Aa Harimanada

Story 4

The story is the weakest aspect of Aa Harimanada, it doesn't have much of a story line. The plot revolves around Harimanada disregard for Sumo tradition which doesn't go down well with the Sumo sports authority(SSA). Rest of the anime revolves around the tussle between Harimanada and the authority.

The story is simplistic and there aren't any/many twist and turns in it. The good thing is that there aren't any fillers .

Art 5

For a 90's anime the art is okay. One gripe i had was that the faces of many of the antagonists looked similar and i couldn't tell the difference. Also some ... of the background scene were used repeatedly and in some instance you couldn't tell whether the crowd were upset or happy.

Sound 6

The background music in this anime was good and enhanced quality of different scenes in the anime. The voice acting was spot on and portrayed the characters pretty well.

Character 4

The characters in the anime including main character were one dimensional. Neither the protagonist nor the antagonist motivation for what they did were fleshed out. While the anime did make a flimsy attempt at showing why the SSA was upset with Harimanada, but it felt contrived. Nor was any attempt made to explain why Harimanada had such disregard for Sumo traditions and why he started acting up after he became yokuzuna and not before.

Enjoyment 6

While the story is weak and characters are one dimensional. Harimanada's rebellious nature and overwhelming strength will make you enjoy the show. Even though the story is predictable you will still want to know how Harimanada takes on the Sumo world from the get go.

The strongest aspect of the anime is it's fight scene's.There are lot of them and it is not unusual to see 3 fight scene in one episode. Even though some of the fight scene are predictable you still would want to see how the fight goes. Also, some fight are pretty intense.

Overall 5

Who should watch this anime?

People who want simplistic story line with lot's of fight scene.
People who want to see a character who has overwhelming strength and fighting sense.
People who want to watch an old anime to get a feel of the art style and sound quality.

Who should not watch this anime?

People who want to see an anime with deep or a good story line.
People who want to know about world of Sumo.

If this anime was a cuisine/food you can compare it to Popcorn. Popcorn has no meaningful nutrition value and it wont fill your stomach, but if you want something to eat as a way to pass time than this anime will do.

So what do you get when you have an anime about a Sumo who declares that he's going to break that he will break Showa Futabayama's record of 69 consecutive wins, and if he ever lost, no matter how sly the means, he would retire then and there? You get an anime with low tension where the main character never grows or progresses, the same Harima from the first episode remains the same in the final episode. So much controversy in the association because the main protagonist, Harima, can't for the life of him take one match off from wearing a mask, even I was ... getting annoyed along with the hecklers in the anime.

So Aah! Harimanada has a simple plot that one can follow easily, though this is because it's absolutely repetitive and too bland for a series like this. There's a good number of wrestlers and most get backstories, you get to see their personalities shine if only for a little bit. They have the same goals (albeit, they all have the same goal) and the risks they'll take to put down the masked annoyance. Is it sad to say that I rooted for Harima's opponents to win since they respect the traditions of Sumo far highly than Harima, but because of the series' premise, it leads to disappointment before matches begin.

I do like the character designs, mostly the Sumo wrestlers, I love the thick stroke they have in matches, giving the wrestlers a lot of weight to them. Shame about the animation though because you can tell the studio didn't have the budget to make more dynamic fights: Repeated frames, lack of movement, moments going on for longer than they should, you name it. At the very least, I may have gained some very basic knowledge of Sumo wrestling and that lifestyle too, so that's cool. And some fights were at least decent even though you know the outcome.

Aah! Harimanada is quite average but had potential to be so much better. Every character are decent, the sumo wrestlers were very interesting characters apart from Harima, who is a douchebag, I think he's meant to be a heel wrestler, but the anime's pacing is sloppy and the story progression is rather flat. If you want a Sumo anime where you just care about the fights, I'd say watch a few episodes, and if you somehow get hooked into the series, then I'm happy for you, but if you get bored with it after episode 3-4, don't worry, you ain't missing much.