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Post by dakohosu on Jan 25, 2024 14:26:32 GMT -5
Who do you think is the most forgotten competitor who actually did really well during their tenure in Sasuke, but is never talked about?
My top pick would probably have to be Masaaki Kobayashi, who made Stage 3 three for three in his first three tournaments but was arguably overshadowed by the other Kobayashi (Shinji) of the time period who arguably had more potential, as well as none of his Stage 3 attempts being particularly noteworthy, though he did get the fastest Stage 2 time in 14, and the fastest in 13 only behind Nagano, which was impressive.
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Post by zoran on Jan 25, 2024 14:51:00 GMT -5
Terukazu Ishikawa - Amazing stage 1 and 2 consistency across multiple eras.
Daisuke Morikami - Great consistency and constant improvement.
Brian Orosco - Overshadowed by Levi but performed amazingly despite the weight disadvantage.
Not really a strong competitor but I think Hironori Kuboki in sasuke 7 was pretty legendary, using math to beat the warped wall (with the fastest time), beat the redesigned stage 2 on his first try and made it to the cliffhanger.
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Post by dakohosu on Jan 25, 2024 15:06:06 GMT -5
Terukazu Ishikawa - Amazing stage 1 and 2 consistency across multiple eras. Daisuke Morikami - Great consistency and constant improvement. Brian Orosco - Overshadowed by Levi but performed amazingly despite the weight disadvantage. Not really a strong competitor but I think Hironori Kuboki in sasuke 7 was pretty legendary, using math to beat the warped wall (with the fastest time), beat the redesigned stage 2 on his first try and made it to the cliffhanger. Ishikawa was definitely a dark horse, coming out of nowhere and annihilating Stages 1 and 2 in his debut performance, and had a few good runs in Shin-Sasuke despite that era's difficulty, including being one of only four Japanese competitors to clear 26's Stage 1, and making Stage 3 in 27. He also did as well, if not better than Iketani in every competition that they both competed in, despite Iketani being the leader of their group and much more well known. Orosco was good, though I did find it a bit premature that the announcer for 26 called him the American Nagano or Yuuji when he'd made Stage 3 once and went out really early. It was also unfortunate that just as he'd started to catch up to Levi, he became immediately overshadowed by the other Americans and then got pushed out of competing entirely by failing to qualify for 27, and going out on the qualifiers for ANW. He definitely would've been more memorable if Stage 3 wasn't such a massive Achilles' heel for him, due to his larger build. |
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xelA197
Shane Kosugi
Probably the only Italian superfan
Posts: 391
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Post by xelA197 on Jan 25, 2024 15:25:53 GMT -5
Yuuya Kadono: one of the few competitors to have never failed Stage 1 competing at least 3 times
Ken Hasegawa: yes, he competed on a very easy course, but his consistency was insane
Hiroaki Yoshizaki: two deep Stage 3 runs in his pocket, he seemed to have the atletism to do well
Shogo Ugajin & Takaharu Nakagawa: completely mistreated by the producers despite they cleared Stage 1 multiple times, like they are joke competitors, forcing them to compete in the Trials
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Post by dakohosu on Jan 25, 2024 16:00:25 GMT -5
Yuuya Kadono: one of the few competitors to have never failed Stage 1 competing at least 3 times Ken Hasegawa: yes, he competed on a very easy course, but his consistency was insane Hiroaki Yoshizaki: two deep Stage 3 runs in his pocket, he seemed to have the atletism to do well Shogo Ugajin & Takaharu Nakagawa: completely mistreated by the producers despite they cleared Stage 1 multiple times, like they are joke competitors, forcing them to compete in the Trials Re Hasegawa, anyone can say the course was easy, but only him and Omori reached at least Stage 3 in the first three tournaments, not even Shingo, Akiyama, or Yamada managed this, and Stage 2 back then was pretty damn tough by those standards. Yamada and Akiyama both failed Stage 2 in their first two tournaments. Yoshizaki I think potentially quit too early, as even post-Akiyama Kanzen, he only competed twice, and made the wall both times, so he could've potentially cleared and made it back to S3 if he had continued competing. He wasn't like Miura or Omori who competed several times after 4 and kept failing the Jump Hang or earlier, basically consolidating the course's difficult spike had outdone them. On the last two, eh, I kinda see it. Less so Ugajin because he did actually almost clear Stage 2 in 36, which is mad to think that him clearing would've likely resulted in him being invited back for every subsequent tournament. But ultimately Inui needs a large influx of celebrities to keep the ratings high, as painful as it is to admit. And he is clearly also hell bent on bringing on genuinely talented new competitors, though this has been somewhat inconsistent with the trialists underperforming but then also certain competitors I can't talk about on here (it's General Sasuke) with MASSIVE potential. Imo there isn't really much room for competitors like Nakagawa, Igarashi, Takasu etc. who aren't particularly interesting or show worthy, and at best will just consistently fail Stage 2, as none of them have the potential that, say Keitaro does, which is arguably what prevented him from getting kicked despite him struggling on Stage 2 for years. Why invite these guys when you can invite more celebrities to keep Sasuke afloat, or other new competitors who could reach Stages 3 or even the Final? I'm aware I'm being quite blunt, but I don't really want to see more generic Stage 2 fodder on the course anymore, because they do nothing for ratings and don't deliver particularly noteworthy performances. I would've liked Ugajin to get a couple more shots though, because he was genuinely pretty good in practice and did train a lot. |
