Ep 173 (Samurai New York) and Love Game Fan Disc

This week's episode is only on Ryoma. It's not as bad as I thought especially the part when he and Kevin teamed up to play doubles. Those two are so individualistic that it's hard to imagine them working well together but they did so everything worked out fine. Apparently, they are going to show Ryoma in his first match for the US Open next week but the highlight would be Tezuka vs Fuji's match.

I don't know if they will show the whole match in one episode but I'm really looking forward to the two of them fighting it out. I'm rooting for Tezuka but then I know Fuji would most probably give him a hard time since he's going to go all out. What a mouth-watering match!


Besides that, I got the Love Game Fan Disc which is full of Rikkai-goodness!!! Well, I'm so excited over this mainly because of Genichirou and his solo song was made into a PV. Well, why is that Yukimura is appearing so frequently in that PV? I do like Yukimura but then it seems like the anime is playing up their relationship towards the BL tendency like the funny skits in chibi characters last year. I'm not a fan of BL so for me, Genichirou and Yukimura's relationship is more of a buddy relationship just like what is between Genichirou and Renji. They address each other by first names instead of surnames so they should be very good friends.

Anyway, this fan disc is very much Rikkai-centric with a bit of Rokkaku. I was looking forward to seeing more of Renji but then he appears at least for the match highlights. Frankly speaking, Rokkaku is quite a fun team where you see that they play tennis because they enjoy it rather than see it as a competitive sport. They are the exact opposite of Hyotei which focuses a lot on competition within the team but I can't say that Hyotei's members are not on good terms with each other. It's just that among all the teams, Rokkaku has the most relaxed approach towards tennis. And Rokkaku has really funny characters like Davide and Bane-san, It-chan, Saeki, Kentaro and Kisarazu Ryo who has yet to appear in any of the formal matches.


This month's DVD Vol 37 has Genichirou and Atobe on the cover!!!! As I rewatch that match, those two are an interesting pair but too bad, the concluding episode of their Doubles 2 match is in the next DVD.


Vol 38's cover is Oshitari and Eiji and the cover is so cute with Eiji hugging Oshitari from behind. Well, not exactly hugging but rather has his arms over his shoulder. That volume would cover Genichirou and Atobe, Oshitari and Eiji as well as half of Sengoku's match. Tanoshiimi!!

By the way, I happened to see a group of girls at Dhoby Ghaut MRT yesterday doing a cosplay of Tenipuri characters. Well, although I could see that the T-shirt vaguely resembles Hyotei, I am sorry but I can't identify which characters they are playing although a number of them were in uniform (white shirt, blue pants). I doubt that uniform is Hyotei but should be either Rikkai or Seigaku. Two of them had their hair tinted (playing Gakuto or Jiro??) too. Well, I saw quite a bit of cosplay photos before from people in Japan and HK and some of them really copied the characters to the finest details like the hair of Niou (yes, somebody actually painted her hair greyish white). Anyway, it was a pleasant surprise to see fellow Tenipuri fans around because most cosplay groups usually do animes with more elaborate costumes. I'm planning to get the Rikkai T-shirt once I sort out the Vpost Japan issue and see if I can buy it from Mecha Market.

Ep 172 - Goodbye Seigaku

This episode doesn't have too many "exciting" points other for the fact that the guys send off Echizen at the airport and Karupin hides in Echizen's bag to go with him to US. It's a bit ridiculous since the airport security should have discovered Karupin through the X-ray machine. And I don't think Karupin would stay still in that bag for so many hours without arousing the suspicion of others. Well, that's anime so there are some illogical parts which will drive me nuts if I pursue an explanation for them.

Anyway, next week's episode is on Ryoma again and he meets Kevin. Seems like they team up to play doubles against some guys they met on the streets. According to some info I read, it seems like Ep 174 is finally on Tezuka vs Fuji with the title saying as such. Subarashii!! Then, there's another 2 episodes on Seigaku which I'm looking forward to. It's not that I dislike Ryoma but I started watching Tenipuri not because of him in the first place. Throughout the series, I have grown to like characters like Sanada, Tezuka and Atobe other than Ryoma so it's precisely the presence of my favs that is mainly keeping the passion going. I really hope that they focus on the nationals instead of the US Open. It would be so funny if they really let Ryoma win the US Open as if it's that easy to compete with pros.

My Tenipuri DVDs (the SP featuring Rikkaidai and Rokkaku) and Vol 37 would be here next week. Can't wait to see them!!!

Ep 171 Shinai naru tomo e (For my dear friend)

Well, this episode focuses on the deep friendship between Momo and Echizen thus the title is referring to Momo. There are a lot of memories involving the two of them like the silly competition to see who can eat more, Momo being Echizen's first doubles partner which is very heartwarming. When I saw Momo and Echizen crying, it really touches me to see how much they value each other.

I admit that I'm quite mad at Echizen for not taking the match seriously but I'm glad that he finally came to his senses and decided to go to America. Next week's episode shows him having a final match with Kaidou and the Seigaku members are there to send him off at the airport. When will I see Fuji vs Tezuka? Next episode is entitled is Goodbye Seigaku so what does this mean? The series will follow Echizen's quest in US? If that really happens....when will I ever see Tezuka, Atobe and Sanada again????

Ep 170 - Moero, Echizen

Honestly speaking, I'm very sick of Echizen pondering over the decision of US Open vs the Nationals. It's so obvious that he is having second thoughts about choosing the Nationals and he has to attribute that to Tezuka's expectations of him. Tezuka never meant to restrict Echizen's future or potential with his words so I'll see what he has to say to Echizen next week.

Anyway, I think he did Momo a very big disservice by not concentrating on the match and eventually asking to give up. If I was Momo, I would be really angry at Echizen for not taking the match seriously. Well, I just hope that they can get over this decision ASAP as I want to see Tezuka vs Fuji.

To be frank, if they end the anime like that with Echizen going to the US Open, it's a lousy ending to a wonderful anime. I would have preferred that they can end everything at the Nationals whether they win the title or not since I want to see Rikkaidai and Seigaku fight it out again, this time with Tezuka and Yukimura intact. And this is going to be very very unlikely if the anime is going to track Echizen's progress at the US Open or track Seigaku's journey to the Nationals. Either way, it's not really possible since they can't possibly let Echizen win the US Open since it's a place for pros or show Seigaku minus the lead, Echizen. It just irritates me to have the verdict still out in the open as to the fate of this anime.