The reports of our death have been greatly exaggerated ...

Okay, so I realize that having the last post be "we're not dead" and then not posting for six months is a bit ... I don't know what. Ironic? It's not great. To be fair, I broke my ankle not long after that post and moved back with my parents, so it's not like I could gif anything for quite a while, not having access to my computer and stuff.

Also I was not choosen to be on season 2 of Ninja Warrior SE. Sad face. Though apparently it wasn't filmed until September (I really thought it would be earlier in the summer), so I couldn't have been there even if I had been, with the broken ankle and all. Thank you, universe, for making sure that wasn't gonna happen.

I guess there's always next year.

Anyway, I don't know when exactly season 2 airs, but this blog will be back to recapping it by then, I promise. Before that, we've got USA vs The World to look forward to on January 31 2016. Our very own Alexander Mars will be on team Europe, so you bet we're gonna be watching and covering that. Though I'm not sure which team we'll be rooting for - are we forever team Japan, or do we have to get our patriotism on and root for the Europeans this time?

Well, however it turns out, I'm sure will be screaming about cheating and how we will never trust NBC. That's what usually happens.

Until then - sayonara ninja lovers. Oh, and merry christmas!

We're still alive!

Well, sort of. It's just that the swedish summer's gotten to us. And maybe the result of Sasuke 31 as well ... (There were a lot of screaming, depression and excitement involved when we watched it.)

We are planning to write some sort of review of Sasuke 31, and we have plans for a few other blog posts as well, so stay tuned!

Until then, sayonara ninja lovers!

The new obstacles

Okay, so here are the obstacles that have been confirmed by Inui's Twitter for Sasuke 31:

Source: https://twitter.com/inuimasato/status/602693337385046017

So, for our first obstacle, we're bringing back the classic Barrel Climb. Personally, I don't really love this one as the start, I think Quintuple Step to Tarzan Rope is way more fun. This one is only fun when people realized they are screwed, lies down and pretty much accepts death. I know it's a classic, but still ...

Source: https://twitter.com/inuimasato/status/602693975087026176

I can't believe the TACKLE MACHINE is back!? Of all fucking obstacles? This one was in like half a competition back in the 90s, and I just assumed that we all moved on a pretended it was never a thing. But nope, it's back. It does not really fit well into the first stage, you know ...

Source: https://twitter.com/inuimasato/status/602694315194777601

There's supposed to be a third new obstacle on first stage, but so far no one seems to know what that is. I didn't really understand this tweet, but running it through Google Translate made it a little more coherent:

"New third area, "Music Box" was scattered forgot to take photos w

I'm sorry"

My guess is this means the third new first stage obstacle is called Music Box. I know what this means!!!

You know I'm right.

Source: https://twitter.com/inuimasato/status/602694590068445184

I googled "Salmon Radar", but all I found was this:

Source: http://www.radomes.org

Which means that they're either going golfing (I guess Shingo and Hioki would be happy to hear that!) or they're brining back the Big Boulder:

Source: http://sasukepedia.wikia.com/wiki/%C5%8Cdama

This doesn't seem right. Let's see what Google translate has to say:

"2nd Stage minor renewed salmon ladder to climb and down."

Ooohhh, another Salmon Ladder that you climb up and down. That actually sounds a lot more reasonable, now that you mention it ...

Source: https://twitter.com/inuimasato/status/602694986333704192

Here's something brand-new:  a third stage obstacle called the Sidewinder! I think you grab onto a penis and swing across, but I'm not sure. Unless you spin on them and them jump, but they seem way too far apart for that.

Source: https://twitter.com/inuimasato/status/602705993487650816

Here we see that we start with the Drumhopper before getting to Siderwinder. That's cool, I really like the Drumhopper. It's exactly the kind of shit I'm expected from Sasuke third stage.

Source: https://twitter.com/inuimasato/status/602695617337380864

And I don't know about you guys but I've always felt the Vertical Limit was waaay too easy, so naturally adding a sideways jump was the only way to go. Like. Of course. Especially after the Crazy Cliffhanger - the obstacle I think they wanted gone because it was too hard??? This makes sense.

Also, notice how the CCH has water underneath it instead of fire, I'm gonna take that as the final proof that I didn't win that obstacle contest ...

Actually ... does any of these obstacles look like something we were shown in that broadcast? I can't find them among my screencaps at least.

Oh, well, we'll have to wait until the broadcast I guess. Until then - sayonara ninja lovers!

