The Prince of Tennis 39

Four-time consecutive U.S. Junior tournament champ Ryoma Echizen comes to Seishun Academy to further his reign as The Prince of Tennis. His skill is matched only by his attitude--irking some but impressing all as he leads his team to the Nationals and beyond

Reads R to L (Japanese Style), for all age audiences.

Flare-up Barbecue Battle

Before the Seishun boys hit the courts for the final round of the Nationals, they hit the yakiniku table for an all-out barbecue blitz When the time comes for Seishun to take on Rikkai at the tournament, Ryoma is stuck in Karuizawa Help comes from an unexpected quarter to get Ryoma to that stadium. The first game is the long-awaited match that will ignite the perfect storm: Seishun captain Kunimitsu vs. Rikkai's Sanada

A member of the tennis club in junior and senior high-school, Konomi submitted his work to Weekly Shonen Jump after graduation from university and was debuted in a special edition of the magazine in 1993 with TETSUJIN SEKAI ICHI KATAI OTOKO. In 1997, his COOL RENTAL BODYGUARD manga became serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump, followed by THE PRINCE OF TENNIS in 1992. Because of THE PRINCE OF TENNIS, the number of children in Japan who have taken up tennis as a sport has increased exponentially, and the tennis club has become one of the more popular school clubs in junior high today, creating a huge boom for the game. An anime version of THE PRINCE OF TENNIS was created in 2001, and is still going strong.