ANW, Sasuke & Other International Versions

[David T. Cole]

ANW and the Japanese original.

[Lantern7]

Anybody else miss Sasuke? I remember the olden days (just seven years ago), where you randomly catch Ninja Warrior on G4 and get enthralled. As good as the Americans get on ANW, it doesn't match the Japanese equivalent. And I don't think anyone can reach the badass levels set by Makoto Nagano. Sure, he wiped out in the early stages near the end of NW, but he was awesome to watch in his prime.

[jhlipton]

Makoto Nagano was a serious BAMF!  I do kind of miss Sasuke -- they would always have at least one WTF obstacle.  The Domino Walk was one of the few really hard obstacles that didn't rely on upper body strength. 

[kaygeeret]

As a new and enthusiastic viewer, I am a bit confused by the constant references to Mt. Midoriami (sp?).

 

Does the winner go on to a contest in Japan?  Is that show telecast her in the US?

 

Sorry for the questions that sound dumb, but as I said I am a new convert.

 

THanks

[Lantern7]

I'm afraid American Ninja Warrior and Sasuke are now mutually exclusive. Also, I don't think Sasuke Rising will be airing in the US anytime soon.

[Kromm]

As a new and enthusiastic viewer, I am a bit confused by the constant references to Mt. Midoriami (sp?).

 

Does the winner go on to a contest in Japan?  Is that show telecast her in the US?

To expand on what Lantern said a bit, Mt. Midoriyama is the name of the course they run for the Finale of the show (it is of course not a real mountain, but a very tall obstacle at the end and the whole course is named after that).  The original is located in Japan and was built in association with a Japanese show called Sasuke. That show was adapted to an American version--this show.  For the first several years of this show they actually flew the finalists to Japan and had them run on the original course there at the end of the season.  A few years ago, because it was ultimately both cheaper and easier to control, they built their own Mt. Midoriyama in Las Vegas, and now use that at Finale time instead.  Originally it was identical to the Japanese one, but I don't know if that's even the case anymore.

Sasuke itself (rebranded as "Ninja Warrior") used to air on G4 (now called Esquire), but they stopped apparently around a year and a half ago.  It's unclear if they still own the rights (although there's certainly some overall deal in place still, since they still air American Ninja Warrior after NBC does).

[jhlipton]

Originally it was identical to the Japanese one, but I don't know if that's even the case anymore.

 

What is the difference?  I thought both were "Spider climb X feet", then "Rope climb Y feet"?

[Fukui San]

The Japanese version of Stage 4 changes everytime someone has a total victory.

 

V1: Climb Rope

V2: Spider Climb + Rope

V3: Climb Ladder + Rope

V4: Cimb Rope again for some reason.

V5: I don't think anyone has reached Stage 4 in this iteration.  I think Salmon ladder+ rope would be cool.

[Kromm]

The Japanese version of Stage 4 changes everytime someone has a total victory.

 

V1: Climb Rope

V2: Spider Climb + Rope

V3: Climb Ladder + Rope

V4: Cimb Rope again for some reason.

V5: I don't think anyone has reached Stage 4 in this iteration.  I think Salmon ladder+ rope would be cool.

Well that, and I'm not sure why you guys think I was only referring to the last stage.  While that actual structure may be called "Midoriyama", at least in how the US show refers to things, the entire course is referred to in that way as well.  Iseman seems to hawk the finals as "a trip to Mt. Midoriyama", or some similar nonsense.

 

And I don't think the many obstacles making up that whole course are static, or that the US show would feel any obligation to keep matching the exact obstacles the Japanese course is using.

Edited June 29, 2014 by Kromm

[Lantern7]

Heads-Up: I was poking around the schedule, and I found that NBC is going to rerun the "USA vs. Japan" challenge from earlier this year. Personally, I'd like to dismiss it as too mutated, but some of you might like it.

[Fukui San]

The 30th edition of Sasuke is airing tonight in Japan apparently. Blogger Lost in Ube used to post updates on TWoP about it.

[Lantern7]

Two questions:

 

1. Does ANW get played in Japan?

 

2. If so, what is their reaction to it?

[Kromm]

So apparently there's a UK version of the show now.

