Why Is Yusuke So Vilified For Winning?

[hoseasasuke]

Let's discuss this topic. I have never seen a competitor that is so vilified and kind of despised for...winning. Is it because he wins too much? Is it because he has a rather bland personality? Let me know what you think.

[SRW]

Because people hate winners lol Nah I like Yusuke he isn't Nagano but I like the guy If he wins again great my Ire is at the course designers for being so lazy in renewing the course its left just asking for Yusuke to blow it away again in no time!

[m4tt3r0x]

I don't think anyone despises him per se. I just like underdogs and I think that's the norm for most people. When Nagano was at his peak I felt similarly. It's nothing personal. I still respect him greatly and he deserves every win he gets, but I also wish the first 3 stages were more varied

[dakohosu]

I don’t think anyone hates or dislikes Yusuke. Most people, myself at least, have the utmost respect and awe for how he’s just managed to absolutely dominate the hardest era of the show and is so far ahead of the rest of the field. I also find it incredible how he went from simply a young superfan who did well ‘for a kid’ to possibly the greatest Sasuke competitor we’ve ever seen.

I think the main issue is that the results in recent years have become a bit monotonous and predictable, with Yusuke reaching the Final Stage and everyone else failing the Cliffhanger. Even when Nagano was in his prime we had guys like Takeda and Shiratori who were also favourites to win it all, but Yusuke is effectively his own entity, the Michael Schumacher or Michael Jordan of modern Sasuke. Him winning for a third time would just consolidate that and continue this trend of unprecedented levels of predictability and lack of surprise. I was personally really disappointed how in Sasuke 36 we had so many great competitors reaching Stage 3 but once again Yusuke was the only clear.

Don’t get me wrong, to prevent this happening is no easy task for the producers. Yusuke’s only 30 so isn’t likely to decline anytime like Nagano who was already in his late 30s after his win, and he has no blatant weaknesses. I’m hence glad they didn’t go down a Sasuke 19 route by making everything f*** off hard to take down Yusuke but eliminating everyone else in the process. I just feel like they’ve been really complacent with this renewal (regardless of budget) and if anything widened the potential gap between Yusuke and the rest of the field, by adding more grip obstacles in Stage 3 and adding a rock wall to the Final Stage thus preventing any non-rock climbers from doing well (Yusuke is an avid rock climber).

I’d honestly be surprised if Yusuke wins this time due to the rain on Stage 1, but given the minimal course changes it’s just delaying the inevitable. Yusuke will probably be the next winner and quite soon at that, which obviously sucks but what can you do. My only other hope is Yoshiyuki catching up to him which is possible given how much he’s achieved in only two tournaments, or even better someone coming out of nowhere and completely dominating, like Yuuji in 22.