#the pacing is interesting but. potentially thats just the nature of it being a short film? hm.

[shesmore-shoebill]

okay, okay, yes, me and my wife. but also this is a deeply clever and horrifying premise. like "i live in your house" and it becomes true. because he lives in your head, and he is living there. He is in your house even if he isn't.

and you spend the whole time thinking- if its in her head, it will get better once someone else is there- her wife, a loved one who has been expressing concern for her wellbeing.

And then she arrives, and invites him in. And it ends with "do you hear that" and an unbothered "yes".

HORRIFYING. well shot, well written, well composed, well acted.

[dantereviews]

Manga Review: Bakuman

8/10

Bakuman is the story of Mashiro Moritaka, a talented young artist and Akito Takagi, an extremely intelligent writer, as they strive to achieve their dreams of becoming a pro mangaka duo and rising to the top of the manga world in the famous magazine ‘Shonen Jump’. 

Considering that this manga itself ran in Jump and is made by a two-man author/artist team, its basically the most meta manga ever created. And the cherry on top is that the duo behind Bakuman, Takeshi Obata and Tsugumi Ohba are the same duo behind the towering monolith that is Death Note. As someone who not only enjoys manga, but has an interest in the behind the scenes production of it, Bakuman hit all the right spots to get me very interested. And I am glad to report that it really delivered. 

Reviewing Bakuman is kind of difficult. Part of that is because its a long journey at 176 chapters, so trying to go over it all is a big job. But another part is that the subject matter is so different to most manga that it really stands out. To use terminology from the text, I’d call Bakuman a ‘non-mainstream mainstream battle manga’. Its about the two leads making manga, but functionally its about their battles with other authors to become the best, especially their main rival Niizuma Eiji. Bakuman manages to perfectly capture the spirit of shounen: pure hearts striving to achieve their goals - but without any violence. Its a pretty refreshing change of pace from the regular battle series and psychological thriller that dominate the market.

The tone is a good place to start with my analysis. As I said, its pretty light-hearted. The story follows two straight-forward, determined individuals who just want to create great art and show everyone their potential. The manga is quite funny, always throwing in little gags and funny side plots to keep things flowing and natural. It also has some heavier moments, dealing with people who’re greedy or lustful but always with a sincere attitude. I think that sincerity really carries the manga because by being a straight story about mostly good people it avoids a lot of the common bad guy/good guy cliches and just keeps the good times rolling.

The characters are very strong as well. The two leads are approachable enough to root for all the way through, even if they arent as emotionally complex as some deeper series. The large side cast is also really interesting, following the other authors in Jump as they also try to make their own names. Some of them, like Hiramaru, the lazy author who just wants to take a break but is constantly manipulated by his editor into continuing to draw, and the author Takagi’s wife Kaya who is always at the studio helping out, are so much fun, and their presence is necessary to insert some more fun and variety. The series constantly introduces great new characters while continuing to focus on and grow the core cast.

And one of the coolest aspects of Bakuman is the manga inside the manga. As a series about Mangaka creating their own series, of course those series feature heavily. Its very cool to see the creation process and eventual realisation of so many amazing ideas and visuals, all of which could be made into real life manga of their own. Following the plots of the stories-in-the-story is pretty exciting alone, before even considering all the main duo have riding on how well the stories do. 

I do have two main criticisms. Firstly is that despite having a great story with new developments occuring and twists you didnt foresee, the goals and strategies of the characters are uniform nearly all the way through. The two main characters very quickly decide to become mangakas and reach the number 1 spot in Shonen Jump - and then continue to chase that goal for the entire series. I still got entirely sucked into that journey, but I will say that it was a bit too monotone, and for someone looking for a deep story that goes through multiple layers this could be a big hurdle to enjoying it.

