Episode 21: Is the tennis court heating up?

            With Seigaku's victory in the district tournament, interest in the team escalated.  A number of scouts as well as players from other schools trooped to Seigaku to watch tennis practices.  Some even expressed interest to hold practice matches with them but Ryusaki-sensei turned them down.  True to form, Inui even counted their visitors and reported a 175% increase from the figures in the past two years!  Among them is the duo of Kenzo and his kohai, Shunsuke.  They used to be members of the tennis club in their school but because of negligence in attending practices, Kenzo was kicked out and he took Shunsuke with him.  The schemed to gather data about the top junior tennis players in other schools in order to prove their worth to their former teammates and avenge what they felt was shabby treatment.   They were particularly interested in Ryoma.

            This marks the first appearance of Lucky Sengoku, a nationally ranked junior player from Yamabuki Junior High, and was also in Seigaku to observe.  He encountered Ryoma who was trying out a tennis gadget (a ball with an elastic string) being used by Sakuno and Tomoka for practice.   Sengoku displayed his good tennis sense just by looking at what Ryoma was doing and gauging that the ball would not be able to reach him as the shots lacked power.  Ryoma immediately reacted by switching the racket to his left hand and bang, hit Sengoku smack in the face.  The poor ace of Yamabuki was knocked unconscious.

            Kenzo and Shunsuke finally spotted Ryoma, who was late for practice because of his duties as library representative, and stalked him from there on.  When the ochibi left the school with Momoshiro, they even followed them inside A-burger and the sports shop.   What is funny with these spy-wannabes is that they can't seem to distinguish what is significant data from trash.  They were eventually exposed in the sports shop because of their amateur tactics: Momoshiro spotted Shunsuke through a mirror on the ceiling.  Sakuno and Tomoka turned up in the store and apparently, Kenzo had a crush on one of them (a potential rival for Ryoma?)  To save face, Kenzo challenged the AH UN boys to a doubles match, which turned out to be a disaster.  It nearly became a love match in favor of Seigaku, save for a lucky accidental return of Shunsuke. 

            The episode showed the innate good nature of Momoshiro who praised Shunsuke and encouraged these comedic duo to practice harder whereas Ryoma simply uttered his patented "mada mada dane."  In return, the would-be-spies destroyed their XXX notebook and vowed to work at their skills.  Much to Momoshiro's annoyance, Ryoma discovered that the notebook contained the observation that his senpai is apparently interested in a girl in his year level.  Could there be truth to this and who is she?

Episode 22: The Troubles of Kaoru / Kaoru's Misfortune

            They say that disasters come in threes.  It would seem that way for Kaoru Kaidoh on what started out as an ordinary after school day.  

            Round One: The freshmen, accompanied by their senpai-Momo, were on their way to do assigned shopping when they encountered a thief on roller skates who snatched a lady's handbag.  Momoshiro unsuccessfully blocked the thief's way so he just ran after him and ordered his kohais to go on with their errands.  The thief-on-wheels was getting away so Momo decided to "borrow" some wheels of his own.  He grabbed a bike, which turned out to be owned by Fudomine's Akira Kamio.  Kamio was off in a flash to pursuit the "bicycle thief", assuming all along that it was Kaidoh on the basis of the school uniform.    Of course, Momoshiro denied that he is the "mamushi" but Kamio only realized his mistake when they eventually run into Kaidoh, who was out on his after school training.  Kaidoh banged into the thief and fell on the pavement.  As he was getting up, he was run over by Momoshiro and Kamio.  Unfortunately, these two did not stop and continued their race.  The thief got away but the bag flew into Kaidoh's direction and was hauled into the police station mistaking him for the snatcher.  He was soon released when the policeman and the lady victim realized the mistake. 

            Round Two: Once more the thief struck and headed in the direction of the Seigaku seniors, Eiji Kikumaru and Takashi Kawamura who were walking home.  Kikumaru handed his racket to Kawamura who immediately transformed into his burning mode.  Using the coffee can he was drinking from as ball, Taka-san was able to stop the thief with the bag he snatched landing again on Kaidoh's head but this time with the unempty can.  However, the thief still got away and Kaidoh returned the bag to the station.

            Round Three: When Momoshiro left his younger charges, they met Ibu Shinji who was hanging out with Kamio earlier.  Shinji was the opponent of Ryoma when he got his eye injured.  The two recognized and eyed each other warily.  As it turned out, Shinji and the freshmen were all heading to the sports shop.  Tension arose when Shinji and Echizen wanted to purchase the only grip tape in stock.  Neither of the two wanted to give in and started an argument.  The freshman trio was relieved to see their senpais Kawamura and Kikumaru enter the shop.  Kikumaru's racket had to be repaired after it was used to foil the snatching attempt.  To make matters worse, the childish Kikumaru simply egged Echizen not to yield to Shinji for the sake of Seigaku.   Fortunately, the sober Taka-san prevailed on them to settle the dispute elsewhere to avoid disrupting the store.