What happens on Sasuke, stays on Sasuke ... apparently

Sasuke 31 is over! If I hadn't had Eurovision to worry about (FUCK YEAH SWEDEN), I don't think what I would've done with myself this weekend. Twitter has been way too silent, if you're asking me, but at least we know a few thing. Such as the running order for the contestants, which can be found here in Japanese, or partly translated here. Us hipsters are very happy to see the cute guy Matachi Ryo as #100, though we are also upset that some of our faves are missing entirely, like Wakky, Kinnikun, Lee En-Chih and Mr Octopus Man.

But, our very own Swedish ninja Alexander Mars got #84, which is cool. We are of course hoping he did well, and I did stalk down this pic of him in front of final stage:

Source: https://instagram.com/p/3BjdhOxOAT/

The only American we like Drew Drechsel also took a bunch of selfies, which is not something that can be said for any of the other ninjas. Excuse you!? I refuse to believe there wasn't a single selfiestick present, and I can only assume these are being kept from us for some devious reason. So not fetch.

Source: https://instagram.com/p/3CLm0JC1Pj/

Source: https://instagram.com/p/3CLWgAi1Ow/

Source: https://instagram.com/p/3DG0W1C1Ei/

Since Drew is the only one delivering on the selfie front I'll cheer a little extra for him when I finally get to watch the competition.

Source: https://twitter.com/hanaisensehi/status/602723569240379392

Oh, and Inui retweeted these two. I don't know who they are (except one is an atlethe?), but they look awesome and dare I dream about a girl clearing first stage again???

Here are some more official tweets from the competition:

Source: https://twitter.com/sasuke_tbs/status/602160815383285760

The new start line! And apparently they were up until 2 pm... wait that's not right. I'm assuming it's actually 2 am. People were apparently happy, so good for them!

Source: https://twitter.com/inuimasato/status/602404114492837888

For this we can conclude that they did first and second stage during the first day, and then had to wait until it was dark the second day to finish filming the last two stages.

Source: https://twitter.com/sasuke_tbs/status/602408610820280320

As far as I know Sasuke is usually filmed during one day, but here it's explained that it's been split into two days for safety reasons. I guess that isn't as hardcore, but it's not as third and final stage would EVER be easy, even with some rest beforehand...

Source: https://twitter.com/cocona201345/status/602434769016655872

While everyone talked about the next day of filming, Shingo tweeted about his newly opened gym. Does this mean he wasn't there the second day, or is he just trying to throw us off???

Source: https://twitter.com/sasuke_tbs/status/602442549106647041

Third stage! At least we know someone got there. Actually ...

Source: https://twitter.com/sasuke_tbs/status/602528383054950401

It seems confirmed that someone even reached final stage! I can't even begin to list the people I want there, but Asa and Ryo are high on the list (especially Asa. I will cry if he doesn't make it past the crazy cliffhanger this year) ... and let's be real, I would love for Alexander Mars to get there too, but fuck if I think he will. The Swedish Ninja Warrior course just isn't enough preparation for Sasuke.

Source: https://twitter.com/inuimasato/status/602552757388648449

And then it was over! Out of nowhere. It seems to have gone well, and even if we don't know if someone will Kanzenseiha (no I don't think that's a verb, no I don't care) this year, we will get to see all four stages which is AWESOME.

Inui also tweeted about some of the new obstacles, but you'll have to wait for my post on those until tomorrow. There are rumors floating around saying Sasuke 31 will be broadcast on July 1st, but as far as I can tell that's not confirmed yet. We will keep you posted!

Until then ... sayonara ninja lovers!

It's so close we can taste it

Sasuke 31 starts taping in FIVE DAYS. That's in no time at all!

As if things weren't real enough, THEY ARE CONSTRUCTING THE STAGES NOW. Yesterday there was even a Nico Nico broadcast where they showed the assembly of Final Stage, but of course I totally missed out on that by sleeping through it. I thought the point of liking a Japanese show was that things would not air in the middle of the night??? Okay so it wasn't actually middle of the night, but who is awake at 6 am on a Saturday? Not me, that's for sure.

Oh, well, luckily there's a good recap of it over at Rambling Rican's, so I know what I missed, which wasn't much. Not many surprises there: I didn't expect Akiyama or Bunpei to show up, nor any of the other older competitors. I won't miss the Hedgehog or Long Jump too much either, and I'm glad that there's at least one Warped Wall! Now, if they could just bring back Half-Pipe Attack, aka the best First Stage obstacle ever, that would be awesome.

