Who had the best redemption arc in sasuke?

[shunsukenumber98]

Whose redemption was the best in sasuke? I mean this in terms of people who succeeded after countless failure. 

[dakohosu]

Apr 28, 2024 23:24:48 GMT -5 shunsukenumber98 said:

Whose redemption was the best in sasuke? I mean this in terms of people who succeeded after countless failure. 

100% Yuuji. 

Objectively so when looking at his recent resurgence from 36 onwards but even more so when you see his change in mental state compared to, say, 8-10 years ago. Back then, he felt an obscene amount of pressure feeling like he could never live up to Nagano's legacy which is why he infamously didn't like a lot of spotlight, then proceeded to lose confidence after being embarrassed on USA vs Japan and then Sasuke 31. Similar to Nagano after his decline, Yuuji very clearly just didn't enjoy competing anymore because he felt being a two-time champion was too much of a burden to bear and his results were subpar due to both his mental state and Inui actively targeting competitors of his build, which ultimately led to him threatening retirement in 34. 

After his clear that tournament, something just kind of clicked in him. He seemed to invest himself a lot more in the community, became a lot lighter hearted, and seemed to enjoy the spirit of competing and training more. I don't know what it was exactly, maybe the fact that Yusuke being the more recent champion/dominator and overshadowing him took some of the pressure off, or him getting a girlfriend and eventually wife. But clearly this more positive mindset has led to better mental focus both in training and competition. He went from almost being regarded as a write-off/on an unrecoverable decline to being heralded as the guy who defies age and can still keep up with the younger guys, with a fair few near-Final Stage attempts in recent tournaments. 

I think it's his clear improvement in mental state towards Sasuke that puts him at best redemption arc for me, not just his improvement in results. I've said this before but I'll say it again that he only recently realised that as a two-time champion he has nothing to prove, which he clearly didn't before because it obviously sabotaged him. Not to mention that he's arguably consistent for the first ever time in his career, as even during his prime/Kanzen years, he'd still fail early every other tournament. And ultimately he's regained his mojo for Sasuke and enjoys it for the community and friendship aspect of things, rather than seeing it as another source of stress in life.

I'd also give honourable mentions to both Asaoka and Kong, because if I'm not mistaken they're basically the only two competitors to come back from several tournament streaks of Stage 1 fails and actually do better than they did prior and consistently at that. Asaoka went from one Stage 3 attempt, to 3 Jump Hang fails, to eventually making the Final Stage. Kong had three Cliffhanger fails, followed by four straight Stage 1 fails, then on his redemption tournament clears the Cliffhanger for the first time, and makes the Final in the next tournament.