Hello my comrades. I’ve been anticipating this musing and experiment for numerous reasons. As I often enjoy to do with anime, I love to speculate about its utility beyond just its intent to engage and stimulate. Because I believe the medium has potential to do so much more than just entertain. I love to ponder what more can particular genres influence beyond the screen or panel. And the one area I could see immense potential is the motivational power of sports and competition anime on fitness.
“And then it hit me. I could use my own personal experience to inform this hypothesis and experiment.”
And then it hit me. I could use my own personal experience to inform this hypothesis and experiment. Because I want to do intense training and reconditioning over the Summer. So I plan to log thoughts and impressions on various competition anime I binge. And I was curious if sports and competition anime would actually motivate me to push harder during my exercises, and stay consistent. It kept me distracted from the pain, and slow results. I did not expect to accomplish what I had honestly. I guess this experience really was more necessary for me than I originally expected. Because of the effect it also had on my self-confidence. Simply put…
It was a rousing success!!!
And so begins my own training arc with the hopes to reclaim my old physical abilities and push so much further, being the best version of myself in spite of my condition. And I think these competition Shonen anime could have profound effect to push further. And my first anime was Hinomaru Sumo, and damn did it hit. Bruh, the number of times I was brought to tears was crazy.
“My first anime was Hinomaru Sumo, and damn did it hit. Bruh, the number of times I was brought to tears was crazy…”
Because the anime at its core is about defying adversity to do what you love. Hinomaru is the main character and wants to become a Yokozuna. But there is a teensy-weensy hurdle that stands between him and his ambition… he is short as hell. He’s 5 foot 3 inches. A good ole Napoleon. So many individuals and groups greatly underestimate Hinomaru’s potential and sumo due to his height. Even those who were at one adversarial. Hinomaru incites a fire in numerous individuals, whether competition or friends.
So he trains his body even harder at Sumo to overcome that weakness. Numerous adversaries look down on him because height, which does excite the real world and fictional audience who see his wins. It just inspires you with fire and excitement. The old height requirement is 5 foot 7 inches. Unfortunately he’s 4 foot 11 inches so he wouldn’t qualify. Official professional sumo as of 2023, does not have height or weight due to the restriction to thinning prospects which is due to declining birth rates. The average height of a Japanese male does also skirts close to the old cut off. It’s a very interesting anime to watch as it is educational for me. I’ve also viewed sumo as to only be for the husky and massive. But as usual anime actually can teach you through heart pounding entertainment or heart wrenching stories.
And not only is Hinomaru fighting to best the adversity on his road. His other club members have their own struggles, and massive walls of their to climb. The club leader Shinya Ozeki, works hard and loves Sumo arguably as much as Hinomaru. But his club is overrun by delinquents and he’s too timid and averse to conflict to contest them. His passivity is his biggest hurdle and it hinders his sumo initially until he finally discovers his aggression and self-confidence thanks to his other club member Chihiro Kunosaki. And speaking of Kunosaki…
A prodigy who initially half-heartedly joins to steal techniques for MMA. Kunosaki’s hurdle is his arrogance. He’s a national youth mix-martial arts champion and initially looks down on Sumo. He joins the club after losing to Hinomaru in a sparring match and hopes to learn techniques that can bolster his wrestling. In joining the club, he discovers his love for the sport and is humbled from seeing his team mates’ efforts. Especially from seeing Kei Mitsuhashi strive to improve which would be the one to leave the greatest impression. Speaking of which…
Mitsuhashi was the most surprising and arguably most inspiring. He started off incredibly scrawny and kind of short like Hinomaru, but he’s got spirit, drive, and resilience. He is an unlikely group addition but you can’t help but to respect his commitment to the team and fervor. He desperately wants to improve for not only the team, but for himself. He didn’t win a single match in S1, but he doesn’t allow that to discourage him from improvement, from encouraging his team, and from inspiring his coach to retry Sumo. And Let’s talk about the coach, the character who directly resonated with me. But before him, let’s talk about the character that likely made this destiny possible…
Yuma Gojo would be a character to fight for redemption because of his days tormenting Ozeki with a band of delinquents. Guilt would be his hurdle and what holds him back from truly enjoying the sport and hinders him from fighting at his full potential until towards the end of season 1. Because he initially is a very proficient karate student. So he feels guilty for not only hinder Ozeki’s ability to recruit until Hinomaru joins and kicks his ass. But also because he strayed the path that his master hoped to guide him on. His sister also became the manager of Sumo club.
I gotta be honest, this character, Kirihito Tsuji, is my damn spirit animal. He is the only character capable of besting Hinomaru in the club. His ability to dissect and plan around strengths and weaknesses of his opponents are relatively unrivaled. And only serves to bolster his techniques. He’s an ace and is overflowing with talent. However… his hurdle is a physical one that affects him psychologically. He was born with defective lungs and pretty much can only endure 5 minutes of explosive strenuous activity before it feels like he’s drowning and that his lungs could collapse. So to help the team, he uses his analytical mind to dissect weaknesses within his own teammates and create unorthodox exercises to conquer their weaknesses and bolster their strengths. I instantly vibes with him, because I view myself as a “idea man” and try to discern my comrades strengths and weaknesses and ponder on ways they can realize their talents. I adore the fact he repurposed his talents for his team, even if his condition hindered his talents’ applications for himself. All by a physical condition which impedes him from doing what he loves. It feels too familiar to my own battle with MS. I did similar and repurposed my ideas, focus, and discernment in attempts to offer ideas and resources that would hopefully inspire and aid my family and comrades to go further in their goals. And that way I don’t feel like it’s just squandered. I overthink a lot typically, so it’s great to be able to hopefully use one of my defects for the sake of others. And it’s why I dug and respected him so much. When Mitsuhashi subbed him into the final team match, I was moved to tears because Mitsuhashi was very aware of his sacrifice and longing to participate in an official bout that brought the team closer to victory. He joined the team to help realize Hinomaru’s dream and gave up his own. But Mitsuhashi and Hinomaru would not allow him not to revel in their huge victoryand live out one of “coach’s” dreams. It reminded me quote I came across a long time ago digging for material to convey a visual message. And it is quite appropriate for this musing and our mindsets…
Honestly, I didn’t expect this experiment to be so profoundly, effectively, motivational. This experiment motivated me through grueling exercises, stamina drills, and drills. For the first sessions I vomited, I ached, and I cried. I was fatigued so much I had pseudo relapses of old MS relapse symptoms. Which absolutely terrified me at first. But it’s just a sign I had pushed beyond my current limits. As scary as it was, it was exhilarating. And the exercise motivated me to binge a 24 episode anime over the weekend. I honestly haven’t done something similar as binging the first run of Kingdom at Calwu’s house. I guess my lack of confidence caused me to greatly underestimate how much I have in my tank and my resilience. Another similarity to Kirihito. Man I enjoyed this anime. Had so many laughs and shed so many tears…
Soooo…
Are you motivated? Wanna get sweating? Maybe ya interested in Sumo? At least Shonen Sumo? Chime ya Thoughts below . Next up… Ao Aoshi a soccer anime. My anime brain on A.D.D mode, so I already have another pressing idea because of a recent event that occurred in real life that blew my mind and I want to write about it on the digital pad.
And here’s a real life Hinomaru Sumo moment to close this musing out…