Finally bought the remaining volumes of the manga

Hehe...should have posted it on Friday but no time to do that... Anyway, I finally got the last 12 volumes of the manga up to 28 so Vol 29 should be out in June. Looking forward to it ^__^ That's another 120 bucks gone but I'm happy with it.

I notice from the manga that Seigaku's 2nd round opponent for Kantou is Midoriyama instead of Jousei Shonan. So that means Jousei won't be appearing in the manga at all? I think that team must be the one I like least. None of their members are particularly appealing except for Kajimoto but he didn't play a proper match yet. No idea of how good he is. Shinjou feels like a puppet of Hanamura-sensei to me and I think he listens to her blindly. I doubt the manga would spend so much time on Midoriyama since there's still Rokkaku and Rikkaidai to go. I'm only at Vol 19 now and reading about one book per day. At this rate, I'll probably be done by next week or early the week after.

There is still Ryoma cum Seigaku-team single to mark the finale of the anime and it's only sold till June. The thing is, I'm still wondering whether to buy this and there's that movie OST due in June. I'm going to be very broke in June given that I have to pay for the movie DVDs and the regular anime DVDs. Thus, I'm still contemplating on whether to click that purchase button for this single...

Otanjoubi Omedetou, Oishi Shuichirou!

Today is the very reliable Oishi-fukubucchou's birthday! He's a very likeable character, so cute when he goes red in front of girls and cares a lot about the people around him. He's definitely going to be a very popular doctor in future if he follows his dad's path... Maybe he should do something about that two strands of the fringe which makes him look quite comical. Whatever came over him to do that since his hairstyle was pretty "normal" when he was in Sec 1 and 2? ^__^

Anyway, it's going to be May tomorrow and there's only 8 weeks to get the movie DVDs. Can't wait for that to come soon! Vol 40 of the DVD is all about Ryoma... I don't dislike him but that match with Kevin is too exaggerated. I'll probably run through that DVD to check only... Somehow, I feel that for the Senbatsu arc, the matches get more boring as it progresses. The Atobe-Sanada match was simply the best, Eiji and Oshitari were good too, Sengoku was fighting well and even Fuji showed his skills even though he sort of won easily. Akaya was doing fine until they had to pull him off to make way for Ryoma...sigh...

I've finally bought the remaining volumes of the manga so I can continue my "love-affair" with Tenipuri in this form now that the anime has ended...Hopefully, Konomi-sensei will finish the Nationals arc properly before ending the series. I'm still looking forward to Seigaku vs Rikkaidai where Tezuka can fight head-on with Yukimura or maybe a Hyotei vs Rikkaidai match sometime where Atobe and Sanada can finish their half-done match during the Senbatsu. Eh, is there even a Senbatsu arc in the manga? Vol 28 is their preparation for the Nationals so from then on, the actual matches should begin...

DVD 39 and 24 finally received

I went through so much to receive this month's DVD...It's all the courier company's fault for causing so much delays. I could have received them on Friday but only got it yesterday! Chikusho!

Anyway, this month's DVD has photos of Ayaka and Niou, the Senbatsu team plus Tezuka minus Fuji and Tezuka, Sanada and Sengoku. That's why I'm feeling better since I get to see so much of Tezuka and Sanada... ^__^

It will be another two months before I receive the movie DVDs. Now, it's another long wait till next month when Vol 40 comes. I'm already running out of space to store the DVDs. Have to think of something soon...

Rewatched the Sengoku match and Fuji & Eiji's match with Rokkaku just to test the DVDs. Simply no motivation to see Kevin even though Akaya was awesome with his Phantom ball...

And I finished the first 16 volumes of the manga in its original Japanese version. I want to buy the remaining 12 volumes since the vol 29 would most probably be out only in June but no $$. Have to work harder and hopefully switch jobs before June. I can't stay any longer in this hell...

Thoughts about Atobe's single

Yeah! Finally got a chance to hear the single. I like Riyuu but the song E Kimochi is so "childish" and more of an Eiji-style song so it makes me cringe when imagining Atobe-sama sing that. *shiver* Anyway, there are also two voice messages from Atobe-sama and I'm swooning from his voice... Too bad it's not in the singles chart anymore after that No.9 debut...

Vol 39 of the DVD would be coming next Friday! Banzai!!! Now, I have to work even hard to cover the costs of Vol 41 and the movie's DVDs in June... So little money to spare...

I came across a site which had some comments on some of the anime episodes. Although I think that the webmaster is a bit too critical on some parts, it sure made me see things which were not so logical in the anime. Anyway, I'm busy with watching the new season dramas, Monster and Yakitate these days so it would be some time before I rerun Tenipuri for the third time. I'm watching random episodes as and when I feel like it and some of the matches like the Atobe-Tezuka match, I must have watched it at least 3 times...I'm hopelessly addicted to some of the matches and yet there are some I don't feel like watching like the Sanada-Echizen match. I only watch the earlier portion when Sanada wallops Echizen like crazy but skip the conclusion before it was such an unconvincing loss for Sanada. Till today, I still feel this way and it's highly unlikely that I'm going to change my view on this.

