Sasuke 40 Auditions

[dakohosu]

You've probably seen these videos already but here are some auditions, or at least competitors auditioning for, for Sasuke 40:



The main reason I'm sharing this is because I'm pleasantly surprised that the actual competitors seem to have a say as to who gets through and who doesn't, which imo is a nice change as even a lot of the non-celebrities/pro-athletes that have competed recently have been joke competitors/people who don't train, most likely picked by Inui for the 'entertainment factor' (as if we don't have enough celebrities and comedians as it is, besides most of the unknowns get cut anyway). Whereas when the competitors themselves get to choose then we're way more likely to get a lot more regular guys who are just insanely passionate about Sasuke, actually get a shot at doing well. 

Obviously I'm sure they're overstating the amount of places available for new competitors, given that at this point like 80% of the field is reserved for either veterans or celebrities, but one can only hope.

I picked this video in particular because this kid is literally 17 and clearly has massive amounts of potential as well as a seemingly interesting story; we need more new blood like this on the show, especially as the Stage 2 and 3 cohorts are becoming quite samey. 

[m4tt3r0x]

Oh so the competitors like Yamada and Nagano in those videos are actually choosing the entrants? I was wondering what the extent of these pieces were.

[cb]

I wish there were english translations for these types of videos as I would like to hear the competitor's opinions.

Staying on topic, I would love the competitors to choose people, who have potential, as most of the celebrities runs have been boring.

[dakohosu]

I think these auditions are completely separate from the celebrities; they get their own allocation, which unfortunately seems to be a lot larger than for the regular guys. I mean we've seen a load of competitors who even made Stage 2 a few tournaments ago get declined for more recent tournaments (like Ugajin, and probs a few other guys who just vanished after 34-35).

In 39 we had a good half of the field being celebrities or pro athletes, then about 20-25(?) competitors from the 'Inui Gundan' (nickname for non-celeb competitors who get invited back everytime), which left barely any regular non-celebrity competitors. I just hope this seemingly new method of competitor selection isn't just for the 40th anniversary and becomes a mainstay, because I more than anyone do NOT want to go back to the endless numbers of joke competitor runs taking 60 seconds on the Rolling Hill. It's funny the first 2-3 times, but the 50th?