New Prince of Tennis 3: The True Strength of the High Schoolers

I'm so pumped about this new series! When Prince of Tennis finished up almost a year ago, I was a bit depressed because I knew then that there wasn't going to be any resolution to the Echizen vs. Nanjiro storyline (which was how I thought the series should naturally end). I was pleasantly surprised when, a year later, Takishi Konomi graced us, succeeding the original storyline and ushering his audience into "The Golden Age." Thank you Jump Square for publishing the new Prince (even if it is now only on a monthly basis xD).

The first three chapters of this series appear to a refresher/crash course on the main characters/players from the original series, with an emphasis on their special abilities. In this chapter we get a cursory look at the new players that have been brought into the fold: the high schoolers, who undoubtedly are a higher caliber set of prodigies than anyone Echizen or his Seigaku brethren have yet faced.

It appears that the MO of this (high school representative) selection camp is to divide the many players up in a less than usual manner: matching through a seemingly random shuffle. The objective of the chosen players is to beat their opponent and "get them demoted" so that the winner may make their way to the top of the above pictured pyramid, where, presumably, they face their toughest opponent. In all likelihood, many of these familiar (post as well as non-post) middle-school players are going to get routed out by their older opponents; this will affect their chances of being accepted into the U-17 camp. All in all, whoever doesn't win will end up reinforcing that classic Echizen motto: "Mada Mada Dane."


So, next month it looks like there's going to be a Momoshiro match to look forward to (*crosses fingers* hopefully the fourth chapter will be less introductory than the last three). I for one am looking forward to seeing who plays the new 1st court opponent Tokugawa Kazuya, who looks thoroughly intimidating. And if the sadistic Kirihara is scared stiff by him, whoever is unlucky enough to be shuffled onto his court is in for a royal beating.