| The Prince of Tennis | |||
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| テニスの王子様 (Tenisu no Ōjisama) |
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| Demographic | Shōnen | ||
| Genre | School, Sport, Comedy | ||
| Manga | |||
| Author | Takeshi Konomi | ||
| Publisher |  Shueisha |
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| Serialized in | Weekly Shonen Jump' |
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| Original run | July 1999 – present | ||
| Volumes | 40 volumes | ||
| TV anime | |||
| Director | Takayuki Hamana | ||
| Studio | Trans Arts | ||
| Network | Animax, TV Tokyo |
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| Original run | October 10 2001 – March 30 2005 | ||
| Episodes | 178 | ||
| OVA: Zenkoku Taikai Hen (The National Tournament) | |||
| Director | Shunsuke Tada | ||
| Studio | M.S.C. | ||
| Episodes | 13 | ||
| Released | March 24, 2006 - March 23, 2007 | ||
| Runtime | 22 minutes per episode | ||
| OVA: Zenkoku Taikai Hen Semifinal (The National Tournament Semifinal) | |||
| Director | Shunsuke Tada | ||
| Studio | M.S.C. | ||
| Episodes | 6 | ||
| Released | June 22, 2007 - January 25, 2008 | ||
| Runtime | 22 minutes per episode | ||
| Related works | |||
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Rightman
Nation Edutainment
Arena
Romics
The Prince of Tennis (テニスの王子様 Tenisu no Ōjisama?) is a popular manga and anime series created by Takeshi Konomi. The manga was first published in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump in Japan on July 1999. The manga is published in English in North America by Viz Media. The series was put under hiatus when Konomi was injured in an accident during the Summer of 2006, but publication resumed in September 2006. Though publication was scheduled to end in late November in issue 52 of Weekly Shonen Jump,[1] The Prince of Tennis anime has been announced to be a part of Cartoon Network's new online broadband service called Toonami Jetstream. It began streaming July 14, 2006. The anime began airing on Toonami's Saturday night block on December 23, 2006, though some episodes were initially skipped. Beginning on February 24, 2007, the episodes aired, restarting at the beginning, going in order. However, it is now off Toonami and Toonami Jetstream as of December 3, 2007. In the Philippines, The Prince of Tennis aired weekdays on QTV 11 (now Q 11) (part of its afternoon anime block "Anime Revolution"), but later ended. Although, due to popular demand, The Prince of Tennis was aired back on Q on the same time slot. It later moves to GMA 7, airing on weekdays. On August 16 2007, Japan's Nikkan Sports newspaper announced that China, which began airing The Prince of Tennis anime series in the summer of 2006, will be producing a live-action drama of The Prince of Tennis manga. Shooting of the series will begin in October 2007, and it is expected to begin broadcast sometime around June 2008, just before the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.[2][3]
Contents |
Plot
The series is primarily set in Tokyo. Ryoma Echizen, a tennis prodigy, attends Seishun Academy (青春学園 Seishun Gakuen?), or Seigaku (青学) for short, a private school famous for its strong tennis club and talented players. Ryoma quickly defeats numerous upperclassmen shortly after entrance to secure himself a spot on the regulars team. In pursuit of their ultimate goal of winning the all-Japan junior high tennis championship, members of the team make new friends while learning and mastering increasingly complex techniques.
Characters
Names are in Western order, with the surname after the given name.
Players
Seishun Academy Middle School
- Regulars
- Ryoma Echizen (越前 リョーマ Echizen Ryōma?)
- Kunimitsu Tezuka (手塚 国光 Tezuka Kunimitsu?)
- Shuichiro Oishi (大石 秀一郎 Ōishi Shūichirō?)
- Shusuke Fuji (不二 周助 Fuji Shūsuke?)
- Eiji Kikumaru (菊丸 英二 Kikumaru Eiji?)
- Takashi Kawamura (河村 隆 Kawamura Takashi?)
