What happens after the next Total Victory?

[komasixx]

Let's say someone defeats that monster tower that exists now. What happens then?

What new Cliff Hanger do they make (hate to say it.. but they probably will never get rid of the cliffhanger).

Do they seek additional funding and totally renew the course? Or do they just slightly modify it?

What do they do to the Final Stage?

What new Obstacles can they make?

Or... does the next victory mark the end of Sasuke?

I'm actually curious to see what everyone thinks.

[SRW]

Probably the end or one more course era and win IMO and when SASUKE does finally end it should be with a win for full closure.

[arsenette]

Feb 14, 2017 11:29:17 GMT -5 SRW said:

Probably the end or one more course era and win IMO and when SASUKE does finally end it should be with a win for full closure.

Agreed. I don't see Sasuke surviving for too much longer IMO.

[SRW]

Yep if they are not going to commit to another post victory era after the next win then end it there. I would have been mad had say Sasuke 32 been the last one. It would leave a sour unclosed chapter end imo so I think they will go on here until at least another win then close up.

[dudesky1000]

The next Kanzenseiha will be the last. If there is one.

[Deleted]

If someone wins it will be the end and I think Yusuke will be the one that'll make it happen I can feel it.
Its about time SASUKE ended, it's had its time, new ideas need to come into fruition...

[Paragus]

As much as I hate to say it, if SASUKE doesn't gain a wider audience soon, I don't think it will continue after the next Kanzenseiha.

[komasixx]

Did my post get moved?

[Eclipse]

Feb 14, 2017 13:16:54 GMT -5 @otakulogan98 said:

If someone wins it will be the end and I think Yusuke will be the one that'll make it happen I can feel it.
Its about time SASUKE ended, it's had its time, new ideas need to come into fruition...

I do agree, that if any of the current top competitors win it'll feel a bit like closure.

That said, this may not mean cancellation, BUT, if Sasuke is going to continue they may need to seriously consider restructuring the show. So using a Kanzensei to morph it into a "World Cup", or a more internationally broadcast show a la Beastmaster would both be legitimate consideration TBS may need to make.

[SRW]

The only way you might get a bit more milage out of it is with a proper complete overhaul 17 to 18 extremity change imo.

[Messup434]

Well I didn't expect these replies!!

I think we have a while yet and as people (not necessarily on here) have said to me, the money America pays them for American Ninja Warrior is enough to encourage them to keep going.

I liked the simpler tournaments much better honestly. Post Akiyama win era was definitely my fave, mainly due to new stuff being introduced. So I think they should bring it back to that.

[Amber]

Feb 14, 2017 17:32:03 GMT -5 Messup434 said:

Well I didn't expect these replies!!

I think we have a while yet and as people (not necessarily on here) have said to me, the money America pays them for American Ninja Warrior is enough to encourage them to keep going.

I liked the simpler tournaments much better honestly. Post Akiyama win era was definitely my fave, mainly due to new stuff being introduced. So I think they should bring it back to that.

Take note that the amount of money that America pays them doesn't matter if NOBODY is watching tho

[Messup434]

Feb 14, 2017 17:42:19 GMT -5 Amber said:

Feb 14, 2017 17:32:03 GMT -5 Messup434 said:

Well I didn't expect these replies!!

I think we have a while yet and as people (not necessarily on here) have said to me, the money America pays them for American Ninja Warrior is enough to encourage them to keep going.

I liked the simpler tournaments much better honestly. Post Akiyama win era was definitely my fave, mainly due to new stuff being introduced. So I think they should bring it back to that.

Take note that the amount of money that America pays them doesn't matter if NOBODY is watching tho

So you mean that they'll still get money when they stop producing the show or you just mean if people stop watching? If they still get paid after they stop producing Sasuke then my claim has gone right out the window!

[dudesky1000]

SASUKE's lifespan is naturally limited because of its format.

The real struggle has to do with the simple fact that with each passing tournament, and especially with each kanzenseiha, the course increases in difficulty. At the start, the format, the obstacles, and the concept of facing a four-stage obstacle course in one day were pretty unique and even though we think of the early competitions as laughably easy in design (compared to what we have today), they were challenging because nobody trained specifically for it. The first champion was just a strong man with a big heart, who didn't train on obstacle replicas or anything. He showed up, beat the Cliffhanger and Pipe Slider on his first tries and climbed the rope like a boss.

After Akiyama's win, the course saw a pretty significant overhaul and increased in difficulty every few tournaments. The obstacles definitely began to take on more of an identity, with iconic ones like the Kabe and Jump Hang being introduced. A lot of people find this era the most interesting because you had a lot of new faces in addition to the established favorites who were capable of making it far. Obstacle replica training was a thing but it was nothing like it is today, and it still wasn't required to actually have a shot of winning. Case in point: Nagano, who did do a little obstacle-specific training, but never built his own course a la Shiratori. After Nagano won (and arguably since SASUKE 13 because the Third Stage got extremely difficult from then on) it was basically game over for anyone who was going in blind or didn't have any experience on the obstacles.

