Hinomaruzumou (Hinomaru Sumo)

In professional sumo, there are no weight classes. It's a savage sport where the strongest survive, and anyone willing to test their mettle can step into the ring. There is, however, a minimum size requirement to be a pro sumo wrestler, and young Hinomaru Ushio, incredibly talented and hardworking though he may be, does not meet that requirement. This small boy has big dreams of reaching the highest class of sumo, Hinoshita Kaisan. The only way he could possibly go pro is if he becomes the High School Yokozuna, a title given to the strongest wrestler in high school tournaments.

Ushio is under a lot of pressure, as well as a time limit. If he can't show off his skills in the high school tournaments, he may lose his chance to go pro permanently, and the odds are stacked against him. Instead of enrolling in Ishigami High, the best school for sumo in Japan, he enrolls in Odachi High and must build a sumo club from the ground up with the one devout member Shinya Ozeki. Odachi High is the true underdog of the sumo world, but Ushio has to push forward with all his strength if he is going to make it professionally.

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Hinomaruzumou

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Characters & Voice Actors

Ushio, Hinomaru

Main

Abe, Atsushi
Japanese

Gojou, Yuuma

Main

Kumagai, Kentarou
Japanese

Ozeki, Shinya

Main

Ochiai, Fukushi
Japanese

Kunisaki, Chihiro

Supporting

Satou, Takuya
Japanese

Gojou, Reina

Supporting

Komatsu, Mikako
Japanese

Tsuji, Kirihito

Supporting

Terashima, Takuma
Japanese

Kuze, Sousuke

Supporting

Takeuchi, Shunsuke
Japanese

Sada, Mizuki

Supporting

Ishikawa, Kaito
Japanese

Mitsuhashi, Kei

Supporting

Murase, Ayumu
Japanese

Tennouji, Shidou

Supporting

Takeuchi, Ryouta
Japanese

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Oowada, Tomoyuki

Producer

Takahashi, Tomoko

Producer

Kinoshita, Tetsuya

Producer

Uda, Kounosuke

Director, Episode Director

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Opening Theme

	1: "FIRE GROUND" by Official HIGE DANdism (Official髭男dism)
	2: "Be the NAKED" by Lead

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Ending Theme

	1: "Hiizuru Basho (日出ズル場所)" by Omedetai Atama de Naniyori (オメでたい頭でなにより)
	2: "Sakura Sake (桜咲け）" by Yoshida Yamada (吉田山田)

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Mar 29, 2019

Sasori_Nagashi

Recommended

You don't find a lot of anime that you can really say tick all of the boxes to being the perfect experience, however Hinomaruzumou undoubtedly comes close. It evokes powerful emotions every episode and had me on the edge of my seat for the outcomes of each sumo bout, which were never predictable and always had an enrapturing dramatic flare. The soundtrack, while not particularly striking among some of the greater soundtracks we have seen in anime, is very fitting and sets the mood brilliantly at every turn. Heavily recommend this series to anyone who enjoys suspenseful action-based anime, martial art-based anime or sport-based anime.

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Mar 29, 2019

Karhu

Recommended

Fat guys wearing diapers and sweating like pigs. Over weighted = over powered. Who cares if you can't bend to tie your own shoe lases when can just walks thru walls anyway. Let the slimiest man win!

I never quite understood why sumo was called a sports instead of the male version of plus sized beauty modelling, but Hinomawhatever helped me to open my eyes to the beauty of this art. Partly because it quite closely follows the normal, formulaic pattern commonly seen in sports anime and partly because of its manly and bro cast. I never quite respected sumo nor thought much about it, ... but now I kinda do.

