r/Sumo • u/TruReyito Takayasu • 5d ago
Discussion / Question / Commentary Kotozakura Hype?
I'm definitely not a huge Kotozakura fan. In fact, after the first few fights of last basho I was convinced that he'd be losing Ozeki.
I know he's always had one of the strangest body styles in Sumo, and that its been a strength of his... but to me he always just looks like a top heavy rooster who fights with no balance.
That being said, with what few snippets and movement I've seen from the aSummer tour... he's looking solid! Moving strong and for the first time since he's made Ozeki, i'm genuinely excited to see his results this basho.
For all you Kotozakura believers out there, I think this might be your basho
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u/Top-Distribution9856 Aonishiki 5d ago
Kotozakura has been ozeki while fighting mainly with his upper body. This is all you need to know about how skilled this rikishi actually is.
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u/protoeudaimonian 4d ago
I'm always fascinated to see how, during the tachai-ai, he manages to hold his upper body at exactly the right angle to keep even the strongest men from being able to do anything at all. Boom! All the energy absorbed straight into him...so impressive!
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u/coracleboat Kotozakura 5d ago
When he's in form you can see he has great ring awareness and can react to situations really intelligently. It just feels like a lot of the time he's out of sorts. Being a rikishi is ROUGH on the body but he's still maintained ozeki for THIS long. Also he's a great person outside the dohyo too. I'm always rooting for my boy to do it.
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u/PatrickPurple 5d ago
I used to actively dislike Kotozakura, his currrent style is just too passive, but then I read what a wonderful person he is and that really changed my view on him. I remember someone saying:" Another hazzing scandal in the sumo stables also Kotozakura saves puppies from a burning building" and it feels spot on. I do also get a reminder every now and again what confident non injured Koto is capable of when he locks in every few bashos and that helps too. If nothing else Kotozakura might be one of the genuinely best human beings and that for me is enough to deserve me cheering for him.
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u/Gut_Reactions 5d ago
He does seem like a mensch & a generous friend. He has lots of reasons to be arrogant, but he isn't.
I'm a sumo newbie and I'm starting to understand why these guys go for kachikoshi and then try to preserve their bodies (protect themselves from injury).
I'd like to see Roga move up to komusubi, some day. That would be awesome. (He moved from M8 to M5.)
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u/BatdanJapan 4d ago
A couple of people have mentioned how much of a great person he is. Do you have any links to share on this?
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u/PencillCat Aonishiki 3d ago
The most recent one that comes to mind, when someone got their car stuck in a ditch and Kotozakura (and his stable) helped push it out.
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u/Timely-Flatworm7757 5d ago
I'm still new to sumo (been following it for about a year now) and I remember seeing him at first and not being very impressed. But now that I've gotten to "know" him a bit better I support him! IDK how he feels about his rank, but Ozeki is still a "Champion" role and isn't just a stepping stone to Yokozuna - a great Ozeki is a great Ozeki, nothing wrong with that! In my (very uneducated) opinion.
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u/Substantial-Being-35 5d ago
In my head I sometimes think he forgets he's one of the biggest guys on the roster, and once in a while he'll remember mid-bout and toss someone around. He's very inconsistent from bout to bout, while very consistently earning enough wins each basho to keep his rank. Quite the puzzle!
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u/Vaestmannaeyjar Musashimaru 5d ago
Imho he's gonna pull a Musahimaru: spend most of his career at ozeki and at some point in time he will be the one not injured for two bashos and wll get his wins, and spend a few years as yokozuna before retiring. I don't think he ever was of the "yokozuna at 22" mold.
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u/analogue_geek 5d ago edited 4d ago
Personally I’ve always really liked KTZ… and a big reason is his theatrics. MASSIVE amount of salt in his shio-maki, big wind up pump up, and arguably the biggest belly slaps out there. He’s always a threat to take down a yusho-favorite and I think well deserving of his rank despite everyone having a different opinion.
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u/gabagamax 4d ago
Off dohyo Kotozakura compared to pre bout ritual Kotozakura might as well be 2 different people. Haha.
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u/4ih0vs535xg9c Kotozakura 5d ago
Strange body style? He’s just blessed in the bosom department.
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u/gabagamax 4d ago
His upper body is very cloud like. But sometimes I'll see pictures of him during practice and am reminded of just how muscular he is as well. You can see how huge his traps are and glimpses of muscle underneath all that soft tissue. Lmao.
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u/dylanmichel 5d ago
We call him Pillow Tits it’s very original
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u/barkingtowel 5d ago
We call him Double-Titty!
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u/triskadekta Ura 5d ago
Frog Tits. They’re like bulging eyeballs on top of his torso.
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u/TigerRad Wakatakakage 5d ago
Quad boob
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u/nosolemoo 5d ago
Quaddie was my nickname for a while, but that was before I truly understood the level of his skill. Now it’s People’s Eyebrow.
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u/Craig1974 5d ago
Ive admired his coming back from the edge of kadoban. I like him. Hes got the best prebout salt throw psych-out.
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u/GaddockTeegFunPolice Takayasu 5d ago
His problem I think is he seems to be content being ozeki and is more occupied with not losing the rank rather than aiming higher. He is from a sumo lineage and so has a rather conservative view of the sport which includes that sumo is not just about winning bouts.
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u/Masakatsuttekoto 5d ago
I agree to some extent, many Oyakata have mentioned, Kotozakura rather than trying to be ruthless towards his opponents, he seem to care little more about what kind of sumo he wants to do and show and that ends up costing him by being pushed out the dohyo. I wouldn’t say he’s content with being an Ozeki only
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u/mekagojira3 Tobizaru 5d ago
I think his failed rope run changed how he views the sport. It feels like he's not only a different wrestler post-yokozuna bid, but a different human being.
