The 'OZAWA looks like a Jun Mayuzuki character' Bath
Before his injury has even fully healed, OZAWA is back in full swing! It's just too funny... This trio that suddenly crossed paths—OZAWA, SHUN SKYWALKER, and Godfather Takashi Sugiura—has a shady, suspicious aura that no trio in any creative work, past or present, has ever managed to capture. And yet, somehow... I don't know... it feels like they walked right out of some mysterious doujinshi for women...
With his beard shaved off, wearing round sunglasses, and carrying himself with a low profile, doesn't OZAWA look like that one character who always appears in a Jun Mayuzuki manga—the one who is 'never explicitly described as such, but is definitely not straight'?
Like Chihiro Kujo from 'After the Rain'
Or Miyuki Hebinuma from 'Kowloon Generic Romance'
The 'relationship of mutual entertainment' mentioned by SHUN SKYWALKER is also quite good. It's shady and good. It's funny how SHUN, who is supposed to be a serious heel, just ends up playing the straight man, and with his costume, he looks like someone who is flustered at a BDSM event.
Takashi Sugiura, who is currently building a silent character as the Godfather of TEAM2000X, had a blatant promotion leading up to his joining in a story about a 3-way title match with 'Entetsu' Tetsuya Endo. His look, which can be seen as quite... suggestive depending on how you look at it, is just, well, you know.
For me, the image of a Jun Mayuzuki character came to mind, but that probably varies from person to person. OZAWA is truly skilled at creating and performing characters that make you think, 'I don't know what it is, but I've seen this before!' Moreover, it feels a bit nostalgic. I get the impression that he is tracing characters and lines that would have hit home for the generation just slightly older than OZAWA.
Last year, his appearance at the first press conference featured leopard print and looked even more like a thug than it does now, and I felt visual references to DJ OZMA and the boxing Kameda brothers. I love this press conference's 'Swacchattamonne~' so much that I've been watching it constantly lately.
I always feel it in his mic work, too. Phrases like 'You don't have to shrink away,' 'I'll lend you my chest,' and 'Let me explain, [Name]'—his word choices, which tickle the heart every time, suggest a background in pop culture and literature.
OZAWA always presents an excitement where faint homage, novelty, and stimulation intersect. I feel that this is the correct and proper process for all kinds of creation—the foundation of an artist, a foundation that he has mastered and possesses, even if not everyone can grasp it.
I don't think he 'became a pro wrestler because he was physically strong and wanted to show off how cool he was,' nor do I think it was a case of 'he had something he wanted to express and it just happened to be as a pro wrestler.' I heard he was originally aiming to be a keirin cyclist.
I don't think he necessarily wants to express anything. I don't think he even set out to be an artist. That is exactly why he is dangerous. What the hundreds of mediocre 'wanna-bes' can never become—that is likely what true talent is. Being an artist in a natural state.
It's cruel. Isn't it just a little bit cruel?