Toei Entertainment is gearing up for one of their spring 2014 series to make the leap to home video later this year and it’s looking like we’ll be getting a split release with this one. Abarenbou Rikishi!! Matsutarou is set to debut on DVD only and we suspect any potential Blu-ray release will come later. The releases are also looking like they’re aimed a bit more at the rental market since the first two volumes that are solicited have an unusual four episodes per disc. The series is slated to begin its DVD run on August 8th with the second following on September 12th where they’re both priced at 6,264 yen each.
No extras or first press materials have been announced for the releases as of yet.
The new anime adaptation of Notari Matsutaro by Ashita no Joe creator Tetsuya Chiba was a surprising one since the manga ended sixteen years ago. The new show, which translates to Roughneck Sumo Wrestler!! Matsutaro, debuted on April 6th in Japan. The original manga had a twenty year run starting in 1973 and had a couple of years running after that as well. It’s had OVAs previously in the 90′s but this marks its first TV run.
Plot concept: The story follows Matsutarō Sakaguchi, a giant roughneck man with strength far beyond ordinary people. He never uttered words like “work hard,” “strive,” and “dream” like the typical shōnen manga protagonist. However, he is stronger than anyone and peerless in sumo wrestling. His greatest weakness is his own carefree personality. He grows into a full-fledged sumo westler.
[Source: ]
