Shin-All Stars?

[scnoi1217]

The discussion about the Sasuke All Stars and how they were many of them are past their prime got me thinking.

If TBS were to choose a new set of All-Stars, who would they be?

Based on performance there have only been a few people who have beaten the Shin-Sasuke First Stage twice (and all of them have failed at least once) and only Nagano has passed the First Stage 3 times in the first five tournaments.

I remember bringing up this question in the G4 boards after Sasuke 20 with me saying this:

My list of the Shin All Stars:
Makoto Nagano - He's Nagano
Yuji Washimi - Besides Nagano, only other person to make it to the new 2nd Stage twice.
Shunsuke Nagasaki - Lots of speed and strength
Toshihiro Takeda - Came so close in 20, still has great speed and strength
Kenji Takahashi - Great upper body strength, esp in 18.
Levi Meeuwenberg - He made 20 look easy up until the Cliffhanger.

The list of people to beat the first stage twice are as follows:
Nagano (3)
Takeda
Washimi
Okuyama
Enchi
Meeuwenberg

Again, all of them have failed Shin-Sasuke's First Stage at least once.
So, if you were in charge, who would your New Generation of All-Stars be?

[Oti]

No one yet, really. I think it's too early to tell.

[supersheep]

Its a difficult question. There are no established players at all anymore. Even Nagano is only 3/5.

What made the All-Stars in my mind were the fact that you could count on them to be in the 3rd stage the majority of the time. Nowadays, that just isnt' the case with anyone. For those who have been watching my simulator tests, you'd see that no one at all except Nagano even makes the 2nd stage over half the time, and except for a few competitors who seem a little buggy at times, most would say its fairly accurate.

Another thing that I thought made the All-Stars amazing was the fact that they are normal people with normal jobs, not professional or Olympic athletes. It gives me the feeling that I can do exactly what they are doing if I just work hard and apply myself. Watching someone like Levi, a pro athlete, or Okuyama, a former Olympian, would not give me that feeling.

I think the UNCLI guys may qualify someday, but at this point are still too inexperienced to hold the title. A few tournamets from now if they are having consistant success it might apply, but its just too early now even for Urushihara.
So my answer: There are no All-Stars, no one at this point in time qualifes for me. Some are because of performance, others because of attendance. You really need to be at every tournament unless you have a very good reason not to be, so tha rules out someone like Shunsuke. someone like Washimi or Kongu haven't done anything since 19. Levi is not popular in Japan right now and may not even be back, and the other 2 clear people just would'nt be that appealing to an average person.

[Badalight]

I can't really say, but a lot of people have potential.

1. Shunsuke Nagasaki
2. Yuuji Urushihara
3. Kanno
4. Levi
5. Takamasa
6. Takuya Kawahara
7. Lee Yen Chee

I didn't put people like Okuyama down because he's old... and they are looking for younger people to be all-stars.

[Lennon]

Yeah, I think we should at least wait a couple of more tournaments before deciding. Like till Sasuke 25. By then we will have enough data about the newer competitors who are ripping the first stage easily.

Also, would they really choose foreigners as part of the All-stars? Just a thought.

[supersheep]

no. They want people that will appeal to the Japanese. So no on Levi or lee. We may never see anyone who really fits the description I gave earlier and certainlynot a whole team of them

[Badalight]

I said levi because he constantly makes stage 1 look like a playground.

I mean... his pace in the first stage is just as good as Nagano's, no better, no worse.

Higuchi also had an intense liking to Levi after 20.

I know Higuchi is gone and all, and after his flips in 21 he lost some respect, but who knows.

That's why I said him.

Lee because he's been consistant in the last 2 tournaments.

[obakemono]

The old All-Stars are the old All-Stars, and they forever will be.

Only Japanese would be considered, no Levi or Lee En Chi.

No pro athletes, no Daisuke Miyazaki or Shunsuke Nagasaki.

Kanno and Urushihara are the only people who have shown they can do it. Okuyama, yes, but he's a bit too old to fit into that group. We'll need to wait for more people to come and replicate what these guys have done. Look for people like Tomohiro Kawaguchi and Ryo Matachi. Then if there are consistent performers we may see a new group formed. I doubt they'd be called the All-Stars, though, as that will forever be the first group.

[Badalight]

Why wouldn't they have a foreignor? I mean, everyone is saying that but they don't explain.

Higuchi said after Sasuke 20 his ideal situation would be levi and nagano getting to the final stage and either one or both of them completing it.

He obvoiusly took an extremely fast liking to him.

It's not like it's out of the picture for a new Levi to come who stays consistant AND modest.

[obakemono]

I think it's mostly to do with the Japanese mentality towards these sorts of things. Levi would remain being billed as a top foreign star while All-Stars would be a supposedly tight-knit group of regular Japanese people. Also Levi is pro athlete.

