is a Japanese
manga
Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
series written and illustrated by
Takeshi Konomi
is a Japanese manga artist, known for creating the manga series ''The Prince of Tennis''.
Financial standing
Every year the National Tax Agency releases a list of the highest income tax payers for entertainers in Japan. The higher someone's in ...
. The manga was serialized in
Shueisha
(lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The foll ...
's ''
Weekly Shōnen Jump
is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the ''Jump'' line of magazines. The manga series within the magazine consist of many action scenes and a fair amount of comedy. The chapters of the series that run ...
'' from July 1999 to March 2008, with its chapters collected in forty-two ''
tankōbon
is the Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...
'' volumes.
Viz Media
VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...
licensed the manga for English release in North America.
A 178-episode
anime
is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
television series adaptation animated by Trans Arts, co-produced by
Nihon Ad Systems
, NAS for short, is a Japanese anime production and character merchandising company, a wholly owned subsidiary of the advertising agency Asatsu-DK. The "Ad" in its title is an abbreviation for "Animation Development". Along with animation studios ...
and
TV Tokyo
JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certifie ...
, was broadcast on TV Tokyo from October 2001 to March 2005. A sequel of three
original video animation (OVA) series, totaling 26 episodes, were released from March 2006 to January 2009. In North America, the anime series was first licensed by Viz Media and later by
Funimation
Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...
.
''The Prince of Tennis'' developed into a
media franchise
A media franchise, also known as a multimedia franchise, is a collection of related media in which several derivative works have been produced from an original creative work of fiction, such as a film, a work of literature, a television program or ...
, including a long-running radio show, numerous video games, well over 250 soundtracks and CDs, and other merchandise. Since 2003, more than fifteen
stage musicals adaptations have been produced. An
anime film
is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
premiered in January 2005. A
live-action film
Live action (or live-action) is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live-action with animation to create a live-action animated film. Live-action is used to define film, video ga ...
premiered in May 2006. A
3DCG film premiered in Japan in September 2021.
A sequel to the manga, titled ''
The New Prince of Tennis'', began serialization in Shueisha's ''
Jump Square
, also written as , is a Japanese monthly '' shōnen'' manga magazine. Published by Shueisha, the magazine premiered on November 2, 2007 as a replacement for ''Monthly Shōnen Jump'', another manga anthology that Shueisha discontinued in June of t ...
'' in March 2009, with the story taking place several months after the end of the original manga.
As of November 2019, ''The Prince of Tennis'' manga had over 60 million copies in circulation, making it one of the
best-selling manga series
The following is a list of the best-selling Japanese manga series to date in terms of the number of collected ''tankōbon'' volumes sold. All series in this list have at least 20 million copies in circulation. This list is limited to Japanese ...
.
Plot
The series is primarily set in Tokyo, and centers around
Ryoma Echizen
is a fictional character and the protagonist of the manga and anime series ''The Prince of Tennis'' created by Takeshi Konomi. In the series, Ryoma is portrayed as a twelve-year-old tennis prodigy who won four consecutive Junior Tennis Tournam ...
, a tennis prodigy who attends , or for short, a school that is known for its strong tennis club and talented players. Shortly after entrance, Ryoma quickly defeats numerous upperclassmen, securing himself a spot as one of the team's regulars. In pursuit of their ultimate goal of winning the National Middle School Tennis Championship, members of the team make new friends while learning and mastering increasingly complex techniques. Ryoma also begins to develop his own style of tennis and eventually realizes what the sport really means to him.
Media
Manga
''The Prince of Tennis'' is written and illustrated by
Takeshi Konomi
is a Japanese manga artist, known for creating the manga series ''The Prince of Tennis''.
Financial standing
Every year the National Tax Agency releases a list of the highest income tax payers for entertainers in Japan. The higher someone's in ...
. The manga was first published in
Shueisha
(lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The foll ...
's
''shōnen'' manga magazine ''
Weekly Shōnen Jump
is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the ''Jump'' line of magazines. The manga series within the magazine consist of many action scenes and a fair amount of comedy. The chapters of the series that run ...
