Clarification and olive branch to Arsenette

[davidcampbell]

I'll start out by saying that I'm new on this forum, but I think I can speak for just about everyone when I say that we all respect your opinion on everything Sasuke. I have read your blog many times, and I appreciate the effort you put into having things translated and posting them up. I'm sure everyone here feels the same. I think these forums are much better with you than without you!

About me bringing up the Aaron thing: It has never been my intention berate, insult or condemn you. In fact I didn't mention you at all in my post. If you re-read my post you'll notice I am simply telling the story of what happened from my perspective, something that was missing from the original thread. I had said all this when I replied to your email to me, and you said you were going to send some emails and clear up the confusion. I figured this meant you would let everyone know in the forums that there was no lying or jumping over fences involved and that he was admitted as my guest with my permission.

I stumbled across the original Ultimask8er thread, saw that it was missing some key details and made a new thread to simply tell the factual story of how Aaron was admitted to Sasuke because everyone seemed so interested. I wasn't trying to point fingers at specific people and I didn't really pay much attention to who was supporting or condemning Aaron. I'm really not interested in getting into anything like that.

My goal is for us all to get along. Meaning Arsenette, Ultimas8er and all us Sasuke fans.

In my email I wasn't blasting you, just pointing out a few things that you were mistaken about, or were not aware of.

If I ever said I was shocked by Aaron's actions, it was shock that he actually made it to Japan, but it was a good kind of surprise.

I was aware that Aaron was planning to go to Japan and ask to be let in to Sasuke before I was announced as the winner of ANC4, and I did not feel myself used or taken advantage of, I was happy to be in a position that I was able to help out a fellow fan.

Yes I did suggest early on to Aaron that he jump a fence and sneak in, but I was joking. Honestly I thought at that point that he was just talking out his a** and that he would never actually spend the money to fly out there, just being a kid and all.

That would have been trespassing and would probably get him arrested and deported pretty fast and I would not seriously advise someone to do that.

As far as I know Aaron never planned on doing anything like that or anything illegal.

I don't know what would have happened if I wasn't the winner of ANC, maybe he would have asked to watch, they would have said no, and he would have had to climb a tree out by the street and hope to get a view??

But regardless of what he would or wouldn't have done, I just wanted to make clear that the way it happened nothing illegal or even close to illegal took place.

I would personally like to just move on from this topic. Some of us feel that Aaron did something gutsy and commendable and some of us feel he did something disrespectful, I hope we can just leave it at that, agree to disagree and all still be friends.

Also Arsenette, to show you that there are really no ill feelings on my part, if I am sent back for Sasuke23 and you want to spend the money to fly out to Japan and stay in a hotel and all (I'm guessing you wouldn't want to sleep in the park like Aaron did.....hahaha oh well ok I guess Aaron did do one illegal thing, sleeping in the park!) I'll try to put you on the guest list, as I did for Aaron. And you can have a first hand account of Sasuke to blog about.

As you did post a few snippets from our email conversation, I plan on posting the dialog here just so everyone can see what exactly I did and did not say. I hope you don't take offense to that or see it as an attack.

I would just like to re-iterate that while I don't know you personally all that well, I very much respect and appreciate all you bring to the Sasuke/Ninja Warrior fan community. I hope you come back to the forums here and on G4 and I honestly hold no ill will towards you, in fact the opposite. I hope we can all be a good willed Sasuke fan family and support each other.

-David

Ps I am going to email Arsenette and let her know this is here. If anyone responds to this post can we please keep the comments positive and let her know we all respect her and want her here, because that is the truth isn't it?

[The Chief]

Thanks for addressing the issues we were discussing(more like arguing about). I'm glad that you posted was is the truth and hopefully(*prays*) Arsenette will come back.

[davidcampbell]

Here is the entire dialog that was referred to, just so there's no confusion about anything I said.

Arsenette:
Were you aware that someone from the forums flew to Japan and used your name to get into Sasuke 22? Did you meet him or condone it?

