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*You know, I simply love bashing stuff I hate. But you know what I love even more than that? Bashing people reviews of stuff I hate that they think is good. And that's the introduction I need for this commentary on this review of Prince of Tennis. Please Denote, only my text will be encased in asterisks. This, is the top rated review of the Prince of Tennis manga*

Throughout the years of lurking on the internet, all I ever heard about PoT is that it's crap. Even its fans wouldn't sound too enthusiastic about it. So it's only natural that I've avoided this manga like a plague.

That was until a few weeks ago, when I got a request to make a sig with a PoT character, and was reminded that not everyone hates PoT. And so I thought "Hey, maybe I should check it out after all. If it's really THAT bad, then I'll just drop it after the first chapter". And surprise surprise, Prince of Tennis is one the most engaging and exciting manga I have ever read.
*And here's where my problems begin*
-The Characters.-

Ryouma, the main lead, is cocky, but just too cool to not want to root for.
*No, let me tell you something, Duke Nukem is someone who is cocky and too cool not too root for. Ryouma is that douchebag in High schoolwho thought he was king.*
In the very first chapter, where he gets hit with a racket, but doesn't get discouraged at all, and actually makes his opponent almost crap his pants, was what sold me on his character and this manga.
*Okay now there's nothing wrong with this part, most shonen protagonists DO have this sort of thing with the pilot chapter. *

I've seen people complaining about Ryouma being too perfect, but I personally never saw anything wrong with a character being perfect.
*AND HERE'S YOUR ISSUE. Perfect characters are not appealing in a manga, with nothing to improve upon, they have to go through no trial and error. Not to mention that they have no relateable qualities to speak of. And let's not forget that Ryouma is 12 years old and won the National American Junior Championship 4 times, meaning at most he was nine when he won it the first time. That's not just perfect that's Gary fucking Stew.*
Ryouma being too good to be true was never a real minus for PoT, or at least in my opinion.
*This means our main protagonists was basically the tennis version of Edward from Twilight. *
Though I guess not being able to tolerate a character like that would really impair your enjoyment, especially in the moments where Ryouma comes to save the day.
*Oh god do I love this line 'save the day'. This is how something goes in Prince of Tennis where he fucking 'saves the day'.
1.A guy is an asshole
2.Ryoma steps in and challenges him to a tennis game
3. Ryoma wins, makes a smart remark, the guys stops being an asshole from being 'pwned' by Ryoma in a sport the asshole has most likely never played before
That's like me beating a guy at Super Monkey and bragging about it despite him never playing it before. Not to mention most of the time when he saves the day it's this totally inconsequential thing, like the Tennis court isn't clean.*


Ryouma isn't the only person on the cast though. The cast is huge and filled with varied,
*HA*
memorable,
*Double Ha. *
and (usually) likeable characters.
*Triple Ha... Okay I won't be completely unfair, there are some okay characters in the series overall but they are ruined by the fact that usually have this absurd character devolpment that ruins them for me or that they are almost never shown, Ryoma taking up 90% of the panel time*
Even those characters that I disliked in the begging, I came to like later on as more of them was shown. Especially Kaidou and Inui, those two really grew on me.

My only complaint here would be Sakuno. From her prominence in the first few chapters, she seemed like a character that is a part of the main cast, but she quickly faded away, and not even into the background, she faded away completely, and would just get a random cameo from time to time. I didn't particularly mind that, but I guess she could have been better incorporated into the manga, with prominence that was a bit more consistent.

*Can you say 'totally inconsequential, G rated fanservice girl?' Goooood *

-Plot? What plot?-

For the first 190 or so chapters the tennis in PoT actually kinda looks like real tennis.
*This is called 'realism'...It'll be abandoned soon.*
But then, suddenly and unexpectedly, Ryouma wins a match against an overwhelming opponent by playing with his subconscious, and superpowered tennis gets introduced into the manga.
*Ladies and gentlemen, Dragon Tennis Ball*
It never stops entertaining you though. Even those characters that you would never expect it from, manage to have matches that keep you on the edge of your seat. You know Seigaku's going to win, but you still are too excited to stop reading.
*WHAT?! THAT DOESN'T MAKE ANY FUCKING SENSE AT ALL, THAT'S LIKE SAYING 'OH YOU KNOW THE PATRIOTS ARE GOING TO WIN THE SUPERBOWL, BUT IT'S STILL EXCITING!' Plus not to mention if Seigaku did actually lose on occasion we would have actualy suspense that 'edge of your seat' factor you were talking about. Oh yeah, I totally was on the edge of my seat when Ryoma was only a point down knowing he was just going to pull out some super saiyin state.*

