Top Rookies in Each SASUKE Tournament (cont.) [41 UPDATE]

[SasukeBanzukeNo1 (Moon12)]

So this is just a continuation of cb's thread under the same topic, but since that thread has been dead for over a year now, I decided to make a new one with a rather updated list (now that we have 40, and I'll even add 41 when it comes out). I'm actually making this because I was actually the one who created the Sasukepedia page that cb aforementioned where he referenced from (I just forgot to bring that up on his thread a while back). The page is called "Top Rookies in SASUKE". Take in mind that there's always a chance that some of the information I have gathered might not even be true given there are some tournaments—primarily the older ones—where not all 100 competitors' runs were shown; so it's still rather unknown which rookie really had the best run that given day. So please forgive me if it's not 100% accurate or if it is still up for interpretation given the lack of results missing.

From there, I'll also give my takes on areas where cb wasn't sure on (like 35 for example, where multiple rookies made it to the Dragon Glider—in a situation like that, I'm defining the best performance by furthest the fastest into the obstacle, or the closest for a rookie to completing it). Also, if there's a situation where a rookie's run was shown but another's wasn't—and they both had the same result (like 9 or 22)—we don't really know who made it there the furthest the fastest, nor which one was closer to completing the obstacle or not. Yet again, there might've been other runs that were cut that other rookies have done even better than those two (if only paravi existed back then lol). Therefore, I'll try my absolute best to insert the most accurate answer given the information provided (or lack thereof) for each tournament on Sasukepedia, broadcasted tournaments, etc. I'll even mark those older ambiguous tournaments with a question mark and unbolded, since no one here really knows what went down that day (unless they were there the day of the tournament as an audience member/competitor/part of a crew/etc and still has record/proof of it somehow; who knows if they're really being honest though without true evidence lol).

But with that being said, I just really wanted to continue this discussion that cb started, even though there is already a Sasukepedia page all about it. I still wanted a continued discussion though on the matter haha.


1 - Ōmori Akira — Failed Tsuna Nobori (Final Stage) — About 11m up

2 - Tanaka Hikaru — Failed Tsuna Nobori (Final Stage) — About 12m up

3 - Matsumoto Minoru — Failed Tsuna Nobori (Final Stage) — About 8m up

4 - Travis Allen Schroeder — Failed Pipe Slider (Third Stage)

5 - Takeda Toshihiro — Failed Spider Walk (Second Stage)

6 - Hatakeda Yoshiaki — Failed Cliffhanger (Third Stage) — Transition to 3rd Ledge

7 - Nagano Makoto ? — Failed Soritatsu Kabe (First Stage) — Time Out. Assuming he was the fastest rookie that day to make it to that point.

8 - Jordan Jovtchev — Failed Spider Climb (Final Stage) — 11m up

9 - Obayashi Yasuyuki ? / Nagai Masaru ? — Failed Soritatsu Kabe (First Stage) — Both timed out. Since Masaru's run was all cut, it is unknown whether he or Yasuyuki made it the furthest the fastest out of the rookies.

10 - Arai Kenichi — Failed Spider Walk (Second Stage)

11 - Kobayashi Shinji — Failed Pipe Slider (Third Stage)

12 - Yamada Kōji — Failed Cliffhanger (Third Stage) — Transition to 2nd Ledge

13 - Ueki Shigenori — Failed Gyakusō Conveyor (Second Stage)

14 - Ishikawa Terukazu — Failed Body Prop (Third Stage)

15 - Tan Su Wei ? / #42 [Unknown] ? — Failed Nejireta Kabe (First Stage) — Only known rookies to make it to that point.

16 - Izumiyama Yūta — Failed Delta Bridge (Second Stage)

17 - Paul Anthony Terek — Failed Cliffhanger (Third Stage) — 1st Ledge

18 - Nagasaki Takamasa — Failed Salmon Ladder (Second Stage) — 6th Level

19 - Hirata Atsushi ? — Failed Rope Ladder (First Stage) — Time Out. Unknown if anyone else really made it to this point or further, but he's highly likely given he was about 4 seconds away from clearing.

