List of The Prince of Tennis characters

The Prince of Tennis manga and anime series has a large cast of fictional characters created by Takeshi Konomi; many have appeared in the musical and film adaptations. The cast of the series is largely made up of the members of the various tennis teams for the schools portrayed in the series, their coaches, and various family members and supporters.

The main character of the series is Ryoma Echizen, a 12-year-old tennis prodigy who joins the Seishun Academy tennis team. The main cast is rounded out with the other eight regular players for Seishun, all of whom have various special abilities at playing tennis. Beyond them, there are many rival schools whose players reappear during the course of the series.

Protagonists

The protagonists of the series all attend Seishun Academy (青春学園 Seishun Gakuen), or Seigaku (青学) for short. The school is famous for its talented tennis club in which the series' leading protagonist, Ryoma Echizen, is enrolled into the school by his father, Nanjiro Echizen, a former professional tennis player and Seigaku alumn. Although Seigaku has long been known for its tennis club, the void created by Nanjiro's departure years earlier throws the team into somewhat of a slump, leaving them unable to make it to Nationals over the next several years until a first year, Tezuka, joins the team. The story picks up two years later with Tezuka now a third year. The team slowly reforms, and Seigaku pulls off its first National victory with Ryoma's addition to the team.

Ryoma Echizen

Ryoma Echizen (越前 リョーマ Echizen Ryōma)
Ryoma is the series protagonist and the only first year on the Seigaku tennis team. His play style is all rounder, and his signature serve is the "Twist serve", a variation on the standard topspin serve where the ball is hit with a combination of both topspin and sidespin, allowing the ball to bounce high and curve toward the receiver's face. His arsenal of skills also include the Drive A, B, C, and D, the Cool Drive, the Samurai Drive, and Cyclone Smash. His strengths include his ability to analyze his opponents' abilities during the match and adapt his own play accordingly to take advantage of their weaknesses. He is left-handed, but he often starts matches playing right-handed. Though often playing Singles 2 or 3, he begins to take Singles 1 by the end of the Kantou tournament, with the fate of the team's overall success riding on his game; the pressure often seems to be helpful towards his performance, bringing out the best in him — depending on the skill level of the opponent. His bored and cocky demeanor masks his underlying affection and respect for his teammates, especially his close friend Momoshiro and team captain Tezuka. In New Prince of Tennis, all of middle schoolers are shown to have developed great respect for Ryoma to the point where even some of the high schoolers at the U-17 camp find him impressive. However, Ryoma ultimately ends up getting kicked out of the U-17 camp after interfering with a match to protect a friend.
In the Prince of Tennis live-action movie, Ryoma was played by Kanata Hongo. In the musicals, Echizen has been portrayed by actors Kotaro Yanagi (2003-2006), Yuya Endo (2004-2005), Dori Sakurada (2006-2007), Shogo Sakamoto (2007-2009), Ryuki Takahashi (2008-2010), Yuuki Ogoe (2010-2014), and currently Kazuki Furuta (2015-Present).

Kunimitsu Tezuka

Kunimitsu Tezuka (手塚 国光 Tezuka Kunimitsu)
Tezuka is the national-level captain of the Seigaku tennis team. Like Ryoma, he is an all-rounder, and his special shots include the "Tezuka Zone", which uses his exceptional racket control to put spin on the ball to allow all shots to return to Tezuka no matter where the opponent tries to hit, and the "Zero-Shiki (Degree) Drop Shot", which is a drop shot with a heavy backspin that can make the ball roll towards the net rather than bouncing towards the opposing player. He was later able to adapt his Drop Shot into a serve.
Tezuka is noted for being rather distant during practices and never smiling. However, he truly cares about his team and always tries to help them improve. At the nationals match against Sanada of Rikkaidai, Tezuka uses another special technique called "Tezuka Phantom", but the side effect injures his left arm.
At the end of Shin Prince of Tennis Chapter 37, Tezuka is noted to have unlock the last door of Muga No Kyouchi and has stepped off the training camp to become a Pro in Germany.
In The Prince of Tennis Musicals, Tezuka has been portrayed by actors Eiji Takigawa (2003–2005), Kengo Ohkuchi, who stood as Tezuka in the place of Eiji Takigawa in the More Than Limit St. Rudolph Gakuen musical, Yuu Shirota (2005–2006), Keisuke Minami (2006-2007), Daisuke Watanabe (2007-2009), Baba Ryoma (2008–2010), Takuma Wada (2010-2012), Hideya Tawada (2012-2014), and Takuma Zaiki (2015-Present).

Shusuke Fuji

Syusuke Fuji (不二 周助 Fuji Shūsuke)

Fuji is a third year student at Seishun Academy. The middle child of three, he has an older sister, Yumiko, who is very attractive and admired by his friends; his younger brother is Yuta, who was a student at Seigaku, but transferred to St. Rudolph. Fuji is a leap year baby, only getting to properly celebrate his birthday on February 29. He is given the title "tensai", or genius, due to his tactical skill on the tennis court.

