Prince of Tennis Manga Volume 1

Ohayo! It is currently morning, but I think by the time I'm done it's gonna be lunchtime...yum. This is Aileen reporting to let you know that this is the start of the PoT Manga! I'm very excited, I loved the manga. It's so much better than the anime (which is full of crack and nonsense and fail!facts and etc) and the storyline is more consistent. I hope you also read along, you can learn all of the cool ways PoT bends physics and how cool the characters are (and understand my obsession with most of them...)

Note: This is not to offend any major PoT otaku. I just want to humor ya'll out there on the Internets with my "witty" observations of this series. If it starts to offend you, close the window and find some other blog to read. Thank you and Enjoy!

It starts off in the Ginko (?) Tennis Tournament and a guy is gossiping with his friend...

"Yo, did you hear? A 12-year old is taking part in the 16-year old division!"
"Can't be. It doesn't make sense!"

Um, yes, it kind of does. Obviously, this "Echizen Ryoma" guy is either arrogant, really good, or both. And you know what? Well, I'm gonna let that unfold by itself. Speaking of which, we are taken to a train where a young girl (that I openly despised in the anime and a bit in the manga, more on that later) is sitting and a bunch of ugly dorks are arguing over grips? Anyway, one of the dorks, who thinks he is a know-it-all, barely misses the girl (le gasp!). Then, suddenly, a boy speaks up.

"Yo, can you keep it down?"

And then he proves that the dork was wrong and shows him the right grip. I love the justice in that. And the boy who dishes it out.

Ryuzaki Sakuno is a freaking idiot. She gave the wrong directions to "the boy" for his matches, so he ends up missing them! Seriously? You ruined his chance at showing off to people older than him! So "the boy" was late five minutes and totally says it's Sakuno's fault, then says he's thirsty (love that little brat~)! What does Sakuno do? She tries to offer him a free drink but she has no change...FAIL. Don't offer if you don't have the money to back it up! Geez, she is a lost cause, and not as an important character until later you find out that her grandma is the tennis coach for Seigaku...

I really hate that stupid dork from before. What kind of person threats a little boy that's four years younger than you? Seriously, he's not even in high school yet and all you say is "Look, you can't even defend yourself. How dare you talk to me about tennis."

Of course, Sakuno makes it worse by spilling "juice" (It's supposed to be Fanta/Ponta) on the guy's shirt. What does Ryoma do?

"Did you learn that new grip yet? If you didn't, then I'll teach you some tennis!"

I freaking love this guy. And then we learn that the big dork's name is Sasabe. I hate him, especially in the anime since he keeps popping up! It's so annoying...it's as if he was a Greek monster that keeps getting reformed every fifty episodes (PJatO ref, I'm a dork)! What's worse about Sasabe is that he is a sore loser and decides to play DIRTY by calling balls out when they were in. Sasabe needs to go die in a hole and stay there and rot...or just get beaten to a pulp by "the boy", who's name we learn is "Echizen Ryoma" 31 pages into the manga.

"Oh, my hand slipped."

That Sasabe actually DARED to hit Ryoma in the head with his racket. He is so going to die now.

"*evil glare* That wasn't the proper grip, that was just the beginning!" (the translation a bit funky, but you get the point)

Watching Ryoma beat the dork with his twist-uh serve-u just makes me feel all fuzzy inside~! And showing the serve hit that dork's face is even more satisfying! And Ryoma being the cocky brat that he truly is calls Sasabe a fool for cowering like a little girl. That boy is a freaking hero. A left handed hero who was playing with his right hand all this time. So amazing *swoon*!

No way, did the translator's just called Tomoka "Domoka"? WTF. Not cool. But Ryoma asleep by a tree is pretty cute, even if the rays of sunlight is a bit much. And the Sakuno daydreaming. And the Tomoka "Someone cool is passing by! Let's go watch him!" is a bit creepy, but cute in a fangirlish way.

Are we going to see any regulars yet? Please? NOOOOO, we have to meet Horio first! And Ryoma looks freaking tall compared to him...*shudder* that unibrow just reminds me of the anime!Horio too much...OMK MOMO-CHAN-SENPAI! I mean, a tall second-year that gave those two freshies the wrong direction to the courts, LOL.

