This series follows a young seventh-grader whose calm demeanor makes him a force to be reckoned with on the tennis court and he becomes a regular on the Seigaku team. This player is Ryoma Echizen and his skill comes from his father who was a world renowned player in his younger days, but now is a nondescript priest.
This boxed set starts off with the district finals where Seigaku will have to take on a team that beat them last year, but because of a violent incident, caused the game to be called off. Most of this set goes through the tournament that will test all of the team members' skills. Even Echizen will have to pull out all the stops when he faces off against an opponent who can cause his arms to be paralyzed temporarily by returning the ball in particular patterns. At one point, Ryoma's racket slips from his hands and shatters, sending pieces flying at his face and cutting his eyelid. Everyone believes the match is over and Ryoma will have to forfeit, but Echizen is determined to keep the game going, even with only one eye (the injured one has a patch over it). The team's captain says Ryoma can continue, but if the match goes one for more than ten minutes, Seigaku will forfeit anyway so Ryoma will have to work hard.
Once the tournament is over and the district champs are crowned, the team begins to train for the Metropolitan Championships, but it isn't all tennis. One episode is devoted to Ryoma on what everyone thinks is a date. The season and boxed set ends with the captain, Tezuka,wanting to go up against Ryoma so he can force the kid to come up with some original moves because up to this point, Echizen has only mirrored his father's styles and if Echizen is to become a true player, he will have to develop a style all his own.
Part of the reason this show can cause the same amount of excitement as other, more action-packed anime series, is because there are tons of visual cues to show the player's powers and skills, well that, plus they still tend to name their moves and sometimes shout them out when they execute them. While this series doesn't cover some fantastic and alien-esque story, it still comes off action-packed and with more character development than most anime series. This show is definitely worth looking into by any anime fan and even if you haven't seen the episodes of the first boxed set, you can still watch The Prince of Tennis: Box Set Volume 2 and get a feel for all the characters after the first couple of episodes.