Rikkaidai poster, yeah!

Happened to come across a Rikkaidai poster which I bought without hesitation. Besides the two calendars on my wall, there is this new poster... Am I going bonkers with my Tenipuri addiction? Anyway, that's not the point I'm trying to make today.

I wish I could upload that pic here but the poster is too large for my flatbed scanner so I'll just describe it. All the members are shown in the poster and I think Genichirou and Yukimura look absolutely cool here. Marui is winking with one eye closed and tongue stuck out (kawaii!!!), Renji has his eyes closed as usual, Akaya looking cute and relatively "harmless", Yagyuu has his shirt unbuttoned and revealing a little flesh (sexy!!!), Niou and Jackal as usual. They are wearing their jerseys so I can't see their legs (chikusho!!) but I'm quite content. It's rare to find posters of Rikkaidai where the main focus is only on Seigaku or Hyotei. There was another poster of the various bucchou(s) but not all of them are of interest especially the Rudolf and Yamabuki ones. If there's a poster featuring Tezuka, Atobe and Genichirou, I'll grab it the moment I see it. ^__^

Eagerly anticipating the DVD release on next Fri...and 2 months to receiving the movie DVD...Tanoshimi desu ne!

Atobe's single, Riyuu/E kimochi No.9 on Oricon!!

I happened to see this when I was surfing the NEC website which shows Tenipuri CD releases. Apparently, Atobe's single being the 100th CD release from Tenipuri was a special item and they mentioned something like the track number being shown as 99 on the CD player and it's a deliberate thing. Don't know what they mean but might probably get the CD to hear for myself. Anyway, what was very interesting and surprising was the fact that this CD got No.9 on the Oricon singles chart for this week (11 Apr). In terms of sales figures it's quite far from No.1's BoA (66749 vs 15988) but I think it's a major achievement since Atobe-sama is in fact not a real-life person but an anime character. It's very rare for anime character CDs to get such high sales figures so I'm very happy for Atobe-sama.

To be frank, I've not bought any of the character CDs even though my favourite characters like Tezuka, Sanada, Atobe have released a number of CDs among them. Tezuka has a number of singles and one album this year, Sanada has one single and Atobe has countless of singles and albums. However, the problem I have with these is the fact that sounding well when you speak is not equal to sounding well when you sing. Take for example, Sanada's solo single, Meisei, the song is OK by itself but Kusunoki-san's voice is so deep that the song sounds very sad and boring. Besides, the cover of the single is not too nice (makes Sanada look so weird and fierce) so I'm still undecided till this day about buying this. Likewise for Tezuka, Okiayu-san sounds good when he speaks (bravo for Tezuka and Mitsui) BUT some of the songs don't sound too nice to me. As for Atobe, I think Suwabe-san sings pretty well and I must say that he has better songs to sing.

Actually, among the many songs I've listened to, I would think that Shishido and Ootori's combined single, Brand New Days sounds the best. It's somehow quite Chemistry-style and the song is very soothing to the ears. Besides, the voices of Shishido and Ootori match very well. That should be the song which has left the deepest impression on me. Will plan to buy this single once I'm done with the manga and pay for the movie DVDs in June.

Finally decided to get the digipaks i.e. the separate units for the movie instead of the box set. Paying more than 3000 plus yen for the premium version may not be worth it since there's no much mention of it on the Shochiku site. That's not sufficient motivation to make me pay 9000 plus yen for that. Besides, since it's so expensive, I can go back and buy the first press more easily as compared to the digipaks which is likely to run out first if the box set really has something which is so irrestible.

Gekijouban Tenipuri DVD out in June!!!

This is really long-awaited news! I would have thought that the DVD would only be out in mid summer i.e. July or Aug but it turns out that it would be released in late June!!! However, this DVD is released by Shochiku and it's getting hard to choose what I want... The website doesn't update June DVD releases yet unlike Bandai which already has the picture for Vol 41 due in June.

First of all, there is the memorial box edition which has The First Game and Atobe's SP together with a booklet. There's no mention of the other goodies so I'm not sure whether it's worthwhile to get this version which costs a whooping 9240 yen! And if that box is going to be real bulky, I'm going to get charged quite a bit for the shipping.

On the other end, Shochiku is releasing the two parts of the movie in two separate DVDs which would only cost less than 6000 yen together. Again, no mention of the goodies or specials other than it comes in digipak (easy to store). Aargh, why can't they release more details on the items sooner as I really want to place my order ASAP?! I have a hunch that the box edition should contain more than a booklet for the extra 3000 plus yen it's charging as compared to the individual versions but as to whether it's worth paying so much, I really need more details to judge.

June's going to be a month when I'm going broke. Besides the usual Bandai DVD release, now comes the movie... Have to save up and work harder to pay for that...

