Prince of Tennis - mada mada dane!

The Prince of Tennis is a highly rated anime series and I seriously do not understand why. Action-wise, it's OVER-exaggerated and too unrealistic! Humor-wise, it's not too bad. I think the only appeal lies in its characters. The series ended at the 178th episode (just before the Nationals arc). However, lucky for TeniPuri fans, around a year after the series ended, the Nationals were animated in the form of OVAs. (Sigh... If only someone can animate the Inter-High matches of Slam Dunk!!! (¬_¬) )

Plot: (6/10) – Fair
The story is simple. It’s about Tennis, Echizen Ryoma aka Prince of Tennis, his Seigaku's team mates and rivals. Period.

I hate the fact that the mangaka loves his main character soooooooo much that Ryoma has never ever lost in a formal competitive match before. This makes ALL of his matches really predictable. No matter how strong his opponents are, he will always somehow manage to become stronger in the course of the game and come out with some ridiculous moves to win the game. Boring.

Characters: (9/10) – Very Good
The only appeal of Prince of Tennis is probably its characters - a cocky protagonist and a list of cool and lovable characters.

Here are some characters I like:

Fuji Shuusuke - ♥ he's such a great brother! I find him really cool whenever he opens his eyes!

Kikumaru Eiji - he has such a fun personality and I enjoy watching his games.

Momoshiro Takeshi - momo-chan-senpai!

Sanada Genichiroh - the most samurai-looking player!

Atobe Keigo - no particular reason... I just find him quite funny with his antics.

Art/Animation: (7/10) – Fairly Good
The art-style is not exactly my cup of tea but it's not too bad. As for animation, the effects complement the (ridiculous) moves/techniques of the players pretty well.

Sound/Music: (7/10) – Fairly Good
I seriously can't remember much about the music in TeniPuri. I can only remember the song Wonderful Days which is sung by the seiyuu of players of other teams (ie. Sengoku, Kirihara, Sanada and etc).

Enjoyment: (7/10) – Fairly Good
Initially, I quite enjoyed it. However, after a while, things get really predictable and boring. Thank goodness, new teams/players were introduced frequently and that certainly helped to make the series more interesting. However, no matter how weak or powerful the new teams/players are, Ryoma and Seigaku will always triumph.

Overall: (7/10) – Fairly Good
Given all the positive things I've previously read about the series, I'm certainly very disappointed. The only thing I like about TeniPuri is the characters.