Oh my gosh, it's the can game. Are all the older people mean except for the regulars in this series? Yes, yes they pretty much are if they have any personality at all. Jerks. Good thing Ryoma proves that the two senpais are cheating with ROCKS in the can (shame!)! And of course, he has to show off...

"If I hit it 100 times, will you give me 1,000,000 yen?"

I still love this boy. He's too adorable to be making threats like that~!

MOMO-CHAN-SENPAI again! I mean, it's that tall second year guy again!

"Oh, I hit it! Lucky~!"
and "You can't do that." (if it was in the anime, he'd repeat, "You can't" *squeal*)

Finally, we get introduced to him formally and they decide to play a match. This is where the Ryomo stuff kicks in ladies and gents, but more subtle than the anime. Anyway, I love how Momo also sees Ryoma as an arrogant brat. So adorable, desu~! (especially at the end when he realizes that Ryoma played with his right hand as a handicap for his ankle~!)

TAKE A NOTE: Momoshiro Takeshi is the first to beat the Twist Serve-u! *clap clap*

OMK translators, it's KARUPIN not GARUPIN. Ugh, how can they get the name of the most adorable kitty in the entire manga/anime universe's name wrong? Geez. Even Ryoma remembered Sakuno...after a long while after the fact but that's different!

OMK a glimpse of the regulars (and Kiku-kun~!)! And the only person they acknowledge right now is Oishi-senpai. Well, actually I'm the same age as him so he's not really a senpai to me...WAIT, he's a ninth grader? My mind is completely blown. I keep forgetting his is a manga about JUNIOR HIGH students! Which means I'm the same age as Momo and Kaidou! That's so weird....

Yay! A better glimpse of the regulars and Kiku-kun! And they are hitting tennis balls into a puny basket every single time. I can only hit them by chance...(I play tennis btw). And of course, Ryoma gets to show off again...

"Hm, it doesn't seem that hard."

I freaking love this boy. Wait, did I already say that? I'm gonna say it again anyway! Yay!

Arai, please don't bully the little kid, even if he is a bit of an arrogant "punk". Once you start grabbing that kid the captain...yup, Tezuka-buchou comes and sets down the law! "20 laps around the court, now!"

Arai is another person that is on my "people that really need to learn to not mess with Ryoma" list. Seriously, he just has a problem with holding grudges against younger people. Dude, give it up!

"I have to make up a plan to make him the laughingstock of the whole club!"

Stop trying, you won't win. But I love how Ryoma calls him a "weakling"...see?

"Only weaklings can find dirty methods to play."
Fuji, er, the mysterious smiling regular: "Let's see how this turns out." Love him!

And only after two shots (?!) Ryoma finally murmurs "Oh, I get it now" and proceeds to kick butt. Of course that ball seemed fast to all the normal people, but to our little first year, it's way too slow. Man, his arrogance is something that you either hate or love. I choose the latter~!

I love how Tezuka is annoyed about everyone goofing off on the courts and breaking the rules, and then we see that he added Ryoma into the ranking matches. He's so soft in the inside, like Kaido! But we don't know that yet until later...so now he's still a mean snake-like figure...

FINALLY they introduce the regulars! Geez, I was getting annoyed with having to call them "mysterious". My favorite you ask? EIJI KIKUMARU, the acrobatic! He is so full of win, just you wait~!

And they had to end the volume by having a mysterious "viper" (or mamushi as Momo calls him later on, which is the same, just in japanese) is Ryoma's next opponent...and he doesn't look very nice...

*sigh* You're gonna have to wait. Sucks doesn't it?

Bai!

Aileen

Countdown:

Ryoma Love/arrogance: 9
Mentioning "mysterious" people by name: 3
Characters on the "people that really need to learn to not mess with Ryoma" list: 5
Eiji Love: 3
Characters I hate (so far): Sakuno, Arai, Sasabe, the two senpai with the can of rocks
Characters I love (so far): The regulars, Ryoma, Karupin