![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
Tenipuri episodes 36-38
Note: There may be mild spoilers for future episodes in these write-ups. Previous: memories or tagged.
Nothing much pairing-wise from a serious point of view. But lots of crack. And Akutsu!
36. Syusuke Fuji, the Big Brother
Fuji won't even shake Mizuki's hand. And the battle for Yuuta begins.
Mizuki believes in his scenario. It seems his strategy is a bit different from Inui's. He doesn't just predict his opponents' movements, he practices counters to them in advance.
Fuji is quite the actor. It looks like he's fooled Oishi and Eiji. Everyone gathers to see Fuji being beaten.
Ryoma is back under the tree, resting in a rather bored fashion.
And, aw, flashback to little Yuuta being beaten up by ninjas or ghosts or something. And Fuji saving him. History does not record whether or not Fuji got the shit kicked out of him by the ninjas.
I wonder why Fuji changes racquets. It doesn't seem like he'd need to.
Inui, of course, knows what's going on, and Fuji starts to win. Momoshiro is so badly drawn, he tries to sue the animators, but ultimately loses when they decline to animate the trial.
Inui is frustrated because Fuji will never "show Inui his true data" (or whatever the kids are calling it these days).
Mizuki is shocked -- shocked! -- that Fuji has been deliberately losing. Ryuzaki is amused. Tezuka is looking away from the court, probably at Ryoma under the tree. Momo and Kaidoh get engaged. Well, they stand next to each other and cheer Fuji on together. That's pretty much the same thing.
Ryoma stands up and looks in the general direction of the court, posing for buchou. Then he sits down again.
"Khaaaaaaaaaaan!" screams Mizuki.
Hyotei come by and block Ryoma's view of Tezuka.
Fuji really is scary here. No wonder Yuuta left home. Fuji's love is a scary love.
Fudomine mock St Rudolph for being bad losers. And Akazawa recognizes Tachibana. And then Fudomine kick Hyotei's ass while Inui takes data. Looks like Tachibana isn't going to risk not getting to play -- he's in Singles 3. And he makes a complete fool out of Shishido.
Atobe recognizes Tachibana as well. He adds him to the list of "tennis players I must defeat and then sleep with".
Inui has a picture of blond Tachibana in his notebook. A large picture. I really wish I knew who else was in Inui's Scrapbook of Looooooove.
Yuuta sort of confronts Mizuki. He doesn't really think Mizuki was wrong, but wants to play his own tennis from now on. Mizuki seems amused by Yuuta. Probably anticipating "visiting" him later. And then Fuji is all over Yuuta. Poor boy, not left alone anywhere. Still, Mizuki is less scary than Fuji.
Aw, Eiji is sad about losing. But he and Oishi have some special time together and then he feels better.
You know, in all seriousness, as close as they are, they don't ping me as slashy at all. The Boy and I argue about it sometimes.
Kaidoh, Momo, and Ryoma are sleeping on the bus. Momo and Ryoma are leaning on each other, but Kaidoh is sitting pretty close to Momo too and it looks like there's lots of room for him not to.
Everyone but Inui is accounted for. Maybe he and Mizuki are having a chat somewhere. And when I say "a chat" I mean "sex".
Well, a girl can dream.
37. Tennis Ball with Ryoma's Face
Ryoma has this great weird dream of hitting Tezuka in the forehead with a tennis ball. As soon as the ball makes contact, Tezuka's glasses go opaque. The ball then hits Inui, who is behind Tezuka, and then the other Regulars. Momo is the very last in line. Ryoma has defeated them all!
It must be Sunday. Ryoma's dad makes him go out and tricks him into coaching Sakuno and Tomoka. I wonder if Ryuzaki set this up because she knew Nanjiroh would back out and make Ryoma do it. Nanjiroh just seems intent on not doing it himself, not on setting Ryoma up with cute girls.
Ryoma is less than impressed. Sakuno is embarrassed. Tomoka is Tomoka.
If only this were another Wacky Adventures with Nanjiroh & Momo episode!
Sakuno has drawn a cartoon of Ryoma's face on the balls to mark them. For some reason, they can only afford one ball each. You'd think that Ryuzaki would make sure Sakuno was better supplied than that.
