Prince of Tennis Anime Review

Initially, I had been a little skeptical of this series. There was no way that I'd ever become a fan of an anime about tennis. I had never played the game in my life, nor had any interest to start up. Regardless, I watched a few episodes and noticed that I could not stop myself until I finished everything I had. A few days later, I found myself buying a racket and hitting against the wall at the tennis court near my house. I never realized that Prince of Tennis could be so influential.

The Prince of Tennis develops a bit slow in the beginning, taking its time to evolve into a very enjoyable series. The first episode isn't anything considerably spectacular, but it serves as a nice teaser for what's to come. The story doesn't really begin until Ryoma enters Seigaku and participates in the Regulars ranking matches, an inner school round round-styled tournament that determines the middle school's eight starters. In these episodes, we are given brief introductions of the other Seigaku Regulars, who share the spotlight along with Ryoma as the main cast.

Seigaku's first match is against an unknown middle school by the name of Fudoumine. Again, the series does not illustrate its greatest potential so early in its run. Rather, it serves as yet another teaser. By no means should this be an incentive for anyone to quit watching the show because the best is yet to come. If you fail to be impressed by this first showing, don't worry, the later matches will wash away your skepticism.

Personally, I felt as though the series didn't begin to shine until after the fiftieth episode, around the time when Seigaku faces off against one of their arch rivals, Hyotei Gakuen. The reason for this could simply be because Fudoumine and Yamabuki, Seigaku's second opponent, didn't have many characters that could compete in terms of likeability with the main cast.

Hyotei, led by the charismatic captain Atobe Keigo, is a colorful cast of players with moves to rival Seigaku's best. This single game has got to be the turning point of the series. You really have to see it to believe it. If you're still not a Prince of Tennis fan afterwards, there is no hope left for you.

While the tennis matches are essentially what the series builds around, the characters remain just as important. The development of Prince of Tennis' large cast is something that not many anime titles can pull off. Think about this: when Seigaku played off against Fudoumine, about twenty characters had already been introduced. By time the anime series finished its run, that number nearly quadrupled. Fortunately, Prince of Tennis makes it very easy for those of us who have a hard time remembering names. Even if a viewer can't remember a character's, it's very easy to reflect back and recall what his signature shot was.

Personality also plays a key factor in characterization. Practically all of the characters have their own unique personality, making it possible for everyone to have at least one favorite. Determined heroes, delinquent punks, and juiced-up badasses are just some of the variety you will find. Of course, female fans may have a harder time in making a decision since the show has many labeled bishonen, the most popular being Fuji and Kikumaru of Seigaku.

The only negative thing about Prince of Tennis is its noticeable drop in a quality storyline after Seigaku played in the Regional finals. Like many series with Shonen Jump manga counterparts, Prince of Tennis "pulled a Naruto" and began to air fillers until TV Tokyo pulled the plug on the show after an entire season's worth of "lacking" episodes. The stand alone fillers were not necessarily awful, but rather, the filler arc consisting of a tournament between Japanese and American players spelt impending doom. Ironically, Prince of Tennis shares the same fate as Slam Dunk, a basketball-themed series, in the sense that it ended before its National tournament began.