He is generally very relaxed and in control, whilst his opponent is pushing himself to the limit, giving many the impression that Fuji is either a genius who knows how to save his energy during play, or that he does not really care about tennis itself. There are a few people that can "wake" the true player in Fuji and force him to play seriously, and these few are either nationally-ranked or extremely talented tennis players. Seigaku teammates Kunimitsu Tezuka and Ryoma Echizen, Shitenhōji captain Kuranosuke Shiraishi, Hyotei Gakuen Chuto Bu regular Yushi Oshitari and Rikkaidai Fuzoku regular Akaya Kirihara have been acknowledged by Fuji to be actual challenges.

Fuji's most famous moves are known as the Triple Counters: Higuma Ootoshi ("Bear Drop") for returning smashes; Tsubame Gaeshi ("Swallow Return") which runs on the ground without bouncing; and Hakugei ("White Whale"), a shot that uses the wind to hop straight into the air and return to Fuji on the bounce. In the nationals, he creates evolved versions of his Triple Counters, and he even creates three more original counters. In addition, Fuji sometimes uses an underhand serve that seems to disappear when the opponent is about to hit it.

Fuji usually takes the position of Singles 2 although he sometimes pairs with Takashi Kawamura or Eiji Kikumaru in Doubles (with Kikumaru, they are called the "Dream Pair"). He and Ryoma Echizen temporarily take turns for the position of Singles 1 when captain Kunimitsu Tezuka is in rehabilitation.

In the anime, Fuji is one of three Seigaku players to earn a spot (along with Kikumaru and Echizen) when all the tennis teams of Japan competed for a spot in the roster to play America in the Goodwill games. He played Singles 2 against Arnold Ignashov.

Fuji is often seen with a calm and content expression on his face with his eyes seemingly closed from lightly smiling. When he is excited or provoked or when playing seriously, Fuji reveals his sharp eyes: light brown in the manga and blue in the anime.

Fuji enjoys a good relationship with his teammates, especially classmate Eiji Kikumaru. Fuji is also one of few Seigaku Regulars who is genuinely close to Kunimitsu Tezuka, the captain of the tennis club. As such, he and Tezuka are often seen together.

Fuji is particularly protective of his younger brother Yuta as displayed throughout the series; he actively tries to "destroy" and punish those who have defeated or harmed his younger brother.

Although not completely obvious, Fuji seems to have a very strong sense of justice. If another player is unfairly injured or sacrifices a lot just to lose, Fuji seems to always avenge them and give them a chance. For example, Takashi Kawamura, his teammate, goes as far as to use the one-handed Hadoukyu continuously to the point of bleeding against Hyotei's Munehiro Kabaji, yet he did not win the match because neither side could continue. Fuji asks to use Kawamura's racket in his match and goes all out from the beginning. Another example is when Fuji visits Fudomine's Tachibana in the hospital after he'd been injured in Fudomine's match against Rikkaidai where Akaya Kirihara purposefully injured his leg. Fuji then asks to have his grip tape, because he feels it was unfair. In manga, it was Ryoma who was injured during an outside match against Kirihara.

Fuji plays the grandmother in the Tenipuri Family episodes. Tezuka is her husband. Inui is the son in-law; Oishi is the daughter; Ryoma Echizen, Kaoru Kaidoh, and Takeshi Momoshiro (Momoko) are the grandchildren and Eiji is the pet cat. And all are friends with Kawamura who owns a local sushi restaurant and is seen frequently delivering sushi around town with a tennis racket.

Fuji is one of the few male characters in the anime who is voiced by a female voice actor, others being Ryoma Echizen, Kintarou Tooyama of Shitenhouji, Taichi Dan of Yamabuki, Youhei and Kouhei Tanaka of Jyosei Shonan (the latter two being anime only characters), and Seiichi Yukimura of Rikkaidai Fuzoku. However, Ryoma, Kintarō and Taichi are first years, thus younger and more naturally voiced by a voice actress. Despite Fuji and Yukimura being third years, they are also voiced by voice actresses.

In the anime series, Fuji's voice actress is Yuki Kaida who also voices Fuji's sister, Yumiko.

For the live-action adaptation film of The Prince of Tennis, Tenimyu actor Hiroki Aiba portrays Fuji.

In The Prince of Tennis Musicals, Fuji has been portrayed by actors Kimeru (2003–2005), Takashi Nagayama, who stood in during Remarkable 1st Match Fudomine due to a cast change, Hiroki Aiba (2005–2007, 2008), Yuuta Furukawa (2007–2009), Hashimoto Taito (2008–2010), Ryou Mitsuya (2010–2012), Yusuke Yata (2012-2014), and Yuuki Kamisato (2015-Present).