Of course Sakuno loses her ball. Inexplicably, the Ginka guys are total absolute jerks. Sakuno is a cute girl -- why don't they try to make time with her instead of tormenting her?
Lucky for Ryoma, he can save her while showing off hugely and pounding all the Ginka jerks into the ground. He's pretty fearless. He doesn't seem to entertain the thought that they might just beat him up.
And here's Akutsu! He's so very pale and scary-looking. I love how he's all, I came to make trouble but someone beat me to it. Ryoma isn't mean like Akutsu, but I think there are some parallels drawn between them, which we will of course explore as we go along.
You know, the Yamabuki uniform really doesn't suit Akutsu. He need more colour next to his face.
Aw, Oishi and Tezuka are in the library together. Studying! And Tezuka isn't wearing lavender! They talk about the Ginka players, not knowing that Ryoma is beating them at that very moment.
Akutsu smoked in the manga. But not the anime. Is that so that impressionable youths don't emulate him?
Tezuka knows that Inui is going over to Ginka to do some research. I imagine that every morning Inui phones up Tezuka and tells him his plans, updating him throughout the day as required.
Inui looks rather fetching in his ball cap and matching blue shirt.
Ryoma ends his second episode in a row asleep.
38. Penal-Tea!
Taka-san and his dad are so cute! We find out that Kawamura flits from one interest to another. First karate, now tennis.
Kachiro and Arai get to be ball managers together! It's as good as a date. I must say, I'm impressed with Arai. He stands up to Akutsu, even after Akutsu has been beating him up. Arai is so my Sekrit Seigaku Boyfriend. But he'll be embarrassed that Kachiro has seen him like that. This may destroy their chance for happiness together.
There are two colours of tennis ball, yellow and white. I just thought I'd mention that.
Ryoma clearly does not anticipate the level of violence that Akutsu delivers. (This anime could really use more gang fighting. I guess it's time to get back to Slam Dunk.)
It's interesting that Oishi agrees to not tell Tezuka and Ryuzaki about the incident. I guess there's a strong emphasis on them solving their own problems. I'm not surprised that Ryoma doesn't want to tell, though. He wants to get his own revenge.
Hello, crack, my old friend. I've come to watch with you again.
Inui is making everyone work extra-hard! He is so very, very evil, with his Penal-Tea for the losers. He is positively gleeful, all shiny glasses and frightening grin. Ryuzaki is almost as amused, until Inui offers her a glass.
So, Inui is actually drinking the juice and saying it tastes good while simultaneously using it as a punishment that makes people gag and faint. He's messed up.
When Inui brings out the pitcher for the losers, Momo and Kaidoh engage in some chariot-race strategy to get ahead of each other (without whipping, though). Even Tezuka is sweatdropping, though he's not made to look ridiculous like many of them. There's a cute shot of him and Ryoma running side by side that would make a good icon if Ryoma weren't so beaten up. (It might lead to questions about their relationship.)
Of course, they all finish at the same time and nobody has to drink.
Poor Kawamura is all worried about Akutsu. He won't go out with the Hamburger Trio, Eiji, Momo, and Ryoma. So of course, they have to follow him. They track him to a restaurant and almost have a heart attack when Inui shows up too.
Inui is Harriet the Spy.
The tableau of Taka-san on his "date" with another guy, a guy with a ribbon around his head -- is this Inui's fevered imagining? It's got to be. Christ, Inui probably goes home at night and makes up fiction about his teammates that's creepier than what we write.
How I love him.
When they see who Kawamura is meeting, they exclaim, "A woman!" I'm not sure if by that they mean, "A woman? But Inui just convinced us that you're gay!" or "A woman! Watch out for cougars, Taka-san!"
When she starts to cry, Inui updates his data. Oh my god, I so wish I knew what he was writing about Kawamura right now.
Akutsu arrives on scene. Ryoma is actually shaking, poor boy. {{{Ryoma}}} {{{Kawamura}}} {{{Kaidoh}}} (Well, I'm sure Kaidoh was feeling left out, waiting and waiting for Inui to join him after his spy route.)
Ryoma trips Akutsu. He's not shaking anymore. He introduces himself. Oh, but the boy loves a challenge.
Nothing much pairing-wise from a serious point of view. But lots of crack. And Akutsu!
36. Syusuke Fuji, the Big Brother
Fuji won't even shake Mizuki's hand. And the battle for Yuuta begins.
