Anyone else watch Ninja Warrior?
Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2008 12:24 pm
Or Sasuke or Kunoichi (the Japanese names for the show)? One hundred contestants try to complete an incredibly difficult obstacle course ... then the few who make it have to complete another, more difficult course ... and another ... and finally a difficult "Final Stage" to win. As a measure of just how difficult it is to get through all the obstacles, only two men have ever completed Sasuke, and only one woman Kunoichi (although she won three times).
The shows air in the US on G4 (a channel I generally despise) and on Challenge in the UK. This is one of the rare times when I think the US version is better than the English dub--for once, the US cut leaves in the original Japanese play-by-play (subtitling it) and has a better-than-average voice-over for the rest. In England, as Sylphi said when first hearing it, it sounds as if they got Basil Brush to dub over the entire program, even sort of making up what the contestants and announcer are saying. While the English redubbing kind of worked for me with Takeshi's Castle (although Craig Charles has a mouth on him that would make the proverbial sailor blush and run away, and I to this day have no idea what the original show is really about), with Ninja Warrior it seems incredibly patronizing and achingly slow-paced, as though the action were really a Sunday carriage ride through the park.
One thing about Sasuke and Kunoichi I really enjoy is that the contestants aren't really competing against one another but against the course. They cheer one another on, despair when a fellow contestant loses, and are incredibly good sports. This is something I've grown to hate about US game shows in general--everything's a competition amongst the contestants, and the more hair-pulling/tooth-dislodging/eye-gouging destruction, the better. It's indicative of a different mind-set, I think: In the US, it's all about one side's glory over the defeat of all others; if there's teamwork to be had, it's with the goal of defeating the "other" team. Us vs them, if you will. With at least some of the shows I've seen in other countries, the point is to work together (or at least not against one another) to defeat or puzzle through the show's obstacles--Ninja Warrior (Japan), The Crystal Maze (England-yeah, I know it's old), Knightmare (England-ditto). This is not to say there aren't other types of competitive shows as well, but I can't think of a single US show off the top of my head that encourages teamwork or individual effort without it being at the expense of someone else (who is equally trying to beat the c--- out everyone else as well). I'm sure there must be one, or a few, but ...
Anyway, enough ranting. Check out:
http://www.g4tv.com/ninjawarrior/index.html--G4's version
http://www.challenge.co.uk/ninjawarrior--Challenge
--Jeff
The shows air in the US on G4 (a channel I generally despise) and on Challenge in the UK. This is one of the rare times when I think the US version is better than the English dub--for once, the US cut leaves in the original Japanese play-by-play (subtitling it) and has a better-than-average voice-over for the rest. In England, as Sylphi said when first hearing it, it sounds as if they got Basil Brush to dub over the entire program, even sort of making up what the contestants and announcer are saying. While the English redubbing kind of worked for me with Takeshi's Castle (although Craig Charles has a mouth on him that would make the proverbial sailor blush and run away, and I to this day have no idea what the original show is really about), with Ninja Warrior it seems incredibly patronizing and achingly slow-paced, as though the action were really a Sunday carriage ride through the park.
One thing about Sasuke and Kunoichi I really enjoy is that the contestants aren't really competing against one another but against the course. They cheer one another on, despair when a fellow contestant loses, and are incredibly good sports. This is something I've grown to hate about US game shows in general--everything's a competition amongst the contestants, and the more hair-pulling/tooth-dislodging/eye-gouging destruction, the better. It's indicative of a different mind-set, I think: In the US, it's all about one side's glory over the defeat of all others; if there's teamwork to be had, it's with the goal of defeating the "other" team. Us vs them, if you will. With at least some of the shows I've seen in other countries, the point is to work together (or at least not against one another) to defeat or puzzle through the show's obstacles--Ninja Warrior (Japan), The Crystal Maze (England-yeah, I know it's old), Knightmare (England-ditto). This is not to say there aren't other types of competitive shows as well, but I can't think of a single US show off the top of my head that encourages teamwork or individual effort without it being at the expense of someone else (who is equally trying to beat the c--- out everyone else as well). I'm sure there must be one, or a few, but ...
Anyway, enough ranting. Check out:
http://www.g4tv.com/ninjawarrior/index.html--G4's version
http://www.challenge.co.uk/ninjawarrior--Challenge
--Jeff
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