

A college senior, Shuhei, is blackmailed by a professor into joining the school's sumo team. He is aided by a group of misfits who must team together to defeat their rivals or face disgrace and the disbandment of the sumo club.
Acting
Motoki's reluctant everyman energy is *chef's kiss*.
Practical Effects
Actual sumo training—no CGI bellies here, folks.

Director
Masayuki Suō
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released during Japan's 'lost decade,' the film gently satirizes rigid corporate/social expectations through sumo's traditional hierarchies.
Director Masayuki Suō later won the Japan Academy Prize for Shall We Dance?—another film about reluctant men finding joy in unexpected places.