Shuichiro Oishi

Shuichiro Oishi (大石 秀一郎 Ōishi Shūichirō) is the vice-captain of the club. Oishi and Kikumaru Eiji make up Seigaku's national level doubles team, known as the "Golden Pair". Oishi is known as the 'Mother Hen of Seigaku', because he constantly worries and frets for the team's well-being. He remains calm and rational in a match, allowing him to form strategies quickly. He uses the Moon Volley, a topspin lob that travels very high over the court and lands just in bounds. He can also use the "Drop Volley", a feint hit with the power of a drop shot, making the trajectory much closer to the net. He is voiced by Takayuki Kondou in Japanese media, voiced by Sam Riegel in English media, and portrayed by Hiroki Suzuki in the live action film.

He and Eiji often use the "Australian Formation", where they stand directly on the center line to confuse the opponents as to which way each player will move when the ball is placed into the opposing court. The "I-Formation" is a variation where Eiji stays below the net and Oishi serves the ball down the center. They also develop "Oishi Territory", which has Oishi focus on the net while Eiji stays in the back. It takes advantage of Oishi's ability to control the flow of the game and Eiji's Seal Step. They later develop the "Synchronization" ability, which lets them play and move as if they are one person.

Oishi plays the mother in the tenipuri episodes. Inui is her husband; Ryoma Echizen, Kaoru Kaidoh, and Takeshi Momoshiro (Momoko) are her children.

In New Prince of Tennis, Oishi earns the No. 16 badge from the U-17 first string.

In the Prince of Tennis Musicals, Oishi has been portrayed by Yuichi Tsuchiya (2003-2005), Hiroki Suzuki (2005-2006), Yukihiro Takiguchi (2006-2007), Yuya Toyoda (2007-2009), Yuki Tsujimoto (2008-2010), Jin Hiramaki (2010–2012), Ikkei Yamamoto (2012–2014) and Shun Ishida (2015-Present).

Eiji Kikumaru

Eiji Kikumaru (菊丸 英二 Kikumaru Eiji) is part of Seigaku's "Golden Pair" along with Oishi. Even so, he sometimes does doubles with Fuji and they are then called the "Dream Pair". Eiji uses "Acrobatic Play" which takes advantage of his flexible body. Eiji is also known to have the sharpest vision on the team with an exceptional talent for seeing moving objects. His main weakness is his lack of stamina which he finally overcomes through hard work and training later in the series. Though the Golden Pair seldom play without each other, certain circumstances, such as their temporary breakup when Oishi gives his spot to Ryoma, forces him to play in singles. Eiji is a friendly, sweet-tempered, and outgoing character and the youngest of a large family. He is voiced by Hiroki Takahashi in Japanese media, voiced by Steve Staley in English media, and portrayed by Osamu Adachi in the live-action film.

Eiji's flexible body allows him to reach balls with a touch of flair that few can replicate. His dives and flips often astonish the spectators and often gets grudging praise from his opponents helping Eiji focus. He focuses on the net with his "Kikumaru Beam", a sharp volley that is hit with his hand reaching around his back, and his "Kikumaru Bazooka", a smash hit upsidedown. While playing doubles, Eiji follows the lead of Oishi. The two rely on and know each other thoroughly, which allows them to predict each other's moves without any signals. They further develop this by achieving "Synchronization", letting them act together as if they were only one person. He can also play well in singles by using his "Seal Step", which uses his speed to move from one location to a new one the moment the opponents eyes leave his first location. This gives the opponent the impression that there are two of him for a doppelganger type effect, though the anime gives him the ability to hug and high five his after image, making it slightly unrealistic.

Eiji's favorite color is red; he enjoys brushing his teeth, wandering around pet shops, omelette rice, fried shrimp, and shaved ice. He was born November 28 at 6:28 am and is a Sagittarius. He has grandparents, a mother, a father, two older sisters, and two older brothers, and therefore is the youngest of a very large family, something that gives him attributes of being fun-loving and easy-going. His father is a news reporter. His favorite subject is Japanese history. He has declared that he might want to become a stunt double in the future with Oishi being his personal trainer, doctor, and still best friend. His favorite date spot is the amusement park; he loves anime/fantasy, idol magazines, and JPOP. He also looks for someone who is cheerful and someone whom he can share a laugh with in a friend. He most wants a new knitted hat. Outside of tennis, he excels in fly swatting, bug collecting, cooking, and can often be found in the gymnasium when not at the tennis courts.

In the Tenipuri Family episodes, Eiji plays the family's pet, a pink cat named Kikumaru.

In the musicals, Eiji has been portrayed by Ichitaro Yamazaki (2003-2004), Takashi Nagayama (2003-2005), Osamu Adachi (2005-2006), Koji Seto (2006-2007), Kyousuke Hamao (2007-2009), Shouta Takasaki (2008-2010), Yuta Koseki (2010–2012), Mario Kuroba (2012–2014), and Reo Honda (2015-Present).

