Did I know anything about sumo before watching Sanctuary? No. Was I even notionally interested in sumo beforehand? Not at all. Did I binge all six hours of this series in one go? Absolutely.

Our protagonist, Oze, becomes a sumo wrestler so he can financially support his dad. He has no emotional investment in sumo nor respect for its traditions and thus is quickly marked as a troublemaker. But don't let the premise mislead you: the sport should not be taken at face value. The power politics of the wrestlers and the vested interests means this series has just as much intrigue as a political drama. It's also just incredibly deeply and darkly funny.

Combine complex power dynamics, high end production (those slow-mo shots are *chefs kiss*), impressive character development, and you find yourself deeply sucked into the rich world of Sanctuary. The episode length times put me off from watching this at an earlier date, but when I did finally hit play, ohhh boy. The plot raced me through all eight episodes in one day,

That said, I can't give a full 10/10. At one stage, the series does teeter dangerously close to cheesy sports movie territory. Despite opinions expressed in other reviews, I think the ending worked well and redeemed the series from its brief foray into inspo-porn.

So yes, I highly recommend giving this series a shot. The blurb doesn't do it justice. I'll end this with a note on Ichinose Wataru's stellar performance. I'd seen him in a support role in the film, The Valley, and was disappointed that he didn't get more screen time – his talent seemed so much larger than his character. With Sanctuary, his acting skills are on full display and he's a wonder to watch. Brilliant work.