The Prince of Tennis

"Mada Mada Dane." - Ryoma Echizen

Translation: "You still got a long way to go."

"You can reach your dreams if your heart is determined." This is from a song entitled "Fly High", one of the OSTs (Official Soundtracks) of an Anime, Prince of Tennis. Aside from being a die-hard KPOP (Korean Pop) fan, I'm also an Otaku or an Anime fan. I've been an Otaku since I was in Grade 5. I've watched a lot of Animes and one of my favorites is the Prince of Tennis. 

I first saw it on Qtv Channel 11 and I must say it's one of a kind Anime. Maybe that's the reason why it got my attention and eventually became my favorite. Unfortunately, I didn't finish watching the whole Anime back then that's why last Semestral break, I started downloading it. I've watched up to Episode 103 only and there's still a hundred episodes left I think (178 episodes + OVAs). 

Well, Prince of Tennis, as the title suggests, revolves around Tennis. Particularly, it's about a 12-year old freshman in Junior High named Ryoma Echizen whose father, Nanjirou Echizen, is a well-known professional Tennis player. Ryoma's ultimate goal is to beat his father in Tennis.

Ryoma Echizen, the Prince of Tennis

After living a few years in America, Ryoma's family decided to go back to Japan. He started studying in Seishun Gakuen a.k.a. Seigaku. Eventually, he joined Seigaku's Tennis Club and this is where the whole story began. 

Seigaku's Regular Members

The Anime is also about Seigaku's struggle in fulfilling their dream, to be in the Nationals. Of course, it wouldn't be that easy since they have to face various strong opponents.

I really enjoy watching this Anime because it gives you mixed emotions. Sometimes, you'll feel excited, irritated, sad and many more. I really love those Chibi episodes 'cause they're so cute! I guess it's one way of preventing the Anime from being too serious or boring (of all the Tennis matches).

Episode 87-88

Aside from that, you'll also learn a lot from this Anime. You'll learn a lot about Tennis, how it is played, the rules and some Tennis terms. The Anime is also inspirational because it always shows that one must not give up that easily and everything's worth in trying.

Like any other Anime, the Prince of Tennis is also adapted from manga. Its manga has 300+ chapters and the author, Konomi Takeshi, decided to make a sequel, New Prince of Tennis. The New Prince of Tennis somehow possesses the same plot as the first one but this time their opponents are strong High Schoolers (All-Japan) instead of Junior High students. Sadly, the New Prince of Tennis' manga is still on-going. But even though it's like that, they've decided to release its Anime version but only with 13 episodes and rumor has it that they'll release the OVAs around summer next year.