 

http://www.itv.com/ninjawarrior

 

I'm a bit skeptical.  Not that the UK doesn't have some great athletes, but there aren't big communities of recreational rock climbers and free runners/jumpers to draw from as a core contestant base.

 

That said, while it took the US show 7 seasons to find a female to complete a qualifier, it took the UK show only one episode.  The UK may not have MUCH of a free runner community, but at least ONE UK free runner showed up, Katie McDonnell, and she murdered the course.

 

P.S. - YouTube search "Ninja Warrior UK" and the first episode is up there... for now.

 

EDIT - the 2nd episode was up on YouTube too. And guess what?  They had a second and a third woman finish in that episode (and all 3 women had really good times too). Unless there's something easier about the UK course that's not obvious, that's embarrassing for the US crowd taking 7 years...  That said, if you look at the other side of it, not that many MEN per week finished the UK course.

Edited April 19, 2015 by Kromm

[Way Wes Jr]

I just finished watching Sasuke 30 (2014) on YouTube.  A lot of fun to watch, and with only about half the number of "get to know the contestant," bits.  (Which is good, 'cause it's in Japanese.  Play MST3K with it though: Be Matt Eiserman!)

 

I'd love to see the "swim against the current," obstacle ported to ANW - much as it caught the competitors in Japan off guard, I can only imagine the reaction if it were to be used in the States.  (Plus you know there'd be at least one competitor who couldn't swim.  Heh heh.)

 

It's in eleven parts, so it is easy to watch in batches.  Sasuke 31 (2015) may be available also, but that looks to be in two (much longer) parts.

[Fukui San]

31 is soooooo worth watching. See it if you can.

[Way Wes Jr]

That (Sasuke 31,)  was awesome to watch.  However, I was disappointed to discover that production screwed Drew D. over. (And I don't particularly even like Drew...)

 

In Sasuke 30, Drew was eliminated in the third stage, on the Crazy Cliffhanger.  In 31 he asked if he could try the obstacle differently, and (allegedly) was told he could.  After completing CC, (different?) production folk told him he was disqualified.  Apparently he argued his way into a do-over, and he fell on the end jump with (mandatory) mid air turn.

[Kromm]

UK series 2 trailer:

 

[Kromm]

Ugh. Just saw the new series of Ninja UK. The course is tougher (I kind of liked it slightly easier) and worse yet, the one announcer who howls like a banshee when someone falls is even worse. EVERY single time we have to hear this loser guffaw. Every time. And it's not like he's giving useful commentary between falls. He's just saying nonsense like "looks like he's a goer" or "he's going to fall any second now!". Idiot.

[Lantern7]

Bumping up because a new season of Sasuke is about to air over in Japan. Also, a well-known American "ninja" scored an invite.

[MelinaBallerina]

Where can you watch Sasuke?

[Fukui San]

You can find some runs on Youtube by searching Sasuke 32. I don't know where a full show can be seen, but when some become  available the fan board sasukemaniac.com will know.

[Kaoteek]

The french version just aired it's first episode, and... meh. It's not really surprising, given the network it airs on, but the choices made by the production really killed it for me.

It was flat, lifeless, repetitive (they only aired the first qualifying round, with a very unimpressive course, and mostly mediocre contestants), dated (the music queues were... campy) and the commentary team didn't really help, never really taking the competition seriously, with Dennis Brogniart announcing it with his "I'm doing the voiceovers of the French Survivor" voice & rehearsed comments, and Christophe Beaugrand's one-liners being barely Ninja Warrior UK-worthy.

Also, way too much emphasis was put on the portraits, but, again, that's not really surprising, since TF1 focused a lot of the promo work, prior to airing, on the minor celebrities & web-famous people taking part in the show. That's their big selling point, here : "you know, that funny comedian you like on our network ? Come watch him fail miserably at the quintuple steps"... *sigh*

Edited July 11, 2016 by Kaoteek

[Kromm]

Yes, I've spotted a few Ninja Warrior France clips. Subtitles with Auto-Translate seem to work enough to get the gist, even with some clear translation errors. At least from those few sample it seems that like with Ninja UK, the hosts are entirely too focused on laughing uproariously at the failures.  You know. Like NW is just a variation of Wipeout.

