Lowest number worn by a former Finalist

[dakohosu]

I've done this for Stage 3 competitors, now for Finalists; note that by "former Finalist" I mean someone who reached the Final before that tournament:

1: NA
2: #65 - Ken Hasegawa
3: #10 - Ken Hasegawa
4: #43 - Takayuki Kawashima
5: #98 - Shingo Yamamoto
6: #81 - Akira Omori
7: #34 - Akira Omori
8: #98 - Shingo Yamamoto
9: #98 - Shingo Yamamoto
10: #81 - Kazuhiko Akiyama
11: #98 - Shingo Yamamoto
12: #96 - Shingo Yamamoto
13: #76 - Shingo Yamamoto
14: #71 - Kazuhiko Akiyama
15: #81 - Kazuhiko Akiyama
16: #71 - Kazuhiko Akiyama
17: #71 - Kazuhiko Akiyama
18: #61 - Shingo Yamamoto
19: #81 - Shingo Yamamoto
20: #1 - Kazuhiko Akiyama
21: #71 - Shingo Yamamoto
22: #20 - Kazuhiko Akiyama
23: #71 - Katsumi Yamada
24: #62 - Kazuhiko Akiyama
25: #40 - Kenji Takahashi
26: #90 - Katsumi Yamada
27: #1 - Hitoshi Kanno
28: #40 - Koji Hashimoto
29: #36 - Shingo Yamamoto
30: #34 - Katsumi Yamada
31: #89 - Kenji Takahashi
32: #87 - Shunsuke Nagasaki
33: #33 - Katsumi Yamada
34: #83 - Kenji Takahashi
35: #72 - Hitoshi Kanno
36: #81 - Shingo Yamamoto
37: #4 - Akira Omori
38: #17 - Akira Omori
39: #75 - Shunsuke Nagasaki
40: #43 - Shunsuke Nagasaki

As always, if I've made a mistake, just let me know and will revise. I'm sure I have somewhere lol.

[brz0ny]

What was the reason for Kanno #1?

[dakohosu]

Feb 4, 2024 15:10:02 GMT -5 brz0ny said:

What was the reason for Kanno #1?

For some reason, 27 spread out all of the competitors, except for #96-100 which comprised the 3 best finishers in 26 (Campbell, Okuyama, Lee), and the two competing champions. Like Hashimoto got #20, Tajima got #29, and so forth. Not sure why they put Kanno specifically as #1, except that they wanted a clear early on.

I like the idea of spreading out stronger competitors throughout the field, though in 27's case this contributed to the massively mish mashed editing and showing runs out of order. They also did the classic putting celebrity athletes in the 90s, which almost never ends well when it comes to results and hence editing, lol.

[xelA197]

In 35 was Kanno with #72

[dakohosu]

Feb 4, 2024 16:08:49 GMT -5 xelA197 said:

In 35 was Kanno with #72

Corrected, I was admittedly surprised he didn't come up more often, as him and Shunsuke are usually grouped together in the lower numbers in the "former Finalists who now aren't that good anymore" slots lol

[edaan]

Only thing i’m surprised by is Shingo turning up 3 times with the number 98, with Akiyama and Yamada in 99 and 100. There really weren’t many finalists competing at that point, because most people from 1-3 who made it to the final had quit, as well as Jordan and Kane both taking hiatus’ after 8.

[dakohosu]

Feb 4, 2024 16:18:39 GMT -5 edaan said:

Only thing i’m surprised by is Shingo turning up 3 times with the number 98, with Akiyama and Yamada in 99 and 100. There really weren’t many finalists competing at that point, because most people from 1-3 who made it to the final had quit, as well as Jordan and Kane both taking hiatus’ after 8.

Yep, in Sasuke 8 and 9, Shingo, Yamada, and Akiyama were the only returning Finalists in those tournaments. It would've also been Shingo in 6 and 7 as well, had Omori not dropped off a cliff. 

On a side note, the reason Akiyama comes up so much is that he asked for lower numbers so he could run in the daylight, due to his eyesight, which is why he consistently got #71 and #81. Otherwise, it would've been a number in the 90s for sure that came up as lowest.

Had Akiyama not been given those lower numbers, 14-16 would've all been Asaoka at #80, #91, and #76, respectively. 17 would've been Bunpei at #81, which was a weirdly low number for him given that he came first place in the prior tournament.

[edaan]

I didn’t even know Asaoka competed in 16, and wow that result would have been depressing. We didn’t even know until the book came out either.
Also, on a completely unrelated note, well done to12 for making their last 5 all of the finalists at the time competing.