OVA Vol 1 Ep 1: Kaettekita Oujisama (The prince who has returned)

Received the DVD last Friday and finished watching it last night. Before I go into the storyline, here is a description of the contents. Besides the DVD itself, there are two photos instead of the usual three given out in the anime series DVD. In this first volume, the two characters who get to have their photos included are Tezuka and Echizen. Incidentally, both of them have made their return to the series through the OVA since Echizen was supposed to be in the midst of his US Open tournament while Tezuka should have returned after a long treatment trip in Germany.

Actually, I wonder if the scriptwriter had forgotten about the ending of the series since the sudden appearance of Tezuka at the lot-picking session of the National Tournament didn't seem logical. Tezuka had already returned to Japan during the Senbatsu Arc and announced his return to the Seigaku team soon after that. It was even before Echizen's departure for the US Open. As such, the so-called "return" of Tezuka where everyone seemed so shocked over it just felt awkward as if the scriptwriter wanted to put attention on Tezuka. Besides, since he had already returned to the team, it didn't seem logical for him to let Oiishi turn up for the lot-picking alone since he's the bucchou. Well, I'm not complaining about more airtime for Tezuka but then the scriptwriters should get their act together and not put conflicting developments in the plot.

As for the other freebies, there's the mini-poster of Echizen, Tezuka, Atobe and Shiraishi in the same fashion as the cover. There is also a form where you collect the coupons in the remaining 6 volumes to take part in a lucky draw. Last but not least, there's the form for the special screening of OVA Vol 2 to be held in May where fans can also meet some of the seiyuus.

Within the DVD itself, there is the seiyuu interview and audio commentary by Mizuki Hajime (Ishida Akira) and Fuji Yuuta (Tomita Makoto). In the seiyuu interview, you won't get to see the entire Seigaku cast since there are only 5 of them which includes Minagawa Junko (Echizen), Tsuda Kenjirou (Inui), Kawamoto Naru (Kawamura Takashi), Kiyasu Kohei (Kaidou) and Suwabe Junichi (Atobe). Apparently, the filming of the interview was done on the first day of the recording and Minagawa happened to be nursing a bad flu since she was coughing and sniffing away. As for the audio commentary, you will get to see the whole episode being replayed as you hear Mizuki making snide remarks here and there while Yuuta tries to keep Mizuki from going overboard. ^__^ It was quite funny to hear them speak although I thought it would have been better to see them in person rather than watch the whole story all over again.

Coming to the storyline, if you have been following the manga, you would notice some differences in the OVA. The seiyuus also said that the story would not follow the manga completely but they were unclear about the direction as at this point in time. Essentially, this episode tells you what happened before the Nationals Tournament begins. Like what I mentioned above, the lot-picking session just didn't gel with the ending of the anime series but this was somewhat similar to the manga itself because at that time, Tezuka had not returned from Kyushu. As such, it can be interpreted in the sense that the staff were trying to twist the story in the anime to go in the same direction as the manga.

Most of the episode was on the first day of competition for the National Tournament with Higa and Rokkaku having a face-off. Of course, we all know by now that Rokkaku lost miserably but Saeki's efforts were commendable despite his teammates sending Oji to the hospital and being alone on the court. Frankly speaking, the Higa guys with the exception of Hiragoba Rin were definitely not good-looking and they got on my nerves so much that I can't wait to see the Higa arc over soon. However, it looks as if these guys will be around until at least Vol 3 since Vol 2 only features the matches of Singles 3 (Echizen) and Doubles 2 (Taka-san & Fuji).

Another significant difference was Oiishi challenging Echizen to a match where the latter has to win all the sets in order to secure a place in the team. Well, in the manga, it was Oiishi vs Tezuka since the latter returned from Kyushu but in the anime, Echizen was the one who was absent for a period of time so Oiishi wanted to get him into the team and boost Seigaku's chances in the National Tournament.

The next episode in Vol 2 due in May will definitely mark the start of the Higa arc so we can finally get to see some tennis action very soon.

With regards to the content in this first episode of the OVA, I can't say that there are too many surprises since the developments are largely in tune with the manga. My only grouse would be that I'm not seeing enough of my Top 3 favourites. Atobe had only one line, Sanada had two and Tezuka had less than 5! Give me more of them! However, I think it will be sometime before I see Sanada again since he might appear only if Seigaku appears in the finals against Rikkai. As for Atobe, once the Higa arc is over, he will appear but I'm definitely not looking forward to him losing to Echizen and his hair being shaved off by that brat. Yes, he lost in the singles 1 quarterfinal match and Echizen actually shaved Atobe's hair off while he was immobilised due to fatigue. This development was shown in the latest issue of Jump and it will be a month later before we get the next issue since Konomi-sensei is taking time off to recuperate from his accident injuries.