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Prince of Tennis (2019)
Nov. 10th, 2021 08:17 pmPrince of Tennis, a.k.a. The Prince of Tennis: Match! Tennis Juniors (also known as Fen Dou Ba Shao Nian) is a live-action Chinese adaptation of the Japanese Prince of Tennis franchise. It is a Netflix Original Series, first released in China in 2019 before being made available internationally, and has 40 hour-long episodes.
I was not at all familiar with the Prince of Tennis franchise previously before watching this. I was only vaguely curious because while I don't watch the sport myself I have family members that have done so from time to time (and I played the classic tennis video game on NES when I was a kid, and that's how far my knowledge of the sport goes), so naturally I was just mildly curious about whether or not the show was at least going to be accurate in certain parts of the sport alone. Mild curiosity turned into being intrigued with where the story was going and wanting to know more about the characters, and has now it has become my next biggest obsession. It was rather unexpected, as with most things I end up becoming obsessed with, and I count this among one of the best new fandoms I've discovered this year. Based on my observations, those who know of the franchise have have praised the Chinese adaptation saying that it stayed true to the source material, and doing some research on my own (to understand which characters were based on who) they really did try to be as accurate as possible, and that is something I really appreciate just in general.
(Sidenote, I've had the main theme and ending theme stuck in my head for weeks now, and I'm not complaining, they're upbeat songs that make me feel happy.)
( Where I talk briefly about my favorite characters, preferred pairings, favorite storylines.... )
I know that shows centered around sports might not be everyone's thing, but I consider this something similar to that of Friday Night Lights where while it is featured it's less about the sport itself and more about the development of the characters and the camaraderie they have with one another, that's the main draw that pulled me in. Well, that, and the lighthearted and charming nature of the drama itself. It has a good mixture of heartfelt moments and wacky shenanigans, and going along with its own genre, for those unfamiliar with manga/anime in general, it's definitely of the "crack treated seriously" category since some of the tennis moves and styles are defying physics and gravity and clearly not something that happens in real life and it can be absolutely ridiculous, but you accept it because of what it's based on and you come to love it because of that. Again, it's part of the charm.
Apparently there is a petition about getting Prince of Tennis a second season, however while that would be lovely I don't think it'll happen since most Asian dramas, especially cdramas, are often a one-and-done kind of a deal. There are, of course, some exceptions to this. I, personally, wouldn't mind there miraculously being a spin-off movie with them at Nationals because I do crave more content with these characters that I've grown emotionally attached to. With that being said, I'm happy with what we got. It was a fun ride and I enjoyed it for what it was. ❤
I was not at all familiar with the Prince of Tennis franchise previously before watching this. I was only vaguely curious because while I don't watch the sport myself I have family members that have done so from time to time (and I played the classic tennis video game on NES when I was a kid, and that's how far my knowledge of the sport goes), so naturally I was just mildly curious about whether or not the show was at least going to be accurate in certain parts of the sport alone. Mild curiosity turned into being intrigued with where the story was going and wanting to know more about the characters, and has now it has become my next biggest obsession. It was rather unexpected, as with most things I end up becoming obsessed with, and I count this among one of the best new fandoms I've discovered this year. Based on my observations, those who know of the franchise have have praised the Chinese adaptation saying that it stayed true to the source material, and doing some research on my own (to understand which characters were based on who) they really did try to be as accurate as possible, and that is something I really appreciate just in general.
(Sidenote, I've had the main theme and ending theme stuck in my head for weeks now, and I'm not complaining, they're upbeat songs that make me feel happy.)
( Where I talk briefly about my favorite characters, preferred pairings, favorite storylines.... )
I know that shows centered around sports might not be everyone's thing, but I consider this something similar to that of Friday Night Lights where while it is featured it's less about the sport itself and more about the development of the characters and the camaraderie they have with one another, that's the main draw that pulled me in. Well, that, and the lighthearted and charming nature of the drama itself. It has a good mixture of heartfelt moments and wacky shenanigans, and going along with its own genre, for those unfamiliar with manga/anime in general, it's definitely of the "crack treated seriously" category since some of the tennis moves and styles are defying physics and gravity and clearly not something that happens in real life and it can be absolutely ridiculous, but you accept it because of what it's based on and you come to love it because of that. Again, it's part of the charm.
Apparently there is a petition about getting Prince of Tennis a second season, however while that would be lovely I don't think it'll happen since most Asian dramas, especially cdramas, are often a one-and-done kind of a deal. There are, of course, some exceptions to this. I, personally, wouldn't mind there miraculously being a spin-off movie with them at Nationals because I do crave more content with these characters that I've grown emotionally attached to. With that being said, I'm happy with what we got. It was a fun ride and I enjoyed it for what it was. ❤