Anyway, we are not the only ones who are excited! I took to Twitter to see how our favourite competitors are preparing for the competion next week:

Source: https://twitter.com/urushiharayuuji/status/599150097469820929

Urushihara and a mysterious masked man took to the pool for some Backstream-training. Hmm, I wonder who THAT could be ...

Source: https://twitter.com/urushiharayuuji/status/599212985693773824

Nice, hooray! Yeah, I don't think anyone was surprised by that reveal. We all know this obstacle is their nemesis ...

Sorry, but this was the greatest moment in television history and no one can tell me differently.

Source: https://twitter.com/sasuke_tbs/status/599383415670976512

The start of the final stage construction! It's weird, because I know I read somewhere that Final Stage construction doesn't start until they're sure people will actually compete in it, but I always thought that sounded like total bullshit and now I know it's not true. It is finished in just a day though!

Source: https://twitter.com/inuimasato/status/599466549510975488

Words cannot describe how excited I am for the steel muscle festival!

Source: https://twitter.com/37Mistr/status/599801980173684736

Oh, and more great news: MR SASUKE IS NOW ON TWITTER. I haven't told Chriss this yet, because I wanted to dramatically reveal it on the blog. He's not competing, but the black tigers are and seems to be ready! I hope they do well, they have been a bit disappointing in the last Sasukes. I'm also kinda glad Mr Sasuke is not competing, because that means he won't be cut like last year.

Source: https://twitter.com/hiokimasashi/status/599595067536379904

Of course Urushihara is eating Shingo's wife's homemade cake, that guy tweets about food 90% of the time. I didn't screen print it but I'm pretty sure I also saw Kanno saying something about drinking beer for protein. The Sasuke diets are very interesting. Shingo himself seems to mostly be talking about the gym he's about to open and not preparing too much, but then again we all know that no amount of training is going to save him from Shingo'ing it up at some point...

Source: https://twitter.com/hitoshi_kanno/status/599729345742024704

I don't know what this means, but whatever. This is the amount of selfies we're already getting, and even though we won't know the results of Sasuke 31 for months I AM SO EXCITED FOR THE AMOUNT OF SELIFES THAT WILL BE TAKEN. I will be fucking pissed if no one brings their selfie stick to the competition to give us at least SOMETHING.

Source: https://twitter.com/sasuke_tbs/status/599816233177853952

Someone went to pray for a good Sasuke and safe competitors. Good idea, we do want to see spectacular fails and clears, but we don't want people to actually hurt themselves while they're at it. Except for Torisawa Katsuhide, of course, but hurting himself is kinda his thing.

Source: https://twitter.com/fujinosasuke/status/599854542235111424

The final adjustments! I'm not sure what the bathing is about, but Green Mountain of course means Midoiryama so I think we all know what they're preparing for. I think this is Kanno Hitoshi, Kishimoto Shinya (third stage in Sasuke 30), Kawaguchi Tomohiro (final stage in Sasuke 30) and Nagasaki Shunsuke (also third stage in Sasuke 30). Though why an earlier tweet from Nagasaki Shunsuke was in Chinese I don't know ...

Well, that's it for now, but I'm sure we'll all just be more and more psyched for the next few days. I'm extremely jealous of anyone who gets to go see it being taped, but you know ... next year I'll win Ninja Warrior SE and then I'll be there, so it's okay. For now let's just wish Rambling Rican a nice trip, and hope that Alexander Mars does GREAT in the competition as well. We're rooting for you, Alexander!! We're all rooting for you!

But until we know more ... Sayonara ninja lovers!

Our apologies

We do apologize for the lack of updates during the past weeks. Ninja Warrior UK didn't really appeal to us, and we haven't heard much about Sasuke Vietnam (except it finished taping and will air in October?). Sasuke 31 will be shooting in a few weeks and we obviously can't wait for that, and then there's American Ninja Warrior 7, which I'll definitely force Chriss to watch despite how we feel about it...

And I hear UK is moving on to stage 2/semis next week, which definitely will be worth giving a chance. Yeah, there are plenty of things on the Sasuke horizon.

Until then: sayonara ninja lovers!

Audition! :D

Hej, remember that awesome audition video I made for Ninja Warrior Sweden? Well, it must've impressed more people than just us hipsters, because I'm set to audition for the new season!

I first heard back from them a couple of weeks ago and was asked to submit a lot more information about myself, how much I work out and why I wanna do this (so I can go to Japan and compete in Sasuke, duuh) and while it did say "you'll be asked to go to an audition in a few weeks" I didn't dare assume I would get one... why get my hopes up, you know?

