PoT Roundup

[thistlechaser]

So I just finished watching the last available ep of TeniPuri, #98: Prince of Billiards. It would have been amusing, if it hadn't been exactly the same as Prince of Bowling... Also, Echizen being an utter pro at it, especially when he never played it before (if we take his word on that), was really annoying.

But strangely, it was actually the tennis match right before 98 which really held my interest. Not for the game itself, but for what it showed: Another freshman nearly as good as Echizen, but with a *totally* different attitude. It underscored something for me, and made me both worried and sad. (Yes, I'm worried and sad for a fictional character, so sue me. :) ) I think Echizen still doesn't like playing tennis. Even after Tezuka's "Rah! Rah! Become the team's pillar of strength!" talk, I think Echizen still isn't playing because he likes to play. I think he's still playing because he has serious father-issues, and that makes me really, really sad. That Aoi loves the game so much, and that love showed through so well, really displayed the difference in Echizen.

(Also, I strongly believe that the Nanjiroh characterization has changed since the beginning of the show. Not that the character has grown or changed, but I think they're just writing him differently. He was always funny, but in the beginning there was a very serious element to him as well: He was hard on Ryoma, teased him and pushed him. Now he's just around as a buffoon. What a waste of a good character!)

I feel the end of the series coming. I'm suspecting the Nationals really will be the end of it, and I won't have an issue with that so long as two things happen:

1) Echizen either starts liking tennis, or walks away from the game and doesn't return to it. Honestly, I'd be happy with either of those two; I want *him* to be happy, no matter which trail he has to take to get there.

2) Related to number one, I want him to come to some sort of understanding with his father. Alas, I think this is less likely to happen as it's a) a much bigger thing than just sticking with or leaving tennis, and b) the changes they've made in Nanjiroh's characterization have made this seem like a less necessary thing to resolve.

I really, really like watching a series this way: straight through instead of waiting week after week after week for a tiny little ep (30 minutes long, but really only about 20 of actual storyline).

Oh, I still have Survival Mountain to watch (I wasn't sure where in the series it fit, so I just saved it till the end). And from ep #97: When the old man (ancient man!) coach gave out candy to everyone, but didn't have one for Kaidoh, I howled laughter. Poor, poor Kaidoh! No wonder he has such a hard exterior, the world keeps pooping on him! :) The ep a while back, where he found a lost puppy and the female owner came running up and "saved the puppy from him murdering it" was just as funny.

Comments

[morinotokei.livejournal.com]

Very interesting. I always like reading other people's interpretations of the anime I'm watching because it often gets me to think about things I wouldn't normally think of.

I had thought that Kentarou's passion for tennis helped to fire up Ryoma's own passion for playing tennis, thus getting up early to play more with Kentarou because he just couldn't wait. I do think he still has a lot of issues with Nanjirou, but I see his matches with these new stronger rival players as helping him get away from that. Helping him discover his reasons for wanting to play tennis and developing his own style. Every time he plays a new rival, his tennis changes a little bit more, and that expression on his face while he was playing Kentarou made me feel like he was truly enjoying the game. I do agree that he usually doesn't look like he's enjoying tennis much (although part of that is due to his smartass personality, in which he would never voice it even if he did enjoy it), and I don't think he has a clear answer himself as to why he's playing tennis. That's why I like it whenever he plays someone who can bring him out of this status quo of being complacent with his tennis.

Alas, poor Nanjirou's characterization has been pushed aside because they seem to have trouble handling character development for so many characters. I think a lot of the Seigaku regulars get shafted as well when it comes to character development (ie. Kawamura).

I like watching a series all the way through too, but since I usually don't have the time to do so and also keep up with all the other stuff I'm watching, it's not too bad for me.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

(I really need to start using a LJ client! Darned IE crashed and ate my whole reply.)

I had thought that Kentarou's passion for tennis helped to fire up
Ryoma's own passion for playing tennis, thus getting up early to play
more with Kentarou because he just couldn't wait.

I wondered if it was that, but I figured it was more likely that he needed to get his emotional state back up to where it had been the evening before -- that he needed to mentally/emotionally warm-up. But it could also have been that Kentarou was enough of a challenge to make him interesting, and thus Ryoma really was looking forward to it.

I do think he still has
a lot of issues with Nanjirou, but I see his matches with these new
stronger rival players as helping him get away from that. Helping him
discover his reasons for wanting to play tennis and developing his own
style.

See, I think that Ryoma's only reason for playing is to beat his father. I could easily see the earlier eps' Nanjirou browbeating a young Ryoma into taking up the game, and so while some rival players might be challenging/interesting to him, it's only a temporary fix. So he has to be able to beat Nanjirou, then he would be free to quit.

A month or so ago, NPR did a story on an issue just like this: the sons of the biggest sports stars who get into the same sports as their famous dads. For the last thirty years, there was only one case where a situation like that worked out, and in that example the son became a manager, not played the sport himself. In the worst cases, the sons ended up killing themselves, or in one case killed his father (!!).

I hope the storyline will touch on this and eventually explain Ryoma's reasons, not just deal with the actual matches/winning themselves...

Every time he plays a new rival, his tennis changes a little bit
more, and that expression on his face while he was playing Kentarou made
me feel like he was truly enjoying the game. I do agree that he usually
doesn't look like he's enjoying tennis much (although part of that is due
to his smartass personality, in which he would never voice it even if he
did enjoy it), and I don't think he has a clear answer himself as to why
he's playing tennis.

I agree that he did look like he was enjoying the game with Kentarou (he almost smiled at times!)... I wonder if he kept playing people who actually challenge him if he would continue to be happy. Thus if he continued with tennis, he'd reach higher levels and be challenged more, and so might continue to be happy with it... but I suspect this would be temporary happiness though, and still wouldn't make him happy with the game itself.

I agree with both of the things in the second half of that, that he wouldn't show it if he did enjoy it, and that he doesn't recognize why he himself is playing. That he doesn't show it when he enjoys something makes figuring him out so much more of a challenge! But I think if he did truly and fully love the game, that we'd have picked up on it by now.

Alas, poor Nanjirou's characterization has been pushed aside because they
seem to have trouble handling character development for so many
characters. I think a lot of the Seigaku regulars get shafted as well
when it comes to character development (ie. Kawamura).


Agreed. With the filler eps they keep needing to come up with, you'd think they could handle it in that time...

[morinotokei.livejournal.com]

See, the thing is, I'm not sure that the mangaka still has the same vision he had in mind when he first began writing this story (over 4 years ago). I haven't really seen mention of Ryoma wanting to beat Nanjirou as much in recent episodes as I did in the beginning. That's why I was thinking that they were using the rival players to replace that dynamic. I think it'd be best if they brought this full circle and resolve the issue with his father towards the end of the series, but I'm not confident that Konomi sensei is going to go there.

Then of course, the anime does differ from the manga in areas, so I have no idea how they plan to deal with this in the anime either. Ack, I'm so impatient to get more new material. I'm just not getting my hopes up, because I've been burned in the past, and so I keep lowering my expectations and trying to focus on other things I'm watching as well.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I haven't really seen mention of Ryoma wanting to beat Nanjirou as much in recent episodes as I did in the beginning. That's why I was thinking that they were using the rival players to replace that dynamic. I think it'd be best if they brought this full circle and resolve the issue with his father towards the end of the series, but I'm not confident that Konomi sensei is going to go there.


Yes, that makes sense. I find this same sort of things in other themes (most reciently the Harry Potter fandom) -- the fans seem to know better than the people in charge how the canon story should progress and what the characters need to change and grow... It's worrisome!