- "Pro wrestlers... are good actors!"
— Sekibayashi Jun[6]
Sekibayashi Jun (
Quick Answers
What is the meaning behind Sekibayashi Jun's alias, Hell's Angel?
Who did Sekibayashi Jun represent in the Kengan Annihilation Tournament?
What is Sekibayashi Jun's profession outside of the Kengan matches?
What is the significance of Sekibayashi Jun's cauliflower ears?
Who won the fight between Muteba and Sekibayashi?
Appearance[]
Sekibayashi is a monster of a man with a dense heavy-set musculature befitting his power as a professional wrestler. He has broad facial features, cauliflower ears, usually sets his hair into cornrows, he has determined eyes and a distinguishing tattoo around his left eye.
Before the start of his match with Kiozan Takeru, Sekibayashi had his hair styled in a reverse ginkgo leaf top knot tied with a white string to mock Kiozan, before he got it ripped off by him just before their match started.
Personality[]
Sekibayashi is a proud professional wrestler who takes his occupation very seriously, maintaining that as a wrestler it is his responsibility to tank any and all damage that comes his way. To that end, he fights with entertaining the audience as his first goal and defeating his opponent the second.
Even in a non-wrestling, underground match, Sekibayashi maintains kayfabe, or at least, his in-stage character.
History[]
Born Sekibayashi Junpei, Sekibyashi was a delinquent for his teen years with no manners to speak of. Grown prideful and aggressive from never being beaten, he soon chose to join Super Japan Pro Wrestling at the age of 15 after picking and losing a fight with its chairman, Babadozan Hiroshi, to the point where he was "within an inch of his life", though his spirit made Babadozan come to like him. After that experience, Sekibayashi was put through a gruelling training regimen and diet. His fatigue at points where he would regularly and violently vomit his food. Six months after his training, the twenty people that joined along with Sekibayashi had now been reduced to four. Babadozan then invited him to dinner and christened Sekibayashi with his ring name "Hell's Angel" Sekibayashi Jun, a name Sekibayashi initially found thoughtless.
Five days afterwards, Babadozan was stabbed fatally by a thug, however, Sekibayashi adhered to his chairman's command that Sekibayashi would train no matter if Sekibayashi's parents or he himself died. Sekibayashi training even on the day of Babadozan's funeral. Sekibayashi made his debut one year later.[1]
Sekibayashi was present at the Rokushin Kaikan Tournament, as the second to Kurachi Karugo, who had taken over as his mentor after Babadozan's death. After seeing Kurachi's loss in the third round to Ikeuchi Mentaro, Sekibayashi asked him why he didn't block any of his attacks. Kurachi then told him that to be a wrestler meant to believe in wrestling. This lesson left a deep impression on Sekibayashi, and influenced the way he fought thereafter.[7]
Three years ago, Sekibayashi's wrestling character "Hell's Angel" summoned a callous and brutal deathmatch wrestler from hell known as "Hell's Deva" Marvellous Seki. While he only had a year-long career, Marvellous Seki fought in extreme deathmatches one after the other and brought terror to the SJPW ring. Marvellous Seki eventually returned to hell after his legendary "Thousand Fluorescent Lamps Deathmatch" against the "God of Pro Wrestling" Kurachi Karugo.[8]
Plot[]
Kengan Ashura[]
Sekibayashi makes his first appearance when Gandai were set to face the Nogi Group in a Kengan match. Facing Tokita Ohma, he warned his opponent that he would be his first true challenge. With the fight getting underway, Sekibayashi quickly took the upper hand, overwhelming Ohma with his incredible durability and raw power. When it seemed like the fight was all but won, Ohma suddenly assumed a strange form and turned the tables on Sekibayashi. With the two charging at each other, Ohma struck a decisive blow, defeating Sekibayashi. With Katahara Metsudo suddenly arriving, Sekibayashi returned to his feet, seemingly undamaged from the fight and acknowledged that Ohma was a strong fighter upon Katahara's mentioning. Seeing that the Fang of Metsudo was not around, Sekibayashi looked disappointed.