Ep 177 & 178 ~ Owari

Mixed emotions after watching the final 2 episodes...Well, I'll get down to the things which I'm not so happy about before I come to the good stuff ^__^

1) Why on earth did they let Echizen come back and WIN Tezuka?
I know if he doesn't win Tezuka, he wouldn't be able to "progress" to greater heights but the way it is done is so unconvincing. It's as if they HAVE to let Echizen win in order to round up the story. What rubbish! To be frank, I still don't think Echizen is that invincible to force Atobe to a draw when they were in Karuizawa, beat Sanada in Kantou Finals or beat Tezuka in this match. No doubt he has improved a lot since the beginning but to be that good in a span of 6 months to beat the top rank players in Kantou? Fusakeruna! Luckily, they didn't state the scoreline or I would have been even more angry. Who cares if it's 7-6 or 6-0? I just don't want Tezuka to lose to such a kid!

2) Echizen winning against Lleyton Hewitt?
This part was really hillarious and well, a bit humiliating to the pros in the tennis scene. If they had just put Echizen against some unnamed player in the final scene, it would have been OK but Lleyton Hewitt? To set the record straight, I am not a Hewitt fan but for his name to be used in such a situation, I'm sure he won't be excited to know about this.

3) The longwinded thanks for all the regulars
Well, I know how grateful he is to the team for helping him in one way or another to get to where he is now but the longwinded "ima made arigatou gozaimashita" was really getting on my nerves. It's not like the forever cool Echizen to be so passionate about such things so the mood is just not so right.

After the issues I have, now comes the good things...

1) Hyotei making it to Nationals!!!!
OK, I heard about it when some websites mentioned that this was in the manga (it's not news anymore) so I can't wait anymore and will go and buy the manga today. Not all the volumes at one go, probably getting 10-15 volumes today. Japanese version is not cheap, about SGD 10 per volume. I would have settled for the Chinese version from Singapore or Taiwan but then...I think it's better to buy the Japanese version. Can improve my Japanese too and besides, I don't like to see Chinese translated names for the characters like Longma for Ryoma. Enough of the rambling on the manga. I'm glad that they made the announcement in the final episode since I think that Hyotei does deserve a ticket to the Nationals. And it was nice seeing the Hyotei team again!!! Fantastic!!! Oshitari seems to be less enthusiastic about the news than the others since he thought that Atobe would not accept this way of entering the Nationals (by a wildcard entry since the Nationals are in Tokyo) but turns out that Atobe is more than happy with this development. When I saw Atobe say "Oresama to tomo ni zengoku e ikou!", I really shared their joy. Banzai, Hyotei!

2) Atobe's ore-sama power zenkai!
There are a number of scenes of Atobe like him working out in the Atobe Sports Gym, running in a red jersey which are so precious footage. It was an unexpected treat to see so much of Atobe even though I thought that it was going to be Echizen all the way for the final episodes. I'm falling in love with Atobe-sama again!

3) Genichirou and Yukimura appearing!!!
I thought I would never see them again after the Senbatsu arc. Although Genichirou didn't speak at all in the two scenes he appeared (one in Echizen's dream and the other at the Nationals opening ceremony), it was enough for me to see him again. And Yukimura chatting with Tezuka was an added bonus. Too bad I won't get to see them fighting it out on the courts. Why am I getting so excited over them? ^__^ I miss Rikkaidai...

Well, now that everything has ended (not the case for the manga and DVD release), what do I think of the chances for Tenipuri to return with an OVA or second season? I really doubt that there would be a second season going by the fact that Nanjiro and Rinko moved back to the US with Ryoma. Without the prince, how does the title stand? They can't be going back to the US if Ryoma is only going to be there for a while. Unless they let Ryoma come back or focus on the Nationals without him (which I do prefer instead of letting Ryoma hog the limelight AGAIN), a second season remains a remote responsibility. Oh my Genichirou, Kunimitsu and Atobe-sama! Or if they are planning to hold the anime until the manga catches up the Nationals arc, they might come back with Season 2 again. Otherwise, I think an OVA or movie might be more likely based on the current circumstances.

In the meantime, I would have to be content with the monthly DVD releases and try to collect the manga as soon as possible to feed my Tenipuri addiction...

Oyasumi no isshu...

Suffering from "withdrawal symptoms" of no Tenipuri for the week...

Suddenly, I have a premonition that the finale next week is going to sour the entire series BECAUSE Ryoma is coming back. I'm not sure for whatever reason but seems like he is going to have a match with Tezuka. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the anime does not end with Ryoma beating Tezuka because that would be SO predictable. I don't think that he's good enough to beat Tezuka given that the latter has fully recovered and he showed off his potential when he defeated Fuji. If they make Ryoma beat Tezuka, wouldn't this mean that Ryoma > Tezuka > Fuji? This is not logical to me at all and I REALLY hope that things would not come to such a stage. I know they might want to please Ryoma fans BUT if he beats every rival, wouldn't he have no targets to overcome in the future? When they showed Ryoma beat Sanada, I was already hopping mad for the illogical development of events so please leave beautiful memories for me, OK?

