Post by detroitlolcat on Dec 29, 2012 2:15:50 GMT -5
I really liked this tournament. Maybe because it was the first time I watched a SASUKE broadcast completely unspoiled and live in Japanese for the first time, maybe because of the live chat with SASUKE Maniacs, but I felt like this was a great tournament.
Competitors-wise, I was sad to see that Okuyama wasn't competing, as I wanted him to challenge Takeda's consecutive Third Stage appearance record and also because Okuyama is one of my favorite competitors (the Cool Old Dude of the Shin Sedai, perhaps?). Kongu's absence also saddened me because I felt like this competitor field was a little weaker than those of recent tournaments, and Okuyama and Kongu could have really made some deep runs if they focused in my opinion.
The First Stage was exactly what I hoped it would be and the opposite of what I expected it to be. For the first time since SASUKE 22 in 2009, fewer than ten people cleared the First Stage. As someone who generally roots for the course, I loved that. The Shin Sedai put on a clinic at this one, but it was sad to see the All-Stars flame out for their last tournament (more on that later). After the "27 in 27" First Stage of the previous tournament, I hoped that they would fix the time limit and amp up the First Stage a little. Needless to say, they did exactly that. Obstacles:
Godantobi- Not my favorite obstacle, to be honest. I don't understand why they would bring back this obstacle, as they always change the first obstacle during a renewal. The Godantobi is a relic of a past era, and I wish they put something in more innovative or quirky like the Step Slider or the Dome Steps.
Rolling Escargot- Y U BEAT TAKEDA? But seriously, this is the new Rolling Log/Maruta. The Rolling Log was the toughest First Stage obstacle of the 3-12 era, and the Rolling Escargot is the toughest First Stage obstacle of the 26-?? era. I'm not sure if this obstacle was modified over the past two tournaments, but if so the modifications were minor and the obstacle was deadly. No complaints here!
Spin Bridge- I LOVE this new Spin Bridge. It's the obstacle that makes the First Stage interesting. Honestly, other than Nagano's shocking failure, the only obstacle out of the last three that adds much excitement to the course is the Rope Ladder, and that's only because of the time. The new Spin Bridge can cause anyone to fail at any time. Did anyone expect Kouji to fail it? Did anyone expect Li to fail it? Did anyone expect Yamada to clear it? The one complaint that I have with this obstacle is its placement. It should be later in the stage, possibly between the Jump Hang and Ni Ren Soritatsu Kabe? Either way, whether you like this obstacle or not, you were excited/scared/angered at it, and that made the obstacle, and the First Stage, interesting to watch.
Jump Hang Kai- Okay obstacle. I don't really understand why they brought this one back per se, but I guess it's okay. It's more a time-wasting obstacle than a technique obstacle, and there are already enough time obstacles (Kabes, Rope Climb) in the course already. If they replaced this obstacle with something a little faster, then they could really turn Stage One into the "Lightning Round" of SASUKE, which would be interesting to see.
Ni Ren Soritatsu Kabe- Fine by me.
Rope Ladder- Meh, I like this obstacle. I also like the Rope Climb. Either one is fine.
The Second Stage was well designed save the time limit. I give TBS a pass on the obviously too-high time limit because this is the first time actual SASUKE competitors attempted the stage, and they probably went liberal on the time limit to ensure that the time limit didn't crush them all. I do have a couple gripes with a couple obstacles, but in my opinion this stage could be great if they made a few changes.
Cross Slider- I do not like this obstacle. It's not difficult. You press your hands against a couple walls for a couple seconds. However, this obstacle could be tougher if they added a drop, or made the track a little longer, or something. Nobody had any trouble with it, and it didn't have the "dang this guy's moving fast I hope he makes it!" feel of the Downhill Jump or the "At least it's possible to fail" aspect of the Slider Drop. If they pumped up the difficulty a little, this could be a good first obstacle.
Swap Salmon Ladder- Great obstacle. Failable, risky (or at least risky-looking), and difficult.
