The Tourenban (倒連板) is an obstacle in the Third Stage of KUNOICHI, first introduced in KUNOICHI 2003. The obstacle was somewhat of a successor to the Sponge Bridge event in Kinniku Banzuke, which itself most likely inspired by the Dominoes game from TBS gameshow Takeshi's Castle.
Competitors must walk across 40 foam dominoes of increasing height and sensitivity without losing their balance; the further along the competitors went, the less stable the dominoes would become. The distance of the obstacle itself is 18 meters (59.06 feet).
This was one of the most iconic obstacles in KUNOICHI, and also one of the most difficult, as it has the lowest success rate of any obstacle in KUNOICHI history.
First Version (KUNOICHI 2003-2006 Summer)[]
The first incarnation of the Tourenban lasted for four tournaments. It was comprised of a grand total of 40 dominoes, split into four zones, each zone taller and thinner than the last.
- The first zone, the blue zone consisted of 12 dominoes, all at the same height. It was roughly one meter (3.28 feet) high.
- The second zone, the green zone, consisted of eight dominoes. The first half of this zone had its dominoes at about 1.25 meters (4.1 feet) high, while the second half raised the height to 1.5 meters (4.92 feet).
- The third zone, the yellow zone, was modeled exactly like the green zone; however, the height of the dominoes was increased to 1.75 meters (5.74 feet) and 2 meters (6.56 feet).
- Finally, the red zone was the final section of the Tourenban. It was composed of 12 foam pieces, the first half at 2.25 meters (7.38 feet), the second half at 2.5 meters (8.2 feet), and the last half at 2.75 meters (9.02 feet).
The yellow and red zones were the most lethal portions of the obstacle, accounting for 14 out of 16 failures. Using hands during this obstacle was not allowed, demonstrated by Iwai Tomoka in KUNOICHI 2006 Summer.
Second Version (KUNOICHI 2007)[]
The second version of the Tourenban was similar to the first; however, the red zone had been replaced with ten rounded, unstable, spring-loaded posts, somewhat similar to the Buyoishi known as the Tourenbou (倒連棒), which was considered as an individual obstacle not part of Tourenban, as the third obstacle of the stage, thus technically shortening/splitting the obstacle.
In addition, each zone now had ten dominoes/springs a piece instead of the 12-8-8-12 format. Due to the implementation of the Tourenbou, this meant that the boards only went about as high as the original Yellow Zone before competitors had to make the transition to the Tourenbou. Tanaka Maho was ultimately the only competitor to attempt this version of the Tourenban, taking a much slower pace compared to the previous tournament, and surprisingly failed just four dominoes short of clearing it.
Due to the format change in KUNOICHI 2009, this version of Tourenban was ultimately never cleared and was replaced with a new version to accommodate the new format.
Third Version (KUNOICHI 2009~)[]
The third and final version of the Tourenban was toned down in the course redesign of KUNOICHI 2009. It was placed as the fourth obstacle in the Second Stage and was composed of 17 foam dominoes, all about 1.5 meters in height. Unlike the original Tourenban, the top of the foam pieces had their edges cut off, possibly to keep competitors in a straight line, making the obstacle harder to traverse. Due to its modification and stage relocation, the number of completions in this tournament was much higher than the previous tournaments.
This version would eventually return for KUNOICHI 2017 Spring, being the only obstacle maintained from the previous tournament, where it was identical to the version from the previous tournament, aside from an aesthetic color change. It was placed as the fifth obstacle in the BLUE Stage (Second Stage) and was renamed as the Sponge Bridge (スポンジブリッジ) which is also the name of an event in Kinniku Banzuke, in which this obstacle was inspired from. The number of foam dominoes was reduced to fifteen. Only one out of five competitors could complete it.
