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Issue#34
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The July Nagoya Sumo Tournament
Hakuho
The July Sumo Tournament is over after 15 days. It was a great tournament, and I am happy about most of it. Though Japanese are still waiting and wanting a Japanese wrestler to win a tournament after 10 some years of all foreign born wrestlers winning. I will be covering a good number of wrestlers who I feel are the most important or simply just were the most interesting this basho (Tournament) if you would like me to cover another wrestler either this tournament or next then please do say something.
The Winner of the tournament (Basho) was Hakuho, of Yokozuna rank, this is his 35th championship win in the highest division adding on to his amazing record of having the most championship wins in Sumo. He was able to pull through with an impressive record of 14-1. For the most part Hakuho held the lead for most of the tournament save a couple of days. However a playoff was a big possibility if he had lost on the final day against Yokozuna Kakuryu, then a playoff would have immediately taken place against Kakuryu. However Hakuho won after an amazing bout against the other Yokozuna.
Yokozuna Harumafuji unfortunately had to pull out this tournament after an injury on the first day when he landed on his bad elbow, putting him out for the rest of the tournament. It is still unclear if he will be in the September Tournament, however as it looking now, he will probably be joining us. With Harumafuji pulling out we were once again left with only 2 Yokozuna.
Yokozuna Kakuryu returned after pulling out for 2 tournaments in a row, however it seems that the time off was not in vain as Kakuryu came back in force and good form. He was able to do some amazing sumo, and was the runner up in the tournament with a 12-3 record. He was rusty the first several days, but he still won, and his final match - where he faced Hakuho - he put up a great fight. After this great tournament many people will suspect that Kakuuryu may very well win in September.
Ozeki Terunofuji also had a great tournament, in his debut as Ozeki - where most wrestlers don't have a great tournament because of having little practice because of the celebrating the big promotion, Terunofuji came was able to get double digit wins at 11-4. With this great record in his debut, many people will be looking to see what he has to offer in September. Many are predicting that he will be promoted to Yokozuna by a years time. One must also wonder what Terunofuji's tournament would have looked like if his stable mate Harumafuji had been in it, Harumafuji could have delvered extra losses to the other yokozuna helping Terunofuji possibly win the cup like last tournament, but who knows. Terunofuji will have to win championships or at least go into the playoffs if he wants to be promoted, and not just once I think.
Ozeki Kotoshogiku was in a tight situation this tournament, being katoban - meaning that if he didn't get at least 8 wins then he would be demoted to Sekiwake and then have one chance of getting 10 wins or else have to start the climb to Ozeki all over again. Many also speculated that he might retire if he was demoted, as many other have. This however isn't the first time Kotoshogiku has been katoban. This tournament Things didn't look too good for him either, but hope remained. On the final day he was 7-7 going up against Terunofuji, and he won getting him to 8-7 and allowing him to remain as Ozeki and get the katoban off of him.
Ozeki Kisenosato had a good tournament and many are hoping for an even better one in September as they look for a Japanese wrestler to finally win a Tournament, and Kisenosato could very well be that person. However they have also been looking to him for a quite a while already. He's been Ozeki for almost 4 years now. His record for this tournament was 10-5, so double digit wins. Who knows what Kisenosato has in store for September.
Sekiwake Tochiozan excited the tournament this time, with a 10-5 record but that's not all he defeated both Yokozuna Kakuryu and Hakuho, and Ozeki Kisenosato and Kotoshogiku. While loosing to Ozeki Terunofuji and Guedio. He was in the hunt for the championship but fell from it. However this great record for him has started people talking about a possible Ozeki run and also people are looking for him to be a big competitor in September for the cup. He is Japanese and so many people may be looking at him as the greatest hope of a Japanese winning versus Kisenosato. He was able to get wins against the Yokozuna and Ozeki so many are looking to see if he can replicate it in September. Now for him to get promoted to Ozeki he will need to put up two more great tournaments in a row, the magic number is 33 wins within 3 consecutive tournaments, of course there are usually other factors involved as well. Though if he was promoted in say at the end of the November Tournament it would be very interesting to have 5 Ozeki. Tochiozan was also awarded the Outstanding performance award for his effort this basho.
Sadanoumi unfortunately didn't have an amazing tournament at Maegashira #1, however this is how he has been working since he reached the top division in may 2014. He has at least 8 wins one tournament and then the next he doesn't, then the next he has at least 8 wins then the next he doesn't. So going from how he's been doing next tournament in September he should have at least 8 wins. Now also each time he has failed to get 8 wins he has only gone down 1 rank, but each time he has gotten 8 wins he has gone up at least 2, but as many as 6. So we are hopping that in September he might be able to have a great record and get up into Sanyaku at Komusubi rank. He will probably go down to Maegashira #2.
