Share Your Sasuke 40 Thoughts

[m4tt3r0x]

I was waiting for someone to make a thread like this, but doesn't seem to be happening. I'm just gonna make it myself sorry. Please share your thoughts on this tournament if you'd like!

Putting the editing aside, absolutely amazing tournament. ABC-Z, Kane, SHINGO, and Yoshiyuki were all my favorite highlights. Was so glad ABC-Z cleared, and could not believe Kane and Shingo both did as well! Yoskiyuki I am so glad he finally got to Stage 4, although I think he could have done better on the final.

Great job to Kanno and Shunsuke for finally getting past the Dragon Glider. Also to Nagano. Actually wasn't sure he'd clear that. Dude spent so much time manhandling his son and Akiyama at the Fishbone in practice, and he ended up taking a really long time there himself lol. Was psyched for Tomo to finally beat the wall and get past Stage 2 again (WHY WAS IT DIGESTED!?). Great job to Ayano as well of course. Also couldn't believe Jessie failed Stage 2.

But seriously, SHINGO CLEARED STAGE 1 I LOST MY FRICKEN ****!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Where has this mental therapist been the last 8 years!?!?!? And he even beat the Backstream, which he couldn't do in 29 and 30! Totally honest here I had a feeling he could clear this time before the tournament even taped. I wanted to draw him a picture of him clearing Stage 1 months back and send it to him.

So I have to say I think this tournament had the worst editing I have seen in a while in my opiniom. It was apparent right from the beginning of Stage 1. The digests were getting to be absurd.

All of that considered, the results of this tournament were close to a 10 for me, but the editing drags the overall scoring I have for Sasuke 40 to just barely a 9. But there were nice editing decisions too! Anyway, awesome Sasuke!

[ahzoo]

The Paravi will be a 10.

As is, this is already a top-5 tournament for me, as much as I despise all of the editing decisions taken by Inui.

Literally every fear one could have about the course was instantly dispelled; every expectation we had was broken, and, were Inui to have hired a decent editor who let the clears and the fails be shown in full, this would be inarguably one of Sasuke's finest moments ever.

See you in 41, my money's on Yoshiyuki and Morimoto to Kanzen.

[hoseasasuke]

At worse, a 7, at best, a 9,5. Great, great tournament, in almost every aspect. A top 10 tournament of all time at least, and by far the best anniversary tournament.The editing though needs to be worked on

[sasukewarrior333]

I cried when Tomo and Shingo came back from their fails. Two of my favourite SASUKE moments. The results of the tournament are genuinely near best of all time material but the editing was lackluster. Either way, really pleased.

Also, a new record for sub second finishes! Five in one tournament! Absolutely amazing.

[salt]

Amazing tournament. I'm actually wondering if this may cause some old favorites to come out of retirement after what happened. Shingo somehow pulling his best run since SASUKE 23 out of nowhere after a 9 tournament losing streak (and still making some things like the salmon ladder look really easy), Kane coming out of a 32 tournament retirement and keeping his stage 1 streak alive, Akiyama clearing the fishbone despite his eye condition, Shunsuke, Nagano, and Kawaguchi finally overcoming their Dragon Glider and Warped Wall demons, Yuuji returning deep into stage 3 at 44 years old, ABC-Z overcoming a huge losing streak, and Suzuki following up his stage 3 performance last tournament with a repeat. This tournament proved that you can never count anyone out no matter how bad things may seem. Maybe we can get Bunpei, Kongu, Lee, or Okuyama back next tournament.

Not to mention, we got so many other breakthroughs.  3 women clearing the first stage (with Ayano FINALLY doing it despite the task seeming impossible in previous tournaments), Keitaro and Yoshiyuki showing what he could do in stage 3, etc.

Well ok, not everyone had a miracle run. Iketani, Kaioh, Ryo, Snow Man, and Yamada biffed it pretty badly.  And Shunsuke did end up repeating his meme Spider Walk fail.   But overall, it felt like so many people really wanted to bring their all for the 40th tournament, because they performed as if their lives depended on it.

