Fudomine Middle School
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Fudomine Middle School (市立不動峰中学校 Fudōmine Chūgakkō?), or Fudomine for short, is a fictional middle school in the popular tennis anime/manga, Prince of Tennis. It's the only public school among those who appear in the series, all the others being private.
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[edit] History
Fudomine Junior High is introduced to the Prince of Tennis series as an unseeded, unknown school, as well as the only public school in the line-up (all the others, Seigaku included, are private academies). Dark rumors surround the tennis team, as the year before the team was forced to withdraw over an "incident involving violence" and before that the team was relatively unremarkable.
Fudomine's unremarkableness in tennis is explained as a result of an unreasonable coach and a lazy set of senior regulars. The freshmen at Fudomine are brutalized severely by the older tennis club members, while the coach ignores the mistreatment. That is until a second year transfer student from the Kyushu region of Japan, Kippei Tachibana, moves to Fudomine. His reason for transferring is at first unknown, but later it is discovered that his move came about after he injured a friend/rival Senri Chitose, when the two had been teammates on the Shishigaku team, at the same time that his father switches jobs.
Tachibana and the abused freshman attempt to rally together and form their own tennis club, but the coach and the other players find this idea absurd and go out of their way to stop this from happening. When the coach allows his older team members to attack Tachibana and the freshman, Tachibana snaps and attacks the coach. As a result, Fudomine is pulled out of the District Tournament that year.
Tachibana and the first year players eventually start up their new tennis club with the goal of making it to the National Tournament in mind. The year Prince of Tennis opens, Fudomine enters the District Tournament and surprises everyone by defeating the Number 2 seed, Kakinoki. In the final match of the tournament, they find themselves pitted against Seigaku, the #1 seed. They lose, but as the runner up they are still allowed to advance to the Prefectural Tournament.
There, they score another key upset in the quarter-finals, this time knocking off Hyoutei Gakuen, who many consider the best team in the Prefecture. However, their victory is somewhat incomplete because Hyotei doesn't use most of their regular players, preferring to hold them back until needed for true challenge. In the semi-finals they play Yamabuki. Prior to the match, four Fudomine players (Tetsu Ishida, Shinji Ibu, Sakurai Masaya and sub-captain Kamio Akira) narrowly miss having a car wreck. They attempt to play, but find themselves far beneath their normal level. When Tachibana finds out what has happened, he withdraws his team from the match and Fudomine takes a forfeit.
As a semi finalist, however, they are able to continue to the Kantou Region Tournament.
In the Kantou Region Quarterfinals they defeat Yamabuki 3-1. In the semi-finals they are matched up against the National Champions of the last two years, Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku. They are utterly defeated in this matchup, but still earn an invite to Nationals by finishing in the semi-finals. They also play the runner up match against Rokkaku Chuu, and win, giving them a third place finish.
Prior to the Nationals, Tachibana bleaches his hair, as he had when he was Shishigaku's ace. After a practice match with Seigaku's Fuji, Tachibana reawakens, and is prepared to lead his team to the Nationals.
At the Nationals, Fudomine starts out strong, with a win over Echigo Hira Daini in the first round. In Round 2, they face Maki no Fuji Gakuin, the previous year's National Runner-up. Despite Maki no Fuji's track record, Fudomine once again easily cruises to victory. A single loss in Doubles (presumably from Uchimura and Mori) is all they suffer.
However, in the Quarterfinals, they come up against the previous year semi-finalist, Shitenhouji. Although Shitenhouji lost in the semi-finals, they allegedly gave Rikkaidai a tougher match then in the finals. In Singles 3, Shinji loses to the teams Rookie Ace, Tooyama Kintaro, by forfeit, not even able to finish a single game.
Kamio and Ishida team up in doubles, but their opponents are Gin Ishida (the elder brother to Tetsu), and Kenya Oshitari, a speedster faster than Kamio. Although Kamio and Ishida force their opponents to remove the weights they wear, they're also forced to forfeit, although they last 4 games.
Tachibana and Chitose get the rematch they desired in Singles 2. Chitose defeats Tachibana, although it is indicated that Tachibana may have been the better player. He allows himself to be hit in the eye to make up for the injury he had given Chitose, and it is also mentioned that he never hit to the side of Chitose that he injured him on.
Although Fudomine is eliminated, they accomplished their dream of reaching the Nationals, defying all odds by going from an unseeded team in the District Regionals to one of the top teams in the Nation.
