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Post by talledega7 on Sept 17, 2008 12:27:07 GMT -5
While I wouldn't call it the greatest Sasuke ever, it will be one of my top 5 helped by being the first one I ever got to see as it was being broadcast.
Levi's run was a bit show-offy, but here's the thing. We did sort of take his pre-Jumping Spider flip out of context. An early Muscle Musical member did a sideways flip, so there was a history of it. It could have just been Levi saying "Anything you can do, I can do better." And besides, he had a little reason to celebrate at the end: 21.5 seconds left on the clock? He now holds the two fastest runs on the course since 19. Nagano probably would have matched or beat him should he have ran during his go, but that was true of 20 also.
Happy to see Brian beat the First. I didn't think he had the time, but then he nearly wrecks the button and gates to finish. Very dramatic.
Bummed about Yamada. Guy finally beats the Jumping Spider only for his ankle to crap out on him.
REALLY bummed about Shingo. How can a person have that much time left at the Flying Chute and time up? That shouldn't be possible. He's my favorite competitor, but gimme a break.
Luci earned her spot. Only woman to have ever beaten the Log Grip (which everyone was saying she would fail) and she makes it to the Half-Pipe Attack. Was it me or did it seem like the rope didn't want to move for her?
Glad to see Takeda and Nagano beat the Cliff-Hanger and cool to see Nagano make it all the way to the end of the stage.
Someone start a letter writing campaign demanding that TBS oils down that final pipe in 22. That was ridiculous.
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2D2Will
Kishimoto Shinya
Posts: 1,476
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Post by 2D2Will on Sept 17, 2008 13:34:13 GMT -5
I really enjoyed it and I'm glad I decided to watch it. And I recored the whole thing!
And I call BS on the gliding ring. That obviously wasn't working.
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lars072
Jessie Graff
10%
Posts: 1,001
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Post by lars072 on Sept 18, 2008 8:37:23 GMT -5
Sasuke 21 was one of my favorites, but still doesn't beat 17! There were many times I was shouting at the computer egging on the competitors. With 9 guys passing the first stage and 3 getting to the 3rd stage, there was excitement galore. We really needed this one badly as the past 3 events were disappointing IMO. Here's my take on the good, the bad, and the ugly...
The Good...
1. Makoto Nagano- what can you say about this superhuman. He can do things no one else can. I thought getting past the Ascending Climb was impossible unti he made it (and the rest of the obstacles) look quite easy. I'm sure he would have mad eit to the Final Stage if it were not for that stupid 'Gliding' Ring. What the %#@@@% was that? No gliding, no chance, no way. Even Nagano couldn't do the impossible. Unless thye change that around next time, the only way you're getting across is if you have rockets in your a**.
2. Bunpei- I wish he hadn't fallen on satge 2, but he showed that he is a true all-star gettign past the first stage after his back injury. Hope he comes back for #22...
3. Nakata- What an inspiring performance. Noone (including me) thought he had a chance to get where he did. But going on sheer determination, he showed us what Sasuke is all about.
4. Lee En Chi- Hey, the first guy to make was from Taiwan! I have to get excited about that!
5. Takeda- I thought he may go all the way until the near impossible Ascending Climb. He looked like a machine and he proved that he isn't done quite yet. Awesome job!
6. Brian Orosco- He wanted another shot at the Flying Chute and he beat it and the 1st stage.....barely. I almost hit the ceiling when he jumped for the buzzer. Man...
7. Miyazaki- I was quite impressed with his run and it showed us that he may one of the next generation of Sasuke all-stars.
8. 9 guys making it past 1st stage- About damn time! Taht was the most excitement I've had in along time. You could tell that many of the guys figured out how to take on the HP Attack and Flying Chute and I think we'll see most of the top guys pass the 1st stage from now on...until they make it even harder. Blah!
9. Salmon Ladder changes- I like what they've done to the Ladder and Stick Slider. If only they had changed it in #20, eh Okuyama?
10. Not too many 'joke' competitors- I know it's entertaining, but Iliked how TBS cut a lot of the joke competitors this time around and focused more on the serious side of Sasuke. Good for them...
The Bad...
1. Levi- What the heck he was thinking on his first run, I'll never know. Whether G4 prompted him to showboat or whether it was his choice remains to be seen. But it was blatant showboating and nothing else. Fun shmun. He was showing off and lost a lot of respect IMO. I womder whatt he TBS producers thought. very disrespectful and arrogant. He paid for that arrogance on the Salmon Ladder and deserved his fate.