They also seem very much to be in the middle of the "silly costume" stage that the US version started out with. Which we've grown tired of seeing, but perhaps the French audience has not.

And the very name of their version ("NINJA WARRIOR, LE PARCOURS DES HÉROS") suggests they're mostly drawing from the Parkour world. So perhaps it doesn't have the variety of entrants yet it needs. It doesn't even seem to acknowledge rock climbing (for which I believe there are different terms: varappe and L'Escalade). 

 

There's also a German version I've spotted:

[Kromm]

And it looks like this guy in the Germany version trained.... in Miami, Florida. That suggests probably at Flip Rodriquez' gym (I didn't watch every moment of this video so perhaps that's made clearer in part I didn't see):

EDIT - hah. just watched more. Actually this guy isn't that good in the end. He's too much of a classic bodybuilder/strongman physique. Totally wrong strength/weight ratio.  You can see he fails in parts that rely more on endurance and flexibility. 

 

Edited July 14, 2016 by Kromm

[SnideAsides]

An Australian version's been announced and should be on air either later this year or early next year. The bad news is it's on the same channel that did the terrible, terrible Aussie version of Wipeout.

[Fukui San]

From one of the episode threads:

52 minutes ago, slf said:

@Fukui San thanks for the explanation! Now I'm interested to see how the American contestants did on the Japanese course...

Sasukepedia will tell all, but it'll take some digging. The "Americans" link only lists the G4 affiliated competitors, not the random Americans who ran the course not affiliated with G4/ANW.

Also, correction: 4 Japanese competitors have beaten the course 5 times.  I forgot about the new guy.

[Kaoteek]

On 14/07/2016 at 5:41 AM, Kromm said:

Yes, I've spotted a few Ninja Warrior France clips. Subtitles with Auto-Translate seem to work enough to get the gist, even with some clear translation errors. At least from those few sample it seems that like with Ninja UK, the hosts are entirely too focused on laughing uproariously at the failures.  You know. Like NW is just a variation of Wipeout.

They also seem very much to be in the middle of the "silly costume" stage that the US version started out with. Which we've grown tired of seeing, but perhaps the French audience has not.

And the very name of their version ("NINJA WARRIOR, LE PARCOURS DES HÉROS") suggests they're mostly drawing from the Parkour world. So perhaps it doesn't have the variety of entrants yet it needs. It doesn't even seem to acknowledge rock climbing (for which I believe there are different terms: varappe and L'Escalade). 

Yeah, week 2 was more of the same, really : silly costumes (batman, robin, wolverine, pseudo-ninja and so on), sub-par commentary (repeating the rules of every single obstacle every time a new contestant gets to it really gets old, really fast ; jokes about a contestant's unshaved armpits, another contestant's buttocks in tights...) and still that very dated direction & editing, more focused on showing the family & friends' reactions after every obstacle than on giving the show some sort of rhythm or pacing...

They're really playing the comedy card with this show (and downplaying the athletism one), and it's starting to backfire on social media, since the comparisons with Wipeout & Takeshi's Castle abound (both shows have aired on French tv a while back), and they're not favorable to Ninja Warrior. As far as ratings go, the show went from 5M to 4M between ep 1 and 2 ; remains to see if the show has legs... 

[Kromm]

It's all no doubt pre-produced. I doubt they could change it now in reaction to either ratings or social media.

[Lantern7]

Old-school Sasuke to air on Esquire. If you missed out on the show when it was on G4, this is a great place to start. We can start comparing American elites to Makoto Nagano in his prime.

[SanLynn]

Yay! I loved watching those old crazy tournaments and I'm excited to see Makoto Nagano again. He was my favorite.

[jhlipton]

On 8/3/2016 at 7:36 PM, SanLynn said:

Yay! I loved watching those old crazy tournaments and I'm excited to see Makoto Nagano again. He was my favorite.

If there is someone whose favorite is not Makoto Nagano, I do not want to know that person -- they are already dead to me.

[Chaos Theory]

Anyone who is interested there is a marathon on Esquire Network over Labor Day weekend.  According to my DVR it starts 7 am on Saturday and runs  most of the weekend.

