Meme: Prince Of Tennis
Dec. 9th, 2021 08:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rogueslayer452This took me a while to do, again the struggle with motivation, but it's a fandom that's still fresh in my mind especially since I've been rewatching it from the beginning so, y'kno, I figure this meme will give me that outlet of expressing my thoughts a bit more, though more thoughts will come in future posts.
PRINCE OF TENNIS: MATCH! TENNIS JUNIORS
Favorite character
As I mentioned before I love all of these dumb goobers so much, all for different reasons. But I ended up having four favorites after watching. Zhang Baiyang (tough guy who is secretly a soft boy, immediately stole my heart when he interacted with the cat), Yan Zhiming (nerdy awkward boy with a good heart), Mu Siyang (the stoic captain), and Ji Jingwu (arrogant spoiled rich boy who is actually not all that bad despite his outward persona). Of course as I end up rewatching the show, because I will, I'll probably end up collecting more favorites, as it seems to be a trend lately with these kinds of dramas.
Least favorite character
Guan Yue, although he kinda mellows out later (especially after losing) he's has such a smug face that is quite punchable in the beginning. Also that punkass kid during the last game, because he gets enjoyment of injuring his opponents and it's amazing that he's still allowed to play. I'm glad that Lu Xia taught him a lesson (that he sadly didn't learn anything from) and that Zhou Zi beat him (with his eyes closed!) because that boy needs many slices of humble pie, tbh.
5 ships (canon or non-canon)
Mu Siyang/Ji Jingwu, Chi Dayong/Tang Jiale, Zhang Baiyang/Qiao Chen, Zhang Baiyang/Qiao Chen, Yan Zhiming/Zhang Baiyang/Qiao Chen
Character I find most attractive
Personally, it's a tie between Yan Zhiming and Ji Jingwu for me. With that being said, though, they're all incredibly good-looking.
Character I would marry
Yan Zhiming and Ji Jingwu
A character I would be friends with
Of the boys, I think Xinglong since he has a chill kind of vibe to him. Of the girls featured, Xu Xingzi and Sha Sha, for similar reasons.
A random thought
I know it wasn't the point and it's often a common trope with these kinds of stories, but I did wonder about the home lives of the other members of the team. We see a few, Lu Xia being the biggest one since he is the main focus and his complicated relationship with his father being a major plot point, but I kind of wished we saw a bit more. Perhaps it is extended in the anime or manga, but in this drama specifically I wanted to know more about their families and living situations. It's more of my own curiosity because it strengthens my understanding of who these characters are outside of their school and tennis, what makes them, y'know, them.
An unpopular opinion
I don't really have much of an unpopular opinion, to be honest. Perhaps not shipping one of the big ships in the fandom, but otherwise that's about it.
My canon OTP
None, since there really isn't any romance in the drama. There are teasing of possible couples, but nothing actually happens.
My non-canon OTP
All the ones I mentioned previously above with my favorite ships.
Most badass character
Again, this section always stumps me because I think many of them are badass in their own way. Each of them go through their own personal struggles, and most of them are incredibly stubborn with being self-sacrificing for the sake of the team, particularly with sacrificing their bodies and pushing themselves to the limit so the team can win to get to nationals. So yeah, all of them are badass in their own ways.
Most epic villain
There are no real "villains" in this drama because it's not that kind of a story. They have antagonists who they are up against, but none of them are that nasty outside of the court, aside from possibly a few that we don't spend that much time on, and neither of those characters are what I consider "epic", just annoying.
So I guess in terms of epic antagonists I would say Ji Jingwu because there's history between his team and Yu Qing, specifically between himself and Mu Siyang. We spend an extended amount of time focusing on their dynamic, why it was important for Yu Qing to defeat Xiao Ying, and Ji Jingwu's confliction between his team and concern over Siyang's injured arm. In the end, Jingwu just wants a fair competitive match between himself and Siyang because heloves respects him that much and considers him an equal opponent on the court. So yeah, I mean shipping aspect aside I really do think out of everyone Ji Jingwu was probably the most memorable antagonist from the moment he appears, from his haughtiness to the way things occur during his second match with Siyang, he's just fantastic.
Pairing I am not a fan of
I have to say I wasn't that enamored with whole building up of the possible romance between Lu Xia and Qi Ying. Of course, I have to remind myself that these are teenagers and it's just an innocent first crush/puppy love kind of a thing where nothing really actually happens and it's mostly the implied possibility of a relationship in the future, but I don't know, while it's meant to be cute I just really wasn't feeling it in the drama.
