The Prince of Tennis ( テニスの王子様 , Tenisu no Ōjisama ? ) is a popular Japanese shōnen manga series written and illustrated by Takeshi Konomi. The title is often shortened to TeniPuri ( テニプリ ? ) , a portmanteau of the two parts in the Japanese pronunciation of the words "Tennis Prince". The manga was first published in Japan in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump in July 1999, and ended publication on March 3, 2008. A total of 379 chapters were serialized, spanning 42 volumes. As of volume 40, the manga has sold over 40 million copies in Japan. News that a sequel to the manga series was going to be developed was announced in the December issue of the Japanese manga magazine Jump Square . The new manga series, entitled New Prince of Tennis , began serialization in the Jump Square magazine on March 4, 2009, with the story taking place several months after the end of the original manga. Viz Media acquired the license to distribute the series in English in North America.
The manga was adapted into an anime series directed by Takayuki Hamana, animated by Trans Arts and co-produced by Nihon Ad Systems and TV Tokyo. The anime 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, as well as a theatrical movie. In April 2006, an original video animation (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 ended on January 25, 2008, and the third and final OVA started on April 25, 2008.
The series developed into a media franchise and has had numerous other adaptations outside of the animated incarnation. Since April 2003, more than fifteen stage musicals have been produced for the series. An animated movie was released in 2005, as well as a live action movie in 2006.The franchise has also had a long running radio show, numerous video games, soundtracks, and other merchandise or collectibles.
Story
Plotline
The series is primarily set in Tokyo, and centers around Ryoma Echizen, a tennis prodigy who 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 as one of the team's regulars. In pursuit of their ultimate goal of winning the National Middle School Tennis Championship, members of the team make new friends while learning and mastering increasingly complex techniques. Ryoma also begins to develop his own style of tennis, and eventually realizes what the sport really means to him.
Characters
Note - Names are in Western order, with the given name before the family name.
Main article: List of The Prince of Tennis charactersNotable differences
The anime is quite different from the manga version. For example, in the anime the Seigaku team goes on a field trip to train for the finals, whereas they did not in the manga. However, all the radios, mini dramas, CDs and games make references to this and act as if it had always taken place. Thus, someone who only watched the anime might be confused by the different portrayals.
Notable differences include the addition of table tennis scenes and billiard scenes in the anime. Episodes in the anime also deal with Kevin Smith and the U.S. West Coast Team, whereas the American team does not exist within the manga. Events in the anime also take place at a different time than when they take place in the manga; in the tournament where Seigaku is supposed to face off with Midoriyama, they switch the tournament draw in the anime, and put Josei Shonan to face Seigaku instead. Also, Ryoma faces Rokkaku's captain, Aoi Kentaro, in the Prefectural Semifinals, while the manga puts Kaido against him.
Also, 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 the anime seems to deliberately exaggerate 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 blows Sanada away completely, unlike many powerful smashes in the manga series which only blow away the opponent's racket.
Media
Manga
Main article: List of The Prince of Tennis chaptersThe Prince of Tennis manga was first published in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump in Japan on July 1999, and ran until March 3, 2008, spanning a total of 379 chapters divided into 42 tankōbon . The series was put under hiatus when Konomi was injured in an accident during July 2006, but publication resumed in September 2006. As of Volume 40, the manga has sold over 40 million copies in Japan. The manga is published in North America by Viz Media.
A sequel to the manga series, entitled New Prince of Tennis , began serialization in the monthly magazine series Jump Square on March 4, 2009. The story is set several months after the end of the first manga, and features Ryoma returning to Japan after his stay in America.
Anime
Main article: List of The Prince of Tennis episodesThe 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.
In April 2006, an original video animation (OVA) continuation of the anime began to be released over a span of seven DVDs. 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 finished on January 25, 2008, containing six episodes over a span of three DVDs. The third OVA started on April 25, 2008, and finished on January 23, 2009. A fourth OVA titled "Another Story" was released on May 26, 2009, which included two episodes: "Fū'un Shōnen Atobe" which showed Hyotei's current team's freshman years, and "Naniwa no Ōjisama", where Seigaku goes to Osaka for a practice match with Shitenhoji. The second DVD in "Another Story" will be released September 25, 2009.
On April 24, 2007, Viz Media released the first The Prince of Tennis box set in the United States. Viz Media has also opted to not include the Japanese opening and ending themes, instead using electric guitar music. However, the original music themes can be found in the DVD extras of disc 3. As of January 15, 2008, four box sets have been released by Viz. The four box sets contain the first 50 episodes of the series.
In contrast, Japan has released a total of 45 DVD volumes for the entire 178 episodes of the anime series
Musicals
Main article: TenimyuBeginning in 2003, a series of Prince of Tennis musicals began. Each year sees two musicals based on the storyline come out in the summer and winter, with a 'Dream Live' performance each Spring, featuring numerous actors and past songs. Each storyline musical adapts a single arc of the manga, typically one specific match against a team. Due to the aging of the actors, all the main characters have been recast several times.
Movies
The Prince of Tennis - The Two Samurai: The First Game is the first animated film of the series. It was released in Japan on January 29, 2005, and co-aired with a short movie, A Gift from Atobe .
On May 13, 2006, the live-action adaptation film, The Prince of Tennis , was released in Japan.
Video games
The Prince of Tennis franchise has spawned many different video games. The vast majority of these are either tennis games or dating sims, and they are spread across several different video game consoles. The first of these games was released for the PlayStation console on February 20, 2002, and is the only game which holds the simple Prince of Tennis title - all of the following game titles are preceded by the " Prince of Tennis " title. This was followed by Genius Boys Academy , which was released for the Game Boy Advance on April 25, 2002. Since then, several other video games has been released for different gaming consoles, including one more PlayStation game, three Game Boy Advance games, five Nintendo DS games, and thirteen PlayStation 2 games. The latest games to be released were Nintendo DS's Girls, be gracious
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