I can see how the suddenly introduced superpowers can bother some people though. Especially since this manga basically has no story, just tennis, tennis, and some more tennis for a good measure, so not enjoying the matches means not enjoying the manga.
*Two things. 1) That is story, Seigakus rise in the high school tennis world. 2) You know there are fucking ways you can make a manga enjoyable without superpowers, what's that thing called?
Suspense? Caring about characters? Slice of life? A character not being fucking flawless? Nah those things don't exist, you're completely right, the only way to make something like that entertaining is to suddenly make Michael Bay the writer.*
(There are a few non-tennis chapters of comic relief here and there, but even those are all based on competing with each other, fitting the manga's never-ending string of matches.)
*I would like to note that 'comedic' is a generous word for those chapters.*

Though, in my opinion it's not really that hard to accept the superpowers as a part of the manga.
*YES IT FUCKING IS, ESPECIALLY WHEN THERE WAS NO HINTS OR SUPERPOWERS BEFORE HAND. I mean at first it was introduced as this sort of zen state of tennis thing, which I could accept, but then he just turned it on like light bulb, removing all of that element.*
As long as you keep in mind that stuff will get completely crazy by the end, you should be enjoying every match just as much as I did.
*So by this logic Michael Bay is a genius director and Citizen Kane was a pile of crap*

And, personally, I found the explanation for the "Ten'inuhou no Kiwami" to be very heart-warming. People tend to make fun of the moment saying that Ryouma turned into a Super Sayian, and while I do find the comparison to be very amusing, too many people seem to completely miss the message that the last few chapters send and make the finale completely satisfying.
*NO THEY FUCKING DIDN'T, I MEAN FOR FUCKS SAKE HOW MANY TIMES ARE YOU GOING TO MAKE ME FLY INTO ALL CAPS RAGE?! USING THE FUCKING EXSCUSE TENNIS IS FUN WHEN YOUR PROTAGONIST HAS LOST HIS SIGHT, HEARING, AND TOUCH DOESN'T MAKE ANY FUCKING SENSE AND IS NOT HEART WARMING AT ALL. HEART WARMING IS LIKE YOUR BUDDY BEING KILLED ON THE FOOTBALL FIELD BUT YOU KEEP PLAYING OUT OF HIS AND YOURS SHEER PASSION FOR FOOTBALL. THAT, THAT IS FUCKING BULLSHIT DRIVEN INTO HIS HEAD BY HIS DEADBEAT DAD. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention this Gary Stew has a dad who's a reining champion that made him play tennis and had high expectations for him at a young age? Cliche number 57, check. Oh yeah, also, his Dad shipped him off to Japan so Ryoma could live with his grandma, because, you know, at the ripe age of 12 a boy no longer needs his dad to guide him through adolescence. HELLO?!*

The only complaint I have here is that Seigaku played against Hyoutei like three times throughout the manga. There are limits to how much you can squeeze out of the same group of characters having matches against each other.
*No there is not. Especially when it's a tournament between high schoolers. Some players get better. It's called character devolpment and improvement. I hate everyone. I hate everything. None shall survive my wrath. You. Are. Fucking. Stupid.*
The mystery surrounding the opponents of Seigaku was one of the main attractions of the matches for me, you'd never know what trump card a character is hiding up his sleeve.
*Yes, indeed, what bullshit move will they write into the story this time. Let's find out.*
That, though, is just nit-picking,
*No it's not, it's a legitimate complaint.*
the finale is more than exciting enough, regardless of which time Hyoutei was being played against.

-Art.-

There isn't really much to say about the art, everything is drawn clearly and you are never left confused about what the hell is going on.
*She clearly skipped the 'World of Ice' two page spread*
In the beginning those enormous eyes were a bit jarring,
*This, ladies and gentlemen, is called a style, which she clearly does not know about*
but thankfully they shrank pretty fast. And generally, the art gets noticeably better as the manga goes on, resulting in some really memorable double-spreads.
*...IT'S CALLED A FUCKING TWO PAGES SPREAD NOT A DOUBLE SPREAD WHAT THE FLYING FUCK?! *

-Enjoyment.-

One qualm that I often have with manga, even those that are between my all-time favourites,
*Well, that means you weren't bias at all during this review. Good to know. *SARCASM**
is that while those manga are great, they are not consistently great. There are sometimes these moments that make you go "This manga would have been so much better if this chapter/page never existed". Not so with PoT though. I enjoyed every single chapter, every single moment of this manga, up to a 100%.
*What was that about 'comedic' chapters that had no affect on the plot whatsoever? I mean fuck me, chapter varied so far in this manga, it's impossible for me to believe that she says this.*

All in all, Prince of Tennis was an enjoyable and a very satisfying read, I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys shounen sports manga.
*Always end with a good punchline. Read fucking Eyesheild 21. That's all I have left to say.*