Best/Worst Shingo Yamamoto runs

[subtleagent]

He competed in all of them and he deserves a thread like this.

Best
SASUKE 2: Though he kind of started the trend of limboing the Wall Lift (before Ryo made it "cool"), it was fun to see him be the first to attempt the iconic Pipe Slider.
SASUKE 3: Naturally because he managed to make the final.
SASUKE 5: A classic, the only one to get Stage 3 on a renewal and he would've gotten the final had he not rushed the Pipe Slider.
SASUKE 7: His second and last final, he was really efficient back in the days where he wore blue. Too bad he fell behind after his shoulder went out.
SASUKE 9: Yeah his Rumbling Dice fail was grating, but considering he was sick and still got the second fastest time in Stage 1 and the top time in Stage 2 was badass.
SASUKE 11: What I would consider his last real shot at Kanzenseiha. He tore apart Stages 1 and 2 and got pretty far on the Cliffhanger (and became the first to fail the downward gap).
SASUKE 14: Seeing him avenge his Stage 2 fail was pretty good, if any he's good for nail biting Stage 2 finishes.
SASUKE 23: It was incredibly satisfying to see him come back from 5 consecutive failures in Stage 1.

Worst
SASUKE 6: The freak accident 
SASUKE 15 and 17: I don't know why he messed up the Body Prop the first time (I know the second time was due to rushing), he just seemed to gas out (perhaps the heat played a part? 
SASUKE 16: He just seemed off and his Jump Hang fail was just... bad.
SASUKE 21: Watching him waste 40 seconds on the Flying Chute only to fail it was depressing. He would have totally cleared had he not taken such a conservative approach.
SASUKE 22: I think we all know why...
SASUKE 24: From biffing the Half Pipe Attack to taking three tries at the Warped Wall to going over the Slider Jump when he should have gone under, he made so many errors he could have avoided.
SASUKE 25: He'd have totally reached Stage 3 had he not rushed the Balance Tank.
SASUKE 29 and 30: While it was refreshing to see him pass Stage 1 despite doing it on a Stage 1 that was arguably too easy, seeing him choke on the Backstream twice really hurt (though I can forgive 29 a little since he got it the worst along with Kouji).
SASUKE 31: Really? Just... ugh.
SASUKE 36: This one was just depressing, he looked like he just gave up from nerves.

[m4tt3r0x]

For some reason Shingo was the most consistent All Star on the Salmon Ladder despite taking 5 tournaments to get to it. His Stage 2 run in 23 was really impressive.

His fail in 31 wasn't that bad to me. He almost made it. Better than Takeda at least. 36 was a dumb slip.

The worst ones are him botching the trampoline jumps to the Double Pendulum/DG. No excuse for them

[tns8597]

Tbh I agree with most of your best, except I'd actually say 29 was one of his better runs. The reason being is that it proved that the initial decision to retire the All-Stars only one tournament prior was incredibly ill-thought-out as he cleared with more than 15 seconds left. Yes I know the course was supposedly easier than in 28 but neither Takeda nor Nagano cleared so this run stood out to me. He also seemed pretty effortless on obstacles like the Swap Salmon Ladder and only failed because he was subjected to the borderline hazardous Backstream. 30 has less positive because he made an entirely Shingo error which prevented him from clearing, but I defo don't think it's as bad as many of his other runs.

In terms of worst, there's a fair number to choose from, so I'll keep it short and sweet and give those that I think are in a class of their own lol:
- SASUKE 4: first time he was given a high number for his performance and he absolutely botched it by trying to rush an otherwise pretty easy obstacle.
- SASUKE 6: as you mentioned
- SASUKE 13 and 24: I'm grouping these tournaments together because in both cases he failed on an identical course that he'd cleared in the previous tournament easily.
- SASUKE 16: mainly because it was a trough in an otherwise highly consistent era for Shingo (only Stage 1 fail between 11-17)
- SASUKE 22: needs no explanation
- SASUKE 31: really freaking dumb move; he was also #92 so he'd seen several competitors attempt the Rolling Hill before him yet decided to cockily approach the obstacle from a 'different' perspective and look where that ended up....
- SASUKE 33-36: probably the low point of his career. Full of dumb errors that culminated in him failing on the same obstacle 3 times consecutively as well as screwing up those he'd got through before. I'm not including 37-38 because in those tournaments he actually showed some promise of clearing.

