This volume marks the beginning of the Hyoutei arc in the Nationals so we are going to see lots of familiar faces from now on. The thing is everyone seems to have new tricks up their sleeves so it is a challenge of trying to keep track of the names for the special techniques. Luckily, we are dealing with a school who is playing against Seigaku for the third time so there's no need to remember the names of the rivals.
We start off with Singles 3 where Momo is up against Oshitari. This is the second time they have played against each other ever since the Doubles 2 match during the Kantou Tournament first round. At that time, Momo took the place of Oishi whose wrist was injured and paired up with Kikumaru to beat Oshitari and Mukahi. The Hyoutei pair lost mainly due to Mukahi's lack of stamina and their conceited attitude which made them underestimate the Seigaku pair. As such, this is a very important match for both parties since they don't want to lose to each other. Especially for Oshitari, losing to the same person again simply goes against his principles so he is burning with desire to defeat Momo or he would never progress to the next level.
Initially, Momo has the upper hand because he has changed his playing style from an aggressive approach focusing on strength to one which uses less of his energy and concentrate on reacting according to the situation. However, he finds that he cannot read Oshitari's thoughts after 4 games even though the latter should be showing frustration at Momo's lead. And coupled with the fact that Oshitari has a number of new tricks up his sleeve, Momo seems unable to retalliate. Here's a list of the new techniques:
F & D: Fake & Dropshot
F A S: Flat Approach Shot
S S A S: Side Spin Approach Shot
I must admit that it is a mouthful to say these names. Trust Konomi-sensei to come up with these!
The turning point of the match comes when Momo bumps into the light beam at the side of the court and hurts his forehead. He was chasing a side shot from Oshitari and lost control thus leading to the injury. However, he refuses to give up despite the bleeding forehead. Although everyone thinks that Oshitari might finish the match quickly so as to take advantage of the situation, he decides to play to his heart's content since it's rare to bump into a rival who has so much perservance and desire in winning like Momo. In the end, Oshitari wins Singles 3 with the scoreline of 6-4.
Next up is Doubles 2 where Mukahi & Hiyoshi meet Inui & Kaidou. After seeing Momo's performance, it gets Inui very much heated up and he delivers his usual high speed serve. Due to comments that it feels very much like being swallowed by rapid waters, Inui decides to name his serve as "Waterfall". The Seigaku pair gets the first game easily because of Waterfall which measures 212 km/h, at least 10km/h faster than Ootori's Scud Serve.
However, the Hyoutei pair has a plan to finish the game as quickly as possible given that they will stand to lose out against Inui & Kaidou who boast of long-lasting stamina. It is especially important for Mukahi to do his acrobatic moves quickly or he would not be able to display them if this becomes a marathon match. That is why Sakaki has put Mukahi and Hiyoshi together despite them not enthusiastic about being doubles partners.
Inui and Kaidou sees through their aim and allows Hyoutei to go right to the match point before they start retalliating. At that time, Mukahi and Hiyoshi are already dog-tired since Kaidou had tricked them to use all of their energy before this. Thus, when he starts to use his new shot, "Tornado Snake" and Inui uses his data-tennis, they turn the tables on Hyoutei and grab the second match with a 7-5 victory.
Singles 2 pits Tezuka and Kabaji which comes as a shock to most of the spectators since nobody expected Tezuka to appear so quickly. Even though some are thinking that this will be a walkover since Kabaji is nowhere close to Atobe's level, they fail to realise that Kabaji is the copycat genius. As such, it may appear that Tezuka has the upper hand but it is definitely not the case. As Kabaji can copy Tezuka's moves easily, it will be like seeing 2 Tezukas on court where Tezuka is in actual fact fighting with himself. Imagine Kabaji and Tezuka both using Tezuka Zone! And Tezuka doesn't use his Zero Shiki drop shot because Kabaji will pick this up easily which is not to his advantage.
This volume ends with a recap of what happened to Tezuka during his Kyuushu rehabillitation trip where he meets a little girl who accuses him of stealing her tennis racket. It seems like Tezuka is having psychological problems in trusting whether he has the ability to play tennis again so remembering this episode during his match with Kabaji should have some significance to help him secure victory.
I'm elated to see Tezuka back but I'm very disappointed to see that his opponent was not Atobe. I was looking forward to them having a re-match but Konomi-sensei has chosen to pit Atobe against Echizen in Singles 1. And it looks like Jirou and Fuji will not play in this round since Doubles 2 is played by the Golden Pair (Oiishi & Kikumaru) vs Shishido & Ootori. Singles 3, Doubles 2 and probably the beginning of Singles 1 would be featured in Vol 33 to be released on 2 May but I had read a number of issues of Shonen Jump so that's how I knew about the order before they are shown in the manga volumes. Anyway, to avoid spoiling the fun for those who had not followed Jump, I won't discuss those matches yet.
Today is not exactly the birthday of Fuji Shuusuke since his is on 29 Feb. However, given that this special day only occurs once every 4 years, I decided to post this birthday feature on 28 Feb instead of leaving it till 1 Mar. Otanjoubi omedetou, Fuji Shuusuke-kun!
