Thursday, April 12, 2007 ++



All 178 episodes plus the chibi specials of Prince of Tennis... DONE! All in a span of a four days. I started last Tuesday and ended on the Sunday of the same week but I didn't watch any on Friday and Saturday. I deserve a hundred pats on the back for a pace of more or less forty episodes a day. I spent a productive break, yes? Anyway, let me rave about Prince of Tennis. I will be brief though. I need only emphasize four main points.


TEZUKA! The insanely cautious captain of Seigaku is the tennis god of this series. Everybody and I mean, everybody looks up to him. Seigaku regulars, sports journalists, onlookers, even his opponents. Despite a broken elbow that unfailingly hinders him from displaying his true potential, he was able to amass such a reputation. He had to go to Germany to fix his ailment and so everyone had to endure a tremendous wait for his return. Seriously, it was like the Jews waiting for their Messiah to appear. He did go back, at one point, to act as coach for the Invitational Camp when Ryuzaki fell sick. Naturally, some of the members doubted his skill as coach since he is only a junior high school student. In order to prove otherwise, he was forced to have a match with all the doubting Peters in his team. Oishi tried to insist on stopping the match because his elbow has not yet fully healed at that time. However, Tezuka told him that the doctor allowed him to have matches if he only returned balls with light swings. You could imagine how indignant his opponent was. He was invited as a player for the camp. How could Tezuka possibly win against him if he kept using light swings? Of course, Tezuka proved everybody wrong in the end. All the non-believers gave up on their match the moment Tezuka scored a point.

Tezuka is the only one who could motivate the aces of Rikkaidai and Hyotei to battle it out just to prove who is his rightful rival. Can you imagine inventing new techniques, developing your stamina, swinging your racket a hundred times, running ten or more laps, and having practice matches daily just so you could reserve the right to fight with someone else?

And who else but a deity could induce Sanada to sing Wonderful Days, a boyband song, in front of an audience in a welcome back party, and Atobe to oblige a request that required him to lower his overbearing ego to train a regular which defeated his team? Nobody else but our bespectacled straight-faced green-haired Seigaku captain. The real pillar of support, in my opinion.

Somebody build a monument for this guy.


FUJI-baby! The most adorable tennis prodigy ever to be created in the two dimensional realm. The man of smiles and calm exterior. The man who rarely shows weightiness and true potential yet manages to win. The man able to withstand the toxicity of Inui juice. The man angered by threats to his friends and family, most especially to his younger brother, Yuuta. The man who looks stunning in a red dress and hat. My description for Fuji might comparatively short but thats because Fuji-baby is just too cute for words.

If you are a close friend of mine, you should have seen this coming... TEZUKA/FUJI! It's incredibly blatant! From the very first time I watched Prince of Tennis, I knew this pairing existed and would blossom into one of those which I would include to my to-die-for-pairings list. They are so suited for each other, the tennis prodigy and the tennis god. I loved their showdown! I had to call Niki up so I could obsess with her. Lots of pretty flashbacks showcasing their alone moments in the locker room, on their way home, and in the tennis court.

Fuji actually got mad at Tezuka in their first year when he agreed on having a match with him when he knew his wrist was injured. Tezuka even apologized to Fuji for his behavior. Allow me to repeat that. Tezuka apologized to Fuji. That was the only instance you will see Tezuka saying sorry to anyone. In turn, it was only Tezuka who was able to bring out the Fuji's full potential in a tennis game. That is true love. Oh, and hello? Fuji was the first person Tezuka told his decision to go to Germany to. See, they exemplified the rule that couples should tell everything to their better half.


The chibi episodes were so precious to me. The cowboy one was a gift from heaven. Fuji in a fluffy red dress, and Tezuka with his Matrix maneuvers. They were like Bonnie and Clyde. Fuji, the Gunman's accomplice, came to be rescued by Tezuka, the sought for Gunman. The Tenpuri one was also adorable. Tezuka as grandfather and Fuji as grandmother. Fuji actually called Tezuka "sweetheart" there! So endearing.

Did you notice the airplane flying around during Fuji and Kirihara's fight? It was like a hint in a bright blinking yellow lights screaming "Tezuka is my source of inspiration and strength! He is what keeps me going on despite my knee injury!" Tachibana, you flirt! You are nothing more than a fling! Know your place! You can never surpass the god and lover that is Tezuka!

Finally, the ENDING SUCKS. I was so frustrated after watching the final episode. It even dampened my good mood after watching the Fuji vs. Tezuka fight. See how evil it is? It was completely obvious that Ryoma only beat Tezuka because he was the lead character. They didn't even show the details of the game! I mean, usually, a match would span two or three episodes because they would show how shots would defeat techniques which would cause a player to grasp triumph in a game. But in that fight, Ryoma just kept on delivering the ball. They barely showed Tezuka receiving them. This leads to a very sound conclusion. It is NOT possible for Tezuka to lose. Animators could not find a logical way for Ryoma to defeat Tezuka but they had to let him win because producers say that's how the ending is supposed to be. So they came up with a crappy episode which showed Ryoma's victory without any explanation on how it occurred.

Did I say I was going to be brief?
3:12 AM

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