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Sanctuary Netflix Series

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I rushed through it. Badly written and very badly directed, but great performance by the lead. With a good director at the helm this could've been so much better.

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I've seen five reviews and they all pan it. 

BTW, Reuters refers to it as The Sumo Apprentice, not as Sanctuary.

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Why did they stick strictly to the real stuff during keiko, and then let all impossible bullshit loose during the basho ?

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It's a movie, fiction, not a documentary so the "bullshit" is irrelevant.. The story was nice. Way too much sumo-stuff for the average viewer who knows nothing about sumo. For  me, enjoyed it. Pitfalls here and there. They could have told the same story in 4 episodes, but hey, how often do we get a sumo series or movie? Overdramatization and amateurish acting at times notwithstanding, I shed a tear here and there.  We had, yaocho, torikumi making, small heya danpatsushiki, chanko, hazing, caning- and even a Gagamaru look-alike- almost every aspect was dealt with. I say bravo for the effort- they should make a long story short the next time, though. If we have a next time, since I see a lot of bad reviews. I probably would find a movie about curling boring and pan it as well. And a bit too much graphic violence, exaggerated for dramatic effect I'm sure, but for us- overboard.

Edited by Kintamayama
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Aside from having ex-Hishofuji playing the role of Shizuuchi, could it be that they had some other former rikishi as extras?

I am pretty sure I have spotted ex-Masutoo at least twice during the tournament scenes (either sitting at ringside or in the corridor) and ex-Kaonishiki as one of the guests at the heya danpatsuhiki. Maybe my eyes tricked me ... who knows.

Neither was I impressed nor disappointed by the series. In case they plan to follow up with a season 2, I will probably watch it.

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On 14/05/2023 at 16:05, Raishu said:

Aside from having ex-Hishofuji playing the role of Shizuuchi, could it be that they had some other former rikishi as extras?

I am pretty sure I have spotted ex-Masutoo at least twice during the tournament scenes (either sitting at ringside or in the corridor) and ex-Kaonishiki as one of the guests at the heya danpatsuhiki. Maybe my eyes tricked me ... who knows.

Neither was I impressed nor disappointed by the series. In case they plan to follow up with a season 2, I will probably watch it.

One of the lower division super celebs Suyama  was quoted today as saying he took part in the filming while still at University. "I was wondering at the time who will see this but now that it's out, it's cool. Still, there is no such violent behavior at Kise beya.." he said.

Edited by Kintamayama

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The subtitles were pretty poor, a lot will be lost in translation for the average western viewer unfortunately.

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6 hours ago, Tsuchinoninjin said:

The subtitles were pretty poor, a lot will be lost in translation for the average western viewer unfortunately.

As is too often the case with Netflix. They seem to have an editorial team that enjoys such inaccuracies.

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Netflix has announced that
 Sanctuary has been renewed for a season 2!

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On 14/05/2023 at 15:05, Raishu said:

Aside from having ex-Hishofuji playing the role of Shizuuchi, could it be that they had some other former rikishi as extras? 

The articles today on him say that there are plenty of ex-rikishi in it, but I haven't seen a complete list yet

On 26/05/2023 at 03:28, Akinomaki said:

Hishofuji is in the focus today on Nikkan with a long interview: He's running a (or several) restaurant and also was in the pro wrestling ring in 2018 - other activities

YT: Hishofuji's channel

An now in Sanctuary

202305250001165-w200_0.jpgo 202305250001165-w200_1.jpgo 202305250001165-w200_2.jpgo 202305250001165-w200_3.jpgo

He also has an appearance in John Wick 4. To be released in Japan in September.

a bit here on Chiyonokuni's older brother Chiyonoshin https://hanahappyblog.com/enya/

This guy is a former member of the Nichidai sumo club, 13 years in amateur sumo, 4th year till university https://www.ohtapro.co.jp/talent/yoshiekazuya/

21.jpg

Comedian Metcha めっちゃ_(お笑い芸人) is former Aononami

25.jpg

 

Sumo supervisor was Ishinriki https://about.netflix.com/ja/news/sanctuary-special-trailer-and-display-art-debut

Edited by Akinomaki
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On 06/05/2023 at 18:45, Kintamayama said:

 Way too much sumo-stuff for the average viewer who knows nothing about sumo. 

True, perhaps. But I am glad they did. I mean I would expect a series about sumo to cover a healthy amount of sumo, and not just use the stable as a decor for some generic drama series. Otherwise there's no point in watching it.

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34 minutes ago, sumofan said:

True, perhaps. But I am glad they did. I mean I would expect a series about sumo to cover a healthy amount of sumo, and not just use the stable as a decor for some generic drama series. Otherwise there's no point in watching it.

I haven't liked what little I've seen (unrealistic in terms of what would be allowed behavior-wise), but that's kind of the point: at least they've made the plot about Sumo, and haven't tried to make "Boys Over Flowers -- but with Mawashi!"

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I'm halfway through the series. From what I've seen and read here as an outsider, the keiko parts, the bullying, the brutality etc are genuine enough. Agreed that the basho behaviour is ridiculous. My guess is that they did this to make it -and the political angles- more tangible for a western audience. You and I know the sumo world has a lot of political strife between factions and dohyo, but in true Japanese way it is all very 'polite' and subtle compared to Western rivalries. If they had made that part more realistic, most of the audience would simply not have grasped it. At least that's my idea.

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I saw ex-Masutoo in a couple of background scenes. In one episode, he was in the Juryo(?) dohyo-iri as a rikishi with a Poland susshin (didn't catch the shikona).  Later on he was dohyo side waiting on his match. 

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5 hours ago, Washuyama said:

I saw ex-Masutoo in a couple of background scenes. In one episode, he was in the Juryo(?) dohyo-iri as a rikishi with a Poland susshin (didn't catch the shikona).  Later on he was dohyo side waiting on his match. 

Probably Tsuyukusa

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I just finished it this weekend. I enjoyed it a lot and I really loved the ending. Without spoiling, I can say that the way they did it imo emphasizes what the show was about. I'm hoping for a season 2.

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Terunofuji on the show: "Of course I've watched it. I'm not the one to criticize, but the more I think of it, there are a few things I would change, but the mere fact that sumo is shown on such a world stage makes me thankful. There are things that I think are a bit different in real life  but the Japanese people seem to have forgotten how wonderful Japan really is, and this was shown to the world in this series," he said.

Edited by Kintamayama
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17 hours ago, Kintamayama said:

Terunofuji on the show: "Of course I've watched it. I'm not the one to criticize, but the more I think of it, there are a few things I would change, but the mere fact that sumo is shown on such a world stage makes me thankful. There are things that I think are a bit different in real life  but the Japanese people seem to have forgotten how wonderful Japan really is, and this was shown to the word in this series," he said.

Looks like Terunofuji stole your very comment from this thread earlier!  :-D

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