Mizuki believes in his scenario. It seems his strategy is a bit different from Inui's. He doesn't just predict his opponents' movements, he practices counters to them in advance.
Fuji is quite the actor. It looks like he's fooled Oishi and Eiji. Everyone gathers to see Fuji being beaten.
Ryoma is back under the tree, resting in a rather bored fashion.
And, aw, flashback to little Yuuta being beaten up by ninjas or ghosts or something. And Fuji saving him. History does not record whether or not Fuji got the shit kicked out of him by the ninjas.
I wonder why Fuji changes racquets. It doesn't seem like he'd need to.
Inui, of course, knows what's going on, and Fuji starts to win. Momoshiro is so badly drawn, he tries to sue the animators, but ultimately loses when they decline to animate the trial.
Inui is frustrated because Fuji will never "show Inui his true data" (or whatever the kids are calling it these days).
Mizuki is shocked -- shocked! -- that Fuji has been deliberately losing. Ryuzaki is amused. Tezuka is looking away from the court, probably at Ryoma under the tree. Momo and Kaidoh get engaged. Well, they stand next to each other and cheer Fuji on together. That's pretty much the same thing.
Ryoma stands up and looks in the general direction of the court, posing for buchou. Then he sits down again.
"Khaaaaaaaaaaan!" screams Mizuki.
Hyotei come by and block Ryoma's view of Tezuka.
Fuji really is scary here. No wonder Yuuta left home. Fuji's love is a scary love.
Fudomine mock St Rudolph for being bad losers. And Akazawa recognizes Tachibana. And then Fudomine kick Hyotei's ass while Inui takes data. Looks like Tachibana isn't going to risk not getting to play -- he's in Singles 3. And he makes a complete fool out of Shishido.
Atobe recognizes Tachibana as well. He adds him to the list of "tennis players I must defeat and then sleep with".
Inui has a picture of blond Tachibana in his notebook. A large picture. I really wish I knew who else was in Inui's Scrapbook of Looooooove.
Yuuta sort of confronts Mizuki. He doesn't really think Mizuki was wrong, but wants to play his own tennis from now on. Mizuki seems amused by Yuuta. Probably anticipating "visiting" him later. And then Fuji is all over Yuuta. Poor boy, not left alone anywhere. Still, Mizuki is less scary than Fuji.
Aw, Eiji is sad about losing. But he and Oishi have some special time together and then he feels better.
You know, in all seriousness, as close as they are, they don't ping me as slashy at all. The Boy and I argue about it sometimes.
Kaidoh, Momo, and Ryoma are sleeping on the bus. Momo and Ryoma are leaning on each other, but Kaidoh is sitting pretty close to Momo too and it looks like there's lots of room for him not to.
Everyone but Inui is accounted for. Maybe he and Mizuki are having a chat somewhere. And when I say "a chat" I mean "sex".
Well, a girl can dream.
37. Tennis Ball with Ryoma's Face
Ryoma has this great weird dream of hitting Tezuka in the forehead with a tennis ball. As soon as the ball makes contact, Tezuka's glasses go opaque. The ball then hits Inui, who is behind Tezuka, and then the other Regulars. Momo is the very last in line. Ryoma has defeated them all!
It must be Sunday. Ryoma's dad makes him go out and tricks him into coaching Sakuno and Tomoka. I wonder if Ryuzaki set this up because she knew Nanjiroh would back out and make Ryoma do it. Nanjiroh just seems intent on not doing it himself, not on setting Ryoma up with cute girls.
Ryoma is less than impressed. Sakuno is embarrassed. Tomoka is Tomoka.
If only this were another Wacky Adventures with Nanjiroh & Momo episode!
Sakuno has drawn a cartoon of Ryoma's face on the balls to mark them. For some reason, they can only afford one ball each. You'd think that Ryuzaki would make sure Sakuno was better supplied than that.
Of course Sakuno loses her ball. Inexplicably, the Ginka guys are total absolute jerks. Sakuno is a cute girl -- why don't they try to make time with her instead of tormenting her?
Lucky for Ryoma, he can save her while showing off hugely and pounding all the Ginka jerks into the ground. He's pretty fearless. He doesn't seem to entertain the thought that they might just beat him up.
And here's Akutsu! He's so very pale and scary-looking. I love how he's all, I came to make trouble but someone beat me to it. Ryoma isn't mean like Akutsu, but I think there are some parallels drawn between them, which we will of course explore as we go along.
You know, the Yamabuki uniform really doesn't suit Akutsu. He need more colour next to his face.
Aw, Oishi and Tezuka are in the library together. Studying! And Tezuka isn't wearing lavender! They talk about the Ginka players, not knowing that Ryoma is beating them at that very moment.
Akutsu smoked in the manga. But not the anime. Is that so that impressionable youths don't emulate him?
Tezuka knows that Inui is going over to Ginka to do some research. I imagine that every morning Inui phones up Tezuka and tells him his plans, updating him throughout the day as required.
Inui looks rather fetching in his ball cap and matching blue shirt.
Ryoma ends his second episode in a row asleep.
38. Penal-Tea!
Taka-san and his dad are so cute! We find out that Kawamura flits from one interest to another. First karate, now tennis.
Kachiro and Arai get to be ball managers together! It's as good as a date. I must say, I'm impressed with Arai. He stands up to Akutsu, even after Akutsu has been beating him up. Arai is so my Sekrit Seigaku Boyfriend. But he'll be embarrassed that Kachiro has seen him like that. This may destroy their chance for happiness together.
There are two colours of tennis ball, yellow and white. I just thought I'd mention that.
Ryoma clearly does not anticipate the level of violence that Akutsu delivers. (This anime could really use more gang fighting. I guess it's time to get back to Slam Dunk.)
It's interesting that Oishi agrees to not tell Tezuka and Ryuzaki about the incident. I guess there's a strong emphasis on them solving their own problems. I'm not surprised that Ryoma doesn't want to tell, though. He wants to get his own revenge.
Hello, crack, my old friend. I've come to watch with you again.
Inui is making everyone work extra-hard! He is so very, very evil, with his Penal-Tea for the losers. He is positively gleeful, all shiny glasses and frightening grin. Ryuzaki is almost as amused, until Inui offers her a glass.
So, Inui is actually drinking the juice and saying it tastes good while simultaneously using it as a punishment that makes people gag and faint. He's messed up.
When Inui brings out the pitcher for the losers, Momo and Kaidoh engage in some chariot-race strategy to get ahead of each other (without whipping, though). Even Tezuka is sweatdropping, though he's not made to look ridiculous like many of them. There's a cute shot of him and Ryoma running side by side that would make a good icon if Ryoma weren't so beaten up. (It might lead to questions about their relationship.)
Of course, they all finish at the same time and nobody has to drink.
Poor Kawamura is all worried about Akutsu. He won't go out with the Hamburger Trio, Eiji, Momo, and Ryoma. So of course, they have to follow him. They track him to a restaurant and almost have a heart attack when Inui shows up too.
Inui is Harriet the Spy.
The tableau of Taka-san on his "date" with another guy, a guy with a ribbon around his head -- is this Inui's fevered imagining? It's got to be. Christ, Inui probably goes home at night and makes up fiction about his teammates that's creepier than what we write.
How I love him.
When they see who Kawamura is meeting, they exclaim, "A woman!" I'm not sure if by that they mean, "A woman? But Inui just convinced us that you're gay!" or "A woman! Watch out for cougars, Taka-san!"
When she starts to cry, Inui updates his data. Oh my god, I so wish I knew what he was writing about Kawamura right now.
Akutsu arrives on scene. Ryoma is actually shaking, poor boy. {{{Ryoma}}} {{{Kawamura}}} {{{Kaidoh}}} (Well, I'm sure Kaidoh was feeling left out, waiting and waiting for Inui to join him after his spy route.)
Ryoma trips Akutsu. He's not shaking anymore. He introduces himself. Oh, but the boy loves a challenge.
no subject
True true true. All of it. Inui is such a creepy perv, but I do adore him. Mizuki is totally hot for him, too.
no subject
no subject
I flove you so hard right now.
Also, I think Ryoma only gives in return you what you have already dished out (the Akutsu & Ryoma parallel). In that, I don't see him as a bully because he'll usually lie in wait until you've stuck your foot in your mouth and then he'll push you over while you are standing on the one leg.
I love that little monster so much.