Edited September 2, 2016 by Chaos Theory

[riverheightsnancy]

On 9/2/2016 at 6:31 PM, Chaos Theory said:

Anyone who is interested there is a marathon on Esquire Network over Labor Day weekend.  According to my DVR it starts 7 am on Saturday and runs  most of the weekend.

Just came on to say that. I remember most of these, as I watched them before we had ANW. I forget what channel used to show them, but I totally remember Nagano and the guy that would wear his gas station uniform. I have seen all of them. 

[slf]

Just realized this was on and I'm loving it so far. The guy who stripped down to a thong, though, dude. I was with the announcer "but please, camera operator, no more of that angle!" Stage 1 doesn't seem as hard as Stage 1 on ANW. 

[Fukui San]

The difficulty ramps up as we go on. It's fun to see the evolution of the course. The Warped Wall is introduced in 4. So's the Cliffhanger and Jump Hang. Then the first stage is redesigned in 17 with the Jumping Spider and Halfpipe Attack. The Salmon Ladder is introduced. The Cliffhanger keeps getting crazier and crazier. And so on  

[riverheightsnancy]

The thing that always made me nuts was the muddy, dirty water! The US version is pretty slick compared to the early days. The course looked like it was barely holding together. Good times! 

[Chaos Theory]

A lot of it is probably harder then they look.  I think a lot of it is also because the Japanese course is lower  tech then the American one.  It looks like it was made in some  guys garage. 

Edited September 4, 2016 by Chaos Theory

[Lantern7]

Snap, Kunoichi is on now. I gotta see Ayako Miyake in action. And the sumo lady. She was fun to watch.

[MelinaBallerina]

Just tuned in.  Dang - it really looks like it would be easier than the American course, but so many are wiping out, so it must be an illusion because of how low tech the course looks.  I think they're showing the 2007 season?  When did they start with Sasuke?  When do any of the ANW's show up to compete?

[Fukui San]

Sasuke 19 is when two Americans show up having won a contest on G4, the cable channel airing Ninja Warrior.  One of them is Brett Sims, who just resurfaced this season to claim a spot in Vegas.  It sounds like you're watching Sasuke 17 or 18, which both aired in 2007. From then on more and more folks show up for the next 10 tournaments. The first one was in 1997. 

BTW, I'm only looking up things on http://sasukepedia.wikia.com/

3 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Snap, Kunoichi is on now. I gotta see Ayako Miyake in action. And the sumo lady. She was fun to watch.

Rie Komiya...  I'll be in my bunk.

They could put Domino Hill in the 3rd Stage of any tournament and I'd be happy.  That obstacle is hard and suspenseful. 

[Lantern7]

Just saw Paul Hamm clear Stage One. I liked it when Americans would crash the course. Remember the decathlete who nailed the Jump Hang at the very top?

ETA: Heh . . . this was the season Paul cleared Stage Two, but failed to hit the buzzer to officially advance. He burst through the gates and activated the smoke, but he didn't do what he needed to do.

ETA2: Just saw Nagano achieve Total Victory. That's always awesome to watch.

[slf]

I wish they'd air Sasuke more; I enjoyed the hell out of each episode I saw. I actually really like how low-tech the course looked, reminded me of track and field day. One thing that's really different about the contestants is that the Japanese contestants seem freer with their responses when they fail. I get why the American version stresses "everyone's friends and super supportive and having fun!" but you can see people suppressing their frustration or anger and plastering on a fake smile. Not on Sasuke! Several of the men literally growled during their post-run interviews. Fantastic.

[Lantern7]

I showed my mother an online clip of Hiromi Satake (the sumo lady) falling on the first obstacle, then getting hauled out of the water. Just now, we saw her jumping like a chunky bullfrog from pad to pad, only to wind up wet again. She's such a gamer.

[Quilt Fairy]

21 hours ago, Fukui San said:

They could put Domino Hill in the 3rd Stage of any tournament and I'd be happy.  That obstacle is hard and suspenseful. 

This x 1000.  I like that obstacle a lot.  I think most men would fail it since they'd think they could to speed through it jumping on every 3rd or 4th domino when the better way is to calmly go from one to the next one maintaining your balance at all times but not stopping. I'm really enjoying seeing the women's course. It's nice how they can make obstacles hard and yet not require all upper body strength.

One thing I find particularly amusing is how non-PC the announcer is.  I'm not sure how well that would go over here in the US.

