BOYS IN THE COURT

The Prince of Tennis is a popular animé I watch almost everyday. This is about a boy named Ryoma Echizen. He is considered as the "Prince of Tennis" in their school. He is a freshman in Seigaku. Small but terrible, he is very good in playing tennis and has beaten almost all of the opponents in his way. But one thing's for sure: Ryoma can't beat his father Nanjiroh, the captain of the Seigaku Tennis Club Tezuka Kunimitsu and "Tennis Prodigy" Fuji Syusuke.

Meet the boys in the club:

First in line is Inui Sadaharu, a third year in Seigaku. Inui is their "data man" or the person collecting data about his opponent. He loves making vegetable juice or health drinks (also called "Penal Tea") which he lets his teammates drink every time they commit a mistake during their practices. He is somewhat a serious type but I also find him hilarious everytime he makes this scary face when he gives the health drinks to his teammates. One of the best players and tennis genuis in Seigaku is another third year student, Fuji Shusuke. He is known as the "Tennis Prodigy". He has very good tactics when competing. I find him handsome, especially with his easy- going attitude. Actually Fuji is a very smiling person even if there are already problems during the match. Fuji likes to drink Inui's health drinks and tend to like them! He even make mistakes in purpose just to try Inui's special health drinks. Ryoma Echizen hasn't really beaten him yet. In one episode, there is mixed club day at his school. On this day, the students are not allowed to play the sport that they are in. For example, the "golden pair", Kikumaru Eiji and Oishi Shuichiro, plays volleyball. Fuji plays curling, which no one else plays. His words are, "No participants; the championship is mine". Vice captain and another best player is Oishi Shuichiro. Another third year student, Oishi is a very good player especially doubles with his partner, Kikumaru Eiji. Oishi is a good friend of Tezuka Kunimitsu. Ryoma doesn't consider him a threat because he was beaten by Ryoma already. Together with Kikumaru Eiji, they form the "Golden Pair" because of their very good partnership and teamwork. Kikumaru Eiji is an "Acrobatic" player in Seigaku Tennis Club. He does so many acrobatic stunts when playing tennis. For example is doing a summersault when receiving the ball. Other than his well known style of acrobatic play, he has his own signature smash move called " Kikumaru Beam ", which is a very high, behind the back smash that is launched either at the corner of the opponents court, or directly at the opponent. Kikumaru treats Ryoma- kun as his younger brother and has a friendly and easy going character like his friend Fuji. Eiji is the only one on the team that refers Ryoma to the name "Occhibi" or "Kiddo" while the others call him "Echizen". Another third year player is, Kawamura Takashi. I think he is a very, I mean very weird attitude everytime he holds a tennis racket and, his personality changes and then he starts speaking in English. I don't really know that much about Kawamura except for his very, very weird attitude as what I have said earlier. His attitude changes too even though he holds either a baseball bat or a flag pole! Well, anyway, after the third year tennis players are the sophomores Kaido Kaoru and Momoshiro Takeshi. Kaido Kauru, a second year in Seigaku has a very good tactic in playing tennis singles. He has already beaten Inui in the first episodes and played doubles with him too. His signature move is the "snake" (also called "The Buggy Whip Shot"), a curving forehand that keeps his opponents running. He later develops the "boomerang snake," which is a shot that swerves out of bounds, around the net pole, and back in bounds. Next in line is Momoshiro Takeshi. As Momoshiro is the closest to a true friend Ryoma Echizen can claim, the two spend much time together eating hamburgers or playing street tennis. Unlike Echizen, who is absolutely clueless as a doubles player, Momoshiro develops an affinity for playing doubles and even masters it, despite expressing a preference for singles. Momoshiro is good at "faking out" his opponents, and can be extremely sly and tricky on the courts. His ability to read the opponent's movements and to observe their viewpoints and expression allow Momoshiro to read his opponent's mind, thus he is able to guess where the ball will go and use shots that will confuse his opponents. He is also known for his "Dunk Smash". This is Momoshiro's signature move to finish off lobs; however, Momoshiro's Dunk Smash is different than normal smashes in that he uses the momentum from running to hit the smash, through perfect timing, by jumping forward, instead of the usual jumping backwards to hit a smash; thus causing Momoshiro's Dunk Smash to be twice more powerful and more effective than a normal smash. Last and the best of all is Captain Tezuka Kunimitsu. Tezuka is serious about everything he does, and he is very strict - one of his trademark phrases is "Do not let your guard down". His special moves include his "zero-shiki drop shot", his "Tezuka Zone", and his "Hyaku Ren Jitoku no Kiwami". A jealous teammate then injured Tezuka's left arm, leading to chronic problems. Tezuka shows a strong interest in Ryoma Echizen, possibly because Echizen reminds him of himself as a first-year. He plays against Echizen full-strength, despite the risk of re-injuring his arm, in order to convince him that he needs to become more than a clone of his father. He hopes that Echizen will succeed him as Seigaku's pillar of support. Youngest in the team, Ryoma Echizen has a very arrogant and quiet character. Ryoma is a new student at Seishun Academy Middle School (Seigaku) which is the school he transferred to from the United States. Although only a freshman, Ryoma's brilliant tennis skills had previously earned him a background of winning four consecutive titles in the American Junior Tennis tournaments – all in a little over a year. Due to his nearly invincible tennis play, at the age of twelve, Ryoma is already labeled as a genius. His amazingly good looks and sometimes cocky attitude has made him highly popular with girls, but he doesn't seem to notice at all. Tennis is his life.
He is an all-round tennis player with many special shots and abilities. One of Ryoma's greatest talents is his ability to learn new techniques at an amazingly fast pace.
Although he is left-handed, his famous Twist Serve is only effective when delivered from the dominant hand of his opponents (ex. he uses his right hand when serving against right handed players and vice versa). He sometimes plays the game with his right hand. This is mainly used as either a handicap for weaker opponents or as a way to test his opponents abilities. In the beginning of the series, Ryoma was not taken seriously by the other students at his school, and especially at Seigaku tennis club. Only after when he beat 2 of Seigaku's regulars did he gain respect with fellow club members. Because of his tennis skills, people are beginning to wonder about the "amazing freshman." Ryoma is a quiet kid, but he always stands up for himself and for others. If this means talking back to an upperclassman, he'll do it. He is not afraid and is always ready to push the limits. Rarely does he get angry or out of control. Much of the time, he is serious, quiet, and untalkative.
sakuno Ryuzaki, Ryoma's best female friend and coach Ryuuzaki's granddaughter, has a big crush on him, but because he is so aloof and she's so shy, he does not recognize her feelings for him and mostly treats her as he treats any other of the freshmen kids who follow and help the team. Ryoma's only goal is to beat his father, Nanjiroh Echizen.