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テニスの王子様 [Tennis no Ōjisama] #36

The Prince of Tennis, Volume 36: A Heated Battle! Seishun vs. Shitenhoji

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The semifinals of the National Tournament begin! Seishun is pitted against powerhouse team Shitenhoji. The first match is No. 3 Singles, with Shusuke up against the Shitenhoji captain, Kuranosuke Shiraishi. Shusuke may be Seishun's resident "genius," but the mysterious Kuranosuke is rumored to play "perfect tennis," a game with no flaws.

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

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About the author

Takeshi Konomi

264 books116 followers
Also known as 許斐 剛

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5 stars
203 (47%)
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134 (31%)
3 stars
71 (16%)
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16 (3%)
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
Profile Image for Ace.
478 reviews12 followers
September 20, 2015
The entirety of Volume 36 is dedicated to Fuji's match against Shitenhoji in the semifinals with lots of magical tennis action. This volume drags (but only a little bit) - instead of jumping between two consecutive matches or using flashbacks, readers get one long battle between these singles players. A two page digression mentions Rikkai playing their semifinal against a team of foreign exchange students, but that's it. I thought it was interesting that Fuji's source of inspiration during a low moment was Ryoma, who hopped on the court and told him to play for real. As Fuji and Tezuka are close, I would have expected the captain to motivate him - maybe this is Konomi's way of showing us that Ryoma has become the pillar of support after all. Hm.

Overall, a fun read. Sakuno disappears again for this volume; I still wish she had a bigger role as well as a more important one, especially after she was a main character in the very beginning (though maybe I want this only because I think the beginning had different - and more powerful - things at stake, such as the pressures and angst of being the youngest player on a team of upperclassman).
Profile Image for Brandon.
2,829 reviews40 followers
July 14, 2023
I don't mind Shusuke matches. Sure the way he names his 'special moves' and counters is kind of silly, and the level of ball control involved in them is kind of goofy, but his matches often end up about that control instead of things disappearing or having spiritual energy or whatever. He's shown to be gifted like Ryoma, a genius like Kunimitsu, but has this fatal flaw of never really going all-out. It's like he doesn't even enjoy tennis. And that's a hurdle I find fascinating to read, watching this character start to get into it. Ryoma had a bit of that in the first few volumes but that quickly disappeared, while Shusuke has had a series-long arc about his hesitation to get serious. He can be as skilled as he wants but his greatest barrier has always been how much effort he wants to put into an individual game. