The Prince of Tennis: The National Tournament Semifinals
Synopsis
The National Tournament continues for Ryouma Echizen and the Seishun Academy Boys' Tennis Team as they face off against last year's semifinalist, Shitenhouji Middle School. As winners of the Kansai Regionals, Shitenhouji is one of the top contenders to win this year's tournament. What's more, each member of the Shitenhouji team has skills that are said to surpass their Seishun counterparts. Shitenhouji also has Kintarou Tooyama, another "super rookie" who rivals Ryouma in strength and technique. Seishun will have to push the limits of their abilities to stand a chance at defeating the Kansai champions in this East versus West matchup. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Audience Consensus
Audience reception is mixed. Some enjoy the emotional capture and vibrant presentation, especially younger viewers. However, others find the plot too summarized, the physics too unrealistic, and the character development lacking, leading to disappointment compared to earlier installments. The animation quality is also a point of concern.
Strengths
- Captures the emotion of the characters and matches well through sound.
- Opening shows more personality.
- Enjoyable for younger audiences due to colors and charismatic characters.
Weaknesses
- Matches are ultra summarized with little credible context.
- Rivals are quickly discarded without development.
- Inconsistencies and physics-defying situations become too much.
- Animation quality declines with static movements and out-of-context scenes.
- Characters are superficial with a lack of development.