I'm also not really a fan of Mu Siyang/Zhou Zi or Yan Zhiming/Liu Lian, as friends absolutely but nothing more than that.
Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another)
I'm not familiar with the Prince of Tennis franchise before this drama so I wouldn't know which characters they got right or wrong with their adaptation.
Favorite friendship
I mean, everybody on the Yu Qing team? That's technically cheating because that's the whole point of the story, the camaraderie of the teammates with them working together despite (or because of) their differences, etc, but it's true. Going into this show I had no knowledge of who was who and what their whole relationship with each other would be like, I mean it was a show focusing on sports and having watched some sports-related shows before (ex: Friday Night Lights) the sport is never the biggest focus, it's the characters and the bond and companionship made while being on a team. But it was so interesting going back and rewatching Prince of Tennis from the beginning and seeing how they introduced the characters and setting up the potential bonds between certain pairs, and then just overall how it went from focusing on that to just to them as a team overall. It's how I got so emotionally attached to each one of them. I'm kind of rambling now, but yeah, I love the whole team as a friendship.
With that being said, when it comes to individual character friendships I have to say that my favorite ones were Yan Zhiming and Zhang Baiyang, unexpected yet absolutely welcomed midway through the drama and one of the reasons why I ended up shipping them is because they are such opposites and yet they worked so well. It's interesting seeing their dynamic shift gradually throughout the drama, it's subtle but very profound especially once the training camp arc happens. Another friendship dynamic that was unexpected for me was Lu Xia and Zhou Yu. We didn't see much of it, but I liked that Lu Xia made a friend that was outside of his team, yeah he's the younger brother of one of his teammates and on a rival team, but they connected on a certain level and I thought it was very sweet.
I also liked seeing the friendship between Qi Ying and her friend, and how they also kind of had a friendly acquaintance with Sha Sha. The scene where Sha Sha seemed to be lost trying to navigate where the tennis court was during one of the later episodes and the two girls approaching her to guide her there was really sweet.
Character I most identify with
I feel like I'm a combination of Qiao Chen (pop culture enthusiast), Siyang and Zhiming (introverts) and a bit of Lu Xia (quiet and minding my own business most of the time, also not really liking mornings).
Character I wish I could be
I honestly don't know. In a way, it's more I wish I had the skillset that Lu Xia has when it comes to being kind of a prodigy of figuring things out, adapting to certain styles of something even in the moment. Seeing him strategize and figure out different ways, different moves, even during a game against an opponent who seems to have the upper hand against him but he turns the tables quickly by learning quickly. That's the kind of ability I wish I could adopt.
PRINCE OF TENNIS: MATCH! TENNIS JUNIORS
Favorite character
As I mentioned before I love all of these dumb goobers so much, all for different reasons. But I ended up having four favorites after watching. Zhang Baiyang (tough guy who is secretly a soft boy, immediately stole my heart when he interacted with the cat), Yan Zhiming (nerdy awkward boy with a good heart), Mu Siyang (the stoic captain), and Ji Jingwu (arrogant spoiled rich boy who is actually not all that bad despite his outward persona). Of course as I end up rewatching the show, because I will, I'll probably end up collecting more favorites, as it seems to be a trend lately with these kinds of dramas.
Least favorite character
Guan Yue, although he kinda mellows out later (especially after losing) he's has such a smug face that is quite punchable in the beginning. Also that punkass kid during the last game, because he gets enjoyment of injuring his opponents and it's amazing that he's still allowed to play. I'm glad that Lu Xia taught him a lesson (that he sadly didn't learn anything from) and that Zhou Zi beat him (with his eyes closed!) because that boy needs many slices of humble pie, tbh.
5 ships (canon or non-canon)
Mu Siyang/Ji Jingwu, Chi Dayong/Tang Jiale, Zhang Baiyang/Qiao Chen, Zhang Baiyang/Qiao Chen, Yan Zhiming/Zhang Baiyang/Qiao Chen
Character I find most attractive
Personally, it's a tie between Yan Zhiming and Ji Jingwu for me. With that being said, though, they're all incredibly good-looking.
Character I would marry
Yan Zhiming and Ji Jingwu
A character I would be friends with
Of the boys, I think Xinglong since he has a chill kind of vibe to him. Of the girls featured, Xu Xingzi and Sha Sha, for similar reasons.