Some months later, Sekibayashi was seen boarding the S.S. Kengan. On board, he noted with Imai Cosmo that many powerful public fighters and underworld assassins and mercenaries were present. He later enjoyed a drinking session with Karo Yoshinari. Upon arriving at Ganryu Island, Sekibayashi eased into the island's atmosphere.
On the day of the Kengan Annihilation Tournament, representing Gandai, Sekibayashi was faced against Kiozan Takeru in the first round. Just before he entered the arena, he encountered a downtrodden Kono Haruo and urged the youngster to stick around and watch the fight. Entering the arena wearing a particular hairstyle that enraged Kiozan, the latter struck before the referee even had a chance to begin the fight. With that, their battle kicked off in earnest, with Sekibayashi taking the hardest hits of his life but refusing to go down. Eventually tanking Kiozan's strongest technique, Sekibayashi proved victorious after knocking his opponent out with a powerbomb. After the fight, suffering from the damage he had taken, he was approached by Haruo who asked if he could change too. Sekibayashi grinned and told him he could, subsequently taking Haruo as his student.
On the third day of the tournament, when Haruo brought him his makeup before his fight, he told his new student he would show him what pro wrestling is about. With Gandai announcing a substitution, Sekibayashi entered the arena in his Marvellous Seki persona. Fighting against Muteba Gizenga in the second round, Sekibayashi put up a strong opposition before being suddenly felled by Muteba's Heart Jab. Returning to his feet and somehow continuing to fight even though he was clearly past fighting, Muteba ended the fight a là pro wrestling in Sekibayashi's honour. Sekibayashi then watched the rest of the second round from the medical bay alongside Haruo and Hanafusa Hajime.
During Hayami's "revolution", he, Haruo, Hanafusa, Inaba and Murobuchi helped to defend against the Guardians with Muteba later joining them. After the coup was suppressed, on the fifth day, Sekibayashi and most of the other knocked out tournament fighters watched the final day of the tournament unfold from a special area.
After the Kengan Annihilation Tournament, Sekibayashi officially took Haruo under his wing as the latter was officially drafted into Super Japan Pro Wrestling, with Sekibayashi training Haruo rigorously alongside Karuchi.
Kengan Omega[]
Being introduced to Narushima Koga by Kaneda, the three ate at the Super Japan Pro Wrestling gym. Afterwards, Sekibayashi challenged Koga to keep up with him while he did Hindu squats to which Koga confidently agreed; two hours later, Sekibayashi casually finished as Koga was left physically exhausted. With the rest of the pro wrestlers arriving, Sekibayashi posed Koga a test that would let him finish training under him: to defeat Jose Kanzaki in the ring. Sekibayashi then observed Jose tank everything Koga could throw at him before ending the spar because Jose couldn't keep time. At that, Koga agreed to train with the pro wrestlers.
Some time later, when Yamashita Kazuo visited with Gaoh Ryuki in tow, Sekibayashi, Kurachi and Jose were left shocked when Ryuki bluntly told him his efforts were all for nothing. With Ryuki's words inciting Jose, Sekibayashi stepped in when the two began trading blows in the ring. Later, while the wrestlers ate in the evening, Sekibayashi wondered where Koga was with Jose replying he was still in the gym. That night, Sekibayashi looked on at Koga getting ready to train with Ryuki with a warm smile.
Some days later, as the SJPW got ready to head on tour, Sekibayashi offered Koga to join them, even giving Koga a wrestling moniker (which Koga handily rejected). With Koga declining the offer, the wrestlers said their temporary goodbyes.
Days after, Sekibayashi received a phone call informing him that Tokita Ohma was alive. He went ahead and celebrated with other fighters who also got the news.