David:
Hey, thanks for the muscle park all stars video! Yeah I kinda want to write up a petition in Japanese about how s***ty the cliffhanger is and have some off the all-stars sign it. Then show it to them at muscle park.

About the other thing, you must be talking about Ulti? He told them he was friends of with me and Levi (which was sort of true in my case at least).
He sent me a PM before he left telling me his plan and I didn't have a problem with it (though I honestly didn't think he'd actually do it!). Once I saw him there I made sure he was able to sit up in the bleachers and watch.

He was totally cool and didn't jump up on the stage and try to run the course or anything weird! heh
I even gave him $50 to help him get back to the airport safely because he was so broke (he didn't ask for it, but I insisted he take it. He had been sleeping in the public park and he kinda smelled)!

Arsenette:
Sigh I have no words.. they just fail me. Did you tell G4 you helped someone who wasn't invited to the course to come there? So we can now post about this and have everyone just PM people who are part of the ANC to just hop along like it's nothing?
The past year I've been seeing my favorite show being rewritten by the Americans. They have had to retweak the course so they won't get sued by us. They closed the doors to all competitors that are not Olympians/etc. to only come through G4. Now the Americans are allowing people to crash the course. So please understand why I'm furious beyond all comprehension. I really wish you didn't do that. Now of course there is a war going on because you have kids who want to do that too and want to go to 23 and found a way to do that because Security for Sasuke has always been an honor code. Lax because in the 11 years they have had the show.. no one broke the unwritten rules. Apparently they don't apply .. again.. to the Americans.. /sigh
Sorry to trouble you on this. I didn't realize you would allow such a thing to happen. I didn't realize G4 would condone it. I was so sadly mistaken.

David:
I don't know anything about any re-tweaking or the show being closed to non-ANC American competitors or what that has to do with me or Aron (ulti).
Quite to the contrary, TBS really ran the show the whole time we were in Japan and all the G4 people had to work around TBS's schedule and ask them where we could go, what we could film and when.

You should know that Aron has been very supportive of my efforts in previous ANC's before most people noticed me. I felt it was the least I could do to simply ask TBS to let him sit in the stands after he took such a gamble on flying out, not knowing if he would be allowed on the set.
I also had them let my girlfriend, my sister, her husband and my nephew in. TBS allows competitors to invite friends and family. Are you saying that it is somehow wrong of me to invite him because he was an online friend rather than a friend I see in person? It's really my own prerogative.

I did tell the G4 people about Aron before we flew out and they were surprised that someone would want to see the show so much that they would fly out, but were not concerned about it being a problem. When I asked TBS to let him sit in the stands, I also told them that he was a friend of mine who had flown out from America. Would you rather I tell them to kick him out?

If I am invited back and you want to spend $2000 or so on a plane ticket and hotel expenses, I'll put you on the guest list too by the way. Us fans and forum people should be supportive of each other rather than try to c*** block each other, you know what I mean?

I seriously doubt there will be a problem in the future with forum people requesting guest invites from ANC winners because of 4 reasons.
1. There are only a handful of people on the forums that would be willing to spend the money and go through the trouble to simply be allowed to watch the show. 2. There are even less that could afford it. 3. TBS will only allow each competitor so many guests. 4. Most ANC winners don't use the forums or return PM's as I do.

As for the "War" you refer to, I think you're just imagining or creating drama where there is none, or should be none.
I met several of the forum regulars in Santa Monica this weekend and they were all very friendly. I don't see how it would change or harm the show if ALL of them were allowed to come and sit in the stands and simply watch the show.

I'd think you'd be more interested in interviewing Aron about his experience rather than putting him down. I appreciate that you're a huge fan of the show and care about it a lot, but so does he.

About the Americans ruining the show as you seem to be implying, would any of us even know about Sasuke if not for G4/Ninja Warrior? I know I wouldn't. It seems to me that Ninja Warrior helps Sasuke by increasing it's viewership worldwide and helping to ensure that the show will not be canceled any time soon.

Let's just all get along ok?

