Non-celebrity competitors that got too much screen time/hype

[tns8597]

Which non-celebrity competitors do you think got too much hype or screen time for their actual performances?

I'm making a new thread for non-celebrities just because otherwise the obvious answers would just be ABC-Z, Darvish, Snow Man and that lot.

Thoughts?

[PizzaKing57]

Too much hype:

1) Masashi Hioki - He's so overrated because I don't get how this man always has his runs shown fully in every tournament with some others including Tada that get digested, when Hioki is now 39, is given low numbers and has failed the Cliffhanger almost every time he's reached the 3rd Stage, without ever showing true potential of making it to Stage 4. Honestly, another negative view about 38 was seeing this person getting way too much airtime, whilst supporting the other challengers.

2) Tomohiro Kawaguchi - I was going to say that he was a lot more overrated than this because of him getting #99 a lot, but now he is less as he was given a lower number of #96 in this tournament. If he keeps failing the 1st Stage more than once though, he should be dropped down from the 90s, regardless of whether or not he is one of Inui's favourites, like what happened to Kanno after he failed the 1st Stage twice in a row and is now positioned in low 70s.

3) Kazuma Asa - Not much to say here but I felt uncomfortable whenever seeing Asa get various airtime with him crying too much like Yamada, whether he cleared or failed a certain level, especially in 30 and 31 when he failed the Cliffhanger for the third and then fourth consecutive time in a row.

Not enough hype:

1) Shunsuke Nagasaki - He has to be number one because although in the early days, he was one of the top challengers by also making the Final Stage at just 19 years old, I am offended that since his return to the show in 2013, Shunsuke has been continuously getting digested, despite still performing well and rarely ever gets airtime outside of his runs and I was hurt when Inui still felt like skipping him, during the time when his brother fell into a stroke and he couldn't even give a s*** about it. Directing his fast forward treatment at his his management firm, instead of the person himself is just wrong.

2) Shinya Kishimoto - Despite training with the Shin Sedai, he has barely ever gotten his runs shown as a whole and usually gets cut, even in 30 which was the only time he ever cleared Stages 1 and 2, he was also cut entirely from the 1st Stage and then digested in the 2nd Stage, with him only being shown in the 3rd Stage, although he was ranked in the Top 3 by making it all the way to the Vertical Limit.

3) Naoyuki Araki - Can this guy actually be shown more? I'm frustrated that apart from his breakout performance in 36, when he was the first person to clear Stages 1 and 2, every other attempt has seen him either digested or cut which is unfair, as he is part of the Morimoto Sedai now and could make the Final Stage anytime soon.

[tns8597]

I have to fundamentally disagree with Kishimoto and Araki. I'd argue that neither of them have had careers worthy of being given the screen time they supposedly deserve. Kishimoto's cleared Stage 1 once in his entire career, and he did get a fair bit of screen time before his Third Stage run (bear in mind we had 27 clears in the same tournament so most competitors got digested or cut), while the remainder of his runs have just been early Stage 1 fails so I'm really not surprised he got cut. Same with Araki; he got screen time in the tournament he deserved to get screen time where he had a great breakout run, but especially beforehand he was a bit of a nobody who'd never cleared Stage 1 so why would Inui show those runs in full? Also r/e his Sasuke 38 run, he got digested in Stage 2 because it was pretty obvious he was going to time out anyway given how much time he took on the Rolling Log so showing his full run would've just been needless padding.

As for too much hype, those were the main three I was going to mention. I can't really think of anyone before Inui's takeover as in Shin-Sasuke all Stage 2 and 3 runs were shown in full so the best competitors got the screen time they deserved, no All-Stars got digested (ahem Sasuke 32), while the fodder were understandably digested or cut for their uninspiring runs. Then in the All-Star era, hence the name the All-Stars got the majority of screen time but that's because they were indeed the strongest competitors at the time.

Not sure if he counts as a celebrity or not but one competitor I thought was overhyped was Daisuke Nakata, because despite his consistency he clearly had no chance on Stage 3 yet would often get a load of coverage and praise, which was somewhat deserved but if he had no real chance at Kanzen then you could argue what's the point?

In terms of not enough hype, I could give countless names. All of the non-All Star Stage 3 regulars during that period who were sidelined and digested to give more coverage to the All-Stars (which I guess was fair enough from a ratings standpoint), and then Shin-Sasuke veterans like Okuyama, Kongu, and Hashimoto who Inui just seemed to completely disregard and downright not invite to his first tournament.....


