Tyler's Blog Death of Destiny

“The Prince of Tennis” (Vol. 3) by Takeshi Konomi (4/5)

The Prince of Tennis (Vol. 3)
Takeshi Konomi
ISBN-13 978-1-59116-437-1
ISBN-10 1-59116-437-0

A lot happens in this volume of Prince of Tennis. A few of the sub-plots (and foreshadowing) are used to open up the volume. Mr. Sasabe, the father of Sasabe (who Echizen plays in volume 1), plays a match with Echizen to open up the manga. Inui is also shown coaching the team at the beginning of the novel as preparation for the District Preliminaries. Rikkaidai (the Japanese champion school)'s Akaya Kirihara shows up to a practice accidentally after missing his transfer on the bus. And then Momoshiro and Echizen are seen going to play street tennis, which drives them to play as Seigaku's Doubles 2 Team in the District Preliminaries against Gyokurin's Izumi and Fukawa (which is a large portion of this volume). Another important part of this volume is that Fudoumine is introduced into the plot.

A lot happens in this volume and the plot begins moving in this manga. Thus, I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

“The Prince of Tennis” (Vol. 2) by Takeshi Konomi (3/5)

The Prince of Tennis (Vol. 2)
Takeshi Konomi
ISBN-13 978-1-59116-436-4
ISBN-10 1-59116-436-2

In the second volume of Prince of Tennis, the first ranking tournament takes place. The manga basically covers the games between Echizen and Kaoru Kaido (the buggy whip shot specialist), and then Echizen and Sadaharu Inui (the data specialist).

I like this manga, but I'm only giving it 3 out of 5 stars because it's still the introduction to the story.

“The Prince of Tennis” (Vol. 1) by Takeshi Konomi (3/5)

The Prince of Tennis (Vol. 1)
Takeshi Konomi
ISBN-13 978-1-59116-435-7
ISBN-10 1-59116-435-4

This is the first book in the Prince of Tennis series. The series follows Seigakuen High School as they attempt to make it to the Japanese National Tennis Tournament (with a freshman named Ryoma Echizen). That being said, the book largely covers tennis matches, although there are a few sub-plots along the way. There is also a lot of character development (so the characters are very round with their own personalities; a lot more than I usually read, but in this case it worked out well) and there is a bit of romance between a few characters.

In this first book, a few of the main characters are introduced. Plotwise, the story covers from Echizen's arrival at Seigaku to the beginning of the school's first ranking matches (to determine who gets to play as the regular members of the tennis team at the first tournament). It also shows matches between Echizen and Sasabe, and Echizen and Arai.

I guess I should note that I really didn't like the art when I first saw this manga. In fact, for that reason, I refused to read/watch it when I was first told about this series many years ago. However, after watching and reading the Prince of Tennis series, the style became an acquired taste and I got used to it really quickly. However, I think the two things that really drive this manga are the plot and the characters. That being said, I recommend this manga to any manga, tennis, or sports fans. I also challenge people to read it (not because it's difficult, but because it's a different type of manga to read; or at least it was for me) as this was the first manga that showed me that books about sports could be interesting.

It doesn't really get too far into the plot, though, so although I liked this volume, I'm only giving it 3 out of 5 stars.