Benevolance

I think it's safe to say that Asanoyama is officially looking at his ozeki run next tournament.

Kaisei weirdly non-aggressive in his bout against Tochiozan. Was Tochi actually that good to neutralize Kaisei, or does Kaisei not want a promotion?

I didn't expect Takakeisho to be able to compete as well as he has this tournament, but with his 8 wins it looks like he's going to phone in the rest of the tournament.

Oh, was that what triggered the change? I simply assumed that he learned how to separate whites from colours at the laundromat.

Hakuho beat him in their first meeting...in May 2003, long before Shotenro was Shotenro.

Srsly Asanoyama? Couldn't step over the low bar of Endo? That match looked like a butsgari demo. Push, push, push, roll!

He's outlasted Kisenosato, though, which is something I never expected would happen.

Asanoyama looked completely flawless in his victory over Kakuryu. Simply steamrolled the top yokozuna as if he wasn't even there. Asanoyama yusho for sure.

Nuh uh. Asanoyama over Kakuryu!

If Hakuho makes it past day 5, it's his tournament. Kakuryu recently won the cup and finished runner up before that, so I suspect Kak will show up for a fight or two, grimace at the end of a fight, then go kyujo and rest his knee like he should. Those are the only two legit contenders. The rest of the upper ranks are a gong show, and Takayasu and Tochinoshin are probably hoping to hold/get ozeki and will likely not try too hard if it risks hurting themselves further. Goeidou is Goeidou, and Mitakeumi strikes me as Goeidou 2.0. I don't believe Takaeisho that he's healed. So if it's not Hakuho, my money is on Asanoyama.

Oh, man. Wouldn't it be cool if Hakuho set all those records again in the reiwa era? With the current mix of jo-i folks, I think it's do-able.

I like Real Kana better than Duolingo for practicing hiragana and katakana. But Duolingo is nice in that it makes kana compounds to build basic vocabulary, which kind of makes the kana more meaningful. And the new Duolingo update actually adds grammar instruction which is a big boost. My complaint about both is that there is no option to practice 'writing' the kana or kanji; both are strictly recognition only.

Anyone else read this as THAC0? Just me? I'll see myself out.

I've done the paid version a few times when it was $5. I see now that it's up to $7. The important thing is to cancel the subscription after the basho, so you don't pay for the off months. Personally, I really enjoy watching the lower divisions, so this app is not really for me. The app itself is alright: it's fairly intuitive, though a play all feature would be nice. And more divisions. When I subscribed before, the videos were literally from the tachi-ai to the win and then cut. I just checked out the replay for the playoff match from Aki and it appears they've lengthened the videos substantially from before. To sum: it's not the best way to view sumo, but if you're only interested in the top division, it's certainly one of the easiest and reliable.

Is that actually showing the # of yorikiri while in Makuuchi, or is it reporting the total career # of yorikiri by a rikishi who reached Makuuchi?

I went with a 15 month old and the masu seats were awesome because, by and large, you had groups of seniors around you and they love kids and if you're okay with handing your child off to other people, you get some free child-minding while you watch some sumo. Plus they shower your kid in snacks and gifts. Downside - its crowded and the walkway is a bit narrow, so it's more challenging getting to and from the seats, particularly as it gets busier. If your kid is a wanderer, like mine, then once they're done being showered with gifts and attention and bean buns, you find yourself walking up and down the hallways around the stadium and missing most of the sumo fun. If your kid is the kind that can stay entertained sitting in one place for a long time, the masu seats are better, hands down. The advantage of the upper stadium style seats is that there is a bit more area to walk at the bottom of the risers (you can actually walk around people), and you can walk around the ENTIRE upper area like a lap track. Plus the walkway is down enough that if you slump a bit you're not blocking anyone else's view while you walk. So if your kid is the needs-to-move-around kind, the upper seats will totally give you the better experience.

Nobody is suggesting the obvious solution of champagne and karaoke..?

He totally needs a neck tattoo that says that.

Mitakeumi looked focused. The way he dispatched Endo made it look easy. And mad props to Goeidou for getting his 10 wins and kind of looking ozekish this tourney. I think Tochinoshin has learned his lesson not to face Goeidou while injured when nothing is on the line.

I could have sworn one of the recent first-time-yusho winners had pulled some henka crap during their run, and I thought it was Mitakeumi, but I could find no video evidence of it. BECAUSE THE VIDEO ASSOCIATED WITH THE ACCOUTNS WAS DELETED. If this isn't a clear RED FLAG that Mitakeumi has something to hide, I don't know what is, but I'm going to raid Area 51 and FIND THE TRUTH.

Didn't Mitakeumi henka in one of the last fights during his yusho tournament?

I had deliberately not said anything out loud about Goeidou beating Mitakeumi and staying in the yusho race because it would jinx Goeidou, but now I realize it wouldn't have mattered in the end anyway, since Okinoumi and Takakeisho both went to 11-3 and are facing each other today. Clearly, Goeidou was fated to fail from the beginning.

Goeid...

Oh, man. I remember that. I believe I snorted my 酒.

I exercised my electoral powers. It felt kind of weird picking out Goeidou as the top prospect on a poll, but here we are. The future is a crazy place.