Introduction
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.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
Audience reviews
18 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
Fox_in_soxx
A really fun sports anime that just checks all the right boxes of the genre. Very likeable quirky cast of diverse characters that might fall into classic stereotypes, but the show delivers these stereotypes so well it feels actually really fresh. Add their very organic relationships the mix and you have a sollid basis for great heartwarming moments, something that the likes of Blue Lock severely lack.
Sure, Hinomaruzumou itself is your standard sports anime with an underdog MC who tries to climb to the top with determination alone and doesn't offer much above that premise, but it has so much heart I didn't mind for one bit. Also the fights are enjoyable and don't last a hundred episodes, which I feels refreshing after watching the stretched out matches in Hajime no Ippo (And I love that a…
Read at the sourceAzuea1
Absolutely amazing anime. Alot of sports anime tend to focus only or mainly on the MC but in this show they give everyone a bit of the spotlight. Sumo isnt something im interested in usually, but this anime is great. The way the story is told is beautiful, the pacing is good and the bouts are great.
Overall this anime ticks all the boxes for me ; it looks decent, the battles/bouts are emotional and explain techniques well enough to understand how it all works.
Something felt missing though, im not sure what exactly it is but something didnt quite sit right at times.
Still, definitely a solid anime and would recommend
Read at the sourceDmAnimeguy
I am not a big fan of sports shows but this one was truly wonderfully executed! When i first watched this show i didn't know anything about sumo but this show did a fantastic job and showing you the basics and also showing you its not a simple sport all about throwing someone down to the ground but had many micro adjustments to change center of gravity to execute complicated maneuvers. Now i watch sumo full time!
The show takes a group of strangers and transforms them into a sumo team to be rivaled. The show depicts a healthy amount of hard work, technic breakdown, and also failure. These three aspects for me really make a great anime sports show great, you are not just watching a OP character take on everyone but actually show you what a leader looks like, what the techniques are in the…
Read at the sourceCurlyAnocas
Hinomaruzumou was pretty good!
Typical sports anime, characters super focused on getting better.
I especially liked the mc Hinomaru cause he was against all odds - better yet against sumo gods - and kept proving everyone wrong (much like Hinata from Haikyuu but Hinomaru was doing it alone).
But as they said in the anime: he didn't have luck with his body but he had the opportunities and he grabbed them!
About his team.. I liked everyone but I feel bad for the short one that just started playing sports :( Chihiro was pretty cool; The captain got the best team he could've asked for and the other senpai, well, he got to redeem himself.
This is my first review btw.. I'm not really good at this.
Read at the sourceTakashi_Yuu
The new adaptation of the manga has been done really well - hinomaru is very likable, show seems to have some genuine heart. isn't nearly as grating to watch as rowdy sumo wrestler matsutaro. now, if crunchyroll would pick up ah! harimanada you'd have all your sumo anime covered. but, so far, hinomaru is already the best sumo anime i've ever seen
- this anime makes a beautiful connection with it's viewers.Before commenting just give it a try you will definitely like it.This anime keeps you hooked till the end .I don't think it will get a second season but let us not give up the hope.
Read at the sourcemarcusjo25
This is a 9.7 out of 10 anime in my opinion, a near masterpiece, it has simple but fantastically portrayed story arcs, in my opinion great characters, some brilliant ost, a really nice well stylised art direction that fits well, great VA work - sometimes overdramatic yes but that very much fits the work too, & is a very enjoyable watch overall, it also pulls off its ending well.
I detract 0.1 point because although the second opening is a great animation, the song on it is exceptionally awful to the ear of an english speaking person in my opinion, they'd have done better keeper the original opening through to the end & only switching up the animation, I muted it through most of my watch through.
I detract 0.2 because sometimes escapes from losing positions are made from clearly lost stat…
Read at the sourceflippenn
Hinomaruzumou is a good Anime.
I have ssen my fair share of sports anime, and my favorite is by far hajime no ippo. This anime is good but i feel it is very rushed, The matches are very quick but i guess that is to the nature of the sport sumo being a very fast paced sport.
The art and animation can feel a bit bland some times. And the animation is a bit lazy for some of the less important matches.
The characters are interesting but their development is very fast and not so fleshed out.
overall score 7, good anime with a few enjoyable moments. it hink the manga is better so i will check that one out.
Read at the sourceExal-Etconel
Overall [7/10]: hinomaruzumo is not an incredible sport anime or anything, but is still enjoyable to watch. The sport of sumo is really well exploited. If you enjoy sport anime in general, you will certainly like this one even if it is not a masterpiece.
Story [6/10]: the story is really classic for a sport anime. Nothing really but nothing really good on the other hand. The only real downside is the unexploited backstory of hinomaru.
