Kobayashi Shinji

Kobayashi Shinji (小林 信治) is a sanitary engineer who attempted SASUKE 10 times. Four of his attempts were cut from the broadcast.

His first appearance was in SASUKE 11 after he qualified for the tournament by placing third in the Monkey Bars event in Taiku Ookoku. In the tournament, he finished second only behind Nagano in the tournament which was impressive for a rookie at the time, he cleared the First Stage with relative ease, blazing through most of the obstacles, although he struggled with the Soritatsu Kabe, needing two runs at it. He finished with 9.3 secs left. In the Second Stage, he once again showcased his speed and set a time record, clearing with 20.4 seconds, the first instance of a Second Stage clear over 20 seconds, and a record which stood for several years until it was broken by Nagasaki Shunsuke in SASUKE 18. In the Third Stage, he shocked many again by beating many of the obstacles that gained a reputation for being difficult on first timers, and he even cleared the Cliffhanger with no difficulties, which shocked many, even the announcer. His incredible run however came to a bitter end on the Pipe Slider, as he could not keep the bar at the end of the track and his grip eventually gave way.

In his next two appearances, he failed to clear the First Stage. His SASUKE 12 performance was all cut (though his fail was seen in the intro) and in SASUKE 13, he was digested. It is shown that he mis-hit the trampoline and could not grab any of the ropes on the re-designed Jump Hang.

Competing at SASUKE 14, he came back to form as he blazed through the First Stage, clearing the new Ensuitobi quickly and pressing the red button at the end of the stage with his signed shoes. He continued on through the Second Stage and cleared with no problem again. His Third Stage attempt was once again equally impressive, going even further than Nagano on the redesigned third stage. He had no problem with the Curtain Cling and proved that his cliffhanger clear was no fluke by swiftly clearing it again. The new Jumping Bars which would later take down Nagano and Climbing Bars were also no match for him. When he got to the new Devil Balanço, he was able to build enough momentum to grab the Pipe Slider, however when he attempted to grab it, he missed and the bar moved much further away from its starting position. He continued to swing, but the distance was far too great and he barely touched the pipe as we went down the furthest of all third stage attempts that tournament. He was the only person in that tournament to beat the Jumping Bars and Climbing Bars.

He returned for SASUKE 15, wearing #98. There, he made it through most of the First Stage. However, on the Nejireta Kabe, he tripped on the small railing and made a desperate attempt to grab the rope, but failed.

SASUKE 16 would be the last time Kobayashi would clear the first stage. However, it would also be the only time he would fail the second stage, as like many that day, he failed the Metal Spin, which had been altered since he beat it in SASUKE 14. He did not compete in SASUKE 17.

In the Shin-SASUKE era, he competed four times, three of which have been cut. His performances where a far cry from his two great runs in the past, as he was unable to clear the stage. His only shown appearance was during SASUKE 20, where he failed the Jumping Spider. He was however partially shown during parts of broadcasts, notably during Shiratori Bunpei's run at SASUKE 21 where he was seen with some other all-stars

Before Shin-SASUKE. he was treated like a SASUKE All-Star, complete with theme song, In fact, Kobayashi was mistakenly called an All-Star on some G4 broadcasts. After SASUKE 21, he retired from SASUKE and no longer competed. He has failed the First Stage 7 times, the Second Stage once, the Third Stage twice and he has never made it to the Final Stage.