The Prince of Tennis (live-action movie)

The Prince of Tennis live-action film is a shorter version of the anime, which combines some of Ryoma Echizen's rivals into one character, Egate Mcleod Higaki. He also replaced a member of Hyotei, Hiyoshi Wakashi.

The first part of the film shows his introduction to the Seigaku tennis club regulars. Ryoma here is undecisive and he doesn't seem happy to be playing tennis with his seniors.

If there was a hint of this in the anime, it's more obvious here. He seems to have little motivation in playing against other schools. His match with Tezuka Kunimitsu however somewhat changed his perception of the junior high school players. But that alone wasn't enough to convince him to stay and help Seigaku get to the Nationals.

From left: Kaidoh, Momo, Eiji, Tezuka, Ryoma, Oishi, Fuji, Taka-san and Inui

But when Higaki visited the tennis club to taunt Tezuka and the other members, Ryoma changed his mind.

The match against Hyotei followed the same events in the series except for Ryoma and Higaki's match. Halfway through their match, Higaki's relationship to the girl whom Ryoma met earlier was explained. It also provided a bit of an explanation for his attitude. The girl, Shioin Higaki, replaced Ryuzaki Sakuno's character from the series and is Egate's sister.

The last part of the match was a test of endurance instead of skills. It was a bit anti-climactic for me.

Fans of the Ryoma-Sakuno pairing might be a bit disappointed but overall it's a good movie. I'm glad that they didn't alter some of the characters' personalities.

Coach Ryuzaki Sumire didn't play a big role here and she wasn't even around during the matches.

Fans who have seen some of the musicals will be familiar with the Seigaku cast. Prince of Tennis fans will enjoy this.

***
Directed by: Yuichi Abe
Cast:
Kanata Hongo - Ryoma Echizen
Yuu Shirota - Tezuka Kunimitsu
Hiroki Suzuki - Oishi Shuichiroh
Hiroki Aiba - Fuji Shusuke
OSamu Adachi - Kikumaru Eiji
Hirofumi Araki - Inui Sadaharu
Yoshikatsu Kotani - Kawamura Takashi
Masaki Kaji - Takeshi Momoshiro
Kousuke Kujirai -Kaidoh Kaoru
Egate Mcleod Higaki - RIKIYA
Nanjiroh Echizen - Goro Kishitani
Shioin Higaki - Sayuri Iwata