New trading card boosters

Here are 2 new booster pack series as listed on the OVA's official website:

1) Special Booster No.5 "Best Partner"
Release Date: 14 Sep 2006
Price: 315 yen per pack
Specifications: 5 cards in each pack
No. of patterns: 70
Remarks: Cards feature characters in pairs and there are also specially-designed doubles cards in this series to mark the 100th doubles card version release.

2) Booster No.18 "The Strong Assembles"
Release Date: 10 Aug 2006
Price: 210 yen
Specifications: 7 cards in each pack
No. of patterns: 93
Remarks: Focus on the schools in the Best 8 of the Nationals including Seigaku, Hyotei, Rikkaidai, Fudoumine and Shitenbouji

Otanjoubi Omedetou, Kamio Akira!

Today's the birthday of Kamio Akira, the speedster from Fudoumine! As we know it, Kamio's strength lies in his speed on the court and he's not called the speed demon of Fudoumine for nothing. Due to his obsession with speed, this seems to have influenced his temperament to a large extent that he flares up easily when provoked. It is especially obvious when he's with Momo or the matter involves An. Nevertheless, his behaviour doesn't get on my nerves as much as his hairstyle which covers half of his face where I find the latter more annoying. However, I still find Kamio a joy to watch most of the times since he provides much comical relief during "clashes" with Momo.

Name: Kamio Akira
Date of Birth: 26 Aug
School: Fudoumine Junior High, Year 2
Height: 165cm
Weight: 52kg
Blood Group: O
Play-style: Right-handed, counter puncher
Favourite shoes: NEW BALANCE WCT 800
Favourite racket: DUNLOP XL Mega Impedance Titanium
Special Technique: Sonic Bullet
Favourite Food: Hourensou no Ohitashi and Portofu
Hobbies: Music and karaoke
Family: Parents and Elder sister
Father's Occupation: Employee of travel agency
Subjects good at: Sports (running) and music
Favourite colours: flourescent yellow and green
Favourite trait in girls: Cute smiles

Yukimura Seiichi's 2nd single details

Yukimura Seiichi, the captain of Rikkaidai Fuuzokuchuu will be releasing his 2nd single since the first CD 2 years and 3 months ago. His new single's title is Yume no Tsuzuki (Continuation of Dream) and it will be on sale from 30 Aug. Catalog number is NECM-10049 and the selling price is 777 yen.

Atobe Keigo 2nd album's special launch events

To mark the release of Atobe Keigo's 2nd album on 4 Oct, there will be a series of talks-cum-handshaking events featuring his seiyuu i.e. Suwabe Junichi:

1) Date: 14 Oct 2006 (Sat)
Start: 1.30pm
Venue: Hotel Merieges (Miyazaki Prefecture, Miyazaki City)

2) Date: 15 Oct 2006 (Sun)
Start: 1pm
Venue: Sanrio Building Strawberry Hall (Oita Prefecture, Oita City)

3) Date: 21 Oct 2006 (Sat)
Start: 12.30pm
Venue: Sun Eleven Takamatsu (Kagawa Prefecture, Takamatsu City)

4) Date: 22 Oct 2006 (Sun)
Start: 2pm
Venue: Nishikawa I Plaza (Okayama Prefecture, Okayama City)

5) Date: 5 Nov 2006 (Sun)
Start: 2pm
Venue: Akabane Kaikan (Tokyo-to, Kita-ku)

6) Date: 19 Nov 2006 (Sun)
Start: 2pm
Venue: Papilion 24 Gus Hall (Fukuoka Prefecture, Fukuoka City)

7) Date: 26 Nov 2006 (Sun)
Start: 1pm
Venue: Sapporo Esta 11F Planis Hall(Hokkaido, Sapporo City)

The tickets to these events are given out at Animate and Broccoli stores when you purchase the album. Each customer is entitled to one ticket only. For the sessions in Oct, you have to go to Animate stores while for the sessions in Nov, the exchange is done at Broccoli stores. You may visit the respective stores' websites to view more information.

Otanjoubi Omedetou, Tachibana Kippei!

Today's the birthday of the captain from Fudoumine i.e. Tachibana Kippei who was regarded as the Top 2 from the Kyuushuu region along with Chitose before he transferred to Fudoumine. I don't know if this is an uncanny coincidence but it seems like the more prominent captains (except Atobe) are either sick or injured thus resulting in them being M.I.A. for a long time. If not for the injury which Tachibana sustained during the Kantou Tournament, he would have taken part in the Senbatsu team camp along with Kamio and Ibu which meant more exciting battles to be seen. Anyway, it's just too bad that he has lost to Chitose in the Nationals so we probably won't be seeing him in action anymore. Nevertheless, there is still a chance of spotting him around since it's likely that many of the characters will be present during the Nationals' semi-finals and finals as spectators.