Anyway, to think that there would be nothing to look forward to on Wed is such a bore. Although I'm following Yakitate Japan on Tues, it sure feels weird to see Tenipuri go and leave a void in my weekly schedule. According to the TV Tokyo website, there are quite a number of animes ending this month. New beginnings for Spring 05? After I'm done with the full DVD collection, I would probably head for the manga collection next...I'm still not done with Sanada, Atobe and Tezuka...

Ep 176 - Climax

Eh...how should I begin? Although the title is "Climax", most of the views I read and personally, I do feel that this episode is an anti-climax as compared to the wonderful buildup from the past 2 episodes. Well, I'm terribly excited over the fact that I get to hear Tezuka speak so much in a single episode and that we find out about how he feels about his relationship with Fuji but this has made the focus shift from the match. I admit I'm rooting for Tezuka and is very happy that he won but somehow, the producers seem to be in a hurry to settle the match. I can't blame them since the last episode would be on 30 Mar. Although there are lots of other themes to explore, they can't go beyond 3 episodes for just 1 match no matter how mouth watering the line-up is. That's a pity to me though.



Tezuka was the first to notice that Fuji was not as simple as he looked. According to him, the other first year regulars were attention-grabbing and unique in their own ways but Fuji seemed very normal and just like an obedient and nice guy. However, when he saw him play on the court, Tezuka's interest in finding out how Fuji was really like made him agree to the match. Even though he would have asked Fuji to postpone the match due to his injury, Tezuka admitted that he was too anxious to see how good Fuji was at that time and forced himself to play thus making Fuji quite angry then. Anyway, for this ranking match, Tezuka was the one who asked Ryuuzaki-sensei to group Fuji together with him. In fact, even if Tezuka didn't suggest this, Ryuuzaki-sensei would have made the arrangements herself so as to show the team how good those two have become.

It was quite sad to see Fuji crying (not really crying his heart out but tears flow naturally from his eyes) but it showed how much the match meant to him and that he finally tasted the bitterness of defeat. It should be a great learning experience for him which should serve him well in the Nationals (that is if the anime does come back with OVA or the second season like Kyou Kara Maou). I'm praying hard that they come up with OVAs from time to time, it seems like a lucrative business to give up since they are still releasing character singles and the DVD release is still on. The manga is still on but as to when it will start on the Nationals, it depends whether the manga will show whatever they have in the anime i.e. the ranking matches. And I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for a summer release of the movie DVD which is more than 6 months from the theatre release.

With the end of the anime, I don't see myself stopping the updating of this blog but the frequency might not be on a weekly basis. As and when I have new thoughts, buy new Tenipuri stuff etc, I might just post when I like it.

Ep 175 - Sannen mei no Honki

Sugoii! Subarashii! It's been some time since I got SO excited over a Tenipuri match. Well, the last time I did should be the Atobe-Sanada match with the American Senbatsu team. Anyway, Tezuka and Fuji are so cool (Fuji opens his eyes for so long in a single episode!!!) and this episode explains more on their relationship and why Tezuka lost in that secret match back when they were in Year 1.



And they showed the 3rd year regulars when they were in Year 1. Everyone was so cute but why wasn't Eiji around when Fuji asked the rest to help Tezuka when he was bullied by the seniors? Oh...I think Eiji joined the tennis team later than the rest since Oishi and Tezuka were already around when Eiji was introduced to the team so he shouldn't have been around at the very beginning. Anyway, Tezuka was so cute when he said that he can't help it if he looked arrogant and the seniors kept picking on him since they were not his match. Fuji seemed to admire Tezuka's skills very much (more material for the yaoi fanfiction writers? ^__^) as he says that he looked up to Tezuka and respected him since they were in Year 1. And it seems like they were in the same class before (Year 2, I guess since they looked slightly more grown up as compared to the kiddy-look in Year 1). The Year 1 trio were trying to define Fuji and Tezuka's relationship as they do not behave like bitter rivals (think Momo and Kaidou) and yet they are not as chummy like Oishi and Eiji. Cool relationship, huh? ^__^ I don't think Tezuka deliberately distanced himself from Fuji but rather, he's been very cool so far that it's not strange he gives the impression that he keeps people at arm's length when he might not mean it that way.