The Sponge Bridge returned once again in KUNOICHI 2017 Summer, where it was the third obstacle in the BLACK Stage (Third Stage). This time, among the three competitors who attempted the obstacle, all of them could complete it (making it the first time in KUNOICHI history that the Tourenban/Sponge Bridge had a 100% completion rate).
In KUNOICHI 2018, all competitors cleared once again except Tsubuki Airi, when she used her hands and got disqualified.
Other Appearances[]
First version[]
SASUKE Ninja Warrior Indonesia[]
The Domino Hill appeared on SASUKE Ninja Warrior Indonesia, as the third obstacle during Challenge Stage, becoming one of the most iconic obstacles of the stage.
In this version, the obstacle was more similar with KUNOICHI 2003-2006 Summer version, except the number of dominoes was drastically reduced to just 11, and all dominoes had the same height.
Competitors were not allowed to touch the obstacle with their hands, not step the top of the dominoes, and skip the dominoes (i.e., not step all of the dominoes). This version of the Domino Hill was proven to be relatively easy for the competitors.
Third version[]
American Ninja Warrior[]
The KUNOICHI 2009 version of the Tourenban (called as the Domino Hill) appeared on American Ninja Warrior 5, as the third obstacle in Venice Beach, becoming the first KUNOICHI obstacle to be used on American Ninja Warrior (since American Ninja Warrior was mostly based on SASUKE).
In this version, there were only seven dominoes instead of 17. In addition, the dominoes were at a gradual incline.
Unlike in KUNOICHI, where competitors took a slow approach to complete it, most competitors used a fast approach by skipping some dominoes.
Other domino-like obstacles would later appear in American Ninja Warrior, such as Domino Pipes in American Ninja Warrior 9's Stage One and Domino Effect in American Ninja Warrior 13.
SASUKE Ninja Warrior Indonesia[]
On SASUKE Ninja Warrior Indonesia 2017, the Domino Hill returned in the form of the Ultimate Domino Hill, once again as the third obstacle during Challenge Stage.
This time, the obstacle was more similar with the KUNOICHI 2009 version, except there were 11 equally sized dominoes arranged on a staircase. As a side note, the obstacle was very similar to the Yellow Zone of the Sponge Bridge I in Kinniku Banzuke.
Competitors were not allowed to touch the obstacle with hands, skip the dominoes (i.e., not step all of the dominoes), and touch/step the padding.
Unlike on the previous season, several competitors (including rookies and veterans) failed on this obstacle, in which most of them failed to maintain the balance.
In the end, the Ultimate Domino Hill became the cut-off for advancing to Warrior Stage, in which the position of the domino that could be reached by competitors (first through eleventh) and how fast competitors could reach that particular domino would determine whether competitors advanced to Warrior Stage or not.
During SASUKE Ninja Warrior Indonesia: International Competition, the Ultimate Domino Hill caused chaos, as notable competitors from different teams were taken out by this obstacle (due to the fact that competitors tried to complete the course in the fastest possible time, resulting in some competitors being disqualified for skipping some of the dominoes). Competitors who fell at this obstacle during the tournament were:
- Drew Drechsel and Josh Levin from Team USA,
- Dion Trigg and Sergio Verdasco from Team Europe, and
- Hioki Masashi, Kawaguchi Tomohiro, Morimoto Yūsuke, and Matachi Ryo from Team Japan.
Competitors' Success Rate[]
- All results based on the TBS broadcast and external information found.
KUNOICHI[]
Tourenban | |||
---|---|---|---|
KUNOICHI | Clears | Attempts | Percentage |
2003 | 3 | 9 | 33.33% |
1 | 6 | 16.66% | |
2 | 5 | 40% | |
3 | 4 | 75% | |
0 | 1 | 0% | |
2009 | 13 | 22 | 59.09% |
2017 Spring | 1 | 5 | 20% |
2017 Summer | 3 | 3 | 100% |
2018 | 3 | 4 | 75% |
Total | 29 | 59 | 49.15% |
Gallery[]
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