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
Also the end of 37 (with Ryoma smugly napping in his pile of tennis balls) kills me every time.
no subject
And that's why we love him.
no subject
no subject
no subject
I love these episode write-ups. I want to read the stories Inui writes about his teammates. He probably thinks of them as "scenarios" using his data and then tries to set them up and see if things really happen the way he wrote.
no subject
My God, that's perfect. Do you mind if I use that as a crack fic scenario (credited, of course)?
no subject
no subject
no subject
Inui... I am moved by his nobility! All for the sake of science! (I wonder if there is some... data tennis message board where he posts his scenarios. "Glue Experiment NC17: Momoshiro/Kaidoh by Inui Sadaharu." It's just... so wrong it's right.)
no subject
Inui: "Mizuki, you can't be scientifically objective about your experiments if you're part of them!"
Mizuki: "There's a long tradition of self-experimentation in science."
Fuwa: "I have improved the adhesive qualities of the glue by 150%."
no subject
no subject
Inui: "I hadn't factored my own reaction into the scenario."
Mizuki: "Inui, you should think about including yourself in one of your scenarios."
Inui: "Maybe you're right...now that Kaidoh is unglued from Momoshiro."
Renji: "Sadaharu, perhaps you should devise at least one scenario that doesn't include Kaidoh."
Fuwa: "I presented our findings today in class as a science project."
no subject
no subject
Fuwa would be posting, "I glued a 50 pound rock to the ceiling in the club room. It stayed up for 43 hours before falling onto Mizuno. I believe that the adhesive can be improved to support that weight indefinitely. Note: when finished, begin study on the effects of head injuries on sports performance."
no subject
I love you so hard.
XD And Inui. Inui, too, of course. Crazy and all.
no subject
Arai/Kachiro is so next year's Golden Pair.
no subject
We wouldn't have to dream if you'd write it. Although after reading your ep commentaries I'm always tempted to go and write something. I just need to act on that temptation sometime.
no subject
no subject
no subject
I love that scene. They are all dying behind him while he's ENJOYING his drink.
Didn't Akutsu kept on smirking at Taka when he joins up with Taka and his mom at the restaurant? Cuz I remember thinking to myself that "He's so eye stripping Taka at the moment and thinking naughty things...." I started shipping AkutsuTaka until kawaii Dan appears
and tops Akutsu, we all know that Akutsu needs to get LAID.All you
ballsbases are belong to us. X)no subject
no subject
SenAkuDan OT3 ftw!:D
Inui is frustrated because Fuji will never "show Inui his true data" (or whatever the kids are calling it these days).
*still laughing*
Brilliant summaries. They perfectly capture the show's spirit.
It's amazing how Ryoma can solve bullying with tennis. (Much like Hikaru could mete out justice with go. Sadly, Azuma has yet to use his baking skillz to stop bullying. And poor Sakuragi must make do with just has his head and fists.) I was just watching the episode where he goes up against mirror universe Kaidoh and Momo and was amused that even in *NYC* he avoids a beatdown.
I love the TeniPuri boys, but the Slam Dunk ones would definitely be the cage match victors. All of the shounen sports series would make lovely crossovers with each other though...
Re: :D
Sadly, Azuma has yet to use his baking skillz to stop bullying.
Would Azuma even realise that bullying was going on? If he did, I suppose there's some version of Japan that causes everyone to overflow with brotherly love.
(And I just want to say that I really miss the days when Kuroyanagi was the one doing the tasting. Nobody has better reactions than he does.)
I love the TeniPuri boys, but the Slam Dunk ones would definitely be the cage match victors. All of the shounen sports series would make lovely crossovers with each other though...
We'll have to harmonize their ages. Then I want to see them all play every sport!
no subject
I agree, actually. They're very sweet, but they strike me as close friends who maybe don't have much in common outside of tennis. I thought it might be my mind perversely refusing to acknowledge an overly obvious ship, but if other people (who aren't invested in the idea that everyone in the series is heterosexual) also see the Golden Pair as platonic, maybe not.
I imagine that every morning Inui phones up Tezuka and tells him his plans, updating him throughout the day as required.
:D! I hope so.
