I will give my review here as a whole for my review to the national tournament arc
So the most arrogant and show-off sports protagonist returns together with his teammates to play in the most awaited tournament that they’ve been waiting for; the national tournament. The drama is even more far-fetched and can be extremely over-the-top; players are on the verge of dying just by PLAYING tennis, losing memories before an important game, bloods are spilling everywhere. I mean come on! I almost forgot that I am still watching a tennis story particularly, the finals arc. I completely understand that it’s going for a more dramatic, theatrical and cooler approach as it is after all the ENDING. However, there’s also the concept of TOO MUCH and being incredibly over done. Somewhere along the way, it becomes absolutely far-fetched. I notice that the comedy part really improves. It is no longer far-fetched and can be genuinely funny. And if there are several exaggerated moves and techniques from before, this time they even added stances with supposedly amazing auras which are extremely exaggerated.
Of course, as it is a new chapter it is given that there’s an arrival of new characters. As always, the opponents are arrogant as ever. And if last time there is quite a few nasty opponents, this time some are even nastier and barbaric because they would even resort to hitting couches and elderly people. Well, when opponents are like that it feels even greater when they are amazingly defeated. There are also character developments for not only the main characters but for recurring characters as well. Characters are more expressive this time particularly the ones with poker faces like Tezuka. Some opponents are a lot stronger now as we see some of powerful characters gets beaten or really push to the limit.
I believe the most noticeable improvement is the animation. As always, this series loves exaggerated moves and very fictional techniques during matches. And if in the last season it was made so over the top, this time it improves quite a bit. It is a little bit cleaner now. It looks better and cooler. It’s not that far-fetched compared from the previous season. It might still be exaggerated but at least it is done a little better this time. The improvement of the character design is also very noticeable.
It is true that as always there are countless exaggerated elements in the series. You could even say that it is even more this time. But I guess that just how the series is. I myself may not like that part of the series but I believe it is quite effective for some. And I enjoyed it more compared to the previous one.