Happy New Year!

Today marks the start of a brand new year and I would like to begin by wishing everyone a very Happy New Year! 明けましておめでとうございます！

2009 was an eventful year for Tenipuri. Besides the continuous CD releases and ever-increasing range of merchandise being produced by various vendors, there were two major happenings which deserved special mention. One would be the Ariake event where seiyuus from Seigaku, Rikkai, Hyotei, Shitenhouji and Higa made appearances. I'm not exactly sure what they did there but it could be quite similar to the 100-song marathon held in 2008. Another major happening was the continuation of the manga, albeit in a different format. This time round, the guys are going to take on senior high school students.

Frankly speaking, I'm quite disappointed at the direction where the new series is heading towards. Essentially, Ryoma is going to be invincible. AGAIN. I don't know how everyone feels about it but it is simply unrealistic to let him win everything just because he's the lead. That is why Tenipuri has been losing a lot of fans. Some of my friends were so put off by the fact that Ryoma would win every match that they stopped reading the manga. Already, sales of the manga aren't as encouraging as before. It takes ages to build up a following but it wouldn't take long for everything to go down the drain. Ever since the part where people who formed teams for the sake of playing doubles were made to fight each other (especially when Sanada lost so easily to Yukimura), everything went downhill for me. Now, what keeps my passion for Tenipuri going is the affection I feel for the characters after all these years. The story doesn't matter as much to me now.

This has been a very long journey for me since I started the blog in August 2004. It's almost 6 years now and I'm amazed that I've stayed faithful to Tenipuri for such a long time. For as long as the series continue and new releases are being produced, this blog will continue to be in existence. Thank you for your support so far and I hope to see your comments in time to come.

By the way, I've received a lot of enquiries about whether I see the things listed here. Please note that the merchandise info I've posted are purely for reference. This is to facilitate those who go to Japan and wish to look out for Tenipuri merchandise. I don't run a business here so you may wish to check out stores like Animate in Akihabara or do a search of the manufacturer's website. One thing to take note is, the info is usually made available after the product's release date. As such, you may see that I post things which had been released a few months ago. Chances are, if they are popular items, you may not be able to find them. Nonetheless, I hope the information I've posted will help you to expand your Tenipuri collection.

Till my next post, see you and best wishes for the year ahead!