Kakaeta Kiseki - Aozu

The new opening theme for the OVA series and the first single from Aozu i.e. Echizen Ryoma, Tezuka Kunimitsu, Oishi Shuuichirou and Fuji Shuusuke after a break of 3 years and 3 months!

Track List:
1) Kakaeta Kiseki
2) Kakaeta Kiseki (Original Karaoke)

Date of release: 31 January 2007
Price: 780 yen
Catalog number: NECM-10059

A Kimochi - Oshitari Yuushi

Title: A Kimochi
Artiste: Oshitari Yuushi

The first CD release from the Tenipuri series in 2007 and the first from Oshitari Yuushi after a break of 2 years! The rock number is written by Kiuchi Hidenobu, the seiyuu who plays Oshitari.

Track List
1) A Kimochi
2) A Kimochi (Original Karaoke)
3) Shorisha Interview (Bonus Track)

Date of Release: 24 January 2007
Price: 777 yen
Catalog number: NECM-10058

J-mini Tennis no Oujisama

J-mini Tennis no Oujisama

Date of Release: 18 January 2007
Price: 441 yen
Contents: 1 mini figure, 1 accessory and 1 display stand (8 different patterns)

Trading Card Booster No.19 - 四天宝寺の実力 (The Strength of Shitenbouji)

Tennis no Oujisama Trading Card Booster No.19 - 四天宝寺の実力 (The Strength of Shitenbouji)

Date of Release: 16 November 2006
Price: 210 yen
Specifications: 7 cards in a pack
Total patterns: 78

Trading Card PRINCE BOX - Pure White & Pure Blue

Tennis no Oujisama PRINCE BOX - Pure White & Pure Blue versions

Date of release: 14 December 2006
Price: 2625 yen
Contents: 9 bromides, 1 trading card and 1 mini figure in a Christmas costume

Trading Cards Shining Clear Card 5

Tennis no Oujisama Shining Clear Card 5

Date of release: 26 October 2006
Price: 315 yen
Specifications: 6 cards in a pack
Total patterns: 72

The characters will appear in 3 different settings i.e. as orchestra members, casual wear in autumn and wearing animal suits.

Trading Cards Special Booster No.5 - ベストパートナー(Best Partner)

Tennis no Oujisama Trading Card Game Special Booster No. 5 ベストパートナー(Best Partner)

Date of release: 14 September 2006
Price: 315 yen
Specifications: 5 cards in a pack
Total number of cards: 70

The characters appear in groups of two, be it in the usual doubles format or new combinations. There is also a commemorative card in the series to mark the launch of the 100th version of doubles' cards.

Trading Cards Booster No.18 - 強豪集結 (The Strong Assembles)

Tennis no Oujisama Trading Card Game Booster No.18 強豪集結 (The Strong Assembles)
Date of Release: 10 August 2006
Price: 210 yen
Specifications: 7 cards in a pack
Total number of patterns: 93

This series includes scenes from the Nationals arc quarterfinals round and features members from teams like Seigaku, Hyotei, Rikkaidai, Fudoumine and Shitenbouji.

Type wa D! - Oishi Shuuichirou & Kikumaru Eiji

First duet single from Seigaku's Golden Pair! The three songs in this CD are based on the history of the Golden Pair mentioned in Volume 31 of the comic's Genius 265 to Genius 268.

TRACK LIST
1) Type wa D! - Oishi Shuuichirou & Kikumaru Eiji
2) song for us - Oishi Shuuichirou
3) Kore ga Seishun da! - Kikumaru Eiji
4) Type wa D! (Instrumental version)

Date of release: 20 December 2006
Price: 1300 yen
Catalog number: NECM-13002

Jet Drive - Atobe Keigo

Atobe Keigo's third consecutive release after "Charm Point wa Nakibokuro" in Aug and "THE ULTIMATE HARD WORKER" in October! This single is produced by HAL who has also worked with famous artistes like Hamasaki Ayumi, HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR, Kawashima Ai and Ito Yuna. The coupling track, "WILL" is a remix version of the original track from "THE ULTIMATE HARD WORKER".

TRACK LIST
1) JET Drive
2) WILL ~Very Merry Winter Mix~

Date of release: 16 December 2006
Price: 1000 yen
Catalog number: NECM-10057

Everything - Echizen Ryoma

Echizen Ryoma's new single in 1 year 8 months!

The song, "Everything" is written by Minagawa Junko, the seiyuu who plays Echizen while the coupling track is a remix version of the song, "Futari kiri no Merry Christmas" included in his birthday mini album, "PROGRESS" released in 2005.

Track List
1) Everything
2) Futari kiri no Merry Christmas ~Sweet Island Mix~

Release Date: 16 December 2006
Price: 1000 yen
Catalog number: NECM-10056

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! ^__^

New CD release from Sanada Genichirou!

Sanada Genichirou will be releasing a new CD on Valentine's Day along with his fellow teammates from Rikkaidai Fuuzokuchuu!

Title: Valentine Kiss
Artiste: Sanada Genichirou with Rikkaiddai Fuuzokuchuu
Date of release: 14 February 2007
Catalog number: NECM-10061
Price: 777 yen

2nd single release from the Megane's!

