Rokkaku Chuu
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Rokkaku Chuu (市立六角中学校?) is a fictional school that appears on Prince of Tennis, mostly known amongst their rivals for having a freshman captain.
Their manager, an old man of few words who is always called "Oji" on the series, is a racquet manufacturer who creates special wooden racquets for his players, taking into consideration their skills and personality.
Rokkaku has a big playground incorporated into it that is always open to the neighborhood kids. Their tennis courts are right next to this playground, exposing the children to tennis at a very young age so that they can eventually join the tennis team as they enter the school.
After qualifying to the National Championships after making the semifinals in the Kantou regional tournament (where they were defeated by Seigaku), Rokkaku faces the tournament's 'dark horse', Higa Chuu of Okinawa, whose regulars play very dirty. Oji is hospitalized after being hit by a ball intentionally shot by Yuujiro Kai, which infuriates not only the Rokkaku players but also the Seigaku regulars, who are watching and cheering for their friends. Though Rokkaku puts up a good fight, they lose all five games to Higa Chuu and are eliminated (Higa is then eliminated by Seigaku). However, they stay to cheer for Seigaku during Seigaku's quarterfinal match with Hyotei Gakuen.
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[edit] Members
[edit] Kentaro Aoi (Captain)
1st year. Aoi is a cheerful and talkative freshman who doesn't show any signs of arrogance despite being the captain of a national level tennis team at such a young age. He often plays Singles 3.
Oji has trusted Aoi since he was very young, giving him his racquet several years before the manga begins. By using this racquet for many different objectives every day, Aoi developed an impressive control.
Oji's custom racquet for Kentaro is very unorthodox: not only is it shaped hexagonally, the strings are also crossed up in hexagons. This strange combination grants the ball an incredible control, which, combined with Kentaro's natural great ball control, allows Kentaro to have super-human ball control. Aoi uses this ability to always return his opponent's shots to the same spots, disregarding the way the shot is hit, which makes his opponents grow frustrated. He can also use this exceptional control to purposely hit cord balls (balls that hit the net before going inbounds) whenever he wants to.
Kentaro develops a friendly liking towards Ryoma Echizen, feeling linked by the fact they're both freshmen, and is even more talkative and cheerful when talking to him. However, he doesn't exactly receive his talk back from the aloof Ryoma, who has no patience to hear what Aoi has to say, claiming more than once that "Your [Kentarou's] voice is too loud.".
[edit] Kojiro Saeki (Vice-Captain)
3rd year. A very stern and confident player who is a childhood friend of the Fuji brothers, Saeki excels in doubles with his outstanding game reading capabilities. Combined with his incredible motion vision, Saeki is a very fearsome opponent. He is even able to read where an opponent is going to run or hit the ball by watching the contractions of their muscles prior to their action.
Saeki plays Doubles 1 with Marehiko Itsuki when Rokkaku faces Seigaku in the Kantou semifinals, and he faces Eiji Kikumaru and Saeki's old friend, Shusuke Fuji. Although they are initially checked by Saeki's incredible vision and Itsuki's ability to hit sinkers (explained below), Seigaku wins the match when Fuji forces Itsuki to hit cord balls. At the National Competition, Saeki faces Yuushiro Kai in Singles 1. During this match, in which Yuushiro intentionally hits Oji with the tennis ball as punishment for explaining Higa's signature move, the Shukuchihou, Saeki uses his analytical skills to find a way to seal the Shukuchihou and reveal this method to Higa's next opponents, Seigaku.
[edit] Hikaru "David" Amane
2nd year. David stands out of the remaining cast for two reasons: because of his weirdly shaped racquet that has a huge body length and a small head, and because of his trademark puns (complete with a self laughter afterwards) that often involve mixtures of English and Japanese. Even though David insists on shooting as many puns as possible, he himself is the only person to find them funny - and if he says them within his doubles partner Harukaze Kurobane's earshot, he finds himself on the receiving end of a vicious kick to the head. Kurabane usually also scolds him, saying "Not funny, David!"
David also seems to be particularly proud of his long brown hair - he waxes it intensively before each match to the point where it takes a lot of effort and sweat to cause it to change form. When that happens, he ties it up in a ponytail, which is a sign that he is playing seriously.
David uses his above-average racquet length to volley balls that are far away, which makes him a very tough netplayer due to his large range. He also uses his racquet to absorb the strength of his opponent's shots, like Kawamura's Hadoukyuu.
[edit] Harukaze "Bane" Kurobane
3rd year. Very popular amongst the kids that often stand on Rokkaku's playgrounds, Bane plays doubles with David. Even though Bane delivers swift kicks to David's head when he hears one of David's puns, he is rational enough not to let his special move names (also based on puns) distract him.
Like David, Bane's tennis also uses the opponent's power to generate strong shots of his own; however, Bane focuses on the baseline, whereas David plays at the net.
[edit] Marehiko Itsuki
3rd year. Itsuki is a very curious player who never stops asking about everything that happens around him, going to the extreme of chasing him around if he doesn't satisfy his curiosity. Itsuki also has a very oddly shaped nose that produces a steamroller sound whenever he exhales stronger than usual.
In the regionals semifinal match against Seigaku, Itsuki (paired with Kojiro Saeki in Doubles) uses his sinkers (balls without spin) to seal Fuji's Tsubame Gaeshi, a move that utilizes the ball's spin. He is also able to hit balls bouncing very close to the ground, as proved when Fuji hits an imperfect Tsubame Gaeshi that floats just barely above the ground. It is unknown what role he plays in the matches against Higa Chuu.
[edit] Ryo Kisarazu
3rd year. Older twin brother of Atsushi Kisarazu, a player for St. Rudolph Gakuen. Rumors of his very good tennis skills once echoed through Kantou, reaching even Saint Rudolph's manager Hajime Mizuki's ears. However, when Mizuki traveled to Rokkaku to recruit Ryo for his team, he confused the twins and ended up with Atsushi. Although it's mentioned Atsushi improved a lot under Mizuki's guidance, Ryo is still the better player between the twins.
[edit] Satoshi Shudo
Nothing is known about this player, as he is never talked about.
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| Tennis team members: | Ryoma Echizen | Kunimitsu Tezuka | Shuichiro Oishi | Shusuke Fuji | Eiji Kikumaru | Takashi Kawamura | Sadaharu Inui | Takeshi Momoshiro | Kaoru Kaidoh |
| Schools: | Seishun Academy Middle School | Fudomine Middle School | St. Rudolph Gakuen | Yamabuki | Hyotei Gakuen | Midoriyama | Jyosei Shonan | Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku | Rokkaku Chuu |
| Supporting characters: | Sumire Ryuzaki | Nanjiro Echizen | Masashi Arai | Satoshi Horio | Kachiro Kato | Katsuo Mizuno | Sakuno Ryuzaki | Tomoka Osakada |
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| List of Prince of Tennis episodes | Tennis no Ojisama - Futari no Samurai | The Prince of Tennis (film) | The Prince of Tennis Musicals | Takeshi Konomi | |
