Post by dakohosu on Mar 14, 2024 15:47:50 GMT -5
Which tournaments did you dislike when you watched them live or for the first time, but have grown on you recently? As well as vice versa:
Disliked -> Liked:
Sasuke 37: initially I didn't like the pretty poor all-round results like a load of fails on the wall, the nerfed course, various controversies etc. but over time, especially after 38-39, I started to appreciate that this tournament had what we hadn't experienced in a long time. Shock factor. Yusuke and Tomo failing Stage 1 felt like more of a shocking anomaly than underwhelming, and allowed more spotlight on competitors who previously hadn't been given much. We also had unexpected breakouts from Rene and Tada, Yuuji's shock Pipe Slider fail, the Black Tigers truly consolidating themselves as a force to be reckoned with, and so forth. It felt like an anomaly but in the best possible way, and with Yusuke's constant domination I no longer minded the slightly easier Stage 3 as it gave certain competitors a chance to shine where they otherwise wouldn't have. Also, while I get some competitors were robbed by a wet wall, the fact we had a bunch of clears in the 90s implies that it wasn't flat out impossible like in 39, rather it just caught certain competitors off guard, so it didn't sour the experience for me.
Sasuke 27: I initially really didn't like this tournament due to it inheriting a lot of 26's editing issues and again the nerfed course, but having watched it in full on a long haul flight last year, I grew to appreciate the amount of great content the tournament had regardless of the easier course. Stages 1 through 3 were absolutely jam packed, and Yuuji's Kanzen, while on a shortened rope, would've likely happened anyway given how he obliterated the timer. Yeah sure, the editing left a lot to be desired with runs and fails shown out of order, but it didn't outright spoil results like it did in 26, so there was still a lot to be excited about and various unpredictable outcomes etc.
Sasuke 19: hated it when I first watched it because I felt the constant fails became a touch monotonous, but in light of the recent tournaments with lack of changes and high clear rates from the same people time after time, a bloodbath tournament like 19 has become all the more appealing. Especially as with the focus on ratings and facilitating celebrities doing well (which is admittedly a necessary evil), we're unlikely to see the likes of anything like this again.
Liked -> Disliked:
Sasuke 18: I don't dislike this tournament, but I do feel like over time I, and it seems a few others too, have started to feel like the tournament didn't age particularly well. The course was half finished with a lot of stinkers in between admittedly great additions, and obviously 19's changes kind of overshadowed 18 in that regard. Idk, compared to the rest of Shin-Sasuke, the tournament just kind of felt bare bones to me, especially Stages 2 and 3 where we predictably had 3 SL fails and 3 SCH fails, the two most feared and marketed obstacles of the tournament. Ultimately when you take the fact that the course was completely new out the equation, which as mentioned 19 arguably deserves more credit for fully polishing it, it kinda doesn't do it for me. Ultimately I think my growing appreciation for 19 has come at the expense of my sentiment towards 18.
Sasuke 28-29: Watched both of these live, I think in the case of 28 I was just glad to see Sasuke revived and in 29's case I wasn't aware of the Backstream jets being modified upon failure and success rates, but man these tournaments have aged poorly. Mainly due to a lot of baffling decisions like retiring the All-Stars, the brutal Stage 2, 28's cringe editing, the Stage 3 timer etc. which were all backtracked upon after a single tournament, rewatching them with these "quirks" doesn't hold up the test of time for me. I also wasn't old enough to realise how heinous the All-Star retirement fiasco truly was, now I'm much more well versed on the Sasuke lore it's much more of a negative against 28 for me.
Sasuke 33-34: mainly because of the brutal Stage 3 combo that was backtracked upon in 35 onwards when they realised it was impossible. All of these tournaments' results hence have an asterisk against them for me; competitors would either fail the combo inevitably, or fail earlier but there be zero tangible impact because at best they were failing the combo regardless. Again, I remember not minding these tournaments when I first watched them, because 33 in particular did have a few shock fails here and there, and the combo's difficulty was still somewhat unproven, but now retrospectively, I don't really know what they were thinking, and compared to later tournaments, 33-34 just had very little in terms of breakouts, progression, general drama etc.
Sasuke 1-3: I don't dislike any of these tournaments, especially 3, but I do find them quite hard to go back to and rewatch mainly because of the quite bare bones and incredibly easy course, the number of randos, the numerous cut clears, and the fact that a lot of who would become the most established competitors hadn't truly broken out yet. Compared to tournaments from 4 onwards where we had Shingo, Yamada, Akiyama, Kane etc. and more as time progressed, there just didn't feel like there was anyone to root for, and there wasn't a whole lot of excitement mainly because the clears were on very easy stages and hence weren't especially impressive. Stage 2 was great though.