'' in Japan on July 19, 1999. The series was put under hiatus when Konomi was injured in an accident during July 2006, but publication resumed in September 2006. The series finished on March 3, 2008,
Shueisha
(lit. "Gathering of Intellect Publishing Co., Ltd.") is a Japanese company headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. The company was established in 1925 as the entertainment-related publishing division of Japanese publisher Shogakukan. The foll ...
collected its 379 individual chapters into forty-two ''
tankōbon
is the Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...
'' volumes published from January 7, 2000, to June 4, 2008.
In North America,
Viz Media
VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...
announced the acquisition of the series in February 2004. The first volume was released on April 21, 2004. As of July 5, 2011, the forty-two volumes have been published.
A
4-panel manga parody by Ken-ichi Sakura, titled , began in ''
Jump Square
, also written as , is a Japanese monthly '' shōnen'' manga magazine. Published by Shueisha, the magazine premiered on November 2, 2007 as a replacement for ''Monthly Shōnen Jump'', another manga anthology that Shueisha discontinued in June of t ...
'' on November 4, 2008. The first collected volume was released on June 4, 2010. As of September 3, 2021, seven volumes have been released.
A sequel to the manga series, titled , was announced in the December issue of ''Jump Square'', published on November 4, 2008. The series began serialization in ''Jump Square'' on March 4, 2009. The story is set several months after the end of the first manga, and features Ryoma returning to Japan after his stay in America.
Anime
An
anime
is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
television series adaptation animated by Trans Arts, co-produced by
Nihon Ad Systems
, NAS for short, is a Japanese anime production and character merchandising company, a wholly owned subsidiary of the advertising agency Asatsu-DK. The "Ad" in its title is an abbreviation for "Animation Development". Along with animation studios ...
and directed by Takayuki Hamana, was broadcast on
TV Tokyo
JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certifie ...
from October 10, 2001, to March 30, 2005, spanning a total of 178 episodes. The episodes were collected in forty-five DVD sets, released from January 25, 2002, to October 28, 2005.
In North America, the anime series was licensed by
Viz Media
VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...
. On April 24, 2007, Viz Media released the first ''The Prince of Tennis''
box set
A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit.
Music
Artists and bands ...
in the United States. Viz Media has also opted to not include the Japanese opening and ending themes, instead using electric guitar music. However, the original music themes can be found in the DVD extras of disc 3.
As of January 15, 2008, four box sets have been released by Viz. The four box sets contain the first 50 episodes of the series. On April 2, 2021,
Funimation
Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...
announced they had licensed the series, and it would stream on their website with a new English
dub. In July 2022, ''The Prince of Tennis'' will be backed with its first series in 10 years to celebrate its 20th anniversary.
Original video animations
The anime television series was followed by a three
original video animation (OVA) series which adapted the "National Tournament" arc. The first 13-episode OVA was launched on seven DVDs from March 24, 2006, to March 23, 2007; The second 6-episode OVA was launched on three DVDs from June 22, 2007, to January 25, 2008; The third 7-episode OVA was launched on four DVDs (including the first numbered 0) from April 25, 2008; to January 23, 2009.
A 4-episode OVA, subtitled "Another Story", was released on two DVDs on May 26 and September 25, 2009. A 4-episode sequel to "Another Story" was released on two DVDs on August 26 and October 26, 2011.
Musicals
Beginning in 2003, a series of ''Prince of Tennis'' musicals began. Each year sees two musicals based on the storyline come out in the summer and winter, with a 'Dream Live' performance each Spring, featuring numerous actors and past songs. Each storyline musical adapts a single arc of the manga, typically one specific match against a team. Due to the aging of the actors, all the main characters have been recast several times.
Films
is the first animated film of the series. It was released in Japan on January 29, 2005, and co-aired with a short film, .
On May 13, 2006, the live-action adaptation film,
''The Prince of Tennis'', was released in Japan.
is the second film directed by Shunsuke Tada. It was released in Japan on August 14, 2011.
At the
Jump Festa
is an annual party or exposition in Japan, all about manga and anime, sponsored by Shueisha, publisher of the various ''Jump'' anthologies which are Weekly Shōnen Jump, Jump Square, V Jump, Saikyō Jump and Shōnen Jump+. The exposition was st ...