- Sadaharu Inui (乾 貞治 Inui Sadaharu?)
- Takeshi Momoshiro (桃城 武 Momoshiro Takeshi?)
- Kaoru Kaido (海堂 薫 Kaidō Kaoru?)
- Other players
- Masashi Arai (荒井 将史 Arai Masashi?): second year in Seigaku's tennis club who will probably end up a Regular his third year.
- Masaya Ikeda
- Daisuke Hayashi
- Satoshi Horio (堀尾 聡史 Horio Satoshi?): Know-it-all first year in the tennis club with "two years of tennis experience". Main source of comic relief.
- Kachiro Kato (加藤 勝郎 Katō Kachirō?): first year in tennis club who is a voice of reason for Horio.
- Katsuo Mizuno (水野 カツオ Mizuno Katsuo?): Basically the same as Kachiro, but Katsuo is not featured as much.
Rival schools and teams
Supporting characters
- Nanjiro Echizen (越前 南次郎 Echizen Nanjirō?): Ryoma's father and former tennis pro. Nanjiro is currently a monk, though he does not act much like one. His name is spelled Nanjiro Echizen in the English manga and Nanjirou Echizen in Roman characters in the Japanese version of the anime.
- Sumire Ryuzaki (竜崎 スミレ Ryūzaki Sumire?): Coach of Seigaku's tennis club, as well as the former coach of Ryoma's father.
- Sakuno Ryuzaki (竜崎 桜乃 Ryūzaki Sakuno?): Sumire's granddaughter and first year who clearly has a crush on Ryoma. A sweet and extremely shy girl who started playing tennis inspired by Ryoma's example and works hard to sharpen her skills.
- Tomoka Osakada (小坂田 朋香 Osakada Tomoka?): First year who is Sakuno's best friend. Also is president of the Ryoma Echizen Fanclub. She is a loud, pushy and energetic girl who likes cheering on the Seigaku team loudly and always fights with Horio.
- Karupin: The Echizens' mischievous and surprisingly intelligent cat, whose name was based off the popular Japanese drink "Calpis Water".
- Mamoru Inoue (井上 守 Inoue Mamoru?): Reporter for Monthly Tennis magazine who follows the Seigaku team and is a big fan of Nanjiro Echizen.
- Saori Shiba (芝砂 織 Shiba Saori?): Photographer for Monthly Tennis who follows the team with her senpai and guide, Inoue.
- An Tachibana (橘 杏 Tachibana An?): Kippei Tachibana's younger sister who supports Fudomine, she gets along well with the Seigaku members especially Momoshiro, whom she helped to regain his spirits when he was dropped off the regulars line. She is a second year player in the Fudomine girls' tennis club.
- Nanako Meino (菜々子 Nanako?): Ryoma's college-bound cousin who lives with Ryoma and his parents.
- Rinko Echizen: Ryoma's mother, and Nanjiro's wife. Sweet and compliant, always calm in any situation.
- Taro Sakaki (榊 太郎 Sakaki Tarō?): Hyotei Gakuen's coach. A stern and noble coach, as well as very eccentric.
- Mikiya Banda (aka Banjii): Coach of Yamabuki's tennis club, and the coach of a previous school that defeated Seigaku in the past when Echizen's father was on the team.
- Miyuki Chitose: Tomboyish younger sister of Shitenhouji ace Senri Chitose, has a brother/sister friendship with Tezuka.
- Richard Baker (リチャード・ベイカー Richādo Beikā?): The arrogant and stern coach of the U.S./American Team, he seems to believe he owns his pupils.
Manga
Anime
Episode list
DVD
The Prince of Tennis volume 1 boxset was released in the United States on April 24 2007.
- VIZ has also opted to not include the Japanese intro/ending themes (as compared to their other anime box release; Naruto)
- The intro/ending themes can be found on Disc 3 of the set in "Extras."