20 - Levi Meeuwenberg — Failed Shin-Cliffhanger (Third Stage) — Transition to 3rd Ledge

21 - Matsunaga Tomohiro — Failed Salmon Ladder (Second Stage) — 6th Level

22 - David Campbell ? / #73 [Unknown] ? — Failed Rope Ladder (First Stage) — Both timed out. Since #73's run was all cut, it is unknown whether he or Campbell made it the furthest the fastest out of the rookies.

23 - Richard King — Failed Unstable Bridge (Second Stage) — Transition to 2nd Plank

24 - Masato Akai ? — Failed Soritatsu Kabe (First Stage) — Time Out. Only known rookie to make it to that point.

25 - Hioki Masashi ? — Failed Circle Slider (First Stage) — Only known rookie to make it to that point.

26 - Brent Steffensen — Failed Ultimate Cliffhanger (Third Stage) — 3rd Ledge

27 - James McGrath — Failed Ultimate Cliffhanger (Third Stage) — Transition to 5th Ledge

28 - Someya Koki — Failed Swap Salmon Ladder (Second Stage) — 4th Gap

29 - Katakabe Hiromasa — Failed Swap Salmon Ladder (Second Stage) — 1st Gap

30 - Kung Cheen-Howng — Failed Cross Slider (Second Stage)

31 - Anastase Ragivaru — Failed Crazy Cliffhanger (Third Stage) — Transition to 3rd Ledge

32 - André Sihm — Failed Sidewinder R Kai (Third Stage)

33 - Igarashi Dai — Failed Salmon Ladder Kudari (Second Stage)

34 - Jessie Graff — Failed Ultra Crazy Cliffhanger (Third Stage) — 1st Transition

35 - Yamamoto Seito — Failed Dragon Glider (First Stage) — He was the only rookie who held on to the first bar at the end of its track. He became the closest in trying to make the transition by reaching the second bar with one hand, but came up short and fell in.

36 - Ben Toyer — Failed Flying Bar (Third Stage) — Transition to 3rd Cradle

37 - René Kaselowsky — Failed Salmon Ladder Jūgo Dan (Final Stage) — About 13m up

38 - Kajihara Hayate — Failed Wall Lifting (Second Stage) — 3rd Wall

39 - Ajima Hideki — Failed Rolling Log (Second Stage)

40 - Oliver Edelmann — Failed Wall Lifting (Second Stage) — 3rd Wall

41 - Miyaoka Ryosuke — Failed Vertical Limit Burst (Third Stage) — 3rd Transition

[dakohosu]

I believe Bunpei also failed the wall in 9.

But yeah, great post. Few things stick out to me here:

- Lot of foreigners on this list, understandably. Especially given that many of these guys came from other Ninja shows, particularly those where the course changes more frequently and hence they're more adaptable, it's not completely surprising. Anastase is the odd one out here because he'd apparently never seen Sasuke before 31 and did a bit of Ninja park training before his debut. But yeah, 14(?) of the best runs on this list were from foreigners.

- Very few legitimately "wow" breakout runs in recent tournaments bar Rene and Jessie, again both of whom were veterans in other Ninja shows. I guess the course has become so specific now that it's a lot tougher to do well on your first ever run, as well as considering how Inui is pretty stringent when it comes to allowing genuinely talented new blood on to the show.

- I always knew that since Shin-Sasuke, breakout rookie runs from Japanese competitors with no prior Ninja experience became a lot rarer due to the increase in difficulty in especially Stage 1. But it's weird to think that the only Japanese rookie to make Stage 3 since Sasuke 14, was Yoshiyuki in 37... I guess we would've had Okuyama in 20 (edit: yeah I wasn't thinking when I typed this) had the Stick Slider not malfunctioned, and Kajihara in 38 was agonizingly close. But yeah....