Unstable Bridge- Disaster. What is the point of this obstacle. It's a four-point plank, meaning that it's not even unstable. False advertising, much? Also, why one board? Honestly, the Unstable Bridge may have run its course in SASUKE, and it seems time to move on if they keep it like that.
Spider Walk- A bit pointless, no? I mean, everyone that makes it that far has the skills to beat the Spider Walk, so why keep the obstacle. You know what would be cool, if there was a SASUKE 7-17 Spider Walk as the first obstacle. Wouldn't that be interesting?
Backstream- This obstacle has potential, but it's not difficult enough. The jets barely slowed anyone down. Swimming has untapped potential in SASUKE, so I hope this obstacle stays. Maybe if they intensified the jets a little this obstacle could trip some people up, but this obstacle really didn't faze anyone.
Passing Wall- Hmm...this could be tough right after the Backstream. The middle wall is bad in my opinion. It doesn't have the resistance of the other walls because you're fighting gravity in the first and third walls, but only fighting friction in the second wall. To make this obstacle a little tougher, wouldn't it be cool if this obstacle was at an incline? It would be tougher to sneak under the walls and take longer, which is all the Wall Lift/Passing Wall is meant to do.
Also, a time limit of 120 seconds rather than 135 would be nice. This stage has potential, but wasn't well-executed this time. Understandable given that this was a new stage after a renewal.
The Third Stage- Man I like this one. Two words: Iron Paddler. The only thing I didn't like was that Inui said that the obstacle malfunctioned. Hopefully they don't nerf this obstacle to where it's easy, as it really Yuuji-proofs the course. This is an obstacle where you push instead of pull as Oti said, and it's much tougher for lightweights like Yuuji and Ryo who have an easier time on the Cliffhanger. Meanwhile, heavyweights will probably lose less energy on this obstacle but have it tough on the Hanger.
Rumbling Dice- Great drainer obstacle. Looks longer than the original Rumbling Dice, and is tougher than the Lol Bike from 27.
Iron Paddler- I praised this obstacle enough earlier. Don't change it Inui please .
Crazy Cliffhanger- Like in the fact that Yuuji finally failed the Third Stage, didn't like in the sense that TBS might lean too hard on the Cliffhanger to defeat people like they did in the 25-27 era. I don't like this obstacle overall because it requires so much specific training. If you're not building a specific Cliffhanger, then this becomes near-impossible to complete. This obstacle is just as tough as the UCH in my opinion because that jump is brutal. Usually when a Cliffhanger has a jump, the ledge is thickened so that a competitor can get more of a hang on it. However, this one is 3cm thick all the way through. We'll see, I guess.
Curtain Cling/Vertical Limit/Pipe Slider- Hopefully these obstacles are difficult enough to stop people from clearing after getting past the Cliffhanger. The Curtain Cling is legit, the Vertical Limit looks tough, and the Pipe Slider needs that jump at the end.
Final Stage- It's a Tsuna Nobori, right? With Yuuji being able to scale tall buildings with a single rope, there should be more. Honestly I hope that they bring back a 5-17 type Final because it was so damn hard, but I guess the Final will be hard no matter what.
About the storylines/notable competitors:
The All-Stars did not have a good tournament. Well, Yamada did well for what you expected, but the others had bad tournaments.
Akiyama's fall was pretty predictable, but obviously this doesn't stain his legacy because this was more of a ceremonial run than a competitive performance. Akiyama had been pretty much retired for a while, so not much was expected of him.
Takeda. Just...how? Failing the Escargot is reasonable, but failing it like THAT? That's what Shingo would do! It's a real shame he had to go out like that.
Shingo shingo'd the Spin Bridge. Sad, but surprising? No.
Yamada. Holy s***. Yamada just DID WORK on that course and tied for the best record of the All-Stars. At 47 he cleared the Escargot, Spin Bridge, modified Jump Hang, and cleared one Warped Wall. Yamada looked at peace with himself, as honestly all three All-Stars before him choked and the previous two choked massively. Yamada might be too old to clear the First Stage, but he did everything his body would let him do and made it far. Mad respect.