But today it was confirmed I'll be auditioning during the first week of June! I don't know where, when or how it'll happen, but I least I know that it will and that's good enough for me.

It's been a terrible week, so these were the kind of news I really needed. Now remember to send good thoughts out into the universe and hope I get to go on the show!

Ninja Warrior UK: ep 1 review

I can't call this a recap, because ... it won't be one. It's more like a review. We'll give you every single detail of Ninja Warrior SE that you could ask for, but with the UK version we're just here to give our useful and of course sought-after comments. Actually, no, this will just be me comparing it the Swedish version. ENJOY.

This won't be a long review because I am exhausted. I was exhausted before I started watching, but the show did not help. THERE'S SO MUCH GOING ON!? With 250 competitors over 5 episodes (I think - one heat is one episode, right?) I realize they have a lot to go through, but man, it never slowed down. We almost didn't get any backstory on the competitors, and the commentators were speaking so fast I missed most of what they were saying. But, um, it seemed to be fart jokes and similar stuff so maybe I didn't miss much?

Chriss refused to write this post because she said she'd be too negative (apparently she's in a bad mood ... on a Friday night!?), but really, it's not bad. I really like the course. It's creative, and the obstacles are harder than in NWSE, meaning we don't get to see more than half of the competitors clear the qualifying round. We saw 8 clears in this episode (or maybe it was only 7?), and 2 who'll make it to the semis by going the farthest, which gives us 50 people in the semis ... well, that's a lot more than in Sasuke, but it's 66 like in NWSE. Though in that one everyone had to clear the qualifying stage, so ... they both have their problems, I suppose.

And yeah, after being a bit too hard on the Swedish commentators I think we take it all back. Here are some quotes from one of the hosts, Ben Shephard:

"The stuff that's different is Kammy, me and Rochelle, and I suppose the tone of our show will be slightly different because it's a bit more British, so I think we can have a little bit more fun at the contestants' expense."

 "The Japanese show is very straightforward. It's very simple – it's scaffolding, there's no frills, the water that they fall in looks filthy, it's done outside, it's done in the rain, it's very cold. Ours is a lot more Saturday night... The Japanese one, it's about the test. Ours is a lot more about the entertainment of the show and the humour. The others are all done outside as well - this is the first one that's been done inside."

- http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/interviews/a641084/ninja-warrior-uk-is-here-can-it-possibly-be-as-tough-as-japan-and-us.html#~pa954IzdZzkLeX

At first, reading these, I was like "the fuck are you on about? Sasuke is fun, that's kinda the appeal" (also: Sasuke one was held inside. It wasn't epic enough). The first stage is always a mix between hilarious failures and awesome wins ... but now that I've seen it, I see what he's going for. They want it to be fun. The commentators are supposed to make "funny" comments on the competotiors. We are supposed to be laughing a lot, while cheering. That's what they were going for ...'

...but even so, I don't like it. Despite our (mostly valid) complaints about Adam and Mårten, they tend to focus more on the fitness level of the competitors, while, sure, making a few jokes, but Mårten is there because he is a personal trainer, not because he is a comedian. I have no idea if the UK hosts are actual comedians or whatever, but that's at least what they are going for.

I'll watch the rest of the show. I am interested in seeing more obstacles, because there were some I hadn't seen before (and I will refer to some of them as the Dancing Penises because I am not mature person and will go there), and I really wanna see how Katie (the only girl to make it through during this first episode) does in the coming episodes.

She was also the only parkour person. Although they referred to it as free-running, which I guess means parkour in the UK. Anyway, Ninja Warrior UK has gotten us beat on that part: the lack of parkour dudes taking on the course was very much refreshing. Keep that up, Ninja Warrior UK, and we might just make a show out of you. ;)

Until then - sayonara ninja lovers!

Sasuke 31: Tokyo audition

With absolutely no warning or heads-up at all, the Tokyo audition took place this morning. Well, it was morning for me, at least, I think maybe midday in Tokyo. Anyway, they could have given us a hint or something, and not just flung this at me first thing I see when I wake up. This is the kind of thing my fangirl heart can't handle.

Anyway, this means it's time for another round of what-the-fuck-is-Bing-translate-trying-to-tell-me, our favourite game!