If anything, the final stage felt like the least important part of the tournament.

[PsychoDelusion]

Never fails Stage 1 before he hits his prime
Reaches the Final Stage
Quits without elaborating and vanishes for 21 years
Comes back and clears Stage 1 like he never left

Kane is such a life goal

[exactaabdillah]

Half of the first stage is unbearable with the screentime on the joke celebrities, legit have to turn away quite a few times because I cringed so much, especially with that competitor wearing Yamada-plastered wear. Other than that, bloody amazing! Got the upsets, got the drama, Dragon Glider being a menace, Yamamoto and Kane FUKKAAAATSU! I love Sugiyama now haha. Matachi going out in Rolling Hill was quite a shock but what's even more shocking was that Yamada is in a really good shape and could possibly made it to at least the first wall. You can see the frustration in his face because he knew that he was at an amazing shape and he threw it away by rushing Fishbone. Nagano, uhh, he took so much time at Fishbone, I really think that if he attempted it at 38th pace he could probably make it to the walls with some time remaining to rest and get a better shot at the Warped Wall.

I don't want to comment on Kaiou because it is maybe lack of experience because I think he hasn't had the chance to practice Rolling Hill and his mind was already at Fishbone, Dragon, and Warped Wall. I think he can clear next year if he's allowed to compete again since he had the ability to do Dragon and Warped Wall really well, Tackle being the biggest hurdle as shown in Yuuta's run.

2nd stage was a blast, Yamamoto and Kane had a good run and conquered backstream, All-Stars having fun, and I'm all for that. It has some unexpected fail though like Saikawa getting stuck at the conveyor, Hioki failing the backstream, and Jessie finally held by the 2nd Stage. Time limit decrease, albeit small, is enough to make the 2nd stage a threat once again, enjoyed those near-misses.

3rd stage was brilliant, albeit let down by the editing. Yoshiyuki showed his outerworldly capabilities, Tada being Mr. Stable, and Morimoto being Morimoto cruising the stage with ease. Such a shame tho that Keitarou missed the jump as he would probably jump in joy seeing the speed climbing part of the final stage.

Final stage was kind of a shock, seeing that speed climbing part with only 45 seconds! That looked and seemed ridiculous. Seeing Yamamoto's run made me nervous because if even Yamamoto timed out just before attempting the Rope, how about Tada? Well, he struggled again at the Salmon Ladder part and that shot from up top with Tada struggling was quite the sight, loved it. Then Morimoto's turn. He said that he thinks that ideally he should be clearing the Speed Climb part in 10 seconds, and he did, with few seconds to spare. Then I thought, oh god he's doing it. Took a break before Salmon and maybe this costed him the Kanzen, because he just blasted through the Salmon with 15 seconds left while reaching the rope. Everyone stood in amazement because, well, it was thought to be impossible when it was first revealed and Morimoto is on the pace to get the Kanzen, he's just different man. I think that he was quite tired by the ropes because he climbed at a slower pace? Compared to what he has shown before and in his youtube video. I truly believed that 15 seconds was enough for him, but it is not to be, just missed the button by a second, but what a jaw-breaking display for him.

Overall, 9/10 tournament, so exciting. If Morimoto Kanzen'd I would probably give it a 10 DESPITE the horrendous editing because the results just carried this tournament so hard.