The setup for our story will seem rather familiar to anyone who has seen classic sports series. Main bro is a prodigy with the heart, but he can't be the unbeatable sumo Jesus just yet for there are several things in the way. He himself is a manlet, practically new unit between meter and decimeter -tier midget who is too short to officially be able to become a sumo pro. He also can't join the school with the best sumo club in Japan because he is terrible at reading maps, so instead he ends up in a school which sumo club is practically dead and the whole fight sports scene in the school ruled by thugs, delinquents and cool badasses. The nearly-a-Jesus type of character with these hardships/obstacles is used to create some rather interesting mixed martial arts battles very early on and also to introduce bunch of characters who get to discover the beauty of sumo sports in the same manner as the viewers who are new to sumo do when watching the series. Development and awe-inspiring coolness exists for a while, offering a strong start for the series. This commonly slows down the pace later on and requires some back stories, build-up and character depth. And this is more or less like the route that was now chosen, but the route itself is ever so entertaining to follow.

The events are rather simple since Hinomary is a simple series that doesn't try to really be anything more. Our cast contains a wide variety of characters from people who are totally ignorant to sumo to pros whose entire life centers around it. This brings quite a few different perspectives in to the mix and shows many sides of the sports itself. The series can be rather educational from this part and thanks to the colorful cast, the way Hinomary is dealing with the basics of sumo feel very natural and smooth. The author is clearly knowledgeable about other sports series as well as the sports in question and that at least carried all the way thru this season, which main focus outside showing what sumo is and who our main characters are, is a simple interschool sumo tournament where different sumo clubs from different schools face each others.

The strongest sides with the series lie within the awe moments, fights, GAR-like atmosphere and Hinomaru's (sumo Jesus's) personality. The weakest parts are the believability of other club's members success and the lack of a proper training arc + the pacing which can be -- at time -- jumpy and seem like new episodes start off from episodic settings rather than continuing from anywhere that was shown in former episode.

Outside Hinomaru, the most interesting (and relatively bro) main character is Chihiro Kunisaki, who is a talented wrestler that now joined Hinomaru's sumo team. The remaining 4 club members from "our side" can occasionally feel bit filler-ish and much less interesting. We have super shy and skinny dude who looks incredibly unfit to physically even participate in the sports. Fat dude who is practically the exact same as the thin dude (personality-wise) except has always loved sumo and is somewhat good at it. There is also another Jesus in the series named trainer-Jesus person and he is more or less like anyone else in the series except supposedly holds lots of sumo-wisdom and wear glasses and is training our main cast.. kind of. The last club member is a delinquent thug person who was portrayed to be incredibly cool and badass in the beginning of the series, but then his personality was put on a leash pretty much and now he is just another person doing sumo without many visible&interesting personality traits, but even he gets thru some development later on and his personality change gets explained rather well eventually. There is also one more "main"character in the series because all sports series need a mascot girl. Student council president who is the thug dudes sister and has a brother complex over him. The good part is that the opponents of our sumo Jesus themselves are way more interesting and cool than the main cast which is more so portrayed to be "real people" than completely badass sumo pros. Other basic sports elements exist also, such as tragic past story for main bro's mother and a love interest subplot. The series has many things to offer due to these simple elements, but it should be noted that these things didn't really go anywhere during the first season.

In terms of production, Gonzo is underrated as ever. The first ED is beast as hell. Side character bros look awesome. Like really advanced awesome. Some sumo wrestlers still are just big and otherwise they do not stand out, but others have highly unique and manly character design which is also memorable. The music is fitting and those sounds when men fall on the tatami exactly as loud as they should be, meaning hella. The animation is especially fitting for a series of this sort and art design along the color choices do their work splendidly. It's subdued and simplistic and I see no reason to complain about it, much rather praise this simplicity for how efficient it is. Some weird errs still exist, such as sumo Jesus really looking like 1 feet tall compared to the bigger and fatter sumo dudes who are like 8 feet compared to him during certain shots. This may seem ridiculous/annoy some viewers. It stands out, but personally I didn't find it annoying.

