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A Gay Guide to the Prince of Tennis - Part 1
Here is Part 1 of the promised "A Gay Guide to Prince of Tennis".
Originally I wanted to split everything by schools but quickly realized the Seigaku section would be much longer than the others so it got broken up and so this first part deals with half of the Seigaku team and the next part will deal with the rest.
Also with names I use the traditional Japanese way of 'family name, given name'. Their full names get said a lot during this series and you just get use to it that way, unlike some animes where you'd only hear it a few times.
And finally the shipping pairings ahead are my own preference. All are based on canon subtext but I admit there are other pairings fans can come up with since a lot of characters are extremely close.
Meet the tennis team from the Jr. High School, Seishun Gakuen (Seigaku for short):
These nine guys are what are called the Regulars; they're the ones who partake in the tournaments and are the most important characters of the series.
There are only eight Regulars at a given time, which is determined through various tournaments throught the school year (thus one of the nine will always not be on the team).
First of all, this is Tezuka Kunimitsu:
He's 3rd year student at Seigaku, and current captain of the tennis club. I guess it should be noted that Tezuka isn't the main character of the story (he actually goes missing for half of it after he gets injured and goes to a rehab place in Germany); but he's my favourite character and he's one half of my favourite pairing which is why we're starting with him. :P
I wouldn't necessary call Tezuka, "cold" but he certainly is very serious in everything he does; especially when it comes to tennis. At times Tezuka often opts what the rest of the team is doing as he's hardly ever shown with them outside of school and during one ep where the rest of the team is following two of it's members on a date, Tezuka hangs up the phone in annoyance when they called him. But in the manga he goes bowling with everyone (despite being injured and cannot play) and in the anime he goes hiking with everyone to watch the sunrise. Plus when he's off in Germany rehabbing his arm, you can tell he misses everyone and even invites them there for a quick vacation at one point.
Tezuka is the quiet type, not speaking a lot even on the tennis court and off the court he does seem rather shy. While on the train to go hiking, he's sitting by himself in the beginning before the others invite him over to play poker (which he won).
It also should be noted that a lot of players from other schools love Tezuka (I'll be getting to them in later parts). Even those who don't like Seigaku, admit that Tezuka has great talent and is the closest among their age to being a pro. In fact when Tezuka returns from Germany, 7 players made up of rival schools band together to sing a song at his welcome back party. And well, lets just say the song they sing is called "Wonderful Days". *snickers*
Tezuka however already has a boyfriend, who is called Fuji Syuusuke:
Like Tezuka, Fuji is in his 3rd year at Seigaku and is called a genius and prodigy because of his tennis skills (in singles only Tezuka can beat him). Fuji on the surface is a happy guy, always with a pleasant look on his face, but he has a hidden secret in that he's a sadist. He takes great delight in watching his teammates drink a vile drink called Inui Juice (a drink he, himself likes). Also when he opens his eyes when playing tennis...
Watch out! That means he's getting serious, instead of playing around like her normally does, letting his opponent think they'll win.
Tezuka/Fuji are definitely my OTP in Tenipuri and the series doesn't disappoint on the subtext. ^^
First of all Fuji is the only one besides Oishi (Tezuka's best friend and vice Captain of the team) who knew that Tezuka had an elbow injury at the beginning of the series. During their first year, when Tezuka would use his right hand to play against other students, Fuji was the first to notice that he's really left handed (Fuji knew even before both their coach and captain). Before Tezuka left for Germany, Fuji was the only one that was shown to have a private good-bye with Tezuka. Tezuka says that Fuji is his best and only rival. Fuji says they've been together pretty much every day since they met. Fuji says about Tezuka, and I quote, "I feel as though I can climb to any height with you".
See what I'm getting at?
Also during a bonus episode "thingy" (I honestly don't know where it came from but it's full of crack and about the length of a normal ep), while at at festival Fuji partakes in a love-match game where he gets asked what his ideal "girl" is. Fuji replies he likes the "quiet and beautiful" kind. Quiet and beautiful is definitely how I would describe Tezuka, hehe.
And there's other kinds of fun between them too...
Like romantic strolls in the snow.
Quite convos on the roof.
Tezuka actually smiling! (Seriously, this shot is one of the few times he smiles ever).
Tezuka staring at Fuji's ass while he runs.
And staring at Fuji's ass when he's not running.
Hanging out together away from the rest of the group when everyone is in a park together.
Tezuka staring at Fuji instead of training like he's suppose too. (he stares at Fuji a lot)
Fuji being really intoseme training warming up with Tezuka.
And finally holding hands. Aww...
Plus there are the chibi eps.
Chibi eps, you ask? The Chibi eps are cracked out filler eps that take place in a different universe with everyone in a chibi form. Two of these cracked out chibi eps involve the Tenipuri family where our favourite heros are turned into a family. And wanna guess who are the grandparents of said family?
