Characters In Order of Appearance[]
- Hiromi Iwasa
- Eiichiro Maruo
- Yusaku Miura
- Yukichi Fukazawa
- Himeko Sasaki
- Kojirou Kageyama
- Hiroshi Araya
- Takuya Miyagawa (flashback)
- Takuma Egawa (flashback)
- Takuma Egawa
- Ryou Oobayashi
- Natsu Takasaki (flashback)
- Natsu Takasaki
- Takuya Miyagawa
Summary[]
Eiichiro wins the match against Iwasa and faces Araya in the semi-finals.
Synopsis[]
Eiichiro immediately moves to the net after his serve and tries to win against Iwasa in volley battle. However, Iwasa manages to counter Eiichiro's attacks and wins a point. Eiichiro remembers Coach Miura's lecture regarding on how Eiichiro has to determine the right time in order to hit a winning shot and tries to apply that thought on the next serve. Kageyama and Yukichi realize Eiichiro's improvement during the game. Coach Miura confirms the change and explains how Eiichiro's physical ability and hard work help in improving his tennis techniques. With Eiichiro's perseverance and good eyesight, he manages to recover the lost point from Iwasa.
Iwasa's coach thinks on how critical Iwasa's current condition as the match continues to drag on and how his opponent has managed to come through on Iwasa's plays. Iwasa has not given up yet and continues to hit difficult shots against Eiichiro. However, his body has started to reach its limit as he starts to experience cramps on his left leg. In the end, Iwasa's leg did not return to normal and Eiichiro wins the match. After the match, Eiichiro approaches Iwasa and confirms on how Iwasa "draws" during matches. Iwasa also asks Eiichiro the reason behind he plays tennis and whether he will become a professional player in the future. Iwasa also explains to Eiichiro how difficult his match can be against Araya as Araya competes to become a pro.
While watching Araya's match and confirming his information, Eiichiro considers Iwasa's explanation earlier. After the match, Araya passes by and throws a threathening message to Eiichiro. On the other hand, Takuma and Oobayashi are together and have confirmed the line-up for the top 4 of the tournament. Oobayashi shares his thoughts regarding on Eiichiro entering the top 4. Takuma then tells to Oobayashi how Takuma becomes Eiichiro's practice partner in the past year.
After Eiichiro bid goodbye to Kageyama and Sasaki, he meets up with Natsu and talks about the match especially on what Eiichiro feels on his win. Natsu shares on things may get worse if he continues to have the same mindset and tells him that he has to take every opportunity to win, no matter what it is. Eiichiro also asks Natsu the reason behind her decision to become a pro. Natsu then sets a condition that she will tell the reason if Eiichiro manages to beat Araya in the match.
The following two days, Eiichiro tries to gather information regarding on Araya's weakness and how to deal with it. Yukichi suggests to ask Takuma instead as Takuma always beat Araya in the match. However, Eiichiro has having difficulty on finding Takuma. He almost loses his drive in searching Takuma if not for his short talk with Miyagawa. Finally, Eiichiro has found Takuma but he is together with Araya and accidentally overhears their conversation.
Manga & Anime Differences[]
- In the manga, Eiichiro's pose in the puzzle is similar when one takes a picture for identification card while in the anime, Eiichiro is in smashing stance.
- When Eiichiro meets Iwasa at the parking lot, both Eiichiro and Iwasa change clothes in the manga but only Iwasa changes clothes in the anime. Also Eiichiro still has his bag in the anime while in manga, he does not have it.
- In the flashback when Araya tells Eiichiro to beat them first, Yukichi is not included in that part in the manga while in the anime, he is included. The arrangement is a bit different as well.
- When Natsu and Eiichiro are walking together after practice, in the manga, Natsu and Eiichiro are side by side while in the anime, Eiichiro is behind Natsu. Before Eiichiro asks Natsu regarding her decision of being a tennis professional player, in the manga, Eiichiro checks the surroundings first before asking while in the anime, he did not.
- In the manga, when Eiichiro asks Yukichi about Araya's weakness, Yukichi jokingly answers something not related to tennis. This part is not included in the anime.
- On the day of the tournament when Eiichiro tells Miyagawa about his problem on Araya's weakness, in the anime, they are at the side of the courts but in the manga, they remain near the main office.
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