Nagano's fail was heartbreaking. He's definitely not too old-older people have cleared the Wall, but if this is really his last run then, well, it's not a fitting end. Yeah, he failed the Wall in his first tournament, but he's so much better than a First Stage exit.
The Shin Sedai played like pros. That needs no explanation.
What surprised me is that Shingo does not want to retire and that Takeda wants to come out of retirement. Honestly, I hope they return. Shingo's perfect attendance record is just too iconic and it would be a shame to see not injury, not a loss of desire, not age, but the producer end his career. Shingo might be a shadow of his former self results-wise, but his runs are entertaining, he's a class act, and the only thing keeping him from the perfect attendance record is Inui's wishes.
Takeda wanting to come out of retirement is also extremely surprising, as he had been happily retired for over two years prior to SASUKE 28. Takeda is also the All-Star with the best chance of making a deep run in SASUKE right now. The All-Stars as a group are obviously too old to make consistently great runs, but Shingo and Takeda are the two youngest All-Stars and both of them have the athleticism to make deep runs.
Nagano obviously isn't too old to compete- he's 40, and looking at Okuyama proves that in SASUKE, 40 is not a death sentence- and looks like he might want another chance. I'm not sure whether or not Nagano would welcome an invitation to SASUKE 29 (only he knows that!), but it would be nice to let him retire on his own terms.
I originally thought there was no chance the All-Stars would return because they had moved on from SASUKE. However, Shingo and Takeda are SASUKE royalty, and they have both said, POINT BLANK, ON AIR, that they want to return. Yamada would probably also return given the chance, and with all his friends there, Nagano might as well. That means that if allowed to return, there could be four All-Stars competing in SASUKE, the most since SASUKE 24. Heck, even Akiyama returning wouldn't be a total shocker, but that's far-fetched.
If four All-Stars could return on a consistent basis, is it really in TBS/Inui's best interests to forcibly retire them? Especially since SASUKE's ratings are in a flux and the All-Stars' star power could help the ratings? SASUKE is on life support ratings-wise, and dropping five legendary competitors from the show could be the last nail in the coffin, especially when two of them are demanding to return.
Hopefully, SASUKE 29 is as good as this one, as this was fun to watch. It's always nice to see the course win.
Competitors-wise, I was sad to see that Okuyama wasn't competing, as I wanted him to challenge Takeda's consecutive Third Stage appearance record and also because Okuyama is one of my favorite competitors (the Cool Old Dude of the Shin Sedai, perhaps?). Kongu's absence also saddened me because I felt like this competitor field was a little weaker than those of recent tournaments, and Okuyama and Kongu could have really made some deep runs if they focused in my opinion.
The First Stage was exactly what I hoped it would be and the opposite of what I expected it to be. For the first time since SASUKE 22 in 2009, fewer than ten people cleared the First Stage. As someone who generally roots for the course, I loved that. The Shin Sedai put on a clinic at this one, but it was sad to see the All-Stars flame out for their last tournament (more on that later). After the "27 in 27" First Stage of the previous tournament, I hoped that they would fix the time limit and amp up the First Stage a little. Needless to say, they did exactly that. Obstacles:
Godantobi- Not my favorite obstacle, to be honest. I don't understand why they would bring back this obstacle, as they always change the first obstacle during a renewal. The Godantobi is a relic of a past era, and I wish they put something in more innovative or quirky like the Step Slider or the Dome Steps.
Rolling Escargot- Y U BEAT TAKEDA? But seriously, this is the new Rolling Log/Maruta. The Rolling Log was the toughest First Stage obstacle of the 3-12 era, and the Rolling Escargot is the toughest First Stage obstacle of the 26-?? era. I'm not sure if this obstacle was modified over the past two tournaments, but if so the modifications were minor and the obstacle was deadly. No complaints here!