Oh well, Tezuka lost because of his injured arm after being whacked by that senior. Actually, Fuji asked him for a friendly match before that and since Tezuka agreed to it in the first place, he didn't want to disappoint Fuji and break his promise. That's why he went ahead with the match with an injury and thus lost quite badly. However, this angered Fuji because he thought that Tezuka could have cancelled the match and Tezuka should never put his arm in jeopardy. I guess he was so upset partly because he was worried for Tezuka's injury, the other reason being that Tezuka was not in the best condition to take him on. Although Fuji said that they can have another match when Tezuka recovers (his arm was OK at one stage), both of them never brought up that matter again. Fuji feels that it is most probably because of the fact that he does not want to find out who is stronger so that's why he never mentioned the match again even though he has all along been interested to know who is the better player between him and Tezuka. It sure is conflicting because on one hand, you want to see who's stronger but yet you are scared to find out the truth. I'm not sure how Tezuka really feels about this (seems like more answers would be out next week) but he could have arranged for a rematch between them during the school practice matches and yet he seems to avoiding that too. Maybe he thought that it would be an insult to Fuji again if he were to go ahead with the match with that injured arm which was having problems since they were in Year 2. Or he may be having the same thoughts as Fuji about fearing a change in their friendship once the verdict is out.

That single play when Tezuka broke all the Triple Counters was simply so cool! Waku waku shimasu yo! Fuji first used Hakugei but Tezuka anticipated it and smashed the shot when he was at the net. In order to counter that smash, Fuji used Higuma Otoshi but seems like Tezuka was prepared for that since the shot was rendered useless when it got under the influence of Tezuka Zone. In order to break that spin, Fuji used Tsubame Gaeshi and yet it was not enough since Tezuka used Zero shiki to win that game. Wonderful play here! As mentioned last week, I am sure that Tezuka's serve is somewhat different from his past serves since it's definitely more powerful. What a difference it makes when his shoulder is fully healed! The game is currently in Tezuka's favour (4-2) and seems like Fuji wants to use all his strength to win Tezuka in the next episode aptly titled as Climax. It would sure fit the title since the match has been absolutely breathtaking so far. I'm sure the conclusion would be very exciting.

I just find it weird that although news is running around that Tenipuri will end at 178 episodes, there's nothing mentioned on the TV Tokyo's anime page nor Tenipuri's website. Although I am very reluctant to see Tenipuri go, I am looking forward to seeing the official notice on whether Tenipuri stays or goes after March.



Another matter I find interesting is the cover for the Tenipuri DVDs vol 39 due in April. That volume should consist of Sengoku, Fuji and Kirihara's matches BUT what are Niou and Marui doing on the cover with Kirihara? I know Sengoku, Fuji and Kirihara appeared a few volumes back in the Senbatsu arc and was sort of looking forward to seeing them together but this cover really surprises me. Niou and Marui didn't play any matches and yet they are on the cover. It's not that I have any issues with them appearing but it just feels kind of funny.



Vol 40 is Ryoma taking up the entire cover. Well, this can't be helped since his matches take up 3 episodes in that volume...I'm not complaining anyway except that from Vol 40 onwards, it should be hard to see the pictures of players from rival schools on the covers since the story is very Seigaku-focused after the Senbatsu arc. My Genichirou....

Ep 174 - Tezuka Kunimitsu vs Fuji Shusuke

Subarashii!!! One of the best episodes and matches I've seen in Tenipuri!! This must be the best match since I saw Tezuka vs Atobe where I was gasping in admiration for the high tension and level of play exhibited in this match. I'm sure the next episode would be even more electrifying with the atmosphere in the first two games already reaching a climax. And there are some mysteries/discoveries thrown up in this episode which says a lot is going on in the background.



1) After Fuji's halfway-done match with Echizen in the rain, he actually had a talk with Tezuka where the latter asked him why he was holding back during the match. Fuji then confessed that he had problems going all out to win others and derived joy from getting his opponents to display their full potential. And Fuji really thought that this was going to be a problem in their quest for glory in the Nationals and asked Tezuka to take him off from the regulars squad if he finds someone better to take his place.
It is only until Fuji saw Tezuka going all out to win Atobe at the expense of his shoulder injury that he finally realized the meaning of playing to your full potential. He had thought that Tezuka was the same as him i.e. holding back in his play style but then he came to know the passionate side of Tezuka. Thus, Fuji's play style changed as he started to be more focused on victory. In a way, Tezuka brought about a change in Fuji's usually cool and composed play style so that's why he behaved the way he did during the Kirihara match. Under normal circumstances, he would never have been so worked up.



2) Fuji and Tezuka did have a match before when they were in Year 1 and the result was a complete victory for Fuji. However, something seems to be wrong with this as we see from the recollections that Fuji was quite upset over the result and grabbed Tezuka by his T-shirt. Did Tezuka go easy on Fuji or what was it that made him so angry? Why on earth did they have a match secretly? More and more questions are out there so I hope there's an answer by next week. Maybe that's why Fuji was so enthusiastic about this "rematch" in order to settle whatever scores they had with each other in the past. Besides, Tezuka is the one who comes up with the match schedules. Although he could have arranged for a match between him and Fuji much earlier, he might have deliberately saved this encounter for their last school ranking match as an conclusion to their junior high days in the tennis club.



