The Soritatsu Kabe (そり立つ壁), called the Warped Wall on English broadcasts, is one of the oldest and more difficult obstacles in SASUKE history. Introduced in SASUKE 5, the Soritatsu Kabe has been in every SASUKE tournament since then with the exception of SASUKE 18 where the Great Wall took its place. Its function is simple: Competitors must scale a concave quarter-pipe by running up and grabbing the top of the wall. However, this has proven to be one of the most difficult obstacles in history as every competitor who achieved Kanzenseiha, every one of the SASUKE All-Stars and most top competitors have failed there. Aside from Yamamoto Shingo, the All-Stars have all failed here at least once.
The Soritatsu Kabe is one of the most iconic obstacles in the show's history, showing up everywhere from Muscle Park to several American Ninja Challenge events, including all of the American Ninja Warrior tournaments. Many competitors (including four of the All-Stars) have built this in their backyards to help train. However, on American Ninja Challenge/Warrior versions, there are four differences from the SASUKE version. Firstly, the wall is just 14 feet tall (4.26 meters). Secondly, competitors have just 3 attempts (5 attempts on American Ninja Warrior 1) to complete it (due to the fact that as the clock counts up in American Ninja Warrior, there is no way to being timed out). Thirdly, any competitor who slipped off the side of the wall would be disqualified (as opposed to being allowed to try again). And finally, the wall has longer runway than in SASUKE version (for qualifying rounds). Starting on American Ninja Warrior 8, the wall is increased to 14.5 ft. tall (4.41 meters).
On American Ninja Warrior 5 in Denver qualifier, Nika Muckelroy became the first female competitor to attempt this obstacle, followed by Jessie Graff in Venice Beach finals on the same season. However, both of them could not complete it. On American Ninja Warrior 6 in Dallas qualifier, Kacy Catanzaro became the first female competitor to complete it and later the qualifying round, followed by Michelle Warnky in St. Louis qualifier (second female competitor), and Meagan Martin in Denver qualifier (third female competitor). On American Ninja Warrior 7 in Venice Beach finals, Jessie Graff became the fourth female competitor to complete it. On American Ninja Warrior 8 in Philadelphia finals, Jesse Labreck became the fifth female competitor to complete it.
Interestingly, if the competitor went off the obstacle, as Takeda Toshihiro did in SASUKE 7, they would be allowed to climb back up to the obstacle and try again without disqualification, meaning that there is no possible way to fail here other than running out of time.
SASUKE 5-17 version
A drawing of the original Soritatsu Kabe.
In the original version of the obstacle, competitors had 2.7m to run in order to scale a 4.3m (actual height is 5m) high wall. Many competitors found that in order to have success on the obstacle, competitors would need to run up and jump at their highest point in order to reach the top. In SASUKE 13, the producers added in the Neshireta Kabe to the course. This made the Soritatsu Kabe slightly easier as competitors were able to use the landing platform of the Neshireta Kabe to get more speed into the Soritatsu Kabe, making reaching the top easier. Also in SASUKE 16, there is a long runway after the Reverse Fly which the competitor can use to gain more speed making it very easy. As a proof, no one failed there in that tournament. Also, starting in SASUKE 13, the producers would remove a piece off the top of the wall for competitors under the age of 17, over the age of 50, and female competitors. This made the wall about half a meter shorter. The Soritatsu Kabe proved to be very tough in SASUKE 8 due to the heavy rains that day. This made competitors grip on the obstacle very low. The Soritatsu Kabe also became particularly tricky in SASUKE 15. Due to the extreme heat, competitors became very winded by the time they reached the Soritatsu Kabe, causing several time outs of top competitors.
This version of Soritatsu Kabe is also used as the sixth obstacle in Stage One from American Ninja Warrior 4 until now, with the wall's height is 14 feet, shorter runway than in qualifying rounds (about half in length than in qualifying rounds; as same as SASUKE version), and no 3-attempts rule as in qualifying rounds (the only way to fail was being timed out). On American Ninja Warrior 6, Meagan Martin became the first female competitor to attempt this version of Soritatsu Kabe, and timed out. On American Ninja Warrior 7, Jessie Graff became the second female competitor to attempt it, but timed out, and so did Meagan Martin (for the second straight tournament). On American Ninja Warrior 8, Jessie Graff became the first female competitor to complete Soritatsu Kabe in Stage One's American Ninja Warrior, and later the stage (becoming the first female competitor to complete Stage One, equalling Tanabe Chie's First Stage completion on SASUKE 2).