            Meanwhile, the race between Kamio and Momo only stopped when Momo fell down the flight of stairs near the street tennis court.  They overheard Ann Tachibana quarrelling with Keigo Atobe, the captain of Hyotei Gakuen tennis club and defending champions in the Kantou Tournament.  Apparently, Ann made a deal with Atobe that if he and his teammate, Kabaji, would win against all the players there, she would go out on a date with them.  Kamio and Momoshiro challenged them using borrowed rackets from the Gyokurin doubles pair.  Atobe simply sat on the court and ordered Kabaji to hit the balls.  Momo earned Atobe's interest when he was able to return the powerful shots of Kabaji.  Atobe stopped the one-point match and asked for Momo's identity.  When Atobe introduced himself, Momo realized who they have been playing with.  Kamio was angry when Atobe simply ignored his introduction and vowed to get even.

            The conflict between Shinji and Echizen was resolved when the thief struck for the third time.  Kikumaru decided that whoever stops him would win and get the grip tape.  Ryoma won using his Twist Serve.  Like in previous instances, the ball and the bag landed on . . . you guessed it – Kaidoh's head.  An irate and dirty Kaidoh finally met the person responsible for all his misfortune and had to be restrained to prevent him from hurting the thief. 

            Realizations:  The viper is unmasked.  Kaidoh, despite the mean, sullen face he often wears, is really a shy young man who blushes when people praise and say nice things about him!  This episode also seems to mark the beginning of the Momo-Ann-Kamio love triangle.  It's also interesting to know that these tennis players are competitive both in and out of the tennis court.  Ibu Shinji is one weird person who would give monologue artists a run for their money.  He may have tennis sense that is comparable to Fuji but he is more sinister than Seigaku's tennis tensai.  With the introduction of new players from other schools, Seigaku willl have very tough opponents in the future.  Still, go Seigaku!  Fight!

Episode 23: Appeared! Inui's Juice Deluxe

            Which is a better motivator: a carrot or a stick?  Supposedly beating one's opponent brings satisfaction in itself and would suffice to motivate a person to do his best.  However, Sadaharu Inui seems to believe other wise and tries to come up with ways to reinforce his team's desire to win.

            In preparation for the upcoming prefectural competition, a special training program was prepared for the Seigaku regulars.  One of which is the zone practice – a rally match with limitations as to where the tennis can land.  For this exercise, players were grouped according to their playing styles.  The counter punchers (Oishi, Fuji and Kaidoh) and the serve-and-volley players (Kikumaru) were assigned the defensive position and had to guard their entire side of the court.  On the other hand, the aggressive baseliners such as Kawamura and Momoshiro, as well as the all-rounders Tezuka and Echizen were on the offensive using only half of their side of the court.  Given a five-rally match, a player on defense must return the ball to his opponent's half-side of the court only and prevent them from scoring.  If the ball is hit outside this area, he would lose.  As for the attacking player, he would lose if he can not score a point within five rallies.  As an added incentive, losers have to drink Inui's special vegetable juice.  All the players remembered what happened when they drank this and naturally loath to lose.

            The match between Kawamura and Kaidoh was a battle of power versus stamina.  Kaidoh's snake was hampered by playing only half of the usual space so in the end, Kawamura overpowers him.  Kaidoh once more falls prey to the deadly concoction.

            Seeing Kaidoh collapse provided Oishi and Momoshiro more reason not to lose.  Momoshiro defeated his senpai using the powerful Dunk Smash.  As fuku buchou, Oishi was happy to see Momoshiro gaining strength but the smile was replaced by fear as he realized that he would have to drink the dangerous potion.  He collapses even sooner than Kaidoh did.

            In his match against the always serious Tezuka, Fuji gave up the point too easily because he wanted to taste the new version of Inui's drink.  This is another testament to his strange preferences.  However, there was a mix-up in the drinking bottles of Inui and Tezuka.  The buchou ended up drinking the juice as the rest of the team watched with interest and apprehension.  He feigned that he was okay and that it had no ill effects on him because he knew that the others were watching him closely.  He was able to convince the others except that his shaking hand betrayed him to the more observant Inui.  The Inui juice always gets its man!

