Aah! Harimanada (ああ播磨灘) is a Japanese media franchise that began with a 1991 manga by Kei Sadayasu published in Kodansha‘s Weekly Morning. An anime television series was broadcast in 1992. The series was later adapted to a video game developed and published by Sega for the Game Gear and Mega Drive. A port was also released on the Game Boy, released by ASK.

Premise

On the first day of the September Professional Sumo Tournament, the new yokozuna Harimanada enters the ring wearing an eerie mask, surprising the audience. He then declares that he will break Futabayama‘s streak of 69 consecutive wins, and that he would retire on the spot if he loses even once. This invokes the wrath of the Japan Sumo Association and makes an enemy of all makuuchi wrestlers.

Characters

Isao Harimanada (播磨灘勲 (はりまなだ いさお)) / Isao Yamagata (山形勲 (やまがた いさお)

Voiced by Akio Ōtsuka

The protagonist. Stands at 6’0″ and weighs 335 pounds.

Raikō (雷光 (らいこう)

Voiced by Kenichi Ogata

Harimanada’s master.

Atagoyama (愛宕山 (あたごやま)

Voiced by Yuzuru Fujimoto

The Chairman of the Sumo Association. He is modeled after Wakanohana, the then-incumbent head of the real-life Sumo Association.

Yasokichi Fugaku (富嶽八十吉 (ふがく やそきち) / Iote Iyaokea

Voiced by Masahiro Anzai

A mountainous 550-pound Hawaiian ozeki. He is modeled after Konishiki.

Media

E&G Film produced an anime television series based on the manga, titled It Makes Me Feel Strong When I Watch It! Yokozuna Anime: Aah! Harimanada (見ると強くなる 痛快!横綱アニメ ああ播磨灘, Miru to Tsuyoku Naru Tsūkai! Yokozuna Anime: Ā Harimanada). It was directed by Norio Osada. The series premiered in Japan on TV Tokyo on April 23, 1992, and ran for 23 episodes until its conclusion on October 1, 1992. Aah! Harimanada is notable as an animated series based on the rare theme of sumo wrestling; following the end of the series’ broadcast, no other such series would be produced until the premiere of Rowdy Wrestler!! Matsutaro in 2014.

Aah! Harimanada was adapted into three video games of the same name in 1993. A Game Gear title was developed by Sega and released on July 2. A Game Boy title by Ask Kodansha was released on July 23. Sega also developed a title for the Mega Drive that was released on September 3. The Mega Drive game was criticized for its “poor responsiveness” and “boring gameplay”. British gaming magazine Sega Pro rated the Mega Drive version 59 out of 100.

References

1.  “HardcoreGaming”. Archived from the original on 2016-01-06. Retrieved 2013-01-19.
2. ^ Sega Pro. Paragon Publishing (28): 54. February 1994.

Aah! Harimanada
Cover art of the first manga volume
ああ播磨灘 (Ā Harimanada)
Genre	Sports
Manga
Written by	Kei Sadayasu
Published by	Kodansha
Magazine	Weekly Morning
Demographic	Seinen
Original run	1991 – 1996
Volumes	28
Anime television series
Directed by	Yukio Okazaki Norio Nagata
Music by	Masamichi Amano
Original network	TV Tokyo
Original run	23 April 1992 – 1 October 1992
Episodes	23
Game
Developer	Sega
Publisher	Sega
Music by	Hirofumi Murasaki Morihiko Akiyama Masayuki Nagao
Genre	Fighting
Platform	Game Gear, Game Boy, Sega Mega Drive
Released	Game Gear JP: July 2, 1993 Game Boy JP: July 23, 1993 Mega Drive JP: September 3, 1993