Thanks. -David

Arsenette:
Appreciate the long and thought out answer rather than an STFU So for that I thank ya.
I'm heavily colored by seeing it from the Monster 9 perspective. Knowing people who have worked on the side and some even actually being guests on Sasuke as recent as 21 and as early as 18 by Monster 9 directly. G4's involvement is a double edged sword. They are ecstatic that they have a US affiliate to show their already created show to the American audience in English.. but they are also a bit dismayed by a few things that have changed since G4's involvement. Everything from having to change a few obstacles now that Americans who have been known to want to sue for things that Japanese don't (the most recent being the Wall Lift until Levi got his foot caught - and no he didn't even insinuate suing.. they are just going oh crap.. they might since they are not Japanese and to date he was the only foreigner to have that issue.. all the others.. well.. LOL heck someone got their friggin' TORSO slammed by those walls).. to having to cut all American (non Olympian, etc.) participants by the request of G4. So in the past if you paid your own way to Sasuke you could actually apply directly to them irregardless of age or type of sport. You already know G4's image of who should be going so yeah.. people like Michael Milner will no longer be reinvited as a side effect of the new rule in place. They have also been more than perturbed at some of the attitudes in some of the competitors from the G4 camp. Sasuke 21 was particularly painful for them. Again.. they can't say much.. it's like biting the hand that feeds you.

That said a lot has changed in how they do things. It's been clear by their ratings and letters from the Japanese audience who ultimately control the fate of Sasuke that they have not been happy with some of the G4 involvement. Since then they have heavily cut down on the airtime. Sasuke 21 was a huge example of this. In fact there has been less shown in this Sasuke than even in Sasuke 19 when they had only 2 guys from G4. That should give you some perspective. The result? The ratings went back up. I'm not the one saying G4 people suck and they should be shot to hell. With the exception of a few things from Levi I adored the involvement of ever single ANC competitor and rooted and cheered and voted and did whatnot so they can get a chance of a lifetime! I STILL cheer for you even if I had my own favorites from ANC2.. only because they ran a course. That's G4's fault not yours. In fact your video showed your persistence and love for the show for actually training FOR the show in detail.
My gripe has always been is that people here in the USA keep forgetting that despite the boom in popularity on the other side of the pond.. Ratings in Japan ultimately decide if the show is cancelled.. not what happens here. It's the equivalent of something like LOST losing ratings because the USA people no longer like the show.. Even if it was HUGE in Russia because it just started airing there.. No matter how good it is in Russia.. or how many fans there are.. they can't save LOST if it loses it's appeal in the USA. That's just not how ratings work. I know the kids here in G4 forums and even the Proboards seem to forget. It's only Ube and I going "damn.. where are the ratings." and he's the first to troll through the their version of the Nielsen overnights to see if there will even BE a Sasuke 23. So far it's hovering and TBS is happy that they won their timeslot so it looks good that we will have at least one more. After that it's a big question mark because they haven't broken the magic number yet (the number you have to pass to assure you not being canceled). Ever since Kane Kosugi left.. the ratings have never been in the 20's. Having worked in TV for 5 years in the 1990's I used to see this all the time. People getting pissed a show was cut but then ignoring that their favorite show didn't even break double digits in the Nielsen ratings..
Your version (the real version) of the story with Ulti is much different than depicted on the boards even by him! I point blank asked him of his plans. He spent over a week saying that he was going to crash the course. I even reamed him then! Then he changed his story to he's going to TBS to show his plans for a new course and I said that they won't let you pass security without an appointment. It's still there (the thread I mean). At no time did he say he was invited and even made it look as if he was going on his own and trying his fate. There was never any relaying that he WAS invited and even if he was paying his own way.. his passage was just about assured since both you and G4 thought it was cool. WHO ends up at guests of a competitor is completely up to the competitor. When Ulti left for Japan.. he never said "I'm going with David" or anything.. Heck in fact if he did I would have changed my tune completely. I'd ask him to get pics and junk like that and even blog about his experience so we see what it's like for a pure fan to watch the show in person. What we saw was "well I didn't tell G4 but I'm going to hitch a ride with them".. Only now do we know YOU said it was okay and G4 was okay with it since he was your guest. I have NO problems whatsoever for someone going through the appropriate channels and being properly invited.
Do you see where I'm coming from? Until now it seemed that he crashed Sasuke and that G4 didn't even know they were being taken for a ride. Your explanation is quite the contrary. He was your guest. Period. End of story.
Again thanks a billion for setting the record straight. I've gotten no les than 30 emails from people all over the world saying "who is this ulti person and why did he do that?".. For some reason when I started blogging people keep thinking I'm the guru and know everything. That's Ube not me. I just provide pictures and do a stupid ran about Nagano's hair being crunchy from too much hair dye and sea water. What scares me is that most of the people concerned are the ones from out the country who see this as a glorious opportunity to do the same thing. Knowing what I know now I can turn around and say it was a big misunderstanding and that he was indeed an invited guest of a fellow competitor. That way M9 doesn't have a riot in their hands from all the kids wanting to copy one guy with the money to travel to Japan.
Thanks again for listening to the rambling woman.. /sigh I feel a lot better it was not a crash. He was your guest and I'm happy you made him welcome. Wish he was a lot more up front about it. now. back to my emails.. I got 30 to do..
Have a great night,
Elsie