Spin Bridge- I LOVE this new Spin Bridge. It's the obstacle that makes the First Stage interesting. Honestly, other than Nagano's shocking failure, the only obstacle out of the last three that adds much excitement to the course is the Rope Ladder, and that's only because of the time. The new Spin Bridge can cause anyone to fail at any time. Did anyone expect Kouji to fail it? Did anyone expect Li to fail it? Did anyone expect Yamada to clear it? The one complaint that I have with this obstacle is its placement. It should be later in the stage, possibly between the Jump Hang and Ni Ren Soritatsu Kabe? Either way, whether you like this obstacle or not, you were excited/scared/angered at it, and that made the obstacle, and the First Stage, interesting to watch.
Jump Hang Kai- Okay obstacle. I don't really understand why they brought this one back per se, but I guess it's okay. It's more a time-wasting obstacle than a technique obstacle, and there are already enough time obstacles (Kabes, Rope Climb) in the course already. If they replaced this obstacle with something a little faster, then they could really turn Stage One into the "Lightning Round" of SASUKE, which would be interesting to see.
Ni Ren Soritatsu Kabe- Fine by me.
Rope Ladder- Meh, I like this obstacle. I also like the Rope Climb. Either one is fine.
The Second Stage was well designed save the time limit. I give TBS a pass on the obviously too-high time limit because this is the first time actual SASUKE competitors attempted the stage, and they probably went liberal on the time limit to ensure that the time limit didn't crush them all. I do have a couple gripes with a couple obstacles, but in my opinion this stage could be great if they made a few changes.
Cross Slider- I do not like this obstacle. It's not difficult. You press your hands against a couple walls for a couple seconds. However, this obstacle could be tougher if they added a drop, or made the track a little longer, or something. Nobody had any trouble with it, and it didn't have the "dang this guy's moving fast I hope he makes it!" feel of the Downhill Jump or the "At least it's possible to fail" aspect of the Slider Drop. If they pumped up the difficulty a little, this could be a good first obstacle.
Swap Salmon Ladder- Great obstacle. Failable, risky (or at least risky-looking), and difficult.
Unstable Bridge- Disaster. What is the point of this obstacle. It's a four-point plank, meaning that it's not even unstable. False advertising, much? Also, why one board? Honestly, the Unstable Bridge may have run its course in SASUKE, and it seems time to move on if they keep it like that.
Spider Walk- A bit pointless, no? I mean, everyone that makes it that far has the skills to beat the Spider Walk, so why keep the obstacle. You know what would be cool, if there was a SASUKE 7-17 Spider Walk as the first obstacle. Wouldn't that be interesting?
Backstream- This obstacle has potential, but it's not difficult enough. The jets barely slowed anyone down. Swimming has untapped potential in SASUKE, so I hope this obstacle stays. Maybe if they intensified the jets a little this obstacle could trip some people up, but this obstacle really didn't faze anyone.
Passing Wall- Hmm...this could be tough right after the Backstream. The middle wall is bad in my opinion. It doesn't have the resistance of the other walls because you're fighting gravity in the first and third walls, but only fighting friction in the second wall. To make this obstacle a little tougher, wouldn't it be cool if this obstacle was at an incline? It would be tougher to sneak under the walls and take longer, which is all the Wall Lift/Passing Wall is meant to do.
Also, a time limit of 120 seconds rather than 135 would be nice. This stage has potential, but wasn't well-executed this time. Understandable given that this was a new stage after a renewal.
The Third Stage- Man I like this one. Two words: Iron Paddler. The only thing I didn't like was that Inui said that the obstacle malfunctioned. Hopefully they don't nerf this obstacle to where it's easy, as it really Yuuji-proofs the course. This is an obstacle where you push instead of pull as Oti said, and it's much tougher for lightweights like Yuuji and Ryo who have an easier time on the Cliffhanger. Meanwhile, heavyweights will probably lose less energy on this obstacle but have it tough on the Hanger.
Rumbling Dice- Great drainer obstacle. Looks longer than the original Rumbling Dice, and is tougher than the Lol Bike from 27.
Iron Paddler- I praised this obstacle enough earlier. Don't change it Inui please .
