On the Verge of Lunacy

The Seigaku tennis club regulars visit England to represent Japan in a tournament. Everything was going well until a series of attacks on other players force them and the other Japanese representatives to confront the perpetrators. Rumor has it that the attacks were orchestrated by a group of banned players. Ling Xiu, a former member, warns the other players to stay away from Keith and his gang.  Ryoma decides he needs to test this Keith in a tennis court. He is joined by Tezuka, Fuji, Atobe, Shiraishi, Kite, Sanada, and Kirihara. This 10th anniversary movie of Prince of Tennis is full of humor and action. With strong opponents as challengers, you'd expect nothing less than explosive tennis matches. Some might not like the lineup of Ryoma's supporting cast but keep in mind that this is a movie made for fans. I don't recommend this to viewers who haven't watched the series. The characters, humor, and exaggerated plays would not make sense at all. As for the ...

Episode 1: Atobe times Tezuka, divided by Koharu Prince of Tennis fans will surely enjoy this short series for its humor. The picture drama is made up of eight episodes, each one not more than 10 minutes. The best part is that all the Seigaku members each had their spotlight. Besides Seigaku are a select few characters from other schools. If you like Tenipuri humor, then this is for you. The cute ending song is a bonus. Episode 2: Fuji brothers after school Episode 3: Initial A Episode 4: Kai Para Episode 5: Beach Side's Popular Watching Episode 6: I Don't Understand Your Feelings! Episode 7: Whose Spectacle is This? Episode 8: The Ocean Festival Rating: 10 out of 10

Ryoma Echizen and the rest of Seigaku are back and go head to head with the best middle and high school tennis players in the country in the U-17 selection camp. The middle schoolers, which includes most of Seigaku's rivals from other schools, soon find that U-17 is full of talented players and wily coaches who want to test their limits. Players are grouped in several courts depending on their abilities. Shuffle matches let courts move up or down the ranks. In the preliminary matches, several players are eliminated while Ryoma is disqualified for not showing up when he goes looking for Tokugawa, a player from court one, for a match. He has to leave the camp along with the losers. They were not leaving however. They are sent to a drunkard coach, Nyudo, and undergo extensive and difficult training. Meanwhile, the middle schoolers who won, are slowly moving up the court ranking, led by the powerful Jujiroh Oni. It seems like the middle schoolers can't get along with the coach...

After all the trials Seishun Gakuen has gone through, they have finally reached the greatest trial of their journey. In this OVA, they face an old nemesis and the current champions Rikkaidai Fuzoku. WARNING: SPOILERS! Here are the highlights from each episode: Episode 1: New opening and ending songs. Sanada and Tezuka's match turned out to be a battle of wills (and with a little bit of luck). Tezuka lost although Sanada was also at his limit. Episode 2: Ryoma has an amnesia. No one knows why. Doubles match between Inui and Kaidoh versus Renji and Kirihara. Inui's Data Tennis is challenged. He's forced to make the impossible possible. Seigaku forfeited the match due to Inui's condition. Episode 3: It seemed like Fuji was losing to Niou - but it was all just Inui's dream. Niou used the Tezuka illusion to challenge Fuji. The match is essentially a battle between Fuji and Tezuka. Later, Niou used a Shiraishi illusion but Fuji surprised everyone ...

After beating Higa and Hyotei, Seishun Gakuen proceed to the semifinals to face Shitenhouji. This 6-episode OVA shows the struggle of the Seigaku regulars to find their true potential and overcome their weaknesses. The players they will encounter are stronger and have deadly techniques that they need to overcome. Warning: Spoilers! The following are the highlights in each episode: Episode 1: Shitenhouji defeat Fudomine. Episode also showed a match between Tachibana and Chitose. Episode 2: First match between Seigaku and Shitenhouji. Fuji is defeated by Shiraishi despite using his Final Counter. Episode 3: New opening and ending songs. Momo and Kaidoh versus Koharu and Hitojiri. Match tested Momo and Kaidoh's patience and how well they knew each other's moves. Episode 4: Taka-san's dream of becoming the number one power player comes true when he survived Ishida Jin's multiple styles of Hadoukyuu. Episode 5: A doubles match becomes a singles m...