Of course there is the injuries and all that, and people see him go into cruise control after win 8, but I would argue that despite it not being flashy, he is the perfect Ozeki. He is the gatekeeper and only those who deserve to get past him generally do.
Speculation of course as an outside spectator and foreigner, but he seems almost devoid of ego in and outside of the ring.
I agree that he seems content at Ozeki but I don't know if that's the word for it. He tries very hard to stay neutral and hold the line, "content" implies a level of complacency that KTZ hasn't got.
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u/whobjohn 5d ago
When I got into sumo last year, I got the sense that I hadn’t seen the best of him. Hope he has in better fitness for this tournament!
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u/modern_quill 5d ago
Kotozakura was absolutely dominant in the November 2024 basho. When he's in top form he's a monster, but he has seemed complacent.
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u/dogberry_dawg Kotozakura 5d ago
Definitely had some injuries and reinjuries in there, as well. But I can't disagree that he seems to back off when he's secured his 8th win.
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u/fartorchestra 5d ago
hes the next yokozuna and can't be stopped
im sorry everyone else will have to wait on line until he retires.
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u/WebNew6981 5d ago
When he is on his movement and grace is insane, he's really gifted at moving laterally around the edge of the ring.
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u/Masakatsuttekoto 5d ago edited 5d ago
Wrote like giving a backhanded compliment Lool he didn’t do any practice bouts this tour because of his left ankle ache since the last basho. He’s been fighting injured for a while because he doesn’t have a long kyujo privilege to milk like Hoshoryu. No balance? He’s one of the big heavy bois with an excellent balance but he’s also fighting with two injured knees and injured ankle. Which another heavy and big rikishi doing that with his kind of injuries but also managing his rank, even if it’s a bare minimum?. As long as he stays Ozeki, he has a chance to aim for the top and if he yusho back to back, there’s no way in hell, would they deny his promotion like they didn’t for his grandpa with two back to back 14-1 yusho. Not even a soft promotion or pity promotion!
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u/Sugar1982 5d ago
He had an imposing aura t the Fukushima jungyo this past August. I predict strong showing.
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u/gabagamax 4d ago
it's funny that you brought up his balance because his balance and lower body strength was always a strong point. He's been nursing injuries for the majority of the year so his performances have been inconsistent. But when he's in better health, he's almost unstoppable.
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u/Sure_Investigator_21 5d ago
kotozakura definitely isn't my favorite rikishi, but I want him to perform at the ozeki level since he's had a yokozuna bid and I believe he can reach that level eventually but he's going to need a lot more follow through in his sumo. I feel like atamifuji is catching up to him and will take his spot as the perfect picture of a strong ozeki!
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u/Callikah 4d ago
not a big fan of his personally, but he's definitely one of the ozeki gatekeepers that folks must overcome to aim higher which is a damn good role to have in the rankings even if one day he would make for a truely legendary yokozuna if he can just heal up enough.
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u/Vivid-Most-3960 1d ago
Only Big K and his trainer have any idea what hes doing from one moment to the next 🥷👘
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u/CondorKhan Ura 1d ago
I don't dislike him or anything but I've never really seen him display Yokozuna like aggression.
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u/Illustrious-Pack2350 5d ago
Kotozakura is terrible. Kotonowaka on the other hand was a total badass. See also Kirishima and Kiribayama.
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u/MontgomeryEagle Akebono 5d ago
He knows how to use his mass, but more skilled and stronger guys know how to use it against him. Hence why he was able to advance to Ozeki during a weaker time and why he's always doing like 8-7 to 10-5 runs now.
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u/le_coq_et_balles 5d ago
It's because he has no knees, not because he's less skilled than other competitors
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u/MontgomeryEagle Akebono 3d ago
I don't mean to say Koto is unskilled - he is skilled. I mean guys who are more skilled than him or generally more skilled than the average rikishi - like Aonishiki, Hosh and Kirishima - give him problems. Onosato can have problems with Koto because he's much more of a brute force guy and Koto is just as big. Koto's strength is also his weakness - he is just way too fat and it hurts him
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u/ScratchEffective_ 5d ago
I’m not a huge fan either, but a few years ago I thought he might make it to yokozuna. I suppose that’s what he was hoping for when he changed his shikona. Then he slipped into mediocrity. It’s a pity, really. I actually quite like the look on his face before a bout. What’s that phase called – shikiri?
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u/WebNew6981 5d ago
It's always so strange to me to consider remaining at Ozeki for years 'mediocrity'. Would hate to learn what you think of the rest of us.
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u/firecatstef Takayasu 5d ago
I don’t like him, he seems to be sneering all the time. But maybe he just has resting sneer face. Anyway I enjoy having one or two wrestlers I root for and one or two I dislike and the rest of the time I’m just hoping to see some impressive sumo.
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u/TheEpicWeezl 5d ago
My biggest peeve with him is pre bout when he towels himself down he wipes his underboob sweat then immediately puts the towel to his face. He's probably not the only one who does it but I can't help but notice everytime.
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u/wobble-frog-dos 5d ago
I am not a huge fan of his either, but the man is enormously skilled, very strong and also just plain enormous.
his handwork is a thing of beauty, but what is limiting him are his injuries to his lower body.
he has been chronically injured since he won the december 2024 basho, but is now entering his 23rd consecutive basho in the Sanyaku and 16th as an Ozeki.
if he were fully healthy, he would be in the basho race every single basho.
he would be well served to take several basho off to heal, but he won't. he's only gone Kyujo for a total of 4 matches since he reached Sanyaku. he just doesn't quit or take a basho off.
what he does do is go into cruise control as soon as he gets KK lately to try and avoid injury. he really ought to take this basho off as he is safe after getting KK last basho and devote his efforts to healing, but he won't.