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Post by jfeathe on Apr 3, 2011 22:46:07 GMT -5
I asked this question awhile ago, but I'd like to get everyone's opinion again.
G4 brought Sasuke to America in the fall of 2006. According to the G4 website, they made the announcement on September 25 and they aired the first episode on October 3 of the same year.
The thing about this that puzzles me is that they brought this show to America before anyone could have known about Nagano's Kanzenseiha and the resulting course transformation.
The insane difficulty of the new course and the popularity of it in the US opened the door for an American trials that eventually evolved into the huge event it currently is.
It would make sense to me if G4 picked up the show AFTER the Kanzenseiha in order to start an American trials, but they didn't do this. They picked it up during an era of constant defeat and a stagnant course.
My main question is if you think:
1) G4 picked up the show intending for American involvement all along?
or
2) Did the Kanzenseiha influence G4's goal of American involvement(they wouldn't have persued it otherwise)?
The timing of G4's aquisition of Sasuke is just so weird. I wanted to get an update of what everyone thought.
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Post by cole77000 on Apr 3, 2011 23:14:28 GMT -5
Which tourney did g4 start with? I assume maybe 11-13 you mean?
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Post by RiderLeangle on Apr 3, 2011 23:38:15 GMT -5
Well G4 probably just wanted the show because it's cool. And they couldn't have predicted Shin Sasuke.. Look at the difference between 4 and 5, we got what? two or three new obstacles? And 18 didn't air until mid-early the next year. If G4's main goal was just get Americans on the course they would have just done it sooner and sent someone to 18..
Although that was a bit unfair to the ANC1 guys who ended up getting sent to 19 when G4 had only shown up to 17. In fact in their special they showed them watching 18 on the plane and the shocked reactions there after. Like G4 went through all the effort of sending people and then realized "Oh... Right... The course is a bigger b**** than what you were expected, whoops..."
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Post by jfeathe on Apr 4, 2011 10:11:15 GMT -5
Well G4 probably just wanted the show because it's cool. And they couldn't have predicted Shin Sasuke.. Look at the difference between 4 and 5, we got what? two or three new obstacles? And 18 didn't air until mid-early the next year. If G4's main goal was just get Americans on the course they would have just done it sooner and sent someone to 18.. Although that was a bit unfair to the ANC1 guys who ended up getting sent to 19 when G4 had only shown up to 17. In fact in their special they showed them watching 18 on the plane and the shocked reactions there after. Like G4 went through all the effort of sending people and then realized "Oh... Right... The course is a bigger b*tch than what you were expected, whoops..." Wow, I forgot that Colin and Brett had no knowledge of the (then-current) course. Thinking back, I remember they aired 18 and 19 together in one super-mega-marathon. It's a miracle they made it as far in the course as they did. This brings up another question. When did G4 air 17? I know they started with later tournaments and progressed to 17 eventually but I don't have the actual timeline. Gah, I wish I could go back in time and document what G4 did with Sasuke. Unfortunately, even though I kept up with all the ads and commercials for Ninja Warrior, they never made it clear what it was and it took me a little while to start watching (I origianlly thought it was a reality show to become the "Next Best Ninja" or something  ) |
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Post by yamfriend on Apr 5, 2011 16:17:49 GMT -5
IIRC someone said a while ago that 15 was the first tournament G4 showed. Not sure about how the rest of the timeline goes though.
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Post by Badalight on Apr 5, 2011 16:50:19 GMT -5
Well G4 probably just wanted the show because it's cool. And they couldn't have predicted Shin Sasuke.. Look at the difference between 4 and 5, we got what? two or three new obstacles? And 18 didn't air until mid-early the next year. If G4's main goal was just get Americans on the course they would have just done it sooner and sent someone to 18.. Although that was a bit unfair to the ANC1 guys who ended up getting sent to 19 when G4 had only shown up to 17. In fact in their special they showed them watching 18 on the plane and the shocked reactions there after. Like G4 went through all the effort of sending people and then realized "Oh... Right... The course is a bigger b*tch than what you were expected, whoops..." Wow, I forgot that Colin and Brett had no knowledge of the (then-current) course. Thinking back, I remember they aired 18 and 19 together in one super-mega-marathon. It's a miracle they made it as far in the course as they did. Well, they watched tournament 18 while they were on the plane and studied it. Plus I wouldn't really say they got far... they beat what, 3 obstacles? Not an accomplishment really. Levi hardly had any info and he got to stage 3 on his first try. Brent Steffenson IIRC didn't even know what the current incantation of the course looked like and get made it to stage 3. |
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Post by RiderLeangle on Apr 6, 2011 17:21:33 GMT -5
Well G4 was really misleading with ANW1, Someone can be watching 17 and thinking it's pretty beatable but they never even made an effort to air 18 until 19 had already been recorded, and even they they only showed it the weekend before "Ninjafest" aired. And the test G4 gave weren't really that great, Did they really have much Sasuke relevance aside from the Jumping Bars at that beach?
And aside from that I'm not sure how many people states-side were even really training for Sasuke the way they are now.. I mean sure just find a spider walk and you can imitate that but were people really building replicas back then? So people weren't really prepared but that's not G4's fault...
I mean no offense to Colin and Brett but they really weren't prepared for Sasuke, I mean sure theres no shame in failing 19's JS but half way stage 1 is an average run really, nothing special.
