Otanjoubi Omedetou, Yukimura Seiichi

Today's the birthday of the captain of Rikkaidai Fuzokuchuu's tennis team, Yukimura Seiichi! No doubt he's regarded the Big Three within Rikkai and was in the regulars team since Year 1 along with Sanada and Yanagi, Yukimura has never played a single match be it in the anime or manga. That is because right from the time he first appeared, he had been staying in the hospital due to an illness which required surgery. However, I'm glad to inform that he has already recovered and will join Rikkai in their quest for the Nationals title. So far, he has been restricted to the bench as a coach for the team but I'm sure if Seigaku meets Rikkai in the finals, there's no reason to put Yukimura as a reserve since everyone is dying to find out just how good he is. By the way, in case you are wondering where this picture comes from, it was scanned from the Shueisha calendar where Yukimura is featured for the week ending 11 March. His famous line of "Kurou kakeru" (I've been a burden to you) has been repeated countless times whenever he tries to apologise to Sanada and the rest of the members for the inconveniences caused by his absence. Doesn't he look good in casual clothing since all we get to see is him wearing the Rikkai jersey and the hospital wear for patients? Okaerinasai, Yukimura!

I'm looking forward to him playing either Tezuka or Fuji because both him and Tezuka overcame the odds (illness vs injury) to return to the team. As for Fuji, both of them are similar in the sense that they usually smile all the time but who knows what they have up their sleeves? That's why I think that it will be very interesting to see them play against each other. However, this is just my personal wish and the premise must be that Seigaku will win all their remaining rounds before they can meet Rikkai in the finals.

Competition at Rikkai's end is not as stiff if you compare it to Seigaku's journey since they will meet the victor between the Shitenbouji and Fudoumine clash should they beat Hyotei in this round. Well, I think Konomi-sensei would not let Seigaku's journey end like this so it's probably a foregone conclusion that Hyotei will lose. And that means Atobe shaves his hair off?! Oh, no! Oops, I'm deviating from the theme of this post...

I just hope that Konomi-sensei will NOT let Echizen take the match with Yukimura since this usually means that the opponent will lose. Let Tezuka or Fuji play against Yukimura! I am also hoping that Sanada doesn't play with Echizen again. That illogical way of losing in the Kantou Tournament still makes me mad to date. I just don't wish to see the same thing happening to Yukimura who might be showing off his skills for the first time in an official match if Rikkai does meet Seigaku in the finals.

The seiyuu who plays Yukimura is Nagai Sachiko, a lady who's also active in stage plays. By the way, for those who are interested, you may read her official blog here. Nagai-san hails from Kagoshima Prefecture and was born on 8 April. As the character Yukimura, she has released one character single to date by the title of "Shinjitsu". A little piece of trivia about her is that she belongs to the same theatre group as Kiyasu Kohei, another seiyuu who plays the role of Kaidou Kaoru.