2. Yamamoto- He just can't seem to get a break! But he continues to do stupid things and at this rate, he'll never pass the 1st stage again. At least he dosn't cry though...LOL
3. Takahashi- Didn't see much of his run, but he has to be gutted falling on the Jumping Spider again. I really thought he would come through and at least make it to the 3rd stage. Was this his last go at Sasuke?
4. Mark Witmer- Wow! What can you say? My jaw dropped on the floor when he fell. Speechless....Luci did better than most people expected. Too bad she fell on the HP ATttack, but a solid outing nontheless. She can go home with her head held high, which is more than we can say for some competitors.
5. Mr. Sasuke- well same ole, same ole. At least he got to the Warped Wall this time. And he didn't cry (on camera anyhow). PAck it up Yamada, pack it up!
The Ugly...
OK, I've saved the worst for last and my rage is directed at TBS. What the @#!@#$ was that Gliding Ring crap? There was no gliding as we saw and even Nagano looked surprised when he realized that. Did this obstacle even work properly? I mean come on...do the producers really expect anyone to clear that obstacle and make the jump? IMPOSSIBLE unless changes are made. Nagano had it in the bag until taht piece of crap obstacle.
OK I'm done now. It was awesome watching it live though. When's Sasuke 22??? ;D
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Ninja Chris
Jessie Graff
Chris Christensen
Posts: 1,037
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Post by Ninja Chris on Sept 18, 2008 9:47:29 GMT -5
I almost think the Final Ring is supposed to be held a different way, from how Nagano was struggling with it. Maybe if he had both hands further up each side of the ring, he would have had more 'leverage' to move it forward. Too bad about the locking mechanism though. I thought that was intentional, although it didn't make much sense.
Agreed about Brian. I kept getting upset how he was taking his time getting to the end, but thank God he made it. Maybe next time (if there is a next time!) he'll be rushing the whole way through.
And also agreed about Levi. I actually liked the tricks, but I think he was poking fun at the acrobat that was doing tricks in his run, rather than insulting anyone. However, I was disappointed at his stage 2 run. Come on Levi, you proved how much you could do stage 2 before... what happened?!?
Either way, I guarantee he'll be much more straight forward next time. No tricks, and he'll probably get to stage 3. I hope anyway.
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Post by wolf4537 on Sept 18, 2008 9:58:08 GMT -5
One of the best tournaments I have EVER seen, even though no one cleared stage 3.
But yeah, if the final ring didn't work as it was supposed to, they should've let nagano try it again.
But this tournament is by far my favorite one that I have seen so far.
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Post by Badalight on Sept 18, 2008 10:04:01 GMT -5
Wow okay guys... can I clear up a few things please?
1. Who said they expected Mark to fail on the log grip? you're an idiot, that's all there is to it. Mark was easily the best out of the bunch, and he lost on fairly whent he log grip started leaving without him.
2. Daisuke Nakata would not have beaten stage 2 even if he didn't hurt his hands on the landing matt. You don't understand how much it would've taken for him to get up that thing. i'm sure him hurting his hands didn't help, but he wouldn't have beaten it anyway, and the guy who said you thought he would (Saem guy who said mark would fail) is again, not thinking.
3. Stop telling Yamada to pack his bags. he got further than most people. He was injured BEFORE HE STARTED. not only that, but he injured himself even worse after the jumping spider. He was doing the entire thing injured, and he did the half pipe attack with a limp, give the guy some freaking credit for that.
4. The gliding ring IMO worked fine, It's not supposed to "glide". You only have to do 1/2 and obstacle to get to it, so it's practically a 1 minute rest before you do it, it's not supposed to be easy. Since it's a ring shape of course it's not going to slide down easily, that's teh design of it, even the ring slider in Sasuke 17 didn't slide flawlessly, and that was a HUGE slope. There was some kind of latch on the end and it worked fine, Nagano DID latch onto it. On his final attempt, his final swing he got it, but let go right when it latched.
5. Stage 3 wasn't too exciting for me except for Takeda beating the cliffhanger. It wasn't that exciting because I easily predicted everything. I knew Daisuke Miyazaki would fail the steps, with 45 minutes left I knoew both nagano and Takeda would make it far, and most likely Nagano would make it further. There wasn't enough time for final stage so I assumed it'd be Takeda losing at either the hang climbing or spider flip, and Nagano would get to the final ring. I was right in every aspect, still enjoyable and fun to watch, but stage 3 was a little too predicatable. Stage 1 and 2 though, definately surprising.