Shin-Sasuke was when SASUKE really took off in terms of difficulty, to the point of near-inaccessibility for anyone who wasn't a hardcore competitor. Nowhere was this more clear after 19, where we saw two very capable competitors, Yamada Koji and Washimi Yuuji completely flounder on the Salmon Ladder (no pun intended) because they didn't have the technique, ending the tournament at its earliest point ever. Thanks to the Salmon Ladder and Shin-Cliffhanger, talento, invited athletes, and average folks basically had no chance of winning anymore, unless they became friendly with the UNCLI or someone who had replicas who could teach them. Yet, M9 needed to keep making the course harder to prevent a winner, so it only continued to get more and more challenging. Of the 7 most promising competitors of the era (who all made the final between 23 and 24), only one ever came close to winning, and that was Yuuji who was the most dedicated. And it took even him two tries to do it.

After Yuuji won, ratings took a nosedive for many reasons, but naturally, they never recovered because the show became even more polarizing in its difficulty and predictability. Stage 2 essentially became a gatekeeper with the DSL and Metal Spin (on steroids) picking off almost everyone who wasn't a SASUKE veteran. Then of course you have the UCH– the obstacle that singlehandedly made SASUKE impossible for anyone not named David Campbell or was a member of UNCLI (at the time). Yuuji could do it, and Koji eventually did, but every other finalist from Shin-Sasuke (with the exception of Kanno who never got to face it in competition) never even came close. The UCH was so polarizing in that it essentially became the focus of the Third Stage, and in some ways, more difficult than the Final Stage. If you weren't a proven UCH-slayer, you were going down there, no matter what. This was when replica-training exploded in popularity and backyard courses began to pop up EVERYWHERE...because they were basically required for success.

While the First and Second stages got a little more accessible in the Rising era for the "average joe", the CCH took what made the UCH annoying and made it 10 times worse. If you were a competitor, literally nothing mattered unless you had practiced the CCH before. Even then, the obstacle required such skill and luck that even the best of the best failed it several times in a row, even if they were truly prepared for it. However, it was a necessary addition because without it, there were a handful of competitors that had become so strong and so skilled that without it, they risked devaluing Kanzenseiha by having another one so soon after 24 and 27.

Now of course, you have the Ultra Crazy Cliffhanger, which is just madness. With the UCCH + Vertical Limit combo, I don't think this course can get any more difficult without the entire show feeling pointless. Nowadays, we know it'll only come down to a couple of competitors, and even then, their chances are slim. It's still exciting for me personally to watch the other 90+ competitors see how far they can get, because there's more to SASUKE than just aiming for Kanzenseiha, but in terms of ratings and audience-ship, I think this is the end of the line.

That being said, if Inui and the course designers play their cards right and continue to make the course balanced while remaining extremely difficult, SASUKE could live for years and years to come, provided nobody wins.

[yamfriend]

Dudesky nailed it pretty well above (that difficulty is a major factor to SASUKE's future continued success), though as a rebuttal, there is also the element of unpredictability. As much as I love to see competitors succeed, having a Stage 1 like we did as recently as 32 shows that even the best competitors can make shockingly early mistakes. In fact, unless you were directly associated with the filming of a SASUKE tournament, you had no idea what to expect in terms of results upon its airing (and even those who were present on taping days still didn't know how it was to be presented on TV---arsenette has mentioned this fact on several occasions after seeing 31 and 32 live and via recording). What I'm getting at is the premise of most forms of entertainment, i.e. how the production teams need to keep things "fresh" and slightly different with each new iteration in order to gain/maintain the audience's interest. By doing such things on SASUKE (new competitors, obstacles, etc.), the show still has the potential to survive.

The reality of the situation though is that SASUKE's future has been in jeopardy for years, and every new tournament tends to bring fears that it might be the last one. IMHO, if Morimoto wins once again within the next few years, I think that would be the most fitting way for them to end the show. There would be closure not only in terms of ending SASUKE with a final Kanzenseiha, but also in that the "newest" champion will have already proved himself worthy of the title upon a return to the course following a first win (I find it a bit awkward if the last winner would do so for their first time and never get a shot at an even tougher course).

[zocom7]

I wished I would like to know what are the ratings for each season of Sasuke up until now.

[budweiser1979]

I get quite sad when reading this. I just hope Sasuke can get on 2 seasons a year, for at least 5-6 more years.

I really dont know how they can change the format, so they get broader audience. And if they really need to.

[komasixx]

Feb 15, 2017 2:10:07 GMT -5 zocom7 said:

I wished I would like to know what are the ratings for each season of Sasuke up until now.

Sasukepedia

[Mk20SSR]

Feb 15, 2017 7:03:07 GMT -5 komasixx said:

Feb 15, 2017 2:10:07 GMT -5 zocom7 said:

I wished I would like to know what are the ratings for each season of Sasuke up until now.

Sasukepedia

Alternate would be Japanese wikipedia.

[dyer]

i think they just need to find a way to do a lot more advertising than they should - if you don't promote your show more often, how else are viewers going to turn in and that's probably why a lot of former viewers don't know that SASUKE is still on