There’s something so familiar about Hinomaru Zumou. That kind of thing can be a blessing and a curse when you’re talking about a genre with as many conventions as sports manga.  I won’t deny there were times over the course of this episode when I knew exactly was going to happen two or three moves ahead – like it and I were performing a dance I knew like the back of my hand.  It’s a dutiful show in that way – well aware of its ancestry and in no way abashed about flaunting that fact.

Still, one of the things I like about sports anime is that sense of slipping into a comfy old armchair and knowing you have a relaxing 22 minutes ahead of you.  In a sense Shounen Jump seems to be evolving away from the fantasy-driven sports silliness of shows like KuroBas (though Prince of Tennis is still going strong), and Hinomaru Zumou in some ways reminds me of Haikyuu!!.  It’s less flashy and grittier, certainly, as befits a series with a fraction of the sales and a sweaty, smelly sport where young men in loincloths with 166 kg frames slam into each other rather than one where graceful youths soar through the air like gazelles.  But there’s something of the same spirit to both series.

This was a training episode through and through (we’ve had a high percentage of those already) and the focus was more on the side players than the protagonist.  Tsuji has arranged another practice date for his squad, at the dodgy but sumo-powerful Ishigami High.  Arranged, that is, in the sense of telling his team about it and taking them there – to Ishigami he’s mentioned nothing.  And he’s sent his star, Ushio, off on another mission – reasoning that in order to improve, he needs to test himself against only the very strongest sumo has to offer.

Ishigami is strong, certainly – #2 in Kanto at the last regional – and part of this is a scouting mission for Tsuji.  Ishigami don’t see them as a threat, though they do know who Ushio is – and their captain only agrees to a match when one of their first-years almost flattens Kei with a truck tire which probably outweighs him 3-1.  They also have a first-year who was the middle school Yokozuna – Sada Mizuki (Ishikawa Kaitou, barely recognizable).  He’s a slacker and nothing but trouble for the captain, but his skills are apparent when he toys with Ozeki in the ring.

Ozeki and his mates have been practicing hard – a bunch of rather odd rituals devised (or at least adopted) by Kirihito (the most interesting to me is Kunisaki emulating the movements of a goldfish).  But even without Kei stepping in for what will presumably be a defeat, the gap between their squad and Ishigami’s is apparent (and huge).  To make make matters worse Kunisaki, undoubtedly the 2nd-strongest member, is also missing – having been forced to stay behind for a makeup test.  But he does get a little run – Ishigami’s Akai Gennosuke (Namikawa Daisuke, instantly recognizable) has shown up looking for a bout with Ushio.  He, like Kunisaki, has his sights set on MMA – and the two of them hit it off immediately, in the sense of airheads everywhere…