David:
Just to be clear, how it happened was that as soon as they told me I was the winner G4 gave me a TBS entry form to fill out which had a place where I could write down any names I would like to be on the guest list. Aron PM'd me AFTER I had sent that in so I wasn't able to add him to the official list of approved guests. So I just told him that I couldn't guarantee him a seat but I would do what I could and email'd G4 about it. So maybe that's where the confusion about him "not being invited" came from?

Arsenette:
I think the confusion came from the fact that he made the plans well before anyone was ever chosen. It was his dream to see Sasuke by any means necessary. I know I am going to sound ridiculously critical .. He saw in you someone he can team up with and in essence use to get his way. Again I don't know him but even reading that thread it was clear he had every intention of crashing Sasuke. He got lucky he found someone as generous as you to say it was okay to go through you.
From the point where you picked him up as a guest is past that point. You told G4 he was coming and he was your guest. What happened in Sasuke wasn't a crash. They knew he was coming. It was the whole process leading up that caused the firestorm. Even trying to fight the fires it created is going to be quite interesting. Now people know how lax security is because it has never been an issue. This could be a problem but let's see what happens. A great many people lurk dem boards I didn't even know how many and from where until I put a counter and tracker on my own blog. It's astounding the people form all over the world who track G4 boards and our blogs as gospel.

[supernovamaniac]

And great respect goes to both David and Arsenette because they discussed this in a formal, humane like manner, unlike the G4 forums or sometimes, even here.

I think of it same as Arsenette. Ulti joked about 'crashing' the course, and I took that as a joke. Until I realized that he was really going to.

I'm not offending anyone, especially David, for sending Ulti to the course. Actually, it was a good thing to do seeing that Ulti really wanted to go there.

With saying that...

There is nothing that will change the fact that Ulti went to SASUKE through ANC winner. He might've used David, or maybe he was just desperate to go. Only Ulti (and to some extent, David) knows the true purpose.

But the problem that I have these days is in the humanity itself. I'm not going to try to get my life in the way, but I'll not try to.

People tend to believe everyone with respect nowadays. Sure they will probably telling the truth. The problem here is that no one thinks or listens to anyone else once someone with bigger respect/fame stated something. They just believe what they think is right, yell at others till they start crying or ignoring you (in this case, Arsenette).

What happened here past few weeks is basically that. People saw David's post, changed their views on Ulti, then started to go against Arsenette WITHOUT listening to her first.

Since when did humans listen to people with high respect? Are you going to jump off a bridge if they tell you to because it looks and feels cool until you die? I don't think so.

Think logically, and LISTEN to others before you start ignoring them.

With that being said, I'm not sure if this forum, just like G4's, is worth viewing anymore, with the exception (wiki project, etc.).