[katoshiho]

So many new records!
Kane Kosugi:longest blank to clear Stage 1(with 21 years blank), oldest Stage 1 clear(same age as Shingo). Keeped his no fail at Stage 1.
Yamamoto Shingo: briefly beat Kane's age and become the second 45+ clear(also beaten a record that keeps 25 years),and become a clear of All stars since SASUKE 34. After a 8 years blank(longest for a competitor keep compete).
Also,he barely cleared Back Stream.
Oshima Ayano: Second Japanese woman cleared Stage 1. This is a 24 years blank.
Nakajima(the youngest Black Tiger): become the youngest competitor reached Soritatsu Kabe.(Same as Tada)
Nagasaki Shunsuke: Although been digest, still manage to cleared after 4.5 years blank.
Kanno Hitoshi: finally cleared Dragon Glider for the first time.
Yamamoto Yoshiyuki: a new finalist since SASUKE 37. First Black Tiger finalist.
Kajihara Hayate: the fastest Stage 1 Japanese in history (38 seconds left, which is close to the DAD guy), beat Asa Kazuma's record.
Tsukada Ryoichi: cleared since SASUKE 34. Only Johnny's cleared in this tournament. Also, he beat Salmon Ladder first time.
Yamamoto Keitaro: First time reached Cliffhanger and Vertical Limit and both cleared. But become a new eliminate at pipe slider by not bar out since SASUKE 29.
Kawaguchi Tomohiro: A 4 years come back to Stage 3.
Urushihara Yuji: oldest person reached Stage 3, and also the oldest person who can beat Cliffhanger Dimension.
Morimoto Yusuke: in a Kinen Daikai that wearing ○000 first reached FINAL. His 5th FINAL, tied with Nagano Makoto.
FINAL stage: the first time that after a Kanzenseiha Only 2 tournaments to appeared finalists. Normally need 3 to 4 tournaments.

[m4tt3r0x]

Dec 27, 2022 9:24:15 GMT -5 salt said:

Shingo somehow pulling his best run since SASUKE 23 out of nowhere after a 9 tournament losing streak (and still making some things like the salmon ladder look really easy)

That's one of the great things about Shingo. He's always been freakishly consistent on the Salmon Ladder for some reason and has never failed it.

[SRW]

Good show Shingo Kane runs were great Matachis fail was hilarious Keitaro stage 3 fail was a sickener! Final stage will be smashed by Yusuke in 41 if he clears stage 1 bet your lolly on it! Tada another great showing and Yoshiyuki Yamamoto having his big break at last.

[azn]

To quote one of my favorite Sports Youtubers, UrinatingTree "THE HIGH END TALENT!" proceeded by the Mighty Mouse theme song

That pretty much is the best way I can sum up this tournament, despite being dealt with the same boring course, the roster of competitors carried this tournament with their results, and you know what, the rock wall is actually not that bad albeit extremely biased towards speed climbers...Except Yusuke nearly kanzened despite going at an equally slow pace to Yoshi and Tada. I bet that the time limit will therefore decrease to 40 secs because of that... or more if they lose their mind

With that being said, the editing decisions was questionable for most of this tournament, Jun getting triple digested despite this being his return from his injury, Shunsuke getting digested despite clearing for the first time in ages (and the fact that he threatened retirement), the beginning of the first stage going at such an unwatchably fast pace, the digesting of the foreign competitors not named Kane, heck when they not just digest but outright CUT Torisawa, you know that the tournament is going down the sh!ter when it comes to the editing. Luckily the paravi exists, and Seiya's attempt was actually one of the better (if not the only) editing decisions but still, just a poor day in the editing department for this tournament. Also, for a tournament with some memorable returning faces, why did they suddenly go MIA in the broadcast, I know some of them were shown on the SASUKE TBS channel and this might be me being a pit too nitpicky but it was like playing where's waldo finding some of these guys.

One other thing that I will say is that this proves that this course (especially the first stage) is extremely unsustainable. We are REALLY lucky with the cards that we were dealt in terms of the roster because this was on paper to be another lackluster tournament of this new "renewal." If the first stage clear rate wasn't so high in the first place, not to mention the specific people who cleared, then I feel the reaction to this tournament would've been a lot different.

Also the Dragon Glider, oh boy has it fallen from grace. The fact that Kane cleared it despite training for the updated course like a couple months ago proves how susceptible it has become to this new age of competitors and their training regimes, not to mention that it also decided to dysfunction...thrice. This isn't necessarily a major critique but more so a comment on something that was once precious. Either it gets not only repaired but full on upgraded or it goes...those are the only options.