Secondly I have to criticise the art. Artwork is one of the most fundamental aspects of manga - its what you see and how you process the medium after all. In keeping with its less mature aura, the art in Bakuman is light and exaggerated. There are lots of chibi and reaction faces, and the normal art style definitely has a rounder, more gentle style than most manga. But maybe because the story is so grounded in reality, aside from having very recognisable and interesting character designs I cant say the artwork was particularly impressive at all. Theres only so many ways to make a guy hunched over a drawing table look cool after all. I think this series isnt so much about the visuals as the story, and it definitely takes second place in terms of artwork to a lot of other manga.

Bakuman really hooked me, and I ended up binge reading most of it in a short amount of time. As a manga enthusiast, it showed me another side of an industry that I really like and gave me a very comfy kind of atmosphere. I loved reading about the interesting ideas the characters were thinking up and seeing all the goofy antics they got up to. And at the same time, I admired their hard work and determination to work through setbacks and create something amazing. It isnt the prettiest or the most intelligent manga, basically the opposite of Death Note. And thats what makes it so impressive - beating out the traditional genres of manga and forging its own fun and, most importantly, interesting path to success.

I give it an 8/10 and a hearty recommendation. 

[shonarussell-film]

//Advanced Documentary Practice\\ SKATEBOOBS

On first hearing about Lauren’s pitch for a documentary surrounding a group opf female skaters, I was instantly keen to be involved. It’s something I’ve always wanted to film, as well as being interested in learning to skate myself.

We decided it could be a good idea to co-direct/shoot the film, with Karina on sound and Sara on Edit. However, as we began filiming, it was clear that having more defined roles would’ve helped us out- there was different people on sound for most shoots, which created discrepencies in sound quality and took some post work to fix. However, this was mainly due to our covid setbacks, which meant we had to call in a few friends to help out.

Another flaw in our method of shooting was to go into it somewhat blindly, having only a rough idea of how we wanted the documentary to play out, thus leaving us with unasnwered questioned once we decided to hone in on a specific aspect of the group. However, the time constraints we had meant that it was difficult to get to know them before shooting, which made things a bit awkward at stages, especially if we were to ask more personal questions. I also think our approach was helpful in some ways, as it let the natural narrative materialise itself without forcing any pre conceptions in our questions.

I was in charge of booking kit, picking up and dropping off as well as teaching myself the basics of the SONY FS7 II, as we had not yet had a class on how to use it. This proved to be quite stressful in the first few shoots, but I am glad I took the time out every evening to get myself familliar with the set ups and features which allowed me to get really clean Slo Mo shots and gave me one less thing to worry about on shoot days. I shot the main chunk of footage, with Karina and Lauren supporting on their individual DSLRs. Although this creates a lot of discrepencies within the way all the footage looks, I think it reflects the eclectic nature of the group and how different componements make a really cohesive group, albeit dysfunctional.

One of our main stresses was organising dates when all the girls were free to skate- this proved nearly impossible. We settled for small groups at a time, but there would still be times they would cancel last minute due to not feeling up to skating- we had to remember that this is a hobby for them, and they have busy lifes and uni dealdlines of their own which we were kind of interfering with.

As time progressed, we were keen to shoot non skating related activities, plus a few solo interveiws to put meat on the skeleton of our treatment. This ended up helping us a lot in digging deeper into the girls’ personal lives and what Skateboobs has done for them. This gave our docuementary a new layer which took away that ‘promotional’ feel.

There was planned shoots that never made it into fruition due to timing set backs and availability with subjects, which is a shame as I think they would’ve really elevated our film. I went out early one morming to skate myself at the Colinton Tunnel to do a quick recce and take videos for a potential shoot, which would have been lovely to shoot at. These plans are all currently on hold for when we continue filming with the Skateboobs.

Looking back on our shooting times, what I find myself remembering most was the effort we put into shooting as best we can - getting up at 5am for sunrise skates in the cold, shooting outdoors for 90% of filming in winter, lugging skateboards and huge camera bags round Edinburgh, getting stares off of passer-bys. As much as it was strenuous, I look back on that fondly as I remember having so much fun despite how stressful it was.

