We enter the 20’s and close out the first half of the show. Enjoy the weird dissonance of watching episodes set in the summer while it’s only 26 degrees out.

So, episode 21 is focused on a lot of different sumo terms and rather than fill the episode up with TL Notes, I thought it’d be best to talk about them here.

Dosukoi, as one would guess, is just a yell used by sumo wrestlers to pump themselves up. The closest relation would be a kiai yell that martial artists give out when performing their techniques.

A Mawashi or in this case a Kesho-mawashi is essentially a specialized loincloth made out of silk. Kesho-mawashi, in general, are only worn during ring-entering ceremonies and special events and are usually reserved for higher ranking sumos such as ones in the juryo rank; one can assume ordinary rikishi wouldn’t be able or be allowed to wear them and would have to make do with basic mawashi until they get into higher ranks. You have to agree though, this guy has the best ones. I mean, look at them.

Sumo Bouma and Turbo Robo throwing salt (or, is it sand in their case?) into the ring is part of a sumo ritual believed that doing so would rid the ring of evil spirits and keep it a clear, sacred place.

One can witness a demonstration here:

One technique that Turbo Robo uses to take down Sumo Bouma is called a Saba-ori or a “Forward Force down”. There’s a good explanation of it here.

The title Sumo Bouma refers to Turbo Robo with that we referred to as “Grand Champion” is Yokozuna, taking its name from “tsuna” or the rope that Yokozuna wear around their waist; basically this thing. This title is the highest rank in sumo and revered with high respect for they are considered as the face of sumo.

As it’s the highest, it requires unanimous approval of a board of trustees who decide on whether the sumo wrestler is deserving of the title or not. Once accepted, a yokozuna can’t get demoted back to ozeki or lower but one can be asked to retire for varying reasons ranging from bringing disgrace to the sport of sumo or for repeated losses. In November of 2017, a yokozuna by the name of Harumafuji had to retire after getting into a bar brawl with a lower-ranked wrestler. And, in January 2019, one named Kisenosato Yutaka had to retire after unfortunately suffering injuries that hampered his career.

I don’t mean for that last bit to sound like being a yokozuna is a bad thing – far from it – but more that they take it really seriously and won’t let any slight befall the rank and/or profession.

The last one I can think of to mention might seem obvious but yes, Daichi did get disqualified at the end because his mawashi fell off. Yes, that’s a thing.