So yeah, this overall was a really good emotional nostalgia trip of a tournament, man who would've thought that the one way to improve on a stale course was to add a sh!t ton of talented competitors, and some nostalgia pops along the way and watch the clear rates and our enjoyments rise! Surely that formula is gonna work again...in the next anniversary tournament.

7/10

Edit: welp the honeymoon faze is over for me which is why I bumped it down to a 7. I was really close to giving this a 6.5/10, however I can't deny the fun I had watching the 3rd stage, and the resurgence of Kane and Shingo. With that said the cons remained the same, only now I realized how even more horrific those cons are.

[salt]

Dec 27, 2022 9:50:43 GMT -5 m4tt3r0x said:

Dec 27, 2022 9:24:15 GMT -5 salt said:

Shingo somehow pulling his best run since SASUKE 23 out of nowhere after a 9 tournament losing streak (and still making some things like the salmon ladder look really easy)

That's one of the great things about Shingo. He's always been freakishly consistent on the Salmon Ladder for some reason and has never failed it.

After this tournament, I've come up with a theory that Shingo's raw strength isn't actually declining that fast. He also beasted through the Tackle and WWs. Instead, age is making him clumsier (which was always a weakness, but has been getting worse). If all the stars align, he can still do great, but that is getting rarer and rarer.

[Miko]

As for someone who hasn't watched anything SASUKE related since SASUKE 32, I'm not gonna agree with others. This tournament was great when it comes to our favorites giving them all, but editing was absolutely horrendous. Nagasaki and Sato getting digested, Urushihara and Morimoto getting digested in Stage 2, one of the clears on Stage 3 having middle cut, digesting all the important and nerve-wracking runs on Stage 2, too much showcase to celebrities (this will never go away, I know) and the worst of all, making editing reeeeeeally obvious when it comes to who's gonna clear and who isn't. I also had forgotten how awful ads were and those alone constantly spoiled what's gonna happen next (see Tomohiro on Stage 3) and overall obstacles are practiced to death; Dragon Glider was beaten by anyone who had tried it before, Salmon Ladder is a joke, Wall Lifting isn't as intense as it was before, Flying Bar still has only 2 jumps and Cliffhanger is just very lame obstacle at this point in viewers perspective. Vertical Limit would be really great, but I feel like camera focus during competitors attempt on that obstacle is always wrong and angles doesn't work as well as they do on other obstacles. This obstacle would definitely need some modification to make it more viewer friendly. Finally, there is Yamada who needs to f*** off from the screen already. Jesus christ, guy is 57 and still crying when he doesn't clear 1st Stage. Not only that, he was constant presence from start to finish and by 3rd stage it was getting more and more annoying. It didn't matter who was running, Yamada was giving tips and being eeeeeeeeeeverywhere.

It's not all too negative. Stage 3 produced 3 clears, Pipe Slider didn't have stoppers and it felt like Golden Era all over again, Final Stage is very exciting and as said, our favorite competitors gave them all. Kane and Shingo both gave hell of a run, but Akiyama, Nagano, Urushihara and Morimoto also did their best, even with Morimoto almost getting 3rd kanzenseisha. Backstream + Reverse Conveyer is very beautiful combo and makes Wall Lifting 1000x harder, if not only walls being the lamest they've ever been. Sidewinder looked cool aswell.

2nd best anniversary tournament and nowhere near even close to top 10 tournament. 2.5/5 or 5/10 is more than enough. On to next one, is SASUKE still once in a year thing or can we expect SASUKE 41 during next summer?

[dakohosu]

Here's my take on it.

