Benevolance

I cannot abide anyone who advertises his lack of Waka so blatantly. A curse upon his goats and hockey pucks!

I'm not sure why they would start making Takayasu face upper ranked wrestlers at this point, as opposed to continuing their usual scheduling? Because he's been at the top before? Isn't it more usual to expect him to face someone in the running, but higher up the banzuke, around day 13 when they actually need to settle the yusho race? It feels to me that's how they've done it for a while now. Poor Aoiyama. But I dare you to find a rikishi vs Hakuho not named Harumafuji or Kisenosato that would be considered fair odds during Hak's reign. I remember very heated* discussions on the forums as to whether Kise was 'good' or 'bad' based on the fact that he won about 1 in 3 or 4 times vs Hakuho, and he had the second best record against the daiyokozuna. *as heated as an outdoor hockey rink in Red Deer

A 13-2 yusho would be out of Takayasu's reach, so let's hope the 12-3 can do it.

I read this sentence three times and it still doesn't make any sense to me.

I derive immense satisfaction from watching a dohyo get built.

Fingers crossed that losing his sense of smell has somehow improved Shodai's tachi-ai.

If only Takanoyama had known earlier that the key to putting on some extra weight was retirement, he could have retired earlier and then he'd have been able to compete in Makuuchi.

My boundless pessimism about Mitakeumi's fighting spirit has finally yielded it's intended results, catapulting this rikishi to an undeserved ozeki position. I had always pegged Mitakeumi as the next Goeidou, but I think that Shodai stole the position and refuses to give it up. Well, refuses to give it up, but only every other basho.

Ex-Harumafuji dons the pikachu mascot costume and re-enters sumo under the shikona Pikachu Libre. The sumo association tries to object, but after several failed legal challenges, they cannot stop him. Pikachu Libre soon rises to the rank of yokozuna, dominating the opposition with his lightning quick Pikachu-non-henka. The children of the world rejoice.

Thankfully Mitakeumi has a record of making these ozeki promotion decisions easy for the committee and his eventual 11-4 won't please the fishmongers.

Nintendo should have provided everyone within throwing distance soft, squishy pokeballs to lob. Missed opportunity.

Okay, but how do we order copies of the banners?

Someone should direct Isegahama to the Ridiculous Predictions thread.

I see they've gone with the Ground-type gym, per usual. It won't give either Terunofuji (fighting type) or Pikachu (electric type) an advantage due to terrain, so it's a respectable choice. Kind of cool that the last pic previews the Ryōgoku Kokugikan Gym badge.

The only way I fathom it being broken is if the holder of the shield in the previous tournament did not participate in the following tournament, either because of injury or retirement. Otherwise, if the holder withdraws, his opponent gets the fusen win and the shield moves on.

Oh, hey. Seiyashi! Asojima said to tell you that you should track the shield ownership across all of sumo history.

It was a mix up at the karaoke bar. They called the front desk to order more beer and the World Record judges were delivered instead. Honest mistake when you've have a few pints and an American Express Platinum Visa card: Membership changes everything. This has been a paid advertisement.

It was kind of lost in the YDC report on rikishi and degeiko that there were some other revisions proposed to help improve the technical side of sumo. Foremost among them, the YDC wants to introduce a Gatcha element to honbasho. Sumotori will be given one free Move Capsule each day of the tournament. This Move Capsule will contain one 'winning move' that they're permitted to use; defeating an opponent with a move other than the one designated results in a do-over. Additional Move Capsules can be purchased for 100Y each, but to acquire favourites like yorikiri, oshidashi and the dreaded henka, rikishi or their supporters will need to purchase the Premium Move Capsules, valued at 1,000Y each. Premium Move Capsules may also contain special events like "What Mono-ii?" and "The Gyoji is Clearly Blind" to help provide an edge in close bouts, and epic cards like, "Araiso oyakata, with a folding chair, in the parking garage" to help guarantee those Fusen wins.

We're only one more global pandemic away from the kyokai becoming a full-on subsidiary of Nintendo (TM). Then we'll have an elder standing on either side of the ring and shouting commands at the rikishi. Shohozan, use Thrust! Shimanoumi, Dodge!

The YDC was arguing about Hakuho's sumo for about an hour before someone pointed out he wasn't active anymore.

If Takakeisho and Terunofuji end up in another playoff, that'll be kinda awesome. Edit: Like, it's already happened several times. And if it becomes their 'thing' I'd be totally okay with that.

Inside scoop is that he faked an illness to avoid shimpan duties so that Shohozan couldn't tackle him on the sidelines.

I suspect it'll be the AshHo era.

Shohozan looks like a man whose spirit is willing, but his body won't keep up.

If they did that, I could totally compete in the Tour de France. Assuming I could get my preferred yotsu grip on a decent cyclist, of course.