The reason all the tuna are disappearing
January 22, 2007 5:31 AM   Subscribe

Makoto Nagano: (YOUTUBE) 33 year-old fisherman from Japan and a Ninja Warrior.
posted by arruns (33 comments total) 10 users marked this as a favorite
 
Holy crap. It's like watching a SuperMario 64 speedrun attempt.

Except, y'know, real ninjas don't have cans of spray-on hand-sticky stationed everywhere.
posted by loquacious at 5:55 AM on January 22, 2007


I fucking love this show. Nagano is a badass.
posted by Tullius at 5:56 AM on January 22, 2007


I've got a new hero.
posted by soundofsuburbia at 6:17 AM on January 22, 2007


Oh man, I am obsessed with this show. Its like Most Extreme Elimination Challenge, but not a comedy. Really amazing feats of human strenght on that show.
posted by quibx at 6:18 AM on January 22, 2007


Almost all TV shows feature better ninjas that this. I know this because I never see them.
posted by srboisvert at 6:46 AM on January 22, 2007


That guy is cool; and by cool, I mean totally sweet.
posted by MrMoonPie at 7:06 AM on January 22, 2007


If there were sharks beneath me and werewolves coming after me, I still don't think I could complete that course. (Sharks or werewolves... sharks or werewolves... which to choose?) But work on a fishing boat probably can give you quite a workout; I bet he didn't find it half as difficult as it looks to the average desk jockey.
posted by pracowity at 7:08 AM on January 22, 2007


The fact that he does it so effortlessly makes it kind of boring.

Maybe he could have something prolapse, for example, when he's swinging from the rings. Old showbiz trick.
posted by mammary16 at 7:20 AM on January 22, 2007


At last I have found a father for the next generation of Astro Zombie butt babies.
posted by Astro Zombie at 7:31 AM on January 22, 2007 [1 favorite]


I've seen videos where his sperm climbs up walls and jumps over puddles of spermicide.
posted by mammary16 at 7:59 AM on January 22, 2007


More like his sperm swim through the spermicide. They find it refreshing and invigorating.
posted by Skorgu at 8:10 AM on January 22, 2007


God I love this show. Does anyone else remember when it was called Viking Challenge? And Nagano missed the grand prize by .5 seconds.

My one complaint is that G4 tv seems to run the same 10 episodes every week. I am constatntly deleting them from my dvr.
posted by vronsky at 8:21 AM on January 22, 2007


And maybe it is just me, but that safety wire on Nagano looked like it was pulling him up on the final obstacle. Was the fix in?
posted by vronsky at 8:28 AM on January 22, 2007


So, what happens when he flips out and ... eh, never mind.
posted by spaceman_spiff at 8:44 AM on January 22, 2007


Truly, he is our new god. Wow.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:20 AM on January 22, 2007


Ah, the old easy version of Ninja Warrior...

I could do that

with a crane
and a jetpack
and plenty of time
and a stunt double
posted by MildlyDisturbed at 9:25 AM on January 22, 2007


Anyone who puts themselves through that and still manages to have a smile on his face rates a bit of hero worship from me.
posted by gomichild at 10:06 AM on January 22, 2007


What an amazing guy. Perhaps he could become the next Spiderman!
posted by kissol at 10:15 AM on January 22, 2007


bows... (mouth movement out of synch)
you are most worthy opponent.
posted by hal9k at 10:37 AM on January 22, 2007


You're so busted Jackie Chan !

No really, he is an excellent role model ! Manly , smiling and probably kind. I bet his favourites are "changing himself" and "monogamy" ... can see scores of chix falling for him....

.....ladies have I mentioned I can juggle balls like I just don' care ?
posted by elpapacito at 10:57 AM on January 22, 2007


Holy cow.
posted by carter at 11:28 AM on January 22, 2007


Nothing I see in the Olympics will ever impress me like this.
Except womens curling, but that is more of a sex fetish thing.
posted by Iron Rat at 12:17 PM on January 22, 2007


They need to hire the course designer for the US version of Survivor.
posted by Tenuki at 12:47 PM on January 22, 2007


vronsky - this show has been around before viking challenge. It was more the inspiration for Viking than the other way around.

The wikipedia entry for it has the original air dates (here).

There's only been 2 winners, Makoto and Kazuhiko Akiyama. The prize is 2 million yen.

Of course, this video doesn't show all sides of the contestents.

Personally, I prefer the more wacky side of japanese tv - you know, the side that has the rocket powered spa chairs and the troop of one hundred.
posted by concreteforest at 1:02 PM on January 22, 2007


Two million yen isn't really that much- I made more than that teaching English in 1997.



All I'm saying is it kind of makes him even a little more hardcore.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 1:54 PM on January 22, 2007


I catch this show whenever I can. I think there are different versions. One was a couples competition, in which the men did physical challenges and would pass on to the women, who had to do quick math and logic problems (it's more exciting than it sounds). There's another one with father/son teams.

A side note: the Japanese are somewhat puzzled and amused with the Western obsession with ninjas. As much as this country embraces its past (much more so that most countries), ninjas aren't as interesting to modern Japanese as they are to folks of other countries. My gf always giggles at me when I mentioned ninjas with that special gleam in my eye.
posted by zardoz at 5:14 PM on January 22, 2007 [1 favorite]


2,000,000 Y = ~$16,000.

But you cannot put a price on the honor. This guy, and this show, are amazing.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 5:44 PM on January 22, 2007


I don't think I've ever seen anyone have that much fun being nearly superhuman.
posted by Malor at 5:56 PM on January 22, 2007


Where are the casting agents for Ocean's 14 and MI:4? I'd buy a ticket just to see this guy do his thing.
posted by Emperor SnooKloze at 6:42 PM on January 22, 2007


Ok, I'll be the first: Didn't look that hard -- a decent rock climber could do 80% of that no problem. Hell, I'd love to try it; looks like tremendous fun, all of it! (And I'm a lousy climber.)

Guy's got good upper body strength though.
posted by LordSludge at 7:26 PM on January 22, 2007 [1 favorite]


There are laws in place in Japan that limit the maximum earnings from TV contests (I don't know the scope, if it includes TV, radio, internet, etc., or if it's TV only, if it plain forbids it or if it makes it prohibitively expensive, etc.), which is why the payouts always seems so ridiculously small.
posted by Bugbread at 2:40 AM on January 23, 2007


Didn't look that hard -- a decent rock climber could do 80% of that no problem.

All in one shot, though, within the time limits and without messing up and falling into the drink? Look at the Wikipedia article; numerous world-class athletes have tried and only two people have ever completed all four challenges.
posted by Khalad at 5:14 AM on January 23, 2007


Yeah, I'm a little surprised the gymnist Hamm brothers didn't fly right through it. I'm guessing they lacked climbing skills. Nagano isn't a great climber (terrible technique on the "Cliffhanger" section), but he makes up for a lot with strength.

My brother and I used to setup crazy obstacle courses when we were young, including zip-lines, climbing walls, etc. and compete for best time. Reminds me of that, but with a bit bigger budget and, um, safety gear. (Yes, I should probably be dead like 20 times...)
posted by LordSludge at 7:13 AM on January 23, 2007


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