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Takeshi1
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American Ninja Warrior Season 15
Ok so this is indeed going to be a thing, casting site to open soon:
ANW Casting
Can't see this performing well and if this season is anything like the last two in terms of lack of quality it could be the last. I wish I could be more positive.
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13/Nov/22, 9:54 pm
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Messup434
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Re: American Ninja Warrior Season 15
I thought about applying to this season, but I only found out they removed their... requirement two weeks before it was due. So I thought that was once again inconsiderate and decided not to bother this year.
Looks like I made a good decision because the show has taken another step in a concerning direction. I just got word of this update, but here's a snapshot of someone's acceptance letter explaining the changes:
https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/916120574768607292/1066167317702127676/ANW1516format.png
The racing idea is something I've seen coming for awhile, and it sounds bad. I enjoyed Team Ninja Warrior, but that's a special thing, not something that should replace the actual show. But even more grave is filming seasons 15 & 16 at once. As many stupid decisions and gimmicks as ANW has tried, there's no justifiable reason for this one other than a severe budget cut.
The fact that they're trying to film the seasons' Qualifyings and Vegas Finals together also indicates that there will be little/no change to the courses between seasons. Also, the semi-finals will only have six obstacles (and will ALL be in one place) which'll make the first part of the season feel even more samey than it has the past few years.
Also, it just seems really messy to have two seasons in production at once, especially if some competitors may compete in both. It's weird that someone could qualify in the ANW 15 qualifiers, but then fail the first ANW 16 course and still look forward to competing in Vegas finals. It just makes it feel less menaingful/symbolic. Or having someone make it to Vegas in both seasons and then get to run it twice.
OR WAIT: I've been throwing around possibilities in my head as I type this and I just thought of one that could happen. What if someone wins (or is at least the Last Man Standing on) ANW 15, but because both seasons' qualifiers were taped months before and they weren't a favorite competitor before that season, they don't get to compete in ANW 16. That'd be so weird.
These possibilities aren't my main concern - it's mostly just that the show will feel even more samey and clearly isn't getting back to being the high-quality show it was a few years ago - but they're still really weird to consider.
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21/Jan/23, 12:41 pm
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Takeshi1
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Re: American Ninja Warrior Season 15
Clear budget cuts here, these are quite likely the last two seasons considering the plans suggest no filming next year.
Truthfully the semi-finals haven't worked the last couple years. The course is so long that they'd show just one run (occasionally two if mid-cut) between each set of ads. Plus the obstacle choices last season were so uninspired that you could tell they didn't know what to do with it anymore. As much as I'd prefer NvN not to be part of the main show, I feel it could refresh a previously rubbish and unnecessary round (I'm trying to be optimistic). I remember in Australia, the NvN semis of season 6 were actually more entertaining than the standard-structure semis of season 5. Oh plus the courses will surely be faster and less upper-body focused?
Filming two seasons back to back is by far my biggest concern too. I agree that it's going to lead to much more repetition, with no development and progression between seasons. The scenarios you've mentioned as well could come to fruition too.
They're trying to get as much output for as little cost as possible so these changes make sense for that. But from a fan's perspective, filming like this will even further dilute the quality of the show.
At least Vegas is staying, although if it's anything like last year's that might not be as promising as we hope. Looks like we'll only be getting 48 (3x12=36 + 3x4=12) people in Vegas too so the number there reducing by the year it seems.
Edited by Takeshi1, 22/Jan/23, 12:16 am
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22/Jan/23, 12:08 am
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Messup434
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Re: American Ninja Warrior Season 15
Quote:
They're trying to get as much output for as little cost as possible
This seems to be what's happened the past few years. I'm not sure if covid caused it, just accelerated it or if it was inevitable.
