Sasuke 40 Wishlist

[m4tt3r0x]

We're about to enter September meaning we're probably about 2 months away from filming if the pattern from the last couple of Sasukes continues.

What are some of your hopes for the 40th anniversary (25 years) tournament?

Here are mine from greatest to least:
• 1. Kanno and Kawaguchi clear Stage 1. Kanno in particular clearing for the first time since Sasuke 31 would be epic. He recently was shown in one of Yuuji's videos attempting and clearing the Dragon Glider, and afterwards he was given congratulatory fist bumps from everyone. Hopefully he can recreate that moment when it counts the most. Kawaguchi also clearing the wall for the first time in three years would be pretty monumental. As for Shunsuke, though I don't want him to retire, I've never seen him train for the Dragon Glider, so I don't feel as much hype for him.
• 2. Yamamoto Yoshiyuki clearing the Swing Edge and Cliffhanger at least. I feel like whatever happens after that I'd be content with, as it would just demonstrate where he's at skill wise. I want him to take back what was his in Sasuke 38 against the wet Cliffhanger.
• 3. Matachi getting to Stage 4 again. After his performance in 39 I'd like to see him match two major anniversary tournaments in a row.

[cb]

I would like to see more rookies breakout, similar to what we saw in Shin-Sasuke. I've seen people train for Sasuke and were absolute beasts in training, especially Ishikawa Sho. It's a shame most of the competitor roster is composed of people and celebrities who just fail early because I want to see new faces in Stage 2 and 3.

[m4tt3r0x]

Aug 30, 2022 13:37:26 GMT -5 cb said:

I would like to see more rookies breakout, similar to what we saw in Shin-Sasuke. I've seen people train for Sasuke and were absolute beasts in training, especially Ishikawa Sho. It's a shame most of the competitor roster is composed of people and celebrities who just fail early because I want to see new faces in Stage 2 and 3.

Good point imo. Although the Morimoto Sedai are fairly still fresh faces in terms of being the current elite (I know most of them have been competing technically for a very long time), it'd be nice to see new kids on the block come out of nowhere again and dominate.

[dakohosu]

Pretty much all of what you've mentioned are at the top of my list. I want this to be, similar to how 36 was, a tournament of redemptions from competitors who had had a bad few runs in the past and made it back to Stage 3. Kanno and Kawaguchi's track records are also becoming pretty monotonous so to have at least one of them come out of nowhere and make it back to their former glories would be a pleasant shock indeed. I'd say Kawaguchi is the most likely as he would've cleared the wall had it not been for the rain (he made it as far up the wall in 39 as he did on 38's dry wall so he's defo improving). I'm not as confident in Kanno as every year he practices the Dragon Glider but still fails it, and his attempts on it have been getting worse over time. Still, if he does clear after 7 years of failure then that would be mental, I can just imagine how many tears will ensue lol. If Yoshiyuki fails the Cliffhanger again then I'll genuinely be annoyed; not at him obviously, rather the fact that it would just have made his fail in 38 even more tragic, where the one time he did put everything together correctly he was robbed by a simple oversight. Him failing the Dimension legitimately would make his previous fail even more unlucky. I do think he has it in him to clear it though; we haven't seen anyone as well-rounded as him since the likes of Kongu. Tall, powerful, and insanely fast, yet not at the expense of upper body strength whatsoever. A lot of people say Ryo isn't what he used to be, but I disagree. The guy narrowly missed a Final Stage attempt in 36, and was undone by a new highly technical obstacle in 39. He's still probably neck and neck with Tada when it comes to the likelihood of clearing Stage 3, given that he relentlessly trains the Cliffhanger and VL. I agree on Shunsuke; I haven't even considered him anymore because what's likely to happen to someone who's failed the Dragon Glider three straight times and doesn't train on it whatsoever? He'll probably fail it again.... Not to be harsh, but I don't even know why he seemed so upset in his post-39 interview, it's like bro you don't train what do you expect?

Some that I'd add would be:
- Make Stage 2 harder in one way, shape, or form. I don't know why they nerfed the log in the first place, but on a renewal was unforgivable imo. Stage 2 for the first time in a while was pretty exciting in 38, and then they reverted it back to a slog/digest fest in 39. I just want them to take heed of the high clear rate and make it more challenging to avoid a repeat of 39; ideally I'd want them to just get rid of the SLN/K, but realistically speaking I just hope the time limit will be a fair bit lower. Stage 2 has almost been getting easier over the entire RISING era, and something needs to be done about that imo.