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Post by eaglerider on Sept 18, 2008 10:12:20 GMT -5
Guess I'll throw my opinion in the mix as well. I really only watched to see how the Americans did. I know 3 of them personally and wanted to see how they faired this time around. Lets see:
Mark: I love this guy, I really do. he is genuinely a good person. I was really surprised to see him go down so early. But hey guess thats sasuke for you. Also goes to show how meaningless those entry videos really are. Mark had the best one and he did the worst out of everyone there. Though to be honest I wasnt really upset at all with his run. he went out did his thing and was fine with it. More power to him.
Luci: Im impressed she got as far as she did. Though I still think completing stage one is all but impossible for her, let alone all 4 stages. Her fall on the HP attack shows her lack of upper body strength which is required for all of stage 2,3 and 4. Not to mention the warped wall is like 16 feet high or something and she is 4 foot 8. try as you may there is just no way. It would be like me running up a wall 25 feet high. She was good though, but still better fit for the womens course since she is.... a woman.
Brian: He was actually the only one I was excited watching. I as thrilled when he actually beat stage 1. he went out there gave it his all and beat it. I got mad respect for him for that. I dont mind at all he lost on stage 2, at least he got further than last time.
Levi: Crap where to begin. I will say I was generally embarrassed watching his run. Had I actually been there I would have said something to him after he was done. Hope he realizes he was a guest of the country and the show. A little humility and respect is in order. He might have thought he was just having "fun" with it. But to me it came off as incredibly arrogant and needlessly flashy. As a result I felt nothing when he fell on stage 2. I just got the feeling he was a little too full of himself this time. But hey I could be wrong.
Olivia: Gah! what was the point of her running this course. Oh I know. For her 2 outstanding talents. At least she has a sense of humor about it.
Did enjoy seeing Nagano getting so far. The final obstacle does look doable if you can figure out how to move that stupid ring. Other than that it was a pretty good show. Thats my 2 cents. Not sure if Ill ever enter another ANC challenge though after this. IT just had me slapping my head and rather embarrassed. Oh well. Such is life.
Joe
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Post by Homeslice on Sept 18, 2008 10:36:18 GMT -5
Let me just say this to G4: don't EVER send your personnel to run the course AGAIN. What were you guys smoking? Plus, you really did a bad job with ANC3 (no disrespect to those that did make it in, of course), and need to do like you did with ANC2 if ever you have an ANC4.
If they invite people back to compete with any possible ANC4 competitors, I say Luci's the one they should invite back. She impressed me for how long she was in the First Stage - I think she'll figure out the Halfpipe Attack next time.
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Post by obakemono on Sept 18, 2008 10:49:27 GMT -5
Also goes to show how meaningless those entry videos really are. Although I agree they're not a great way of choosing competitors, it doesn't really show that at all. In ANC2 I think Mark had the second best time in the first elimination stage, and if it hadn't been head-to-head against Levi he would have got through. These things will happen even after proper selection processes.
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Post by eaglerider on Sept 18, 2008 11:01:29 GMT -5
Of course you cant say what would or would not have happened in ANC2. THe circumstances would be completely different. Maybe Mark wouldnt be as nervous, maybe he would be more nervous and have taken more time, or maybe he wouldve been hit by a bus while walking the streets of japan. Dont assume the exact same thing would have happened in 20 that happened in 21. By the same logic Levi should have done better this time since he has all this experience form last time. In fact he didnt go as far.
Saying Luci should go back because she impressed you by not failing instantly is a bad reason to say the least. There are other competitors we know have a chance of clearing later stages that should go back before her. Levi and Brian both proved they can clear stage 1 and have a chance at making it to stage 3. If anyone gets invited back it should be them.
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Post by obakemono on Sept 18, 2008 11:04:11 GMT -5
I'm not saying it would have happened in 20 if he had got through, I'm just saying that even someone with the ability and composure to survive a tough elimination round can still have a bad moment and mess up on the course. If it had been someone else who had only ever been involved by video submission I'd be inclined to agree with you.
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Post by wolf4537 on Sept 18, 2008 11:18:32 GMT -5
I liked Sasuke 21 more than any other tournament.
I think Levi's run was ok but he shouldn't have done all those flips unless like G4 told him to or something.
Brian should hopefully return to japan cause he has a REAL lot of potential.