Takashi Kawamura

Takashi Kawamura (河村 隆 Kawamura Takashi) has a shy personality without his tennis racket, but he becomes extremely aggressive and loud once he holds a tennis racket, referred to as Burning Mode. He often shouts various English words like "Burning!", "Great!", "Come on, baby!", "Shocking!", "Victory!", and "Delicious!" while in Burning Mode. During his first year, he had a lot of power, but lacked control to the point where most of his shots were outside the court fences. He was made fun of by his peers, but his close friends stayed by him and helped him develop his control. During his third year, he became a regular and eventually meets his goal of becoming the number one power player in Japan by beating Gin Ishida. He plans to quit playing tennis after the tournament and focus on working as a sushi chef under his father with the goal of being number one in the future. He is voiced by Naru Kawamoto in Japanese media, Richard Cansino in English media, and portrayed by Yoshikazu Kotani in The Prince of Tennis live-action film.

Kawamura mainly relies on the Hadoukyuu (ハドウキュウ), a very powerful maneuver that uses 120% of an arm's strength, but puts a lot of strain on his arm. He copies it from Fudomine's Tetsu Ishida, who learned it from his brother, Gin. Kawamura lowers the risk of the shot by using a Two-Handed Hadoukyuu (両手ハドウキュウ), which decreases the power. He can use either while jumping to make the Jump Hadoukyuu (ジャンプ　ハドウキュウ), which is hard to return. He later develops the Dash Hadoukyuu (ダッシュ　ハドウキュウ), which is a regular Hadoukyuu performed during an extremely fast dash. It strengthens the shot by focusing all the momentum on the wrist, but it can break the wrist if overused. During his match against Gin, he develops a "Final Hadoukyuu" that, because he accidentally hit with racket frame instead of the gut, the ball vibrates, and thus has power far exceeding Gin's strongest Hadoukyuu, breaking the latter's wrist.

He also reappears as a candidate in the U-17 selection camp, where he loses to Jin Akutsu, but comes back to take the No. 12 position in the first string.

In the musicals, Kawamura has been portrayed by Yoshitsugu Abe (2003-2005), Eiki Kitamura, who stood in for Abe in the More than St. Rudolph Gakuen Musical, Yoshikazu Kotani (2005-2006), Kouji Watanabe (2006-2007), Hiroaki Ogasawara (2007-2009)(eventually replaced by Gong Teyu), Ikkou Chou (2008-2010), Sora Yaguchi (previously known as Tomohiro Tsurumi) (2010–2012), Shohei (2012-2014), and Kodai Takikawa (2015-Present).

Sadaharu Inui

Sadaharu Inui (乾 貞治 Inui Sadaharu) is a highly intelligent player, who uses Data Tennis. He constantly collects and analyzes data of other players in order to determine weaknesses and habits. While he collects data pertaining to tennis, he also collects personal pieces of data, such as favorite things, personal habits, and where they have been, which makes others feel awkward. His style originates from his close friend, Renji of Rikkai, who played doubles with Inui before moving. He is temporarily removed from the regulars after losing to Ryoma and Kaidoh, and he becomes the team manager. He uses his data to create exercise programs for the team and creates a series of disgusting "Inui Juice" health drinks that are able to knock a person out, which motivates the team to train. He is voiced by Kenjirō Tsuda in Japanese media Erik Davies in English media, and portrayed by Hirofumi Araki in The Prince of Tennis live-action film.

Inui's data tennis allows him to predict the probability of a shot taking place although other factors can disrupt the probability. Though he relies on data, he still trains excessively to keep up with his teammates, taking on a training load 2.25 times more than Kaidoh's, which is already far ahead of the rest of the team. This allows him to reclaim his spot as a regular by beating Momoshiro, but losing to Tezuka. He pairs with Kaidoh in doubles to help Kaidoh train, and Kaidoh's massive amount of stamina is used to let him play alone while Inui rests and gathers data. The style does not work against Ryoma, who constantly evolves throughout each match, and he finds it difficult to collect data from players who do not play at their full potential, such as Tezuka and Fuji. He develops two extremely fast serves that are among the fastest in the Japanese tournaments. The Sonic Serve is developed first, which is trained with wrist weights, and the Waterfall Serve, its arc and descent resembling that of a waterfall engulfing the opponent, is developed afterward. His eyes are hidden behind his glasses throughout the series and only appears at the end of chapter 211.

In the musicals, Inui has been portrayed by Sota Aoyama (2003-2005), Hirofumi Araki (2005-2006), Masei Nakayama (2006-2007), Yuuta Takahashi (2007-2009), Yusuke Arai (2008-2010), Teruma (2010–2012), Seiya Inagaki (2012–2014), and Ryosei Tanaka (2015-Present).