Power & Abilities[]
Sekibayashi Jun is an experienced professional wrestler capable of performing a variety of both grappling and striking maneuvers: his arsenal includes chokes, holds, slams, hand chops, punches, kicks, knee strikes and headbutts. He possesses great physical strength, best exemplified when he effortlessly helped Haruo, a man weighing over 300kg, off the floor using only a single hand, to the latter's visible surprise (and having previously caused Haruo's very fall by inadvertedly standing in his way without budging).[9] His most impressive physical feature, however, is his tremendous durability, allowing him to take an insane amount of physical punishment without losing any offensive power or attacking momentum: a trait going hand in hand with - if not stemming from - his dedication to the wrestler's code, requiring him to meet all hits coming his way head-on, eschewing dodging or parrying in favour of sheer resilience. Indeed, Sekibayashi is a "defense specialist" who has mastered the art of "destroying while defending", employing a unique form of hit-taking that harnesses his opponent's attack power by redirecting and disrupting their striking form and then turning it against them destructively. The stronger his opponent's attack, the more formidable his defense becomes, and the higher the resulting damage to the opponent themselves.[10][11]
While Sekibayashi is committed to never blocking or dodging an attack, there are a few attacks that he does avoid, such as attacks to the eyes or the groin.[12] In these cases, rather than a full dodge or block, he instead shifts himself slightly so that the attack hits somewhere less lethal: in the case of an eye-poke, Sekibayashi only moves his face up to let the opponent attack the cheek instead of his eye, doing it in such a way that his opponent usually thinks they've hit their mark.[12]
His dedication to "kayfabe", the professional wrestler code of "selling the performance", makes him an expert at pressing his opponents mentally through his fighting talk and his actions.
"Hell's Deva" Marvellous Seki[]
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Marvellous Seki, Hell's Deva
A gimmick that Sekibayashi played for about a year, "Hell's Deva" Marvellous Seki ("
Sekibayashi's commitment to the gimmick is so great that he even had Gandai use their one substitution to replace "Sekibayashi Jun" with "Marvellous Seki" as their registered affiliated fighter.[8]
Etymology[]
- Sekibayashi means "barrier, gate" (関) (seki) and "forest" (林) (hayashi/bayashi).
- Jun (2) is written in katakana (ジュン), which has no special meaning. However, when written in kanji (淳, 潤, 純 or 順), it could possibly mean:
- 淳 - "pure".
- 潤 - "moisture".
- 純 - "pure, clean, simple".
- 順 - "obey/obedience, submit".
- Junpei means "pure, clean, simple" (純) (jun) and "flat, broad, level, even, peaceful" (平) (hei/pei).
Notes & Trivia[]
- Sekibayashi is modelled after four real-life wrestlers: Daisuke Sekimoto, Yuji Okabayashi, Jaki Numazawa and Jun Kasai.[2]
- His epithet, "Hell's Angel", is based on Numazawa's, known as "The Black Angel". His Marvellous Seki persona is inspired by Numazawa's typical makeup while fighting.
- He is surprisingly delicate and enjoys cooking for other people.[13][14]
- Gotch-style training is Sekibayashi's favourite form of physical training.[2]
- Sekibayashi, Sakura and Wakatsuki often hang out together.[14]
- When Sekibayashi first began wrestling, the hardest thing for him wasn't training or injuries, it was eating. He would train intensely from dawn to dusk with his only rest time being meal time and had to force himself to eat beyond his limits while nauseated from fatigue in order to build his body.[1][15]
- Daromeon admits that somehow he often forgets to draw the tattoo around Sekibayashi's left eye.
- Sekibayashi's theme in the anime is Dark Angel by Funta7.
- He appears in chapter 111 of How Heavy Are The Dumbbells You Lift.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Chapter 76
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Sekibayashi Jun's profile
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Chapter 75
- ↑ 57 wins prior to the Kengan Annihilation Tournament(Ch75)(Ep13)
1 win during the tournament against Kiozan Takeru(Ch81)(Ep13)
2 wins against Yoroizuka Saw Paing(Chapter 164)
1 win against Okubo Naoya(Ch198) - ↑ 1 loss prior to the Kengan Annihilation Tournament to Tokita Ohma(Ch75)(Ep13)
1 loss during the tournament after defeat to Muteba Gizenga(Ch146)
1 loss to Yoroizuka Saw Paing(Chapter 164) - ↑ Chapter 14
- ↑ Chapter 79
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Chapter 142
- ↑ Chapter 74
- ↑ Chapter 80
- ↑ Chapter 81
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Chapter 144
- ↑ 4-koma: Delicate
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 4-koma: 40-year Old Man
- ↑ Chapter 20 (Dumbbell)
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