THE PRINCE OF TENNIS: THE NATIONALS BEGIN (VOLUME 29)
January 2nd 2010 18:00
Category: Graphic Novels/Comics
Publisher: 1999 Shueisha/2009 VIZ Media LLC
Story & Art by: Takeshi Konomi
Translation: Joe Yamazaki
Touch up & Lettering: Vanessa Satone
Design: Sam Elzway
Cost: US $7.95
Somehow you wouldn’t expect a manga focused on the sport of tennis to have the same kind of intensity or drama as say a ninja or martial arts manga. You wouldn’t think that tennis could be so exciting, so intense, so gripping well in my opinion anyway as I am not much a fan of the sport itself. In fact I would sooner read an accounting text book from cover to cover than sit in front of the idiot box watching a tennis match, regardless of who was playing. So why do I bother reading this manga? What could possibly motivate me to do this? Well I may not be a great tennis aficionado but I do like good manga and this is a compelling manga with a cast of engaging characters and a tight taut storyline that pulls you in. It’s been a long time since I have come across a work that fits the bill of being something that you just cannot put down; you want to read it to the very end. This work fits that pattern perfectly. So just what is going on in the page of this particular manga?
No doubt for those of you out there who have never heard of the Prince of Tennis before and are reading this article are scratching you heads wondering what the heck is he going on about. Hmmm understandable, as I said the key characters in this story are members of Seishun Academy’s tennis team. For some time the academy had placed well in district and regional levels but had not quite made it. Kind of like my own efforts at pool playing in the competition in my local watering hole, I can get to the finals but crossing that elusive finishing line seems to constantly elude me, oh well there is always next year… So it is with Seishun, but this time around it looks as if with the inclusion of Ryoma things are looking up. In fact one could almost say that all the ingredients are there and they’ve finally come up with the right combo. The team wins its district finals and goes to compete in the regional’s, there against stiff opposition it triumphs and finds itself bound for the nationals, towards the glory of possibly winning that coveted title.
This volume opens with essentially the drawing together of disparate elements; we see a rather outrageous character known as Kintaro Toyama of the Shitenhoji team from Osaka. A prodigy much like Ryoma, Kintaro is as flamboyant as you can possibly get without being outlawed by the fashion police. Leopard print shirts and wrist bands are so big hair bands of the eighties, still I suppose coming from a guy who dresses in black and wears steel toe capped boots who am I to criticise someone else’s dress sense. Kintaro eventually arrives in the national capital alongside his travelling companion Junpei and with that worthy’s aid works out how to make his way towards the arena where the nationals will be taking place. He has arrived three days before the competition starts, before the clash of racquet on ball, player against player, school against school commences.
From the arrival of a flamboyant prodigy and his brief encounter with our chief protagonist the story gradually gently builds up the tempo as various teams make their preparations, the final draw for the competition is determined and then voila… the nationals are at last here. The curtain is pulled aside after the preliminaries and preparation of the various protagonists and swords are metaphorically drawn for the confrontation that is to come amongst those who seek glory upon the tennis court. Even though this is very much a sports manga set in a contemporary era there is still a feeling behind things of a samurai drama being played out. The tennis players being the modern day equivalent of the former adherents of bushido and its ethos, the racquet replacing the katana and the tennis court the various fields of battle. And let us not forget that in this competition honour and glory are as much at stake in this competition as in any struggle between pre Meiji era samurai, in fact it could almost be said that the various schools are like the noble houses and clans of yore. As I said earlier on I am no big fan of the sport, but when it comes to this manga it has to be said that it is a gripping piece of work. Forget Roger Federer, Rafael Nidal and the Williams sisters, get yourself some Prince of Tennis instead…you won’t regret it.
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