Tezuka and Fuji! Yes, Fuji got turned into a girl (along with several other characters) but it amuses me to end that out of all the characters he could have been paired with it's Tezuka.
It doesn't end there though. In another chibi ep everyone is in the American wild west, Fuji (again a girl) is searching for duel pistol gunman whohe she lusts after:
Yup! Once again his love interest is Tezuka! So as you can seen even the animators are ZukaFuji fans. :P
Finally moving on, Fuji's best friend is Kikumaru Eiji:
Hyper doesn't even begin to describe Eiji; the kid is insane, always bouncing around, glomping people (a favourite pastime of his) and given cute nicknames to people (for example Fuji is Fujiko/Fujiko-chan and Echizen Ryoma is Ochibi).
The guy is like a cat. In fact he was turned into a cat in the previously mentioned chibi ep where everyone is a family together and in the Western one:
Like both Fuji and Tezuka, he's in his 3rd year (in fact he's in Fuji's class), but unlike them he normally plays doubles. His doubles partner is Oishi Syuuichiro:
Oishi is the mother of the team (also a 3rd year), always worrying about everything, which only intensifies when he takes over as temp Captain when Tezuka is in Germany. He guy is pretty laid back, which is the exact opposite of Eiji but we all know that opposites attract. ^_~
Together with Eiji, they make up the Golden Pair, known for pulling off tricky double formations to defeat their opponents.
And they're definitely adorable together:
Honestly, they're such a cute couple and they both (but mainly Eiji) have trouble keeping from touching each other. Plus...Oishi gives Eiji money to buy shoes (which is adorable itself but even more so when you realize that Eiji was only begging Oishi for money even though other members of their team was there). Oishi allows Eiji to each from is lunch. Eiji cries to Oishi whenever they lose a match. Eiji clings to Oishi whenever he's scared:
One time Eiji was going to spend time with Momo when he suddenly runs off, saying there was something he had to do. He goes to a fish store to look at the fish for sale and judging by the shop owner's reaction he goes there quite a bit.
So what, you ask? Well, no where in Eiji's offical info are fish listed as an interest. Want to take a guess who does have an interest in fish? That's right...
Oishi! Makes you wonder why Eiji was there. Picking out a gift perhaps...
All in all, they're just so damn cute together, you just can't help but love the Golden Pair.
Originally I wanted to split everything by schools but quickly realized the Seigaku section would be much longer than the others so it got broken up and so this first part deals with half of the Seigaku team and the next part will deal with the rest.
Also with names I use the traditional Japanese way of 'family name, given name'. Their full names get said a lot during this series and you just get use to it that way, unlike some animes where you'd only hear it a few times.
And finally the shipping pairings ahead are my own preference. All are based on canon subtext but I admit there are other pairings fans can come up with since a lot of characters are extremely close.
Meet the tennis team from the Jr. High School, Seishun Gakuen (Seigaku for short):
These nine guys are what are called the Regulars; they're the ones who partake in the tournaments and are the most important characters of the series.
There are only eight Regulars at a given time, which is determined through various tournaments throught the school year (thus one of the nine will always not be on the team).
First of all, this is Tezuka Kunimitsu:
He's 3rd year student at Seigaku, and current captain of the tennis club. I guess it should be noted that Tezuka isn't the main character of the story (he actually goes missing for half of it after he gets injured and goes to a rehab place in Germany); but he's my favourite character and he's one half of my favourite pairing which is why we're starting with him. :P
I wouldn't necessary call Tezuka, "cold" but he certainly is very serious in everything he does; especially when it comes to tennis. At times Tezuka often opts what the rest of the team is doing as he's hardly ever shown with them outside of school and during one ep where the rest of the team is following two of it's members on a date, Tezuka hangs up the phone in annoyance when they called him. But in the manga he goes bowling with everyone (despite being injured and cannot play) and in the anime he goes hiking with everyone to watch the sunrise. Plus when he's off in Germany rehabbing his arm, you can tell he misses everyone and even invites them there for a quick vacation at one point.
Tezuka is the quiet type, not speaking a lot even on the tennis court and off the court he does seem rather shy. While on the train to go hiking, he's sitting by himself in the beginning before the others invite him over to play poker (which he won).
It also should be noted that a lot of players from other schools love Tezuka (I'll be getting to them in later parts). Even those who don't like Seigaku, admit that Tezuka has great talent and is the closest among their age to being a pro. In fact when Tezuka returns from Germany, 7 players made up of rival schools band together to sing a song at his welcome back party. And well, lets just say the song they sing is called "Wonderful Days". *snickers*
Tezuka however already has a boyfriend, who is called Fuji Syuusuke:
Like Tezuka, Fuji is in his 3rd year at Seigaku and is called a genius and prodigy because of his tennis skills (in singles only Tezuka can beat him). Fuji on the surface is a happy guy, always with a pleasant look on his face, but he has a hidden secret in that he's a sadist. He takes great delight in watching his teammates drink a vile drink called Inui Juice (a drink he, himself likes). Also when he opens his eyes when playing tennis...