Maybe Inui Juice is like this chakra-balancing juice my mum got from her, um, chakra nutritionist: the more unbalanced your chakra, the worse the juice will taste, but after you've been drinking it long enough for it to make a difference, it starts (apparently) tasting good. Inui's chakra, and maybe Fuji's, is just impeccably balanced, like his workout regime & his meal plans; Eiji's and Momo's, on the other hand, are so far off that they'll pass out after a sip. :D
I like the idea of data as extreme canon-checking, though. Oh, Inui. <3. Now I'm imagining the fic everyone writes about their fellow PoT kids, and it's distressing--Fuji and his Yuuta-comes-home/Mizuki-bashing wish-fulfillment fic (scary love indeed), Mizuka's self-insert porn involving all three Fuji siblings, Kamio's reimagining of Tachibana as the buddha, Rikkai's bible AU epic featuring Yukimura as Jesus, Atobe casting himself as Batman....
no subject
Oh, I like that. Inui and Fuji are birds of a feather, I'm convinced.
Fuji and his Yuuta-comes-home/Mizuki-bashing wish-fulfillment fic (scary love indeed), Mizuka's self-insert porn involving all three Fuji siblings, Kamio's reimagining of Tachibana as the buddha, Rikkai's bible AU epic featuring Yukimura as Jesus, Atobe casting himself as Batman....
Oh yes! And there's the one I read at ff.n today, where the team was supposed to be doing a creative writing competition and the topic was "Tezuka". Everyone else wrote essays and such but Ryoma "boldly wrote a homosexual love story between Captain Tezuka and Atobe. He strongly refused to change his story even after Oishi told him to."
I love ff.n so much.
no subject
no subject
I believe Yumiko revisits this in a flashback during the match with Kirihara. Unsurprisingly, it appears that Fuji did the shit-kicking-out.
"Khaaaaaaaaaaan!" screams Mizuki.
BWAHAHAHA! That's what it kept reminding me of!
Hyotei come by and block Ryoma's view of Tezuka.
And Shishido snickers at Mizuki's plight. Little does he know.... Sometimes the writers actually get the foreshadowing/irony right.
You'd think that Ryuzaki would make sure Sakuno was better supplied than that.
You'd also think that Ryuzaki would actually pay attention to her granddaughter once in a while, but instead she lets her get lost and harassed by a guy who's way too attached to his shoes. And she palms her off on other people every chance she gets--now and later in the racquet-stringer episode. Personally, I think she finds Sakuno just as irritating as I do.
why don't they try to make time with her instead of tormenting her?
They also find her irritating. (What? It only took me about three seconds; why shouldn't they realize it immediately too?)
And Tezuka isn't wearing lavender!
I think I prefer the lavender button-down to the yellow sweater, though. But then, I have great respect for men who aren't afraid to wear girly colours. Bonus points if they're heterosexual
which Tezuka obviously doesn't get.There are two colours of tennis ball, yellow and white.
Tennis balls used to be white, like, many years ago. Then they changed them to yellow for better visibility. I'm not sure why Seigaku decided to hang on to the old ones. I'm also not sure why Akutsu attacked Kachiro for running when he told him to go get Echizen in the first place. Unless it's because Kachiro was stupid enough to say out loud that he was getting a teacher. Will have to re-watch and see if that line was mental or not.
It's interesting that Oishi agrees to not tell Tezuka and Ryuzaki about the incident.
Oh, I think he tells them. After all, Ryuzaki already knows something's wrong, even if she doesn't know who did it, and I can't see Tezuka not wondering why on earth his
boyfriend's pretty face is marredfuture pillar is injured. But as long as Ryoma maintains that he just fell down, there's nothing they can do about complaining to the board; they need him to verify it. That's why Oishi just facepalms and hopes there won't be too much trouble.There's a cute shot of him and Ryoma running side by side that would make a good icon if Ryoma weren't so beaten up.
I have thought this same exact thought every single time I watch this episode, which is many times, specifically because Ryoma is almost always running next to Tezuka.
Inui is Harriet the Spy.
This is so utterly true that it stupefied me. The glasses. The notebook. There should be crackfic where they meet up and exchange tips. Or discover that they are in fact soulmates, separated by universes at birth. Or something like that.
When they see who Kawamura is meeting, they exclaim, "A woman!"
I think it's meant to mean that it's a woman, rather than a girl. I tend to interpret it the first way, though. And is the cougars thing a reference to something?
Oh, but the boy loves a challenge.