I'd say their most substantial seasons were probably 8-10 (7 and 11 were great too, but I feel 8-10 was when they were really doing great). In 10 they added the Mega Wall and even tried to mix up regionals by swapping an obstacle (which didn't work great, but still). 11 they still went all out and introduced some kind of annoying but unique twists. But regional finals course difficulty was very inconsistent and there was a bit more repetition of obstacles than before. 12 was understandably a huge step down due to the circumstances, 13 recovered but still had season 12 style repetition in regionals and was just kind of annoying to watch (lots of "clickbait" coming up segments and just felt stale). 14 I didn't really watch but from what I understand was the same, if not worse. 15 seems like it'll be another ANW 12-level decrease in quality.
I will watch it this year to begin with (I might even do reviews), but yeah... I'm not feeling it.
Also agreed that this is probably the end, or at least the end of the show being made at this level, just like how Holey Moley shot back-to-back seasons and is now off Sable Ranch and filming season 5 in Australia.
Lucky for me the demand for ninja gyms and competitions is still there (and will prob get even bigger when the show isn't around as a goal) so my competing dream lives on!
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24/Jan/23, 3:15 am
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Takeshi1
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Re: American Ninja Warrior Season 15
It's quite interesting how other than Sasuke and perhaps Germany, ninja shows are really in decline. It's weird to think that a few years ago we had dozens of ninja shows because now we're down to just a few. The few shows still going are throwing countless gimmicks at the wall at once to see what sticks and obviously it never does.
I thought I'd detail the French format this year for some entertainment (Mathis Owhadi has been competing in it as well):
HEATS:
• Obstacles 1 and 2 against the High Road with a 20 second time limit - if you don't complete in under 20 seconds you have to do the memory tower at the end of the course
• Obstacles 3 and 4 have a crossroads style split course
• Obstacle 5 is Warped Wall or Mega Wall, but you can only attempt the Mega Wall if you beat obstacles 1 and 2 in under 20 seconds
• If you beat the Warped Wall but didn't complete obstacles 1-2 in under 20 seconds you do the memory tower, which has cliffhanger ledges and dropping shelves, some of which are fake and will end your run.
HEATS STAGE 2 "GRAND DUELS":
• All obstacles are a head to head race between two competitors
• If you beat the Mega Wall you don't compete in this stage
• Fastest finisher gets a "joker" which is essentially a safety pass but you restart from the obstacle you failed with the time you had left.
FINALS:
• No time limit on Stage 1 anymore so clock counts up
• Top 7 qualify immediately for Stage 2
• Next 10 on leaderboard (including clears) have to do battles on the Power Tower for a place in stage 2
• Stage 2 and 3 are combined
• Stage 4 you need to beat the previous champion's time to win
NW France here making ANW actually look good.
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5/Feb/23, 2:03 pm
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Messup434
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Re: American Ninja Warrior Season 15
Wow did ANW pay France to make their format look good? That is seriously every twist they could possibly use, particularly for the heats. Nothing just “normal” anymore, it’s all choices and races.
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6/Feb/23, 12:49 am
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Messup434
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Re: American Ninja Warrior Season 15
So this starts soon - with the "normal" format of Qualifier rounds before the races. Qualifiers shouldn't feel that weird, but I'd say overall this is definitely the most drastic (and probably bad) change this show has made. I keep thinking it might not be terrible in its own right, but this is the final nail in the coffin of ANW potentially going back to its former glory.
[Obstacle/course spoilers for the season follow!]
One thing I'm glad about is Split Decision being removed - with all these new gimmicks it's not really needed.
Another huge issue is (at least according to Sasukepedia), there's going to be even less change than before to the courses between episodes. Definitely not what I hoped these changes would lead to, though it is kind of expected now. At least the first obstacle is something a bit different than just steps - a Pole Vault apparently.
It's a shame that even if this format sucks and they decide to switch back, we're stuck with it for the next two years. Although I suspect it's the end of the show anyway, but I also know the writer strike might help its chances a bit next year (if it lasts that long).
Also, I'm planning on starting a new weekly show (well, video) after ANW airs. It'll basically be me showing/attempting an original(ish) obstacle idea. If anyone has any name recommendations for it, let me know. I'm thinking something like Obstacle of the Week, ANW Afterparty, Making Monday... but those kind of all suck. So let me know your ideas if you have any 
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2/Jun/23, 9:36 pm
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Messup434
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Re: American Ninja Warrior Season 15
I watched it live tonight - there are definitely A LOT of changes!