BTW Bada your example of Levi and Brent being able to get to Stage 3 on their first try, Levi is a Pro Freerunner and Sasuke 20 was really set up well for his skill set, the only thing out of the ordinary for a Freerunner in stages 1 or 2 of 20 would be the Salmon Ladder and he seemed to find out the rhythm well enough on his own (And also he had the advantage of going after Okuyama who got through the Salmon Ladder better than anyone had before at the time).
Brent said he hadn't seen the current version of the course ubt we can assume he was at least familiar with Shin Sasuke which 26 wasn't too far off from, If you're prepared for Shin Sasuke you can at least make it to Stage 3 in the current era.
And both Levi and Brent failed at the midway point of Stage 3, And neither really did anything groundbreaking in their Stage 3 runs (OK technically Brent got farthest of anyone at the time on the UCH but David instantly beat that by touching Ledge 4). And besides that Brent had Boot Camp to at least make him aware of the Double Salmon Ladder..
So especially now I think theres a difference between being prepared for Stages 1 and 2 and being prepared for Sasuke as a whole
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Post by Badalight on Apr 6, 2011 19:52:23 GMT -5
Don't take what I said out of context, i was just simply disagreeing that Brett and Colin getting to the JS was a "miracle" when it really was not all that impressive. No shame in losing on the Jumping Spider, especially the 19 version and on your first try, but it was far from a miracle.
The 2 examples I gave were simply similar examples where the competitors didn't have much information, but still made it far regardless.
And Rider, Brett Simms also does parkour, so I don't see your point. And yes he made that a well known fact even in his early video submissions. He went into even more detail in his TV interview.
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Post by RiderLeangle on Apr 6, 2011 20:28:27 GMT -5
Don't take what I said out of context, i was just simply disagreeing that Brett and Colin getting to the JS was a "miracle" when it really was not all that impressive. No shame in losing on the Jumping Spider, especially the 19 version and on your first try, but it was far from a miracle. The 2 examples I gave were simply similar examples where the competitors didn't have much information, but still made it far regardless. And Rider, Brett Simms also does parkour, so I don't see your point. And yes he made that a well known fact even in his early video submissions. He went into even more detail in his TV interview. Oh, I missed the post where someone called it a miracle.. No.. if Aoki made the JS, THAT'D be a miracle, just your average guy passing the Rokudantobi, Log Grip and Pole Maze isn't that impressive... Rokudantobi were present in 16 and 17 so they were already expecting that, Log Grip preparation wouldn't be far off from them making sure they don't mess up the Rolling Maruta, and Pole Maze wasn't that tricky if you were expecting to go to Sasuke and didn't know about Shin Sasuke.. OK that's fair enough Now this was his entry video correct? While yes he does do some Parkour, looks like it's more focused on Freerunning tricks than the actual skills of the movement, And he's also not professional at it, The differences between amateurs and pros is obvious in anything, freerunning is no exception. While yes it looks like he was practicing some Sasuke skills most of it wasn't exactly relevant to the course. Now compare that video with the kind of Parkour you'd see in movies or something (Hell.. Theres a chance some of that you're thinking of might be Levi or Brent) and you'll note the big experience difference. Again.. No offense Brett, I'm just saying at the time you weren't ready for Sasuke |
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Post by Christopher Layne on Aug 20, 2011 22:01:13 GMT -5
The first three American Ninja events that G4 ran were little more than popularity contests. Fan voting is no way to narrow down a field. Granted, they chose some good candidates for years 2 and 3, but that's beside the point.
That was a tough time for me personally. I didn't think I had much of a shot to get considered, as I don't fall into G4's target demographic (I just turned 41 in June) and didn't really have the means to make a kick-a** video. I'm glad to see that more of a premium is placed on athletic ability from the start of the event. That's how it should have been done the entire time.
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Post by Badalight on Aug 20, 2011 22:23:43 GMT -5
The first three American Ninja events that G4 ran were little more than popularity contests. Fan voting is no way to narrow down a field. Granted, they chose some good candidates for years 2 and 3, but that's beside the point. That was a tough time for me personally. I didn't think I had much of a shot to get considered, as I don't fall into G4's target demographic (I just turned 41 in June) and didn't really have the means to make a kick-a** video. I'm glad to see that more of a premium is placed on athletic ability from the start of the event. That's how it should have been done the entire time. They had good people in the first one as-well. They just succumed to the Jumping Spider of 19 like everyone else. Collin is an amazing athelete, and back then you still had people like Ruselis Perry, Rick Seedman, Ryan Cousins, Lorin Ball, and Ryan Stratis trying out. |
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Post by Christopher Layne on Aug 20, 2011 22:57:25 GMT -5
I phrased that badly. I meant that the candidates chosen in 2 and 3 achieved better results, not that they were necessarily better athletes or competitors.
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2D2Will
Kishimoto Shinya
Posts: 1,476
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Post by 2D2Will on Sept 6, 2011 22:00:41 GMT -5
IIRC someone said a while ago that 15 was the first tournament G4 showed. Not sure about how the rest of the timeline goes though. G4 started with Sasuke 15 on October 3, 2006 and showed a new episode every Tuesday as a part of their Midnight Spank lineup. The first four weeks was Sasuke 15, followed by four weeks for Sasuke 16, and finally 5 weeks for Sasuke 17, meaning that Nagano's win was shown on December 26, the day after Christmas. At let me tell you, that was one of the best things I've ever seen on TV at Christmas time. Yup, I've been with Ninja Warrior/Sasuke since it first began airing on G4. As for why G4 picked up the series, I imagine it was due to the popularity of MXC on SpikeTV and G4 wanted a share of the Japanese game show market. They probably weren't expecting the influx of people wanting to compete on the show in Japan. |
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