And it seriously pisses me off that we don't see the result of this one. Why? Could they just not think of a way to end the confrontation without multiple broken limbs?
no subject
Oh, it was out loud all right. I think he wanted to assure his darling Arai that help would be forthcoming. *g*
I first began to think of Inui as Harriet when I saw his bag check from the fanbook. My god! Besides notebooks and pen, he's got a tape recorder, a digital camera, and binoculars. He's seriously a snoop.
A cougar is an older woman who likes younger guys. (Though not jailbait guys!) Maybe that's just Canadian slang.
help, help!
But now I have to know. What's up with the manga? Is it still being published? Is the plot different after Regionals, other than no Jr. Invitational? Does Echizen leave for the US?
??? <-- row of question marks.
Thank you.
Re: help, help!
The manga is ongoing -- they're in the midst of Nationals right now. The anime was essentially the same as the manga up until about the bowling excursion, after which it diverged, reverged, diverged again. For example, in the manga, they play Midoryama instead of Jyosei Shonen. And when they play Rokkaku, it's Kaidoh, not Ryoma, who plays Kentarou. Et cetera.
Ryoma does not leave. There is not, at least so far, any talk of the US Open. I think that was just a convenient way for the anime to end.
Scanlations here: http://www.stoptazmo.com/prince_of_tennis/ Note there are some unscanlated gaps. As well, the manga is licensed by VIZ and I'm picking up the volumes as they come out, but they are pretty badly done in places.
The manga is awesome. And the boys, especially now, are prettier. (Vide Inui in my icon.) If you have time, I'd recommend getting caught up. If you don't want to go back to the beginning, then start with Rikkai, which is somewhere around the 240-250 mark.
Re: help, help!
I am glad Echizen doesn't head to the US. That didn't quite seem to square with the Pillar theme. He's quite far away from the house to be a good cornerstone. Plus, NATIONALS! How totally fun!
I'll go get caught up now.
no subject
I have just been mulling this over lately and discussing it with
More than that, I'm also starting to wonder if they're even bestest friends. I am going to have to rewatch to clarify on this, but it doesn't seem that Eiji and Oishi are on the most intimate terms outside of the tennis club. Oishi never gets the nicknames and endearments that Eiji hands out to others like candy, for one. And Oishi's concern for and support of Eiji is no more than that which he directs to every member of the team.
Also, we rarely, I think, see them hanging out together? Again, I'll need further research. But in recent episodes (am now in the 90s) they show up at places separately, whereas if they were best friends or boyfriends (which, Ew. No.) they might conceivably walk places and do things together, and it seems to me that we tend to see Eiji randomly hanging around with Momo or Fuji more often. (Although this could be because of Oishi's increased responsibility for the club after Tezuka's departure. Hrm.)
Ryoma is less than impressed. Sakuno is embarrassed. Tomoka is Tomoka.
I do like, though, that Ryoma takes the coaching thing semi-seriously. Well, he's still sitting around looking adorably bored and drinking Ponta, but he offers them actual advice that actually helps, rather than ignoring them entirely.
And I know that defending Sakuno is little more than an excuse on the show's part to give Ryoma yet another opportunity for a badass tennis smackdown, and that's probably the main reason Ryoma's fired up about it, too. But still, it's a nice echo of Momo's chivalry and protectiveness toward girls, freshmen, and other people in danger, and this from a kid who is usually wrapped up only in himself. His defence of Kachirou is another instance of this.
However, there's a fundamental difference there. Momo seems more genuinely concerned about people in general, and we see this often, whereas Ryoma seems more selective and self-serving in his chivalry. If he can provoke someone enjoyably and if he can resolve the situation though tennis, OK. If not, he doesn't want to get involved.
For some reason, they can only afford one ball each. You'd think that Ryuzaki would make sure Sakuno was better supplied than that.
I was wondering about this! And not just supplies, either. She never seems to take much interest in Sakuno's development as a player. If she thinks Sakuno's not getting enough out of the girls' tennis club, why does she not give Sakuno extra coaching herself? Or send her to a private coach, like Kachirou's dad. Instead she sends Sakuno to Nanjiroh, which... well, even if she knew the job would get handed off to Ryoma, it's still an odd choice. Nanjiroh, who is possibly the worst influence on child athletes ever, blowing cigarette smoke in their faces and giving them complexes that can only be solved by stoic captains; or Ryoma, who is not exactly skilled, especially at this point in the show, in supporting anyone else or helping them to develop.
