Shunsuke Nagasaki in Recent Tournaments

[tns8597]

I'm just making this thread as to what seems to be happening to Shunsuke Nagasaki in terms of his recent performances.

We've never really seen a competitor regress like him in recent years. Of course we've seen competitors' performances not be what they used to be, but there's always a reason, for example:
- Ryo started to fail Stage 1 because of pressure and a bump down in confidence due to his recent performances.
- Kanno was just injured for a lot of the time and got out of practice.
- Several competitors like the All-Stars started to regress as they got older (late-30s onwards) but that's understandable.

I can't really pinpoint the reason as to why Nagasaki's performances have been lacklustre recently. In SASUKE 34 and 35, he failed an obstacle that he had easily passed several times beforehand; in 34 I get that it was a simple mistake, but in 35 his game on the Spider Walk really seemed off as though he'd never attempted the obstacle before. Then in SASUKE 36 and 37 he seemed to be plagued by dumb mistakes which he'd never really been known for beforehand, which landed him his first pair of consecutive First Stage fails. In both cases, he failed an obstacle that he'd easily cleared in prior competitions. 

As it stands, his results have been a pretty gradual regression. Two Third Stage fails, then two Second Stage fails, then two First Stage fails. Does anyone know a reason as to why his performances might be getting worse? He's only 33 so he should be in his prime, he's not really been injured as far as I know, he still seems to practice quite a lot. Maybe ever since he had a kid? Idk. Let me know your thoughts. Again sorry for the rambling about a certain topic.

[ChiBiJKT48]

I think because *forgot which thread* it was pointed out that apparently, TBS didn't really like Nagasaki's company or whatever that took him as employee. Also, Nagasaki's sudden return caused TBS to shape their Shin-Sedai meaning again, so new groups created. But, for some reason, he was not in one of it. I think that made him think that he was not an important competitor, hence, destroying his confidence.

[PizzaKing57]

It's so unfair and not the same that Shunsuke is barely ever getting his runs shown in the present tournaments because in the older era of SASUKE from 14-19, he was such a joy to watch and had every single one of his runs viewed in full on the broadcast. And after he made it all the way to the Final Stage in 17 alongside champion Makoto Nagano, he was regarded as one of the most important challengers, especially when his baby brother Takamasa competed alongside him in a couple of tournaments, after Shin-SASUKE was bor.

Now after his comeback in 29, Nagasaki has been totally disrespected by TBS, although he still did quite well to make it to Stage 3 about three more times, he has gradually been getting worse as of now, so it's no surprise that his last two appearances that ended with a Stage 1 fail were digested like so many other of his runs. It just seems to me like Shunsuke isn't being treated like an important challenger no more, especially because after his absence started, a new group made up of Trial qualifiers that we now know as the Shin Sedai emerged, leaving the trampolinist behind

At least in 32 and 35, Shunsuke had all of his runs shown in full, which is something that I appreciate and even if you say that his run in the 2nd Stage was digested in 32, it was still broadcasted fully on Challenge. Man, I really miss watching the Shunsuke that usually does very well to make it as far as the 3rd Stage and have his run shown fully, and I really hope that in 38, even if he fails the 1st Stage again, his run will be shown in full.

Lastly as it turns out, he barely ever trains for SASUKE as he is focusing more on taking care of his family, which also means that he could be very close to retiring and if he does, it will be very upsetting indeed, considering that he's appeared for 15 years now despite not being an All-Star.

[tns8597]

I believe it was his management company that had had some past conflict with TBS hence him getting digested a lot. I can't believe he came back after 6 years and got his First Stage clear digested in SASUKE 29; that was just downright offensive.

I will say though that I don't think that really explains his performances. TBS still values him as a competitor and he's definitely still passionate about the show as otherwise he wouldn't have been selected to compete in SASUKE Indonesia, along with competitors like Morimoto and Ryo. They also gave him really high numbers like #98 in SASUKE 33 so clearly his performances haven't gone unnoticed. It makes me think that the digests are just a cheap and frankly petty jab at his management company, rather than Shunsuke himself.

I would've thought it had something to do with him having a kid around SASUKE 34-35 time; I suppose that would warrant him maybe not giving us top performances here and there but he's really starting to be the Shingo of the younger generation with his highly avoidable fails. It just makes me think that it's a mindset issue rather than a physical issue e.g. letting go of the Dragon Glider too early, just going to a complete halt on the Fish Bone as he was about to be smacked by a 'bone'.

[Ninja Relaxer]

The impression I get is that Shunsuke is rather shy and aloof. You almost never see him on the sidelines consorting with the other contestants or training with them in the off-season. Maybe TBS's animus toward his management agency has driven a wedge between him and the other competitors. Or maybe Shunsuke is just aloof by nature and doesn't really engage with the Sasuke community.

Either way, I don't think Shunsuke has the same level of camaraderie with the other contestants that the other top competitors have. And that can make a difference in performance. When one of the All-Stars or Shin Sedai run the course, everyone is cheering and super-supportive. But when Shunsuke runs the course, it's like he's met with only polite or tepid interest.

Also, after his Stage 3 failure in 32, Shunsuke seemed really awkward and uncomfortable. That's when I first got the sense that he was something of a social outsider. Maybe I'm wrong, of course, but that's the impression I get.

[tns8597]

Late reply from me but nonetheless.

I think Nagasaki's in this weird grey area of competitors where he's not part of the 'rising stars' or the Morimoto-sedai due to competing in the Nagano era, where even back then he was in a class of his own as he was the only non-All-Star 'star' per se.

Similarly, most of the veterans that he could be grouped with are mostly retired, like Kongu, Kanno (not retired but competes sporadically), Asa, Hashimoto, etc. He's also much younger than them so it wouldn't really make much sense.

We don't see many competitors who've been there in two completely different eras of the show, with completely different demographics of what connotes a 'high-profile competitor'. In one era he was competing alongside the All-Stars, now they're long gone and he's competing alongside a much younger group of guys who train far more aggressively for SASUKE than he does by virtue of the fact that he's got a family now, yet due to this rarity of competing in separate eras he maybe doesn't feel like he fits into either category. Maybe an identity crisis.