🍒 Rikiishi, our main man. (Did you know, I made my mom watch ANJ with me and she loooves Rikiishi? He is her favorite character, she truly thinks he is a wonderful guy and and only Carlos compared to him in providing a good rival to Joe? Gifwfovosw she does NOT care for Kim or Jose.)
Also you're gonna do a doodlw about Jose's freak out in the story???) 🥹
(your mom's got peak taste omg. also yeah fuck both kim and jose kljgfhkl they don't even deserve to breath the same air as joe rikiishi and carlos)
(i wanna draw it yeah! jose's breakdown was too fun gklfsdj)
off the top of your head: notes for characterization? what are the most essential traits of this character to you (personality traits, important connections/dynamics, voice)?
one must never forget that while Rikiishi's discipline and self-control are meant to contrast Joe's chaotic nature, this guy also has a wild side! we do meet him in a juvenile prison after all. it honestly would've been kinda boring if he was just this always serious stone-cold yaoi top ceo man, but nah, dude's a professional rage-baiter and has a very sharp tongue, he just knows when and when not to use it, unlike his rival. but I also think that deep down he's a lot kinder than he openly shows.
also yeah, while he looks like he's pushing thirty, he's indeed still a teenager, and thus not all of his actions and decisions are smart and calculated
adjacently—do you think fandom does the above traits justice? why or why not?
probably? though it seems like majority of the fandom looks at him through the same idealizing lenses as Joe does, but most of the time Rikiishi really is that guy so it's all good
throw this character at any other character of your choice to bounce off each other as outsider pov to each other— regardless of timeline or logistics (crossovers allowed if you're interesting about it). why this combination? what insights would they have on each other?
I've always wondered what his and Carlos' relationship would've looked like if they had a chance to meet! after all, Carlos does feel quite similar to Joe, and other than, once again, Joe and Rikiishi himself, he's the only real boxer in the series, the one who gets a thrill out of a good old brawling and respects a strong opponent. I think these two would have fun sparring with each other, especially considering that Rikiishi follows all the rules while Carlos uses some very dirty tricks, sometimes even worse than Joe tbh
additionally, I do wonder what he would think about Jose, had he survived and if everything else went exactly like it does in canon
how do you think you would react to this character in real life and vice versa? would you prefer be a million miles out of range, be amicable classmates, or fall desperately in love? (bonus: arrange a hypothetical date between yourself and this character. getting silly with it is encouraged (fakedate them! escape a dinner date through a bathroom window!))
for some reason I think I would be a bit intimidated by him at first gkfjgd but then I'd realize that while he might not necessarily be a "gentle giant", but he surely is a very-reasonable-mostly-non-violent giant. thiugh he seems to be more of a loner wolf, so I doubt we could become good friends or anything, but I'd like to think that we would get along just enough to have pleasant conversations from time to time
ideal flavor of rotating for this character? crack them open and dissect them— do you want them tormented, pining, or being loved + comforted? do you have any specific scenarios you like to think about?
honestly I'd like to see him pining! it was really refreshing seeing Joe being very vulnerable and honest about his feelings after spoilers happened, and since Rikiishi displays sorta toxic masculinity a lot more than Joe does, it would be interesting to see this façade of his crumble too
weave a web of dynamics through the cast for this character: which dynamics are you most interested in? both canonically and through extrapolation/speculation— which dynamics are the richest to you, and why?
number one is obviously his dynamic with Joe, and it was so nice seeing it change throughout the series, with their messy rivalry transforming into one built on mutual respect. and how Rikiishi, who originally promised Joe to wait for him in the professional ring, ends up doing much more than that in order to let the match between them happen
(on a side note, I wanna praise Dezaki real quick. remember how after the match against Wolf, Joe and Rikiishi shake hands? have you noticed how Joe (for obvious reasons) doesn't have enough strength for it so Rikiishi's the one who reaches out and grabs his hand in the end? and how this represents that by that time Joe's done more than enough and now it's Rikiishi's turn to take action, and he's more than ready and willing to do this? yeah I'm kissing Dezaki's brain as I type this)
and of course his dynamic with Yoko is very interesting too! I remember not being sure if they have some sort of brother-sister relationship or there are some stronger feelings from either side (or both sides maybe?) though nowadays I probably prefer the former
do you have particular niche takes on this character? defend those takes. (openly controversial takes are permitted, but also: hyper-specific headcanons which you believe in and no one else has considered enough to disagree with yet. pick a hill to die on.)
I hc that he used to participate in underground matches when he was younger, and lied about his age too, because he does look older than he actually is and nobody bothered to check anyway. I also think this is how Shirakis discovered him (like, remember how in second season Yoko was sending her subordinates to different countries to find good boxers? I believe her grandpa used to do the same, but within Japan, sending them to watch underground boxing matches and such in order to find the best athletes for his gym)
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