- Also highlights how the majority of competitors who had incredible breakout runs only did so on their second or third tournaments given that a lot of key names are not on this list. Yuuji's Final in 22 was on his second run, Bunpei's Final in 12 was on his third, Kongu in 7 was his third, Nagano in 9 was his third, etc. Easy to forget given that a lot of these guys' first runs were all cut or forgotten about, people only tend to remember competitors from when they really establish themselves onwards.

[SasukeBanzukeNo1 (Moon12)]

Oct 26, 2023 4:14:17 GMT -5 dakohosu said:

I believe Bunpei also failed the wall in 9.

But yeah, great post. Few things stick out to me here:

- Lot of foreigners on this list, understandably. Especially given that many of these guys came from other Ninja shows, particularly those where the course changes more frequently and hence they're more adaptable, it's not completely surprising. Anastase is the odd one out here because he'd apparently never seen Sasuke before 31 and did a bit of Ninja park training before his debut. But yeah, 14(?) of the best runs on this list were from foreigners.

- Very few legitimately "wow" breakout runs in recent tournaments bar Rene and Jessie, again both of whom were veterans in other Ninja shows. I guess the course has become so specific now that it's a lot tougher to do well on your first ever run, as well as considering how Inui is pretty stringent when it comes to allowing genuinely talented new blood on to the show.

- I always knew that since Shin-Sasuke, breakout rookie runs from Japanese competitors with no prior Ninja experience became a lot rarer due to the increase in difficulty in especially Stage 1. But it's weird to think that the only Japanese rookie to make Stage 3 since Sasuke 14, was Yoshiyuki in 37... I guess we would've had Okuyama in 20 had the Stick Slider not malfunctioned, and Kajihara in 38 was agonizingly close. But yeah....

- Also highlights how the majority of competitors who had incredible breakout runs only did so on their second or third tournaments given that a lot of key names are not on this list. Yuuji's Final in 22 was on his second run, Bunpei's Final in 12 was on his third, Kongu in 7 was his third, Nagano in 9 was his third, etc. Easy to forget given that a lot of these guys' first runs were all cut or forgotten about, people only tend to remember competitors from when they really establish themselves onwards.

Thanks, as I said, I'm grading it by either whoever went furthest the fastest to the obstacle or the closest for someone to completing it. I've used that logic for 35 since there were a lot of rookies who made it to the Dragon Glider, but only picked Seito since he was the closest one to completing it. If I did it just by whoever made it there the quickest then that would've been too much of a hassle. Basically, I just used that rule to simplify things.

That's why I didn't put down Bunpei for 9 since he was slower than Yasuyuki to making it to the Soritatsu Kabe. I also added Masaru next to Yasuyuki as a candidate because his run was cut, so that makes it harder to clarify wheather he was faster or slower to making the obstacle than Yasuyuki. Bunpei's attempts on it were shown, but some were middle cut so it's unknown whether he surpassed Yasuyuki in terms of him scaling it higher than him or not. All I know is that Bunpei is less likely to become a candidate given that he was still slower than Yasuyuki to making it to that point. Don't worry, no disrespect towards Bunpei at all; and I put a question mark next to Yasuyuki and Masaru's names, as well as not bolded them, to signify that things aren't set in stone... unless you still want me to put Bunpei's name next to them as well lol. Also, there might have been a cut run of someone who surpassed all 3 and timed out on the rope climb or something, you never know hahaha.

Also, I feel like some of the foreigners on this show probably already have some leverage compared to the Japanese due to their build. Yea, there is definitely some obstacle experience from the shows they've been on that have a million different obstacle concepts, but depending on the foreigner, I've noticed that their stature is a greater difference than that of the Japanese competitors. That's probably why there are more foreigners who would beat stages 1-2 due to their bigger statures, whereas the Japanese excel more in stage 3 given their lighter size. Like you said, taking a guy like Anastase, all he needed was a tiny bit of obstacle-like training beforehand, and he was good to go in 31—ended up having the fastest time in stage 1 lmao. Definitely not trying to diss the Japanese talent, there are a lot of promising contenders out there that we haven't seen yet, but it's just a thought.

