Story: 8/10. The story itself is nothing breathtaking or all that special. Its about a tennis team, Seishun Gakuen (Seigaku for short) attempting to become the best tennis team in Japan. They want to win the National Tournament. But they have to work to get there. They must first start out playing within their own prefecture, and so on and so forth. They attempt to conquer rival schools in order to achieve their goal. They get stronger as team through training, bonds grow stronger, and a certain level of respect of trust is reached. But this is the formula for plenty of sports series involving teams. There is drama involved among the schools, some may call it forced, but it makes the story more interesting.
Now for the tennis itself, this is where the series is make or break for a lot of people. It starts out somewhat unrealistic, some of the moves or techniques would absolutely be hard to replicate in real life tennis. The techniques do indeed get more and more ridiculous as the series progresses. Despite that, it was never really that big of an issue for me. Taking into account other factors, the story is still enjoyable.
Art: 9/10. The art starts out pretty sloppy. But it eventually develops into art that in my opinion is really good. It fits the series perfectly, and it gets better and better over time. The characters are indeed very well drawn.
Characters: This in my opinion is a strong point in this series. Ryoma Echizen is the main character, and he is the only 1st year student on the regulars of the tennis club. He is your cool and confident (sometimes arrogant) MC. Despite that, you want to cheer for him regardless. The rest of Seigaku are also a wide cast of characters. Tezuka, Fuji, Oishi, Kikumaru, Inui, Momoshiro, Kaido, and Kawamura. This rounds out the players from Seigaku. They each go through their own trials and attempt to overcome them. As for rivals in this series, there are some you can't help but come to like some of them. They face many schools, who each have their own agenda and backstory.
Enjoyment:10/10. Once I started reading this, I was hooked from the get go. The matches played are all interesting, and the matchups makes for interesting storylines. It is definitely one of the most enjoyable and engaging manga series I have ever read.
Overall: 9/10. I give this series a 9 because although it isn't perfect, it is enjoyable and engaging from start to finish. Despite the ridiculous tennis being played, you come to overlook it and enjoy it nonetheless.