'19 event, a new film titled ''Ryōma! Shinsei Gekijōban Tennis no Ōji-sama'' (''Ryoma! Rebirth: The Prince of Tennis Movie'') was announced. The film features an original story set between the end of ''The Prince of Tennis'' manga and the start of ''The New Prince of Tennis'' manga. The film is in 3DCG, and is directed by
Hiroshi Kōjina
is a Japanese animator, character designer, and anime director. His directorial works include ''Grenadier'', '' Majin Tantei Nōgami Neuro'', '' Kiba'', '' Rainbow - Nisha Rokubō no Shichinin'' and the 2011 anime adaptation of ''Hunter × Hunt ...
and animated by The Monk Studios and Keica with cooperation by
Studio Kai. Takehito Hata is writing scripts, Kei Tsuda is composing the music, and Konomi himself is supervising the film and writing all insert songs. It was initially scheduled to be released in early 2020, but it was delayed to September 3, 2021.
Video games
''The Prince of Tennis'' franchise has spawned many different video games. The vast majority of these are either tennis games or
dating sims, and they are spread across several different
video game console
A video game console is an electronic device that outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller. These may be home consoles, which are generally placed in a permanent location connected to ...
s. The first of these games was released for the
PlayStation
is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...
console on February 20, 2002, and is the only game which holds the simple ''Prince of Tennis'' title – all of the following game titles are preceded by the "''Prince of Tennis''" title. This was followed by ''Genius Boys Academy'', which was released for the
Game Boy Advance
The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo as the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, in North America on June 11, 2001, in the PAL region on June 22, 2 ...
on April 25, 2002. Since then, several other video games have been released for different gaming consoles, including one more PlayStation game, three Game Boy Advance games, five
Nintendo DS
The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...
games, thirteen
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...
games, and one mobile game. The latest game to be released was ''New Prince of Tennis: Rising Beat'' in 2017, a rhythm-based mobile game developed by
Bushiroad
is a Japanese entertainment company, producer of collectible card games and trading cards, publisher of mobile apps and games, promotional items and many other venues, which was founded in 2007 by Takaaki Kidani and is headquartered in Tokyo. ...
. This game is first game to be released outside of Japan.
Additionally, characters from ''The Prince of Tennis'' appeared in the ''Shōnen Jump'' based video games ''
Jump Super Stars
''Jump Super Stars'' is a 2D crossover fighting game for the Nintendo DS, based on ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' characters. It was developed by Ganbarion and published by Nintendo. The game was released on August 8, 2005, in Japan and accompanied th ...
'' and ''
Jump Ultimate Stars
Jumping is a form of locomotion or movement in which an organism or non-living (e.g., robotic) mechanical system propels itself through the air along a ballistic trajectory.
Jump or Jumping also may refer to:
Places
* Jump, Kentucky or Jump S ...
''. All of the games have so far only been released in Japan.
Dramas
There also are two Chinese dramas based on "The Prince of Tennis" story, with the titles of "The Prince of Tennis" (Mandarin: "网球王子"; Pinyin: "Wang Qiu Wang Zi") and "Go for It! The Prince of Tennis" (Mandarin: "加油! 网球王子"; Pinyin: "Jia You! Wang Qiu Wang Zi"). The first is the first season, while the second is the second season. There are some differences due to localization for names and cultural themes, including all the characters being renamed, but is still recognizable from its story and the characters' portrayal. The first season covers from when Ryoma first appears in the series up to the end of their equivalent of the Tokyo Prefecturals, while the second season picks up from the end of the first season and goes to the end of their equivalent of the Kanto Tournament. Due to being based on the anime, Josei Shonan is included. In addition, hints of the live-action film is present.
A third Chinese drama, produced by Netflix in 2019, is called ''The Prince of Tennis'' (奋斗吧,少年!or ''Forge On, Young Men''). It is set in China. A reticent talented teenage tennis player returns to China after spending his childhood overseas—the show does not specify where he spends his childhood—but he is trapped under the shadows of his father who used to be a top tennis player. When he joins a high school in China, he learns the importance of friendship and teamwork, and perhaps even gains his self-identity.