And Yoshiyuki ending the 2nd stage Japanese rookie losing streak, after 23 tournaments. Wow, that didn't even catch my eye until now.

Also, Okuyama first competed in 19 and timed up on the Soritatsu Kabe, so he wouldn't have counted in 20 anyways—although I think he would've had a good shot of surpassing Koji and Washimi if he scaled it in 19. It might have been because they brought back the obstacle—after being replaced by the Great Wall for one short tournament to begin with—and then made it suddenly higher, catching him off-guard and preventing him from clearing stage 1. Given his results in 20, he probably would've had mirrored successd in 19 and might of made the tournament a tad bit more enjoyable lol—not to mention even progressed further in 20 because of that.

Finally, to add to your list of missed notable rookie breakouts of stage three, there's Naoki Iketani, Nagasaki, Kanno, Campbell, Isa, and Kajihara—who all broke out on just their 2nd attempt.

[YourResidentKojiFan]

Oct 26, 2023 4:14:17 GMT -5 dakohosu said:

I guess we would've had Okuyama in 20 had the Stick Slider not malfunctioned

Okuyama actually wasn't a rookie in 20, he competed in 19 but was cut (shown on 25's Navi)

That aside, great post Moon. I like how you've done other fonts and stuff for people you're not sure about. Though I really do think it's safe to put Hirata as the top rookie for 19 lol, it's not like they'd cut a Rope Ladder timeout when only two people clea-

...Actually, I guess you do never know lol

[dakohosu]

Oct 26, 2023 8:12:33 GMT -5 YourResidentKojiFan said:

Oct 26, 2023 4:14:17 GMT -5 dakohosu said:

I guess we would've had Okuyama in 20 had the Stick Slider not malfunctioned

Okuyama actually wasn't a rookie in 20, he competed in 19 but was cut (shown on 25's Navi)

That aside, great post Moon. I like how you've done other fonts and stuff for people you're not sure about. Though I really do think it's safe to put Hirata as the top rookie for 19 lol, it's not like they'd cut a Rope Ladder timeout when only two people clea-

...Actually, I guess you do never know lol

Yeah so you actually proved my last point from my initial post, that you often forget that a lot of competitors competed a time or two before their breakouts, usually getting cut. I knew Okuyama competed in 19 (he's my favorite competitor after all) but clearly had a mind blank while typing that.....

[dakohosu]

Oct 26, 2023 6:51:31 GMT -5 SasukeBanzukeNo1 (Moon12) said:

Also, I feel like some of the foreigners on this show probably already have some leverage compared to the Japanese due to their build. Yea, there is definitely some obstacle experience from the shows they've been on that have a million different obstacle concepts, but depending on the foreigner, I've noticed that their stature is a greater difference than that of the Japanese competitors. That's probably why there are more foreigners who would beat stages 1-2 due to their bigger statures, whereas the Japanese excel more in stage 3 given their lighter size. Like you said, taking a guy like Anastase, all he needed was a tiny bit of obstacle-like training beforehand, and he was good to go in 31—ended up having the fastest time in stage 1 lmao. Definitely not trying to diss the Japanese talent, there are a lot of promising contenders out there that we haven't seen yet, but it's just a thought.

I guess it depends on the course really. Anastase managed to blitz 31's Stage 1 because his larger build facilitated doing well on a course with the Tackle and a raised Warped Wall. But yeah, being taller results in a disadvantage on the later stages as being taller automatically equates to being heavier, but their larger statures and longer limbs definitely help with at least Stage 1. There have been courses though where size has worked against the competitor due to the specific technicality of the obstacle. Take Paul Terek in 17 vs 22. In 17 a lot of the obstacles (Jump Hang, Warped Wall, Circle Slider) were much more favouring towards larger competitors due to the need for good reach. But then 22 had obstacles like the Jumping Spider where being bigger immediately works against you because you can't spread your limbs out as well, and you're inherently a lot less agile.