The trio, Megane's will be releasing their second single in 2007:

Title undecided yet
Artiste: Megane's (Oshitari Yuushi, Tezuka Kunimitsu and Inui Sadaharu)
Date of release: 14 February 2007 (Wednesday)
Catalog number: NECM-10062
Price: 800 yen

New single from Aozu in 2007

Aozu i.e. Echizen Ryoma, Tezuka Kunimitsu, Oishi Shuuichirou and Fuji Shuusuke will be making a comeback since their last CD release 3 years and 3 months ago. The song will also be the new opening theme for the OVA:

Title: Kakaeta Kiseki (The miracle I hold)
Artiste: Aozu (Echizen, Tezuka, Oishi and Fuji)
Date of release: 31 Jan 2007 (Wed)
Catalog number: NECM-10059
Price: 780 yen

First CD release in 2007 from...Oshitari Yuushi

The first CD release in 2007 from the Tenipuri series will be from Oshitari Yuushi!

Title undecided yet
Artiste: Oshitari Yuushi
Date of release: 24 January 2007 (Wed)
Catalog number: NECM-10058
Price: 777 yen

Upcoming CD re-releases

Due to overwhelming demand from fans, the following CDs which were originally meant to be limited edition items, will be released within a special period from 22 Nov till 25 Dec 2006:

Title: Flower-Sakuranka-
Artiste: GIGS (Echizen Ryoma, Tezuka Kunimitsu, Atobe Keigo and Sanada Genichirou)
Date of re-release: 22 Nov 2006 (Wed)
Catalog number: NECM-10039
Price: 780 yen

Title: Hello & Goodbye
Artiste: Kondou Kaoru
Date of re-release: 22 Nov 2006 (Wed)
Catalog number: NECM-10040
Price: 780 yen

Jump Festa 2007 Tenipuri Special Tokuten Owatashikai

During the Jump Festa 2007 to be held at Chiba's Makuhari Messe (Hall 1-8), there will be a Tenipuri goodie bag presentation session on 16th and 17th Dec where the anime seiyuus will be there to pass the items to fans who submit their applications in advance.

On 16 Dec, there will be two sessions. Kaida Yuki, Okiayu Ryoutarou and Kusuda Toshiyuki who play Fuji Shuusuke, Tezuka Kunimitsu and Shishido Ryou, will be there for the first session from 10.30am to 11.30am. Following this, Kiuchi Hidenobu, Suwabe Junichi and Hosotani Yoshimasa who play Oshitari Yuushi, Atobe Keigo and Shiraishi Kuranosuke will be there from 1pm to 2pm.

On 17 Dec, Minagawa Junko, Kusunoki Taiten and Yoshino Hiroyuki who play Echizen Ryoma, Sanada Genichirou and Hiragoba Rin will be there from 10.30am.

For those who want to apply for the 900 places up for grabs (each seiyuu will attend to 100 fans), they will have to submit postcards containing their personal particulars to the address listed on Showa Note's website. Applications close on 17 Nov.

The goodie bags which cost 5000 yen each (tax inclusive) will contain the following items:

1) Dog Tag pendant bearing the character's image (1000 yen)
2) Mini Towel - 3 different designs (500 yen)
3) Shitajiki (300 yen)
4) Poster (500 yen)
5) Clear File (350 yen)
6) Deluxe Memo (500 yen)
7) Imagawa Yaki (500 yen)
8) Postcard - 2 pieces (400 yen)

Upcoming CD Releases - Ibu Shinji and Golden Pair!

Here are 2 new upcoming CD releases in the month of Dec from Ibu Shinji and the Golden Pair i.e. Oishi Shuuichirou and Kikumaru Eiji:

Title: EVE
Artiste: Ibu Shinji
Date of release: 6 Dec 2006
Catalog number: NECA-18001
Price: 1800 yen

Title: Type wa D!
Artistes: Oishi Shuuichirou & Kikumaru Eiji
Date of release: 20 Dec 2006
Catalog number: NECM-13002
Price: 1300 yen
Track List
1) Type wa D!
2) song for us - Oishi Shuuichirou
3) Kore ga Seishun da! - Kikumaru Eiji
4) Type wa D! - Instrumental -
*Note that track 2 and 3 are the ED and OP for Rajipuri in the month of Nov.

Tenipuri Shueisha Calendar 2007

I received the Tenipuri Shueisha Calendar 2007 on last Friday but only managed to take some shots of it and post this review one week later. There's also the anime version's calendar which I suppose I will take another week to follow up with a review. Sorry about the delay because I'm very busy these days and can hardly find time to update my blogs.

The picture on the left shows the front cover of the calendar which is organised in a weekly format. Besides the monthly separator which is in colour, the rest of the pictures are in black and white. Another significant difference between the 2007 and this year's version would be the orientation since 2007 is in the landscape format while 2006 is in potrait form.

In the 2006 version, each sheet comes with a signature line spoken by the characters but in 2007, you will either see a feature of some siginificant matches so far or a brief profile of the characters. I have taken some pictures from January including the feature on matches between Akutagawa Jirou & Fuji Shuusuke (Kantou Tournament Round 1 Singles 2) as well as Atobe Keigo & Tezuka Kunimitsu (Kantou Tournament Round 1 Singles 1). There's also the features on Tezuka and Echizen provided in the first month. I won't be scanning the entire calendar and post the pictures but I may use some of the images for future birthday features in 2007.

Overall, I feel that the production quality of the 2007 version is slightly better than 2006's. At least the paper stand is more stable and doesn't crumble as easily as the 2006 version. Besides that, the resolution of the pictures are higher. I also like the idea of having recaps on past matches which brings back nostalgic memories of some of our favourite clashes prior to the Nationals. However, I think the profile part may not be as extensive as what we would have wanted since there's limited space to cover the huge number of characters we have from each school. There's bound to be some complaints about some characters being left out but what I can't really comprehend is why the appearance order of the characters is not synchronised with their birth months e.g. why Echizen and Tezuka appears in January when their birthdays are in Dec and Oct respectively. Nevertheless, I'm still quite satisfied with my purchase despite my little grouses.