In terms of the results, Stage 1 was probably the best and most unpredictable it's ever been since I can't even remember. So many shock fails, so many unexpected returns to form, and a diverse set of clears. THREE female clears, two 48-year-olds in the form of Kane and Shingo who's runs imo will be remembered for the rest of time for the best comebacks in history. That said, I do have a fair few complaints, a few of which are pretty predictable:
- Inevitably Stage 1 being the exact same, time limit and course. This once again resulted in the issue where joke competitors' runs got frustratingly drawn out, specifically I was annoyed that the Silk Slider still remained as it was only conceived as a COVID precaution which is no longer a concern anymore.
- The editing. I can understand the digests of clears and fails as there were 24 clears so this is inevitably going to have to be the case, however digesting 6 clears in a row, as well as all three foreigners including Jessie who got a huge amount of backstory and is very popular, seemed a touch odd. Guys like Shunsuke and Kanno clearing the Dragon Glider after so much struggle should've been one of the highlights of the tournament, but they got fast-forwarded which made the whole thing underwhelming. Similar to 39 I also found #56-70 to be an absolute slog bar Kajihara's run, it felt like too much of a slow-down from all the action.
- The Dragon Glider; honestly if they can't make this obstacle work it just has to go. It didn't work in 38 when the wire got caught at the end of the first track, and now the obstacle robbed 3-4 people of clears by derailing despite the stoppers being there.
Overall though, far more positives than negatives though purely due to the amount of shock value across the board. Definitely WAY better than anything we've seen in the last 10+ years. I just wouldn't be giving a balanced overview if I didn't outline the negatives, especially as many of these are the same as in 38-39.

Stage 2 was decent; they at least somewhat reduced the time limit, and it was far less predictable and varied in terms of results than 39's. Saikawa got injured, Hioki had a shock timeout, while Kane and Shingo had hella impressive runs rather than going out on the Salmon Ladder which would've been quite underwhelming. Again, I can forgive the amount of digesting given the 24 attempts, but I did find some of the choices of digesting very odd and took away what could've been a much more nail-biting stage. We got four sub-second clears yet all of them were digested, despite two of them being from those who broke the age records. The three foreigners once again got digested, which again felt a bit odd given how much they'd been hyped on the pre-tournament material.

Stage 3 was utterly fantastic though. 38's Stage 3 was one of the worst, specifically controversial and predictable, I've ever watched. 39 was somewhat better but still very meh. Needless to say 40 I was expecting a lot better given the lack of course changes to Stages 1 and 2, but this absolutely blew it out of the park. Here I actually felt like the editing was actually pretty on point, they showed what they needed to show and cut what they needed to cut. We didn't need to see veterans predictably clear the Flying Bar or Sidewinder, while those who expectedly failed where people expected them to fail (like Suzuki failing the Sidewinder, or Jun failing the Cliffhanger, again) were skipped over. But for what was shown, I was honestly on the edge of my seat. Yoshiyuki's whole run avenging the Swing Edge and Cliffhanger, and seeing how he'd do on unfamiliar territory; Tada avenging his VL fail; Keitaro breaking his streak of choking earlier than his potential. It was all brilliantly done. I also appreciated the Pipe Slider modification; it added some suspense to what should rightfully be the most nail-biting part of the stage, and it was. I was on the edge of my seat for Tada and Keitaro. My favorite thing about this stage though was that it FINALLY felt like the point at which competitors bar Yusuke started to break through. It wasn't just a case of guaranteed Cliffhanger or Vertical Limit fails. Yoshiyuki and Tada clearing felt so rightfully earned as they'd been robbed so many times by Yusuke just keeping one step ahead of them. Yusuke clearing was anticlimactic, but again well deserved. Yuuji's run also deserves some credit; getting as far as he did at the age of 44 was something that would have been laughed at barely 4-5 years ago.

