Spotting Tenipuri at AFA 2012

While walking along the array of toy machines at Anime Festival Asia 2012, I happened to see this Tenipuri machine selling handphone accessories of Echizen, Atobe, Yukimura, Shiraishi and Shiu. Too bad there wasn't Tezuka nor Sanada on offer or I would have tried my luck here to see if I can get any of my Top 3's handphone accessories. Nonetheless, it was still a pleasant surprise seeing something related to Tenipuri-related. Although I no longer follow the manga actively, I finished watching the new anime series some months ago. Just that it's been difficult to find time to write something about that series but as long as this blog is still up and running, I'll still pop by to write some Tenipuri-related stuff, albeit not as often as I would like. In case you are concerned that this blog will be closed, rest assured that it won't happen in the near future. Having spent so much time on this over a couple of years, I'll still like to have the content up here in case new fans of Tenipuri need some resources to refer to.

Till the next update then!

Greetings in 2011!

Happy New Year, everyone!

It's been 4 months since my last update...I can't believe how much I'm neglecting this blog. :-( Well, the usual stuff that stops me from posting as much as I want i.e. work, work and more work plus not following Tenipuri as closely as before. It's not that my interest for Tenipuri is waning but time is really not on my side. Coupled with the fact that I didn't really like what I saw in the new Tenipuri manga, I thought it was best that I don't read it anymore. You'll stil see updates, although not as frequent as before.

For those who have been constantly checking this space, thank you for your support and hope that you'll continue to do so in the future! ^__^

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!

The 500th post and still going strong...

This marks the 500th post of this blog so I thought of writing a short note to all who's been reading and following this blog. To be frank, I'm amazed that I've continued with the blog for such a long time. In another 4 months, I will be celebrating the 5th anniversary of this blog. 5 years is a very long time. Although there were at least 2 extended periods when I stopped updating due to work and study commitments, I'm glad to say that I'm still trying my best to post updates since the revival of this blog late last year. If not for the 100 Kyoku Marathon DVD which got me all hyped up again, I'm sure this blog will still be in slumber mode.

Currently, my focus is on romaji song lyrics, new CD and product releases. As such, there won't be much discussions of the manga's storyline or reviews on the OVA series unless there's something which catches my attention. If you have any request for romaji song lyrics (provided I have the song on CD), please feel free to post a comment to this post. I'll see if I can accommodate that. Right now, whatever I post are mostly those songs which I like. I've got lots of backtracking to do since there are many past releases which I like so it will probably be a long time before I cover the whole list of my favourites.

Last but not least, thank you for reading this and please drop a comment if you can. Take care, everyone!

Looking back at 2008 & 明けましておめでとうございます！

It's the last day of the year again and just a few months ago, I decided to "revive" this blog again since I wasn't content to let it go into history silently. I felt that I had more to contribute so here I am, continuing with this journey of Tenipuri. I don't know how much material I can post or how long this journey will take but as long as there are new items or info in the Tenipuri family, I will try to update them here.

However, for Tenipuri, this year marks the end of the manga and the impending end of the OVA series is approaching next month. After almost 10 years (Jul 99 to Mar 08), the manga ended with Seigaku winning the Nationals. Well, that's kinda expected since Seigaku is the lead team in the story.

However, I would have much wanted Rikkaidai to win as I did not like the expected pattern of Ryoma always winning. It makes a mockery out of the true blue elites in Rikkaidai especially Yukimura. Not to mention Atobe and many other great ones. I'm glad that Sanada won over Tezuka (although I like both of them almost equally) since the former was made to lose to that chibi at the Kantou finals. Sort of feels like sweet revenge for Sanada since this gives greater gratification than if he had been pitted against Ryoma. If it had been Tezuka who won the final match against Yukimura, that might have made me feel better. Anyway, what's done cannot be undone. I just feel terribly upset over this when I think of how Rikkaidai lost.

No doubt the OVA and manga have come to an end, I believe Rajipuri, Tenimyu and the CD releases will continue for some time. Not to mention the countless variety of Tenipuri products released. I'm not even done with posting all the items released in 2008 so you can expect more updates on the merchandise family. There are also many Tenipuri CDs which I bought but have yet to post the romaji lyrics. I hope you have found those lyrics useful when learning how to sing the songs.

If you have any views on this blog or the content posted, please make use of the comment function.

Thank you and may you have a great 2009 ahead! More Tenipuri coming your way!

Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu! 明けまして、おめでとうございます！

Today is the last day of 2006 and it's been more than 2 years since I started this blog. Come to think of it, I am amazed personally at how long this has been kept going although I must admit that I have very little time to post updates recently due to my busy work schedule. Hopefully, I will be able to do more for this space dedicated to Tenipuri in 2007!