[supersheep]

One of the things that made the All-Stars the most amazing is someone like Nagano or Takeda, seeing a normal everyday guy with a normal everyday job going out and doing that really inspired me to try to do the same. If you saw me last year vs this year you'd be shocked at the results. I would not get that same inspiration watching a professional or olympic athlete such as Levi or Okuyama. I'm sure many others can say the same thing. Instead of the, Wow! A perfectly normal guy just did that, maybe if I work hard I can to! mentality it would be the, I can't do that because i'm not a pro athlete, mentality. Big difference there. All-Star is an arbitrary term that they want to give to the people who will be the most appealing to the fans in more ways than just who can shave an extra couple seconds off their stage 1 time.

[obakemono]

I'm not sure it's necessarily the case for Okuyama. He was a pro athlete but he hasn't been for years and now he's a gym trainer. Also he never made it to the Olympics.

But the point is true, I've been saying that for a long time. It's why Iketani and Kane Kosugi were never All-Stars. Okay, Kane wasn't a pro athlete, but he was a celebrity.

[SuperTiger]

I'm on the page that...so many of the all stars just arent showing...Yamada, Akiyama, and Yamamoto haven't even passed stage 1, Its hard to judge Shiratori, b/c he's 1/3 and maybe if he competed in the other tourney he would have passed...heres my list
1. Makoto Nagano-Um why not seriously guy's beaten the course
2. Toshihiro Takeda-Guy has great potential, just needs to beat stage 3
3. Yuuji Uranshihara-I think this is a no brainer after 22, he's the first guy to make shin-final stage epic freaking run there
4. Kanno Hitoshi-might be backwards, but regardless if the guy's a rookie or not, he beat the shin cliff hanger, only 3 other people can say they've done that, guys really young and has a lot of good days ahead of him.
5. Lee-Enchi-This guy definately doesnt get enough respect, in he's 3 attempts hes 2/3, and he's obviously has great upperbody strength, this guy is gonna do well in the future
6. Levi Meewenburg-laid a egg in 22, and can be a bit show offy, but the guy is a great competitor, and if he gets his attitude back into order, he can pwn this course.

Before people go...were's Shunsuke...until i see more of him, i dont think he deserves it, we've only seen him twice with a pass and a fail, as for Okuyama, he'll have a few more good runs left, but his age will work against him like shiratori.

[obakemono]

We think of Okuyama as old but he's only a year older than Nagano. Whether that's good for Okuyama or bad for Nagano remains to be seen.

[SuperTiger]

difference is that nagano is more skilled and a veteran, okuyama has had 3 runs and 2 passes great competitor, but its eventually gonna work against both

[supersheep]

Okuyama has had 5 runs, he was cut from 18 and 19 im pretty sure.

I dont think you can name someone an all star after 1 tournament. I can pass the Shin-Cliffhanger, not saying I would, but if you gave me enough tries I definately would. If I felt good that day and everything worked out, I could probably pass the 1st stage somewhere between 5 and 10% of the time. So if you gave me 15 shots I'd pass it once. Stage 2 is pretty easy as we've all established. Same thing for stage 3, if you gave me enough shots, I'd pass the SCH as well i probably have about a 1/30 shot of getting past it when you include the rest. So with that said I could probably get as far as Kanno did once every 450 tournaments.

Take a deck of cards draw 2 cards at random. If you can draw 2 aces that dont' include the ace of spades, I beat the SCH, anything else, I didn't. If you happened to draw the winning combination on your first draw, should I be an All-Star? I certainly think not. To me, consistantsy is much more important than 1 or 2 great runs. Same reason why in pro-sports you'll see people get elected to the Hall of Fame who never came close to an MVP but were very good for 15 years, and you'll see 2 time MVPs get passed over because they were only good those years. Bunpei cleared the 3rd stage in 12 and was not named an All-Star till he backed it up in 13. So lets give Yuuji and Hitoshi a couple more tournaments before we crown them.

[obakemono]

Okuyama's only had 4 runs. In the official book for 21 it said 3 tries, so we assumed he was in 19... may have been 18.

No one's crowning anyone. We're just talking about potential here. Plus, there would have to be a fair few people performing well before a new group was formed anyway, not just 2.

Also wasn't Nagano made an All-Star after one good performance in 9?

[scnoi1217]

I think we know everyone in 18, so the most logical guess was that Okuyama was in 19.

In terms of Kanno, I'd want to see how he will do in future Sasukes, especially in the First Stage. If he can stay reasonably consistent, then I definitely think he should be an All-Star, otherwise, he's just another Shinji Kobayashi type competitor.

I truly believe Yuuji will be a serious competitor for many years. He seems to glide through the stages like few can. Like Kanno, let's see how he'll do in future tournaments.

[scnoi1217]

Apr 15, 2009 23:09:08 GMT -5 Badalight said:

I can't really say, but a lot of people have potential.

1. Shunsuke Nagasaki
2. Yuuji Urushihara
3. Kanno
4. Levi
5. Takamasa
6. Takuya Kawahara
7. Lee Yen Chee

I didn't put people like Okuyama down because he's old... and they are looking for younger people to be all-stars.

Many of the young Muscle Musical people also have a chance to put on a Kanno-type performance if they can beat the First Stage. Tomoya Haga and you and I's favorite unknown competitor, Takuya Kawahara, come to mind.

[chackpop]

Also there was that muscle musical guy in 22 who was five feet from beating the first stage