The Prince of Tennis II

paizuri · Post by **paizuri** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 1:49 pm

AniDB wrote:Middle school students fought fiercely against one another in a national tournament. Now, 50 chosen representatives return to fight against high schoolers! The stage is the U-17 (Under Seventeen) Japanese Representative Training Camp. Middle school students have been invited for the first time to a camp known to produce the best Japanese tennis players.

National champions from Seigaku, Hyotei, Rikkai, Shitenhoji...With all the rivals from the national tournament attending, everyone eagerly awaits their reunion. At first, the middle schoolers do not expect much from their high school opponents. However, the training camp is not so easy!

Athletes with skills incomparable to those they previously faced and their mysterious coach appear before them. Faced with numerous demanding challenges, can the middle schoolers survive in this meritocratic training camp? The new chapter of Prince of Tennis begins here! The curtain rises on a new stage.

Updated for sequel. Original post under spoiler.

Spoiler :

Killuan · Post by **Killuan** » Fri Jul 21, 2006 4:49 pm

Although the idea of watching two people hitting a ball back and forth in a rectangular court may seem incredibly unamusing at first glance, Prince of Tennis is anything but that. The show's structure is simple but still warrants interest; with plot twists and turns, the discovery of new skills, and decent character development, PoT can keep even the most skeptical otaku yearning. The best feature this show boasts is that it can be the same thing every episode without being repetitive. Each time Ryoma steps onto the court, a new opponent awaits him, eager to test the abilities of the "first-year rookie." Will you care if Ryoma wins? Ooooh yes.

The show's animation is a bit more than decent and well-utilized. Movements on the court are just fluent enough to make the ball actually seem to fly, and the animation takes an even better turn when the characters are bearing their rackets in full-swing. The characters are great; each player is distinctly likable or unlikable and is emphasized by one of the series' many BGMs (background songs). Unfortunately, a lot of the Seigaku players are made out to be serious, which can be confusing when trying to tell them apart (a few of the characters have the same expressions on their faces and the same tones of voice), but this problem is greatly aided by the characters' distinct physical features. Each character looks different from the last, which can be an incredibly hard thing to do--anyone who's tried their luck at doujinshi knows what I mean. >_<

If I had to complain about anything, it would be about the episode structure. PoT desperately needs at least some change every once in a while; I mean, the first eight-odd episodes happen on the same court or in the same locker room. Even though the episodes beyond the first 10 start to pick up the pace a little, it wouldn't be that much of a strain to have a beach episode, a birthday episode, or something beside a match ... but no. Still, don't think this manages to really hurt the show--in PoT's case, it doesn't.

Overall:8.0/10. Just like Hikaru no Go (board game) this is also the best of its genre. (sports). Will say that this anime probably has more of a Shoujo aspect to it, thus being more likeable by girl audience.

anime_flower · Post by **anime_flower** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 8:29 am

This ANIME is definitely leaning more towards the girl audience but guys can enjoy it, too. Just talk to my cousin, he watched it after he heard me mentioning it and he loved it. Hahahaha...

I love the characters, I think they're so funny. I love Inui with his "punishment juice". Tezuka (hope I spelt it right) with his strict face... it seriously never changes. Fuji with his, always, smiling face. Takeshi, how his personality changes just by holding a racquet. Eiji with his flexibility. Oishi, personality like a mother to Seigaku tennis team. Momoshiro and Kaidoh, how they always argue and compete against each other even just by being in the same room. Then, there's Ryoma...even though he is in first year and everyone else is in second and third, he still thinks he is above all. Have I missed anyone from the team?

Yes, a down side is that some event like competition episodes can go for ages and ages. Then, there will be like 5 episodes of minor stories than it goes back to tennis competition. Though, some of the minor story episodes are really, really funny. I watch them over and over again.

madbunny · Post by **madbunny** » Sun Jul 23, 2006 4:16 pm

PoT can be a fun distraction for sure. The problem with it is that it seems to take place in 'real time', so as we wait for events to unfold, they episodes are so drawn out that they become beyond silly.

Physics be dammed! Characters leap, seemingly 154 feet into the air to make their shots, the ball twists and turns in ways that defy logic, or reality for that matter. Echizen Ryoma is such a flat character with essentially only one goal in life that his challenges are merely stepping stones with no real drama since you never really expect him to actually lose anything.
The other teams are such cartoon villains that they become immediatly discarded. If you really, really like hearing the line "BURNING!!!" and "mada mada dane" then you're in luck.

Aside from all of that, if you have a lot of these, then you'll find that you don't really care. Watching the tennis moves is so over the top that it becomes fun just to see what wacky flaming, twisting cannonball velocity tennis shot will happen next week. How will Ryoma overcome? Who cares, watching is the fun part.

6.5/10

NS · Post by NS » Sun Jul 23, 2006 4:21 pm

lol i've seen this advertised on cartoon network didn't know it was like in japan and all that i didn't realize it was an anime i gess

anime_flower · Post by **anime_flower** » Mon Jul 24, 2006 10:03 am

Oowww...lucky...we don't get paid tv in my house so I never have access to Cartoon Network or anything like that. If I want to watch ANIME, I'll have to watch the dubbed version on tv in the morning or I have to buy the DVDs or if I'm lucky, my friend will give me some of his.

Yes, the moves done by the characters have been done dramaticallly but personally, I love it that way. It makes it more interesting to watch the ANIME. At the current moment I think there's only 174 episodes...I've only seen close to 100 episodes (just got to get my hands on the rest) but I wonder if episode 174 is the end of the Series or is it one of those ANIME that never seem to have a proper ending...

madbunny · Post by **madbunny** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 9:13 pm

anime_flower wrote:but I wonder if episode 174 is the end of the Series or is it one of those ANIME that never seem to have a proper ending...

When you find out, let me know. I gave up trying to watch them all. After getting bent over by the Inuyasha series, which HAS NO ENDING, I sort of felt burned by long shows.

anime_flower · Post by **anime_flower** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 2:03 am

How many manga is actually out there? I've seen up to volume 30 or more at the moment and it's still not close to the end...then again, this anime may be like any anime out there that ends but the storyline doesn't really end. Does that make sense? I wonder how many the author is actually planning on making? Hm...

BasharOfTheAges · Post by **BasharOfTheAges** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 3:10 am

I watched the begining for the "LOL tennis" factor which didn't get old until the 60th episode or so. After that it became the "LOL implied yaoi." That lasted for a while. Then I actually tried to play tennis. Then i stopped watching it. I still have something like 80 eps to go i think. They all meld together after a while.

Jayn_Newell · Post by **Jayn_Newell** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 6:04 pm

I like to call this show the DBZ of tennis. The characters are interesting (if a bit flat at times), and I love the interplay between them, but the tennis matches are long, boring and ridiculously out of whack with reality (At least with DBZ the characters have an excuse for being super-human). I can't take this show seriously. The filler episodes are great however, especially before the Teni-Puri family stuff comes out. I love watching the boys training, but the games themselves are rather boring to watch, and like DBZ are only worth watching once, if at all.

Honestly, I'd rather watch the boys playing with cats than balls.