Edit: I said I'd keep it short and sweet but I've listed 11 tournaments here. Oh well, lol.

[yusukeisthegoat227]

All right, as a big Shingo fan, I'm obliged to reply to this.

Best
Sasuke 3: The course may have been easy then, but a final stage appearance is a final stage appearance.
Sasuke 5: He almost made the final stage in this tournament. He was one of only 3 to clear a brutallly redesigned first stage. And with barely any time left, he cleared an ultra speed-based Second Stage (it would be cool to see something like that come back). Again, he was Last Man Standing in this tournament.
Sasuke 7: This is the best Shingo run. It showed how great he was in this particular era, as he was the only man to make the Final Stage in this tournament. Of course, it ended rather tragically. But being the first man to make it to that era's final stage was pretty impressive.
Sasuke 23: This was his comeback tournament. After all those embarrassing fails on the Flying Chute, and the Half Pipe Attack's landing platform, he makes it back to the Stage 3. This is part of what makes Sasuke 23 so great, as it was a comeback for the All Stars after the disappointment in Sasuke 22. Of course, Shingo did re-aggravate that shoulder injury, which sucks. But he wasn't clearing the 3rd stage to begin with, if I'm being brutally honest.
Sasuke 30: He cleared the First Stage two tournaments in a row, even though he was well past his prime by then. Good stuff.

Worst
Sasuke 4 and 6: These Shingo fails disappoint me the most. In between these runs were his two greatest runs imo, and yet here he fails... the Balance Bridge and Rolling Log? It's wildly inconsistent. But I guess that's what you expect sometimes with the Shingo derpiness.
Sasuke 16: He had established himself as consistent by then, so to have his foot skim the water on the jump hang... that's just a sad way to go out.
Sasuke 22: I mean, this has gotta be one of the most embarrassing fails in the history of Sasuke. He clears the Half-Pipe Attack, a pretty difficult obstacle. And then loses his balance on the transition bridge to the Warped Wall. Unbelievable.
Sasuke 31: Just as he was starting to clear the First Stage again, he fails the freaking Rolling Hill. Sorry Shingo, but when you're in your forties, you can't just jump from the top of the obstacle.

[salt]

What makes his run in 5 even more impressive is that he ran stages 2 and 3 with an injured shoulder. Considering the circumstances, he really had no business making it as far as he did, yet it happened. Probably the most impressive non-Kanzen run in history.

As for his Rolling Hill attempt in 31... I can kinda understand how it happened, because he probably remembered how he used to clear the Maruta Kudari back in the day, and assumed this would be the same. And maybe he could've, with a slightly better jump. I guess it was a case of either prior strategy or age backfiring on him.

[Ninja Relaxer]

I can't believe no one mentioned Sasuke 8, where Shingo goes completely upside down on the Rope Climb. It was like watching QWOP in real life.

[tns8597]

Apr 9, 2021 0:34:28 GMT -5 Ninja Relaxer said:

I can't believe no one mentioned Sasuke 8, where Shingo goes completely upside down on the Rope Climb. It was like watching QWOP in real life.

I thought about putting 8 but then I realised the entire course was soaking wet and so it was genuinely just unlucky as a result; it's not like his other fails which were largely just a function of him making some dumbass move. He also nearly cleared on a stage where only 6 people got through (which could've easily been 4 given that Shoei and Jovtchev cleared with literally no time left), so relatively speaking he did pretty well.

It's definitely not comparable to his fail in 22, or his recent trampoline fails, which were the more typical 'Shingo' fails lol