The Shrine

Prince of Tennis is finally wrapping up (at least one hope), and the last couple of matches actually have the series ending in a high note. I've compiled a list of weird things in Prince of Tennis in anticipation of the ending.

Ryuma's ever lowering standards - Ryuma, the main character, has never lost an official match. Yet every match he manages to set the bar for success even lower than the one before. When he confronted Sanada, the Emperor, it was 'just score one point'. Now going against Yukimura, the Son of God, the bar has somehow set even lower where knocking Yukimura's cloak constitutes as victory (Ryuma lost the point). This is almost an exact opposite of Hikaru, who continues to raise the bar by finding creative ways to lose.

Fuji and Tezuka - When Fuji was playing against the fake Tezuka, he was down 4-5 with fake Tezuka serving. Everyone noted that if the fake one just used the Zero Serve, a serve that does not bounce after it hits the ground and is therefore unreturnable (in theory), Fuji would have lost. Thankfully the fake does not have the same powers of the original and Fuji eventually rallied to win. Immediately after this game, he said he'd like to play the real Tezuka to see who is better. Well, the answer is rather obvious. The real Tezuka would've probably finished him off 6-0 if the fake one, starting at 0-3, caught up to 5-4. The strange thing is that Fuji is aware that the fake one cannot use the Zero Serve, Tezuka Phantom, Talent Limit, and Experience Limit, but for some reason he thinks he's actually a match for the real one.

Sanada's moves - Sanada, the Emperor, has moves named after the Sun Tzu's Art of War. Amongst these are Wind (speed) and Fire (power). However, he also has a move called Thunder, where he starts moving at the speed of light, and imparts the speed of light velocity to the tennis ball. Although its exact power is never specified it is probably strong enough to kill someone if it lands a direct hit (not that you can hit it, because it's at the speed of light). It is also stated that the power output of Thunder is strictly higher than Fire (Thunder can break the Tezuka Zone, while Fire can only disturb it). Yet according to him, Thunder is just as useful as Wind or Fire. Is he not very bright, or is this the side effect of violating the laws of physics?

Also, Sanada's Forest move basically negates every special property imparted on a tennis ball, including his. However he uses Forest and Thunder at the same time, but the result of the return is a normal hit (Forest nullifies the light speed nature of Thunder). So he's running around at light speed for... absolutely nothing. No wonder this guy is only the 2nd best tennis player in Japan despite having 'exceeded human limitations', as the manga puts it regarding his speed and power.

Gin, the hadoball master - Gin, the creator of the hadoball, says his hadoball power level can vary from level 1 to level 108. However, Newton's 3rd Law of Motion is observed in Prince of Tennis. To impart a force of X, the attacker must be able to withstand the same force. From his match, it can be inferred that level 50 is about the limit where the counter force would be too strong and cause his arm to snap. So what is the reason for the existence of the hadoball level 51 through 108? You'd use it, break your arm, and then be forced to forfeit. The best you can hope for is the ball would hit the other guy, possibly breaking his arm and/or killing the guy outright, but even then it'd still be a draw (if both players cannot continue playing, it is a draw in PoT, even if the other guy is dead).

Wait a second, this is a show about Tennis where the Tennis players kill each other?

I am intrigued and wish to know more.

In theory Prince of Tennis is a sports manga, but in reality it's more like guys from Dragonball who happen to use a tennis racket to fight instead of shooting fireballs (then again, not even Goku is as fast as the speed of light without teleporting, something Sanada has achieved quite easily). While no one has died (yet) in the series, the damage inflicted by various moves is certainly enough to kill a normal person. Even a simple overhead smash can cause grevious harm to those with low tennis power level. Common effect of being hit by a ball in PoT include losing grip on your racket, broken racket, paralysis, broken arm, or blindness. Death is suspected to be a possible effect, but generally only possible between players of extremely different tennis power levels.

For example a level 20 Hadoball is enough to knock someone from a tennis court to the stands and breaking quite a few ribs in the process. As mentioned a level 50+ Hadoball can snap your arm outright in one shot (which begs the question why the guy invented this technique since he cannot withstand the counterforce himself).

In one of the recent matches, one of the newer guys used his ultimate technique that is said to have a power output greater than a level 108 Hadoball, the fans on the stand had to duck for cover from the ensuing explosion and shockwave when the ball hits the ground. If Ryuma didn't suddenly become aware of the Flawless Limit moments before the impact, he most likely would've died from that hit.

Tezuka exmplifies the spirit of Prince of Tennis. In every fight he is putting his future and his life on the line, because anything less than that would not be enough. His powerful moves, like the Tezuka Phantom or the Zero Serve, literally burns away his lifeforce. It is a miracle Tezuka is still alive at this point of the story. It would not surprise me if it is revealed that many have tried to used the Zero Serve but Tezuka is the only one who can use it and not die from the process.

Ryuma, the main character, recently underwent tennis training so intense that it caused him to lose all his memory (the death defying trainings have long been done by just about anybody). I don't think even Dragonball or any fighting manga can boast training this hardcore.

At first PoT starts out as a somewhat realistic tennis manga, but that was quickly abandoned. You have people who can control the elements, or even time itself. It's so over the top that it's actually kind of funny, kind of like how Shaolin Soccer is funny.

For the actual story, Ryuma is a 7th grader who recently returned from America under the training of his father, a legendary samurai who decided to play tennis and beat Federer while blind folded or something along these lines. He joined a local school team, led by Tezuka. Ryuma's samurai blood is gradually awakened after matches of life and death and it right now, Yukimura, captain of the reigning national champion team, who is known as 'The Son of God', is all that stands between Ryuma and unlocking his full potential. Only with enough training will be he able to stand a chance his father, who is said to be the only one who has mastered the Flawless Limit, which no one knows what it does right now, but the 2 lesser limits allows complete violation of physics (Experience) and time (Talent). Right now it's looking like Yuikmura has the power of injecting reality into PoT, that is if you try to time warp he can undo the time warp (because time warp isn't real). If you violate any laws of physics he can nullify that attack because laws of physics are not supposed to be violated.

And of course, his local school team is trying to win the national championship after being a scrub school for the last decade or so. To do this the members of the school must be willing to put their life on the line too. Quite a few guys have been hospitalized from doing dangerous tennis moves.

There's also one guy whose hair turns gold when he's awakened, though power level X 10 is relatively tame compared to what the 3 Limits do.

That is either the best or the worst anime EVER MADE and I wish to watch this.

Preferably on drugs.

Hell, maybe just sober, so I *FEEL* like I"m on drugs.

Is it animated, or just Manga?

Both, the anime takes itself less seriously than the manga, though they're both pretty crazy. I didn't like it at first until it stopped trying to make sense, then it was actually pretty funny.

Where can I find torrents?

One of the guys on here ought to know. I don't watch very much anime because it takes too long (can read the equivalent manga much faster). This is a fairly popular series in Japan, so shouldn't be too hard to find them?

You can probally find the episodes of the series on boxtorrents once you create an account. As for manga, try Mangatraders. You will have to kill a few popups but they have lots up for download.

Bah, next thing you know, you'll be watching anime about baking bread or playing Go.

I'm actually watching Yakitate and I am quite enamored.