Additionally, because 6 of their 7 players are only in their second year, they will be a force to be reckoned with the following year, since most schools will only retain 2 or 3 of their regulars, and some such as Rikkaidai only have one who can return.
[edit] Roster
[edit] Kippei Tachibana
(橘 桔平 Tachibana Kippei?)
- 3rd year, team Captain, normally plays Singles, formerly the 2nd best player in Kyuushu until the incident with Chitose. He's a close friend of the Seigaku team and so is his younger sister Ann.
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- Notable Accomplishments
- Defeated Shusuke Fuji's Triple Counters in a practice match.
- Special Shots
- Lion Smash: A powerful smash that is similar to the "blur ball" but has far more illusions.
[edit] Akira Kamio
(神尾 アキラ Kamio Akira?)
- 2nd year, team Vice-Captain, normally plays singles or doubles with his long-time friend Shinji Ibu, as well as with Tetsu Ishida. Play style focuses on speed and "rhythm". He looks up to his captain even more than the other team members, and seems to have a crush on Ann, Kippei Tachibana's sister. This is shown in the anime when Ann took Momoshiro on a date, and Kamio argued with him.
- In the manga, prior to the Nationals, Kamio even tried to ask Ann to go to a concert with him.
- Kamio is introduced in the story when Seigaku and Fudomine meet in the finals of the District Tournament. Kamio plays in Singles 3 against Kaido from Seigaku. Although he initially has the match in control using his superior speed, he is spooked after Kaido's fluke Boomerang Snake, and loses the match.
- Kamio and Momoshiro later play an impromptu doubles match against Keigo Atobe and Munehiro Kabaji, in order to keep Atobe from hurting Ann. Kamio also later defeats Kiyosumi Sengoku from Yamabuki Middle School, a nationally ranked player, during the Kanto tournament. At the Nationals, he and Tetsu Ishida play in Doubles against Shitenhoji's pair of Gin Ishida and Kenya Oshitari. Although they fight a long match, they ultimately have to step down.
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- Special Shots
- Sonic Bullet: An extremely high speed shot which disappears, the shot is said to be faster than the speed of sound as said by Inui, achievable when Kamio executes a fast slice at his top speed.
- Rhythm: A fast movement that is achieved when Kamio moves his feet at a certain beat. In the anime, Kamio is able to use this to catch up with Momoshiro on a bicycle. This is the source of his catch phrases, "I'm feeling the Rhythm" and "I'm riding the Rhythm". In the anime, he also says "I'm increasing my Rhythm".
[edit] Shinji Ibu
(伊武 深司 Ibu Shinji?)
- 2nd year, normally plays singles, or doubles with his best friend Akira Kamio. At the beginning of the series it is said that Ibu has Tennis sense rivaling Shusuke Fuji. A running gag in the series is the fact that he mumbles and rambles a lot without realizing other people can hear him. There is a bit of awkwardness between Shinji and Ryoma Echizen when Ibu utilise Spot against Ryoma, causing Ryoma's racquet to snap and injure his eye. In one episode Ibu and Ryoma are both shopping for tennis equipment and both want the same grip tape.
- Ibu played No. 2 singles in the beginning of the series but has since been relegated to No. 3 singles in the later tournaments, with Kamio taking his place.
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- Special Shots
- Kick serve: A more contemporary name for the twist serve, the kick serve bounces upward and to the right towards the face after hitting the ground.
- Spot: By continuously alternating between topspin and slice shots, Shinji can cause his opponent's muscles to continuously contract and freeze up for an instant, stopping them from returning a shot.
[edit] Tetsu Ishida
(石田 鉄 Ishida Tetsu?)
- 2nd year, normally plays doubles with Masaya Sakurai or Akira Kamio. Learned the Hadokyuu from his elder brother, Gin, who plays in the Shitenhouji team.
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- Special Shots
- Hadoukyuu: An extremely powerful flat groundstroke that can reach 120% of the user's strength. However, it puts a great strain on the user's arm, and Tachibana forbade Tetsu from using it. Later, Takashi Kawamura decided to use and improve the Hadokyuu, and effectively uses it against Munehiro Kabaji from Hyotei. As the story progressed, Tetsu was able to use the Hadoukyuu without putting strain on his arm. Tachibana then lifted the seal of the Hadoukyuu. Tetsu also helped give Kawamura advice on the Hadoukyuu for Kawamura's match against Gin. The first time this shot was seen, it was so powerful that it sprained Kawamura's wrist and broke Gin's arm and racket strings.
