Hinomaru Ushio

Ushio Hinomaru Pre Timeskip Post Timeskip Information Japanese Name 潮 火ノ丸 Rōmaji Name Ushio Hinomaru Epithet Onimaru Kunitsuna (鬼丸国綱, Onimaru Kunitsuna?) Shikona Onimaru Kunitsuna (鬼丸国綱, Onimaru Kunitsuna?) Birthday November 29th Age 19 (Post Timeskip) 15 (Pre Timeskip) Gender Male Height 157cm Weight 92kg Hair Color Black and Red Eye Color Red Family Ushio Keiko (mother, deceased) Unnamed father (deceased) Grandfather Grandmother Gojō Reina (Girlfriend) Occupation Sumo Wrestler Student (formerly) Affiliation Shibakiyama Stable Oodachi High School (formerly) Manga Debut Chapter 1; Episode 1 Voice Actor Eguchi Takuya (Vomic) Abe Atsushi (Anime; Japanese) Ricco Fajardo (Anime; English)

Ushio Hinomaru (潮 火ノ丸, Ushio Hinomaru^?) is the main protagonist of Hinomaru Zumō. He is a first year student at Oodachi High School and a member of its sumo club. His greatest desire is to attain the title "Yokozuna", the highest rank in the world of professional sumo wrestling. He was a two year consecutive champion of Elementary School. He decided to join Shibakiyama Stable to become a professional wrestler. Upon entering professional sumo he took the ring name Onimaru Kunitsuna.

Appearance

Ushio Hinomaru is a stout, far below average height 16-year-old. He has long reddish black hair like his mother, which in some panels appears to resemble fire. In coloured illustrations, he is shown to have amber eyes. He also has a scar on his lower left cheek. Hinomaru's shown to have multiple scars on his muscular body from his harsh training.

In his debut, during tournaments and in illustrations, he's shown only to wear a jacket over his chest and his mawashi, and sometimes he wears the jacket like a cape. He's also known for wearing a gakuran, rather than the Dachi HIgh western-style uniform.

After the time skip, he's shown wearing a black and red yukata with a flame motif and his shikona embroidered on it, as well as having his hair styled in the traditional topknot. However, during the stay at his grandparents' home, he changed into a T-shirt and pants when going to sleep.

Personality

In high school, Hinomaru tends to have a friendly, easy-going personality and a serious mind when it comes to sumo and his studies. However, when he enters the dohyo, his personality completely changes, becoming focused, fierce and explosive like a blazing fire.

However, he's shown having a weak spot when it comes to the memories of his mother (especially concerning her passing away), coming to the point of anger when he feels someone's about to leave him, or when someone jokes around about death. Also, by his own admittance, he feels very uncomfortable when women show interest in him, due to his single-minded way of being, even saying that he's just a "sumo freak" and can't give anything to whoever he's with, something that worried his stable master. He also feels uncomfortable with 'dirty talk', as explained by some of his stable mates and Onikiri. He's also notoriously bad at saying what he feels, which leads to some frustration and misunderstandings from others, particularly Reina, whom he apologizes to constantly for "showing her his uncool side".

His biggest flaw, nonetheless, is his extreme focus on results, which led to a lack of self-care in the ring. He'll stop at nothing to win, disregarding the consequences, an issue noticed by many of the characters and that creates varying issues with the people closest to him. Jinou refers to this as a "death wish", which is in Hinomaru's own words, "not wrong," yet at the same time, he's afraid of entering the dohyo and worries about what will his next crippling injury be. How this affects his mindset is shown as a "twisted and painful form of love for sumo", and due to all the disadvantages he has regarding the sport he loves, he is considered to be incredibly reckless in his pursuit of the title of yokozuna, something the top-ranked wrestler himself tries to deter.

He's also seen as someone who's so self-reliant, he has an incredibly hard time depending on others. That excessive independence came from the fact that his mother couldn't take proper care of him, and therefore he does whatever he can to not worry anyone else, be it his grandparents, his stable master, or the person closest to him.

Major Battles

Amateur

• Ushio Hinomaru vs Gojō Yūma
• Ushio Hinomaru vs Kanamori
• Ushio Hinomaru vs Ookouchi
• Ushio Hinomaru vs Sada Mizuki
• Ushio Hinomaru vs Chihiro Kunisaki
• Ushio Hinomaru vs Kei Mitsuhashi (Sparring Match)
• Ushio Hinomaru vs Kei Mitsuhashi (Sparring Match)
• Ushio Hinomaru vs Shimoyama Rinpei (Kanto Newcomer Tournament)
• Ushio Hinomaru vs Kariya Shun (Kanto Newcomer Tournament)
• Ushio Hinomaru vs Kuze Sōsuke (Kanto Newcomer Tournament)
• Ushio Hinomaru vs Tsuji Kirihito (Sparring Match)
• Ushio Hinomaru vs Terahara (Sparring Match)
• Ushio Hinomaru vs Saenoyama Norihino (Sparring Match)
• Ushio Hinomaru vs Saenoyama Norihino (Sparring Match)
• Ushio Hinomaru vs Saenoyama Norihino (Sparring Match)

Professional

• Ushio Hinomaru vs Nochi Kazuoki
• Ushio Hinomaru vs Ganryuu (Nagoya Tournament)
• Ushio Hinomaru vs Tsuji Kirihito (Nagoya Tournament)
• Ushio Hinomaru vs Yomoda Jin
• Ushio Hinomaru vs Tonbokiri Rui
• Ushio Hinomaru vs Otegine Tadashi
• Ushio Hinomaru vs Hikage Tenma (September Tournament)
• Ushio Hinomaru vs Jinou (September Tournament)
• Ushio Hinomaru vs Nochi Kazuoki (September Tournament)

Trivia

• His blood type is O.
• His epithet, Onimaru Kunitsuna, comes from one of the Tenka-Goken (天下五剣, Five Swords under Heaven), classified as an Imperial Property of Japan.
• He enjoys learning about history, visiting historical sites, juggling bag games (according to himself) and jidaigeki (period drama) stories.
• Despite his love for sumo, his chankonabe tastes really bad.
• He ranked first in the popularity poll.
• He hates crowded trains and dirty talk.