Highest number for competitor who has never cleared before

[dakohosu]

Here is a list of the highest numbers worn by a competitor who has never cleared, by tournament. I'll make a note of if the competitor is a rookie or not, whether they're a pro athlete or foreigner or celebrity, and whether they cleared that tournament. I'm also assuming all cuts of unknown competitors are those who haven't cleared before, unless there's clear evidence that that number was vacant.

1: #100 - Horishi Kawashima (rookie) 
2: #100 - Kazuhiko Akiyama (rookie, cleared)
3: #98 - Yasuhiro Kujihari (rookie, cleared)
4: #94 - Travis Schroeder (rookie, cleared)
5: #97 - Nagai Mitsuya  (rookie, athlete)
6: #92 - Nicholas Pettas (rookie, foreigner, athlete)*
7: #95 - James Okada (celebrity, cleared)
8: #97 - Yeo Hong-Chul (foreigner, pro athlete)
9: #96 - Asuka Shimizu
10: #96 - Chikara Aoki (rookie)
11: #94 - Unknown
12: #92 - Masaaki Kobayashi (rookie, cleared)
13: #96 - Mika Izumi 
14: #95 - Unknown
15: #93 - Morgan Hamm (athlete, cleared)
16: #88 - Unknown
17: #97 - Unknown
18: #100 - Kume Ryouta (rookie, athlete)
19: #99 - Hiromichi Sato (celebrity) - thanks to thegreatluigi who pointed out my mistake
20: #98 - Daisuke Miyazaki (rookie, celebrity athlete)
21: #94 - Wakky (celebrity)
22: #96 - Tomoki Kitawgawa (rookie, athlete)
23: #91 - Leszek Blanik (rookie, athlete)
24: #91 - Takuya Kawahara (athlete)
25: #97 - Takeshi Mihara (rookie)
26: #89 - Shane Daniels (rookie, foreigner)
27: #95 - Kohei Hasegawa (rookie, "amateur" athlete)
28: #95 - Koki Sakamoto (rookie, athlete)
29: #92 - Naoyuki Araki (rookie)
30: #89 - Daisuke Nakano (athlete)
31: #86 - Kikuchi Masamitsu (rookie, athlete, cleared)
32: #86 - Liao Long Zhun (foreigner)
33: #86 - Ryoichi Tsukada (celebrity, cleared)
34: #87 - Jessie Graff (rookie, foreigner, cleared)
35: #85 - Ryosouke Yamamoto (rookie?, athlete)
36: #91 - Seito Yamamoto (athlete)
37: #95 - Sam Kendricks (rookie, athlete)
38: #92 - Yoshikazu Fujita (rookie, athlete)
39: #95 - Kenji Fujimitsu (rookie, athlete)
40: #92 - Ikuma Horishima (rookie, athlete)
41: #92 - Daniel Gil (rookie, foreigner, whether he clears TBC)

*#94 was left vacant as Travis was supposed to compete but withdrew.

As always feel free to point out anywhere I've gone wrong....

[xelA197]

I still wonder who the hell was the #97 competitor in SASUKE 17, I don't know whether to believe the theory that the number was initially assigned to Bunpei but since Iketani couldn't participate it was decided to give Bunpei #81 (classic number of Naoki) and consequently make 97 vacant.

[dakohosu]

Dec 22, 2023 14:38:11 GMT -5 xelA197 said:

I still wonder who the hell was the #97 competitor in SASUKE 17, I don't know whether to believe the theory that the number was initially assigned to Bunpei but since Iketani couldn't participate it was decided to give Bunpei #81 (classic number of Naoki) and consequently make 97 vacant.

Makes sense, I think the order was messed up that tournament because a lot of familiar faces couldn't compete. Hamm brothers, Jovtchev, Iketani, the two Kobayashis, etc. etc. So they may have had a lot of vacant numbers in the 90s and decided to disperse the stronger competitors to avoid having like 5 vacant numbers in a row. Again though because there's no evidence of this (if anyone who has the book can tell me otherwise please do), I put #97 for 17. The numbers for that tournament were hella weird though, Bunpei at #81 (which was the lowest number given to a best performer until Tada got #73 in 40, lol) and Takeda at #91 while Nakata was #96 and Shingo was #98 despite failing Stage 1 last time, lol. 

