English Dub Review: Hinomaru Sumo “Spirit”

The Sumo God versus the Wrestling Demon.

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Ozeki is set to enter the penultimate fight of the tournament, the battle that will determine whether or not Dachi High gets to move on to the final against Kuze. There’s a lot riding on this, but Ozeki isn’t afraid to face his opponent in the ring. His foe, Daniel, is a strange sight in this tournament. A Caucasian wrestler, he is an outsider to the sport, even though he has such a strong role in the first string of his team.

The fight starts, and Ozeki comes out swinging. Both him and Daniel are extremely powerful wrestlers, but Daniel has the more developed physique for sure. Even more than that, Daniel doesn’t carry arrogance or pride with him, but a deep love of the sport inspired by his days of viewing sumo wrestling as a child and wanting to be in that world. His heart carries as much spirit for the sport as Ozeki does, as demonstrated by his relentless attempts to try and beat Kuze, even though he’s never taken a match off him. The two fight and clash with a deep respect for each other, but Ozeki is able to gain an advantage by having crossed a threshold Daniel hasn’t, beating his hero in a match. Ozeki unleashes his full force, not just a fan of wrestling, but as a warrior in his own right, and takes the match from Daniel with a takedown.

After a brief rendezvous with the team affirming his ambitions with his friends, Hinomaru is the challenger in the final match of the tournament against the god of wrestling himself, Kuze. For Kuze, peace washes over him when he steps up to wrestle, but Hinomaru is the opposite, unleashing a burning passion for the sport within him. The two clash, and Hinomaru fights, not just as himself, but as the team that has supported him so far and gotten him to this battle. He wields their spirits, as well as the techniques, picked up from all the battles he’s fought to get here. However, Kuze isn’t about to go down so easily, and he returns fire with his own powerful techniques.

Our Take:

It’s a shame that we’re already so close to the end of Hinomaru Sumo. This show has found its way into my heart with its great characters, powerful moments and a heaping spoonful of sheer shounen spirit. This tournament arc has allowed the series to shine brighter than it ever has before. Each episode contains a promising battle, exciting in its own way, and you really never know who’s going to win or lose in the cutthroat world of high school sumo. All of these great qualities are present here, with a few more added bonuses that make this episode work so well as the climax for the arc and, potentially, the entire series. Strap in and get ready for a wild ride, because this week’s Hinomaru Sumo is a complete takedown.

While Hinomaru carries the namesake of the show and is easily the most awaited of the Dachi High fighters to jump in the fray, it’s Ozeki who takes all the glory in this episode. His fight against Daniel speaks to the major themes of the show while pursuing something deeper about the act of wrestling in connection to Ozeki’s character. This marks the point where he is no longer the meek, friendship-starved rookie that he once was, but a ruthless and passionate wrestler who fights with everything he has to defeat his opponent. That element of ruthlessness is crucial to his growth as a character, and what makes him possibly the most endearing of all the Dachi High wrestlers. In addition, Hinomaru Sumo has done an amazing job of making the opponents of Dachi High heroes in their own right. We want Ozeki to win, but Daniel is empathetic enough that he adds an element of complexity into the fight that makes it all the more interesting. Both of them deserve to win, but only one of them can.

That’s not to say that Hinomaru’s fight doesn’t deserve its credit, but it’s way more straightforward than Ozeki’s and doesn’t get the time that it needs to finish. The pacing is expertly done to make Hinomaru’s battle a sum of all the fights he’s fought thus far, using moves from and flashing back to the fights he’s had that has forced him to be a better wrestler. Although, I find that Hinomaru hasn’t had quite the presence in this arc that some of the other wrestlers have, so that made the start of this fight a little bit weaker for me.

This episode rocks, plain and simple. It doesn’t mess around is able to bring out all the best aspects of Hinomaru Sumo in an ambitious episode that shows off not one, but two fights. The next episode should be the last, and it’s shaping up to be an amazing finale.