3) Tezuka's serve in the second game seems quite different from his usual serves. Seems like he added a spin to the ball which resulted in the increase in spin and curving angle of the serve. Isn't he going to name this serve or something? Apparently, in the next episode, Triple Counters, Tezuka Zone and Zero-shiki drop shot are all going to be shown so it's really going to be a high-level match between the guys!!! I'm rooting for Tezuka! Ganbatte Tezuka-bucchou!

Read from some websites that there is going to be a new anime on 6 Apr in the Tenipuri slot as announced in some manga magazines so the last episode is most likely on 30 Apr. That would make it 178 episodes which does not fit very well in the DVD release schedule of 4 episodes per DVD. Why is it that sports anime usually do not make it beyond the Nationals Stage? Slam Dunk was like that (ended at 101 episodes even though the last match for Shohoku in the Nationals was with Sanou) and now Tenipuri is most likely to end before they show the Nationals arc. Maybe it's because of the fact that the anime is far ahead of the manga where vol 27 should be the match between Sanada and Echizen. Just hope that they can release the movie DVD soon and get Tenipuri back once the manga catches up to the Nationals arc. I wonder if Konomi-sensei will include the Senbatsu arc in the manga though...

Ep 173 (Samurai New York) and Love Game Fan Disc

This week's episode is only on Ryoma. It's not as bad as I thought especially the part when he and Kevin teamed up to play doubles. Those two are so individualistic that it's hard to imagine them working well together but they did so everything worked out fine. Apparently, they are going to show Ryoma in his first match for the US Open next week but the highlight would be Tezuka vs Fuji's match.

I don't know if they will show the whole match in one episode but I'm really looking forward to the two of them fighting it out. I'm rooting for Tezuka but then I know Fuji would most probably give him a hard time since he's going to go all out. What a mouth-watering match!


Besides that, I got the Love Game Fan Disc which is full of Rikkai-goodness!!! Well, I'm so excited over this mainly because of Genichirou and his solo song was made into a PV. Well, why is that Yukimura is appearing so frequently in that PV? I do like Yukimura but then it seems like the anime is playing up their relationship towards the BL tendency like the funny skits in chibi characters last year. I'm not a fan of BL so for me, Genichirou and Yukimura's relationship is more of a buddy relationship just like what is between Genichirou and Renji. They address each other by first names instead of surnames so they should be very good friends.

Anyway, this fan disc is very much Rikkai-centric with a bit of Rokkaku. I was looking forward to seeing more of Renji but then he appears at least for the match highlights. Frankly speaking, Rokkaku is quite a fun team where you see that they play tennis because they enjoy it rather than see it as a competitive sport. They are the exact opposite of Hyotei which focuses a lot on competition within the team but I can't say that Hyotei's members are not on good terms with each other. It's just that among all the teams, Rokkaku has the most relaxed approach towards tennis. And Rokkaku has really funny characters like Davide and Bane-san, It-chan, Saeki, Kentaro and Kisarazu Ryo who has yet to appear in any of the formal matches.


This month's DVD Vol 37 has Genichirou and Atobe on the cover!!!! As I rewatch that match, those two are an interesting pair but too bad, the concluding episode of their Doubles 2 match is in the next DVD.


Vol 38's cover is Oshitari and Eiji and the cover is so cute with Eiji hugging Oshitari from behind. Well, not exactly hugging but rather has his arms over his shoulder. That volume would cover Genichirou and Atobe, Oshitari and Eiji as well as half of Sengoku's match. Tanoshiimi!!

By the way, I happened to see a group of girls at Dhoby Ghaut MRT yesterday doing a cosplay of Tenipuri characters. Well, although I could see that the T-shirt vaguely resembles Hyotei, I am sorry but I can't identify which characters they are playing although a number of them were in uniform (white shirt, blue pants). I doubt that uniform is Hyotei but should be either Rikkai or Seigaku. Two of them had their hair tinted (playing Gakuto or Jiro??) too. Well, I saw quite a bit of cosplay photos before from people in Japan and HK and some of them really copied the characters to the finest details like the hair of Niou (yes, somebody actually painted her hair greyish white). Anyway, it was a pleasant surprise to see fellow Tenipuri fans around because most cosplay groups usually do animes with more elaborate costumes. I'm planning to get the Rikkai T-shirt once I sort out the Vpost Japan issue and see if I can buy it from Mecha Market.

Ep 172 - Goodbye Seigaku

This episode doesn't have too many "exciting" points other for the fact that the guys send off Echizen at the airport and Karupin hides in Echizen's bag to go with him to US. It's a bit ridiculous since the airport security should have discovered Karupin through the X-ray machine. And I don't think Karupin would stay still in that bag for so many hours without arousing the suspicion of others. Well, that's anime so there are some illogical parts which will drive me nuts if I pursue an explanation for them.