Anime and manga differences
The anime is quite different from the manga version. While most of the story and characters (e.g Ryoma Echizen, Takeshi Momoshiro, Shusuke Fuji) are the same, there are small story-changes in the animated version because Konomi thought it would be too boring to watch what fans have already read. Coincidently, some differences are presented by different media and it was expected that fans familiar with the manga can understand it. For example, in the anime Niou and Yagyuu did not cosplay each other in the regionals, whereas they did in the manga. However, all the radios, mini dramas, CDs and games make references to this and act as if it had always took place. Thus, someone who only watched the anime might be confused by the different portrayals.
- Table tennis scenes and billiard scenes exist in the anime, but not in the manga.
- The tournament in which Seigaku faces Midoriyama in the manga, they switch the tournament draw and put Jyosei Shonan to face Seigaku.
- Some events take place at different times. For example, Kirihara visits Seigaku in the manga prior to the District Regionals (as early as Chapter 19), but he doesn't meet them in the anime until after the Tokyo Prefecturals. Inoue and Shiba also visit Nanjiro much earlier in the anime then they do in the manga, and are introduced earlier (in the manga they don't show up until Ryoma's match against Inui)
- Also, the anime starts shifting from the manga starting from the Rokakku arc. In the manga storyline, it is not Ryoma who faces Kentaro Aoi, but rather Kaoru Kaidoh.
- In the anime, Ryoma faces off against Sanada before the Rikkai Dai match and gets crushed. In the manga, he plays against Kirihara before the match where he attains the State of Self Actualization and wins.
- The manga shows growth in tennis skill through modes of self-actualization. The anime does also, but only until the OVA arc.
- The episodes in the anime dealing with Kevin Smith and the U.S. West Coast Team do not take place within the manga.
- While the manga makes an attempt to try and explain how some of the seemingly impossible moves are performed, such as the Tezuka Zone and Kikumaru's Seal Steps, the anime does less and sometimes even exaggerate them to a point where it becomes almost magical. This is possibly also due to the fact that the anime uses animation and naturally some effects are enhanced. But at times it seems that the anime is deliberately exaggerating the effects in order to parody itself. In the animated movie, Tezuka's skill and power has been compared to that of the meteorite which led to the extinction of dinosaurs in a lengthy clip; even the author found it so exaggerated that it was funny. Another instance is Ryoma's anime-only Cyclone Smash which, unlike many powerful smashes in the series which blows away the opponents racket, blows away Sanada completely.
- When Tezuka is injured, in the manga he goes to Kyushu for his shoulder. However, in the anime, Tezuka goes to Germany instead. In the OVA, however, Tezuka is also said to have gone to Kyushu to recover his confidence in his shoulder.
- The anime (especially the anime-only stories and chibi episodes) sometimes parodies and even makes amusement out the story itself, for example, Inui Juice, Tezuka Zone, and Fuji in his open-eye mode. Overall, the manga is more serious and does not tend to make jokes or more amusing matters.
