Gurowake

I meant more along the lines of having the graphics and whatever else English. The utility of commentators is going to vary depending on the viewer; certainly very experienced viewers aren't going to care at all about it, but less experienced viewers would prefer knowing more about what's going on.

The point is that foreign fans don't have many good options to watch sumo and only sumo, and the rightsholders seem very keen on not giving them any options. If there's an option to pay for that includes only sumo and it's in English, that will make people not want to try to get around the rightsholders. The best way to prevent most piracy is to simply make an accessible and affordable option.

And yet you thought (correctly) Mitakeumi would be behind Kotoshoho, when it's like the exact same situation. I guess it's just the idea that there should be a minimum demotion for a 5-10, and Kotoshoho met that easily, while Daiseizan didn't? This also makes the only half rank demotions of Ura and Tokihayate even stranger, as if they feel now that they can't leave a 7-8 at their rank if there's at all someone else close enough to take their spot, but that's the only time they'll ignore the numbers.

That's exactly why they went with the middle. It happens not infrequently, as already discussed.

I normally think "a 7-8 should only hold their position if there's no reasonable candidate to put there", but slowly over time what counts as a "reasonable candidate" I've made harder and harder, to the point where it was simply "does someone have the numbers to go ahead of them?", which is clearly wrong on both Ura and Tokihayate this banzuke.

Mitakeumi behind Kotoshoho invalidates one of the things that I had taken for granted - that terrible records (3 wins or less) were always shown more leniency than the numbers would suggest. I seem to recall there may have been another of these (if not more than one) recently, but now it's absolutely clear and I need to change my thinking.

Is there no more pro-incumbent bias for promotions? Or is the difference between Komusubi and Sekiwake simply not one that matters to them, seeing as there's no difference in pay?

The trick is just being better on average than anyone else. If you really suck at it, but everyone else sucks more, you'll be high ranked.

They're the same name, but they aren't from the same ichimon, so while I don't know for sure, I don't expect that to have been a consideration. edit: Guess I was wrong.

Or anywhere it's cold a good part of the year.

Back when rikishi never switched sides of the dohyo during the basho and always fought from the side they were on the banzuke, an odd maegashira out would have to be on the opposite side from the odd sanyaku. Now, not so much.

Just because something is "normal" doesn't mean it should be tolerated. Slavery was "normal" throughout most of human history. Now it's not.

Exactly. I'm just doing the same random speculation that everyone else is.

And yet this was the one he selected. Maybe that's part of the deal here somehow.

I think I have those same differences, plus swapping Meisei and Takarafuji, Mitakeumi and Kotoshoho, and putting Takerufuji ahead of Shodai and Atamifuji, a choice that I feel is likely wrong but I'm too much of a slave to the numbers.