're devoted enough to achieve Total Victory, then the next goal will undoubtedly be to win it again and so on. Winning has never ended any of the champions' desire to continue performing at their best, hence why all of them still got so upset when they failed Stage 1 despite having nothing to prove. 

I also used to question Ryo's attitude but come to think of I honestly don't blame him. Sasuke 31 must've been such a traumatic experience for him; he knew that everyone expected him and only him to win hence why he got #100, then instead he fails Stage 1 and Yusuke robs him of his life-long dream. Under-delivering under such pressure can really dampen your confidence and drive which just led to him mentally checking out and cutting back on training and commitment as that experience would've just made him think 'what's even the point?' (especially with 32's renewal being nigh on impossible). Also, him and Yuuji are best friends and Yuuji was also in a similar rut at the time so he also had no one to really motivate him either. A lot of people also disliked Ryo for supposedly being 'cold' towards foreigners, but that was no doubt influenced by the embarrassment of the early ANW international specials and how he and his team were treated by NBC.

Now though I think he's matured out of that situation and has rediscovered his passion after his near-Final attempt in 36 which convinced him that he's still 'got it'; I always knew he would given that Yuuji resurged from almost the exact same situation (trauma from an equivalent fail in Sasuke 31 and also being on USA vs. Japan) to the point that the Ryo stereotypes no longer really apply. Everyone calls him inconsistent but he's cleared Stage 1 the last two times in a row including a wet Tackle+Warped Wall combo which I personally saw as the most impressive clear of Sasuke 39 especially given that that combo was conceived specifically to take Ryo out. He's clearly turned a corner and if he can make it back to Stage 3 again, which I definitely think he can, I'd say he's got a great shot at Total Victory especially as he also climbs regularly. My only worry is that a Stage 1 fail might send him into another downward spiral, especially as his attitude towards Sasuke seems to be based on his most recent track record. 

The only reason I'm doubtful of Hayate isn't because of my perception of him, it's just that so many competitors can do the 180 transition in practice but almost no one except for Yusuke, Ryo, and Yuuji, can consistently clear the transitions in competition. I don't know whether it's because they're tired (which if it is you'd think they'd account for that by practicing the transitions after other obstacles) or due to pressure but yeah. Hayate's shown he can do three 180 transitions in a row and then failed the first one on the CHD, mind you his home replica obvs doesn't have the moving ledge. His attempt was better than Hioki's though, despite the latter now having had 6 or so attempts on the damn thing. I hope he proves me wrong, but I'm just going by what we've seen over the past few years. It's actually one of the reasons I'd scrap the 180 transitions completely if were up to me, but that's a story for another thread....

[m4tt3r0x]

So this is a pretty off topic question but I don't know where else to put it:

Did Yuuji keep the car he won in 24? Does anyone know if he still has it?

[ChiBiJKT48]

Mar 11, 2022 19:14:24 GMT -5 m4tt3r0x said:

So this is a pretty off topic question but I don't know where else to put it:

Did Yuuji keep the car he won in 24? Does anyone know if he still has it?

Late to this, but, no. His car is too big to fit on his House.