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Research dossier · Arts & Letters

The Calamari Wrestler

2004 film by Minoru Kawasaki

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMar 4, 2026
Entity authorityQ1140365 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Calamari Wrestler (いかレスラー, Ika resuraa) is a 2004 Japanese film by director Minoru Kawasaki, starring Kana Ishida and Osamu Nishimura.

Plot

The plot revolves around a professional wrestler who, after developing a terminal illness, becomes a giant squid-like creature (Osamu Nishimura). As a giant squid, he must battle to reclaim his former life both inside and outside the ring.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “The Calamari Wrestler” as 2004 film by Minoru Kawasaki. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Calamari, Wrestler and film.

Editorial reviewBest approached as a cultural-object dossier: authorship and date matter, but circulation and reception often explain the wider significance. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2004—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 2004-01-01. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Calamari, Wrestler and film providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “The Calamari Wrestler”, the useful work is to connect “2004 film by Minoru Kawasaki” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1140365. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2004.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “The Calamari Wrestler”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow The Calamari Wrestler primary sources, The Calamari Wrestler archive and Calamari research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “The Calamari Wrestler”?
  2. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “The Calamari Wrestler” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.