Source: https://twitter.com/sasuke_tbs/status/586692612163108864

Okay, so good auditions in Tokyo, I get that. And "Done within SASUKE Holy Green Mountain Studio", sounds like it's actually happening at the Midoriyama Studio, aka where they are shooting Sasuke. Midoriyama means Green Mountain, which I'm sure you all know and I'm also sure you're all laughing at the Americans for calling Final Stage Mt. Midoriyama. RIGHT? (Shout-out to Sweden for at least dropping the unnecessary "mount"-prefix)

Anyway, muscles gathered in Osaka? Sounds ... nice.

Source: https://twitter.com/sasuke_tbs/status/586693048437837824

Wait, A COHERENT TWEET? I thought that was just a myth! Anyway, the set-up with the yellow placeholders look the same as they did in Osaka, so that's nothing new.

Source: https://twitter.com/inuimasato/status/586696552422342656

Okay, what? Come on, Bing, that's not even a sentence! Running it through Google Translate gives "SASUKE2015 Tokyo audition Or wonder there are any Muscles" which is only slightly more coherent. It was followed by this exchange between Inui Masato and Yamamoto Shingo which had me laughing by the end of it:

Source: https://twitter.com/inuimasato/status/586696552422342656

...not because it's actually funny, but because I was like ???? and then "sounds reasonable to me" appears and I'm like no it doesn't. Google says "you anyway blame variety preparation" but that doesn't make any more sense. All we can say for certain is they talked about something and apparently it made sense to Shingo. Good for him!

Source: https://twitter.com/sasuke_tbs/status/586733402738442240

Wow hot air push-ups! I've never heard of one of those before, but oh well. Are the guys sitting down waiting their turn or did they simply give up? I have no idea.

Source: https://twitter.com/inuimasato/status/586742658908815360

Then Inui tweeted this artwork, which I'd like to name "A public reminder that you can't buy this DVD outside of Japan and will never get to enjoy it". It's a sad artwork. And, I can't help but think that this is a very random assortment of people to feature??? Maybe that's just me ...

Source: https://twitter.com/sasuke_tbs/status/586770767737532417

YES I DEFINITELY WANT SOME HOT SASUKE LOVE FROM THE MUSCLE OF 79 PEOPLE. Like, I'm so here for that all day every day.

(Google translates this to exactly the same thing, so yeah, this is probably what it means. Does it mean 79 people made it to the second interviews? I don't care, I want the hot Sasuke love)

Source: https://twitter.com/sasuke_tbs/status/586880039041413120

Thanks for sticking around-blah blah. Based on the time of the tweets it seems the Tokyo auditions took a lot longer than the Osaka ones?

Source: https://twitter.com/bitansanyuka/status/586881535300673537

Lastly, this tweet with a video from someone who I thiiiink just works with Sasuke somehow? That's what I'm getting from her profile. I think the tweet is telling us that the video is a 6 x original speed ... or people in Japan get freaking weird when they do push-ups. Here it is:

あとで公式にもあげよーっと。 私の渾身の動画！6倍速！！ 今からTBSに帰ります☆今日はSASUKEの東京オーディションにお越しくださり、ありがとうございました！ pic.twitter.com/pRpj3DH5Qn
— ★ぽんゆか★ (@bitansanyuka) April 11, 2015

Aaaand that's what you missed on Twitter this morning! I have no idea what more auditions might happen, but I'll be here and Bing translate will be here, to recap it for you.

Sasuke all over the world

Yes Ell, there really are a lot of things on the Ninja Warrior horizon!

Sadly, Ninja Warrior Sweden finished a few weeks ago, but luckily, UK got their own version! It'll be airing this Saturday, the 11th of April. Apparently, there is a preview up at their Facebook site, but we can't watch it since we're not in the UK?? This makes us very sad. :(

Also, Ninja warrior Vietnam is happening! It'll be taping April 26 - May 6, 2015 (according to this video announcement that I found thanks to Rambling Rican, thanks!), but no idea when it'll air.

Buuuuuuut, their course looks AMAZING:

Sasuke Vietnam first stage! ©SasukeVN

You can read more about the course and different stages over at Rambling Rican.

And, of course, American Ninja Warrior returns 26th of May, and us hipsters are thinking about watching it ... Here is a nice little preview:

Of course, we want Sasuke to be ALL over the world (hmmm, maybe that's something I should fix once I'm ruler of the universe ... what do you think, Ell?), but we're just happy that other people get to participate and experience the Sasuke love!

Sayonara, ninja lovers!