Maegashira #1Tochinoshin had a rough tournament not only was he coming into it after being denied Komusubi rank after a 9-6 win last tournament and then he struggled to get his winning record this tournament having to win on the finally day to achieve it. However getting 8-7 record he will hopefully being going up to Komusubi this time. Of interest his final match was against Kyokutenho, which will now be Kyokutenho's final match in sumo.
Maegashira #11 Kyokutenho will be retiring after 99 top division tournaments and unfortunately a not so good record this tournament of 3-12. This record would have ousted him from the division down to a lower division. Kyokutenho decided that he would rather retire than go down to the lower division and have to work himself back up into the top division, and perhaps never again reach it. In his career he was able to win one Championship, get 2 kinboshi, 7 fighting spirit prizes, and at his peak reached the rank of Sekiwake. He will be turning 41 this September. He has said that he will stay in Sumo as an elder.
Maegashira #8 Osunaarashi had a great tournament despite being injured, which was from the previous basho. His sumo was sloppy, and not the best but he showed that despite all that he was still able to get 11 wins with only 4 losses and he will be shooting up high in rank for next tournament.
Maegashira #12 Endo had a good tournament at 10-5 and will be shooting up in the ranks again. He had been suffering from an injury the last two tournaments where he failed to get surgery and pull out, and went all the way down in ranks however he has showed here that he is back and ready. He is a crowd favorite and will be getting a higher rank in September perhaps Maegashira 5 or so.
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Culture/Opinion/Good Anime Section - Summertime Edition!
Hello, Hello, Hello we are once again back for another addition to my favorite section. Remember that the names of the new ones are links to MyAnimeList were you can find more information, Synopsis, reviews, average score, Voice Actors, and more! Also I would be happy to talk about any series or movie that you might want to discuss. Once again I shall list the names of those I have done. Also Lewis and Daniel is always happy to talk about anime with you. Or if you need to know some anime sites just ask! This time you will also be getting a Summer time edition! I usually just copy and paste this part of the article. Tell me what else you want to see here! Please know that as we go back and look at some or if I have on my blog, I will be putting a (R) after it to show that I have already written reviews on, it is not apart of the title like (TV) or (2005) might be
Spice and Wolf (R)
Nodame Cantabile
Code Geass
School Rumble (R)
Honey and Clover
Clannad (R)
Great Teacher Onizuka
Eden of the East
Kimi ni Todoke (R)
Mushishi
Ah My Goddess (R)
Full Metal Panic
Trigun
Kino's Journey
ef - a tale of memories
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
Toradora
K-On!
One Piece
Guin Saga
Sekirei
Rec (R)
Glass Mask (2005)
Durarara!!
Cowboy Bebop
Angel Beats!
Usagi Drop (R)
Itazura na Kiss
Kobato.
Ouran High School Host Club
Princess Jellyfish
Genshiken
Hanasaku Iroha
Skip Beat!
Kids on the Slope
Eureka Seven
Death Note
Black Lagoon
One Outs
Princess Tutu
Fullmetal Alchemist
Love Hina
Hyouka
Cross Game
Waiting in the Summer
Psycho-Pass
--
Sword Art Online
Mirai Nikki (TV)
Crest of the Stars
Attack on Titan
Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo
Beck
Tari Tari
Kemono no Souja Erin
Gin no Saji
Maoyuu Maou Yuusha
Tokyo Godfathers
The Irresponsible Captain Tylor
Nodame Cantabile
Space Battleship Yamato 2199
Log Horizon
Hunter x Hunter (2011)
The Wind Rises
Gingitsune
Nana
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Azumanga Daioh
Now and Then, Here and There
Berserk
Record of Lodoss War
Record of Lodoss War made in 1990-1991 and is said to be based of an actual game of Dungeons and Dragons, and is said by some to be a classic and a great series. Myself loving fantasy and not too long ago having finished the Crystal Shard by R.A. Salvatore and now reading its sequel Streams of Silver, and having wanted to D&D decided to give it a watch.
The Story is about Parn the son of a knight and his friends and companions as they under take a quest(s), for varying reasons, as Parn seeks to become a knight himself and ultimately save everyone and destroy darkness, give or take. Now the series starts of in the middle of the story and then goes back to the beginning and then continues on and jumps over the middle part we already saw, and then goes about the rest of the series.
The Story is alright, it has its good features about it, and seems like a real D&D story might. If I had any more experience at D&D than some off hand knowledge and R.A. Salvatore. However the pacing doesn't seem to be its strongest point. Additionally romance is strongly hinted at in the story but done out in the open. There is some resolve for it though, in some point. World building could have been better, I think. Or at least geography or a map would have helped.
The Characters are alright as well, I didn't feel strongly attached to any of them though. Character development was decent, but also all over the place with steps seemingly forward and back without much in between. Such as Parn's swordsmanship, at the beginning he is terrible, but has potential and then trains and is still weak but then at certain parts is a good warrior, and then weaker again. I'm not all sure.
