KUNOICHI Tournament Rankings

[kate🤍]

Rank KUNOICHI 1 - 11, in order from best to worst (1 being the best / 11 being the worst)

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1) KUNOICHI 7
- My personal favorite, had so many memorable moments with Miyake falling in the water, Stage 1 Additions, and a bunch of other great competitors.

2) KUNOICHI 6
- 6 has to be a close runner-up. It had many competitors that were great to watch and had some awesome moments with Rena Higashi clearing Stage 1 and the entire International aspect implemented.

3) KUNOICHI 5
- The reason I have this so high up as it is the first tournament I watched. It brought the story of Miyake's Grandmother and we saw how close Komiya was to Kanzenseiha.

4) KUNOICHI 10
- Kunoichi 10 had a great course and overall just a good tournament. It had me on the edge of my seat with Hikari and the Pipe Slider. The Black Stage Introduction made it a really good tournament. 

5) KUNOICHI 3
- This tournament I liked pretty well. This tournament was a big stepping stone in the first format shift in KUNOICHI, with the third stage being added, a revamped final stage, and Mizuno/Izumi coming so close.

6) KUNOICHI 4
- Kunoichi 4 was decent but not the best. It introduced so many iconic competitors like Rie Komiya and Ayako Miyake, and it even gave us the first KUNOICHI Kanzenseiha.

7) KUNOICHI 11
- This tournament was okay. I was so bummed when Ayano fell at the Pipe Slider. It was a pretty mediocre tournament.

8) KUNOICHI 2
- The reason this is so low is because it just got boring to watch 63 women fail the Dancing Stones one after another.

9) KUNOICHI 9
- This tournament was meh. It was okay for being the first reboot tournament. But it just felt like it was lacking a lot.

10)
- KUNOICHI 1 - Two words - OUCH, YUSA!

11)
- KUNOICHI 8 - The random format change was really unnecessary and the tournament was lacking due to the format in general, horrible stage 3, and other reasons.


Now what do you guys think? 

[Eclipse]

I haven't watched these in a while so I won't give an exact ranking, but throw some opinions on here.

Kunoichi 1 - lots of cool ideas, but feels like they really overestimated the difficulty of the course

Kunoichi 3 - Loved the change-ups on the course, finally felt like it was becoming polished

Kunoichi 8 - Definitely felt like "VIKING and my other shows were cancelled so lets make Kunoichi the new VIKING" - I actually don't hate the course or changes as a whole, but maybe it would have made more sense as a different event and not Kunoichi.

Kunoichi 9 - Glad to see the reboot, but the tournament was a bit unremarkable

Kunoichi 10 - loved this tournament and the new Black Stage. The Pipe Slider ending really felt like SASUKE and honed in parallels between the current Kunoichi arc and the original SASUKE arc

Kunoichi 11 - the editing on the trailers actually ruined this for me. They cut the film but left the audio in such a way that it was obvious what would happen, and that killed the suspense entirely. Decent, but not as good as 10.

[TCM]

It's been a while for me too, and as I was trying to rank them, I really couldn't, because there's something to enjoy about most of them for me.

Original Era:
-KUNOICHI 3 (it's when KUNOICHI really hit its stride, arguably the most dramatic of the tournaments with a three-person Final with the rise of Izumi and Mizuno's lasting legacy with her near miss)

-KUNOICHI 4 (not the flashiest of tournaments, but it has my second favorite course set up, outside of 7, and seeing Miyake come from nowhere and just casually demolish this course as it eliminates everyone else is amazing -- being the first tournament I saw is probably giving it a nostalgia boost to the top spot)

-KUNOICHI 7 (it's the natural progression of what KUNOICHI was heading towards with a renewal, it has the most shocking failure in the show's history with Miyake and it was nice seeing Chie's last big hurrah on the course -- what makes it #2 is the flawed nature of the Hop Rocket, the perhaps too tight of a Stage 2 time limit and all the what-ifs surrounding it, especially with Tanaka falling just short of the new obstacles at the end of the 3rd Stage)

-KUNOICHI 8 (I actually enjoyed watching this -- I thought the format was interesting, and it was cool seeing something new. But like most people, if this wasn't called "KUNOICHI" it would have gone over a lot better. Also, I would much have preferred the original all rock wall tower they had planned instead of taking out the bottom portions and having a makeshift ladder climb.

5 and 6 can't be discounted since it's Miyake's dominance, but these are more standard tournaments for me -- enjoyable, but not necessarily memorable outside of Miyake's contribution. Of course, honorable mentions to Komiya and Tanaka as Finalists in their own right as well. As for 1 & 2, it's the growing pains of the series, it's hard to watch them as easily as the others, but they were necessary.

