Characters
Note - Names are in Western order, with the given name before the family name.
Ryoma Echizen (越前 リョーマ, Echizen Ryōma?)
The protagonist of the series, Ryoma is a first year student at Seishun Academy and the son of Nanjiro Echizen, who was formerly known as "Samurai Nanjiro" during his days as a professional tennis player. He makes his first appearance when he criticizes a high school student about his tennis knowledge in a subway. He often says "mada mada dane" to his opponents, which is directly translated as "You still have some ways to go." in the Japanese manga. He is mainly seen drinking Ponta (Fanta in the manga or grape juice), or sleeping if not playing tennis. Favorite move: Twist Serve and Drive B.
Kunimitsu Tezuka (手塚 国光, Tezuka Kunimitsu?)
Tezuka is the captain of the tennis club and a third year student at Seishun Academy. A National-caliber player and vice-captain the year before the series took place, Tezuka is serious about everything — one of his trademark phrases is "Don't let your guard down." Tezuka puts his captaincy of the team and its performance before anything else, including his own pursuits. Favorite move: Zero Shiki and Tezuka Zone.
Shuichiro Oishi (大石 秀一郎, Ōishi Shūichirō?)
Oishi is a third year student at Seishun Academy and the vice-captain of the tennis club. Along with Eiji Kikumaru, he is part of Seigaku's "Golden Pair," a doubles team that made it to Nationals the year before the series takes place. He is very observant and patient baseline player, cited boring by Eiji. Oishi is a very responsible character and cares deeply about the team. Favorite move: Moon Volley.
Syuusuke Fuji (不二 周助, Fuji Syūsuke?)
Fuji is a third year student at Seishun Academy who is given the title "genius" due to his tactical skill on the tennis court. Fuji is often seen with a calm and content expression on his face, with his eyes seemingly closed from lightly smiling. However, when he is excited, provoked, or when playing seriously, Fuji reveals his sharp blue eyes. Fuji's tennis is counter-style, in which he uses elements of opponents' shots to send usually nonreturnable counter return shots. Favorite move: Triple Counters.
Eiji Kikumaru (菊丸 英二, Kikumaru Eiji?)
Eiji Kikumaru is a third year student at Seishun Academy and is part of the "Golden Pair," along with Shuichiro Oishi. Using his acrobatic play, he can return almost any ball, even those that seem out of human reach. Eiji is also known to have the sharpest vision on the team, with an exceptional talent for seeing fast moving objects. His favorite saying is "hoi hoi". when playing in games he always has a large smile on his face. Favorite move: Acrobatic play.
Takashi Kawamura (河村 隆, Kawamura Takashi?)
Takashi is a third year student at Seishun Academy and, according to the manga series, this is his first year as a regular. He is a shy and a soft-spoken person off the court, though still outspoken and stubborn when he makes a decision. However, he becomes extremely aggressive and loud once he grabs a racket. This change in his personality is marked by him shouting "Burning!!!". As the least skilled regular, he relies mostly on his power and aims to become the National middle school number one power player. Favorite move: Hadoukyu.
Sadaharu Inui (乾 貞治, Inui Sadaharu?)
Inui is a third year student at Seishun Academy. As a highly intelligent player, he plays what is called "Data Tennis," which involves collecting and analyzing data for a player in order to determine their weaknesses to the extent that he can determine the exact probability of certain shots being successful. Inui often manages the team training regimens, which usually involves contests or races of some kind, with many being forced to drink one of Inui's many infamous juice concoctions. Favorite move: Data Play.
Takeshi Momoshiro (桃城 武, Momoshiro Takeshi?)
Momoshiro is a second year student at Seishun Academy, known as Seigaku's number one rascal. He is an aggressive power player who uses the court and environmental conditions to his advantage. As the player who is the most open and friendly with everyone, Momoshiro is connected to everyone on the team on some level. Favorite move: Dunk Smash.
Kaoru Kaido (海堂 薫, Kaidō Kaoru?)
Kaido is a second year student at Seishun Academy whose nickname is "Viper," which fits him well as his signature move is the "Snake Shot," a curving forehand that drains an opponent's stamina by forcing them to chase the return. He wears a bandanna and often exhales, making a sound similar to a snake. He is often remarked as the hardest trainer of the team. Favorite move: Snake and Boomerang Snake.
Notable differences
The anime is quite different from the manga version. For example, in the anime the Seigaku team goes on a field trip to train for the finals, whereas they did not in the manga. However, all the radios, mini dramas, CDs and games make references to this and act as if it had always taken place. Thus, someone who only read the manga might be confused by the different portrayals.
Notable differences include the addition of table tennis scenes and billiard scenes in the anime. Episodes in the anime also deal with Kevin Smith and the U.S. West Coast Team, whereas the American team does not exist within the manga. In the Kanto tournament where Seigaku faces Midoriyama in the manga, they switch the tournament draw in the anime, and put Josei Shonan to face Seigaku instead. Also, Ryoma faces Rokkaku's captain, Aoi Kentaro, in the Prefectural Semifinals, while the manga puts Kaidou against him. Events in the anime also take place at a different time than when they take place in the manga, such as Akaya Kirihara being introduced much earlier in the manga series.
While the manga occasionally attempts to try and explain how some of the seemingly impossible techniques are performed, such as the Tezuka Zone and Kikumaru's Seal Steps, the anime provides explanation and sometimes even exaggerates these techniques to a point where they becomes almost magical. This is possibly due to the fact that the use of animation in anime naturally enhances these effects, but at times the anime seems to deliberately exaggerate the effects in order to parody itself. In the animated movie, Tezuka's skill and power has been compared to that of the meteorite which led to the extinction of dinosaurs in a lengthy clip, a comparison that even the author found it so exaggerated that he found it funny.[citation needed] Another instance is Ryoma's anime-only Cyclone Smash, which blows Sanada away where the powerful smashes in the manga series can only blow away the opponent's racket. However, as the manga progressed, there were less explanations of the new techniques as some of them were either improved versions of previous techniques or new techniques that were based on the same principles.
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