Which makes me think that Ryuzaki knew Ryoma would end up with the job and, as with the racquet-stringing "date", set it up for Ryoma's development rather than to help Sakuno. Or she's just trying to kill two birds with one stone. But still, HELLO THIS IS YOUR GRANDDAUGHTER.
And the worst part is that she ends up encouraging Sakuno's fangirling rather than her tennis. The worst possible thing for Sakuno would be for her to continue thinking of tennis as a way of being near Ryoma in order to cheer him on, make him lunch and bake him sweets. Tennis shouldn't be the means, it should be the end.
Ironically, if Sakuno did get really good at tennis, it would actually improve her chances of catching Ryoma's eye.
Inui looks rather fetching in his ball cap and matching blue shirt.
I love that he probably thinks he's all incognito here, when he really couldn't be more conspicuous. <333
no subject
no subject
I wonder if there's more in the Japanese that we just don't get in translation, about how familiar they are with each other. But I don't think they are BFFs -- they don't seem to have much in commonn off the tennis court. And there are little things here and there that make me think they don't hang out much:
* Eiji's surprise that Oishi would ask to have lunch with him, just before the Rikkai match when Oishi is asking everyone about their concerns
* Eiji's surprise when Oishi turns up on his doorstep in the Chocolates crack ep and Oishi's lack of concern that Eiji didn't tell him about the party he's having for someone very important to him
* We don't see them together outside club activities, but we see Eiji with Momo a lot and Oishi with Tezuka from time to time
(Not to mention I ship Tezuka/Oishi so madly, I have trouble seeing Oishi with anyone else.)
But their connection gets played up in other media: the musicals, the radio show, calendars and bromides, etc. Which is probably just fanservice, but still. Hmm.
Sakuno suffers from being a girl in a boy's series, really. The treatment of the female characters varies from series to series, but often they are sidelined like this. I was so happy with Dear Boys because the girl's basketball team kicked ass and we even got to see them play in tournaments.
So in the end, I don't really blame Sakuno for being the way she is or Sumire for how she treats her -- I blame Konomi.
no subject
Akutsu smoked in the manga. But not the anime. Is that so that impressionable youths don't emulate him?
In the anime, the only people I have seen smoking thus far are Nanjiroh (because he's a degenerate :) and the coach of Fudomine (who is evil, what with... making the first years pick up balls?). Anyway, it seems to me that only Bad People smoke, and Akutsu is not a Bad Person, what with the patented Tenipuri Redemption he gets (well to a certain extent, thanks to Dan's wobbly eyes and some strategic haloes of light in flashback -- it's not quite the Redemption Through Tennis that other people tend to get).
I don't know why it was originally in the manga, though. Maybe there was a change because they suddenly realised, oh hey, smokers probably couldn't last through even the strangely reduced one-set matches they play in Tenipuriland?
In my head Akutsu smokes, even though I haven't yet read the manga. I mean, how else could he look fifty at fourteen?
They track him to a restaurant and almost have a heart attack when Inui shows up too.
The way he shows up is priceless, too. First of all I love the classic sight gag of people's heads stacked up and peering from behind a wall or doorframe. Also, I think this is the second time Inui does the thing where he scuttles crabwise in behind people, accompanied by this funny Nintendo music. So great! I wish he would do that more often.
I love it when he surprises people, in general. Especially the fanboys! Inui shows up behind them and starts explaining things, and they are all *shock* "Inui-senpai!" Tell me, how is this shocking?? He's always behind them, and he's always explaining things!
I have been kind of tearing through these summaries without commenting, but I did want to let you know that they're great. Perfect mix of analysis, speculation and Kaidoh :D
no subject
It's still quite acceptable in Japan to smoke, esp for adult men, so I'm not really sure how to take Nanjiroh's smoking. (In other sports series I've followed, smoking only has a negative connotation when it's done by kids.) Certainly, it shows him as no longer a sportsman.
I *thought* I'd seen Sakaki smoking in the manga or a promo image, but I could easily be wrong about that.
Perfect mix of analysis, speculation and Kaidoh
Hee! I'm trying to ensure everyone gets their RDA of Kaidoh.