I seriously still think Nagano should've been allowed to re-do the 3rd stage due to the fact that the final ring f*cked up on him.
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davidyko
Satō Jun
Occasional Translator
The Stuffed Owl
Posts: 743
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Post by davidyko on Sept 18, 2008 12:31:26 GMT -5
Nagano had no strength left, and would likely have failed an earlier obstacle, had he been given a re-do.
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Post by Badalight on Sept 18, 2008 13:08:14 GMT -5
Guys... the final obstacle didn't malfunction...
It didn't glide right down because it's not supposed to...
It did exactly what the prdoucers thought it would do, if there was something wrong they woul'dve fixed it, they have testers do it for the competitors in stage 3.
It's just a tough obstacle, and it's hard to do new obstacles on your first try.
Why do you think Takeda lost on the hang climbing? because it was new, it was hard, and he had no idea on how to handle it.
Same with Nagano on this ring, the more times he tries it the better chance he'll have of figuring out how to work it. If he gets there again next time it should be a lot prettier.
it did NOT malfunction... he clearly got to the "notch" at the end with his last swing, he just didn't have any energy left.
besides, if he had beaten stage 3 there's no way he'd have enough strength for the final stage.
He was dead tired, he was at his limit, and he failed where he failed.
He'll train hard for next time.
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Post by SRW on Sept 18, 2008 15:53:39 GMT -5
Sorry I had to! lol
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Post by gtoneko on Sept 18, 2008 16:15:35 GMT -5
Even after a day, I can still say that I thought that 21 was an awesome tournament.
For there to be so many who've gone further than before shows that everyone's getting much better overall.
The bad points: Half Pipe Attack and the Flying Chute are still proving to be the major "Ninja Killers" in this tournament, compared to 18 on up with Jumping Spider.
Definitely felt bummed out some from Shingo Yamamoto's run where once again, his foot hit the water for an auto DQ.
"Mr. Sasuke" Katsumi Yamada definitely shocked me for getting as far as he did, especially after his landing from the Jumping Spider, but back to his landing, as soon as he made the land/roll, I could hear him grunt loudly which meant that he hurt himself pretty bad at that point. I'd say he's the "Warrior Wipeout" at that point because just like Brett Simms, he was able to continue to the Warped Wall, but you know it had to have been hurting him like beyond belief.
The good: To see so much improvements with alot of the challengers, that definitely shows that alot of them are doing their homework for training.
To have 9 advance to stage 2 is a real good feat compared to 2 in 19 and 3 in 20.
With Takeda and Nagano getting past the Shin Cliff Hanger was a real sight to behold and to be able to see the final obstacle of stage 3 really gives everyone now a good opportunity to train with that final obsatcle, granted if you can find a good place to practice it. ^^;
Overall, this was an amazing tournament, so many new hopefuls are growing in numbers, so many surprises have arisen, plenty of heartbreak, I've gotta say that I think this tournament has got to be one of the top 5 tournaments now.
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Post by Badalight on Sept 18, 2008 17:57:55 GMT -5
Wow SRW, that was terrible, I SMITE you for that not cool or funny.
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Post by SRW on Sept 18, 2008 18:10:39 GMT -5
Wow SRW, that was terrible, I SMITE you for that not cool or funny. Oh c'mon it was, I hope he gets a second shot at 22 But what I thought is really funny is the reaction of G4 and the ANC producers. Mark should get another crack at it though although sadly I doubt he will.
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davidyko
Satō Jun
Occasional Translator
The Stuffed Owl
Posts: 743
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Post by davidyko on Sept 18, 2008 18:48:21 GMT -5
LOL, i thought it was funny, though maybe you spelled his name wrong. I dunno. Just wanted to say that I agree with Bada about the Final Ring. After all, the Pipe Slider wasn't designed to glide, why should the Ring be? Only reason why it's slightly inclined is because it's so much harder to slide a ring.
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Post by SRW on Sept 18, 2008 19:17:59 GMT -5
Thing with the jump on the pipe slider was the idea was to get a good jump forward to reach the finish, with this ring whatever it is supposed to do on the track, when you get to the end that is insanly hard since it declines and puts you almost below the ledge and the gap much wider meaning you need to swing some really high momentum like on a swing in a park and then jump up and over like a arch and catapault yourself to the ledge.
IMagine trying to do that when your arms are sapped!! Satanic! Although i'm gonna call it now 6 months before, Nagano gets to the Final stage in 22! (Provided he is on form like in 21)
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