English Dub Review: The Prince of Tennis II: U-17 World Cup “A Moment Ahead in the Future”

Overview (Spoilers Below):
With one win each, Japan and Germany continue to face off in the third match of the Pre-World Cup exhibition.

Our Take:
We’re not even at the main tournament, yet the show kept finding specific ways to make the first exhibition match extremely enticing. As seen in the previous episode, the two hard-hitting teams are neck-in-neck with only one win each. The third match will get far more interesting, as Volk is the next player to play for Germany. So who did Japan choose to play for the team? Why it’s none other than their team captain Nukyoma and Kazuya Tokugawa.
Most of the episode is the continuation (and conclusion) of the exhibition match between Germany and Japan. Along with the usual color commentary from the two teams, the episode offers more character exploration and strange powers that keep me engaged in the action. On Germany’s side, Volk has partnered up with A. Frankensteiner, who’s classified as a “tennis cyborg”. The latter can hit the ball through Tokugawa’s black hole like it was nothing, and he has a ball serve that can flawlessly knock out a racket from his opponent’s hand.
Team Japan’s select players have their own issues during the match, not just Germany. Nukyoma lost his five senses during the game due to his sickness, rendering him immobilized. However, he eventually got back in the game after remembering Ryoma having fun playing the sport he loves, which inspired him not to give up on tennis. As for Tokugawa, he was helpless against Frankensteiner’s unstoppable serve until Ryoma arrived with Team USA to encourage him to keep going.
Because of Ryoma’s inspiration, Tokugawa and Nukyoma overcame their adversaries and tricks. However, it was all for naught, as Germany won the first exhibition match against Japan. While it was disappointing for Japan, the game was still exciting for me to watch, mainly due to the characters and their abilities.
Three episodes in, I’m still surprised that the show took its time to reflect on the people and their relationships amid the sports action. As a newcomer to the franchise, I’m glad these moments were included to get me caught up with the characters without watching the other shows, even if they are brief. Now the question is, which match-up would we see next week, and will it be as exciting as the first match?