I felt very excited for the Final Stage, I knew no one would win, but I wanted to see the rock wall in action. Yoshiyuki gave a brilliant run for a first attempt on a new course, especially when you consider he's not a climber. Tada was less successful, but this did hit home as to how much of a step up this new Final was, especially with a 45 second time limit. My only gripe was that Yusuke once again narrowly missed the buzzer by milliseconds; imo it didn't sit very well with me from the perspective of addressing the almost monopoly that Yusuke has on the significant results of each tournament. At this rate he'll probably just win again in 41, and then I fear we'll be back to square 1 where Stage 3 will once again get buffed, shutting out other competitors while Yusuke gets to thrive and reach the Final/win several times more. I definitely preferred the results of the last Final Stage debut (35) because seeing Yusuke fail by several meters was much more unexpected and set a much better precedent in terms of consolidating the perceived difficulty of the stage.

Overall though, 9.5/10. Bar the typical issues with Stage 1, which granted I kind of prepared myself for due to 38-39, a few minor digest criticisms, and Yusuke predictably going the farthest once again, I have absolutely no complaints. 40 absolutely knocked it out of the park; I genuinely felt as though I was dreaming at some points.

PS: sorry about the accidental 3-4 reposts, it kept telling me the server was down everytime I clicked post.

[brz0ny]

Well, results wise it was a top tier tournament, probably the best one of TBS era. Imo, the tournament also ended the best way it could, with Yusuke just narrowly missing out.

Best moments:
-That 14 year old almost clearing
-Shunsuke finally clearing First Stage
-Kanno finally clearing Dragon Glider, hopefully we will see him in Second Stage again in 41
-Jun back like he never left
-Araki and Keitaro finally showing everyone how good they are
-First Stage oldest clear record being broken 3 times
-Ayano finally clearing
-Kane and Shingo clearing, as well as them probably doing the best they could
-Tomohiro and Yuuji in Third Stage again
-Akiyama and Nagano being amazing
-3 people in Final Stage

Worst moments:
-The less said about editing the better
-Nagano's son embarrassing himself right after the 14 year old
-Shinya doing the worst he could
-Trialists being very disappointing (Especially Nishimura)
-Dragon Glider doing Dragon Glider things
-Hioki with the weirdest Backstream attempt
-Swing Edge not doing its job
-Cliffhanger being as predictable as always
-Ryo Matachi.

[yomerengues]

In my Opinion it was a great tournament with a lot of returns from veteran competitors like Hasimoto, Kane and Akiyama, also having 10 more clears in 1st stage than in Sasuke 38 and Sasuke 39, and getting new records of age by Kane and Yamamoto Shingo in 1st stage at age 48, also finally competitors like A, B, C, Z, Nagaski, Kawaguchi and Yamamoto Shingo, finally cleared 1st stage after years, aslo we had shocking fails like Snow Man, Jhonny's Jr, and Matachi which was the most shocking, also respects for Nakashima at age 14 reaching Ni Ren Soritatsu Kabe but couldn't clear because he got exhausted on tackle, even after 38 tournaments a female japanese competitor cleared stage 1 Oshima Ayano, and being the 1st tournamet to have more than 1 woman clearing with Stephanie and Jessie clearing too, and Akiyama making to the Dragon Glider after 10 years not competing, and Nagano beating it at age 50, and for 2nd stage some shocking fails like Saikawa (I expected him in 3rd stage) and Hioki, but we got great results with both Kane and Yamamoto Shingo at age 48, and also Sasuke Sensei and Urushijaara making new record for 3rd stage at 44, and also 3rd stage bringed too much emotions with finally Yamamoto Yoshiuki clearing and making to the final with Tada, and I expected to be there Keitaro and Urushijaara but they were close, Urushijaara beating Cliffhanger Dimension at 44 is amazing to see him with that age beating harder obstacles, and for the final with the new rock climb obstacle making it's debut this tournament and Morimoto was near to reach the top by seconds, but if he returns to the Final Stage in Sasuke 41 or Sasuke 42 he will get his 3rd Kanzenzeiha, overall great tournament imo (9/10).