Takeshi Momoshiro

Takeshi Momoshiro (桃城 武 Momoshiro Takeshi) is known as Seigaku’s "number one rascal." As the player who is the most open and friendly with everyone, Momoshiro is connected to everyone on the team on some level. Momoshiro is the closest to a true friend Ryoma Echizen can claim; the two spend much time together eating hamburgers or playing street tennis. Momoshiro and Kaidoh Kaoru are eternal rivals, and constantly try to out-do each other. This makes them efficient as a doubles pair, because the two rivals know each other so well. Momoshiro develops an affinity for playing doubles and even masters it, despite expressing a preference for singles. He loses his position as a regular after losing to Inui in the ranking matches. When Oishi injures his wrist before the match against Hyotei, Momoshiro takes his place to form a makeshift Golden Pair with Kikumaru. After that, he keeps his regular spot when Tezuka leaves for rehabiliation. After the nationals, he becomes the Vice-captain of Seigaku. He is voiced by Masaya Onosaka in Japanese media, voiced by Doug Erholtz in English media, and portrayed by Masaki Kaji in The Prince of Tennis live-action film.

Momoshiro's signature move is the Dunk Smash, a very powerful response to lobs as he leaps several feet into the air, which he likes to finish off saying, "Don," upon landing. He often fakes out opponents with a Dunk Volley. He later develops the Jack Knife, a strong backhand shot that is usually only used by professionals. In the anime, he develops the Super Dunk, a Dunk Smash that spins for a long time on the court before bouncing, thus confusing the opponent as to when it will bounce up. 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 allows Momoshiro to guess where the ball will go and use shots that will confuse his opponents. He later improves upon this ability while training in the mountains, which allows him to be related with nature, and use it to his advantage, such as the position of the sun to blind the opponent, the direction of the wind to manipulate the ball, and stray stones to deflect serves.

In New Prince of Tennis, his wrists suffer severe damage after being on the receiving end of a Black Jack Knife, which has twice the spin and power of his regular Jack Knife. However, he later learns the Black Jack Knife himself, and uses it to take the No. 19 position on the U-17 first string.

In the musicals, Momoshiro has been portrayed by Eiji Moriyama (2003-2005), Masaki Kaji (2005-2006), Shinpei Takagi (2006-2007), Tetsuya Makita (2007-2009), Toshihiro Nobuyama (2008-2010), Toru Kamitsuru (2010–2012), Masyu Ishiwatari (2012–2014), and Shuto Mashima (2015-Present).

Kaoru Kaido

Kaoru Kaido (海堂 薫 Kaidō Kaoru) (sometimes spelled Kaidou) is known as "Viper" to his teammates for constantly making a "fshuuuu" sound similar to a snake while exhaling. Kaidoh trains rigorously, increasing the training program given to him by Inui to give him an abnormally high stamina. He has a deep rivalry with Momoshiro, in which they constantly try to beat each other. Because they are rivals, they also know each other the best, and they can get along very well in times of need; this makes them an efficient doubles pair. He normally plays singles, though he eventually pairs with Inui, who helps Kaidoh train and develop new techniques. Kaidoh's stamina is used to let him play the other team alone, while Inui collects data. After the national tournament, Kaidoh becomes the new captain of Seigaku. He is voiced by Kōhei Kiyasu in Japanese media, voiced by David Lodge in English media, and portrayed by Kousuke Kujirai in the live-action The Prince of Tennis film.

His signature move is the Snake Shot, derived from the "Buggy Whip Shot", which is a curving forehand that keeps his opponents running. He later develops the Boomerang Snake, where the ball swerves around the net pole back in bounds. He develops the shot under Inui's advice and by working with him in doubles. He also develops the Short Snake, which goes directly behind the net player, the Reverse Snake, which is used to keep opponents guessing, and the Tornado Snake, which is a fast straight shot with a spin that cuts air resistance. He can also use Hiroshi Yagyuu's "Laser Beam", calling his version the Gyro Laser, which is an extremely fast shot with the same spin as the Tornado Snake, allowing him to confuse opponents. He also develops the Hadoukyuu Boomerang in the anime, which is developed from the Hadoukyuu that has much more strength behind a regular Boomerang shot.

Although he has a tough exterior and is cold towards others, there is a softer side to Kaidoh. Unknown to many, Kaidou enjoys playing with small animals. He is often seen playing (or at least trying to play) with Ryoma's cat, Karupin, who wanders off on his own most of the time. Koharu (somehow) notes that Kaido was often mistaken for a girl back in Kindergarten and was sometimes forced to wear a skirt (crying a lot as a result), implying that Kaido's tough demeanor is merely a front to hide his insecurities. This hidden vulnerability often puts Kaidou in many comedic situations as he tends to take himself way too seriously compared to his peers.

In the various TeniPuri Family episodes, Kaidoh is the young infant. Not being able to speak, he mainly just says "fssshhuuuu". Shuuko (Oishi) introduced infant – Kaidoh as "cutie-pie, Kaoru-chan". He is often bullied in some sorts by his older siblings, Ryoma and Momoko (Momoshiro).

In the musicals, Kaidoh has been portrayed by Naoya Gomoto (2003-2005), Kousuke Kujirai (2005-2006), Tomo Yanagishita (2006-2008), Yuuichirou Hirata (2007-2009), Akihiro Hayashi (2008-2010), Ryousuke Ikeoka (2010–2012), Tatsunari Kimura (2012–2014), and Hiroki Sana (2015-Present).