Post production was really where things began to lose pace. We were on a high from filming so often with the girls and spent time reveiwing footage, the edit seemed a long way away in our heads. After sending the files to Sara to edit, I was only informed that she coudln’t open the files a week after I had sent them. This threw a spanner in the works, as I hadn’t planned on editing, especially in the short time we had left. From then onwards I devoted all of my time to work through the hours of footage and create a narrative that would create this portrait of the group without being just a promotional video. I spent 12 hour days in the edit suite to do this, with help from Karina and Lauren. I had to re learn my final cut pro software, and as a filmmaker, I am not the most confident in my editing skills in terms of technicalities. However, I am proud of the edit I spent a lot of hard work and time on, and I’m glad I didn’t just throw something together in time for our deadline.

I sent the finished film to Sara, who created a nice sound scape to connect the audio and create a sense of sound fluidity. I gave her feedback that day, and received another draft that evening, which i was thankful for.

Our feedback from the crit went really well, everyone felt the sense of community and friendship that we were trying to hit home. Luke suggested using more classic skatebaording cinema tropes such as VHS or fish eye lens, which I completely agree wouldve elevated our film to tap into the filmic language of skatebaording.

What I must say about this project is that it definetly came from a place of love. Our hearts were really in it, and thats why we pushed so hard to create the film we wanted despite the set backs. I really feel as if we have made a documentary, which is a great feeling. We’ve made friendships with the girls that we hope will contiue on after our screening, and Lauren, Karina and I have also made really great friends with eachother throughout this process. It’s been a breath of fresh air after lockdown and feeiing isolated, which is why rewatching our film brings so much joy, and gives a purpose to everything we are doing.

[hazyheel]

NJPW Destruction in Beppu 2019 Review

So these Destruction Shows are pretty interesting. They are basically New Japan’s closest thing to a B show, which generally means that there will be a long undercard a a couple big main event matches. And thats what we got here. Unsurprisingly, this was a top heavy show that was carried by it’s main events, with the undercard filled with a lot of B and C storylines. But the top of this show was very entertaining, so I still walked away happy. So here is my Destruction in Beppu review.

Karl Fredericks vs. Yota Tsuji in the Young Lion Cup: The two started off with some grappling back and forth, with Fredericks coming out on top and having a rather disrespectful break. However, when they continued to fight, Tsuji won a different lockup and broke things up with a huge chop to the chest. Fredericks went into this match with a bit of an injured shoulder, which Tsuji certainly took advantage of with a series of submissions and strikes. This allowed Tsuji to keep control for much of the match, but Fredericks was able to hit some offense of his own due to his superior speed. As the two started a striking contest, it became more and more apparent that every strike Fredericks threw would aggravate the shoulder. Fredericks then tried to end things quickly by picking the leg and locking in a single leg Boston crab, which he then transitioned into a lion tamer for the win. Fredericks: 8, Tsuji: 2. 

Grade: B-. A simple match but effective. It showed a lot of Fredericks offense and his fire, and he seems like he has a lot of potential. I loved his comeback and the desperate submission that got him the win. Tsuji looked good too, like he was desperate to prove himself despite being mathematically eliminated from winning. Both guys looked good here, but Fredericks had to impress me more. 

Alex Coughlin vs. Shota Umino in the Young Lion Cup: Coughlin seemed to have a distinct power advantage, but Umino was no slouch. The two had a test of strength, with Umino putting Coughlin on the mat after a shoulder tackle, but Coughlin quickly showed off his impressive mat wrestling right afterwards, followed by some blistering chops to the chest that fired up Umino. Umino turned up the heat a lot from there, through the use of some high impact striking and even a bit of flying. That fire did force him to overextend a bit, and Coughlin caught him out of a dropkick to lock in a Boston crab for a submission sequence. After Umino got to the ropes, they then exhcnaged huge uppercuts and chops in the middle of the ring, before Umino ended it with a huge dropkick followed by a missile drop kick for a near fall. Umino then hit a fisherman suplex for the win. Umino: 8, Coughlin: 4.