- Yusuke not winning or being the only Finalist; I know this is fairly controversial, but I'm over the hype of Yusuke's greatness and am personally starting to find his constant domination a bit tiresome especially when everyone else just fails the Cliffhanger. Him reaching the Final again wouldn't surprise me given that he's practiced the Swing Edge and has beaten basically everything else already, but I'd rather we have one or two other guys attempting it to add some extra excitement like Sasuke 12, especially as if Yusuke gets that far chances are he'll just win 1-2 tournaments later anyway, so it could be some of these guys' only chances to reach the Final.

- Agreed on cb's point about rookies breaking out. I want to see someone who's trained for years actually get the chance to compete and do well, potentially making Stage 3 (which isn't out of the realm of possibility given Stages 1 and 2 aren't as hard as Shin-Sasuke's), rather than just another Johnny's Jr making Stage 2 and then failing the Salmon Ladder. I'm hopeful we'll get some proper new blood this time, check my previous thread to see why I think this might actually be the case, in spite of the unbearable numbers of joke celebrities in recent tournaments.

- The Morimoto Sedai, particularly Keitaro and Araki, to show what they're really made of. I'm uncertain as to whether Araki's performance in 36 was the best he's got in him, but Keitaro's demolished multiple Stage 3s in practice, so clearly his Sidewinder fail was just a mental error (which given his Stage 2 record is something he's well known for at this point). He definitely has the ability to at least get to the Vertical Limit, but as to whether he'll jinx himself again I honestly don't know. 

- Yuuji to make it deep into Stage 3 at 44. Nothing else need be said; he still goes like he's 30, and got unlucky the last two tournaments. I want him to show the younger generation how it's done (again, as if he didn't already do that in 36-37).

[cb]

I have a weird feeling that Sasuke 40 might have an relatively high clear rate, not like in the 30s but between low to high twenties. If it doesnt rain and the competitor roster is stacked, it might be realistic.

I would like to see some old faces who have declined clear again like Kanno, Shunsuke and Shingo and other veterans clear for the first time like Ayano, Matsuda and Wasabi. But I doubt that most of them clear. I'm going into Sasuke 40 with pessimism for these competitors rather than optimism because if they do well, they wouldve exceeded my expectations.

[dakohosu]

Aug 30, 2022 14:03:49 GMT -5 cb said:

I have a weird feeling that Sasuke 40 might have an relatively high clear rate, not like in the 30s but between low to high twenties. If it doesnt rain and the competitor roster is stacked, it might be realistic.

I would like to see some old faces who have declined clear again like Kanno, Shunsuke and Shingo and other veterans clear for the first time like Ayano, Matsuda and Wasabi. But I doubt that most of them clear. I'm going into Sasuke 40 with pessimism for these competitors rather than optimism because if they do well, they wouldve exceeded my expectations.

If they don't change Stage 1 then it probably will be. We got 14 clears in 39, in spite of the last 15 runs being plagued by rain, with a good 7-8 of those having been candidates to otherwise clear, so there's a good chance we could've already had 18-20 with no rain. Besides, let's be real there's been nothing new on Stage 1 since 35 that's moderately difficult, except maybe the Fish Bone's reverse pole modification thing. The Silk Slider is nigh on unfailable and is way easier than the Wing Slider, while the Double Warped Wall isn't harder than the normal one as the first wall is also basically unfailable. The time limit has also increased by 15 seconds compared to 35-36. If anything the course has been getting easier lol. I'm estimating maybe 20-25 with no rain or modifications, especially if they allow a few of these guys auditioning on the YouTube channel through.