Sumire Ryuzaki

Sumire Ryuzaki (竜崎 スミレ Ryūzaki Sumire) is the coach of Seigaku's tennis club and one of the school's math teachers. She helped Nanjiroh Echizen develop his skills and become a professional tennis player. She has a granddaughter named Sakuno with a crush on Ryoma. Ryuzaki has a rivalry with her ex-mentor, Mikiya Banda a.k.a. Banji, who is the coach for Yamabuki. She constantly yells, but she is considered to be a great and reliable coach. She has a good relationship with her regulars and participates in their recreational group activities: the bowling reunion and the beach-volley mini-tournament with Rokkaku Middle School. For the Prince of Tennis live action movie, Ryuzaki's whole personality and back story was changed. Instead of being a middle-aged teacher and ex-coach to Nanjiro Echizen, she is a young and more cheerful woman as well as Nanjiro's former classmate, who was her reason for playing tennis and becoming coach. She was played by the popular singer Hitomi Shimatani.Voiced by: Shizuka Okohira (Japanese), Barbara Goodson (English)

Opponents

Fudoumine

Fudoumine Middle School (市立不動峰中学校 Fudōmine Chūgakkō) is an unseeded and unknown public school with rumors of violence. It was originally unknown due to an unreasonable coach and a lazy set of senior regulars. The freshmen at Fudoumine were brutalized severely by the older tennis club members, while the coach ignored the mistreatment. Tachibana and the abused freshman attempted to rally together and form their own tennis club, but the coach and the other players find this idea absurd and try 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, Fudoumine is pulled out of the District Tournament that year. Tachibana and the others eventually reform the club, and in the series, upsets Kakinoki in the District tournament semifinals and Hyotei in the Prefectural quarterfinals. They go on to make it all the way to the quarterfinals of the Nationals before losing to Shitenhouji. Fudoumine's uniforms are black hooded jackets with the Fudoumine logo, black shirts, white shorts, and black warm-up pants.

St. Rudolph

St. Rudolph (私立聖ルドルフ学院中学校 Shiritsu Sei RUDORUFU Gakuin Chūgakkō) is a team that first appears in the Tokyo Prefectural Tournament Arc and faces Seishun in the quarterfinals. The school itself only recruits students who are gifted at tennis and they only practice together once a week. The team uniform is a white shirt with brown, brown shorts, and brown warm-up pants.

Yamabuki

Yamabuki Middle School (私立山吹中学校 Shiritsu Yamabuki Chūgakkō) is a national caliber team that bases their strategy on two National caliber doubles teams, supported by the National caliber Singles player Sengoku. They try to use those three weapons to defeat opponents before the matches get drawn out. When their strategy was foiled in the previous year by Seigaku's Tezuka defeating Sengoku, they recruited a second dominant singles player Jin Akutsu, with the aim to eliminate that weakness. Yamabuki's regular sports uniforms are green jackets with yellow stripes with hoods, shirts of the same design, white shorts, and green warm-up pants.

Hyoutei Academy

Hyoutei Academy Secondary Department (氷帝学園中等部 Hyoutei Gakuen Chūtō Bu) is a team that uses a strict stratification and merit system, which prioritizes ability over emotion. If any regular loses a match, they are removed from their spot and only given a second chance in very rare conditions. With Keigo Atobe as their leader, the one who revolutionized the merit system on the team. Hyoutei's tennis club is composed of over two hundred members, far larger than any other tennis club in the series, which is likely the reason why they use a strict merit system for their regulars in the first place. Widely considered as the main contenders to Rikkai Dai, they instead suffered setbacks in the early tournaments, losing to Fudomine in the quarterfinals of the Prefectural Tournament, and then losing to Seigaku in the first round of the Kanto tournament, leaving them ineligible for the National tournament. They are all depressed until they receive a special invite due to the host city, Tokyo, getting to invite one extra team. According to Takeshi Konomi, Hyoutei's popularity was much higher than he expected, and it was for that reason that he chose to bring them back into the story.[2] The Hyoutei team is one of the most popular teams in the entire series. In the official school popularity poll, they came in second losing only to Seigaku.[7]

Josei Shonan

Josei Shonan (城成湘南中学校 Jōsei Shōnan Chūgakkō) resides in the Kanagawa Prefecture of the Tokyo region. Though they are mentioned in the manga, they only appear in the anime, where they replace Midoriyama as Seigaku's opponents in the second round of the Kantō Tournament.

Rokkaku

Rokkaku Middle School (市立六角中学校 Rokkaku Chūgakkō) is a team based in the Chiba Prefecture, which focuses on training local children in tennis from an early age. They have a large playground and tennis court which is often used to train. They make the Kantō Tournament semi-finals, where they lose to Seigaku. They advance to the National Tournament, but they are upset by a dark horse team, Higa.