-Alex Kim, a.k.a. supernovamaniac

[2D2Will]

Well said supernovamaniac. There was a time when I didn't detest this forum for the large amount of irrational behavior expressed. But at one point, everything went crazy. More and more, the posts just got crazier and everything just turned into all out war.

It's a common internet problem that should never of have hit this thread, but it did.

[Lennon]

Ok, so we think we have some huge internet problem within this forum/thread. That's fine, but since we really don't want this to happen to this forum. Let us all stop this nonsense and once this all passes, and it is passing, we will only become stronger as a community.

We can all learn from our mistakes, and just possibly listen to each other and understanding why people view things the way they do. NOT in a negative wrong standpoint, but in a positive sense. We all have our own ways of thinking, and that must be understood.

[The Chief]

I agree with Alex.

one other thing: I noticed this while watching Sasuke 2(torso crush), the Wall Lift DID in fact have stoppers, that wasn't added strictly because of Levi.

I'm glad that there was a humane discussion between two members on the forum.

Like previously stated:hopefully(*prays*) Arsenette will come back.

on a side note:ABC said LOST won't get canceled even if rating suck.

[obakemono]

Please, everybody, stop the drama. This is ridiculous. It seems to me like people are just looking for an opportunity to jump on their moral/intellectual/whatever high horse, which is really no different from the behaviour that started this whole debacle in the first place.

I agree with lennon. Let's just move on.

This isn't directed at David. I know you're only trying to keep the peace. Now that all the info is in the open, I think we need to stop resurrecting this issue.

[Oti]

I agree with obakemono.

[2D2Will]

Alright, people are willing to admit that there's a problem and are willing to fix things for the better. That's good. Now let's just make sure this forum stays on the right track.

[SuperTiger]

Very Very Well Said David i think this is a good way to put this topic to bed.

[Deleted]

May 4, 2009 11:41:15 GMT -5 obakemono said:

Please, everybody, stop the drama. This is ridiculous. It seems to me like people are just looking for an opportunity to jump on their moral/intellectual/whatever high horse, which is really no different from the behaviour that started this whole debacle in the first place.

I agree with lennon. Let's just move on.

This isn't directed at David. I know you're only trying to keep the peace. Now that all the info is in the open, I think we need to stop resurrecting this issue.

Agreed.

GROUP HUG ^.^

[Badalight]

One thing I disagree with: Arsenette said because of this people will start to realize it's easy to get into Sasuke, and a bunch of people will start trying to do it.

David sort of adressed it already.

1. You need to know a competitor, just because someone from africa decides to fly to Japan doesn't mean they'll get in. Ulti was lucky, that's why he got in. Not many other peopel are going to have the luck of personally knowing someone who is competing, and then also havign to pay their way to Japan and back.

2. It's not like Ulti was the first to come up with this idea, others, including me, had the idea long before Ulti. Not saying we wanted to "crash" Sasuke, but if one of my forum friends won the ANC and I had the money to go, I would've asked if they could sign me up as a guest aswell.

I understand Ulti had planned to go before he knew David won, but I don't think his intentions were to break through security.

Either way, it's in the past now. I'm personally sorry for all of the bashing I did, mostly aimed at Arsenette.

So think of this as my public apology.

Thank you David for clearing everything up.

[Oti]

I don't think I bashed her personally. It was all aimed at how she was acting in that topic.

[supernovamaniac]

That brings up another topic that I didn't discuss.

It doesn't matter if you did it personally or not. If you bashed her, you bashed her.

If something's done, there is no way to unchagne that. I had to learn it the hard way, and I don't want this happening to others to my friends and families, to my teachers, and to the individual members of this forum.

Can we drop this conversation by now? I think we already had enough of Arsenette talk around here. If she decides to come back, she will be here, no doubt about it. If she decides to stay in her blog, fine. I will meet her there then.

Admin, I would be appreciated if this thread is locked from this point hence.

-Thanks.

[scnoi1217]

Agreed.