Best and worst tournament by different attributes
Mar 7, 2024 15:03:44 GMT -5
brz0ny and ItalianNinja08 like this
Post by dakohosu on Mar 7, 2024 15:03:44 GMT -5
What is your best and worst tournament by the following specifically:
- Course
- Results
- Editing
- Lineup/competitive field
Note that by best and worst, when it comes to results and lineup, I'm not talking objectively or statistically, I'm talking in terms of favorite or least favorite, otherwise Sasuke 19 would objectively be worst for results, etc.
Here are mine.
Course
Best: Sasuke 26 - Despite this tournament being in my bottom five, I can't deny that the course was spectacular. Brutally hard yet balanced Stage 1 with interesting concepts from Shin-Sasuke + Rolling Escargot and a tight time limit, the best Stage 2 we've seen by far, as well as Stage 3 having the best first two obstacles, the Ultimate Cliffhanger, and the Flying Bar as the final obstacle. Honorable mention to 25 with its creative, if weirdly arranged Stage 1, and having the Floating Boards on Stage 3, with an identical Stage 2.
Worst: Sasuke 1 - I don't think any course has every stage being a stinker, but by default I have to pick Sasuke 1 due to the easiest Stages 1, 3, and 4 in the show's history. I have a soft spot for the OG Stage 2 though 100%, way ahead of its time difficulty wise. Honorable mention for 33 for its impossible combo which ended the tournament before it began results wise, however.
Results
Best: Sasuke 40 - Kane and Shingo breaking the age record, Nagano giving a deep run, several breakout/deep runs from current favorites like Yoshi, Keitaro, Kajihara etc. as well as a fair few shock fails from competitors like Ryo. Honorable mention to 24 for its five finalists, Yuuji's win, Nagano and Kanno's shock fails, and 12 for Bunpei's breakout, many of the All-Stars giving some of their best runs, Yamada's shock DQ, etc.
Worst: Sasuke 20 - pretty much the same results as 19 but without any of the shock factor, most competitors making it deeper but still failing Stage 1, Nagano's fail being one of his most forgettable, Okuyama being robbed by a malfunction. Levi's breakout was basically the only interesting aspect of this tournament, and even then his run very predictably ended on the Shin-Cliffhanger. Honorable mention to 33 for the weak Stage 2 field and the regressive results due to the malfunction on Stage 3.
Editing
Best: Sasuke 23-25: imo these tournaments were masterclasses in storytelling. Great insight into competitor backstories and many deep runs shown in full through and through. The out of order fail digests during this era was what it was, but I didn't really mind as they were mostly randos.
Worst: Sasuke 26 - loads of mish mashy editing to enforce a false narrative with Okuyama being the last Japanese competitor standing, fails from veterans either cut or shown out of order, Americans who accounted for most of the good results largely skipped over, etc. I don't see the low broadcast time as an excuse given that the Golden Era tournaments were largely under 3 hours and still made good use of the time they were given. Honorable mention to any tournament from 38 onwards for the unbalanced split of time between stages. 3+ hours for Stage 1 is ridiculous at this point, and multiple breaks in immersion and pace.
Lineup
Best: Sasuke 40 - Kane returning, the four champions being the final four runners, internationals, trialists, recommended competitors, other returning competitors, veterans. This lineup was absolutely stacked like no other imo.
Worst: Sasuke 28 - Mostly randos who I have no idea how they got on the show, with veterans like Okuyama and Kong being snubbed, very few returning faces from 27. The course was hard, sure, but I'm a firm believer that the results were only as bad as they were because of the sparse competitive field. The All-Stars being the final five runners also doesn't count because it was under the pretense that they'd be no longer permitted to compete, and as a result their morale was clearly very low and hence their runs and results underwhelming.
- Course
- Results
- Editing
- Lineup/competitive field
Note that by best and worst, when it comes to results and lineup, I'm not talking objectively or statistically, I'm talking in terms of favorite or least favorite, otherwise Sasuke 19 would objectively be worst for results, etc.
Here are mine.
Course
Best: Sasuke 26 - Despite this tournament being in my bottom five, I can't deny that the course was spectacular. Brutally hard yet balanced Stage 1 with interesting concepts from Shin-Sasuke + Rolling Escargot and a tight time limit, the best Stage 2 we've seen by far, as well as Stage 3 having the best first two obstacles, the Ultimate Cliffhanger, and the Flying Bar as the final obstacle. Honorable mention to 25 with its creative, if weirdly arranged Stage 1, and having the Floating Boards on Stage 3, with an identical Stage 2.
Worst: Sasuke 1 - I don't think any course has every stage being a stinker, but by default I have to pick Sasuke 1 due to the easiest Stages 1, 3, and 4 in the show's history. I have a soft spot for the OG Stage 2 though 100%, way ahead of its time difficulty wise. Honorable mention for 33 for its impossible combo which ended the tournament before it began results wise, however.
Results
Best: Sasuke 40 - Kane and Shingo breaking the age record, Nagano giving a deep run, several breakout/deep runs from current favorites like Yoshi, Keitaro, Kajihara etc. as well as a fair few shock fails from competitors like Ryo. Honorable mention to 24 for its five finalists, Yuuji's win, Nagano and Kanno's shock fails, and 12 for Bunpei's breakout, many of the All-Stars giving some of their best runs, Yamada's shock DQ, etc.
Worst: Sasuke 20 - pretty much the same results as 19 but without any of the shock factor, most competitors making it deeper but still failing Stage 1, Nagano's fail being one of his most forgettable, Okuyama being robbed by a malfunction. Levi's breakout was basically the only interesting aspect of this tournament, and even then his run very predictably ended on the Shin-Cliffhanger. Honorable mention to 33 for the weak Stage 2 field and the regressive results due to the malfunction on Stage 3.
Editing
Best: Sasuke 23-25: imo these tournaments were masterclasses in storytelling. Great insight into competitor backstories and many deep runs shown in full through and through. The out of order fail digests during this era was what it was, but I didn't really mind as they were mostly randos.
Worst: Sasuke 26 - loads of mish mashy editing to enforce a false narrative with Okuyama being the last Japanese competitor standing, fails from veterans either cut or shown out of order, Americans who accounted for most of the good results largely skipped over, etc. I don't see the low broadcast time as an excuse given that the Golden Era tournaments were largely under 3 hours and still made good use of the time they were given. Honorable mention to any tournament from 38 onwards for the unbalanced split of time between stages. 3+ hours for Stage 1 is ridiculous at this point, and multiple breaks in immersion and pace.
Lineup
Best: Sasuke 40 - Kane returning, the four champions being the final four runners, internationals, trialists, recommended competitors, other returning competitors, veterans. This lineup was absolutely stacked like no other imo.
Worst: Sasuke 28 - Mostly randos who I have no idea how they got on the show, with veterans like Okuyama and Kong being snubbed, very few returning faces from 27. The course was hard, sure, but I'm a firm believer that the results were only as bad as they were because of the sparse competitive field. The All-Stars being the final five runners also doesn't count because it was under the pretense that they'd be no longer permitted to compete, and as a result their morale was clearly very low and hence their runs and results underwhelming.