Art [6/10]: The animation is really not expectional, but it get the job done. (I just find the fight a little bit static)
Sound [8/10]: There is not any really memorable music. However, the sound effect during the fight are really good, which compensate for the static animation.
characters [7/10]: some characters are really good. (Hinomaru, Ozeki, Kuze et…
Read at the sourcektulu007
Hinomaruzumou is an anime from late '18 to early '19. It's based off of a Kawada manga and the anime was handled by Gonzo. Gonzo has worked on some spectacular anime like Chrno Crusade and Bakuretsu Tenshi. They've also done really mediocre stuff like Strike Witches & Trinity Blood and some absolute rubbish like Sunabouzu. So, predicting their quality isn't exactly plausible. Let's just dive in and see how they did with this one.
Story:
We open with our protagonist, Little Mac, going to scout a school with a strong sumo team. He accidentally takes a wrong turn and ends up at a school where the Sumo club is made up of one, dedicated guy. Naturally, he ends up going to this school with an under dog team. As he's very short, his one hope of entering professional sumo is to do well enough i…
Read at the sourceChaechaeboi
As a competitor in wrestling and BJJ, this story really connected with me. The excitement and anxiety of preparing for a competition and the pressures of not letting your team down as well as suffering and overcoming hardships with a team are conveyed very well in this series. It has similar themes to Eye Shield 21, so if you liked that, you may like this. The matches always excited me and I love the character interactions. It is also realistic. It has typical shonen cliches, such as hardworking and the power of friendship will help you overcome all odds, but this is challenged as the opponents also have those same shonen powers so it is believable for the main cast might to lose at any given moment. This series is inspiring and heart warming. If you are a fan of grappling or Eye Shield 21…
Read at the sourceSEJEEDZ
One day I was chillin' and thought " Man, has anybody made an anime about sumo wrestling? ".
Looked it up and found one called "Hinomaru Sumo" :O nice.
Here are some tips for becoming a sumo wrestler that I'll share with you after watching the anime:
1) Remove your shirt to instantly become WIDE.
2) Get rid of those pants, only mawashi belts for maximum THICCness.
3) Practice leg stomps and palm strikes for the ultimate sumo workout.
4) Keep an arsenal of special moves and work on them since that's all you'll be using anyways.
5) Tell your barber to give you a killer haircut and hair dye. Helps with being noticeable.
6) If you focus and clench hard enough, a flame with the same colour as your hair will start beaming from your eyes. Then your opponent is fuked.
7) Practice shouting for…
Read at the sourceAkaneShin
READ ALL YOU WANT BUT I WOULD SERIOUSLY URGE YOU TO GIVE THIS ANIME A TRY AND STOP LISTENING TO WHAT PEOPLE HAVE TO SAY!!
Sports anime have been doing well, with a number of great basketball, football, baseball and volleyball animes we finally dive down into an entirely different realm, which is the world of Sumo. Honestly, I never liked the sport in real and whenever sumo came to my mind I would think a bunch of sweaty overweight dudes slamming their chubbiness against each other. But boy o boy! This anime maintains the respect of the sport and shows it from the perspective of Ushio, who is only 152cm but his desire to win, passion for the sport and support of his teammates makes him achieve the impossible.
x-----------------Spoilers---------------x
- Story: Great story overall. There…
Read at the sourceInjenss
What an incredibly underrated anime. I must assume that it's because its an anime about Sumo, and not a more popular sport like Baseball or Basketball, that this anime has been pushed to the background, but it is absolutely fantastic and a must watch for fans of sports animes.
The premise is familiar to anyone who likes underdog sport stories. An undersized, underdog wills his way through overwhelming challenges as he strives to gain strength and become the best. In this regard, Hinomaruzumou doesn't do anything different. It's the same story as Kuroko's Basketball or Hajime No Ippo. And while the animation quality lags behind those two, it's just as good as they are. In fact, Hinomaruzumou has pretty much the same intensity as Hajime No Ippo does. The fights are very intense and dramati…
Read at the sourceTheGostoso
I have to clap for the idea of doing a sumo anime. I'm not sure how popular the sport is in Japan, but at least in the West it's not so popular. Well, the story is focused on Ushio, a boy who dreams of being a "yokozuna", that is, a professional in the sport. He ends up entering a school where sumo is not something of great relevance (what a surprise), he gets the gym to train after beating the boss of the delinquents who sees the juice as a way to start over (what a surprise). Speaking objectively, the anime is not bad, but unfortunately it had much more potential, the struggles that were most exciting were the protagonist, and their companions were static scenes that sometimes tried to apply some emotion. But I must praise the last two episodes, they were really good and well directed.(I…
Read at the sourceDukino
There's few things I love more in storytelling than an underdog story. This was that through and through. This journey we went on with Ushio has it all. Highs and lows and everything in between. Going along this path with him trying to become a yokozuna was an absolute delight. Being a small guy myself it was a natural fit for me love and cheer for him. Ushio himself was such a good character. Typical shonen lead perhaps but the way the story used him and explored more about him was done so well. How his love for sumo drew more people to the sport.
Myself being kind of like that too. didn't really know too much about sumo beforehand and while the show didn't make me an expert or anything it did open my eyes to how thrilling it can be. Going along with Odachi on all their bouts was incredi…
Read at the sourceCorkMars
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 Kyu…
Read at the sourceSasori_Nagashi
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.
Read at the sourceKarhu
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 t…
Read at the source