Competitors' Success Rate
- All results based on the TBS broadcast and external information found
| SASUKE | Clears | Attempts | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 5 | 10 | 50% |
| 6 | 7 | 11 | 63.64% |
| 7 | 11 | 17 | 64.71% |
| 8 | 8 | 13 | 61.53% |
| 9 | 7 | 10 | 70% |
| 10 | 9 | 10 | 90% |
| 11 | 13 | 17 | 76.47% |
| 12 | 15 | 16 | 93.75% |
| 13 | 11 | 14 | 78.57% |
| 14 | 15 | 18 | 83.33% |
| 15 | 11 | 17 | 62.5% |
| 16 | 22 | 22 | 100% |
| 17 | 14 | 20 | 73.68% |
| Total* | 157 | 254 | 62.06% |
- NOTE: In a special before SASUKE 15, the completion percentage was said to be (from SASUKE 5 to SASUKE 14) 110 clears out of 192 attempts for a percentage of 57.2%. It is unknown how competitors did in each specific tournament, so only the total number is counted with this information.
Gallery
Shin-SASUKE Version
Hirata Atsushi on the Soritatsu Kabe in SASUKE 19.
The Soritatsu Kabe was brought back in SASUKE 19 after being replaced by the Great Wall in SASUKE 18. This new version of the obstacle was harder, as the height was raised to 4.5m (20cm higher than the original - the actual height is now 5.2m). This proved to be a problem for SASUKE All-Stars Shiratori Bunpei and Takeda Toshihiro as they failed there several times in SASUKE 19 before finally beating it with little time left.
A tester demonstrating the Soritatsu Kabe in SASUKE 24.
From SASUKE 22 to SASUKE 24, competitors were able to use the small landing next to the Soritatsu Kabe to help get them more speed going into the wall similar to how the Neshireta Kabe would do the same for the Soritatsu Kabe in SASUKE 13-15.
This version was eventually replaced by the Ni Ren Soritatsu Kabe seen below, but returned in SASUKE 31. Its height was once again increased, as its actual height is now 5.5m (even though its still 4.5m shown in broadcast), confirmed via Japanese Wikipedia.
On SASUKE 32, Kacy Catanzaro became the first female competitor to complete this obstacle during the allocated time limit in an official SASUKE competiton (not counting Watanabe Mika's completion during the SASUKE 13 Trials), before timed out on the Lumberjack Climb. However, Oshima Ayano is officially announced to be the first female competitor to clear in SASUKE 31 even though she timed out before climbing atop of the wall.
Competitors' Success Rate
- All results based on the TBS broadcast and external information found
| SASUKE | Clears | Attempts | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | 12 | 16 | 75% |
| 20 | 13 | 18 | 62.5% |
| 21 | 22 | 28 | 78.57% |
| 22 | 23 | 26 | 88.46% |
| 23 | 33 | 35 | 94.28% |
| 24 | 16 | 20 | 80% |
| 25 | 16 | 22 | 78.95% |
| 26 | 14 | 16 | 93.33% |
| 27 | 30 | 36 | 85.71% |
| 31 | 20 | 33 | 60.60% |
| 32 | 16 | 22 | 72.72% |
| 33 | 15 | 21 | 71.42% |
| Total | 226 | 284 | 79.57% |
Ni Ren Soritatsu Kabe
In SASUKE 28, there were 2 walls instead of 1, and the obstacle was called the Ni Ren Soritatsu Kabe (2連そり立つ壁) literally "Double Warped Wall". The first wall is 4.0m tall and the second wall is equivalent to the Shin-SASUKE version (4.5m). This obstacle took down Nagano Makoto, who hadn't failed the Soritatsu Kabe since SASUKE 8, in the first two competitions it has been present in. It should be noted Nagano had badly injured his hamstring during his second attempt. It also took down notable competitors such as Nakayama Kinnikun and Tomoyuki. After SASUKE 30, the first wall was removed to make room for the Tackle, thus reverting the obstacle back to its Shin-SASUKE version.
Competitors' Success Rate
- All results based on the TBS broadcast and external information found
| SASUKE | Clears | Attempts | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 28 | 7 | 12 | 58.82% |
| 29 | 22 | 26 | 84.62% |
| 30 | 33 | 38 | 90.18% |
| Total | 62 | 76 | 82.66% |
KUNOICHI 9 Version
In KUNOICHI 9, the Soritatsu Kabe appeared for the very first time for the reboot. During the official broadcast, the name for Soritatsu Kabe (反り立つ壁) differs from the original name. The Navi states both the original name as well as a custom translated English name, Steep Wall. This version of the obstacle was modified for the female competitors, and was lower than the original version's height.
Competitor's Success Rate
- All results based on the TBS broadcast and external information found.
| KUNOICHI | Clears | Attempts | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | 7 | 9 | 77.78% |
| Total | 7 | 9 | 77.78% |
External Links
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