Here's a list of things I will try to complete after putting them off for such a long time:

The OVA series will be coming to an end next year. I haven't been posting the reviews for the DVDs since Vol 2 so it's time to catch up on the progress and do something about it. By the way, the OVA series will end with the Hyotei Nationals arc so we can be sure that we are not going to see Shitenbouji in action unless there will be another OVA series.

From January, there will be a string of CD releases from IndexMusic (formerly known as NEC Interchannel) ranging from solo singles to special units like Aozu and Hyotei Eternity. More information on these coming your way!

The next volume of the manga i.e. Vol 36 is due on 4 January 07. It was actually supposed to be released early this month but it was postponed to next month instead. Maybe it had to do with the break that Konomi-sensei took when he was injured so that the publisher had to adjust the schedule.

Thanks to all those who have been visiting this site regularly in the past year and hope to see you again next year!

Happy New Year to all and may you have a great year ahead! ^__^

Release Date of Manga Vol 34

According to the Shueisha website, the release date of the manga's Vol 34 will be tentatively fixed on 4 July 06. Barring any unforseen circumstances, the release date will remain unchanged.

As for Vol 33 released on the 2nd of this month, I have finished reading it and will post the review within the next few days.

Reflection on 2005 & Hopes for 2006

This is the final day of the year and it's been more than 1 year since I started this blog on Tenipuri. Well, I decided to create this website once I got hooked on the anime which was recommended by a friend. To be frank, I never expected myself to be that obsessed with Tenipuri. Even though the anime had ended in March this year (what a "wonderful" birthday present!), I find myself still going wild over various items released be it the DVDs, CDs or manga. As long as the manga is continuing, Interchannel releases more character CDs and there are more anime OVAs coming my way, I'm sure I'll have sufficient material to carry on with this blog. And that means more money to spend on Tenipuri too. Anyway, I know very well that there are lots of things I can cover but due to the lack of time, I tend to miss out these items. Over time, there's a lot of backlog and available resources to tap on so I'm not worried over running out of stuff to post.

In 2005, besides buying the monthly DVD releases which ended in Oct, I found myself buying a lot of Tenipuri-related items too:

1) Love Game Fan Disc DVD (Feb) - Lots of Rikkai-goodness!
2) DVD Vol 37 (Feb)
3) DVD Vol 38 (Mar)
4) DVD Vol 39 (Apr)
5) DVD Vol 40 (May)
6) All volumes of the manga up till Vol 31 (Dec)
7) DVD Vol 41 (Jun)
8) Movie DVDs (Jul) - All 3 editions
9) DVD Vol 42 (Jul)
10) with by Tezuka Kunimitsu (Jul) - album was released in Jan but I only made up my mind to buy it after hearing some of the songs on Rajipuri.
11) Movie's soundtrack (Jul)
12) Gather by Ao to Bin to Can (Jul) - single by Senbatsu members for movie
13) DVD Vol 43 (Aug) - Hyotei cover
14) Rajipuri CD - Atobe & Tezuka (Aug)
15) Rajipuri CD - Sanada & Tezuka (Aug)
16) DVD Vol 44 (Sep) - Rikkai cover
17) Keep on Going by Sanada Genichirou (Sep)
18) DVD Vol 45 (Oct) - Seigaku cover
19) Shueisha Tenipuri 2006 Calendar (Oct)
20) Dakishimete Shimaisousa by Tezuka Kunimitsu (Oct)
21) Try-X Tenipuri 2006 Calendar (Nov)
22) Go! Go! Megane's by Megane's (Dec)
23) Best and Brightest Remix Fan Disc (Dec)
24) 30.5 Illustration Book (Dec)

It's scary to see how much money I have spent on Tenipuri-items this year but I think I'll probably spend lesser next year since I don't have to buy the anime DVD on a monthly basis. I'm still not done with the whole set of the DVDs though as I need to get the earlier volumes from No.1 to No.19. There's also the OVA DVD in March to look forward to plus the Atobe and Oshitari Valentine Kiss singles in Feb. The manga will be released once every two months so this will free up resources for other things.

As I've said before, I will not want to watch the real-life movie because I know it will spoil my wonderful image of the series. I simply cannot fathom what the casting director is thinking so spare me from the misery of criticising the movie. I really hope to see more ANIME movies and OVAs in future instead of doing such real-life projects. It's hard to find anyone who looks like the characters and after seeing an old pimple-faced Tezuka wannabe and Atobe-imposter in the cast, I am just hoping and praying that they will leave my dearest Genichirou alone. This movie must be the only thing in Tenipuri which I'm not looking forward to in the new year.