I highly enjoyed this series because I am a huge fan of sports series and Hinomaru didn't especially do anything that was there to ruin the experience for me. The story board is somewhat lacking and clearly unoriginal + the other main characters are not as amazing as the real mains and their opponents, but the generic sports pattern itself is being dealt with in respectable manner and Hinomaru's way to deal with its characters and execute the common tropes are pleasure to watch even when the series lacks some depth.

ps, there is a a slice of life oriented sketch at the end of each episode that starts after the ED, highly recommend watching those

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Mar 29, 2019

CorkMars

Recommended

Hinomaruzumou is one of the most criminally slept on anime in recent memory. The 24 episodes it has run is not nearly enough to satisfy my desire to observe Hinomaru's sumo.
Fall 2018 saw a rebirth of sports anime. The trio of Run with the wind (Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru), Tsurune, and Hinomaruzumou have collectively transformed the genre. These non traditional sports made room for more character growth and development than I've ever witnessed in sports anime, and I truly hope that Tsurune and Hinomaruzumou each receive second seasons some day. These three anime show us that sport anime have the potential to be less about ... the sport involved, and more about human growth, relationships, spirit and passion. If I were to define any of these three anime as being about sumo, cross country, or Kyudo, my definition would be severely lacking. These three masterpieces have ushered in a new era for the sports genre, and I am very interested to see how the industry and the community will react.
Before this anime I knew nothing about sumo, and I feel as though I knew even less about spirit. Sumo is a spiritual engagement, and Hinomaru & co. show us an overwhelming amount of spirit, too much to fit inside any one physical body.
The animation is the only weak point of this series, as I imagine studio Gonzo didn't have much of a budget to put up. This however, did not take away from the intensity and raw emotion of each and every bout.
If your a fan of sports anime or any sort of naturalism, I highly recommend this series. I was constantly reminded of Jack London's White Fang and the Call of the Wild. The kill or be killed mentality, the animalistic instinct and strength put into every move, the willpower to never back down and give your body for the sake of Sumo, all make this title a fantastic addition to the naturalist genre. On top of that the thrill of the mortal combat, watching these characters (and voice actors) give every ounce of spirit, not in the name of victory, but in the name of the Sumo gods, and their teammates. The voice acting was incredible thought the series, and the awesome action scenes were well balanced by a great variety of hilarious comedic scenes. Just watch OP2 of the series for an example of how intense and exhilarating the sumo can be.
I appreciate the reflection of how sumo is viewed in contemporary Japanese high schools, as the country becomes more westernized. I believe this westernization may result in a loss of the spirit that defines much of Japanese culture. But seeing these characters change their mind about sumo, and come to deeply respect the sport as an art accurately depicts my own journey that this series has taken me on. I now respect and am inspired more by those that participate in sumo than in any other sport.
Seeing Ushio and his team put 110% into every slap and throw for the sake of others has made me miss the joy of team sport, and the catharsis which can result from them. These characters continually put it all on the line and the final bout of destiny will have to go down as one of my all time favorite anime battles.
If you've ever enjoyed a sports anime before, I recommend this series that has so sadly flown under the radar, and has received none of the credit which it deserves.
So many elements came together to make this a great anime, and if I ever become a multi millionaire, I'm getting Gonzo to make another damn season!!

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Poll: Hinomaruzumou Episode 24 Discussion Stark700 - Mar 29, 2019	44 replies	by mastamike »» Oct 10, 2022 3:26 AM
Any chance of season 2?? ThejasBailady - Jul 5, 2022	4 replies	by Troy98 »» Jul 6, 2022 4:17 PM
This was a bit disappointing ItzYaBoiSatan - Feb 4, 2020	7 replies	by MegamiRem »» Jul 21, 2020 7:58 AM
The most underrated anime of 2018 emolano - Apr 15, 2020	0 replies	by emolano »» Apr 15, 2020 1:09 PM
Poll: Hinomaruzumou Episode 8 Discussion Stark700 - Nov 23, 2018	26 replies	by NameLessMofo »» Feb 22, 2020 1:00 PM

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Ushio, Hinomaru

Gojou, Yuuma

Ozeki, Shinya

Kunisaki, Chihiro

Gojou, Reina

Tsuji, Kirihito

Kuze, Sousuke

Sada, Mizuki

Mitsuhashi, Kei

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