Watch out! That means he's getting serious, instead of playing around like her normally does, letting his opponent think they'll win.
Tezuka/Fuji are definitely my OTP in Tenipuri and the series doesn't disappoint on the subtext. ^^
First of all Fuji is the only one besides Oishi (Tezuka's best friend and vice Captain of the team) who knew that Tezuka had an elbow injury at the beginning of the series. During their first year, when Tezuka would use his right hand to play against other students, Fuji was the first to notice that he's really left handed (Fuji knew even before both their coach and captain). Before Tezuka left for Germany, Fuji was the only one that was shown to have a private good-bye with Tezuka. Tezuka says that Fuji is his best and only rival. Fuji says they've been together pretty much every day since they met. Fuji says about Tezuka, and I quote, "I feel as though I can climb to any height with you".
See what I'm getting at?
Also during a bonus episode "thingy" (I honestly don't know where it came from but it's full of crack and about the length of a normal ep), while at at festival Fuji partakes in a love-match game where he gets asked what his ideal "girl" is. Fuji replies he likes the "quiet and beautiful" kind. Quiet and beautiful is definitely how I would describe Tezuka, hehe.
And there's other kinds of fun between them too...
Like romantic strolls in the snow.
Quite convos on the roof.
Tezuka actually smiling! (Seriously, this shot is one of the few times he smiles ever).
Tezuka staring at Fuji's ass while he runs.
And staring at Fuji's ass when he's not running.
Hanging out together away from the rest of the group when everyone is in a park together.
Tezuka staring at Fuji instead of training like he's suppose too. (he stares at Fuji a lot)
Fuji being really into
And finally holding hands. Aww...
Plus there are the chibi eps.
Chibi eps, you ask? The Chibi eps are cracked out filler eps that take place in a different universe with everyone in a chibi form. Two of these cracked out chibi eps involve the Tenipuri family where our favourite heros are turned into a family. And wanna guess who are the grandparents of said family?
Tezuka and Fuji! Yes, Fuji got turned into a girl (along with several other characters) but it amuses me to end that out of all the characters he could have been paired with it's Tezuka.
It doesn't end there though. In another chibi ep everyone is in the American wild west, Fuji (again a girl) is searching for duel pistol gunman who
Yup! Once again his love interest is Tezuka! So as you can seen even the animators are ZukaFuji fans. :P
Finally moving on, Fuji's best friend is Kikumaru Eiji:
Hyper doesn't even begin to describe Eiji; the kid is insane, always bouncing around, glomping people (a favourite pastime of his) and given cute nicknames to people (for example Fuji is Fujiko/Fujiko-chan and Echizen Ryoma is Ochibi).
The guy is like a cat. In fact he was turned into a cat in the previously mentioned chibi ep where everyone is a family together and in the Western one:
Like both Fuji and Tezuka, he's in his 3rd year (in fact he's in Fuji's class), but unlike them he normally plays doubles. His doubles partner is Oishi Syuuichiro:
Oishi is the mother of the team (also a 3rd year), always worrying about everything, which only intensifies when he takes over as temp Captain when Tezuka is in Germany. He guy is pretty laid back, which is the exact opposite of Eiji but we all know that opposites attract. ^_~
Together with Eiji, they make up the Golden Pair, known for pulling off tricky double formations to defeat their opponents.
And they're definitely adorable together:
Honestly, they're such a cute couple and they both (but mainly Eiji) have trouble keeping from touching each other. Plus...Oishi gives Eiji money to buy shoes (which is adorable itself but even more so when you realize that Eiji was only begging Oishi for money even though other members of their team was there). Oishi allows Eiji to each from is lunch. Eiji cries to Oishi whenever they lose a match. Eiji clings to Oishi whenever he's scared:
One time Eiji was going to spend time with Momo when he suddenly runs off, saying there was something he had to do. He goes to a fish store to look at the fish for sale and judging by the shop owner's reaction he goes there quite a bit.
So what, you ask? Well, no where in Eiji's offical info are fish listed as an interest. Want to take a guess who does have an interest in fish? That's right...
Oishi! Makes you wonder why Eiji was there. Picking out a gift perhaps...
All in all, they're just so damn cute together, you just can't help but love the Golden Pair.
no subject
And it's definitely a slashable anime. You could in theory slash pretty much anyone together by using subtext.
As for Tenipuri, it's short for 'Tennis Prince'. I'm not surprise you haven't seen it before as I only saw it a few times before getting into the series. Among the fanodm though, everyone uses it. Plus I always have a problem writing 'PoT' since I always write it as 'Pot'. It takes me a couple of tries to get that last 't' right so I find it easier to use Tenipuri, lol.
no subject
And LOL "Pot!"