38 minutes ago, slf said:

One thing that's really different about the contestants is that the Japanese contestants seem freer with their responses when they fail.

There was one guy who wiped out very close to the end of the stage (maybe stage 2 or 3?) and as he walked dejectedly away someone stuck a microphone in his face and he just kept walking.

[Lantern7]

Quote

One thing I find particularly amusing is how non-PC the announcer is.  I'm not sure how well that would go over here in the US.

I think he referred to Hibari -- "The World's Toughest Transsexual" -- as a "mysterious hormone cocktail" or something along those lines. Matt and/or Ackbar would be taken out and shot if they pulled something like that.

[Fukui San]

11 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Just saw Paul Hamm clear Stage One. I liked it when Americans would crash the course. Remember the decathlete who nailed the Jump Hang at the very top?

One of the great what ifs regarding Americans was during Sasuke 4, the first tournament there was a total winner.  During that tournament, there was a giant American dude, a Navy diver named Travis Allen Shroeder who killed the course.  He went all the way to the Pipe Slider on Stage 3, where he lunged too much and his poles slid off the rails. However, they pole caught in the safety wire, so he was suspended off the pole by the wires.  Not knowing he was eliminated, he kept powering forward and made his way to the halfway point of the obstacle before anyone could stop him.  His arms weren't giving out, but he was eliminated.  Kazuhiko Akiyama winds up being the sole survivor of Stage 3 and wins the whole thing for the first time.  Schroeder looked like he could have definitely cleared Stage 3, and who knows about Stage 4? 

The next year Schroeder entered and his foot caught in the net during the dismount of the Jump Hang.  He eventually gets it untangled but he times out.  He never competes again as presumably his Navy assignment took him back stateside.  It's fun to imagine what would've happened if he achieved total victory along with Akiyama.

Video of Schroeder's Sasuke 4 runs.

Also, random Americans would still show up in Sasuke even after the G4 people started to arrive. They were shown in the Japanese edit but not in the G4 edit, since G4 at that point was invested in the idea of the only way to get on Sasuke was through G4. 

[Quilt Fairy]

35 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

I think he referred to Hibari -- "The World's Toughest Transsexual" -- as a "mysterious hormone cocktail" or something along those lines. Matt and/or Ackbar would be taken out and shot if they pulled something like that.

I haven't watched them all (although I'm recording them) but I heard something like "Goddess of Hormones".  And before I realized what was what I thought, "Gee, the Japanese have a Goddess of Hormones?" There was also a stocky American dude (I think this was S11) and the announcer is saying "I'm still not sure if this is a man or a woman, the ponytail has me confused."  Of course, since they had actual transsexuals running, that comment is a little more understandable.

[Lantern7]

Esquire is up to Sasuke 23 now. Forgot that Yuji didn't ace Stage Four on the first try. The network will be running the rest of the G4-run seasons, as well as the final Kunoichi.

ETA: Caught the last Kunoichi, with the weird format and Rie and another lady achieving Total Victory. It would have been three, but that woman wound up grabbing a part of the obstacle she wasn't supposed to. She took it a lot better than I would've expected. If it had been a guy, I would've expected tears. Right now, Esquire is showing Sasuke 24. You'll never get the joy of seeing a comic risk a hernia on Twelve Timbers on ANW.

ETA2: Just saw Mr. Octopus's blurred butt crack. Has the show ever resorted to that before? Yikes.

[Chaos Theory]

I was watching this off and on all weekend.  It's interesting to see the birth of a lot of the popular Amerucan obsticals.  The warped wall and spider jump of course but also the salmon ladder.    Also the log grip.      I found it interesting to watch but just couldn't watch it straight through.   I also tried taking it but it got too many.  Fun to watch and I missed a lot so I'll probably watch one or two episodes of the appear on Esquire again.  Three days worth is a little too much for me.

It is interesting though that all the Japanese have day jobs.  Even the ones who do this all the time have real people lives.

Edited September 5, 2016 by Chaos Theory

[Lantern7]

I think a few of the competitors put their lives on hold for the show. And I'm thinking that Esquire will run the show throughout the average day like they do with ANW . . . so you can watch a few episodes a day at a time, not unlike the G4 run.