            As Tezuka drank directly from the container, Inui had to bring out the version he had been reserving for the national tournament dubbed as the Golden Power Remix Inui Juice.  The freshman trio of Horio, Katsuo and Kachiro shuddered when they remembered seeing Inui looking for bugs the day before in the empty field near the tennis courts.  They concluded that since this new juice may no longer be pure vegetable juice, it would be best just to keep quiet.  What the others don't know won't hurt!!  As the last pair to compete, it would either be Kikumaru or Echizen who would have to try its potency.  Determined not to lose, Kikumaru was uncommonly serious and used his acrobatic play to return even Echizen's calculated shots.   Inui's juice induced a change in him as he attacked aggressively while Ryoma became the one taking the shots from the baseline.  As a last resort, Ryoma decided to go for net play as well and met Kikumaru head on.  Alas, Inui forgot to announce that should the designated attacker go for net play, he would now have to cover his entire side of the court.   Kikumaru immediately took advantage of the twist and lobbed a shot at the far end of the court, which would be difficult for Ryoma to reach.  To everyone's surprise, the ochibi returned it via an amazing between the legs shot!  He can also do acrobatic shots?!  Unfortunately for him, Kikumaru won through a technicality as five rallies lapsed.   As expected, when Inui announced that those who would not want to participate in the next exercise would have to drink his juice as well, all the players immediately trooped in the courts.

            Inui seems to enjoy tormenting others for the sake of data gathering but he needs to be more careful as Horio seems to be following in his footsteps.  He has also developed his own juice!

Episode 24: Ryoma's Holiday

            Ryusaki-sensei's plan to accompany her granddaughter, Sakuno, to the racket stringer, Haritatsu, to have her racket repaired ran in conflict with her school duty.  The coach requested Ryoma to take her place.  They agreed to meet at the train station the next day at 3 p.m. but Sakuno could not decide on what to wear so she ended up 30 minutes late.

            When Nanjiroh learned where his son was going on a Sunday afternoon, he assumed that it was a date and decided to follow him.  He was not happy to see Ryoma seemingly irritated by Sakuno's late arrival.  Sakuno was uncertain about Ryoma's reaction but Ryoma simply continued drinking his Ponta and walked ahead.

            The freshman trio who were eating at the A-burger with Momoshiro spotted the couple passing by and also assumed that they were dating.  Momoshiro saw Nanjiroh, who he identified as the perverted monk he encountered previously, stalking his kohais.  He decided to confront and follow Nanjiroh to protect Ryoma and his "date".  Hence, Ryoma and Sakuno had two groups tailing them.  When they arrived outside Haritatsu's, the "stalkers" thought that it was a strange place for a date seeing that the façade was an old and drab place.

            The racket stringer, Tenmon Tatsuguro (a.k.a. Haritatsu) is an old friend of Nanjiroh and Sumire Ryusaki-sensei.  He was also the one who stringed Ryoma's racket.  When the old man suggested that Ryoma follow his father's footsteps, Ryoma got angry.  He definitely disliked being compared to Nanjiroh.

            As per Haritatsu's suggestion, the two went out for a walk while the racket stringer tightens the strings in Sakuno's racket.  The "stalkers" followed suit.  Sakuno tried to engage Ryoma in a conversation but how does one talk to somebody who seems to begrudge responding and prefers to walk by himself?  The poor girl was becoming unhappy and miserable which made both Momoshiro and Nanjiroh angry.  Sakuno tried a more aggressive approach ala Tomoka but only embarrassed herself further when Ryoma told her she was talking too much.  She ran away crying.  How can Ryoma have perfect tennis sense and be an utter dolt on everything else?!  Unable to control himself any longer, Momoshiro came out of his hiding place and ordered his clueless kohai to go after Sakuno and apologize.  Nanjiroh expressed liking Momoshiro's style and even if he did not introduce who he really was, he joined the Seigaku stalkers in their pursuit.

            Ryoma offered a can of Ponta to Sakuno as peace offering and soon returned at Haritatsu's.  The racket stringer earlier told Sakuno her racket revealed a lot of things to him like even if she had put in a lot of effort in practicing basic strokes, she still can't hit the center of the racket.  Hence, she should not confuse tennis with something else.  Was Sakuno's motive really that obvious?  To Ryoma, whom he heard so much about through other junior tennis players, Haritatsu had this question: why does he play childish games?   But Ryoma quipped that he is a kid, hence, that is expected.   Only when the two proceeded to a tennis court so Ryoma can check on Sakuno's tennis form that those trailing them realized that it was not really a date but a favor to coach Ryusaki.