I made a thread a while ago about who I think will get redemption in 40 (i.e. who's been performing poorly recently who will clear this time around), and I'd say Kawaguchi and Darvish are probably the most likely, as most of their last few fails have been either due to weather or obstacle malfunctions (Darvish in 38). Ayano, Shingo, and Matsuda I've kind of classed in the same boat as all having the potential to clear but always seeming to mess up somewhere, and usually on obstacles they've cleared before. Ayano I think will definitely clear at some point as she's only 28, but given her inconsistency whether she will do it this time round or just fail the Dragon Glider or Warped Wall again is honestly too hard to call; Shingo and Matsuda I'm less confident in as they're already pushing 50, and are both like 9 straight fails deep at this point. I really hope Kanno clears, but it's quite difficult to say that with any confidence given his four straight Dragon Glider fails. 

[cb]

I'm also expecting some retired/ semi-retired competitors to come back since this is an anniversary tournament. I don't know who those might be but I'll probably expect something like a fish bone or dragon glider fail. Also, Stage 2 needs to be fixed, I just want it to be a proper speed stage.

[dakohosu]

Aug 30, 2022 14:28:53 GMT -5 cb said:

I'm also expecting some retired/ semi-retired competitors to come back since this is an anniversary tournament. I don't know who those might be but I'll probably expect something like a fish bone or dragon glider fail. Also, Stage 2 needs to be fixed, I just want it to be a proper speed stage.

Well we know Nagano is coming back. Besides that, I have no idea. Most past competitors have either been retired for way too long, are too old (like 50+), or are injured. We're also getting no foreign competitors because of Covid.

I know Kongu recently resurfaced after a few years and revisited Mori's gym but judging from the photo you could tell he hadn't been training for a long time, besides that's nothing to suggest he'll return for 40. Hashimoto's also been chatting with Ryo and Yuuji but again he's not been to any training sessions and I think his athletic days are long behind him. 

[cb]

Ive also noticed the last time a rookie has made stage 3 on their first attempt was Ragivaru in 31, which was 7 years ago. I didnt include people invited from their ninja show. It would be great to see newcomers dominate.

[dakohosu]

Aug 30, 2022 14:43:38 GMT -5 cb said:

Ive also noticed the last time a rookie has made stage 3 on their first attempt was Ragivaru in 31, which was 7 years ago. I didnt include people invited from their ninja show. It would be great to see newcomers dominate.

Yoshiyuki in 37 would disagree with that statement.

[cb]

Forgot about him as I was using the rookies thread I made and I feel kinda stupid now.

[zoran]

I'd like the competing All Stars to perform at their best, ideally all making it past the glider and Shingo making it to stage 2.... or stage 3. Hell imagine Nagano making it to stage 2.....

[dakohosu]

Aug 30, 2022 15:03:53 GMT -5 zoran said:

I'd like the competing All Stars to perform at their best, ideally all making it past the glider and Shingo making it to stage 2.... or stage 3. Hell imagine Nagano making it to stage 2.....

Hate to be the pessimist, but Yamada clearing the Dragon Glider is like Darvish reaching the Final Stage; it just won't happen. Dude's going to be 57 by the time Sasuke 40 comes around, and hasn't made it that far in like 15 years. 

I'm also inclined to say the same about Shingo making it to Stage 3; he's done so once in the last 22 competitions, has failed Stage 1 nine consecutive times in a row, and is like 48 now. Him reaching Stage 2 isn't out of the complete realm of possibility, but given his track record of it being a roulette as to where on Stage 1 he fails, I'd say it's incredibly, incredibly unlikely, and if he does make it that far I could easily see him failing the Rolling Log or something.

[azn]

Since the points stated already are similar to my own wishlist, I'm gonna add in some points in regards to the presentation/other areas rather than results based wishes

Firstly, I would love it if they bring back one of the old announcers.

Obviously I could go w/ Furatachi but honestly, Hatsuta Keisuke is the safest bet given he was actually part of the audition team from last years SASUKE Auditions If I remember correctly. Some other options are Sato Fumiyasu, given that he made a recent appearance announcing SK36 and Komada Kengo, a perfect raspy contrast to some of the current announcers, who by the way I have no problems with, particularly Sugiyama Shinya (though I will say, it would be nice if he toned down a bit of his repetitiveness), it's just that since it is an anniversary tournament, it would be cool if it was announced by some of the old voices again.

Next, I would love it if they bring back a recap team, akin to the recap team from SK's 3-9 with Furatachi, another guy, and another girl (I don't know their names...oops) or the one used from SK31 until SK34 I believe.