The course wasn’t overly exciting to me, but there were some simple ideas. Getaway looks like it should be tricky, but no one seemed to struggle and it just felt like this year’s clunky “Carnival” obstacle. Lasso Launch looks really tough to me with the backwards move - I’m glad they incorporated a relatively new type of movement and with a unique rope grip too (well, it fits the lasso theme but still nice!). I don’t know how to feel about the obstacle theming - when it was just one or two things a season being themed like Coconut Climb, I thought it was kind of neat. Now the themes feel a bit contrived and like they’re being used to cover up repetition. Not that these obstacles are unoriginal, but the theming just feels like their millionth way of “changing things” in the past couple of seasons that doesn’t do much. Greased Lightning felt a bit old school, but that’s not really a bad thing - and the dismount made it no joke. Ring the Bells is actually a fairly original idea although seems kind of like an obstacle #2 and #5 rolled into one. It produced some interesting moments, but I don’t think it has much more mileage - though I’m sure we’ll see it more anyway!
The Pole Vault is good as it’s FINALLY something other than steps! Good for them for changing that. One of the few unexpected changes that was definitely needed. And it produces some close calls without eliminating too many people so it works well too!
Glad Split Decision is gone! Finally they do something to simplify things again (even if it’s to make way for 15 new unnecessary rules!). The new Mega Wall rules are a bit arbitrary, but I’m not against encouraging speed. I just think most people who try to go fast just to try the Mega Wall are a bit crazy.
Having only 30 contestants competing is weird when 16 (I think) move on! It leads to scenarios where people who fall really wary move on (like the guy who failed Greased Lightning (the SECOND OBSTACLE) getting to compete in the playoff - forget if he won or not*). That’s pretty ridiculous that someone can move on for clearing a single obstacle. I know in the early days of the women’s rule, there were times where women would advance for only clearing the Floating Steps, but now that’s bleeding into the whole Qualifying round. The cutoff seems to be lower these days in general, which makes the fifth obstacle (and sometimes even third or fourth) kind of pointless. I think that’s one reason why the Qualifying round has so many gimmicks going on these days (like the race to the Mega Wall), or else there would be no purpose for the second half of the course - other than for pride I guess. Makes the whole show feel a bit less serious, but that’s been an issue for years.
Now let’s circle back to the playoffs. I want to say it’s a cool idea to race for the 12th spot, but it feels a bit contrived, like it’s just there to have something else. Also it’s ridiculous in cases where competitor #12 failed the fifth obstacle and #13 failed the third obstacle, but the third one goes on to win. I’m not saying it’s unfair, as it’s a predetermined part of the rule of course, but it just makes the whole thing feel arbitrary. The course itself is okay and cool that they added Home Run as a new obstacle. The upperbody obstacles are no joke, I thought this course would be more Team Ninja Warrior-style rope swings and static obstacles, but it actually includes some big moves! Still not a fan.
Another weird thing about this episode(s) is that both beats ended without a real “last runner of the night”. The last runs in both rounds were just quick “while you were aways” of random people. Ever since the regionals were scrapped, there seems to be less organization to the runs in an episode (which I kind of used to ask for when it was so formulaic, but I start to miss having the big runner of the night to look forward to at the end). But I think part of that is actually the result of there no longer being regionals, as there’s just less organization to who’s where.
I was surprised they went for two qualifiers in an episode, and after I saw that I assumed it’d be two qualifiers in one for the rest of the season (Sasukepedia lists eight qualfying courses so seemed logical they’d keep doubling up to spend a month in the Qualifying round), but turns out next week’s is just one hour devoted to episode three. First time only having an hour-long episode since season six?! The shorter length may actually help ratings, I’ve gotten used to it being long and it’s kind of sad that that’s no more, but my dad always says two hours for qualifying rounds in excessive and he’s prob right.