I would've done:
#100 - Nagano
#99 - Bunpei
#98 - Yamada (yeah, I know he threatened retirement but even back then this was what, the 5th time?)
#97 - Takeda
#96 - Shingo 
#95 - Koji Yamada
Low 90s - Shunsuke, Akiyama (it was a summer tournament so it was still light even in the 90s, he usually got lower numbers to avoid running in the dark because of his eyesight)

Then have Nakata in the 70s, and disperse the vacant spots (assuming there were any) across the lower numbers as they would've likely been all cut or digested even if someone had occupied them. Having #97 all cut just looked, weird?

[Sasuke Mania]

Dec 22, 2023 14:38:11 GMT -5 xelA197 said:

I still wonder who the hell was the #97 competitor in SASUKE 17, I don't know whether to believe the theory that the number was initially assigned to Bunpei but since Iketani couldn't participate it was decided to give Bunpei #81 (classic number of Naoki) and consequently make 97 vacant.

Both in 2006 and 2023, this is still the mystery that seems to act as the magnum opus of the community lol. I've seen people say it was Shinji Kobayashi but he couldn't make it, I've seen Asaoka rumoured based on the fact he competed 11 times instead of 10 (he did compete 11 times, just not in 17), I don't think we'll ever know. I will say the Iketani rumour is new to me tho lol, tho it would make a bit of sense I feel

[dakohosu]

Dec 22, 2023 15:35:28 GMT -5 Sasuke Mania said:

Dec 22, 2023 14:38:11 GMT -5 xelA197 said:

Both in 2006 and 2023, this is still the mystery that seems to act as the magnum opus of the community lol. I've seen people say it was Shinji Kobayashi but he couldn't make it, I've seen Asaoka rumoured based on the fact he competed 11 times instead of 10 (he did compete 11 times, just not in 17), I don't think we'll ever know. I will say the Iketani rumour is new to me tho lol, tho it would make a bit of sense I feel

I doubt it would've been Shinji given that he failed Stages 1 and 2 in 15 and 16, respectively. Asaoka I also doubt given that he always got quite low numbers, only getting #91 in 15, and even then he failed Stage 1 in an All-Cut run. If it were meant for any competitor I'd probably guess Jovtchev given his consistency and being given high 90s fairly consistently.

My best guess is that they probably had #97 assigned to an All-Star but then with the number of competitors that couldn't make it, they decided to disperse out the field to avoid there being loads of vacancies in a row.

Again though, and correct me if I'm wrong, but there's nothing to suggest it wasn't a rando who got All-Cut. #93 was given to a complete rando, and #94 is also missing, so who knows? 

[thegreatluigi]

Dec 22, 2023 13:37:28 GMT -5 dakohosu said:

19: #94 - Unknown

Shouldn't that be #99, Hiromichi Sato? Also #94 wasn't unknown; it was Kamei Norihito.

[dakohosu]

Dec 23, 2023 11:46:29 GMT -5 thegreatluigi said:

Dec 22, 2023 13:37:28 GMT -5 dakohosu said:

19: #94 - Unknown

Shouldn't that be #99, Hiromichi Sato? Also #94 wasn't unknown; it was Kamei Norihito.

You're right, my bad. I'll change it now.

[xelA197]

Dec 22, 2023 13:37:28 GMT -5 dakohosu said:

Here is a list of the highest numbers worn by a competitor who has never cleared, by tournament. I'll make a note of if the competitor is a rookie or not, whether they're a pro athlete or foreigner or celebrity, and whether they cleared that tournament. I'm also assuming all cuts of unknown competitors are those who haven't cleared before, unless there's clear evidence that that number was vacant.

