vkmag.com

“Banzuke” presents a variety of challenges: fiendishly difficult obstacle courses that must be navigated by bicycle or on stilts, say, or a timed rice-barrel relay conducted on a huge seesaw that mustn’t touch the ground. Failure can be just as spectacular and telegenic as it is on “MXC” or “Jackass,” but it inspires sympathetic groans rather than sardonic frat-house laughter.