They no longer show it when they used to though.  Now Lost and Heroes are playing where Ninja Warrior and Unbeatable Banzuke used to play.   Now granted, they'd shown all of the episodes a million times, but I still watched most nights anyway. ^.^;

Ah, today was a strange day on Mount Midoriyama. Sasuke 22 debuted today on G4, with very surprising results...

A new American Ninja Warrior was selected by G4 to tackle the obstacles of Midoriyama, Dave Campbell. Fellow competitors Levi Meeuwenberg and Luci Romberg returned as well to exact vengeance upon the demons who dwell upon the mountain. None made it past the First Stage, though Campbell made it farther than his American fellows. True to her word, Attack of the Show! co-host Olivia Munn returned as well with the intention of besting the obstacle that defeated her last time, the Sextuple Steps. Though she completed it, she almost instantly went down on the next obstacle, a new addition...

The First Stage was modified with two new obstacles: the Circle Hammer and the Slider Jump --the former a modification of the Second Stage's Metal Spin; the latter an insidious mix of Third Stage's Pipe Slider and First Stage's Jump Hang. It was to this obstacle that Meeuwenberg, Toshihiro Takeda and even Makoto Nagano himself fell. For the second time in a row, Shingo Yamamoto fell after completing the Halfpipe Attack, but before reaching the Warped Wall. Romberg herself failed at the obstacle she so easily cleared in the last tournament -- the Jumping Spider.

Taking the demons of Midoriyama by surprise, Yuji Urushihara, a newcomer, managed to achieve what even Nagano could not in the 21st Tournament -- clear the Gliding Ring and reach the Final Stage. Sadly, his efforts were cut short by mere seconds -- had he been slightly faster on the second half of the tower climb, he would have been the third Ninja Warrior in history.

A good run for all involved, and a surprising near-victory for someone on their first dry run. We shall see who will be victorious next time...

Hadn't seen Ninja Warrior when this thread was first made, but I have now.

Based on how Juri's duels always seem to end, I bet she would be on the last domino, and then sudden fall backwards.

Well. Kunoichi 8 premiered today. Anybody besides me and Mylene watch it?

Surprisingly, Ayako Miyake was nowhere to be seen in this tourney. Rie Komiya, however, perservered and became the second woman to achieve Total Victory -- a goal she's been shooting for since a while now. Meanwhile, newcomer Satomi Kadoi not only became the third woman to achieve Total Victory...she was also the fastest to do so, with 21.4 seconds to spare! Talk about breaking a record!

Discuss the newest trend of side-by-side competition and the SKU cast! How do you think the girls of Ohtori would do on the 8th course?

Thanks for the heads-up, Mylene.

Also, and I can't help but wonder this...when the hell did Nagano get married? His wife was in the 8th tournament, but she didn't make it past the Barrel Roll.

Sasuke 23 aired yesterday, but so goddamn late that I just threw the whole thing on the satellite box's DVR recorder and watched it today. Interesting developments took place, with the ever-present demons holding court...

The All-Stars now face against the New Generation, and of both camps only two survived to attempt the Final Stage: Hitoshi Kanno and ever-present Makoto Nagano. What is most surprising than anything is that Nagano set two new records this tournament.

The first is a complete shocker from deep, deep left field. When he failed on the Slider Jump last time, he practiced to conquer it during this tournament. He failed again...but it was ruled that it was a technical error on the part of the course that caused his failure. In an unprecedented first for the history of Sasuke and Kunoichi, Nagano was allowed to attempt the First Stage a second time. He completed with flying colours. I daresay such an event will not happen again soon.

The second is the passing of a torch from one man to another. Katsumi Yamada, known as "Mr. Ninja Warrior," no longer holds the title. Nagano has inherited it. But even with these amazing chances, he was unable to achieve total victory a second time. The demons growl in pleasure as the warriors have failed to conquer them...

It was a surprising comeback for the All-Stars, though, with Shingo Yamamoto, Toshihiro Takeda and Makoto Nagano all reaching the Third Stage once more. And again, Yamamoto fell prey to an injury -- this time, a dislocated shoulder. Only halfway through the Arm Rings, he had to drop or suffer even worse pain. Takeda managed to reach the Spider Flip before he lost the last of his strength and fell to the water below.

Nevertheless, today (or should I say yesterday?) was a stunning example of what a Sasuke tournament should be about. With the renewed vigour of the All-Stars and the birth of the New Generation, we shall see this Saturday what Sasuke holds for all involved during the 24th Tournament...

The new tactic for dealing with the Cliffhanger was a stroke of genius.  I get the feeling the All-Stars were all going, "Now why didn't *I* think of that?" while the course developers were thinking "About damn time someone figured that one out."

The torch is definitely being passed at least somewhat, and it's probably overdue.  Of the All-Stars, Yamada and Akiyama haven't been relevant in years, Akiyama due to eye problems and Yamada due to, well... underperformance.  Yamamoto seems like he'll never make it with that nagging shoulder injury, though being the one guy at every event, I doubt he's going anywhere.  Shiratori is also weighed down by injury, it's been a while since he's participated and I'm not sure if we'll ever see him again.  Only Takeda and Nagano have any realistic chance of finishing the course anymore.  I think Nagano may have one more left in him, but he's running out of years in a hurry.  Sooner or later, he's just not going to be able to muster the speed to clear that last stage.

Five guys going through to the last stage, though, that's just nuts.  Yeah, a redesign is coming and it's going to hurt.  The first stage isn't going to get too much worse, I wouldn't think, they're passing about the numbers they want to be getting through, but they'll change it up for show.  The second and third stages though, they are going to get nasty.  I wouldn't be too surprised to see another tournament where no one reaches stage three in the near future.

I'm two years late and I missed like three tournaments. That's neither here nor there, while Sasuke 27 -- what I came to report on -- is.

A blindingly staggering eighteen competitors managed to blast through the First Stage, which included two (to me) new obstacles. The Rolling Escargot is an unholy upgrade to the Barrel Roll, while the Spinning Bridge looks more like those executive toys that clink together than any serious obstacle. Between the two of them, though, most of the competitors were wiped out. The demons of Midoriyama growl their warning.

In Second Stage, five people managed to conquer the obstacles, at this point having become rote. Yes, even the Double Salmon Ladder has become a typical sight, and among the people who cleared them were fan-favorite All Star, Nagano Makoto and the third Grand Champion, Urushihara Yuji. As the demons begin to flex their muscle, the brave warriors advance steadily.

In Third Stage, some bright relative newcomer made his way to the newest, most hellish incarnation yet of the Cliff Hanger...and blew past it, to everybody's surprise. Another two challengers followed suit, including Urushihara but not Nagano, who failed to catch the smallest hang and plunged into the waters of defeat. As always, his cheerful grin was there to soothe the anguish of the remaining competitors. But I've saved the best for last.

In twenty-seven tournaments and 2,700 challengers, only three have managed to secure Total Victory, crowned Grand Champions for their exhaustive and impressive feats of body and determination. On this day, in Sasuke 27, it was humble shoe salesman Urushihara Yuji who claimed the title even Nagano Makoto couldn't: Double Grand Champion. He dealt a brutal blow to the demons of Midoriyama, sending them staggering in shock and disbelief.

As always, feel free to discuss the newest information and how you think the duelists could stand up to the most difficult obstacle course in the world!