English Dub Season Review: The Prince of Tennis II: U-17 World Cup Season One

The Prince of Tennis II: U-17 World Cup is based on the manga by Takeshi Konomi and is directed by Keiichiro Kawaguchi, who helmed SKET Dance. Studio KAI produces the series, M.S.C. Mitsutaka Hirota provides the scripts, and Chihiro Tamaki handles the musical score. The opening theme is “I can fly” by Yoshiki Ezaki and Bleecker Chrome, and the ending theme is “Dear Friends” by TeniPri Artistars.

The Prince of Tennis is a peculiar anime franchise that managed to make the boring sport of tennis into an exhilarating battle of the ages. In addition to the characters’ insane abilities that rival most superheroes, the franchise’s tale of a rising tennis prodigy helped expand it through shows, OVAs, and movies. Unfortunately, I didn’t get into the franchise until a few months ago when I watched its latest film, Ryoma! Rebirth: The Prince of Tennis Movie. The movie was a good watch for fans, but it’s also surprisingly average for regular moviegoers. That experience alone was enough for me to give this latest series in Konomi’s franchise a chance, even though I wasn’t a massive follower of the shows before it.

The overall plot of U-17 World Cup centers on Ryoma Echizen joining Team USA with his big brother Ryoga. He’s representing the country in the biggest event in tennis history: the U-17 World Cup. Ryoma’s choice comes after being ejected from the U-17 training camp by Team Japan’s ruthless coach despite being chosen to lead his hometown. This decision comes as a shock to the members of Team Japan, who have been playing with Ryoma since the beginning. Additionally, their former ally, Kunimitsu Tezuka, is playing for Team Germany, one of the Big Four teams dominating the World Cup events. As a result, the allies are now temporary adversaries as they compete against each other for the trophy, deal with their personal dilemmas, and put their friendships to the test.

Since this is the continuation of the previous Prince of Tennis shows, U-17 World Cup had a lot to accomplish to satisfy longtime fans of the anime and attract newcomers unfamiliar with the source material. It had to represent the stakes that originated in the Prince of Tennis II manga series and provide enough details about the characters to help the rookies understand their dynamics. That includes the main character, Ryoma Echizen, and the members of Team Japan. However, because I knew Ryoma the most thanks to the CG Prince of Tennis movie, it became a bit more challenging for me to grow attached to the series’ supporting cast. Fortunately, the series offers many flashbacks and examinations amid the tennis action to make the characters worth cheering for. As a result, the series works as a separate show as much as it is a nostalgic continuation of the beloved franchise.

The thing to know about the series is that despite the title being Prince of Tennis, it hardly focuses on the main character throughout the season. Instead, most episodes focus on Team Japan and their struggles with Ryoma’s choice to play for Team USA and battling the toughest teams in the World Cup. While there are a few moments involving Ryoma’s quest in the tournament, the series constantly puts Team Japan in the spotlight for almost the entire season. The change of pace was a bit concerning for me, considering how misleading the title is. Wasn’t it supposed to be The Prince of Tennis, not “Team Japan’s World Cup Quest”, since Ryoma’s the franchise’s main character?

The only episodes we see Ryoma in the spotlight are its fourth episode, “Prince vs. Prince”, the ninth episode, “Feelings for My Friends”, and the final two chapters. The former episode, “Prince vs. Prince”, has a breather side plot, with Ryoma playing horseback tennis against Chardard from Team France while reuniting with Sakuno Ryuzaki. While it still has the usual tennis action we’ve seen in the other episodes, “Prince vs. Prince” didn’t take full advantage of its plot involving Ryoma learning a new way of playing the sport he loves. On the other hand, “Feelings for My Friends” is a satisfying improvement for representing Ryoma’s conflict on where his heart lies regarding his friends. Finally, “Prince of Ace” and “Samurai vs. Knight” are worth the wait to see the tennis prodigy in action as he plays against Chardard once more in the tournament.

Fortunately, U-17 World Cup found a way to make this change work for me. Most episodes include Team Japan’s matches against opposing teams like Germany and Australia. During those matches, they provide character information through dialogue and flashbacks to represent the members of not just Team Japan but also the players they’re battling against, including Team Australia’s captain, Dogeous, from “Chess King”. It’s a suitable way to explore the characters’ conflicts further. It’s also surprisingly helpful for newcomers to get caught up with the franchise and learn about them without breaking the show’s pace.

Additionally, the majority of the English dub cast from the previous Prince of Tennis installments returns to reprise the roles of their respective characters, which is a huge plus for fans. The primary example is Ry McKeand, who’s been voicing Ryoma since the first series. He did a solid job embodying the character’s subtle and determined personality that made him beloved in the first place. The rest of the cast was decent in their roles, including Howard Wang as Ryoga Echizen, Ryoma’s older brother, and Jonah Scott as Tezuka.

I would also give props to the show’s animation. It brought plenty of vibrancy in the settings and character designs, but the sports action is where the style truly shines. Tennis matches are tough nowadays due to the repetitiveness of hitting the ball repeatedly for hours. However, if there’s one thing I learned from The Prince of Tennis, it’s that anime can make any boring event exciting, including tennis. U-17 World Cup is no exception, with the animation brilliantly showcasing the characters’ abilities and matches vibrantly and energetically. As someone who’s new to the franchise, I thought the tennis matches in this show are portrayed better in 2D animation compared to the CGI in the recent Prince of Tennis movie.

Overall, The Prince of Tennis II: U-17 World Cup is a welcoming return of the long-running franchise fit for anime fans and sports lovers. More importantly, it’s also an enjoyable and flashy series that newcomers can feel comfortable watching without seeing the other installments. The episodic structure can be a bit repetitive sometimes, and some of the chapters aren’t as strong as others regarding the plots. However, it quickly compensates for them with its engaging characters, voice cast, and striking animation. So after watching the recent CGI movie and U-17 World Cup, I suppose you can say that my curiosity scale for the franchise has risen from a three to a seven. If a second season were to happen, which it should because of how it ended, I don’t mind seeing where it goes from here regarding Ryoma’s journey to win the tournament.