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xelA197
Shane Kosugi
Probably the only Italian superfan
Posts: 391
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Post by xelA197 on Jan 25, 2024 16:25:45 GMT -5
Re Hasegawa, anyone can say the course was easy, but only him and Omori reached at least Stage 3 in the first three tournaments, not even Shingo, Akiyama, or Yamada managed this, and Stage 2 back then was pretty damn tough by those standards. Yamada and Akiyama both failed Stage 2 in their first two tournaments. Yoshizaki I think potentially quit too early, as even post-Akiyama Kanzen, he only competed twice, and made the wall both times, so he could've potentially cleared and made it back to S3 if he had continued competing. He wasn't like Miura or Omori who competed several times after 4 and kept failing the Jump Hang or earlier, basically consolidating the course's difficult spike had outdone them. On the last two, eh, I kinda see it. Less so Ugajin because he did actually almost clear Stage 2 in 36, which is mad to think that him clearing would've likely resulted in him being invited back for every subsequent tournament. But ultimately Inui needs a large influx of celebrities to keep the ratings high, as painful as it is to admit. And he is clearly also hell bent on bringing on genuinely talented new competitors, though this has been somewhat inconsistent with the trialists underperforming but then also certain competitors I can't talk about on here (it's General Sasuke) with MASSIVE potential. Imo there isn't really much room for competitors like Nakagawa, Igarashi, Takasu etc. who aren't particularly interesting or show worthy, and at best will just consistently fail Stage 2, as none of them have the potential that, say Keitaro does, which is arguably what prevented him from getting kicked despite him struggling on Stage 2 for years. Why invite these guys when you can invite more celebrities to keep Sasuke afloat, or other new competitors who could reach Stages 3 or even the Final? I'm aware I'm being quite blunt, but I don't really want to see more generic Stage 2 fodder on the course anymore, because they do nothing for ratings and don't deliver particularly noteworthy performances. I would've liked Ugajin to get a couple more shots though, because he was genuinely pretty good in practice and did train a lot. I think that clearing Stage 1 in 35 saved Keitaro from disappearing from SASUKE, because the producers thought that clearing that bloodbath course was enough to invite him once more, and in 36 he became part of Morimoto Sedai, so it would've not make sense to stop to invite him after his underwhelming performances in 37 and 38, because he was officially part of a group led by the defending champion, and as well because for his well known potential. |
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Post by dakohosu on Jan 25, 2024 17:59:30 GMT -5
I think that clearing Stage 1 in 35 saved Keitaro from disappearing from SASUKE, because the producers thought that clearing that bloodbath course was enough to invite him once more, and in 36 he became part of Morimoto Sedai, so it would've not make sense to stop to invite him after his underwhelming performances in 37 and 38, because he was officially part of a group led by the defending champion, and as well because for his well known potential. Possibly, given that we did get a LOT of competitors who got axed after 35. That said, Keitaro had a few more brownie points due to being an UnCli member, and even back then being known for his insane Stage 3 potential, whereas most of the Stage 2 fodder who got axed didn't really display in competition or practice that they were capable of breaking out of Stage 2. |
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brz0ny
Jessie Graff
We need Ryo Fail Guessing Game for Sasuke 42
Posts: 1,041
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Post by brz0ny on Jan 25, 2024 18:06:19 GMT -5
As soon as I read what the post was about I thought of Masaaki but you beat me to it lol.
I feel like Yoshiaki Hatakeda is mentioned too little considering how amazing his debut run was. Consistent competitors pre-renewal were struggling with clearing it and yet he crushed the course all the way until Cliffhanger. Would have been interesting to see if he would be like Shinji or a consistent competitor if he continued competing.
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Post by katoshiho on Jan 25, 2024 23:44:11 GMT -5
what about Paul Anthony Derek?
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Post by katoshiho on Jan 25, 2024 23:49:28 GMT -5
For the competitors that cleared Stage 1 in their only appearance, I would said Hanamoto, Alexander Mars, a guy named Yokoyama Naoki. They didn't compete since then, and also they didn't get a good score on Stage 2.
Compete multiple times, Two Kikuchi brothers. Digested and eliminated in the early Stage 2. Compared with Muto, even they wear similar clothes, they didn't left enough impact.
Oh, for people reached Stage 3, Benjamin from Australia also been forgotten for sometimes, even he show passion after clearing. Maybe that because he didn't do well in Stage 3.
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xelA197
Shane Kosugi
Probably the only Italian superfan
Posts: 391
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Post by xelA197 on Jan 29, 2024 14:15:15 GMT -5
For the competitors that cleared Stage 1 in their only appearance, I would said Hanamoto, Alexander Mars, a guy named Yokoyama Naoki. They didn't compete since then, and also they didn't get a good score on Stage 2. Compete multiple times, Two Kikuchi brothers. Digested and eliminated in the early Stage 2. Compared with Muto, even they wear similar clothes, they didn't left enough impact. Oh, for people reached Stage 3, Benjamin from Australia also been forgotten for sometimes, even he show passion after clearing. Maybe that because he didn't do well in Stage 3. Masamitsu and Masayuki Kikuchi were brothers? I had a strong suspect that the two were related by something. |
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