Rikkaidai

Rikkaidai Junior High School (私立立海大附属中学校 Shiritsu Rikkaidai Fuzoku Chūgakkō) is located in the Kanagawa prefecture and is considered to be the best middle school team, having won the Japanese National tournament the last two years. They aim for perfect wins in the matches winning the Nationals for the third year. They are fully introduced during the Kantō Tournament, where they easily crush Fudomine in the semi-finals. In the finals, however, they suffer a loss to Seigaku, and return to the Nationals to try and beat Seigaku to fulfill their 3rd win in the Nationals. They make their way all the way through to the finals of the Nationals, but they are once again defeated by Seigaku, ending their hopes of winning a third straight title. Takeshi Konomi mentioned in an interview that he was not sure who would be in the finals between Nagoya Seitoku and Rikkadai, but he decided on Rikkaidai finding them were more interesting.[2]

Shitenhoji

Shitenhoji Middle School (四天宝寺中学校 Shitenhōji Chūgakkō) is one of the strongest teams in the Kansai region. Though the team loses to Rikkai in previous year's semi-finals, the members puts up the strongest fight against Rikkai with more willpower than any other team's. During the course of the series, they defeat Fudomine in the National Quarterfinals, but once again lose in the semi-finals, this time to Seigaku.

Higa

Higa Middle School (比嘉中学校 Higa Chūgakkō) is the first team from the Okinawa Prefecture to make it past the Kyūshū tournament in twenty-six years. All its players are Okinawan martial artists, and incorporate their experience in their tennis style, such as with the "Shukuchihou" method of movement. They have poor sportsmanship, and are not afraid to use nasty methods in order to win. During the series, the team makes the Nationals for the first time, and defeat Rokkaku in the first round. However, they are defeated in straight sets by Seigaku in the second round.

American team

The American Team was part of the "Senbatsu Training Camp" and "Good Will Games" arc only seen in the anime of The Prince of Tennis.

High School Team

The high school team debuted in New Prince of Tennis as members of the elite U-17 tennis camp for the All-Japan team. These high schoolers are noted as the top youth tennis players in Japan. Entry into the camp is only possible through invitation, and 50 middle schoolers from Prince of Tennis were invited to further develop their skills. The first string (composed of the top 20 members out of the 250 member pool, now 300 after the middle schoolers joined) regularly travels abroad to compete against other high school teams from other countries (also composed of the best of those countries). A vast majority of the high schoolers are extremely arrogant, looking down on the middle schoolers the moment they walked in the gates. However, the same majority quickly proved to be inferior to the middle schoolers in terms of skill.

Known as the Gatekeeper of Hell, Oni is a member of the 5th Court on the High School team who plays to keep all lower ranked players from moving up, intended as a means of further train the second string. He is actually the number one player on the first string, bearing the No. 5 badge. He removed himself from first string in order to train Tokugawa to be on first string, and subsequently remained on 5th court waiting for more players that have the same passion for tennis as he had. His original goal was to become the number one player in Japan in order to inspire a group of orphans whom he played with often. Despite his tough demeanor, he has a soft side and is willing to lend a helping hand to the helpless. He eventually returns to the first string in order to test the middle schoolers. On the court, Oni is the main user of the Black Jack Knife and is skilled enough to defeat (pre-U17) Momoshiro with a racket that has only two strings on it. He is noted to be only slightly stronger than the No. 1 Byoudouin, and is on par with the No. 2 player.

Originally a top player from abroad, Tokugawa is a member of the first court who had previously been humiliated in a match against Byoudouin, who bears the No. 1 badge on the first string. After that loss, he trained on the mountain and was helped by both Oni and Irie in order to get revenge against Byoudouin. His glare is apparently capable of dealing temporary Yips in the same manner as Yukimura's tennis. His tennis somehow incorporates the Divine Path of Asura, allowing him to increase the speed of his shots and make them bounce unpredictably. He also has a double-edge sword technique known as the Black Hole, which allows him to literally create a small rip in space-time fabric to stop all shots, which from then he can always return a winning shot. Tokugawa can keep up this technique for only a half-hour at most, as any further use would make him cough up blood among other medical complications. Although focused, he's a very polite person, and concerned for the welfare of others. He's unable to win his rematch against Byoudouin due to sacrificing his own body to protect Ryoma on the eve of the match. Byoudouin notes that, had Tokugawa not made such a sacrifice, the latter would have won. Despite this loss, he takes Ryoga's place on the first string after the latter drops out to return to America with Ryoma.