Generally though I think part of the reason why especially Americans do very well as rookies is because ANW's course is changed season after season so they have built the ability to adapt to new changes on the fly. Not to mention that particularly in the earlier eras of ANW, most of the best competitors were parkourists, where adapting on the fly is a sometimes literal case of life or death. Fundamentally though, most of the foreigners on the list have been from other Ninja shows, so they have Ninja experience prior to Sasuke which is why they're more likely to do well. Most of the Japanese rookies have never been on Sasuke or any other Ninja show, so especially during the era where replica training wasn't as common, they were more disadvantaged from the get go, whether that be due to lack of experience performing under pressure, adaptability, etc.

But yeah, Sasuke competitors, until the newer eras of the show, mainly based their performances off of general athleticism and fitness, which worked well during the easier eras of the show as there was a lot less technicality behind the obstacles, but especially in Shin-Sasuke, a lot of the movements were very specific to the point that being athletically capable can only get you so far. This is why pretty much everyone failed Stage 1 on their debut, and only started to do well after a few failed attempts here or there. And even then, it was only the most elite of competitors who managed to get to Stage 3.

Nowadays, everyone trains on exact replicas so that issue isn't as pertinent anymore. We're still not seeing a whole lot of Japanese rookies do well, but that's due to a different issue we have now where Inui doesn't let many new competitors on to the show, which is why the majority of Japanese breakouts recently have been athletic celebrities as they obviously have an easier time getting on to the show. Yoshiyuki in 37 was obviously the exception here, but he's clearly both abnormally gifted and also got on to the show through the Black Tiger cohort (though getting in to the group in and of itself is incredibly tough, but nothing compared to the 1000s of normal competitors who apply to be on the show).

But yeah, it's frustrating how there are clearly SO many prodigies who can demolish Stage 3 replicas in practice yet have never been given the time of day. Iwasaki only managed to get on to the show after 15 years of applying, and this was only through a recommendation by Morimoto, and the dude holds the Japanese record for monkey bars and dead hang. I've also seen tonnes of guys on YouTube and Instagram who clearly have what it takes, but have been supposedly consistently snubbed year after year. I just feel that Inui is closing a lot of doors with his seemingly brutal approach towards talented new non-celebrity competitors. He either rejects them year after year, or potentially snubs them after a single Stage 1 fail, which let's not forget that Yusuke, Yuuji, Tomo, Ryo etc. all failed Stage 1 in their first 1-3 tournaments. But they were given more chances and the producers haven't looked back since they proved what they were made of.

[SasukeBanzukeNo1 (Moon12)]

Oct 26, 2023 8:12:33 GMT -5 YourResidentKojiFan said:

That aside, great post Moon. I like how you've done other fonts and stuff for people you're not sure about. Though I really do think it's safe to put Hirata as the top rookie for 19 lol, it's not like they'd cut a Rope Ladder timeout when only two people clea-

...Actually, I guess you do never know lol

Thanks, I've wanted some sort of distinction between both rookie results that were certainly the best of their tournament, and ones that weren't really confirmed to be so. I've figured the boldness for the confirmed runs were enough to differentiate the two categories, but I added the question marks for the unconfirmed ones too just to be sure haha.

And for Hirata—though I'm super confident that he was the top rookie in 19—knowing the amount of runs that Monster9 cut in that tournament (maybe even some promising ones), I'm probably not gonna cut to conclusions (no pun intended lol).

[loboticialtree]

I know this thread is dead, apologies to everyone, but Nagai Masaru would be the best rookie, since according to the book, he failed the Tarzan Jump.

[SasukeBanzukeNo1 (Moon12)]

Dec 26, 2023 8:56:49 GMT -5 loboticialtree said:

I know this thread is dead, apologies to everyone, but Nagai Masaru would be the best rookie, since according to the book, he failed the Tarzan Jump.

Yea, I just checked the SASUKE 9 page on Sasukepedia. Weird how someone before that put his result was that he failed the Soritatsu Kabe. I'll update it right now. Thanks for the heads up!