Tennis no Ouji-sama (The Prince of Tennis)

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Alternative Titles

English: The Prince of Tennis

Japanese: テニスの王子様

Information

Type: TV

Episodes: 178

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Oct 10, 2001 to Mar 23, 2005

Premiered: Fall 2001

Broadcast: Unknown

Producers: Production I.G, Nihon Ad Systems

Licensors: VIZ Media

Studios: Trans Arts

Source: Manga

Genres: Action, Comedy, Sports, School, Shounen

Duration: 22 min. per ep.

Rating: PG-13 - Teens 13 or older

Statistics

Score: 7.90¹ (scored by 61,783 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #682²

² based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #1049

Members: 143,226

Favorites: 3,141

7.90

Ranked #682Popularity #1049Members 143,226

Fall 2001TVTrans Arts

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Episodes: /178

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Synopsis

The world of tennis is harsh and highly competitive. Numerous schools from Japan battle it out to determine the best of the best.

Seishun Gakuen Junior High School, more commonly known as Seigaku, is one of the most prominent contestants in this battle of the finest. Their team line-up gets even stronger with the sudden arrival of a young prodigy from the West, Ryouma Echizen, who is determined to prove himself and escape the towering shadow of his legendary father. This fine addition changes the team forever.

Prince of Tennis follows the heartwarming and inspirational story of Ryouma on his quest to become one of the best tennis players the country has ever seen. He pushes himself hard so that he can one day surpass his father’s name and his own personal expectations. Alongside the rest of the Seigaku team, Ryouma fights to make his and his teammate's dreams come true.

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Background

Since 2003, there has been a bi-annual musical that features different story arcs of the series. There also been a live action film based on the franchise.
Prince of Tennis also has a lot of video game adaptations, a few Chinese dramas and a radio show based on the series.

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Related Anime

Adaptation:	Tennis no Ouji-sama
Side story:	Tennis no Ouji-sama: Atobe kara no Okurimono - Kimi ni Sasageru Tennis Prince Matsuri, Tennis no Ouji-sama Movie 1: Futari no Samurai - The First Game, Tennis no Ouji-sama: Sonzoku Yama no Hi, Tennis no Ouji-sama: Oshougatsu Special, Tennis no Ouji-sama Movie 2: Eikokushiki Teikyuu Shiro Kessen!, Tennis no Ouji-sama: Pair Prince, Tennis no Ouji-sama: Message in a Bottle
Sequel:	Tennis no Ouji-sama: Zenkoku Taikai-hen
Other:	Tennis no Ouji-sama: The Band of Princes Film Kick the Future, Tennis no Ouji-sama: Mini Theater
Alternative version:	Tennis no Ouji-sama: Best Games!!

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Echizen, Ryouma

Main

Minagawa, Junko
Japanese

Fuji, Shuusuke

Main

Kaida, Yuki
Japanese

Tezuka, Kunimitsu

Main

Okiayu, Ryoutarou
Japanese

Kikumaru, Eiji

Main

Takahashi, Hiroki
Japanese

Kaidou, Kaoru

Main

Kiyasu, Kohei
Japanese

Momoshiro, Takeshi

Main

Onosaka, Masaya
Japanese

Inui, Sadaharu

Main

Tsuda, Kenjirou
Japanese

Kawamura, Takashi

Main

Kawamoto, Naru
Japanese

Oishi, Shuichiro

Main

Kondou, Takayuki
Japanese

Atobe, Keigo

Supporting

Suwabe, Junichi
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Hamana, Takayuki

Director, Storyboard

Hiramitsu, Takuya

Sound Director

Andou, Masahiro

Episode Director, Storyboard

Takashima, Daisuke

Episode Director

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Opening Theme

#1: "Future" by Hiro-X (eps 1-26)
#2: "Driving Myself" by Hiro-X (eps 27-53)
#3: "Make You Free" by Kimeru (male version), hisoca (female version) (eps 54-75)
#4: "Long Way" by Ikuo (eps 76-101)
#5: "Fly High" by Toshihiko Matsunaga (eps 102-128)
#6: "Shining" by Yuki Shirai (eps 129-153)
#7: "Paradise" by Yuki Shirai (eps 154-165)
#8: "Dream Believer" by Osami Masaki (eps 166-178)

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Ending Theme

#1: "You Got Game" by Kimeru (eps 1-26)
#2: "Keep Your Style" by Masataka Fujishige (eps 27-35, 38-39, 41-47, 49-53)
#3: "Walk On" by Masataka Fujishige (eps 36-37, 40, 48)
#4: "White Line" by Aozu (eps 54-75)
#5: "Kaze no Tabibito" by Fureai (eps 76-101)
#6: "Sakura" by Yomu Hamaguchi (eps 102-140)
#7: "Wonderful Days" by Pull Tab to Can (eps 141-165)
#8: "Little Sky" by Kentaro Fukushi (eps 166-178)

More reviews

Reviews

Sep 8, 2007

178 of 178 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 8

VK11 (All reviews)

195 people found this review helpful

The Prince of Tennis - a sports-driven anime that debuted back in 2001, depicts the story of Echizen Ryoma and his experiences in the world of tennis. Along with Hajime no Ippo, the Prince of Tennis helped start the rave with sports-driven anime craze, and its not really a wonder why a lot of those anime use many of the elements from the Prince of Tennis - its so good that its still being animated (in OVA form) this very day.

