The sports genre in anime is dominated by a select few sports such as baseball, basketball, and tennis. While a few other titans such as Haikyuu and Captain Tsubasa made their mark, the fall of 2018 was when the sports genre underwent a rebirth.
With the release of ‘Run With the Wind,’ ‘Tsurune,’ and ‘Hinomaru Sumo,’ the entire genre was redefined, as personal development and relationships were given importance along with the more practical aspects of the show.
Specifically, Hinomaru Sumo was one of the few anime that ticked all of the boxes of a near-perfect sports anime. The show was packed with powerful matches and emotional moments, both of which contributed to its success.
Every bout had us on the edge of our seats, which made Hinomaru Sumo one of the best action and sport based anime.
However, despite its greatness, it is one of the most criminally slept-on shows in recent years.
As the manga finally concluded last year, every character continued to progress.
For most of them, their goal was to become the grand champion of sumo wrestling, and some even accomplished it through hard work and dedication.
However, fans of the anime have not been able to accompany them on this journey due to the lack of season two.
While there’s no announcement regarding that, I have made a list of the top 10 strongest wrestlers in Hinomaru Sumo, so, if you don’t mind the spoilers, let’s dive right in.
10Batomf Batbayar
Batomf is a member of the Tottori Hakurou High School’s sumo club and is widely regarded for his Mongolian grappling techniques.
He mixes these with more traditional sumo throwing forms to create his distinct style.
By doing so, he makes up for the weaknesses in Mongolian wrestling, as well as improves and specializes in fighting close range.
Batomf is the first-ever foreign high school student to take the only foreigner’s spot as a first year, and even defend it in his second year.
9Hikage Tenma
Hikage Tenma is a member of Kanazawa Kita High School’s sumo club, who won the title of Middle School Yokozuna in his third year.
After entering high school, under his lead, Kanazawa Kita reached third place in tag team bouts.
Furthermore, he went on to win the title of High School Yokozuna in his third year and even conquered the All-Japan Championship, acquiring a Tsukedashi qualification.
After graduating, he joined Suzugatake and continued his successful run.
What makes him such a strong wrestler is his large build, which allows for powerful and quick tosses.
Furthermore, when fighting close range, he can often remain carefree and confident that his opponent won’t be able to lift him. Accompanied by a quick open palm strike, Hikage has a wide array of attacking options.
8Kunisaki Chihiro
Kunisaki bested the school’s ace boxer and judo practitioner even before joining the sumo team.
With a background in amateur wrestling, he combined it with sumo and enhanced his skills in both.
Furthermore, any move or style he liked was added to his repertoire and made it so that no one knew what he would display next.
Whenever he fought, his overwhelming talent for martial arts shone through, which made him being described as a genius by both Ushio Hinomaru and Sada Mizuki.
After only practicing sumo for a few months, Kunisaki already defeated two National Treasure’s – Hikage Tenma and Kanou Akihira.
After the Inter-High Tournament concluded, he moved to the USA and already won a minor league. It seems that Kunisaki is well on his way to becoming a successful MMA fighter.
7Kirihito Tsuji
Tsuji Kirihito won against our main character, which is enough to guarantee him a place on this list.
Kirihito can only last around 20 seconds per bout, after which he will become extremely weak.
Despite such a handicap, he made his competitive debut in the final of Inter High’s team competition, which helped him eventually reach the maegashira status.
While he is able to use his intelligence and creativity to help not only himself but all the members of the team to progress, as soon as opponents figure out his fast-paced counter-attacking style, all they have to do is wait for him to lose stamina.
It is because of this main factor that he cannot be ranked higher on this list.
6Ushio Hinomaru
Ushio Hinomaru is the protagonist of this series, whose greatest desire is to attain the title of Yokozuna.
He was a two year consecutive champion of Elementary School and later joined Shibakiyama Stable to become a professional wrestler.
A common trait between sport anime protagonists, Hinomaru’s whole life revolves around sumo, and trains whenever he can to improve.
Due to this, he is considered a National Treasure and has shown great strength throughout the series.
In fact, this power of his has been dubbed ‘demon-like’ as he can fight opponents larger than him without any trouble.
Other than his physical strength, Hinomaru is also extremely intelligent and experienced when it comes to sumo, and his improvised moves are capable of defeating Kunisaki.
His only weakness was his stubbornness, which resulted in Tennoji Shido defeating him.
But it was also because of this that he overcame his shortcomings by incorporating different styles into his own.
5Kuze Sousuke
As the chief rival of our main character, Sousuke’s strength and skills are unquestionable.
He is the son of Yamatokuni, a great yokozuna, and with such genes and hard work, of course, he is extremely powerful.
Due to his hot-headed and ruthless moves, he was banished by his father from practicing sumo.
When he was finally allowed to participate, his resolve and patience had developed, making him an extremely capable wrestler.
In the ring, like his father, he uses the Left Arm Clamp, as well as his own special move, the Great Serpent Cleaver, which, more often than not, secures his win.
4Tennoji Shido
As someone who has defeated Hinomaru, Tennoji is an extremely capable sumo wrestler.
He was the captain of Tottori Hakurou High School’s sumo club during his third year, and even won the title of High School Yokozuna during his first and second years.
His achievements do not stop there, as he is also the winner of the All-Japan Championship and a National Treasure.
What makes him such a good wrestler is his agility and strength that complement and enhance his overall power.
With his special move, Six Points Torso Slice, his opponent has no chance of winning.
3Hikage Yusei
Hikage Yusei is the older brother of Hikage Tenma, who has also been placed on this list.
With both the brothers being top wrestlers in the series, it is a wonder what sort of training they went through.
Throughout his career, Yusei was known as the closest Japanese to the position of Yokozuna as an Ozeki; however, after injuring his right knee, he had to retire from active competition.
2Yamatokuni
As a former Yokozuna, Yamatokuni is one of the greatest Japanese sumo wrestlers.
Despite losing to Jinou and retiring, he has won 31 championships throughout his career.
He is mainly known for using Left Arm Clamp to set up his throws and is considered a short-range fighter.
As Yamatokuni has taught Hinomaru, his style of fighting can be seen in the latter’s fights.
Honorable Mentions:
Before we reveal the number 1 wrestler on this list, let us take a look at other powerful characters who didn’t make the cut: Kanou Akihira and Gojou Yuuma.
1Jinou
Jinou is the strongest character in Hinomaru Sumo. He is the current Yokozuna and has obtained 44 championships throughout his career. At the mere age of 22, he surpassed the greatest Japanese wrestler, the 43rd Yokozuna, Yamatokuni.
Sumo is not only Jinou’s passion but something that his whole life revolves around.
This is seen when he puts his all into improving, and as a result, it isn’t difficult to see him become one of the best wrestlers in the world.
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