- "My brothers are the failures... modern sumo is a failure. And I'm here to change sumo."
— Takeru denouncing modern sumo to Haga Haruki[3]
Kiozan Takeru (
Appearance[]
Kiozan, befitting of a sumo wrestler, is an extremely bulky, heavy-set individual with an angular face, thin arrogant eyes, short black eyebrows and black hair set into a traditional ponytail with a single strand of hair falling over the left side of his face. Unlike many of his peers and sumo wrestlers in real life, Takeru's muscles are very prominent, even his abdominals, resembling more of a power lifter or even a bodybuilder.
Kiozan typically has an intense or rather aggressive gaze. He also has multiple wrappings on his arms and elbows, though these seem to change or are simply not visible under his attire. Outside of battle, Kiozan wears a traditional kimono with one arm resting inside it. In battle, he wears a traditional mawashi.
As an ozeki in Chapter 221 of Omega, Kiozan had become much bulkier, losing muscle definition in favor of a more traditional sumo build.
Personality[]
Kiozan is a notably arrogant individual who supposedly takes great pride in his style of 'ancient' sumo, considering modern sumo to be a failure. As a man who seeks to fight the strongest and prove his way of sumo is the best, he is easily annoyed and angered when he feels like his pride has been disrespected. After his defeat to Sekibayashi Jun in the Kengan Annihilation Tournament, Takeru appeared to have become a lot more respectful to his martial art, now taking modern sumo seriously again.[7]
History[]
Kiozan, a younger brother to distinguished yokozunas over time had his faith in sumo as a martial art diminish, stricken with the belief that with the sumo wrestler's strong body, that restricting such a body to only simple slaps was foolish. In response, he began integrating other strikes into his style and dubbing it "ancient sumo" much to the chagrin of his older brothers who believe Takeru's style to be blasphemous to sumo.[3]
At some point prior to the tournament, Kiozan annihilated the members of the Manly Kickboxing Gym before easily dispatching its boss, Haga Haruki, a GO-1 Grand Prix heavyweight champion.[3]
Plot[]
Kengan Ashura[]
While on board the S.S. Kengan, Kiozan made quick work of the people that were after his representative position before condescendingly deriding them as he left.
On the opening day of the Kengan Annihilation Tournament, he had a quick show of his strength with Magatani Juzo before his fight. Asking whether his opponent was actually strong, Akiyama Sakura told him that indeed his opponent was strong, which excited Kiozan. Representing Magatanien, Kiozan fought Sekibayashi Jun in the first round. Despite seemingly holding the advantage throughout the match by being the one landing more blows—even his most powerful attack, Kiozan ended up losing to the pro wrestler due to his incredible defense and unshakeable conviction.
Later Kiozan was seen watching the match between Sekibayashi and Muteba Gizenga. When Hayami Katsumasa began his "revolution", Kiozan was seen fighting the Guardians. When his brothers and many sumo came to help him, Kiozan remembered that his brothers used to be like him when they were younger.
The next day, he and the majority of other knocked out fighters watched the final day of the tournament unfold in a special viewing area.
After the Kengan Annihilation Tournament, Kiozan started taking sumo seriously again, much to his older brothers' satisfaction.
Kengan Omega[]
Pitted against Chiba Takayuki in a Kengan match, Kiozan swiftly defeated him and ended the man's 4-win streak.
Power & Abilities[]
Kiohzan Takeru is an extremely physically powerful professional sumo wrestler. His muscular strength is immense, with his legs being particularly strong, due to being trained from dawn till dusk, 365 days a year. As a result of his incredible leg strength, Kiozan is deceptively fast despite his rather large and heavy build, being able to knock out a champion kick-boxer before the man even had time to react.[3]
Kiozan is an adept practitioner of sumo techniques. He is able to launch powerful tsuppari (
Two years after the Kengan Annihilation Tournament, after abandoning "ancient" sumo in favor of refining his modern sumo techniques, Yamashita Kazuo noted that Kiozan had been getting more and more powerful by the day.[10]
Two years after the events of the Kengan Association VS Purgatory Tournament, Kiozan's skills have improved to the point that he's now a rising star in professional sumo and have climbed up to the rank of Ozeki. This means he won at least thirty-three official sumo matches within the last three tournaments. He's now strong enough to fight evenly against someone of Tokita Ohma's caliber. Even Sekibayashi admitted that Kiozan is the "last fighter" he want to fight, a testament to far he had come from his defeat. Kiozan's durability had also improved capable of even tanking a Demonsbane counter that used his own power against him. Despite eventually losing, Kiozan stood firmly on his feet despite having lost his consciousness from Ohma's rear naked choke.
Raging Vigour[]
Raging Vigour (
Four years after the Kengan Annihilation Tournament, Kiozan seems to overcome it's weakness, as he still manages to fight even after using it. It is now powerful enough to overcome Ohma's Demonsbane.
Etymology[]
- Kiozan means "demon king" (鬼王) (kio) and "mountain, hill" (山) (san/zan).
- Takeru means "revered, valuable, precious, noble, exalted" (尊).
Trivia[]
- Ex-yokozuna Takanenohana is the sumo wrestler he respects the most.[1]
- Takeru's favourite manga is Kyō Kara Ore Wa!!.
- Takeru is modelled after fromer ozeki Miyabiyama Tetsushi.[1]
- It is unknown what Takeru and his brothers' true surnames are, as they are all more commonly known by their shikona. Their shikona, Ryuozan, Ko'ozan, and Kiozan, are named thematically after the dragon, tiger, and oni, respectively.
- Takeru's theme in the anime is Dengeki Raigo (電撃来迎, Dengeki Raigō; lit. "The Lighting Approach") by yaiba.
- Kiozan's win streak of 12, by Chapter 222 of Omega, is actually an error from the draft. The number was later updated to 19 in the original Japanese, but this was not communicated to the English translation.[12]
- Also, in Chapter 223 of Omega, there is another error in translation in saying Kiozan lost in his debut, which actually is his eighth match.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Kiohzan Takeru's profile
- ↑ Chapter 281 (Omega)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Chapter 74
- ↑ Chapter 221 (Omega)
- ↑ 7 wins prior to the Kengan Annihilation Tournament(Ch74)(Ep13)
At least 8 wins after his victory over Chiba Takayuki(ΩCh25) - ↑ After defeat to Sekibayashi Jun during the Kengan Annihilation Tournament(Ch81)(Ep13)
1 loss to Tokita Ohma in a Kengan match(ΩCh223) - ↑ Chapter 236
- ↑ Chapter 76
- ↑ Chapter 78
- ↑ Chatper 25 (Omega)
- ↑ Chapter 80
- ↑ File:Chapter 222 Page 17 - Original Draft.png