Other media
The series has produced a half-hour weekly radio show, over 300 music CDs and a large selection of merchandise. Including a trading card game and figures. Three live events, "TeniPuri Perfect Live" in 2003, "The 100 song marathon" in 2008 and "Tenipuri Festa" in 2009, were held by the ''TeniPuri'' voice actors and
Konomi Takeshi himself.
The 1986
J-pop
J-pop ( ja, ジェイポップ, ''jeipoppu''; often stylized as J-POP; an abbreviated form of "Japanese popular music"), natively also known simply as , is the name for a form of popular music that entered the musical mainstream of Japan in the 1 ...
song "
Valentine Kiss
is the solo debut J-pop single from Sayuri Kokushō (though it was billed on the cover as "Sayuri Kokushō with Onyanko Club") released on February 1, 1986 by CBS Sony in Japan. Kokushō was the eighth member of Onyanko Club. The B-side song was ...
" by
Sayuri Kokushō was
covered
Cover or covers may refer to:
Packaging
* Another name for a lid
* Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package
* Album cover, the front of the packaging
* Book cover or magazine cover
** Book design
** Back cover copy, part of co ...
multiple times by multiple characters in the series. From February 2004 through February 2010, a total of nine different versions of the song were released (seven individually, and the final two together). The first one, featuring the character
Keigo Atobe
''The Prince of Tennis'' manga and anime series has a large cast of Character (arts), 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 membe ...
(voiced by
Junichi Suwabe
is a Japanese voice actor and singer from Tokyo. He is affiliated with Haikyō. His popular roles include Omega Zero in Megaman Zero 3 , Keigo Atobe in ''The Prince of Tennis'', Victor Nikiforov in ''Yuri!!! on ICE'', Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez in ...
) reached No. 14 on the
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...
charts.
Reception
''The Prince of Tennis'' has become a successful franchise. As of March 2008, the first 40 volumes of the manga had sold over 40 million copies in Japan.
As of January 2012, the manga had over 51 million copies in circulation. As of November 2019, the manga had over 60 million copies in circulation.
Carl Kimlinger from ''
Anime News Network
Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and oth ...
'' reviewed the first DVD box set released by
Viz Media
VIZ Media LLC is an American manga publisher, anime distributor and entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ M ...
, and commented that "''Prince of Tennis'' is among the dregs of the genre." They go on to say that it is "boring" and "lacks the human drama necessary to get audiences to care who wins or loses."
'Anime on DVD', however, comments that the show "takes the usual themes in sports shows and applies them masterfully."
DVD Talk
DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman.
History
Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...
takes more of a nonchalant view, commenting that the "series is okay but not great" and that it has some charm, which will make you not regret watching it. Active Anime also gave praise to the series, saying that it "holds some surprising twists to the regular sports drama formula", and praised the suspenseful matches and innovative techniques.
Despite the reviews, the series is popular in Japan. When
TV Asahi
JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Compan ...
, a television network in Japan, conducted a survey for the one hundred most popular animated television series, ''The Prince of Tennis'' anime came in twenty-seventh place. They also conducted an online web poll, in which ''The Prince of Tennis'' placed eighteenth.
Nearly a year later, TV Asahi once again conducted an online poll for the top one hundred anime, and this time, ''The Prince of Tennis'' anime advanced in rank and came in eighth place. They also surveyed Japanese celebrities for their favorite anime, where the series only came in sixty-eighth out of the top one hundred.
Notes
References
External links
; Official sites:
Animax's official ''Prince of Tennis'' website (Archived)
TV Tokyo's ''Prince of Tennis'' Site
Official ''Prince of Tennis'' Site
Viz's Shonen Jump's ''The Prince of Tennis'' Site (Archived)
; Profiles:
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prince of Tennis, The
Coming-of-age anime and manga
Funimation
Manga adapted into films
Production I.G
Shōnen manga
Shueisha franchises
Shueisha manga
Tennis in anime and manga
Tezuka Productions
TV Tokyo original programming
Viz Media anime
Viz Media manga