Anyway, next week's episode is on Ryoma again and he meets Kevin. Seems like they team up to play doubles against some guys they met on the streets. According to some info I read, it seems like Ep 174 is finally on Tezuka vs Fuji with the title saying as such. Subarashii!! Then, there's another 2 episodes on Seigaku which I'm looking forward to. It's not that I dislike Ryoma but I started watching Tenipuri not because of him in the first place. Throughout the series, I have grown to like characters like Sanada, Tezuka and Atobe other than Ryoma so it's precisely the presence of my favs that is mainly keeping the passion going. I really hope that they focus on the nationals instead of the US Open. It would be so funny if they really let Ryoma win the US Open as if it's that easy to compete with pros.

My Tenipuri DVDs (the SP featuring Rikkaidai and Rokkaku) and Vol 37 would be here next week. Can't wait to see them!!!

Ep 171 Shinai naru tomo e (For my dear friend)

Well, this episode focuses on the deep friendship between Momo and Echizen thus the title is referring to Momo. There are a lot of memories involving the two of them like the silly competition to see who can eat more, Momo being Echizen's first doubles partner which is very heartwarming. When I saw Momo and Echizen crying, it really touches me to see how much they value each other.

I admit that I'm quite mad at Echizen for not taking the match seriously but I'm glad that he finally came to his senses and decided to go to America. Next week's episode shows him having a final match with Kaidou and the Seigaku members are there to send him off at the airport. When will I see Fuji vs Tezuka? Next episode is entitled is Goodbye Seigaku so what does this mean? The series will follow Echizen's quest in US? If that really happens....when will I ever see Tezuka, Atobe and Sanada again????

Ep 170 - Moero, Echizen

Honestly speaking, I'm very sick of Echizen pondering over the decision of US Open vs the Nationals. It's so obvious that he is having second thoughts about choosing the Nationals and he has to attribute that to Tezuka's expectations of him. Tezuka never meant to restrict Echizen's future or potential with his words so I'll see what he has to say to Echizen next week.

Anyway, I think he did Momo a very big disservice by not concentrating on the match and eventually asking to give up. If I was Momo, I would be really angry at Echizen for not taking the match seriously. Well, I just hope that they can get over this decision ASAP as I want to see Tezuka vs Fuji.

To be frank, if they end the anime like that with Echizen going to the US Open, it's a lousy ending to a wonderful anime. I would have preferred that they can end everything at the Nationals whether they win the title or not since I want to see Rikkaidai and Seigaku fight it out again, this time with Tezuka and Yukimura intact. And this is going to be very very unlikely if the anime is going to track Echizen's progress at the US Open or track Seigaku's journey to the Nationals. Either way, it's not really possible since they can't possibly let Echizen win the US Open since it's a place for pros or show Seigaku minus the lead, Echizen. It just irritates me to have the verdict still out in the open as to the fate of this anime.

Inui vs Eiji and Echizen's Decision

Well, I got my guess wrong again. Eiji missed winning because Inui was luckier that the ball "flew" over to Eiji's court even though Inui was "half-blind" when his spectacles cracked. Anyway, that's not really important since they seemed to enjoy the match that the outcome doesn't matter. Besides, I think this match is really interesting just like the Kaidou vs Momo, Taka-san vs Oishi match.

In this week's 1-hour special, what got me quite upset was the fact that Echizen was really unconvincing when telling the rest that he planned to give up the US Open. Everyone could see that he was still in doubt over this decision with the exception of Momo and Eiji who were elated to hear that he was staying with the team. Tezuka knows that Echizen is still in doubt so he doesn't take Echizen's words as final yet. Well, by seeing the teaser for next week, I can see that I'm going to dislike (well, not to the extent of real dislike but rather "mukatsuku" - frustrated, irritated) Echizen even more because he doesn't seem to be serious about playing Momo next week. Maybe things would become clearer next week about where he wants to go. OK, I know he's still a kid but being so wishy-washy and trying to agonize over this is just not Echizen's style.

Frankly speaking, I'm sort of resigned to the fact that Echizen would be most probably heading to the US. In the OP, there's a match between Tezuka and Echizen somewhere at a court not in school (Haruno-dai where they had their first match?) so I'm guessing Echizen has asked Tezuka for a match before he leaves.

So I'm just hoping that they can finally get Echizen's decision out of the way and show me the ultimate match between the No.1 and No.2 of Seigaku i.e. Tezuka vs Fuji ASAP. How long are they going to drag this?? And since it's such a mouth watering match, will they show Hyoutei and Rikkaidai coming to watch this match?? That means Atobe, Sanada and gang would all be showing up?? Including Yukimura? It just makes me very excited at the thought of it.

