January 20th, 2020 
Charles Solomon 
In almost any boys’ sports anime, the short and/or red-haired guy is the eager firebrand: Hinata in Haikyu (volleyball), Nagisa in Free (swimming), Gion in All Out! (rugby). He never doubts that he and his teammates will win the big game, the tournament or the nationals. Hinomaru Ushio, the star of Hinomaru Sumo (2018), embodies this familiar type. The twist is that the sport he’s out to conquer is sumo. Although it’s the national sport of Japan, most Americans are only vaguely aware of its existence.
Hinomaru is determined to be not only a sumotori (professional wrestler), but a yokozuna (champion). However, at 160 cm (5’ 3”) he’s too short for the pro’s. In 1994, the Japanese Sumo Association set the minimum height for competitors at 167 cm (about 5’ 7”). (The rule led one teen-age aspirant to have silicon injected into his scalp, forming a six-inch bulge that made him 5’ 7”.) Hinomaru believes if he becomes national high school champion, he’ll automatically become a pro and avoid the preliminary physical that would disqualify him.
Although he’s been training since elementary school, Hinomaru suffered a series of defeats in middle school. Now he’s set his sites on Ishigama High, a school known for its powerhouse sumo team. But he gets lost and ends up at Odachi High, where the sumo club has a single member: Shinya Ozeki, who’s routinely bullied and mocked.
Hinomaru’s eagerness to take on any potential competitor enables him to recruit new team members. Yuma Gojo is an ex-karate champion and the school delinquent; Chihiro Kunisaki is a star athlete and aspiring MMA fighter. They dismiss sumo until Hinomaru beats them at their own sports using sumo techniques. Skinny freshman Kei Mitsuhashi learns that careful planning and strategy can help overcome his small stature.
Hinomaru’s old friend Kirihito Tsuji joins the group as coach/trainer: severe asthma prevents him from competing. He introduces a rigorous training regimen that includes workouts on a kelp harvesting boat—to improve the athletes’ balance.
Kirihito also arranges for an inter-school sparring match that reunites Hinomaru with two childhood frenemies who attend Ishigama High. Shun Kariya is also small by sumo standards, and used to compete regularly against Hinomaru. But towering Sosuke Kuze is the son of a champion. His father made give up all matches after he accidentally dislocated Hinomaru’s shoulder in an elementary school competition. Hinomaru challenges Sosuke to be all he can despite his father, a relationship that may remind viewers of Deku and Shoto in My Hero Academia.
In real life, anyone has eager as Hinomaru would be exhausting to know: He tlaks nothing but sumo and cheerfully strips down to his hemp mawashi loin cloth at a moment’s notice. The filmmakers play up his good-natured warmth to counter his over-the-top energy. Voice actor Ricco Fajardo balances the enthusiasm with an easy likability.
Although sumo wrestlers are huge—many weigh over 330 pounds–their fat conceals powerful muscles and ensures the low center of gravity needed for the sport. The animators draw Ushio with a buffed-out upper body that rivals Arnold Schwarzenegger in Conan. But their attempts to make his legs look as powerful as his arms creates an uncomfortable, mis-proportioned look. The Yuma and Chihiro are better drawn and similarly buff, while Shinya is built more like a traditional sumo wrestler.
Written records of sumo date back to the 8th century, and the sport has ties to Shinto, the indigenous religion of Japan. Participants begin matches by ritually purifying the ring and themselves. Hinomaru Sumo may lack originality, but it offers insights into an area of Japanese culture even otaku rarely explore.
Hinomaru Sumo: Part One Episodes 1-12
Crunchyroll/Funimation: $64.98 2 Blu-ray discs (with six trading cards)
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