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Post by zoran on May 4, 2024 10:21:03 GMT -5
19 - He put on his worst performance to date and almost timed out at the fourth obstacle. Almost joke competitor level.
22 - He regressed on the jumping spider despite being non injured. A sick child also contacted Yamada prior and rooted for him to beat stage 1.
39 - Obviously his worst albeit he did laugh it off and it was due to the rain but it still is a first obstacle fail from a man once slated to kanzen.
40 - Screwed up in a really stupid way in what could be one of if not his last anniversary tournament. His reaction afterwards says it all.
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Post by sasukewarrior333 on May 4, 2024 11:24:44 GMT -5
I'd have to say 22 because of the kid with leukemia. A very overlooked fail IMO, no matter what you feel for Yamada, you gotta feel bad for him there. Wanting to do well for him and failing like that... poor guy.
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Post by dakohosu on May 4, 2024 11:43:07 GMT -5
Of the ones listed here, 22 for the reasons both you and sasukewarrior mentioned.
19 wouldn't have been as bad because Yamada seemingly hates when others do well (so the fact that basically no one did would've made him feel a bit better) and the course was far more difficult, and 39 he just seemed to find funny, likely because he already knew he was screwed once it started raining. 19 also wasn't his worst performance to date; 15 was, and that was due to a freak error rather than actually struggling on an obstacle like Yamada did the Pole Maze in 19.
His reaction in 40 I still don't understand to this day. Like sure, he did make a REALLY dumb error, but realistically still only failed one obstacle prior to his absolute max (Dragon Glider), because he never trains the obstacle on his home course, and hasn't reacted as badly to objectively worse performances like 33 and 39. Hell, most of his reactions when he competed seriously were just stoic sadness, almost never the anger that we got here, even when the fail was due to an avoidable mistake like 9 or 12 which would've warranted some frustration
His scream always makes me laugh because of how caught off guard I was by it due to lack of expectation, as well as him walking past his Black Tigers with them not knowing how to react. I'm not sure how much I buy that it being an anniversary tournament made him that much angrier than usual, my best guess is that Shingo clearing right before him might've given him false hope, but at the same time, Yamada's almost a decade Shingo's senior, hadn't cleared in 20 years, and hadn't trained seriously in 10 years.
Overall most disappointing Stage 1 fail for him? I'd go with 24, because he cut a ton of weight even in the 3 months between 23 and 24, and looked on absolute fire for most of the course which would've given him hope and confidence, yet it still inevitably ended at the wall, which would've been doubly disappointing as he did clear it in 23 (albeit with no time left but still). His post-fail reaction definitely signifies this was the worst for him, with him walking off the set with Nagano consoling him while crying into a towel. Was pretty sad.
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Post by zoran on May 4, 2024 12:01:46 GMT -5
Of the ones listed here, 22 for the reasons both you and sasukewarrior mentioned. 19 wouldn't have been as bad because Yamada seemingly hates when others do well (so the fact that basically no one did would've made him feel a bit better) and the course was far more difficult, and 39 he just seemed to find funny, likely because he already knew he was screwed once it started raining. 19 also wasn't his worst performance to date; 15 was, and that was due to a freak error rather than actually struggling on an obstacle like Yamada did the Pole Maze in 19. His reaction in 40 I still don't understand to this day. Like sure, he did make a REALLY dumb error, but realistically still only failed one obstacle prior to his absolute max (Dragon Glider), because he never trains the obstacle on his home course, and hasn't reacted as badly to objectively worse performances like 33 and 39. Hell, most of his reactions when he competed seriously were just stoic sadness, almost never the anger that we got here, even when the fail was due to an avoidable mistake like 9 or 12 which would've warranted some frustration His scream always makes me laugh because of how caught off guard I was by it due to lack of expectation, as well as him walking past his Black Tigers with them not knowing how to react. I'm not sure how much I buy that it being an anniversary tournament made him that much angrier than usual, my best guess is that Shingo clearing right before him might've given him false hope, but at the same time, Yamada's almost a decade Shingo's senior, hadn't cleared in 20 years, and hadn't trained seriously in 10 years. Overall most disappointing Stage 1 fail for him? I'd go with 24, because he cut a ton of weight even in the 3 months between 23 and 24, and looked on absolute fire for most of the course which would've given him hope and confidence, yet it still inevitably ended at the wall, which would've been doubly disappointing as he did clear it in 23 (albeit with no time left but still). His post-fail reaction definitely signifies this was the worst for him, with him walking off the set with Nagano consoling him while crying into a towel. Was pretty sad. I don't really know Yamada's personal situation that well so this is just speculation. Given his mother passed away in 2023, it could have been possible she was severely ill in 2022 with Sasuke 40 being probably the last tournament she would have been able to watch so Yamada failing like that and not achieving his best would have hit him a lot more. |
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Post by dakohosu on May 4, 2024 12:11:29 GMT -5
I don't really know Yamada's personal situation that well so this is just speculation. Given his mother passed away in 2023, it could have been possible she was severely ill in 2022 with Sasuke 40 being probably the last tournament she would have been able to watch so Yamada failing like that and not achieving his best would have hit him a lot more. That's actually an excellent point.... she probably was ill then as I believe she passed away in May(?) so very likely already had the cancer at the time of taping/airing and was obviously already in her 80s where even curable variants will still likely, well, you know..... so it's very possible Yamada knew at the time that that was her last chance to see him perform. Something I like about Sasuke vs ANW is that unlike ANW, Sasuke doesn't feel the need to make a big deal out of every personal life situation through fluff pieces on the show or "motivating the competitor to do better". Things that people want to keep private are kept private, separate from the sport. Many forget that competitors aren't just statistics on a spreadsheet, they're real people with real life successes and struggles and that doesn't always need to be brought back to Sasuke. ANW tends to blur the lines with this more by dramatising everything personal and also the fact that being a "Ninja" IS a viable career there. Yamada obviously brought up his mother in 41 (I don't consider this to be a spoiler as has nothing to do with results), but that was clearly of his own volition and he clearly did it to honour her passing/impact on him. |
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