Momo vs Kaidou

Well, my guess was wrong since Momo won the match. If Kaidou managed to get the return shot for Super Great Momoshiro Special aka Super Dunk into the court, things might have changed. Still, it was a close and exciting match between the two of them. Now, there's a 1-hr special next week which should go into great details on Ryoma's decision of whether to go for the US Open. Judging from the look of things, I guess he might go after all and that the series might not end despite speculations. This is because Tenipuri is essentially about Ryoma (Tennis no Oujisama) so the anime might shift the focus from Seigaku to just Ryoma in the US Open. That would be rather disastrous in my opinion since the whole appeal of the series is about the Seigaku team (at least to me) and their struggles to win each match against the strong rival schools like Hyoutei and Rikkaidai. Thus, if they just focus on Ryoma alone, I'm not sure how the ratings would fare. I for one would probably not enjoy it as much as seeing Ryoma alone. Just give me my Genichirou, Atobe, Tezuka etc anytime and I'll continue being a faithful viewer...

Next week's match would be between Eiji and Inui. It's an interesting combination. Although Inui might look tougher on paper since he knows each player's strengths and weaknesses well, Eiji has improved since the Kantou Senbatsu Camp days so he might just sneak in a tight victory over Inui. Besides, the ranking matches so far seems to be going against expectations e.g. Taka-san winning over Oishi for the first time and Kaidou looking stronger towards the end but he missed victory just by that one shot. If the story follows this trend, Eiji might win the match. What's more mouth-watering is the fact that the BIG BIG BIG match of this arc is coming up after that i.e. Tezuka vs Fuji. I can expect that this would be super exciting and I'm putting my money on Tezuka to win. Although I do believe that Fuji is strong, unless he goes all out in the match, he would not have a chance of winning. Besides, Tezuka would be trying to show his strength as it is the first serious match after he recovered. There is some talk of a 4th counter besides Higuma Otoshi, Tsubame Gaeshi, Hakugei. Who knows what Fuji might come up with? Tanoshimi desu ne!

Doubts about Tenipuri's future...

Read from some online forums that Tenipuri is coming to an end with 176 episodes?!!!Actually, judging from the fact that Nanjiro received a letter from some unknown person on an invitation for Ryoma to take part in the US Open, this seems to warn the viewers that Ryoma would most probably be leaving Seigaku anytime soon. I really don't want to see Tenipuri end at such a stage because there are many other characters who have yet to be fully developed like Yukimura, Tachibana. And personally, I still want to see Sanada, Atobe etc taking on Tezuka. The current school ranking matches would pitch some interesting combinations like Momo vs Kaidou and of course, Fuji vs Tezuka but if they were to end it like that without giving us the chance to see a full force Rikkaidai take on Seigaku or even Hyotei against Seigaku or Rikkaidai, I don't think I would be able to accept it. And it really doesn't make sense to end it at this stage since the endorsements and merchandise should be a lucrative business for TV Tokyo, Konomi-sensei and all the stakeholders in the Tenipuri franchise. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for Yukimura or Sanada against Tezuka or Atobe. The new OP is very good but the attention is all on Ryoma again. However, among all the OPs, I still like "Long Way" the best which has got cool footage of all the Seigaku guys. The ending song doesn't sound so nice though. Next week would be Momo and Kaidou's match...I have a feeling that Kaidou might win this and if Ryoma really goes to US, Momo should be able to make it to the regulars even IF he does lose to Kaidou.

Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu!

Well, it's a new year and I'm working. Not something very desirable though and I'm still recovering from flu. The cold weather is really getting to me since I have a rather sensitive respiratory system. Anyway, it's been so long since I posted again so I decided to get moving and stop procastinating.

Good news and stuff to anticipate for 2005 so far:

1) Tenipuri SP DVD to be released in Feb! Lots of Rikkai action and I can't wait to see Sanada!!! OK, I did see him in Ep 165 but they kept poking fun of him and Yukimura. I want to see Sanada in normal mode not in the chibi character mode though.

2) Tezuka is finally back! Now that they announced his comeback in Ep 164 and the ranking matches are going to start on 12 Jan, someone in Seigaku would have to be dropped again since there are only 8 places for 9 people. I can't imagine who would be dropped since the Golden Pair is needed for Nationals so Oishi and Eiji are quite safe. Echizen, for one would definitely be in since he's the lead. And Tezuka has been out of action for so long, if they leave him out, the fans would make noise. I for one would not be able to accept if Buccho is left out. Fuji, being the tensai and No.2 in the team would be in, Inui is also pretty much confirmed unless he decides to be the data-man again which is highly unlikely so that leaves only Taka-san, Momo and Kaidou. I don't want to see anyone of them dropped but circumstances would definitely rule one of them out. I just hope Konomi-sensei would not spring a major surprise on us for this.

3) Tenipuri movie to be shown in 2005! Since it's going on roadshow during these two months, chances are that the DVD would be released about 6 months later. That's so long and I guess it would be until summer before I can get my hands on it. In the meantime, I'm still wondering whether I should get the movie singles in early Feb regardless of whether the songs sound good or not. It's just for collection's sake.

And to round up, my New Year resolution is to work harder and complete my collection of the DVDs hopefully within the year! ^__^