Sanctuary: Sacred Area (2023)

Drop your ego and find you own Sumo

This is a brilliant series ... 10/10 for me ... the script, the production, the score, the cinematography, the acting was brilliant.

The cinematography was amazing ... the 'stop action' ... the slow motion which allowed the view to see and appreciate the things you don't get to see in the fast and furious clashes in the rings ... like the way the energy from the clashes pass from one body to the other, the sweat, the dirt, the look in the combatant's eyes ... amazing.

The script was nicely put together ... you could watch the series from a number of different levels. For me, the series is not just about the mystique of sumo or the regimentation and ritualism that it has been steeped in for over 1500 years ... it was about Sumo's descent into hypocritical sanctimoniousness ... the brutal dog eat dog world in the Stables which is the seedy underbelly of all that 'noble' ritual ... it is about the personal stories and drivers behind the rikishi ... young men who come to the dohyo with their own individual baggage ... it is about the true spirit of sumo and what happens when ego's are left behind and these big men find their own 'sumo'.

For the few minutes (but mostly less than a minute) of something that seems so innocuous as pushing someone to the ground or out of a circle ... the lead up to those few minutes is brutal, it is a test of heart and soul and body. These big men are amazing ... it is in no way an easy life that is for sure.

I loved that real Sumo Rikishi also stared in the series like Hishofuji Hiroki (1.92m tall and 201kg ... wow) who played the character of Shizuuchi. When he retired from Sumo he moved to the USA. Even as the scarred Shuzzuchi, that man has the most beautiful face and expressive eyes ... wow. Ichinose Wataru (not a Sumo Rikishi) who played Oze Kiyoshi / Enno, was just brilliant and so believable. He blew me away ... the anger, the rage, the depression, the fear and then the passion and exhilaration of finding his Sumo ... just brilliant. The back stories of these two characters ... both 'bad boys' ... had me reeling. Their lives outside of the Sumo Stables were tragic ... it was interesting to see how each man reacted to the tragedy of their lives. Once in the Stables it was another cruel world for them ... again, it was interesting how they responded to that cruelty.

As for the Ensho Stable ... the evolution of the Rikishi from brute savages to Rikishi who found their own Sumo, was hard to take at first but then became inspiring.

The side stories were interesting too, and while they were not fully explored, it provided the driving context to what drew these big men, Shizuuchi and Oze to Sumo and kept them there. Enya's retirement hair cutting ceremony was very moving ... for something that these men eat and breath for so much of their lives, retirement must feel like a form of death for them ... the hair cutting ceremony for Enya had me in tears as did Ensho Oyakata's response to him just before he finished cutting Enya's Sumo top knot.

All these different aspects ... the best and worst of Sumo, the ritual and spirituality of it; the association that regulates it and the individual stories ... makes this a very moving and compelling series. I especially loved the end ... when I was thinking of Shizuuchi and Enno I was worried about how it would end with these two ... but the end was exactly what I hoped for ... it was a perfect ending◝(ᵔ‿ᵔ)◜

This is an amazing story, brilliantly acted and produced ... I loved it.

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