Characters In Order of Appearance[]
- Takuya Miyagawa
- Eiichiro Maruo
- Natsu Takasaki
- Ken Watanabe
- Teppei Kishi
- Hiroshi Araya
- Kouji Nishimura
- Takuma Egawa (flashback)
- Norihiko Mogami
- Himeko Sasaki
- Kojirou Kageyama
- Ryuhei Aoi
- Sakakibara
- Aki Shimizu (flashback)
- Alex O'Brien (flashback)
- Mike Mcguire (flashback)
- Yu Nabae (flashback)
- Yusaku Miura
- Yukichi Fukazawa
Summary[]
Eiichiro reflects regarding his match against Miyagawa and Natsu's view on "enjoyable matches". After becoming part of finals in the tournament, he plays a friendly match against Natsu that will act as a mental training for him. On the other hand, Araya, the hope of their club, is determined to win against Eiichiro and pursue his dream of becoming a pro.
Synopsis[]
Eiichiro reports at the office about his win against Miyagawa, which is later followed by Natsu. As they leave the office, Natsu notices Eiichiro not happy despite of his win. Eiichiro shares his experiences in the previous match - the intensity and the struggles during a match. Natsu tells Eiichiro that Eiichiro will experience such kind of matches in the future and those games are actually the most enjoyable. At the house, Eiichiro reflects regarding his match - and what Natsu said to him on "enjoyable matches".
On the following matches, Eiichiro has won and manages to be part of top 4 in the tournament, and later, in the top 2 when he defeated Mogami. As expected, Eiichiro has to face Araya in the finals, the player who defeated Eiichiro last year. Later in his practice at STC, he will have a practice match against Natsu as per suggestion by Coach Sakakibara. For Natsu, this will help her in dealing Shimizu's tennis style while for Eiichiro, it will act as a mental training for intuitive plays. During the first game, Eiichiro has difficulty on reading Natsu's moves because Natsu's movement are different from what he imagines. But with Coach Aoi's suggestion of relying to own instincts instead of thinking the attacks, Eiichiro has managed to counter Natsu's attacks and wins in the friendly match.
At GITC courts, Araya is having his practice match against Nishimura when he is called by their coach. The coach tells Araya that the club will support him on his dream of becoming a pro as Araya survived the club's difficult program of improving power and speed. Even though Araya has to abandon his friends in order to reach the top, his friends still view him as their hope. Thus, it acts as a motivation for Araya not to lose against Eiichiro in the finals.
As the finals match between Eiichiro and Araya is about to start, Eiichiro reviews his notes about Araya. As they greet each other at the net, Eiichiro feels the same sensation he had in his match against Miyagawa. On the other hand, Araya believes that Eiichiro's tactics he used last year will not be helpful as Araya learned something from that match and has changed since then.
Manga & Anime Differences[]
- The scenes only happened in the manga:
- While Eiichiro wonders what Natsu meant regarding "enjoyable matches", Eiichiro and Natsu are approached by Coach Aoi, Kageyama and Sasaki. After Coach Aoi teases Eiichiro about being "lovey-dovey" with Natsu in public, he also reminds Eiichiro that Eiichiro must not relaxed yet even though he is now qualified for Kanto Junior.
- The comment of Eiichiro's mother after Eiichiro returns home from his match and calling Eiichiro for dinner while Eiichiro is reflecting on his match against Miyagawa
- Some of Eiichiro's analysis during his match against Mogami
- The scene only happened in the anime:
- Araya and Nishimura's conversation about Eiichiro's advancement in the tournament even though he is unseeded.
- Araya and Takuma's flashback when Takuma won the Kanagawa Junior Circuit Under 12 Boys Division
- Araya's practice match with Nishimura in preparation for his match against Eiichiro
- When Natsu greets Eiichiro after announcing the results of her match, in the manga, she greets him with a V-sign while in the anime, her thumb is also extended.
- While Eiichiro is looking on his notes regarding his match against Miyagawa, some of the details in the manga version are different in the anime (particularly the score).
- While Coach Aoi and Coach Sakakibara at the back, Eiichiro and Natsu's conversation are extended in the anime.
- The match between Natsu and Sakurai will happen on Court 2 in the manga and Court 6 in the anime
- In the manga, Eiichiro feels the sensation similar in his match against Miyagawa when he and Araya had a handshake while in the anime, he immediately feels the sensation without a handshake.
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