Normally, with sports anime, you see the rise of a certain young star from not being a very good player to being the ace of their sport. The Prince of Tennis pulled something out of the ordinary and made Echizen an amazing tennis player right from the start. Now you're probably thinking, "Well, where's the fun in that?" Well, Echizen is always going up against top-notch opponents and throughout the show, you'll witness him going from a cocky, immature kid to one who actually respects his opponents (well, sort of anyway) and development of new, exciting skills. Echizen join the Seigaku high school tennis team and participates in tournaments with them. And of course, the overall theme is to aim for the top of the tennis world.

The art is pretty good. It starts off so-so, but before you know it, it gets to that level where you're impressed by it. As for the animation, you'll see a lot of repeated frames throughout the show (as usual with sports anime), but the way they animate all of the new skills and tennis matches is just so amazing, that after some of the matches, you just stare in awe at its magnificence.

The sound, I would say, is probably the weakest point of the show. Although the music presented in the Prince of Tennis does suit the mood and is pretty upbeat at times, there really isn't a score that will stand out to you, where you'll be saying, "Ah!! I need that on my computer/ipod." Nevertheless, its relatively enjoyable

Since the stories are pretty much the same throughout all sport anime (overall), in order for an anime to be amazing - especially the case with sport ones - characters and unique personalities need to be there. And Prince of Tennis does not disappoint in that category. This show unveils so many different memorable characters, that you'll undoubtedly have trouble picking your all-time favorite one from the lot because they are so unique. And the best part about it is that the creators were able to somehow give each character a unique way of playing tennis. With the amount of characters and opponents they present, you'd think that they would have to repeat somewhere. But that's definitely not the case.

With amazing tennis matches, a plethora of unique and lovable characters, and a cocky main protagonist that will get on your nerves at times but you'll respect out of necessity because of his skills, the Prince of Tennis is an amazing sport anime. The best part of this anime is that you will have a hard time knowing who will win matches. Surprisingly enough, all the main characters experience losses matches at times, which makes it interesting to see how each one responds to the agony of defeat.

If you are looking for a sport-driven anime and are in for the long haul - meaning 170+ episodes, the Prince of Tennis is exactly what you're looking for.

Helpful

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May 31, 2008

178 of 178 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 10

KimimaroKenshin (All reviews)

81 people found this review helpful

Story - 10
The story is very original, where the protagonist comes from America to Japan as a well-developed tennis player. His father has him enroll in Seigaku Tennis Club, where he plays opponents who can challenge his skill, while the team seeks to reach the National Tournament. Although the story sounds simple, there are many episodes that get more in depth by revealing more of the characters and the storyline, which I would rather not spoil.

Art - 9
The art in this anime is spectacular! However, it is a long series, so some frames are repeated throughout games, yet it is still well done to the read more

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Apr 12, 2013

178 of 178 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 8

Masserati_ (All reviews)

57 people found this review helpful

"Mada Mada Dane"

Once upon a time in Japan, a manga artist by the name of Takeshi Konomi came up with a manga by the name of Prince of Tennis, and it quickly became one of - if not the - most popular sports manga of all time, doing for tennis what Slam Dunk did for basketball, it caused a massive boost in popularity for the sport in its native country. To this day, it's hard to really say that Japan ever got past Prince of Tennis fever, one look at the various pieces of Prince of Tennis merchandise like the musicals or even the live-action read more

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Jan 19, 2008

178 of 178 episodes seen

Overall Rating: 9

MichelleKay (All reviews)

30 people found this review helpful

Prince of Tennis, in my opinion, is like .. superpower tennis. Not in a bad way, but that's what makes this show enjoyable. Ryoma is your typical tennis prodigy who overcomes players more skilled then he is. Story overall was good, with some bumps and twists along the way. The episodes that contain side-stories and stories where the characters are chibis are hilarious. Best I thought was bowling and Snow White.

Art was good, though when in tennis matches, you'll notice repetitions such as their special techniques and missing the ball. That's okay, unless you don't like the moves. The good thing is the art's read more

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