Sasuke 40 application deadline

[dakohosu]

So the Sasuke 40 application deadline is today (5 August), which is a lot later than expected given that applications opened in late April, and for the past couple of tournaments there’s only been a 1 month gap between applications opening and closing.

Does anyone have any idea as to when they think Sasuke will tape and ultimately air? It’s usually about a month after the applications close but I’m not sure given that the process so far this year has bucked the trend.

I was hoping 40 would air on 27 September given that it would adhere to the exact 25th anniversary of the show, but clearly that’s not going to happen at this point lol. I did see some Instagram accounts of people training have a caption somewhere along the lines of ‘New Year Eve at #sasuke2022’ but that could just be pure speculation as several of the previous tournaments have aired around that time. I doubt they’d know the air date that far in advance.

[katoshiho]

Actually I already applicated in few months ago.

[brz0ny]

Speaking of applications, how many regular people do really have a shot to actually get into the show through them? I am pretty sure its a crazily small number given the fact huge majority of competitors are either celebrities or well known competitors.

[dakohosu]

Aug 5, 2022 8:59:26 GMT -5 brz0ny said:

Speaking of applications, how many regular people do really have a shot to actually get into the show through them? I am pretty sure its a crazily small number given the fact huge majority of competitors are either celebrities or well known competitors.

I don't know tbh. Sasuke 39 had loads of different application streams; it had onesfor celebrities, one for normal people (online application) and one for YouTubers (not sure why they got their own application stream as surely they're classified as celebrities?). According to Sasukepedia, out of the 530 celebrities who applied 100 got shortlisted for the audition, while in the case of the online applications, only 50 out of 2000 applicants were shortlisted for the audition. Let's not forget that this is simply the cut-off for who's even allowed to audition, let alone actually get on to the show; those numbers were never officially revealed. 

This means that being optimistic, at best maybe 30(?) regular people actually got on the show, with the remainder being veterans (including the hyped celebrities like Darvish etc.) who I'd say accounted for around 20-25 of the slots in total, assuming none of them had to audition/were just invited back (Isa from what I remember had to audition which is mad given he's a Stage 3 regular).

Realistically this would leave about 50/100 competitors being celebrities, which just glancing briefly at the Sasuke 39 running order seems if anything like an understatement. Maybe even fewer regulars made it through the audition than I expected, so I'd maybe even go as far to say the number of regulars who get selected could be as dismal as like 15-20 lol. 

I really hate how the potential for new blood to try out Sasuke has basically been prevented by Inui's 'more is better' approach when it comes to celebrities. Hell, even the competitors that do get on the show I'm always like 'how did this dude even get on?' lol. Yusuke Goto is literally the only new blood competitor who's not a celebrity or a veteran (ie probably had to actually work his a** off to get on the show) who's done well in the last 2-3 tournaments, everyone else has been Rolling Hill or Dragon Glider fodder. This is exactly why Morimoto's continuously dominating, because no one else (even those YouTube freaks who train religiously for the show) even get a chance. Even when it comes to female competitors, apart from Ayano every other invite is a joke celebrity rather than other Kunoichi competitors, and they wonder why no Japanese female has cleared Stage 1 in 25 years.....

I don't know what it is with Inui, but ever since Sasuke 35-36 he's stopped inviting even competitors like Iketani and Mori in favour of more joke competitors, as well as loads of Stage 2 regulars who seemingly disappeared (*cough* got the chop *cough*). Ever since he rebranded the show as 'Sasuke Ninja Warrior' man....

Tl;Dr - not many, lol

[Ninja Relaxer]

That's disappointing. I thought the applications had closed months ago and we might get a late summer/early fall broadcast this year. Guess not.

And I agree with dakoosu. It feels like the competitor selection has gotten worse in recent years. It's almost as if Inui is actively selecting against serious competitors in favor of comedians and celebrities. That might not be the case, but it feels like it. I think there are two reasons for this:

(1) We have so many washed-up veterans now that there are fewer slots open for serious young competitors. So maybe it's time to close the door on competitors who haven't made it to Stage 3 in so many years, even if they were once serious contenders.

(2) There's not enough narrative focus on young competitors and their generation. Even the Morimoto Sedai seems to have been largely forgotten. The producers need to remember that Sasuke is more than just an athletic competition -- it's a reality show. One of the reasons why the New Stars worked so well was because they received a lot of screen-time and fluff-pieces. We cared about them and their results because we knew their stories.

I'm hoping Sasuke 40 is an improvement over 39, because I really feel like the producers lost their way on that one (digesting Tada, for example).

[brz0ny]

Aug 5, 2022 17:58:16 GMT -5 Ninja Relaxer said:

(1) We have so many washed-up veterans now that there are fewer slots open for serious young competitors. So maybe it's time to close the door on competitors who haven't made it to Stage 3 in so many years, even if they were once serious contenders.

Yes but only if they are replaced with actual competent competitors or at the very least competent celebrities. I would rather watch Shingo fail Fish Bone than him replaced with a random comedian who fails Fish Bone.