Reception
| Source | Reviewer | Grade / Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anime on DVD | Chris Beveridge | Content: B+ Audio: B+ Video: A
Packaging: A- Menus: B Extras: B- |
DVD Box Set 1 |
| Anime News Network | Carl Kimlinger | Overall (dub): D- Overall (sub): D Story: D Animation: C- Art: B Music: D |
DVD Box Set 1 |
| DVD Talk Review | John Sinnott | (Out of 5) Content 2 Video 3.5 Audio 3 Extras 1.5 Replay 1.5 Advice: Rent |
DVD Box Set 1 |
| Spectrum Nexus | Raye | 4.5 out of 5 | Anime |
References
- ^ {{cite web | year=2006 | title=The Prince of Tennis manga ending in late 2007 | url=http://comipress.com/news/2007/09/12/2640 |date=2007-09-12 | work=ComiPress The anime series, directed by Takayuki Hamana, animated by Trans Arts and co-produced by Nihon Ad Systems and TV Tokyo, aired across Japan on the anime satellite television network Animax and the terrestrial TV Tokyo network from October 10, 2001 to March 30, 2005, spanning a total of 178 episodes. Beginning in April of 2006, an OVA continuation of the anime began to be released on DVD. The beginning of the second OVA series was released on June 22 2007, roughly 3 months after the end of the first. The second OVA will end on January 25 2008, and the third and final OVA is scheduled to start on March 16 2008, as stated in the series' official site. The title is often shortened to Teni-Puri, a portmanteau of the two parts in the Japanese pronunciation of the words, Tennis Prince. This is also evident in some of the Chibi episodes in the anime, where all the regulars of Seishun Gakuen are members of the Teni-Puri family. The series has produced a half-hour weekly radio show, nearly 200 music CDs, several games, movies, multiple live-action musicals and a large selection of merchandise. On May 13, 2006 the live-action adaptation film, The Prince of Tennis, was released in Japan. As of volume 35, the manga has sold over 37 million copies in Japan.<ref>[http://comipress.com/article/2007/05/06/1923 Comipress News article on "The Rise and Fall of Weekly Shōnen Jump"].</li> <li id="cite_note-1">'''[[#cite_ref-1|^]]''' [http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-08-17/prince-of-tennis-adapted-as-live-action-drama-in-china ''The Prince of Tennis'' adapted into a live-action drama in China]. [[Anime News Network]]. Retrieved on [[2007]]-[[08-18]].</li> <li id="cite_note-2">'''[[#cite_ref-2|^]]''' [http://www.nikkansports.com/entertainment/f-et-tp0-20070816-242653.html Nikkan Sports article announcing China's plan to produce ''The Prince of Tennis'' live-action drama series]. [[Nikkan Sports]]. Retrieved on [[2007]]-[[08-18]].</li></ol></ref>
External links
- Official sites
- Animax's official Prince of Tennis website (Japanese)
- TV Tokyo's Prince of Tennis Site (Japanese)
- Shueisha's Prince of Tennis Site (Japanese)
- Official Prince of Tennis Site (Japanese)
- Viz's Shonen Jump's Prince of Tennis Site
- The Prince of Tennis on Toonami Jetstream
- Profiles
- The Prince of Tennis at TV.com
- The Prince of Tennis at Anime News Network
- The Prince of Tennis at Animenfo.com
- The Prince of Tennis at the Internet Movie Database
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| Seigaku members: | Ryoma Echizen | Kunimitsu Tezuka | Shuichiro Oishi | Shusuke Fuji | Eiji Kikumaru | Takashi Kawamura | Sadaharu Inui | Takeshi Momoshiro | Kaoru Kaido |
| Schools/Teams: | Seishun Academy Middle School | Fudomine Middle School | St. Rudolph Gakuen | Yamabuki Middle School | Hyotei Gakuen | Midoriyama | Josei Shonan Middle School | Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku | Rokkaku Middle School | American Team |
| Supporting characters: | Sumire Ryuzaki | Nanjiro Echizen | Masashi Arai | Satoshi Horio | Kachiro Kato | Katsuo Mizuno | Sakuno Ryuzaki | Tomoka Osakada |
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| List of Prince of Tennis chapters | List of Prince of Tennis episodes | Tennis no Ōjisama - Futari no Samurai | The Prince of Tennis (film) | The Prince of Tennis Musicals | Takeshi Konomi | |
| Series currently running in Weekly Shonen Jump |
|---|
| Bleach · D.Gray-man · Eyeshield 21 · Gintama · Hatsukoi Limited · Hunter × Hunter · KochiKame · K.O. Sen · Majin Tantei Nōgami Neuro · Muddy · Muhyo and Roji's Bureau of Supernatural Investigation M×0 · Naruto · One Piece · Our Hero Studies · Poseidon Private High · The Prince of Tennis · Psyren · Pyū to Fuku! Jaguar · Reborn! · Samurai Usagi · Sket Dance · To Love-Ru |