*Me not remembering who won kind of illustrates just how little I know the contestants these days. Sure, part of that is due to my disability with remembering faces and another part is due to me not watching last season, but there’s also just been A LOT of change. I was supportive of the kids competing at first, but I didn’t think half the field would be younger than me lmao. Feels weird. But yeah, I think all the new faces that I’m not really invested in just makes it harder to follow. I’m more attached to the competitors I’ve been seeing since season 4 and I think going to their cities back in the day helped build that “relationship”. Now it’s just a bunch of people in random heats of repetitive courses. Kind of sad. It also doesn’t help that the family members are still all on the screen they cut to constantly instead of being present. You just don’t get connected to people with all these changes.
So yeah, tons of changes this year, but most of it was just a big nothing to me. Clearly the show is on its last legs and I don’t enjoy it nearly as much as I used to, but I still hope it improves. I definitely never see it going back to 2013-2019 scale, but still. It’s cool seeing the obstacles they come up with, but even their original ideas still manage to feel a bit lazy these days and they worry too much about how the obstacles LOOK. Oh well, we’ll see how this season goes…..
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6/Jun/23, 9:10 am
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Takeshi1
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Re: American Ninja Warrior Season 15
Yeah not being invested in the competitors is a good point - it's interesting that they spend 50-60 seconds on each fluff piece but you can't remember who the person was as soon as their run has finished.
Must say tho 1 hour is so much better than 2! The two hour qualifiers seemed too long for me as a ninja fan - especially with their sloggish editing style - so 1 hour makes it much more digestible and entertaining.
The duals at the end very much feel shoved on and not needed but I don't really find them offensive either. I don't really care much whether they're there or not. Interesting tho that they seem to focus much more time on the mens race than the womens one.
Pole Vault honestly is a rare occasion of an obstacle I could see on old school Sasuke, Kunoichi or Viking - obviously a good thing, and shows how strong the field is that it's a first obstacle.
I also like that they've chosen quicker obstacle twos this year - the time limit for mega wall has helped here I think.
So far I think it's much better than the previous two years but agree that there may not be any new ANW episodes filmed after these last two series. It does seem like they're trying to get as much as possible out of as little as possible which is probably the reason for one hour episodes anyway. Hope repetition doesn't start to cause issues, it may well do as we've seen with many an obstacle course show.
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18/Jun/23, 11:29 pm
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Messup434
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Re: American Ninja Warrior Season 15
Well, Qualifiers are over.
They weren’t really terrible, buuuuut the obstacles got very repetitive. Only having two alternatives, except for the fifth obstacle with three, is some of the worst repetition we’ve seen on ANW. From here, I can only see the show getting more repetitive. I assume ANW 16 will have pretty much the same pattern for Qualifying.
The obstacles themselves are fine, the repetition kills it.
Haven’t yet commented on the Kite Surfer, but I like it - think it’s preferable to the…. breaking in one (The Getaway?) because people can fail it and it’s more cohesive.
Log Runner also better than Domino Effect - both are fine though, but also getting very old. Wish they had at least one new balance obstacle.
I like the Cubes a lot - probably my fave of the three fifth obstacles. It combines lots of different movements and has a creative design. It’s just a shame they did four eps with Lasso Launch for some reason, meaning it was repeated just as much as the other obstacles that only had one counterpart.
It was silly last night how they introduced the Cubes as a special obstacle when they’d already appeared a month before with no theming. Don’t know if Rubik’s cubes relate to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at all either or if they just chose anything they could attach the theme too. I guess season 16 will have no movie sponsors considering it’s already been filmed and won’t air for a year (unless it’s just added in after the fact like some of the Secret Life of Pets stuff was).
Now we’re onto semifinals, “where every run is a race”. I think doing the races at the end of the Qualifying episodes was a mistake because now the racing format and the obstacles on that course already seem repetitive- and the episodes are so short now that we could’ve just seen a couple more runs on the proper course.
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25/Jul/23, 6:43 pm
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