Disliked -> Liked:
Sasuke 37: initially I didn't like the pretty poor all-round results like a load of fails on the wall, the nerfed course, various controversies etc. but over time, especially after 38-39, I started to appreciate that this tournament had what we hadn't experienced in a long time. Shock factor. Yusuke and Tomo failing Stage 1 felt like more of a shocking anomaly than underwhelming, and allowed more spotlight on competitors who previously hadn't been given much. We also had unexpected breakouts from Rene and Tada, Yuuji's shock Pipe Slider fail, the Black Tigers truly consolidating themselves as a force to be reckoned with, and so forth. It felt like an anomaly but in the best possible way, and with Yusuke's constant domination I no longer minded the slightly easier Stage 3 as it gave certain competitors a chance to shine where they otherwise wouldn't have. Also, while I get some competitors were robbed by a wet wall, the fact we had a bunch of clears in the 90s implies that it wasn't flat out impossible like in 39, rather it just caught certain competitors off guard, so it didn't sour the experience for me.
Sasuke 27: I initially really didn't like this tournament due to it inheriting a lot of 26's editing issues and again the nerfed course, but having watched it in full on a long haul flight last year, I grew to appreciate the amount of great content the tournament had regardless of the easier course. Stages 1 through 3 were absolutely jam packed, and Yuuji's Kanzen, while on a shortened rope, would've likely happened anyway given how he obliterated the timer. Yeah sure, the editing left a lot to be desired with runs and fails shown out of order, but it didn't outright spoil results like it did in 26, so there was still a lot to be excited about and various unpredictable outcomes etc.
Sasuke 19: hated it when I first watched it because I felt the constant fails became a touch monotonous, but in light of the recent tournaments with lack of changes and high clear rates from the same people time after time, a bloodbath tournament like 19 has become all the more appealing. Especially as with the focus on ratings and facilitating celebrities doing well (which is admittedly a necessary evil), we're unlikely to see the likes of anything like this again.
Liked -> Disliked:
Sasuke 18: I don't dislike this tournament, but I do feel like over time I, and it seems a few others too, have started to feel like the tournament didn't age particularly well. The course was half finished with a lot of stinkers in between admittedly great additions, and obviously 19's changes kind of overshadowed 18 in that regard. Idk, compared to the rest of Shin-Sasuke, the tournament just kind of felt bare bones to me, especially Stages 2 and 3 where we predictably had 3 SL fails and 3 SCH fails, the two most feared and marketed obstacles of the tournament. Ultimately when you take the fact that the course was completely new out the equation, which as mentioned 19 arguably deserves more credit for fully polishing it, it kinda doesn't do it for me. Ultimately I think my growing appreciation for 19 has come at the expense of my sentiment towards 18.
Sasuke 28-29: Watched both of these live, I think in the case of 28 I was just glad to see Sasuke revived and in 29's case I wasn't aware of the Backstream jets being modified upon failure and success rates, but man these tournaments have aged poorly. Mainly due to a lot of baffling decisions like retiring the All-Stars, the brutal Stage 2, 28's cringe editing, the Stage 3 timer etc. which were all backtracked upon after a single tournament, rewatching them with these "quirks" doesn't hold up the test of time for me. I also wasn't old enough to realise how heinous the All-Star retirement fiasco truly was, now I'm much more well versed on the Sasuke lore it's much more of a negative against 28 for me.
Sasuke 33-34: mainly because of the brutal Stage 3 combo that was backtracked upon in 35 onwards when they realised it was impossible. All of these tournaments' results hence have an asterisk against them for me; competitors would either fail the combo inevitably, or fail earlier but there be zero tangible impact because at best they were failing the combo regardless. Again, I remember not minding these tournaments when I first watched them, because 33 in particular did have a few shock fails here and there, and the combo's difficulty was still somewhat unproven, but now retrospectively, I don't really know what they were thinking, and compared to later tournaments, 33-34 just had very little in terms of breakouts, progression, general drama etc.
Sasuke 1-3: I don't dislike any of these tournaments, especially 3, but I do find them quite hard to go back to and rewatch mainly because of the quite bare bones and incredibly easy course, the number of randos, the numerous cut clears, and the fact that a lot of who would become the most established competitors hadn't truly broken out yet. Compared to tournaments from 4 onwards where we had Shingo, Yamada, Akiyama, Kane etc. and more as time progressed, there just didn't feel like there was anyone to root for, and there wasn't a whole lot of excitement mainly because the clears were on very easy stages and hence weren't especially impressive. Stage 2 was great though.
