ADV Kids presents

Super Duper Sumos: They Got Guts! (2002)

Booma: Give it up, Kimo. You might beat Marmoo, but you're no match for my butt!
Kimo: Unfortunately, there is a crack in your logic, my brother.- Matt Hill, Ben Hur

Stars: Matt Hill, Ben Hur, Cusse Mankuma
Other Stars: Richard Newman, Chantal Strand, Deborah DeMille
Director: Kevin O'Donnell

Manufacturer: MOFC
MPAA Rating: Not Rated for (bodily humor, cartoons in sumo thongs)
Run Time: 01h:52m:40s
Release Date: 2003-02-04
Genre: anime

Style Grade	Substance Grade	Image Transfer Grade	Audio Transfer Grade	Extras Grade
B+	C+	A	B	D-

 

DVD Review

The theme to Super Duper Sumos includes the lyric, "Super Duper Sumos, they've got guts! And butts!" Rarely can a song so accurately and succinctly describe the plot of a television show. The animated adventures of rotund wrestlers Booma, Marmoo, and Kimo operate within the third grade mindset that butts are funny. Talking about butts is funny. Someone pointing to his butt? Funny. Pretending your butt is alive? Funny. Which is why Booma (who is particularly fixated on his rear) frequently makes comments like "You'll never defeat me and my butt!" or "My butt can stop them!"

When the characters aren't "cracking" jokes (oh, the hilarity!), they are operating within a simplistic plot structure copied verbatim from just about every cartoon in the superhero genre. The Sumos are locked in an eternal struggle with Ms. Mister, the devious, power hungry dictator with the great plans and the inept henchmen. Evil will befall the city (did I mention these sumo guys live and work in Jersey?), and it's "Big Bottom Boys to the rescue!" If the villain they are facing is too powerful, the heroes transform into "super size," and their butts get bigger, doubling, nay, tripling the humor quotient. Because nothing is funnier than a big animated keister barely covered by a sumo thong. I'm giggling about it right now. Or I would be, were I still in elementary school.

Super Duper Sumos certainly makes no apologies for the infantile humor, nor does it appear that the producers are reaching for the adult audience that found so much to like in The Powerpuff Girls. Upon first viewing, the show can seem a little clever—the diatribes of the villains and their weirdo plans, the heroes' self-referential flashbacks—but these same devices are employed in every episode, and the novelty of a Yiddish sumo mentor quickly wears thin.

On the plus side, the show looks great. The animation is simplistic, but nice and fluid. Character designs are quirky and endearing (I'm glad they made the Sumos pleasingly plump, rather than grotesque ala Ren & Stimpy) and the thick outlines and kaleidoscopic background colors contribute to a very cheery visual pallet. Plus? Butts!

This DVD includes five episodes: Binky Did a Bad, Bad Thing, The Seven Sumorai, Basho Crasho Sumos, The Incredible Shrinking Butt (Butt!), and Dance of the Sugar Plum Sumos.

Rating for Style: B+
Rating for Substance: C+

 

Image Transfer

	One
Aspect Ratio	1.33:1 - Full Frame
Original Aspect Ratio	yes
Anamorphic	no

Image Transfer Review: I have no complaints about this snazzy transfer. Colors are rich and bright, and they practically leap off of the screen (though the style of the show doesn't allow for much visual depth). Source material looks crystal clear, and I noticed no artifacting, edge enhancement, or cross-coloration.

Image Transfer Grade: A
 

Audio Transfer

	Language	Remote Access
DS 2.0	English	no

Audio Transfer Review: The only available audio option is the original English 2.0 track. It's fine for such a program, but nothing special. Dialogue sounds nice and crisp and is anchored in the center, though there is bleeding into the front mains. Sound effects and music spread across the front soundstage, but don't expect many directional or panning effects. Oddly enough, with all the big butts on-screen, the rears are silent throughout.

Audio Transfer Grade: B 

Disc Extras

Animated menu with music
Scene Access with 5 cues and remote access
6 Other Trailer(s) featuring Sailor Moon, Medabots, Street Fighter, Darkstalkers, Knights of the Zodiac, Robotech.
Packaging: Amaray
Picture Disc
1 Disc
1-Sided disc(s)
Layers: single

Extras Review: The extras are far from butt-tastic (though I can thank ADV for introducing that particular adjective into my vocabulary), as the disc includes only an ADV trailer gallery with clips for Sailor Moon, Medabots, Street Fighter, Darkstalkers, Knights of the Zodiac, and Robotech.

Extras Grade: D-
 

Final Comments

An intellectual treat that's fun for the whole family, provided the family is interested in learning creative new ways to incorporate the word "butt" into every conversation, Super Duper Sumos will certainly appeal to the pre-teen set. Recommended for moms and dads who just can't get enough of their kids giggling about... well, you know.

Joel Cunningham 2003-02-04