I'm Watching Sumo Food

Since discovering that sumo is actually a cool sport I've also discovered the Sumo Food channel, following the Futagoyama Stable.

Futagoyama is not the newest stable, but it is still one of the newer and smaller stables.But, one thing the stablemaster Oyakata has done is hire a videographer to follow life in the stable, and it is a shockingly authentic channel.

There's a level of under-production that makes this channel feel so much more real. Staff (how the videographer is identified in the captions) isn't clipping microphones onto the wrestlers, he isn't pulling them away into an interview room for reactions, or having their days centered on what makes good film. He gets to watch them train, watch them cook, follow them when they go to tournaments.

And the wrestlers are quiet, you can feel their shyness in the earlier episodes and watch them slowly getting used to having Staff around and be more comfortable opening up and getting to the moments where they talk about why they're watching isekai shows or what singers they like.

The energy itself in Futagoyama is also special. Being a smaller stable with younger talent, they don't have a lot of the help that larger stables do. At others they might have staff to cook and tie the traditional topknots. At Futagoyama it's just the stablemaster, his wife, and the wrestlers. Everyone is working closely together and it gives them such a kind, collaborative energy.

With so many things being elaborately produced and designed to hook your attention, it's refreshing and compelling to me to find a channel of so many awkward pauses, quiet conversations, and people being friends.

Also I'm not going to assert that eating Denuma's fried chicken would fix me but it's worth a shot.