Kobayashi Masaaki

Kobayashi Masaaki (小林 正明) is a gymnastics instructor who at one point was the third best gymnast in Japan. He also owns a gymnastics studio. He attempted SASUKE six times, reaching the Third Stage on his first three tries.

Kobayashi made his debut in SASUKE 12. His gymnastics background propelled him through the first two stages with ease, but he ultimately failed the Body Prop. He competed in the SASUKE 13 Trials and cleared with the third fastest time, behind only All-Stars Takeda Toshihiro and Nagano Makoto. He did, however, beat out the other four All-Stars and many other elite and future elite competitors. In the tournament, he proved that this was no fluke by clearing the First and Second Stages again. In the Third Stage, he defeated the Body Prop that took him down last time but failed the next obstacle, the new Curtain Cling. He returned for SASUKE 14 and displayed the same success but once again fell to the Body Prop.

However, Kobayashi never got a shot at revenge on the Body Prop. In SASUKE 15, Kobayashi was one of the many competitors to fail the Soritatsu Kabe amid the summer heat. He cleared the First Stage for the final time in SASUKE 16 but like many that day failed the Metal Spin.

After a 12-tournament hiatus, he finally returned for SASUKE 29. He was shown in the SASUKE 29 Navi as having good speed, however on the Jump Hang Kai he failed to hold onto the left net and fell into the water. He's the only competitor who was shown on Navi and the actual broadcast.