Some surprises this year would be:
- The release of Sanada's second single
- The release of Tezuka's first birthday single
- The release of 2 fan discs within a span of 1 year
- Seeing Tsuda Kenjirou in Hana Yori Dango
- The release of the Rajipuri CDs

My wishlist for 2006:
- Another Tenipuri ANIME movie / OVA DVD release
- Sanada Genichirou's solo album
- Atobe-sama to release another single/ full album
- Tezuka-bucchou's new album/ single
- A collaboration single/album among my Top 3 favourites of Sanada, Atobe and Tezuka. Group name...the Kings?!
- More money to buy Tenipuri stuff

Here's wishing all those who are reading this a happy new year!

First anniversary of Tenipuri no Sekai

It's been one year since I started this blog. Well, I should have posted more than I really did since 50 entries in 365 calendar days is not anything to boast about. Anyway, this blog details my obsession with Tenipuri and I'm still very enthusiastic over this even though the anime has ended and there's only the manga and CDs to follow. Even the DVDs release will end in Oct.

It all began one fine day when a friend told me about this anime and I gave it a try. Wow, I was hooked from day one and downloaded all the fan sub episodes. Until it came to a stage when I couldn't wait for the fansubs, I actually downloaded the raws to watch first. In a way, this helped to improve my Japanese as it trains my listening abilities so I have Tenipuri to thank in that sense.

I'm still not done with collecting all the DVDs. There are 45 of them and I would still have about 17 volumes (the earlier ones) to buy even though I've bought or reserved the later ones. As for character CDs, I've got the Tezuka album, Genichirou's singles will arrive next month, the movie and anime soundtrack vol 2 and 3. I'll probably get more after I complete the purchase of the DVDs. The more pressing problem is where to store them since I'm running out of space.

News has it that fanbook 30.5 would be out soon. Vol 29 of the manga is already out so vol 30 should be out by Oct. In that case, 30.5 might be published before the end of the year or latest early next year. I guess this will include a lot of info about the teams in the Nationals. Somehow, in my opinion, I don't really like the new rivals especially that Okinawa school which Seigaku is facing. I can't find a single guy who is more pleasing to my eye. The teams prior to the Nationals looked a bit "evil" during the matches but once you got to know them better, you would grow to like them especially Atobe whom I really detested when Tezuka lost to him but now, I'm simply obsessed with him. The teams in the Nationals so far don't seem that "nice" and it's hard to remember them in the manga since animated visuals tend to be easier to remember than still images. Maybe that's why there is this difference in my acceptance of the new characters. However, Chitose and Oshitari's cousin seem quite cool. Oh, I think Oshitari's cousin's name should be Kenya but I'll check again.

Anyway, here's to many returns of the year and hope that I'll continue this for as long as I can. Well, even if Tenipuri ends, I doubt that I'll stop working on this blog since I have lots of things to say.

Watashi no Profile

It's been some time since I started on this blog but I've not posted this yet. Something just feels missing if I don't do this soon but it will just be a short one since I'll add on whenever I think of something...

Name: Chiaki
Date of Birth: 27 March 1982
Location: Singapore
Current occupation: Struggling in a sickening job facing sickening people (Sigh...)

Favourites
Pastime: J-ent related stuff like dramas, variety shows, music and of course anime and manga, surfing the Net, playing games
Anime: Prince of Tennis, Slam Dunk (one of the first I got started on), Kindaichi Shonen no Jikenbo, Tantei Gakuen Q
Manga: Prince of Tennis, Slam Dunk, Kindaichi Shonen no Jikenbo, Hyoryu Kyoshitsu, Tantei Gakuen Q, Psychometrer Eiji, Itazura Na Kiss
Music: Mostly J-music (pop, rock, R & B) and older English songs
Artistes: TOKIO, V6, Arashi (just to name a few)
Colours: Black, Blue
Food: Chicken, seafood (prawns and crab)
Drink: Plain water

New Start

First post on this blogger page.
Well, I got started for the sake of noting down my thoughts and views on an easily accessible medium. I'm too lazy to write it physically on paper and since I'm online every day, I might as well use this function to get things started.
Today was my sole off day from work. I tried going for a pedicure the first time in my life. It was a relaxing experience and much more enjoyable than what i thought. Maybe I should do this on a regular basis to pamper my feet which are doing so much walking around and standing.
Off to watch Amazing Race on TV now!