Grade: B-. This match was a bit stronger than the first one, as they seemed to have pretty good chemistry together, but still not quite a B. These guys had some great looking strikes and some nice mat wrestling in the beginning, but they couldn’t really craft anything epic with the time constraint. I see a lot of talent in both of them, and they made a lot of progress from such a short match. 

Clark Connors, Manabu Nakanishi, Michael Richards & Toa Henare vs. Ren Narita, Ryusuke Taguchi, Yuji Nagata, Yuya Uemura: Narita and Connors started things out, but quickly both tagged out as Connors attacked Uemura on the apron. Uemura and Henare were in the ring next in a battle of two big and quick guys. Henare wasn’t budging at all from the shoulder tackles, and it took an arm drag to actually get him on the mat, but even then Uemura couldn’t keep him down. Nakanishi came in next, and he was just full of energy in this match. Connors and Richards then teamed up to continue to attack Uemura, but Narita ran in to break up a pinfall, much to the chagrin of the opposing young lions. Narita eventually got tagged in, and took the fight to everyone on the other side before delivering a huge vertical suplex on Henare for a near fall. He tried for the bridging belly to belly, but Henare countered out of it and delivered a huge thrust kick before tagging in Nakanishi. Nakanishi destroyed Narita with some chops, but Narita was able to give Nakanishi a huge slam before tagging in Nagata for a battle of close friends. The two exchanged strikes, finishing with a spear and a lariat from Nakanishi for yet another near fall. The two then tagged out, with Taguchi giving everyone on the other team a hip attack, but the numbers eventually got the best of him. They delivered a huge amount of offense to Taguchi, with a spear from Connors, a flying chop from Henare, a splash from Nakanishi and a leg drop from Richards, but Uemura broke it up. Richards continued to the offense, but Narita ran in to break things up, allowing Taguchi to hit a hip attack, and then lock in an ankle lock. Richards lasted a long time in it, but eventually had to tap out after Taguchi dropped the elbow. 

After the match, all of the young lions brawled a bit, 

Grade: C-. This wasn’t all that good. Nakanishi and Nagata both slowed everything down, while Taguchi didn’t seem too into the match. Connors, Uemura and Narita were the highlights of this match, but they weren’t used enough to really make a difference. These huge tag matches can often feel a bit like that. 

DOUKI, Minoru Suzuki & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Jushin Thunder Liger, SHO, and YOH: A team of Suzuki-Gun and three big junior heavyweights. Naturally, before the match Suzuki-gun attacked, with Suzuki and Liger continuing their rivalry from earlier in the year. Kanemaru and Yoh started things off with some fast pace flying. Every time that Suzuki could, he attacked Liger violently, even burying him with the barricades and chairs at one point. Yoh was nearly counted out as his team was beaten down on the outside, but he made it back in the ring to as Suzuki met him there. Liger then ran in to Yoh’s aid, but Suzuki fought back and destroyed him with a chair on the outside, before dropping Yoh with a series of elbows. Liger was eventually tagged in, but the second he did, Douki met him there. Liger fought both of the Junior heavyweights for a bit, before challenging Suzuki and drilling him with a Shotei. Suzuki then locked in a Fujiwara armbar, and while Sho tried to break it up, Suzuki no sold the hits until Douki stopped him. Suzuki then continued Liger’s beatdown, locking in a Sleeper Hold and trying to remove the mask of Liger, until the ref stopped him. The two tagged out after a Shotei, tagging in Sho and Douki, who battled at a quick pace. Douki nearly got the win with a bridging German suplex, but Liger broke it up. Sho and Douki then jockeyed for position, with Yoh aiding for the double knees. Yoh then took out Kanemaru with a plancha, as Douki slipped out of a powerbomb and nearly won with a pinning combination. As Douki ran the ropes, Sho and Yoh caught him with a 3k for the win.

