The nature of the beast with Hinomaru Zumou is that what we’re seeing now is probably what we’re going to get.  This isn’t a powerhouse Weekly Shounen Jump series like Haikyuu!!, or a mainstream hit like Yowamushi Pedal.  Even Baby Steps got four cours of anime to tell its story, based on its strong manga numbers.  Hinomaru Zumou may be serialized in the most popular comic magazine in Japan (and probably the world) but it’s strictly a supporting player – once these two cours are finished I’ll be extremely surprised if we see any more.

That means of course that the anime staff had to choose their path carefully when it came to plotting, especially where the ending was concerned.  We have about 10 episodes left and I think it’s a pretty safe bet that the Inter-high – that pinnacle of Japanese sports manga – which starts next week is probably going to take us through to the end of the series or very close to it.  I’ll be interested to see how that plays out, given that so many of the core components of the Daichi squad are first-years – the manga may, but the anime doesn’t really have the luxury of abiding by sports manga tenets about how the orders of these things is supposed to go.

The training camp is winding down, and the focus is off Ushio for the first time in a while.  Kei is getting some rare hands-on training from Shibakiyama-san, who he notes is a much better teacher than Kirihito.  Kei is obviously under the most pressure to improve, as he’s starting as basically an automatic loss – but this section is really about Kirihito more than anyone.  Kei raises an interesting question – who wouldn’t Kirihito list himself as a reserve (which I confess I didn’t even think about)? It does make sense, and the fact that Kirihito declined to do so (and his lame attempts to explain it) are proof that his mind is most conflicted when it comes to sumo.  It was nice to see Kei push him to get back into the ring – especially giving that a chance to spar with Shibakiyama is a huge opportunity – and I suspect we haven’t seen the last of Kirihito’s mawashi.

Meanwhile Chihiro drags Shinya off to where Kanazawa Kita H.S. are holding a practice (how did he know about it?), on the grounds that Shinya is in a bit of funk at his inability to compete with the pros of the Shibakiyama Stable.  This is all a bit of a comic sidebar with those wrestling masks, really, but it does provide an intro to another of the powerhouse schools that will be part of the Inter-high (this has the feel of something that took a lot longer to play out in the manga version).

The real power to watch at the Inter-high, though, is Tottori Hakuro, who’ve apparently won the damn thing six straight times.  It’s also the home of the much-discussed national treasure – and two-time defending champion – Shido Tennoji (Takeuchi Ryouta).  He gives a strikingly arrogant TV interview in which he admirably couches his snark in formal politeness and humility, and even old Shunkai notes that he has the attitude of a Yokozuna.  Can Ushio really beat this legend – and Daichi this school – at this stage of their development?  If this were the manga I’d say probably not, but where the anime is concerned it’s make your statement now or never, so all bets are off as far as I’m concerned.