Kinniku Banzuke

Kinniku Banzuke
GenreSports entertainment
Variety show
Game show
Presented byIchirou Furutachi
Ryuuta Mine
Emily Nakayama
Country of originJapan
No. of seasons28
No. of episodes267 + 20 Specials
Production
ProducerUshio Higuchi
Running time56–60 minutes
Production companiesTBS Sports

Dreamax

Monster9
Original release
NetworkTBS
ReleaseJuly 8, 1995 (1995-07-08) 
May 4, 2002 (2002-05-04)
Related
Sasuke
Body
Sasuke Mania
Viking: The Ultimate Obstacle Course
Taiiku no Jikan (Physical Education Time)

Kinniku Banzuke (筋肉番付, lit. Muscle Ranking), known internationally as Unbeatable Banzuke, is a Japanese television program, that aired weekly as the premier sports entertainment variety show of TBS. Originally a spinoff of Pro Sportsman No.1, it evolved into its own series which has continued to see spinoffs and installments for more than three decades. Several seasonal specials were also made, such as Sasuke, which would become a worldwide franchise in its own right.

Through various games based on varying disciplines of sports, professional players and general participants challenged the limits of physical strength and technique, winning prizes if all challenges were successfully destroyed. The popularity of the displays of amazing physical strength and technique by professional players and luck of general participants drove TV Asahi to move its anime time slot up one hour and caused the cancellation of Heisei Kyouikuiinkai (平成教育委員会, Heisei Board of Education) on Fuji TV.

The use of the program's mascot, Kongou-kun (金剛くん, Adamantium Boy), originally only featured during the broadcast, expanded in 1996 into the program's opening sequence and every game's introduction. Later on, he appeared in a wide variety of merchandise including Anime, Manga, Video games, Action figures, Trading cards and Board games.