Is this year NJC the most unpredictable in years?

So I've caught up with the Osaka show and looking at the NJC brackets. It is incredibly open in terms of who the winner could be?

I started watching in 2017 so I had no clue if it was a rumor or predicted that Shibata would win the NJC or ZSJ in 2018. 2019 it was very clear Okada was winning since the story with Jay was still going at the time at you had MSG to worry about.

From 2020- 2023 we've had some predictable winners outside of Sanada. And in 2024 Finlay was the prediction to win the tournament but Tsuji seemed like the right decision either way at that time. And now the field I open with Goto as champion.