The art is old, but it doesn't look bad, though I can't say that it has that good old look though.
The music is good, though I still found myself skipping the opening almost every single time.
Overall I feel like it only accounts to be an average or even sub-par series. Frankly I wasn't able to find good amounts of enjoyment out of it and it took me about a month to finish this small 13 episode anime. I have seen much better, but I also can't say that I really hate this anime either, but it is far from good in my books. I am sure that others will find more enjoyment and love in it than me even if I myself love fantasy.
Akira
Akira - made in 1988 is an iconic film, a said classic, and a film that made history as it had a huge budget (if I remember right) and also brought many Americans into anime fandom. With this It was time that I watched such a film, if for nothing else to have said that I have seen such a classic.
The Story is about test subject kids who have esper like powers and about a biker gang. It is set in Neo-Tokyo after WWIII. One of the biker gang members is taken in and found to have this esper like abilities, and with it seeks revenge.
The story is confusing, I watched it all and was like "whaa?" I had to read an explanation of what just happened to get a better picture of it all and to better understand what had just taken place. That being said, the story is decent, I can't say that I really liked it. There could have been more world building for this anime, with so many groups it would have done well to better explain them. The Romance sub-plot could have been better as well, or at least an even better conclusion to it. Really what I see most of the story is, is about the friendship of two people.
The Characters are good for the most part. There are some characters that aren't really well done, some that needed more development, and others there were developed nicely.
The art, is good. It is old but it still holds up and has merit. Though it does have its own style but isn't anything too wild or different.
The music was alright, I can't really remember anything and it wasn't amazing but did serve its purpose, more or less.
Overall it is a decent film, I myself didn't overly enjoy it. However it was nice to finally add this to my watch list. Its greatest point to watching it I think is for the history of it and around it. Many people love this film, and it is what started many people out on anime. It did so many things that it is interesting just to watch the film that did it.
The Vision of Escaflowne
Escaflowne -- Made in 1996. I had heard abit about this anime coming in and for the most part it was all good, so with that I jumped all in to the anime and well let me tell you all about it, to the best of my ability of what I remember.
The Story is about Hitomi who is from earth but it transported to another world and is caught in the middle of a war over the entire planet. She must struggle in this new world with this boy Van, as they both seek to find themselves and become better people.
The Story is actually very good, my little synopsis doesn't give it too much justice. However I found myself getting involved and drawn into the world, the story, and a lot of things about it. It is very well done. At the start of it all, it does seem cliche like however as it soon develops it goes and becomes its own and itself and I found it interesting.
The Characters are great, mainly the main characters, however many others get developed and are well done. However some come and go and as some said are forgotten, I will take their word for it. The characters a great as its there development as I have said. I liked them for the most part.
The Music is good. The opening is well done - actually the most interesting thing about it is that The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya's opening starts off in the exact same way - perhaps part of its parody or homage or something? I don't know but I found it interesting. The ending was alright, nothing too special but good.
The Art is good, it is older, but you can't really ding it for it, as it does have that seemingly old yet good quality about it as well.
Overall I found a highly enjoyable anime, however the most disappointing part about it was the ending, which was pretty open ended, yet hinting at the same time. At least from what I remember. However I was able to conjure up a good ending based on what I wanted more more so on the characters and what I thought that they would do. This greatly saves it. overall I really like it, and enjoyed it a lot.
Macross
Macross -- Made in 1982-1983. A said classic, an older anime, mecha, romance, love, and all that fun stuff. I decided to watch it a while ago and so I am finally getting to the review of this.
The Story is about Macross, its crew, the city that becomes apart of Macross, and also romance and defending earth and the such. In fact it is very interesting the set up as an entire city is put into Macross which is cool. The story's biggest point I think is love.
The Story is great, I really like it, though there are some seemingly rough points. There is a love triangle and of course you have to pick a ship. Of course I picked the best ship, though I think I jumped, but I think I did early. I can't remember. Of course with such a triangle there are many frustrating parts as is expected however in the end it came off well I think. However don't be fooled there is still action to be had, psychology to be done, and more.
The Characters are pretty good, development is great, there are many good characters that you grow attached to and want to learn more about and so much. The world is built pretty well for the series. I liked the characters.
The Music is pretty good, with an idol as one of the main characters. The opening is masculine, seemingly 80s space like. While the ending is very well done. Both have their perks, but I do prefer the ending to the opening.
The Art is well done, it is old as it was made in the early 80s. But I liked it for the most part, though at some points it does drop at points too.
Overall I really liked and enjoyed this series, it was very well done, it was great. I got into it and all was good. It was a great series. The ending was also good, if I remember right. Overall as said I really like it and it was enjoyable.
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