Liger and Suzuki continued to brawl after the match, with Liger coming out on top and keeping his mask. Suzuki Gun attacked again, with Suzuki nearly ripping off Liger’s mask, until the Young Lions pulled him off and ate some strikes for their troubles. Liger then got on the mic, and challenged Suzuki to a fight. Suzuki refused.

Grade: C+. Fine match, but largely unremarkable. Roppongi 3k and Kanemaru were the highlights here, along with the never ending war between Liger and Suzuki. But the action just wasn’t very crisp here, and the Liger and Suzuki stuff took precedent over the rest of the match. It just felt more like an angle than a match. 

Bad Luck Fale, El Phantasmo, KENTA, Taiji Ishimori & Yujiro Takahashi vs. Kota Ibushi, Robbie Eagles, Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma and Will Ospreay: a huge ten man tag to preview the two headlining matches tomorrow night. Chaos and the main unit vs. BULLET CLUB. Bullet Club started with an attack before the bell, but the Birds of Prey quickly got the advantage from the Junior Tag Champs early on. However, Fale was able to take Eagles off his feet, even letting Gino Gambino on commentary to give him a chop. Bullet Club beat down Eagles a whole bunch, but his team continued to break up the pinfalls to keep the match alive. Eagles was able to tag out to Makabe, who brawled with Fale. The two goliaths clashed several times, before eventually tagging out to Ibushi and Kenta, hitting the incredible strikes that both are known for until they both collapsed from kicks to the head. Honma got tagged in, but was beaten down after missing the Kokeshi. The heels had to fight off the babyfaces, but Kenta continued to bring the fight to Honma by nailing a backfist, a PK, and the Go to Sleep for the win. 

Grade: C. Another match that was largely fine, but the fact that it had so many people in it gave it a bit of a confusing feel. I never really felt like anyone in it were particularly important, and no one really had time to shine. Eagles, Ospreay and Kenta probably looked the best, but that was just to build up the challengers for tomorrow. But the action was fine, just nothing ground breaking, I just need a point to some of these matches beyond a simple preview.

BUSHI, SANADA & Shingo Takagi vs.  Hirooki Goto, Kazuchika Okada & Rocky Romero: LIJ vs. CHAOS. Rocky seems to be on a bit of a comeback tour, and this match was just another stop on that tour. Goto and Takagi started things off. The two started with some quick strikes and countering each other’s signature offense, before Bushi tagged in and was beaten down by Chaos. Okada seemed pretty excited for this match, and was both loud and energetic throughout the contest. We actually saw a bit of a preview of the next Heavyweight Championship match as Sanada squared up with Okada a bit, but that finished up as Romero ran in to give Sanada a series of clotheslines and then a rewind kick. Things started to break down a bit as Goto and Takagi squared off and nailed each other with clotheslines over and over until Goto nailed a yoshigaroshi. Sanada then nailed Okada with a cutter to take him out, and locked Romero in Skull End for the submission win. 

Grade: B-. This was a pretty good match. It was nice to see Rocky be all energetic like he normally is, and I loved how intense the feud between Goto and Takagi has become. And it seems like Okada is really taking Sanada seriously now, so that adds a lot of intrigue. But while this was a good match, it was again inconsequential. 