A random thought
I know it wasn't the point and it's often a common trope with these kinds of stories, but I did wonder about the home lives of the other members of the team. We see a few, Lu Xia being the biggest one since he is the main focus and his complicated relationship with his father being a major plot point, but I kind of wished we saw a bit more. Perhaps it is extended in the anime or manga, but in this drama specifically I wanted to know more about their families and living situations. It's more of my own curiosity because it strengthens my understanding of who these characters are outside of their school and tennis, what makes them, y'know, them.
An unpopular opinion
I don't really have much of an unpopular opinion, to be honest. Perhaps not shipping one of the big ships in the fandom, but otherwise that's about it.
My canon OTP
None, since there really isn't any romance in the drama. There are teasing of possible couples, but nothing actually happens.
My non-canon OTP
All the ones I mentioned previously above with my favorite ships.
Most badass character
Again, this section always stumps me because I think many of them are badass in their own way. Each of them go through their own personal struggles, and most of them are incredibly stubborn with being self-sacrificing for the sake of the team, particularly with sacrificing their bodies and pushing themselves to the limit so the team can win to get to nationals. So yeah, all of them are badass in their own ways.
Most epic villain
There are no real "villains" in this drama because it's not that kind of a story. They have antagonists who they are up against, but none of them are that nasty outside of the court, aside from possibly a few that we don't spend that much time on, and neither of those characters are what I consider "epic", just annoying.
So I guess in terms of epic antagonists I would say Ji Jingwu because there's history between his team and Yu Qing, specifically between himself and Mu Siyang. We spend an extended amount of time focusing on their dynamic, why it was important for Yu Qing to defeat Xiao Ying, and Ji Jingwu's confliction between his team and concern over Siyang's injured arm. In the end, Jingwu just wants a fair competitive match between himself and Siyang because he
Pairing I am not a fan of
I have to say I wasn't that enamored with whole building up of the possible romance between Lu Xia and Qi Ying. Of course, I have to remind myself that these are teenagers and it's just an innocent first crush/puppy love kind of a thing where nothing really actually happens and it's mostly the implied possibility of a relationship in the future, but I don't know, while it's meant to be cute I just really wasn't feeling it in the drama.
I'm also not really a fan of Mu Siyang/Zhou Zi or Yan Zhiming/Liu Lian, as friends absolutely but nothing more than that.
Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another)
I'm not familiar with the Prince of Tennis franchise before this drama so I wouldn't know which characters they got right or wrong with their adaptation.
Favorite friendship
I mean, everybody on the Yu Qing team? That's technically cheating because that's the whole point of the story, the camaraderie of the teammates with them working together despite (or because of) their differences, etc, but it's true. Going into this show I had no knowledge of who was who and what their whole relationship with each other would be like, I mean it was a show focusing on sports and having watched some sports-related shows before (ex: Friday Night Lights) the sport is never the biggest focus, it's the characters and the bond and companionship made while being on a team. But it was so interesting going back and rewatching Prince of Tennis from the beginning and seeing how they introduced the characters and setting up the potential bonds between certain pairs, and then just overall how it went from focusing on that to just to them as a team overall. It's how I got so emotionally attached to each one of them. I'm kind of rambling now, but yeah, I love the whole team as a friendship.
With that being said, when it comes to individual character friendships I have to say that my favorite ones were Yan Zhiming and Zhang Baiyang, unexpected yet absolutely welcomed midway through the drama and one of the reasons why I ended up shipping them is because they are such opposites and yet they worked so well. It's interesting seeing their dynamic shift gradually throughout the drama, it's subtle but very profound especially once the training camp arc happens. Another friendship dynamic that was unexpected for me was Lu Xia and Zhou Yu. We didn't see much of it, but I liked that Lu Xia made a friend that was outside of his team, yeah he's the younger brother of one of his teammates and on a rival team, but they connected on a certain level and I thought it was very sweet.
I also liked seeing the friendship between Qi Ying and her friend, and how they also kind of had a friendly acquaintance with Sha Sha. The scene where Sha Sha seemed to be lost trying to navigate where the tennis court was during one of the later episodes and the two girls approaching her to guide her there was really sweet.
Character I most identify with
I feel like I'm a combination of Qiao Chen (pop culture enthusiast), Siyang and Zhiming (introverts) and a bit of Lu Xia (quiet and minding my own business most of the time, also not really liking mornings).
Character I wish I could be
I honestly don't know. In a way, it's more I wish I had the skillset that Lu Xia has when it comes to being kind of a prodigy of figuring things out, adapting to certain styles of something even in the moment. Seeing him strategize and figure out different ways, different moves, even during a game against an opponent who seems to have the upper hand against him but he turns the tables quickly by learning quickly. That's the kind of ability I wish I could adopt.