Reboot Era:
-KUNOICHI 9 (I remember being really excited to watch this, and in hindsight, it was really more of a special reminder of the original format with 3 stages and the Pendulum Bridge and Parallel Ladder Final (which is actually my favorite KUNOICHI Final obstacle)

-KUNOICHI 10 (The slow creeping to being more like an extension of SASUKE, I really enjoyed. Hikari and Kana ensuring themselves as the stars of the reboot can't be understated. And AYA's sudden rise is cool too.)

-KUNOICHI 11 (This tournament is hurt because of the absence of Kana and Hikari, but Ayano and Okabe make up for it. Hikari, Kana, Ayano and Okabe is a good core and if there's a 12, I hope they all show up.)

[kunnai56]

I've viewed the Reboot Era pretty recently, but my knowledge of the older tournaments is a bit rusty. I'll try though.


1. KUNOICHI 6. I loved the international theme of this competition, really was a nice mix-up and change of pace. The obstacles were a bit of a dud, with the only notable additions being the Flying Pillar, Swinging Beams, and the Peg Jump, but there were great results, with Higashi Rena clearing at just 13, Kitagawa Narumi's clear, two women getting to Stage 4, and Ayako clearing with less than a second. 8/10

2. KUNOICHI 4. The site of the first kanzenseiha was a lot better than people give it credit for. Breakthroughs for competitors like Miyake Ayako, and Komiya Rie, a big renewal in the First Stage, some down-to-the-wire results in the Second Stage, and a kanzenseiha. While it's hurt by its lack of production value and the big Domino Hill jam on the Third Stage, it was a good tournament. 7/10

3. KUNOICHI 7. The First Stage, man. It was absolutely brutal. The Lilypads were an excellent first obstacle, the Log Jam and Flying Pillar combo was nasty, and the whole thing felt urgent and tight. The Second Stage was even better, with the absolutely nerve-wracking Second Stage, the failures of Komiya, Nishimura, and Miyake, and with Tanaka advancing to Stage 3. 7/10

4. KUNOICHI 9. A great reboot all in all. There were some excellent breakthroughs on Stage 1, with a few interesting obstacles like the Fish Bone and Cannonball, despite some meh choices like the Pipe Hold and X-Bridge. I loved watching competitors like Oshima and Izumi tear up the course, Izumi clearing the Stage 2, and Stage 2 overall, with a very grassroots feel and some interesting obstacles. 7/10

5. KUNOICHI 1. While the results were certainly underwhelming, I have to admit, it was incredibly entertaining. The Dancing Stones, Windmill Cross, Balance Tank, and the Rope Ladder were brutal, and made for some pretty awesome failures and tight runs. It would've been a tad more interesting to see more attempts at Stage 2, but other than that, great tournament. 7/10

6. KUNOICHI 11. While it certainly didn't live up to KUNOICHI 9's precedent, it was a pretty solid tournament. Some nice returns from some familiar faces like Saiki Reika, Okabe Sakiko, AYA, and Oshima Ayano, good results overall in Stage 1, and the introduction of the Dragon Glider, which was really nice. Stage 3 was kind of a letdown, and it didn't end on the highest of notes, but still solid. 6/10

7. KUNOICHI 2. Basically a continuation of KUNOICHI 2 with one more Stage 1 clear, and a few Final Stage attempts. Honestly, compared to the sense of newness that was brought together in KUNOICHI 1, this one kinda missed the mark by a bit. It gets points for the course modifications and Final Stage attempts, but otherwise, kinda underwhelming. 6/10

8. KUNOICHI 3. I really didn't see the hype around this tournament. The three Final Stage attempts were honestly the best thing about this tournament. Stage 1 was pretty fun to watch, but Stage 2 was a total slog, with tons of clears and very few genuinely exciting moments. Stage 3 was more interesting thanks to how the Nirenbou shook things up and the brutal Domino Hill, but it still wasn't anything amazing. 6/10

9. KUNOICHI 10. This one started decently, but it kind of faltered as the tournament went on. Saiki Reika's clear as #8 mixed things up super well, and there were some great returns from Izumi Mika and Izumi Hikari, as well as shocking fails like Ayano. However, despite the interesting obstacles additions in Stage 2 and overall good runs, the whole thing kind of lost its energy, especially with the falls on Stage 3. 6/10

10. KUNOICHI 5. I honestly can barely remember anything about this tournament at all. It's all fuzzy, all I remember is Miyake's kanzenseiha. I really don't have much to say. 5/10.

11. KUNOICHI 8. Just...why? The format change, while a bold and inspired move, was clunky and didn't really work, the Repechange just felt shoehorned, Stage 4 was pathetically easy, and the Flying Roll was just weird. There were some highlights here and there, especially towards the back half, but overall, it felt off. 3/10

[lindsey]

1. Kunoichi 6
2. Kunoichi 3
3. Kunoichi 7
4. Kunoichi 4
5. Kunoichi 11
6. Kunoichi 5
7. Kunoichi 9
8. Kunoichi 1
9. Kunoichi 2
10. Kunoichi 10
11. Kunoichi 8