Kintarou Tooyama
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Kintarou Tooyama (Tooyama Kintarō) is a fictional character in the Japanese anime/manga Prince of Tennis, otherwise known as Tennis no Oujisama. Kintarou is the youngest member of Shitenhouji, a team that is initially introduced during the Nationals Tournament(OVA).
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[edit] Background
Kintarou is first introduced around the second episode of the OVAs, where he bumps into Horio Junpei, a minor character and brother of Seigaku freshman member Horio Satoshi. Kintarou is headed for the Nationals Tournament in Tokyo, but mistakenly gets off the train at the wrong stop, assuming he was already in Tokyo since Mt. Fuji was already within line of sight. The situation in the anime differs quite a bit from the manga, but the plotline is consistent.
Later on in the manga, it is revealed that Kintarou is a player for Shitenhouji, one of the strongest teams playing in the Nationals Tournament and one of Seigaku's toughest hurdles. He is also shown in the opening song as Ryoma's equal and new rival, and there is also a scene in the manga where Yuushi Oshitari of Hyotei Gakuen talks to his cousin Kenya over the phone, who incidentally is a member of Shitenhouji as well. Kenya boasts Shintenhouji's Kintarou's talents, all the while going up against Yuushi's uncharacteristic boasting about Tokyo's Ryoma Echizen. On one point of view, this implies comparison between the two "gifted" players. On another point of view, this kind of represents a brewing rivalry between the players from the South and the players from the East (Tokyo).
Kintarou seems unnaturally afraid of his captain. He read a manga about monsters with poison claws, and as such, his unbound imagination came up with the peculiar idea of Kuranosuke Shiraishi, captain of Shitenhouji, to have poison claws under the bandages he always wear around his hands and arms. Kintarou is serious about this fear and leashes himself when Kuranosuke exploits this idea while threatening him. This is only done if Kintarou goes over the line, though, or if Kuranosuke wants something done.
Kintarou's open and cheerful personality shows not only when he befriends Junpei, but also when he meets up with Ryoma's friend Sakuno Ryuzaki. After accidentally falling from a tree branch and on her, Kintarou eats some rice balls made by her that had previously fallen to the ground, and then compliments Sakuno on her cooking.
[edit] Story
In the manga, during a conversation between Chitose and Tezuka, Chitose mentions that Kintarou, not Ryoma, is probably the closest person to the activation of Ten'i Muhou no Kiwami, or Pinnacle of Perfection (the last door of Muga no Kyouchi), the ultimate and highest state of self-actualization known to have been achieved by only one person: Nanjiro Echizen. The other two doors are Pinnacle of Hard Work, used by Tezuka, and Pinnacle of Wisdom, used by Chitose.
Even though Shitenhouji lost (Chitose lost in Doubles 1), Kintarou still wants to play Ryoma and therefore the match of Singles 1 has occurred (This Singles 1 match is totally different to other official matches, where they have a match to see who gets the point first).
[edit] Trivia
- Kintarou believes Echizen's name is read "Koshimae" and would constantly call him that (The kanji for Echizen can also be read as Koshimae).
[edit] Actors
- In the Prince of Tennis National OVAs, Kintarou's seiyū (or voice actor) is Yuu Sugimoto.
- For the live-action adaptation film of The Prince of Tennis, actor Wada Masato portrays Kintarou.
