It’s tournament time and now Seishun Academy is tied 1-1 with St. Rudolph and next up is Ryoma taking on St. Rudolph’s Yuta Fujii, the “Lefty Killer”. How will Ryoma do against Yuta? Find out in another exciting volume of “The Prince of Tennis”. Recommended!
© 1999 by Takeshi Konomi. All Rights Reserved.
MANGA TITLE: The Prince of Tennis vol. 9
STORY AND ART BY: Takeshi Konomi
FIRST PUBLISHED IN JAPAN: SHUEISHA, Inc.
PUBLISHED IN USA BY: VIZ Media, LLC/Shonen Jump Manga
RATED: A for All Ages
RELEASE DATE: September 6, 2005
The much-anticipated match between Seishun Academy’s Ryoma Echizen and St. Rudolph’s Yuta is underway, and neither of them is giving in to each other’s intimidation techniques.
Upon orders from Hajime, St. Rudolph’s cunning team manager, Yuta must aim for Ryoma’s left eye, which was accidentally injured during his previous match. Battling all odds to secure his team’s victory – as well as his own on-court safety – can Ryoma formulate a strategy to tame Yuta’s killer twist spin shot? And is Yuta really that evil?
The tournament continues as the final eight teams must battle and the winner moves on to Nationals.
And for Seishun Academy’s matchup against St. Rudolph, the score is 1-1 as each team won a doubles matchup. But next up is the singles matchup featuring St. Rudolph’s Yuta Fujii (younger brother of Seishun’s Shusuke Fujii) and all he wanted was to be better than his brother and not be known as the younger brother of Shusuke. And now the player known as “Left Killer” will take on Seishun’s 7th grade phenom, Ryoma Echizen. Who will win?
Find out in an exciting “The Prince of Tennis” Vol. 9!
What is “The Prince of Tennis”?
In 1999, tennis player and manga artist Takeshi Konomi created a series known as “Tennis no Ojisama”.
Published in Shueisha’s “Weekly Shonen Jump” in July 1999, the series became one of the most popular sports manga series created and would eventually lead to an anime series adaptation by Trans Arts and Nihon Ad Systems & TV Tokyo.
Suffice to say, the series became an incredible hit and popular media franchise which would lead to video games and more!
In volume 8, we saw how St. Rudolph player and manager, Hajime Mizuki has used his intellect in pitting his players against Seishun Academy. And now, he puts Yuta Fujii against Ryoma Echizen. Known as the “Lefty Killer”, Yuta has long wanted to prove that he is better than his brother Shusuke, but will he do just that? Or is Seishun Academy’s Ryoma Echizen much better than he expected?
With volume nine of “The Prince of Tennis”, it’s a matchup that I have been wanting to see…the cocky Yuta Fujii vs. Ryoma in a singles matchup for an important point for either team. Yuta has been billed “The Lefty Killer” who is known for his “On-The Rise” Shot!
And as a player who has felt that he has been in his older brother’s shadow, what an exciting matchup against seventh grade phenom, Ryoma Echizen.
Ryoma’s gameplay is always exciting to watch as he always keeps cool, but how he responds to other players is always fun to see.
The matchup also reveals the true nature of Hajime, which sort of brought me back to a “Karate Kid” flashback of the Cobra Kai sensei.
And we get a matchup pitting Seishun Academy’s Shusuke Fujii vs. Hajime and also learning more about Kippei Tachibana of Fudomine High School.
Character design by Takeshi Konomi are always well-done, the storyline manages to capture the excitement of tennis and strategy especially for the two singles matchups. Great artwork and for the most part, his attention to detail for the players and the surrounding environments are well-done.
Overall, an exciting ninth volume of “The Prince of Tennis”. Recommended!