Sasuke 31 Osaka audition

Soooo, the Osaka auditions for Sasuke 31 happened on Saturday, making it an actual reality that's going to happen. I can only sum up our feelings on this tumblr style, if you'll allow me:

Well, if you - for some bizarre reason - don't obsessively stalk Sasuke people on Twitter to get the latest (badly translated) news, then I am here to keep you updated.

We got some tweets from the official Sasuke_tbs account, WITH PICS. OMG. Have a look at this:

Source: https://twitter.com/sasuke_tbs/status/584147045327347712

I really need to learn Japanese. I mean, this translation was at least coherent, but from the pics I kinda could've guessed what was going on anyway ...

Source: https://twitter.com/sasuke_tbs/status/584160907351101440

...you know what, Bing? I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess that you just gave me the wrong translation. But you're not entirely wrong, because I guess we CAN see the muscle in the audition room.

Source: https://twitter.com/sasuke_tbs/status/584174898718773248

If anyone who speaks Japanese reads this and can inform me what that tilted smiley face letter means, I'll be eternally grateful. And if someone wants to work fulltime as the Sasuke Hipster translator, we could probably pay you in gifs or something.

Source: https://twitter.com/sasuke_tbs/status/584198892503207936

I, too, AM SUCH A FEELING AFTER SEEING THIS. I don't know what you do with those yellow bars, but after seeing this tweet from Inui Masato (the director of Sasuke) with a video, I'm gonna guess that you do push-ups while, um, staring at them. Oki, I guess they're place markers or something:

Source: https://twitter.com/inuimasato/status/584212803101143040

SASUKE31回大会 大阪オーディション 山田勝己の腕立てふせ なう pic.twitter.com/uU965UjYhs

— 乾 雅人 (@inuimasato) April 4, 2015

Hopefully you'll see the video when I post this, otherwise you can watch it at the source tweet. And YES, that means Mr Sasuke was there!! We're happy, because the last thing we heard was that he was banned from Sasuke forever, and that would've been sad. According to my sources (aka what I've read at the Sasukemaniac forum, I don't have any sources ... yet) he wasn't there to audition for himself though (even though Bing translate certainly makes it sound that way), just cheering on his Black Tigers team-thingy. But that's nice of him!

Source: https://twitter.com/sasuke_tbs/status/584213481877970944

Okay, yeah, this tweet from two minuets later definitely makes it sound more like he was just there for moral support, and did some push-ups just for fun. You know, AS YOU DO.

Source: https://twitter.com/sasuke_tbs/status/584233943647420416

We don't know who were lucky enough to be interviewed in those chairs, but let's hope they did well.

Source: https://twitter.com/sasuke_tbs/status/584286498091966464

Three hours (!?) later it was over. Don't worry though, we saw some other things worth noting that was posted by Inui afterwards:

Source: https://twitter.com/inuimasato/status/584321325394632704

ASA!! Asa isn't on Twitter, and he doesn't seem to hang out much with those who are, so it was nice to see him. Also because I had personally become a bit worried he might've gone all domestic and decided to spend time with his girlfriend instead of doing Sasuke, but, eh, that might just be me being paranoid ...

Source: https://twitter.com/inuimasato/status/584321325394632704

This was followed by a long discussion with Kanno that I didn't understand at all, because as I said BING TRANSLATE LEAVES A LOT TO WISH FOR. Google Translate is slightly better, but I mean, I don't have time to run every single tweet through that, I have a life, you know (lol no I don't).

Source: https://twitter.com/inuimasato/status/584336723854757888

This was followed by another tweet that is impossible to stand, but I like to think that "to the muscle"  partis Inui personally addressing Kanno in this tweet. Probably not.

LUCKILY, there are more competent people than me around, and thanks to lostinube on the Sasukemaniacs board I now know that he is talking about the changes to the stages in Sasuke 31:

Source: http://sasukemaniac.proboards.com/post/130996

Makes sense! And that also means that they did NOT select my Motherfucking Cliffhanger as one of the winners for the obstacle competition. So upsetting. :( I knew I should've submitted the Ring of Fire instead ...

I guess we'll have to wait to know exactly what these changes are going to be, buuuut apparently people with better conncetions than me know for sure that the Swap Salmon Ladder is gone, but that the Backstream is staying:

Source: http://sasukemaniac.proboards.com/post/131022

Mmm, good. I mean, because the backstream is such a great measure of athletic abilities that truly captures the spirit of Sasuke and not at all because I like seeing everyone getting out of it all ... wet ...

Um, yeah, right. There are more auditions to come, and you can expect me to cover them as well. But, in the meantime, there are of course a lot of other things on the Ninja Warrior horizon ...