The episodes of anime series created by Takeshi Konomi are directed by Takayuki Hamana, animated by Trans Arts, and co-produced by Nihon Ad Systems, J.C.Staff, and Production I.G. The anime is an adaptation of Konomi's Prince of Tennis Japanese manga series. The series revolves around a 12-year-old tennis prodigy named Ryoma Echizen, who moves back to his native Japan in order to attend his father's alma mater, Seishun Academy, a private middle school famous for its strong tennis team.
The anime series first aired on the terrestrial Japanese network TV Tokyo from October 10, 2001 to March 30, 2005, airing a total of one-hundred and seventy-eight episodes, which spanned across forty-five DVDs in Japan. In April 2006, an OVA continuation of the anime began to be released on DVD, totaling thirteen episodes across seven DVDs. A second OVA also began being released on DVD on June 22, 2007. It spanned a total of six episodes that are spread across three DVDs, the last of which being released on January 25, 2008. The third and final installment in the National OVA series contains seven episodes spread across four DVDs released from April 25, 2008 to January 23, 2009. The OVAs are animated by Production I.G and Bandai Visual, with the latter also handling the DVD distribution of the OVAs in Japan along with Amuse Soft Entertainment.
Viz Media handled the distribution of the series in North America, where the episodes debuted as streaming media on Viz's and Cartoon Network's joint online broadband service called Toonami Jetstream on July 14, 2006. It first began airing on North American television as part of Toonami's Saturday programming block on December 23, 2006. However, it was removed from Toonami's schedule on June 9, 2007, and was also removed from Toonami Jetstream after episode fifty's broadcast on December 3, 2007. In April 2021, Crunchyroll, then known as Funimation, announced they had licensed the series, and it would stream it on their website with a new English dub. After Funimation was unified under the Crunchyroll brand in 2022, the series joined its namesake streaming service.
As of January 15, 2008, a total of four DVD compilations, containing the first fifty episodes, have been released by Viz Media. All four compilations contain three discs, each containing four episodes, save the final discs of the first two compilations, which contain five episodes.
The 1986 J-pop song Valentine Kiss by Sayuri Kokushō was covered multiple times by multiple characters in the series. From February 2004 through February 2010, a total of nine different versions were released (seven individually, and the final two together). The first one, featuring the character Keigo Atobe (voiced by Junichi Suwabe) reached #14 on the Oricon charts.
Episode list Notes concerning English titles and airdates The English titles for the first fifty episodes are of the officially released titles by Viz Media. The remaining English titles are unofficial translations of the original Japanese titles. The English airdates are of the Toonami Jetstream premieres, which came before Toonami's television broadcasts of the episodes.
Seasons 1 and 2: 2001–02
Seasons 3 and 4: 2002-03
Season 5: 2003–04 Episodes 102–115: Training to Defeat Rikkai Jr. High Saga
Ep. # Title Original Release Date
Episodes 116–128: Kanto Tournament Saga – Part IV: The Finals – Rikkai Jr. High Ep. # Title Original Release Date
Opening & Ending Music
+ Season OP/ED Song Title Artist Episode Season 5 OP Fly High Toshihiko Matsunaga 102-128 Season 5-6 ED Sakura Yomu Hamaguchi 102–139
Season 6: 4/2004 – 12/2004 Episodes 129–135: Recreation Saga
Ep. # Title Original Release Date
Episodes 136–146: Junior Selection Camp Saga
Ep. # Title Original Release Date
Episodes 147–160: Junior Selection Team vs. U.S. Coast Team Saga
Ep. # Title Original Release Date
Episodes 161–165: Recreation Saga
Ep. # Title Original Release Date
Opening & Ending Music
+ Season OP/ED Song Title Artist Episode Season 6 OP Shining Yuki Shirai 129–153 Season 6 OP Paradise Yuki Shirai 154–165 Season 6 ED Sakura Yomu Hamaguchi 129–139 Season 6 ED Wonderful Days Pull Tab to Can 140 – 165 [From www.beepthegeek.net]
Season 7: 1/2005 – 3/2005 Episodes 166–176: Intraschool Rankings Saga – Part III
Ep.# Title Original Release Date
Episodes 177–178: Start of Nationals Arc
Ep.# Title Original Release Date
Opening & Ending Music
+ Season OP/ED Song Title Artist Episode Season 7 OP Dream Believer Osami Masaki 166–178 Season 7 ED Little Sky Kentaro Fukushi 166–177 Season 7 ED Future (long version) HIRO-X 178
OVAs A Day at the Survival Mountain – Special episode of the anime series shown at Jump Festa 2003.
National Tournament National Tournament OVA series Episodes 1–13: The Nationals Arc
Ep. # Title Original Release Date
National Semifinals OVA series Episodes 14–19: The Nationals Semifinal Arc
Ep. # Title Original Release Date
National Finals OVA series Episode 20–26: The National Tournament Finals Arc
Ep. # Title Original Release Date
Another Story OVA series Episode 1–4: ~Messages from Past and Future~
Ep. # Title Original Release Date
Another Story II OVA series Episode 1–4: ~The Times We Shared~
Ep. # Title Original Release Date
The Prince of Tennis II Episodes 1–13: ~2nd stringers arc~
# Title Original Release Date + Season OP/ED Song Title Artist Episode The Prince of Tennis II OP Mirai no Bokura e. Norimasa Fujisawa 1–13 The Prince of Tennis II ED Enjoy Amikyuudanji 1–13
The Prince of Tennis II SPECIAL OVA series Episodes 1–7: The Prince of Tennis II
# Title Original Release Date + Season OP/ED Song Title Artist Episode The Prince of Tennis II OVA OP Mirai no Bokura e. Norimasa Fujisawa 1–7 The Prince of Tennis II OVA ED Enjoy Amikyuudanji 1–7
The Prince of Tennis II OVA vs. Genius 10 OVA series Episodes 1–10: ~1st stringers arc~
# Title Original Release Date + Season OP/ED Song Title Artist Episode The Prince of Tennis II OVA vs. Genius 10 OP Prelude to a Revolution Atobe Keigo 1–10 The Prince of Tennis II OVA vs. Genius 10 ED Party Time Cap to Bin (ep 1), Hyotei Eternity (ep 2), Stones (ep 3), Pull Tab to Can (ep 4)GIGS (ep 5), Rikkai Young Kan (ep 6), Amikyuu Danji (ep 7) Tachikiri Tai (ep 8), Aozu (ep 9), Tenipuri All Stars (ep 10) 1–10
The Prince of Tennis II: Hyotei vs. Rikkai Game of Future
Atobe invites Rikkai to play against Hyotei in an exhibition match. For the third years, this will be their last chance to play with their underclassmen before they graduate.
# Title Original Release Date
The Prince of Tennis U-17 World Cup # Title Original Release Date
The Prince of Tennis II U-17 World Cup Semifinal # Title Original Release Date
References
External links
Official Prince of Tennis website Teni-puri-news website TV Tokyo's Prince of Tennis website