Others

Reception

Shusuke Fuji

Fuji has remained in the top two of all the Shonen Jump character popularity polls for the series. He was number one in the second character popularity poll,[10] and second place in every other poll.[11][12][13]

Fuji has constantly been in the top three recipients of chocolate in the Valentine Chocolate specials of the manga, receiving the most in 2001.[14]

Sadaharu Inui
In each of the official character popularity polls for the series run in Weekly Shonen Jump, Inui has appeared in the Top 10, with his rank steadily increasing. In the first two polls he came in 10th place,[9][10] and he increased to 6th place in the third poll.[12] In the fourth poll, Inui made it into the Top 5 for the first time, appearing in fifth place.[2]
Kaoru Kaidoh

Kaidoh has been placed on every single popularity poll taken for The Prince of Tennis. In the first poll taken, he came in 6th place,[11] and moved up to 5th place in the second poll.[10] He fell to 18th in the third poll,[12] and moved up slightly to 17th in the fourth poll.[8]

Anime on DVD praised Kaidoh for being unpredictable and borderline psychotic.[15]
Keigo Atobe
Since Keigo Atobe's initial appearance, he has become one of the most popular characters in The Prince of Tennis series. In the 2006 Valentine Special, Atobe was the winner, receiving over 1000 chocolates. In the third character popularity ranking, he came in third place, behind only Ryoma and Fuji.[16] In the 4th characters' popularity ranking, Atobe was voted first with a total of 12,913 votes, soundly beating Shusuke Fuji, who came in second with 6116 votes.[17]
Atobe was also the first character to sing "Valentine Kiss" in 2004. Since then, the same song was released annually at Valentine's Day by different characters and featuring harmony by two other characters. In 2005 it was sung by Yuushi Oshitari, and by Ryo Shishido in 2006, all of whom are Hyotei Gakuen players. In 2007, it was sung by Genichirou Sanada of Rikkai Dai, thus ending the Hyotei successions. The song appears for the second time in 2007 as a bonus track in the album of Shuichiro Oishi. In 2008, it was sung by Yuujirou Kai of Higa Middle School. Shiraishi Kuranosuke of Shitenhoji sang it in 2009 and was sung by Niou Masaharu of Rikkaidai and Hiyoshi Wakashi of Hyotei in 2010. In 2011, it was sung by Fukushi Michiru of Ginka and Ohtori Chohtaroh of Hyotei. In 2012, it was sung by Kite Eishirou, captain of Higa.

Merchandise

Keigo Atobe

Atobe has released more character CDs than any other character in the series besides Ryoma, including two full-length albums. One of his singles reached top nine in the weekly charts, the best result for any Prince of Tennis character. Figures of Atobe have also been released.[18]

References

  1. ↑ Konomi, Takeshi (2001). The Prince of Tennis Volume 7. Shueisha. ISBN 1-59116-787-6.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Konomi, Takeshi (2007). The Prince of Tennis Character Book (Vol. 40.5). Shueisha. ISBN 4-08-874198-6.
  3. ↑ Konomi, Takeshi (2001). The Prince of Tennis Volume 10. Shueisha. ISBN 4-08-873162-X.
  4. ↑ Konomi, Takeshi (2007). The Prince of Tennis Volume 37. Shueisha. ISBN 4-08-874326-1.
  5. ↑ Konomi, Takeshi (2008). The Prince of Tennis Volume 41. Shueisha. ISBN 4-08-874443-8.
  6. ↑ Konomi, Takeshi (2003). The Prince of Tennis Volume 20.5. Shueisha. ISBN 4-08-873549-8.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Konomi, Takeshi (2007). "Genius 276". Prince of Tennis　Vol. 32. Shueisha. p. 184. ISBN 4-08-874015-7.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Konomi, Takeshi (2007). "Genius 333". Prince of Tennis　Vol. 38. Shueisha. p. 192. ISBN 978-4-08-874353-0.
  9. 1 2 Konomi, Takeshi (2001). "Genius 83". Prince of Tennis　Vol. 10. Shueisha. p. 184. ISBN 4-08-873162-X.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Konomi, Takeshi (2003). "Genius 158". Prince of Tennis　Vol. 18. Shueisha. p. 192. ISBN 4-08-873407-6.
  11. 1 2 Konomi, Takeshi (2001). "Genius 83". Prince of Tennis　Vol. 10. Shueisha. p. 184. ISBN 4-08-873162-X.
  12. 1 2 3 Konomi, Takeshi (2006). "Genius 276". Prince of Tennis　Vol. 33. Shueisha. p. 192. ISBN 4-08-874048-3.
  13. ↑ Konomi, Takeshi (2007). "Genius 333". Prince of Tennis　Vol. 38. Shueisha. p. 192. ISBN 978-4-08-874353-0.
  14. ↑ Konomi, Takeshi (2001). "Genius 62". Prince of Tennis Vol. 8. Shueisha. p. 184. ISBN 4-08-873112-3.
  15. ↑ Jarred Pine (2005-05-09). "Prince of Tennis Vol. #04". Manga Review. Anime on DVD. Retrieved 2008-02-27.
  16. ↑ Konomi, Takeshi (2007). The Prince of Tennis Volume 32 (in Japanese). Shueisha. ISBN 4-08-874015-7.
  17. ↑ Konomi, Takeshi (2007). The Prince of Tennis Volume 38 (in Japanese). Shueisha. ISBN 978-4-08-874353-0.
  18. ↑ "Prince of Tennis Figure #2: B Keigo". Hobby Link Japan. Retrieved 2008-10-21.
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