Seigaku's journey to the Nationals continue in three short OAVs. The final episode from the main series showed Ryoma leaving Japan for a tournament in the U.S. In the first episode of Prince of Tennis: The National Tournament , Ryoma went to visit his seniors to cheer them on, but because Oishi's injury got worse, the vice-captain decided to let Ryoma play in his stead. This OVA consists of 13 episodes and shows Seigaku's matches against Higa and then Hyoutei. Warning: Spoilers! These are some of the highlights of each episode:  Episode 1: Seigaku cheered for Rokkaku but the team could not beat Higa's players. Oji was attacked by one of the players too.  Episode 2: Seigaku's first match with Higa. Ryoma plays against Tanishi. Although Ryoma appeared like he was losing, he was actually doing it on purpose. Episode 3: Fuji (teamed up with Taka-san for the doubles) revealed his Fourth Counter - Kagerou Zutsumi. Episode 4: Eiji was still upset by Oishi'...

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 ser...

Most anime feature a prodigy destined for greatness. The series would then follow the exploits of that character to his or her final quest. Yet most of those characters start off weak and in desperate need of a mentor, friends (who at first were enemies) and perhaps even a love interest who will inspire him or her to do great things. Ryoma Echizen is a tennis prodigy, but he certainly does not start off as a weakling who needs practice and experience badly. Unlike most characters of his type too, he is not loud, obnoxious and someone you could easily make fun of. For those qualities alone, I consider Prince of Tennis the best anime I have seen to date. The 42-volume manga was created by Takeshi Konomi. His work inspired a 178-episode TV series, animated and live-action movies, musicals (Tenimyu), more than a hundred songs, radio drama (Rajipuri) and video games. Whoever thought that a sport such a tennis that involves almost no physical contact with opponents and fast matches can...

The White Shirt "Hmm...I think this color looks better on Ore-sama's perfect, flawless complexion, don't you think so Kabaji?", mused Atobe while he ran his hands through his perfect, shiny hair. "Usu." Atobe rolled his eyes, "I knew you would say that". He got another long-sleeved polo shirt from the rack. "Cheap", he muttered. "Ore-sama should wear only the finest so people can admire the sight of ore-sama's beauty". He snapped his finger and a female attendant appeared at his side carrying more clothes to choose from. Kabaji stared, unmoving. While Atobe was trying on some of the clothes, another customer arrived. Kabaji stared at him. "Ah, so this is the place. How nice", Shinji buzzed. He saw the pile of new arrivals at the farthest corner of the store and stood before it, thinking loudly to himself. "Kamio said it's expensive here. But I need to find something to wear for the party tomorrow even if ...

He dropped to his knees when exhaustion finally claimed him. He was breathing hard and was bathing in his sweat but Kaidoh felt cold inside.   It was almost past 10 in the evening. He was supposed to take the bus but he figured that he could use the timefor a few minutes of jogging. He wants to be ready for the next match. He was walking home from Eiji's house, grateful that he cannot hear stupid Momo's stories when he saw Inui-sempai. He waved but Inui did not see him so he decided to observe his sempai first. He was busy tinkering with something but Kaidoh could not see what it was that interested Inui because it was dark.   "Haha...finally I found the ultimate recipe for my next project", he declared. Kaidoh could only see the flashlight he was holding. He moved closer cautiously, not wanting to disturb his sempai but curious at the same time. By being able to see what Inui was up to will make him ready next time he's asked to drink those awful concoctions....

kimi ha kitto onaji mainichi ni anshin dekiru hito nanda ne dakedo nani ka motomete tatakau tanoshisa ni ha kitsukanai yo ochiru yuuhi mitsumetnagara shizumu mono mo utsukushii to sore de kokoro yasugunara sore demo ii kedo boku ha zutto ue wo mezashiteku soko kara shika mienai mono wo miru tame ni natsukusu mono mo kakugo dekite iru koenakya nara nai mono itsuka koeru tame ni kimi ha itsu mo onaji michi toori shiranai roji ha mimoshinai ne dakedo tama ni maigo ni naru mono tanoshii deai mitsukerareru hitori aruku kodoku na ou no michi ha zutto hatenai kedo sore de kokoro tsubureru nara sore dake no koto sa boku ha zutto ue wo mezashiteku soko kara shika mienai mono wo miru tame ni kizutsuku no mo kakugo dekite iru dare yori mo takai basho noboritsumeru tame ni boku ha zutto ue wo mezashiteku soko kara shika mienai mono wo miru tame ni natsukusu mono mo kakugo dekite iru koenakya nara nai mono itsuka koeru tame ni boku ha zutto ue wo mezashiteku soko kara shika mienai mono wo mi...