[edit] Masaya Sakurai
(桜井 雅也 Sakurai Masaya?)
- 2nd year, normally plays doubles with Tetsu Ishida. Has a special shot with a heavy topspin.
[edit] Kyousuke Uchimura
(内村 京介 Uchimura Kyōsuke?)
- 2nd year, normally plays doubles with Tatsunori Mori and is nicknamed "The Front Killer".
[edit] Tatsunori Mori
(森 辰徳 Mori Tatsunori?)
- 2nd year, normally plays doubles with Kyousuke Uchimura.
[edit] Other students
[edit] An Tachibana
(橘 杏 Tachibana An?)
- 2nd year, sister of Kippei Tachibana and regular member of the Fudomine's girls tennis team. She is friends with members in Seishun Gakuen's tennis team, specially Momoshiro, Ryoma, Fuji and Sakuno. Kamio appears to have a crush on her, or at the very least a big brother complex, yet An either does not know this or does not acknowledge it.
- Before the Kantou District Tournament, she helped Takeshi Momoshiro cheer up by playing a singles match at the street tennis courts which could also be the basis for romance between them. This is furthered by the fake "love triangle" (Episode 71) that An sets up when she asks Momo out to a "date" and Echizen is dragged along. The group eventually comes upon Kamio and Shinji at the street tennis courts resulting in a long feud between Kamio and Momo over whether it really is a date or not. It ends when An leaves because of a "date" with her older brother, after explaining to Shusuke Fuji that her encounter with Momoshiro wasn't a date; she made that part up to check on him without having him refuse her.
- An also has interaction with Akaya Kirihara of Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku. During the training camp for the summer Goodwill matches, where she has a part-time work as an assistant, An faces Akaya and attempts to warn him about not injuring other players. Akaya snaps back, though, though, and An attempts to hit him for insulting her brother and her team but misses. When Akaya dodges, he misplaces his footing and slips down the steps resulting in some minor but noteworthy injuries; it is suspected Kamio is responsible for Akaya's injuries since Akaya won't say who was the cause and it's known that Kamio has a grudge against him. Ryoma Echizen confronts her later, after deducting she is the culprit when he finds one of her hairclips on the floor, which results in confession of that night's events. In the end, An and Kamio begin to forgive Akaya and seemingly grow closer in terms of relationship.
[edit] V.S.
[edit] Seigaku
D2-Takashi Kawamura/Shusuke Fuji v.s Tetsu Ishida/Masaya Sakurai. Fudomine Wins. 5-3. Seigaku forfeits because of Takashi's hand injury.
D1-Eiji Kikumaru/Shuichiro Oishi v.s Kyousuke Uchimura/Tatsunori Mori. Seigaku Wins. 6-2
S3-Kaoru Kaido v.s Akira Kamio. Seigaku Wins. 7-5
S2-Ryoma Echizen v.s Shinji Ibu. Seigaku Wins. 6-3
[edit] Yamabuki
D2-Inakichi Nitobe/Ichiuma Kita v.s Kyousuke Uchimura/Tatsunori Mori. Fudomine Wins. 6-7
D1-Masami Higashikata/Kentarou Minami v.s Tetsu Ishida/Masaya Sakurai. Yamabuki Wins. 6-4
S3-Tsubasa Nishikiori v.s Shinji Ibu. Fudomine Wins. 1-6
S2-Kiyosumi Sengoku v.s Akira Kamio. Fudomine Wins. 6-7
[edit] Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku
D2-Genichirou Sanada/Renji Yanagi v.s Akira Kamio/Shinji Ibu. Rikkai Wins. 6-0
D1-Hiroshi Yagyuu/Jackal Kuwahara v.s Tetsu Ishida/Masaya Sakurai. Rikkai Wins. 6-0
S3-Akaya Kirihara v.s Kippei Tachibana. Rikkai Wins. 6-1
[edit] Shitenhōji
S3-Kintarō Tooyama v.s Shinji Ibu. Shitenhōji Wins. 4-0. Fudomine forfeits because of Shinji's hand injury due to the power of Kintaro.
D2-Gin Ishida/Kenya Oshitari v.s Akira Kamio/Tetsu Ishida. Shitenhōji Wins. 4-0. Fudomine forfeits because Kamio and Tetsu are injured and lost stamina.
S2-Senri Chitose v.s Kippei Tachibana. Shitenhōji Wins. 7-5
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