The full competitions (consisting of four stages) occur twice a year, usually for one day. As of the end of 2008 there have been 21 competitions.
As of the 21st competition only two people have completed all four stages of Ninja Warrior, and only once each. The two competitors were Kazuhiko Akiyama (6 seconds to spare) and Makoto Nagano (2.5 seconds to spare) who coincidently are both in the fishing industry and in their mid-thirty's.
Nagano is generally a very good competitor having very rarely failed the first stage while Akiyama has very varied results because of eyesight problems having failed the first stage more than he has passed it.
Nagano is generally a very good competitor having very rarely failed the first stage while Akiyama has very varied results because of eyesight problems having failed the first stage more than he has passed it.
Although it is hardly ever mentioned in the show itself, due to competitors competing for honor and enjoyment rather than money, there is a large prize fund for completing the final stage.
From competition 1-17 the prize fund was ¥2,000,000 (aprox. $18,600) which was won twice, and as the competition was made harder the prize fund was increased to ¥4,000,000 (aprox.$37,100) which has not yet been won.
Every competition consists of four stages:
*The first stage usually has around eight obstacles and between 1 minute and 2 minutes to do them, and most of the obstacles are to do with speed and strength.
*The second stage usually has around 6/7 obstacles with around a minute time limit, and most of the obstacles are to do with strength and balance.
*The third stage varies in the amount of obstacles (from 3 to 8) without any time limit which rely on pure strength.
*The fourth stage always has one goal: to reach the top of the tower. This is usually achieved with a mixture of a rope climb (climbing a rope) and the spider climb (using the walls either side of you to push yourself up). The final stage usually has a thirty seconds time limit.
The original show was released in Japan under the name of "Sasuke" which was all in Japanese. Ten years after Sasuke was released, it was adapted in America under the name of "Ninja Warrior" where the player profiles/replays are dubbed in English while the commentator's voiceover is subtitled in English for each stage.
It was then again adapted in the UK and 2009 in Germany, again under the name "Ninja Warrior", in a very similar format as the US version although the whole episodes in the UK are dubbed in English and in Germany they are dubbed (in a very bad way) in German. The Japanese version are 3 hour specials, the US versions are 30 minute episodes and the UK and German versions are 20 minute episodes.
There is also a women's version of Sasuke called Kunoichi, which is the same format except there are new obstacles and all competitors are female. This was aired in the US and UK in a similar way as "Ninja Warrior" under the name of "Woman of Ninja Warrior" (although in TV listings it is also called "Ninja Warrior" and usually aired at the same time)
There is also a women's version of Sasuke called Kunoichi, which is the same format except there are new obstacles and all competitors are female. This was aired in the US and UK in a similar way as "Ninja Warrior" under the name of "Woman of Ninja Warrior" (although in TV listings it is also called "Ninja Warrior" and usually aired at the same time)
It has been running under the name of "Sasuke" in Japan since 1997 and is still ongoing, and it was adapted for the US and UK in 2007 under the name of "Ninja Warrior". New competitions are still ongoing.
The all-stars are a group of competitors in Ninja Warrior who have proved themselves to be most likely to complete all four stages as chosen by television network TBS. There are at least 7 all-stars who compete in most of the competitions. This group includes Kazuhiko Akiyama, Makoto Nagano and Toshihiro Takeda.
Although most of the competitors in Ninja Warrior are Japanese, there is the occasional foreigner; particularly Olympians (usually gymnasts) and winners of Ninja Warrior US who have been given the opportunity to compete in Sasuke.
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- How many seasons does Ninja Warrior have?4 seasons
- How many episodes does Ninja Warrior have?107 episodes
- When did Ninja Warrior premiere?October 3, 2006
- How long are episodes of Ninja Warrior?30 minutes
- What is the IMDb rating of Ninja Warrior?8 out of 10
- Who stars in Ninja Warrior?
- Who is the creator of Ninja Warrior?
- Who is the writer for Ninja Warrior?
- Who is the director of Ninja Warrior?
- Who is the producer of Ninja Warrior?
- Who is the executive producer of Ninja Warrior?
- What is the plot of Ninja Warrior?An edited version of a Japanese sports entertainment game show Ninja Warrior (2006) with English commentary.
- What genre is Ninja Warrior?Action, Game-Show, Reality-TV, and Sports
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