Yoshiyuki Yamamoto as well I'd say; he never seems to get any individual coverage, his fluff pieces are all just interviews with Yamada or the Black Tigers training as a group, despite the guy having some genuine Kanzen potential due to his impeccable all-round ability.

[sasukefinnja]

Takashi Homna (his last performance/fail was really funny though)

[Ninja Relaxer]

The Americans in all the G4 broadcasts. I don't care about them. And that's speaking as an American.

After 24, the All Stars got too much screen time compared to their results. But you can't really fault the producers there.

[tns8597]

Agreed. Granted Levi deserved some kind of hype for his Sasuke 20 LMS run but he was defo over-shown after that given that his performances weren't all that great, apart from his speed runs. He also had quite a cocky and fake personality imo. Also how Brian Orosco made Stage 3 once and had a really bad run there, and then in the next tournament was called Mr America and Mr Ninja Warrior, was quite jokes.

And yeah the All-Stars I almost likened to sort of celebrities at the time, because they were still getting high numbers due to their fame yet were not performing to a level worthy of those numbers, which is sort of similar to people like ABC-Z etc. The only difference is that because their fame was directly related to how they carried the show in the earlier and how they're to thank for the show still being here today (unlike the actual celebrities who's influence has had a fraction of the effect on the show's overarching success, bar maybe Kane), I'm okay with them being given a good portion of the broadcast.

[PizzaKing57]

Jan 19, 2021 15:25:31 GMT -5 tns8597 said:

I have to fundamentally disagree with Kishimoto and Araki. I'd argue that neither of them have had careers worthy of being given the screen time they supposedly deserve. Kishimoto's cleared Stage 1 once in his entire career, and he did get a fair bit of screen time before his Third Stage run (bear in mind we had 27 clears in the same tournament so most competitors got digested or cut), while the remainder of his runs have just been early Stage 1 fails so I'm really not surprised he got cut. Same with Araki; he got screen time in the tournament he deserved to get screen time where he had a great breakout run, but especially beforehand he was a bit of a nobody who'd never cleared Stage 1 so why would Inui show those runs in full? Also r/e his Sasuke 38 run, he got digested in Stage 2 because it was pretty obvious he was going to time out anyway given how much time he took on the Rolling Log so showing his full run would've just been needless padding.

Okay? And I will bet you that even if Araki timed out later on in the 2nd Stage without struggling on the Rolling Log or even cleared the stage, then I am 99% sure that his run would've still been digested like Tada which upset me because of how they are disrespectfully ignored, just so that Inui can annoyingly focus on the repetitive challengers with sold personalities, when it's obvious that they are older than the Morimoto Sedai and are not going to make it to the Final Stage. And I have a terrible feeling that Araki is going to be unfairly digested every single time he competes because he isn't regarded as an important challenger, so I don't know what was the point of branding him into a group if he isn't even going to have his runs shown fully. I honestly believe that Araki was only shown fully in 36, as he was the first person to clear the 1st and 2nd Stage, otherwise I just know that he would've been digested instead and now I have to be afraid of whether his runs will be shown as a whole or not in the next tournament and so on because of how fun he is to watch, even more so than the Black Tigers and it doesn't even matter if his run was only shown in one tournament because he is part of a new generation whom deserves more coverage than this.

[tns8597]

Why does it matter so much to you who gets digested and who doesn't? At the end of the day most successful runs on a stage look the same; the competitor gets through all the obstacles and clears the stage. It's obviously annoying how Inui loves to extrapolate celebrity runs and that it's somewhat disrespectful to the other competitors but it's really not that big a deal.

Also how is Araki fun to watch? Apart from his attempt in 36 which was shown in full with a proper fluff piece, his results have largely been really underwhelming; I'm not sure on what basis you assume someone who's constantly failed Stage 1 and doesn't have much on-screen presence (like Shingo or Hioki do) is fun to watch. Also r/e your comparison to the Black Tigers, you forget that they're proteges of Yamada, who himself is incredibly popular in the community due to his legacy, as well as especially Yoshiyuki coming out of seemingly nowhere and dominating. So I think a lot of people would disagree with you on that front.