Crazy Cliffhanger- Like in the fact that Yuuji finally failed the Third Stage, didn't like in the sense that TBS might lean too hard on the Cliffhanger to defeat people like they did in the 25-27 era. I don't like this obstacle overall because it requires so much specific training. If you're not building a specific Cliffhanger, then this becomes near-impossible to complete. This obstacle is just as tough as the UCH in my opinion because that jump is brutal. Usually when a Cliffhanger has a jump, the ledge is thickened so that a competitor can get more of a hang on it. However, this one is 3cm thick all the way through. We'll see, I guess.
Curtain Cling/Vertical Limit/Pipe Slider- Hopefully these obstacles are difficult enough to stop people from clearing after getting past the Cliffhanger. The Curtain Cling is legit, the Vertical Limit looks tough, and the Pipe Slider needs that jump at the end.
Final Stage- It's a Tsuna Nobori, right? With Yuuji being able to scale tall buildings with a single rope, there should be more. Honestly I hope that they bring back a 5-17 type Final because it was so damn hard, but I guess the Final will be hard no matter what.
About the storylines/notable competitors:
The All-Stars did not have a good tournament. Well, Yamada did well for what you expected, but the others had bad tournaments.
Akiyama's fall was pretty predictable, but obviously this doesn't stain his legacy because this was more of a ceremonial run than a competitive performance. Akiyama had been pretty much retired for a while, so not much was expected of him.
Takeda. Just...how? Failing the Escargot is reasonable, but failing it like THAT? That's what Shingo would do! It's a real shame he had to go out like that.
Shingo shingo'd the Spin Bridge. Sad, but surprising? No.
Yamada. Holy s***. Yamada just DID WORK on that course and tied for the best record of the All-Stars. At 47 he cleared the Escargot, Spin Bridge, modified Jump Hang, and cleared one Warped Wall. Yamada looked at peace with himself, as honestly all three All-Stars before him choked and the previous two choked massively. Yamada might be too old to clear the First Stage, but he did everything his body would let him do and made it far. Mad respect.
Nagano's fail was heartbreaking. He's definitely not too old-older people have cleared the Wall, but if this is really his last run then, well, it's not a fitting end. Yeah, he failed the Wall in his first tournament, but he's so much better than a First Stage exit.
The Shin Sedai played like pros. That needs no explanation.
What surprised me is that Shingo does not want to retire and that Takeda wants to come out of retirement. Honestly, I hope they return. Shingo's perfect attendance record is just too iconic and it would be a shame to see not injury, not a loss of desire, not age, but the producer end his career. Shingo might be a shadow of his former self results-wise, but his runs are entertaining, he's a class act, and the only thing keeping him from the perfect attendance record is Inui's wishes.
Takeda wanting to come out of retirement is also extremely surprising, as he had been happily retired for over two years prior to SASUKE 28. Takeda is also the All-Star with the best chance of making a deep run in SASUKE right now. The All-Stars as a group are obviously too old to make consistently great runs, but Shingo and Takeda are the two youngest All-Stars and both of them have the athleticism to make deep runs.
Nagano obviously isn't too old to compete- he's 40, and looking at Okuyama proves that in SASUKE, 40 is not a death sentence- and looks like he might want another chance. I'm not sure whether or not Nagano would welcome an invitation to SASUKE 29 (only he knows that!), but it would be nice to let him retire on his own terms.
I originally thought there was no chance the All-Stars would return because they had moved on from SASUKE. However, Shingo and Takeda are SASUKE royalty, and they have both said, POINT BLANK, ON AIR, that they want to return. Yamada would probably also return given the chance, and with all his friends there, Nagano might as well. That means that if allowed to return, there could be four All-Stars competing in SASUKE, the most since SASUKE 24. Heck, even Akiyama returning wouldn't be a total shocker, but that's far-fetched.
If four All-Stars could return on a consistent basis, is it really in TBS/Inui's best interests to forcibly retire them? Especially since SASUKE's ratings are in a flux and the All-Stars' star power could help the ratings? SASUKE is on life support ratings-wise, and dropping five legendary competitors from the show could be the last nail in the coffin, especially when two of them are demanding to return.
Hopefully, SASUKE 29 is as good as this one, as this was fun to watch. It's always nice to see the course win.