[yusukeisthegoat227]

Well, what can I say that hasn't already been said? This was an excellent tournament results-wise, but loses some credibility due to awful editing decisions. As someone who watched Ninja Warrior on G4 as a kid, my nostalgia for the All-Stars was certainly at a peak today! Everyone did better than I expected. Yamada may have failed the Fish Bone, but he didn't get there as sluggishly (in the guessing game, I had him failing the Quad Steps again for the memes). Akiyama cleared the Fish Bone despite his eye condition. Nagano made it all the way to the second wall, a solid showing at 50... but man he took his time at the Fish Bone and Dragon Glider! But of course, the main excitement for nostalgic fans like me was Kane and Shingo. I thought Kane might still have it in him, and sure enough he did... he just inexplicably disappears for 21 years then comes back and keeps his clear streak alive. What a beast! Shingo I was less optimistic about, I love the lad... but how can you argue with 9 straight first stage fails? Well this tournament was different... and I knew as soon as he got past that dragon glider he was good to go. He never had any trouble with the warped wall. And he got all the way to the conveyor in the Second Stage? Not bad, Shingo... not bad at all!

The digests are truly awful, though. The way I see it, they're valuing celebrities and nostalgia over their current best competitors. Admittedly, I'm more okay with the latter than the former, for obvious reasons. But, they spend so much time on these competitors like ABC-Z and Snow Man, guys I frankly don't care about. Show me Jun, show me Tada, show me the guys who actually have a chance in this tournament! Imagine if in Sasuke 14 they just got rid of Takeda's, Nagano's, and Bunpei's runs. That's basically what they're doing right now. The editors have no respect for the Morimoto-Sedai, and it's sad to see. I get that they maybe needed to digest people simply because of how many clears/attempts there were. But if that's the case, the true fans of this show care more about the best competitors, not the damn celebrities. Obviously, the results in the Third Stage were exciting though, with 3 clears. I was expecting it from Tada (and I suppose Yusuke too, even if I didn't predict it for some reason). But Yoshiyuki Yamamoto joining the fold was great! That final stage looks tough, but of course Yusuke almost beat it first try. The final reminded me a lot of Sasuke 12. 3 people get there, and the last man standing gets pain-stakingly close.

Overall, 9/10 tournament. Results excellent, editing prevents it from being a 10. Basically echoing what everyone else has said.

[dakohosu]

Dec 27, 2022 12:51:10 GMT -5 brz0ny said:

-Ryo Matachi.

Yeah honestly there's no other word to say about this except 'embarrassing'.

It reminded me of his Fish Bone fail in 37 where he just got cocky, went way too fast, and ended up paying the price. He's a pretty short guy with short legs, there was literally zero reason for him to go at the pace he did on the Quad Steps. I presumed he was once again trying to go fast to give himself enough time for the walls, but given that he cleared them in the rain while not going as recklessly rapid in 39 I thought that would've given him a bit more confidence. As someone who does sports there's always an element of luck as to how you do on the day, but I just felt like he self-sabotaged his own chances from the get go. 

If it was a very B-tier competitor like Suzuki or Isa it wouldn't have been anywhere near as frustrating, but the fact that he could've otherwise been a serious Final Stage candidate is a huge wasted potential. I thought he'd turned a corner but the whole 'Ryo is inconsistent' stereotype may apply once more.

[m4tt3r0x]

One of the things I think was nicely edited was Kane's Stage 1 introduction. The black/white clips of his Sasuke 8 Final run in the rain sprinkled into the camera panning along Stage 1 toward the start line with the Pirates theme playing... I loved it.

[wolf4537]

After seeing the ending, my adrenaline was pumping so much when Yusuke came SO CLOSE to the Kanzenseiha hat trick. The new final stage is really awesome to see and the tournament was EPIC overall. SO HAPPY to see Kane clear stage 1 and also Shingo too!!!!!

I would write so much more but it would be like writing a dictionary lol. Only thing I really hated about this was how badly certain digests were shown. Really feel like they could've at least done a bit of a better way of showcasing certain competitors. Either way, a fantastic tournament.