Name: Tachibana Kippei
School: Fudoumine Junior High Year 3
Date of Birth: 15 Aug
Zodiac Sign: Leo
Height: 179cm
Weight: 67kg
Blood Group: O
Playstyle: All-rounder, right-handed
Favourite shoes: NIKE Air Zoom Beyond
Favourite racquet: TOALSON SYSTEM-PEO03
Favourite food: Tea-based items
Hobbies: Japanese cuisine
Family members: Great-grandmother, grandmother, parents and younger sister
Father's Occupation: Employee at manufacturing company
Subjects good at: technical studies, English
Favourite colour: Blue
Type of girl he likes: Health-conscious

Upcoming Tenipuri Merchandise in Dec 06 & Jan 07

Here are some Tenipuri merchandise to be released in Dec 06 and Jan 07:

1) Prince of Tennis Vol.1 (Tentative title)
Catalog Number: NEOSL - 11339
Price: 4200 yen
Release Date: 18 Jan 2007
Preorders by: 16 Aug 2006
Box set of ten figures including Tezuka Kunimitsu, Echizen Ryoma, Fuji Shuusuke, Kirihara Akaya, Atobe Keigo and 2 unannounced characters.

2) Prince of Tennis PRINCE BOX - PureWhite
Catalog Number: NEOSL-11340
Price: 2500 yen
Release Date: 14 Dec 2006
Preorders by: 16 Aug 2006
Includes nine bromide papers featuring characters Echizen Ryoma, Tezuka Kunimitsu, Fuji Shuusuke, Fuji Yuuta & Mizuki Hajime, Niou Masaharu & Yagyuu Hiroshi, Toyama Kintaro & Shiraishi Kuranosuke, Chitose & Oshitari Kenya, Yukimura Seiichi & Sanada Genichirou and Ibu Shinji & Kamio Akira. One mount for bromides, one trading card with a message from a character and one figure i.e. Echizen Ryoma in Christmas costume version. Box size: H40mm x W200mm x D155mm

3) Prince of Tennis PRINCE BOX - PureBlue
Catalog Number: NEOSL-11341
Price: 2500 yen
Release Date: 14 Dec 2006
Preorder: 16 Aug 2006
Includes nine bromide papers featuring characters Kikumaru Eiji & Oishi Shuuichirou, Inui Sadaharu & Kaidou Kaoru, Momoshiro Takeshi & Kawamura Takashi, Marui Bunta & Akutagawa Jirou, Ootori Choutarou & Shishido Ryo, Sengoku Kiyosumi, Kirihara Akaya, Oshitari Yuushi and Atobe Keigo. One mount for bromides, one figure i.e. Atobe Keigo in Christmas costume version. Box size: H40mm x W200mm x D155mm.

Atobe Keigo, "Charm Point wa Nakibokuro" at Oricon No.24

Atobe Keigo's new single, "Charm Point wa Nakibokuro" has achieved a No.24 placing on the Oricon weekly singles' chart dated 14 Aug 06 with a sales record of 8815 copies. I've received this single last week and will be posting a review of this as soon as I find the time.

Given my tight schedule these days, I haven't even watched Vol 3 of the OVA which I received about 2 weeks ago. And there's still the review of Vol 34 of the manga and Vol 2 of the OVA series which I've not posted. Sorry about the delay and I'll try to catch up on the backlog as soon as I can. In the meantime, please continue to check this blog for the Tenipuri-related updates.

Rajipuri Aug 2006 Ep 176

The hosts for Aug's Rajipuri will be Minagawa Junko and Ueda Yoji who play Echizen Ryoma and Tanishi Kei respectively. Doesn't it feel strange for them to be paired up even though they had played against each other in the OVA?

The guest for Ep 176 is Kusuda Toshiyuki who plays Shishido Ryo.

As for the theme songs of August, the OP will be COSMOS by Tanishi Kei while the ED is Michishirube by Chinen Hiroshi.

Trading Cards New Season Part 1

The latest release under the Tenipuri trading cards range is "New Season Part 1" which goes on sale from 20 July. Each pack costs 357 yen and there are 10 cards within. There are 90 patterns in all and 3 special version cards as part of the premiums given away in the box version. The focus of this new release is on the OVA series thus characters who do not appear in the OVAs will not be featured here. Another point to take note would be that the characters appear in casual clothing instead of school uniforms/ sports jerseys.