Chase Owens & Jay White vs. EVIL & Tetsuya Naito: another preview match for later in the tour. LIJ vs. BULLET CLUB. Gedo was in the corner for the Bullet Club, but he actually didn’t get involved at all. Owens and White attacked before the bell and started to beat down Evil in one of the corners. Evil desperately fought a two on one fight as the illegal man from Bullet Club would get involved just about whenever Evil gained an advantage. The heels completely isolated Evil during this match, and even nearly got him counted out as Owens threw him into the wall in the crowd. As Naito and White got tagged in, both men were being overly polite as a way to mock each other, but they got incredibly violent as they came into the ring. They were beating the crap out of each other with their signature offense and various strikes and slams. Bullet Club beat down Naito in the middle of the ring, giving him a twisting brain buster and a shining wizard for a near fall. Owens nearly hit the package piledriver, but Evil ran in to stop it. Evil then nailed White with Darkness Falls, and they destroyed Owens with a discus forarm and a pinning combination, but only a near fall. Evil then held White’s head and forced him to watch as Naito nailed Owens with the Destino for the win. 

After the match, Naito attacked Gedo and everyone started to brawl. Naito and White continued to play mind games with each other, as they both stared each other in the eyes and jaw jacked on the mat. 

Grade: B+. Really good tag match that I think elevated the feud. These guys worked together very well, and Owens remains one of the underrated workers in the company. White and Naito’s feud is really turning out great, with both guys desperately trying to get into each other’s heads to the point that we can no longer tell who is winning this feud. Who is more in the other’s head? I have no idea, and I love that. The match itself had a good pacing and a lot of good storytelling. Really good stuff, a happy surprise of a good match. 

The Guerrillas of Destiny vs. Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI for the IWGP Tag Team Championships: Jado was out to corner the Guerrillas and made sure to bring his kendo stick. Tama Tonga and Ishii started things out, with Tama not being able to really do anything to take Ishii down. They soon picked up the pace, where Tama had a speed advantage, and was able to get a bit of offense in, but neither man could hit their finish as they battled to a stalemate. The two continued to fight, Hashi and Tonga Loa both got involved and brawled, until the teams both went for various double team moves, with the Guerrillas coming out on top. The two then worked over Ishii, who was refusing to give up and just take the hits that they dealt to him. At one point, Hashi tried to run in and save Ishii, but he ate a dropkick as he did. The Guerrillas were in firm control. Ishii was finally able to get the hot tag to Hashi after some miscommunication, but the hot tag wasn’t particularly exciting. There was a nice striking contest at one point between Ishii and Loa, Ishii refusing to go down only to eat a lariat and do so. Another cool spot saw Hashi hit a lung blower to Loa, followed by a German Suplex from Ishii. There was also a weird botch where Tama went for a Gun Stun on Hashi, which was supposed to miss but Hashi kinda messed up the sell or maybe Tama messed up, but it looked like he hit it. There was a bit of a scramble that ended in Tama slipping out of a Vertical Drop Brainbuster and hitting the Tongan Twist, and then hitting another to Hashi. They followed up with a flying headbutt and a splash, but Hashi kicked out. They then tried for a Magic Killer on Hashi, but Ishii put a stop to it, only to be hit with one himself. After he rolled out, they drilled Hashi with the Magic Killer, but he kicked out! They then went to give him the Double Powerbomb, but Ishii knocked them off the top, and Hashi and Tama fell back in the ring, just as Hashi locked in the butterfly lock. Loa was about to break it up, but Ishii locked in a sleeper to stop him. Tama was locked in it for a while, when Jado pulled Red Shoes out of the ring. Jado then ran in, but Hashi stole his kendo stick and hit him with it. During this time, Loa shook off Ishii, and tried to attack Hashi, only for Hashi to launch him into one of Ishii’s headbutts. Hashi then countered a Gun Stun from Tama, and put him on the shoulders of Ishii for a powerbomb, and then followed it up for a meteora, but Loa still broke it up. Hashi then nailed a brainbuster of his own, but Tama still kicked out. Right as he did, Kenta showed up and hopped up on the apron. Hashi tried to attack him, which allowed Tama to roll him up and steal the win. 

After the match, Kenta attacked Hashi, and beat up a couple young lions. By the time everything was broken up, everyone had brawled a bit. 

