Sanctuary – J-drama Episode 4 Recap & Review

Episode 4

Episode 4 of Sanctuary starts with a wrestling match where Ryuki wins fair and square but as soon as he goes to his room, he ends up throwing up after given how anxious he was from the match.

At home, Ryuki puts on a brave face but his father calls his wrestling ‘soul-less’. The old man yells, startling Ryuki and he ends up spilling wine on himself. Oze is irritable on his way back to the stable and picks a fight with an old man on the street.

He walks in on Inokoshi from the organization asking Ensho to have Oze resign from being a sumo wrestler. Oze, who was listening to the conversation from outside Ensho’s cabin, jumps inside the room and talks to Inokoshi directly. He is drunk and mocks Inokoshi, enraging him. His behaviour embarrasses Ensho but Okami comes in to save the day. She reminds Inokoshi how he too was a naïve young wrestler and his superiors took pity on him.

Inokoshi leaves the Ensho stable and Okapi asks Ensho to have a serious talk with Oze. Inokoshi is enraged with Okami and claims that she is acting out because she’s the illegitimate child of the chairman for the wrestling association – Kumada. He is adamant that they shut the Ensho stable down no matter what.

Meanwhile, Ensho asks One to stop with his attitude. The May Tournament starts and Kunishima and her boss Tokitsu watch the matches from the audience.

Tokitsu tells her that Oze had received a scolding from the association for his erratic behaviour. From the stands, Tokitsu shares his knowledge of the sumo techniques to Kunishima. He tells her that Oze lacked respect for the sport and that was the reason for his lacklustre performance. Oze’s attitude hasn’t changed much and his cockiness does not sit right with the umpire.

The referee makes Oze restart the fight multiple times due to his incorrect hand placement. Oze is riled up but still wins the match somehow.

Oze controls his anger as the rest of the tournament goes smoothly. Oze ends up winning most of his matches while the audience is keen to watch Enya perform for the first time after his knee injury. Despite winning the match, Enya suffers a knee injury but tries to hide it. That evening, Oze goes out on a date with Nanumi and has some drinks, despite his ongoing tournament. Oze is sure that he will win no matter what.

Nanumi gifts him a Chanel wallet in exchange for the one he has lost – the one that she had stolen. Frustrated with Oze’s behaviour, Inokoshi hatches a plan to teach Oze a lesson.

That morning, Oze’s match starts and his opponent pushes him on purpose to rile him up. Oze ends up with a bleeding nose but continues to play the match. His opponent tries to break Oze’s arms during the fight but Oze uses Ensho’s technique to push him out of the circle. In Oze’s style, he makes a show of the whole win with the referee.

Inokoshi is shocked by the result of the match but the tournament continues nevertheless. After Shizuuchi wins his next match, Ryuki tries to talk to him but the former pushes him aside. Oze mocks Ryuki for being rejected by Shizuuchi which seems to have triggered him. That night, Oze tries kissing Nanumi but she intercepts his advances. Murata joins them and praises Oze for being a great wrestler.

Meanwhile, Ensho has a chat with Mr Ogawa and tells him how Oze acting out during the match made him really happy. Murata takes Oze and Nanumi to the nightclub and he is the life of the party there. Kunishima goes through social media and finds videos of Oze dancing in the middle of the nightclub. She reads how there are nasty comments against Oze, but it turns out, the comments are from Enku.

On their way back home, Murata asks why Oze became a wrestler and bribes him with money. He tells Oze that investing in the stock market would help Oze make easy money in no time. Murata gives Oze some cash as a prize for winning during the tournament and Oze is excited about his newfound friend.

Meanwhile, Nanumi rides the car back home with Murata after dropping Oze at the stable. That night, Shizuuchi wakes up to a nightmare of the dead bodies of the woman and child by the cherry blossom tree. Four months pass and a reporter tries to investigate the murder of Shizuuchi’s mother and brother.

It is revealed that the dead bodies he saw under the tree were that of his mother and brother and that he’s the prime suspect in the murders. The reporter visits Shzuuchi’s hometown to find out more information. He visits the cherry blossom tree and asks villagers about the murder as the episode comes to an end.

The Episode Review

It is clear that Shizuuchi is not responsible for the murder of his family members and it is possible that the incident is what caused him to never speak again. It seems like the reporter is trying to help Shizuuchi and I really empathise with his character because of the odds he had faced.

I love how Shizuuchi pushes Ryuki off but allows Enno/Oze to chat with him. If there is a friendship between Shizuuchi and Oze, I am rooting for it. Ryuki seems like he is too good for the world but to a fault.

The fact that Oze has completely forgotten his about father’s condition does not sit right with me. I like his sass and support his rebellion against the world of sumo but his arrogance is what could eventually lead to his downfall. The show has four more episodes left and it seems like a conflict would present itself soon because things are going too smoothly for Oze right now.