Best Obstacle Attempt/Clear

[tns8597]

Given that someone (can’t remember who as typing from phone) made a worst obstacle attempt thread, thought it would be good to make one about the most badass obstacle clears. Not going to mention the really obvious ones (like Akiyama on the Final Stage in Sasuke 4) but nonetheless here are mine:

- Toshihiro Takeda on the Wall Lift in 6: Takeda’s always been strong on the Wall Lift but this was arguably his fastest and strongest attempt. He looked like he was going to time out then literally threw all three walls over his head in about 5 seconds which was an absolute beast move.

- Shinji Kobayashi on the Cliffhanger in Sasuke 11: guy comes out of nowhere and just walks past the obstacle that even Nagano and Yamada had struggled with. Also his straight face after he cleared implied he knew he was going to get past it no problem, which made the moment even more badass.

- Bunpei Shiratori on the Pipe Slider in 12: literally so much power with every stroke from someone who looked so unassuming.

- Shiratori on the Wall Lift in 17; similar to Takeda, just threw the 50kg wall over his head like it was nothing.

- Okuyama on the Salmon Ladder in 20: this mainly stuck out to me because this was after a tournament which ended on the Salmon Ladder, then a retired athlete in his late 30s just beasts the obstacle no problem. This was before clearing the Salmon Ladder became a common occurrence as well.

- Urushihara on the Swap Salmon Ladder in 29: literally made every transition without needing to swing backwards. Enough said.

- Rene Casselly on the Vertical Limit in 37: breezed past such a demonised obstacle no problem that even caused Yuuji problems. No wonder the announcer was like ‘you’re not even tired’.

[zoran]

Makoto Nagano on every obstacle in Sasuke 13's first stage

[subtleagent]

Kinnikun Nakayama on the Wall Lift in 11. He tossed the walls over his head in like 5 seconds. Sadly he timed out, but I think if he had another attempt at that Stage 2 he might've cleared (I know 12 and 13 was a 10 second drop and Kinnikun isn't great with speed, but keep in mind Nakata went from timing out on a 100 second Stage 2 in SASUKE 8 to demolishing an 80 second Stage 2 with 11 seconds left so there's always room for improvement in terms of speed).

Nagano in every one of his Pipe Slider attempts (not counting his unseen 34 test attempt where he failed, but he was 45 and retired by then so whatever). He just looked so effortless every time he jumped off while people like Asaoka and Nagasaki only barely made the platform.

Kong on the Shin-Cliffhanger in 23 and 24, and on the Iron Paddler in 29 and 31. The former he invented the most iconic technique (the Kong Cross) and the latter everyone in 28 plus Morimoto before him struggled on it and then he does it and just breezes through which follows in more people making mincemeat out of it (including Morimoto, Kanno, and Asa who later were able to do much better on it).

Jun Sato on the Fish Bone in general. Compared to Ryo who tried to run with no plan, Sato looked like he just skated through it with no issue.

[tns8597]

You’re right about the timing point. I feel like too many competitors use a lenient time limit as an excuse to go slowly, which is fair enough given that a cautious approach is better than a reckless one (especially given that clearing with 20 seconds left vs 5 doesn’t make a difference unlike in ANW where they used clear times to order the runs on the next stage). But it’s resulted in a fair few time outs like Ryo in 28, Yusuke in 30 etc. In both cases they felt like they had too much of a safety net until the klaxon sounded sooner than expected, resulting in both of them getting crushed by the walls trying to scramble to the finish. It’s also why lenient time limits make the stage generally more boring because there’s no sense of needing to beat the clock and the competitors’ slowed pace reflects that.

That said I do feel like Kinnikun was going as fast as he could, especially given that in Sasuke 9 which had the same 80 second time limit he failed the Spider Walk with less than 10 seconds left. His stature just played to his disadvantage in Stage 2. Maybe if he hadn’t used spray he could’ve cleared but then he might’ve failed the Spider Walk again.

And yeah Kong was one of those really rare competitors who just had an unmatched level of raw strength, yet not at the expense of agility or speed. He managed to be one of the fastest yet most powerful competitors even up to the age of 40 which is why he was so successful; he really had it all, except for questionable consistency here and there.

Also I was inclined to put Jun Sato on the Fish Bone but having seen his Sasuke 34 run where he hesitated for 20 seconds I decided not to.... mind you he still cleared with almost 30 seconds left, which was a reflection of how pathetically lenient that tournament’s time limit was.

[subtleagent]

Yeah, Kinnikun was pretty bulky in relative to his height which definitely slowed him down. Hell, in 8 out of his 12 attempts he either timed out or failed with the klaxon blaring so he was definitely lacking when it came to speed. It's weird because Travis Allen Schroeder seemed to not have a problem with speed despite his large stature. Then again navy guy vs comedian isn't really much of a stretch to say who's more athletic.

Yeah Kong had his fair bouts of Stage 1 failures (ex. 19 ~ 22, 26 and 27) and I think his gaps in consistency is what kept me from putting him higher than Hashimoto or Okuyama, or even Lee in terms of ranking competitors during the Shin-SASUKE and Dark Age (25 ~ 27) Eras. He arguably could and would've kanzened had it not been for the safety rope issue in 24. Like Nagano and Kawaguchi, he also had a fair bit of trouble with the Warped Wall (ex. 27 [he took 4 attempts], 31 [if you can watch the challenge dub, his 31 Stage 1 run is there], and 34) in his later career. But in terms of longevity he managed to make Stage 3 the longest with 7 being his first and 31 being his last. He lasted 24 tournaments in terms of having tournaments where he reaches Stage 3. I think the second was Shingo (first 2, last 23; 21 tournaments) and his Stage 3 performances really declined whereas Kong always made it to at least the Cliffhanger.

I feel that Sato's long pause on the Fish Bone definitely played into the tightening of the time limit and streamlining of the First Stage in 35.

[tns8597]

Yeah Kong was less consistent than some of the other stars of the era, that said he's one of the very, very few competitors who came back from a string of Stage 1 failures STRONGER than before that string started. He made Stage 3 three times in a row but failed the Cliffhanger every time, then after his four straight Stage 1 fails he comes back in 23 and gives his best-ever performance taking down the Cliffhanger that had plagued him for years, then trounces that again in 24 by making the Final Stage. The only other competitor imo who came back stronger than ever after a decline was Asaoka given that he failed the Jump Hang three times then after a break became a Stage 3 regular and also reached the Final once. Yuuji's comeback is great especially given his age but you can't deny he's not Kanzenseiha material anymore like he was before, while a lot of other competitors (like Nagano, Ryo, Akiyama etc.) have had a good one or two runs after a decline but then continue to decline further indicating that those 'comebacks' were fluke performances.

[zoran]

Nagano on the Bungee Bridge in Sasuke 18.

[zoran]

Naoya Ijima on the Spider Flip in 24

[subtleagent]

I agree on both of those last two. Bungee Bridge wasn't really much of a threat, but it did slow down a lot of people and then Nagano comes and just skips across it like he's playing hopscotch, it was awesome. Same with Tajima on the Spider Flip, he made that thing look like nothing. Especially since Hashimoto struggled on it after him, and then Takeda... well you know that one. But Tajima just made it look super easy.

[darthvaderlim]

Yuuji on the UCCH and Dimension in Sasuke 36 and 37. He was the oldest person to make it this far.