Grade: B+. This match won me over by the end.  I thought it was largely pretty boring and wasn’t doing all that much for me, but once Ishii and Hashi started really working together as a team, then I got into it. The closing stretch was done super well and I was really into the finish. Hashi looked really good here, even though he was pinned. I have a feeling he will be the next NEVER Openweight Championship challenger. I thought the Guerrillas put on a great show, and I really liked this match. one of my favorite straight up two on two matches that they have had in this reign. I wanted Ishii and Hashi to win, but I don’t mind the loss if it was in this good of a match. 

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr for the RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship: The two started out with a bit of grappling on the mat, as these two tend to do, wrestling to a stalemate at first. The two grappled a lot in the early goings, with neither guy particularly trying to target a single body part. The two traded interesting escapes and holds in a very meticulous pace. It was clear as this match wore on that Sabre was getting more and more frustrated, although he wasn’t going insane like he had backstage. They started to pick up the pace a bit after Sabre went for a short European uppercut, and Tanahashi nailed him with a splash off the middle rope and then a chop block. From there, Tana knew that he’d target the leg. Sabre then took a breather on the outside, and tried to buy time to let his knee and ankle heal, so Tanahashi held the ropes open. This frustrated Sabre to know end, and he tried to hit Tana with a chair, only for a young lion to snatch it from him at the last second. Sabre then locked in an armbar on the Young Lion, so Tanahashi met him on the outside. The two then battled back into the ring with some striking, and Sabre started to target the arm, previously injured after their match back at MSG. Things got far more sadistic after Sabre put a bullseye on that arm, as he seemed incredibly motivated to put Tana on the injured list with that attack. Tanahashi then started to fight out of the various holds with stiff forearms, before going back to the knee with a dragonscrew leg whip. The battled shifted to the oustide, with Tana almost going for an Ace’s High to the floor, but Sabre walked away before he could do it. Sabre then caught a baseball slide with an ankle lock, and then an armbar off the apron, much to the chagrin of Red Shoes. As Sabre argued with the ref, it allowed Tana to hit several dragonscrew leg whips through the ropes and even a couple dropkicks to the knee. The two then battled as Tana looked for the Cloverleaf, but Sabre quickly reversed it into a cross armbreaker. However, Tanahashi actually got out of that by transitioning into an armbar of his own, only for Sabre to quickly tie him in knots afterwards. He grabbed hold of three of Tana’s four limbs, and it looked like that was it, but he let the leg slip and Tanahashi was able to get to the bottom rope. At one point, the two traded counters, until Tana put Sabre down with a pair of Slingblades, and then High Fly Flow to Sabre’s back. Instead of going for the pin, he went for a modified Cloverleaf, but Sabre got to the ropes. Sabre then caught Tana as he ran the ropes, locking in a Guillitine, only for Tana to counter with a pair of Twist and Shouts. He went for a third, but Sabre countered with the Zack Driver, but he couldn’t make the pin. The two got to their feet, and Tana started to fire up and destroy Sabre with a series of European uppercuts, until Sabre caught the injured arm and kicked it. Sabre then went for the PK, but Tana caught it and attacked the knee, followed by straightjacket german with a bridge for a near fall. The two then traded pinning combinations and submissions quickly, with Sabre barely getting out of a pair of rollups and then rolling Tana up out of an abdominal stretch, and getting the win.

Grade: A-. This was a really good match between two of the best grapplers in the world. These guys have had nothing but great matches over the past few months, and we are bound to see at least one more due to the rematch clause. I love how Sabre was able to score a pin rather than a submission win, because Tana always rolled him up to get the win. Now Sabre rolled him back up to even the score up a bit. Great stuff, intense submissions, and creative counters. Another really good match in the books, and the match of the night. 

Overall Grade: B-

Pros: LIJ vs. BULLET CLUB; Guerrillas vs. CHAOS; main event

Cons: 8-man tag; 10-man tag