The Morimoto Sedai aren't 'disrespectfully' ignored; aside from Morimoto (who doesn't get digested for obvious reasons):

- Jun Sato usually gets digested because at this point it's pretty obvious he's going to clear Stages 1 and 2 so it's almost not that fun to watch anymore (though his Stage 2 run in 38 was quite exciting as at one point I wasn't sure if he was going to clear)

- Tada getting digested granted was strange (and also made it obvious he wasn't going to reach the Final) but again he cleared Stages 1 and 2 in probably an unremarkable fashion so I don't care too much

- The others aren't really worthy of screen time: Araki, Keitaro, and Ugajin are C-tier competitors based on their results so until they have a good streak of strong Stage 3 performances they deserve to blend into the background, especially as none of them have the most striking personalities as I've mentioned. 

[PizzaKing57]

Feb 19, 2021 14:32:27 GMT -5 tns8597 said:

Also how is Araki fun to watch? Apart from his attempt in 36 which was shown in full with a proper fluff piece, his results have largely been really underwhelming; I'm not sure on what basis you assume someone who's constantly failed Stage 1 and doesn't have much on-screen presence (like Shingo or Hioki do) is fun to watch.

I refuse to answer this question, also he should be shown more no matter what. And I don't have a problem with Sato being digested.

[tns8597]

TBS are given a strict broadcast slot that they obviously need the edit to adhere to time-wise. As a result, basically, any tournament with more than 10 clears is going to have at least a couple of those digested purely because they don't have the time to accommodate every run in the normal broadcast.* Bear in mind this is even after several competitors have been cut or digested. Obviously, you could argue that they could reduce the amount of time accommodating celebrities, but from a rating perspective that wouldn't work, especially as most people who watch Sasuke in Japan aren't fans of the show/are first-time watchers, so having those celebrities (as incredibly annoying as it is) is what ensures that Sasuke will continue into at least the near future.

Also, you refuse to answer my question because your desire for him to be shown is just a function of your bias towards or against certain competitors. The fact is that he won't be shown in full until his results improve; he was given screen time in 36 due to his Stage 3 breakout; had he done the same in 37 and 38 he'd likely be spotlighted much more in those tournaments as well, but he didn't perform exceptionally well so he was understandably fast-forwarded to make way for the more nail-biting and/or successful runs, again for the ratings. His Rolling Log mishap made it obvious he was going to time out, so they didn't feel the need to show the rest of his run because it would've just been boring to watch, which made sense. That's just a fact; you can continue to refuse to accept it or move on. Not my problem buddy.

*I don't know if you're aware of the Paravi versions of the tournaments they show every run in full, but that's only accessible from Japan.

[PizzaKing57]

I am most certainly aware of Paravi showing all challengers runs fully and as I have the intention to go to Japan for the summer holidays, I will watch tournaments 36-38 on it and then I won't have to complain about people I like not being shown as a whole anymore.

[tns8597]

Thank god for that.

[subtleagent]

I felt they pay a little too much attention to Daisuke Matsuda. Not that I don't like him, but they really try to hype on that he's the modern day Bunpei Shiratori and he hasn't even beaten Stage 1.

Jessie Graff also comes to mind. I mean it's great that another woman managed to clear, but ehh seeing it on a nerfed course for the ladies kind of sours the impact for me. I get women aren't built quite like men, but it's kind of annoying knowing she got 30+ seconds and still timed out if she had the normal course in SASUKE 37.

And this one was a one-timer, but IDK why they gave Kimio Murase (#88 in SASUKE 25) a whole minute long profile only to have him biff the second step.

[tns8597]

Matsuda is defo overhyped and I'm not sure if he'll ever reach Stage 2 at this point; though his performance in 38 was at least somewhat promising.

Not sure I agree with Jessie Graff; firstly I'm certain had she got the men's time limit she would've probably gone faster and cleared (bear in mind she would've timed out by about 0.5 seconds). Secondly, I defo think she deserves the hype for being comfortably in a class of her own female competitors-wise, being the only female to reach Stage 3 and do it twice. And bear in mind those were her only two attempts, which in itself is a huge rarity these days for any competitor. Also, she cleared the ANW vs. the World Stage 2 which was MUCH harder than Sasuke's, so her performances were defo not a fluke. I personally advocate any genuinely strong female competitor getting screen time because I feel like women are discouraged from seriously taking on Sasuke due to their low clear rate, so that in itself is a rarity and something interesting that should be capitalised on. Obvs her getting #98 was a bit far-fetched, but I'd rather her than Darvish lol.

[subtleagent]

Oooh another one who comes to mind is Taro Ishibashi. IDK why they felt the need to shove him down our throats so much, likely cause he works on Playboy. If I recall he botched the trials in 35 so he got in with his Playboy status. Kind of ironic how he gets digested in 38 even though that's the one time he did half-decent.