[dakohosu]

Yeah me too. I think with 38-39 they got the green light much later due to Covid so tried to rush to get the air date before end of the year (I mean you can’t have Sasuke 2021 in 2022 lol), whereas clearly Inui got told 40 could happen a lot earlier so he’s just been quite complacent about it. Either way I do hope the longer time period between apps opening and closing allows for better quality of applicants, though this obvs has no impact on how stringent the selection process for non joke competitors are. I really do hope it’s not late December again, 8 months between announcement and air date I’m fairly sure is a record lol.

I’m sort of in two minds about the washed up veterans thing. There are certain competitors like Shingo who I feel regardless of their recent performances have earned a right to compete whenever they want because of their contribution to the show, and their popularity among both this forum and the general fan base. I would also include old celebs like Iketani in this, I found it really disrespectful that he got declined given that he partially carried the show during the Golden Era due to his fame on Pro Sportsman. And the fact that I’m 95% sure he was declined in favour of yet another joke competitor is just the icing on the cake. Personally I’d stop inviting competitors like Shunsuke and Kanno, given that the former has basically given up while the latter hasn’t cleared in 7 years, and they get cut or digested anyway so even Inui knows they’re not even worth the edit. They’re also not really celebrities anyway so outside of the general fan base not many people know who they are; so from both a ratings and fan perspective they’re kind of dead wood (I know that’s super harsh but yeah lol). I’ve also said that Kanno is both a liability to TBS and himself to the point that allegedly TBS banned him from competing if he didn’t get shoulder surgery in fear of a law suit lol. That said, as brz0ny alluded to, all of the above is presuming we’re going to get some capable new blood, preferably competitors who’ve wanted to get on the show/trained for years as a replacement, not more joke competitors, who are all frankly pretty irritating from my perspective.

It is a very slept on point that Inui does need to invite more younger guys. It just seems as though the current competitor pool is getting older and older, pretty much half of the veteran cohort is over 40 now, while all of the Morimoto Sedai are now like 30+. Again, he has invited guys in their early 20s but they’re all idols/singers, though this is obvs a lot less egregious given that they’re athletes and have done pretty well (like Kajihara and Johnny’s Jr guys). Still, I do long for competitors like how Ryo and Yuuji were back in the day who just aggressively trained for the show despite being normal guys; Yusuke Goto is the closest thing we have to this atm, pretty much no one else.

Speaking of the Morimoto Sedai, while I do agree that the degree to which they get fast forward is somewhat baffling (especially when you consider who they’re being skipped in favour of) you can’t deny that many of their performances haven’t warranted them getting full fluff pieces etc, particularly Keitaro and Araki. I agree Tada getting digested is weird to the point that I almost feel he wanted to stay under the radar on purpose. Jun getting fast forwarded I think was because everyone knows he’s going to make Stage 3 at this point so seeing him clear the first two stages isn’t exciting in any way now lol. I also feel Inui formed the group in 36 based on their strong performance that tournament but ever since hasn’t been able to decide if he wants to continue using the namesake due to a couple of the members’ lacklustre performances; it just seems a bit half arsed where he calls someone a Morimoto Sedai and then cuts them the following tournament lol. That said, once the full group starts becoming more consistent and formidable, they should defo start focusing on their stories and fluff pieces a lot more, just anything to divert the fan base away from HIKAKIN or Rampage Exile etc….



But yeah, I am pretty worried about the direction Sasuke is going in. I’m fairly sure the reason they’ve started spacing out the stronger competitors more (I mean Saikawa was literally given #9) is so they can accommodate as many joke competitors/celebrities as possible without having the monotony of like 50 Rolling Hill fails in a row. It’s a smart tactic and it is undeniably better than the former, but knowing Inui’s intention as to why he’s done this is quite concerning.

[dakohosu]

Lol so Yoshiyuki’s dad has applied for Sasuke 40.

http://instagram.com/p/CgzBdPnJQu4

[m4tt3r0x]

Wonder if he'll out dark horse the dark horse

[Ninja Relaxer]

For a second, I thought that was Mr. Octopus. What a glorious return that would be...

[dakohosu]

Aug 10, 2022 10:58:44 GMT -5 m4tt3r0x said:

Wonder if he'll out dark horse the dark horse

If he gets invited he'll become the oldest competitor ever to attempt Sasuke at 69, beating that 67yo guy from Sasuke 13(?). They have to invite him, he's literally the dad of one of the most prolific Sasuke competitors out there who's coached by Yamada. He probably won't be knowing Inui, but imo even though he's not well known, surely a grandad either failing spectacularly early or doing better than a lot may have expected (I mean Yoshiyuki's his son lol) would be good for the ratings?

[Ninja Relaxer]

Aug 10, 2022 11:49:03 GMT -5 dakohosu said:

surely a grandad either failing spectacularly early or doing better than a lot may have expected (I mean Yoshiyuki's his son lol) would be good for the ratings?

He's pretty much guaranteed to fail Stage 1 at his age, so I don't see that as a big ratings boon. Usually a competitor needs comedic or sex appeal to justify being invited when their prospects are that low.

[echopmatachi]

I hope SASUKE 40 will air in late-September or early-October for the 40th anniversary tournament.