1: #100 - Horishi Kawashima (rookie) 
2: #100 - Kazuhiko Akiyama (rookie, cleared)
3: #98 - Yasuhiro Kujihari (rookie, cleared)
4: #94 - Travis Schroeder (rookie, cleared)
5: #97 - Nagai Mitsuya  (rookie, athlete)
6: #92 - Nicholas Pettas (rookie, foreigner, athlete)*
7: #95 - James Okada (celebrity, cleared)
8: #97 - Yeo Hong-Chul (foreigner, pro athlete)
9: #96 - Asuka Shimizu
10: #96 - Chikara Aoki (rookie)
11: #94 - Unknown
12: #92 - Masaaki Kobayashi (rookie, cleared)
13: #96 - Mika Izumi 
14: #95 - Unknown
15: #93 - Morgan Hamm (athlete, cleared)
16: #88 - Unknown
17: #97 - Unknown
18: #100 - Kume Ryouta (rookie, athlete)
19: #99 - Hiromichi Sato (celebrity) - thanks to thegreatluigi who pointed out my mistake
20: #98 - Daisuke Miyazaki (rookie, celebrity athlete)
21: #94 - Wakky (celebrity)
22: #96 - Tomoki Kitawgawa (rookie, athlete)
23: #91 - Leszek Blanik (rookie, athlete)
24: #91 - Takuya Kawahara (athlete)
25: #97 - Takeshi Mihara (rookie)
26: #89 - Shane Daniels (rookie, foreigner)
27: #95 - Kohei Hasegawa (rookie, "amateur" athlete)
28: #95 - Koki Sakamoto (rookie, athlete)
29: #92 - Naoyuki Araki (rookie)
30: #89 - Daisuke Nakano (athlete)
31: #86 - Kikuchi Masamitsu (rookie, athlete, cleared)
32: #86 - Liao Long Zhun (foreigner)
33: #86 - Ryoichi Tsukada (celebrity, cleared)
34: #87 - Jessie Graff (rookie, foreigner, cleared)
35: #85 - Ryosouke Yamamoto (rookie?, athlete)
36: #91 - Seito Yamamoto (athlete)
37: #95 - Sam Kendricks (rookie, athlete)
38: #92 - Yoshikazu Fujita (rookie, athlete)
39: #95 - Kenji Fujimitsu (rookie, athlete)
40: #92 - Ikuma Horishima (rookie, athlete)
41: #92 - Daniel Gil (rookie, foreigner, whether he clears TBC)

*#94 was left vacant as Travis was supposed to compete but withdrew.

As always feel free to point out anywhere I've gone wrong....

Painfully there are a plenty of athletes in the 90s, this is one of things I hate the most because being a professional athlete doesn't mean you're strong on SASUKE.

Kinda curious that the best athlete ever in SASUKE (Jovtchev) received #59 and make to the Final in his debut. Probably all this rando athlete also suffer the pressure of wearing a so high (and undeserved) number. 

[dakohosu]

Jan 5, 2024 6:06:06 GMT -5 xelA197 said:

Dec 22, 2023 13:37:28 GMT -5 dakohosu said:

Painfully there are a plenty of athletes in the 90s, this is one of things I hate the most because being a professional athlete doesn't mean you're strong on SASUKE.

Kinda curious that the best athlete ever in SASUKE (Jovtchev) received #59 and make to the Final in his debut. Probably all this rando athlete also suffer the pressure of wearing a so high (and undeserved) number. 

Yeah it's never really made sense to me. A lot of them aren't famous enough by casual viewers to warrant keeping them waiting for their runs like they do with Darvish and Iwamoto etc. evident by the fact they usually just get cut anyway (case in point, Fujimitsu in 39 was the highest numbered All-Cut in the history of the Inui era), and it's been pretty well defined now that they don't do particularly well on Sasuke due to lack of specific training. Tournaments like 19 and 22 had these weird numberings where they'd fill the 90s with pro athletes which really hurt the pacing of Stage 1 as we got a load of All-Cut and digest fails really late into the stage.

The only understandable ones are those that are actually legitimately famous (Takeru being probably the best recent example) or someone like a rock climber or famous parkour athlete etc. who's skill set could actually take them really far, but even then in the latter case they shouldn't get like #95 on their first try. Generally though most of the rando athletes we have had have been like track and field, skiers, fighters, football players etc. which isn't really a skillset that's conducive to doing well on Stage 1, and certainly not Stages 2 or 3. At least in the case of climbers, while they're likely to fail Stage 1, if they do get as far as Stage 3 they could do really well, whereas most of the other sports they're at best going out early on Stage 2 (likely earlier, I only said Stage 2 because of Fujita in 40, but he's an exception). 

Yeah Jovtchev was a weird one because even guys like Travis, who wasn't a pro athlete, got #94 in his debut, and we got a few foreign athletes who got high numbers in their first attempts too like the Hamm brothers and Gervasio Deferr, but he got #59, yet his performance blew all of the others' out of the water. Arguably the most underrated competitor of the Golden Era.

Also, I did find it hilarious how 40's lineup was probably the most stacked in recent history, especially the 90s with Kane, All-Stars, Finalists, and Champions, and then we just get Ikuma Horishima randomly placed in there as #92, lol.

[ChiBiJKT48]

I think we can blame Jordan for going all the way to Final Stage in that tournament as the reason we got Professionals on #90s, LOL. Notice how many of these said Professionals wore #90s ever since he reach Final Stage? This is not the case with SASUKE 4 to SASUKE 8 *I will cut them some slack for the first three tournaments as they had no idea what they are doing with the numbering at that time*, they are mostly filled with Geinojin or competitors that were new but had reputation/doing well in previous tournaments.