Sasuke (1997)

SASUKE RISING (or SASUKE 28) was the first SASUKE tournament in over a year due to Monster9's bankruptcy and the first since Urushihara Yuuji's second kanzenseiha. It taped in October 2012 and aired on December 27, 2012. Inui Masato returned as director for his first tournament since SASUKE 14. From Inui's tenure, the black mats from SASUKE 13 to 17 were used and many old obstacles, such as the Godantobi, returned. However, many new obstacles also premiered, most notably the Backstream, SASUKE's first swimming obstacle. SASUKE RISING was notable as the final competition of the SASUKE All-Stars. Five of the six All-Stars (excluding Shiratori Bunpei who was injured) competed together for the final time, but all five failed the First Stage. In their place, a new group, Shin Sedai, was formed with Urushihara Yuuji, Matachi Ryo, Kanno Hitoshi, and Asa Kazuma. The four New Stars were the last four men standing in this tournament. Auditions were held in Osaka and Tokyo in September for this tournament. The auditions consisted of a 30 second presentation and a 100 push up contest. While potential competitors were required to attend these auditions, their results were not binding to their invitations, as many veterans of SASUKE returned regardless of their performance. The First Stage was heavily modified from SASUKE 27 and several classic obstacles were modified. The Godantobi returned for its first tournament since SASUKE 11. The Spin Bridge was moved to the third obstacle and the Jump Hang and Soritatsu Kabe were brought back in modified versions as the Jump Hang Kai and the Ni Ren Soritatsu Kabe, resulting in a much shorter and quicker First Stage. In fact, the First Stage had the shortest time limit since SASUKE 17. Results were much worse than in SASUKE 27 as only five people cleared with the Rolling Escargot and Spin Bridge doing most of the damage. It look 37 competitors until someone cleared the Spin Bridge and only one person out of the first 50 competi