#15 Miyabihana

Being a Sumo was in Hiroki’s blood. Always expected to follow in the footsteps of his father, & his father before him, he started training at an early age & was given the shikona “Miyabihana.” But deep down, Hiroki’s heart just wasn’t in it. What he really loved was Hip Hop. It gave him a taste for the finer things, & a chip on his shoulder towards what he felt were the stodgier, more traditional ways he was being groomed to carry on. And perhaps if he wasn’t such a phenom, they wouldn’t have allowed him to buck the system in the ways he did, like coming to the ring with tattoos & custom mawashis from the finest designers. Out of the circle, Hiroki tried to live his life like he was in a rap video. Parties every night, women, fine bling, tricked out SUVs, the works.

Of course, an up & coming sumo can’t afford to live all that luxuriously. Hiroki needed some help to keep up the lifestyle he aspired to have. And in trying to earn a little extra money, he may or may not have fallen in with a bad element. Now he’s worked his way up to Ozeki, & in is prime contention to be the next Yokozuna. But that same bad element may or may not be now looking for him to throw a string of bouts, & even possibly face a demotion. And while Hiroki’s never been much for this whole sumo thing, making it this far? He feels a bit conflicted.

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Nothing to do with the 80’s thing my last character had going on. Different thing entirely. I just wanted to draw a sumo guy. While I was looking to give him some other gimmick as well (ie Sumo Frankenstein, Robosumo, etc), nothing really worked in a way I was happy about, so I just played it pretty straight & gave him that tired old prizefighter trope of throwing matches. Still, I’m reserving the right to retry a Sumo Frankenstein again at some later date.

Category: 2012, Drama