Episode 25-26: The Strongest Man in Seigaku (Parts 1 and 2)

            Ryoma has aroused the interest of the people around him, including the buchou of the Seigaku Tennis Club.  Tezuka has had him in mind ever since he saw him play against Arai and the school ranking competition.  The interest even rose higher when he learned that Ryoma is the son of the legendary tennis player, Nanjiroh Echizen.  It was therefore not surprising that he would challenge the freshman tennis ace to play against him.  He sought Ryusaki-sensei's permission but she had reservations granting the request primarily because Tezuka was also nursing an injury on his left arm.  With the prefectural tournament fast approaching, it may be risky.  Moreover, she believed that Ryoma's desire to defeat his father is enough motivation for him to perform better.  Still, Tezuka contended that Ryoma's tennis is merely a copy of Nanjiroh's – power, speed, reflexes and even Nitouryuu.  The father was able to develop due to his exposure in international competition but Ryoma does not have that luxury at the moment and if this keeps up, he will only be a copy.  Tezuka was adamant that what Ryoma needed is to expand his abilities and besides, he claimed that his arm was fine.  Ryusaki-sensei reluctantly gives permission acknowledging that Nanjiroh is a wall that Ryoma would have to overcome.

            After the next practice session, Tezuka secretly talked to Ryoma and told him to meet him at the tennis court in Haruno University.  Oishi overheard the conversation and confronted Tezuka about the folly of this rash decision.  However, the buchou assured him that there was nothing to worry about.  The coach told Ryoma to prepare because Tezuka is very much like Nanjiroh.  Ryoma was disturbed by the upcoming match and this manifested in his behavior at home and in school.

            Tezuka, accompanied by Oishi, went to the hospital for a check-up.  The doctor, an uncle of Oishi, told them that Tezuka's injury was actually on the joint and not on the elbow but the Drop Shot put some strain into it.  While it was already healed, Tezuka must stay away from long matches and refrain from using the Drop Shot.  Despite the happy news, Oishi continued to worry about the repercussions of Tezuka's match against Ryoma.

            On the day of the "duel", Tezuka, Echizen and Oishi were conspicuously absent during tennis practice and although Ryusaki-sensei told the other members that the three were all sick, they did not believe her.  Inui even smelled a conspiracy going on.

            Tezuka displayed his arsenal of shots and immediately launched a No-Touch Serve.  He decided to go all out in order to bring out Ryoma's full potential as Oishi watched in apprehension.  Tezuka challenges him to beat him and asked him why he plays tennis.  Ryoma confirmed that he wants to beat someone but the buchou argued that it was not enough reason.  What would happen after that person is defeated?  Ryoma had not though about that and claimed that he just needed to concentrate at the current opponent.  Ryoma's moves were easily neutralized, including the Twist Serve.  Tezuka encouraged him to show him the kind of tennis that only Ryoma Echizen can play.  Tezuka's victory was capped by a Drop Shot.  He later asked Ryoma to be Seigaku's Pillar of Support.

            On their way home, Oishi chided Tezuka for going all out arguing that even Ryoma was just recovering from an eye injury.  Oishi was right.  For someone who keeps on reminding his teammates not to be careless and avoid injuries, Tezuka was being reckless.  However, Tezuka deemed it necessary to play seriously; otherwise it would have been useless.  That was the only thing he can do for Ryoma.  Hopefully, the shock of losing to someone else aside from his dad would bring in the necessary changes in the ochibi.

            It was not only Tezuka who had been thinking of Ryoma's needs.  Mr. Inoue, the reporter, even went to see Nanjiroh to confirm his hunches as to what the young Echizen needed to become a world-class player and surpass his father.  Like Tezuka, he believed that by being just a copy, Ryoma would not able to do better than the original.  The Twist Spin Shot that Ryoma used in the last tournament was his own and not a copy.  Hence, he has already gone through the wall known as Nanjiroh Echizen, right?  Wrong, according to Nanjiroh, because even if Ryoma stops imitating him, he still can't win against his old man.  So Mr. Inoue visited Coach Ryusaki.  The coach told him that he is not the only person asking the same question.  When the reported asked for the name of this other person, Ryusaki-sensei cryptically replied that he is the one most similar to Nanjiroh Echizen.

            The next day, Tezuka and Ryoma still did not attend tennis practice, which heightened the interest of the others.  Tezuka again went to see his doctor.  The doctor was displeased that Tezuka used the Drop Shot and demanded a reason why he did follow the advice.  Tezuka then rationalized that the objective is not to merely follow the old generation but rather to mold a player for the new generation.  For that purpose, he had to make some sacrifices.  There are many strong opponents out there in the world and Tezuka simply wanted to show his own style of tennis to serve as catalyst for Ryoma to develop his own style.  This is one example of what can be considered Tezuka's hero complex and as a fan, one could not be any prouder but at the same time worry.

            Ryoma went home to challenge his father and was able to take a point.  Nanjiroh noticed a subtle change in his son and he was pleasantly surprised when Ryoma declared that he wanted to be stronger.  Ryoma vowed to develop and show his own tennis style.  The old tennis samurai was glad that he sent his son to Seigaku because there he met someone who understood him and gave what he needed the most.  This someone inspired Ryoma and lit a fire under him.