Twitch has some great channels – especially if you like watching things from other countries.

One of my early favorites was Game Center CX ゲームセンターCX. The Game Center CX Twitch channel ran about 19 seasons of the TV show. GameCenter CX was a Japanese TV show that featured comedian Shinya Arino (a member of comedy duo Yowiko). He plays old home console video games from previous decades (his own childhood) and usually attempts to get the game’s ending within a single day. It’s made more entertaining by the fact he’s not a very good player and the attempts consist of marathon sessions in which he is clearly past exhaustion. He picked up quite a following and he would do adventures playing at local game centers (arcades) in different parts of Japan – many in mom and pop candy stores. While the Twitch gccxstream channel is rarely live these days, you can always watch the archived seasons anytime you want.

A more recent favorites is the Midnight Sumo Twitch channel that broadcasts live competitions and replays of the previous matches in the current season. Sumo runs all year, but in several distinct tournaments that happen ever 2 months. They live broadcast (usually late evening US time) whenever there is a tournament.

During the live broadcasts, there is lots of commenting and folks helping the casual viewer know more about the sport, the reason behind the little rituals they use, see the between match vignettes, as well as getting to watch great Japanese commercials that happen during the normal commercial breaks. Excellent and fun way to watch with others.

Other fun tidbits are how people explain things like the ring announcer (yobidashi) in his unique outfit. The outfit is based on an old style Japanese workman’s outfit, with leggings and split-toed tabi-like boots. In keeping with that workman theme, he does many odd jobs around the arena.