I'm guessing the main reason as to why they stopped doing it during Rising/Reiwa is because it dragged the show on (and in the case for the other recap team, I'm guessing it had something to do with the end of Kinniku Banzuke) for too long but I honestly enjoyed those little recap segments, especially back in SK3-9 when they talked about who they believed would clear, bringing up their profiles (which Furatachi literally did in SK5 with a board featuring the 3 clears that tournament with their info) and also explaining the new obstacles, which was especially cool given they had replicas of them on their set.

Lastly, and while this might be a little thing to add, for me it's something that I'm really baffled as to why they ended it, but bring in like a proper intro/opening sequence, they used to have one when they did Rising and it was a great way to start the tournament off but then they just stopped it.

It used to be a consistent thing that they did in general, Shin had the intro with the 4 walls, my personal favorite was the golden era intro with the letters of the OG logo flying through different areas. It's something really small but also something that for me atleast, made me amped up to watch the show.

You might've noticed that I didn't wish for them to stop ruthlessly digesting/cutting specific competitors. Yeah, as much as I want to see that also, it's become so unpredictable now that I've honestly just accepted it. At least they have the option to then show those digested/cut runs on their youtube channel now I suppose.

[lindsey]

My wishes are hopefully we can see more new obstacles, more competitors come back strong after past defeats, and most definitely an unexpected results.

[yamfriend]

In addition to some of the wishes listed previously in this thread, I would like to see the record for oldest Stage 1 clearer tied or broken. The record has stood since Sasuke 1 (age 44, Kiyomi Inoue, the professional(?) surfer who wore #88 in that tournament) and it would be awesome to see someone finally officially beat it (Takeda would've beaten it in Sasuke 38 at age 45, had he not been DQed on the Fishbone, but I digress).

Additionally, I'd like to see a lot of Stage 1 clears in conjunction with ideal weather (maybe 20-25 clears). For pacing purposes, it would be neat to have a repeat of the first half of Stage 1 from Sasuke 39 such that there are a good chunk of early clears by rookies and/or those who possess a lot of potential (such as Yusuke Goto). Perhaps (for trivia nerds like myself ) we might even get new clear numbers in Stage 1; the last time a new number cleared Stage 1 was Shingo as #36 back in Sasuke 29.

A Stage 2 overhaul is also needed at this point. The Backstream should be either removed or heavily modified as a new water-based obstacle (the latter is probably more likely to happen given production's interest in keeping the swimming element in some respect). It's very unlikely at this point, but I'd like there to be another/more official obstacle design contest for fans to submit entries, with the winning obstacle(s) to be used in Sasuke 40 and beyond. Regardless of what happens design-wise, up to 10 Stage 2 clears would be best in my opinion.

I'm also hoping for at least one Vertical Limit clear and/or Stage 3 clear in general other than Morimoto. As awesome as he is, it's time to have more new finalists aside from him. Aside from Sasuke 37 (which had a heavily nerfed Vertical Limit), nobody other than Morimoto has beaten Vertical Limit in 8 years, and half of all Vertical Limit clears have been by him. By no means do I want Morimoto to suddenly crumble under pressure or anything like that; as others have said, just seeing more faces attempt the Final Stage would be a breath of fresh air.

Lastly: whether he competes or not, Kuramochi should be there. "Mr. Octopus" even got a special video on the official Sasuke channel a few months ago, so perhaps it's a hint of something to come.

[dakohosu]

Aug 31, 2022 13:33:05 GMT -5 yamfriend said:

In addition to some of the wishes listed previously in this thread, I would like to see the record for oldest Stage 1 clearer tied or broken. The record has stood since Sasuke 1 (age 44, Kiyomi Inoue, the professional(?) surfer who wore #88 in that tournament) and it would be awesome to see someone finally officially beat it (Takeda would've beaten it in Sasuke 38 at age 45, had he not been DQed on the Fishbone, but I digress).

Additionally, I'd like to see a lot of Stage 1 clears in conjunction with ideal weather (maybe 20-25 clears). For pacing purposes, it would be neat to have a repeat of the first half of Stage 1 from Sasuke 39 such that there are a good chunk of early clears by rookies and/or those who possess a lot of potential (such as Yusuke Goto). Perhaps (for trivia nerds like myself ) we might even get new clear numbers in Stage 1; the last time a new number cleared Stage 1 was Shingo as #36 back in Sasuke 29.

A Stage 2 overhaul is also needed at this point. The Backstream should be either removed or heavily modified as a new water-based obstacle (the latter is probably more likely to happen given production's interest in keeping the swimming element in some respect). It's very unlikely at this point, but I'd like there to be another/more official obstacle design contest for fans to submit entries, with the winning obstacle(s) to be used in Sasuke 40 and beyond. Regardless of what happens design-wise, up to 10 Stage 2 clears would be best in my opinion.

I'm also hoping for at least one Vertical Limit clear and/or Stage 3 clear in general other than Morimoto. As awesome as he is, it's time to have more new finalists aside from him. Aside from Sasuke 37 (which had a heavily nerfed Vertical Limit), nobody other than Morimoto has beaten Vertical Limit in 8 years, and half of all Vertical Limit clears have been by him. By no means do I want Morimoto to suddenly crumble under pressure or anything like that; as others have said, just seeing more faces attempt the Final Stage would be a breath of fresh air.

Lastly: whether he competes or not, Kuramochi should be there. "Mr. Octopus" even got a special video on the official Sasuke channel a few months ago, so perhaps it's a hint of something to come.

Realistically I can only see Yuuji or Suzuki tying the record in this coming tournament as they'll both be 44, and neither seem to be suffering the typical effects of 'aging' so either could beat the record the following tournament. I think generally the reason why said record hasn't been beaten has been, well, lack of luck. Pretty much every competitor who had a realistic shot of beating the record seemed to retire just before they hit that age, like Kong (42), Okuyama (43), Nagano (44), Hiromichi Sato (44) etc. and then there was obviously Takeda who did effectively beat the record by clearing at 45 but obviously got done for skipping a Fish Bone peg, and then had heart surgery preventing him from getting a chance to repeat said performance. I think we have to be realistic about Matsuda and Shingo, they've both failed like 8-9 times in a row now, often at random points on Stage 1, and are only getting older.

You do know why they've spacing out competitors more evenly right? It's so they can accommodate more celebrities and joke competitors without the bore of having like 50 Rolling Hill through Dragon Glider fails in a row. I do like the format given that we don't have to sit through an hour of crap just to get to the meat of the show, and having some low numbered clears makes us more excited for Stage 2 earlier on, I just don't like the inherent reason why they've done it lol. Hell, Koji Saikawa in a training video made a joke about getting #1 in the next tournament given that he's been getting lower and lower in spite of his performances. In terms of clear numbers, the following haven't cleared Stage 1: #4, #12, #15, #16, #26, #27, #33 (Saikawa originally had this number in Sasuke 37 but got swapped to #55), and #37. That said, a s*** load more of the first 30-40 numbers haven't cleared since like Sasuke 4.

I think if Stages 1 or 2 don't change at all then we could very easily see a new record for Stage 2, given that we could've easily got 12 clears in 39 had several of the last few big names not been screwed over by the rain. In some situations I think this would've been fine (like Sasuke 12), but given that we're in an early renewal phase and only had 5 clears in the last tournament prior to said renewal, it would just be a bit ridiculous as Stage 2 shouldn't be made easier after a Kanzen, especially when prior to the log nerf it was the first time in a while that the stage had been more than just a glorified gateway to Stage 3.

[anime boy]

All I want for Christmas is this man to clear, the og All Star

[subtleagent]

If the Quad Steps, Rolling Hill and Silk Slider could politely go bye bye that's all I ever want from 40. And Stage 2 getting some kind of overhaul with more failable obstacles or a tighter time limit.

[dt]

Brand new 1st obstacle (I’m including replacing the steps AND the rolling hill)

Special return to the green or black mat course design for the anniversary

No rain

Replace Planet Bridge

Add something to spice up the backstream (or, ya know, just get rid of it)

At least one really emotional stage 1 clear (Kanno would be amazing)

Even if he isn’t competing, I would love if Takeda showed up. I love seeing him, Shingo, and Nagano together

Let more than 2 Black Tigers compete

Yuuji in stage 4

And lastly, my most realistic wish, Shingo achieving total victory in his 40th try and announcing his retirement from the top of the tower and ending his career as champion😬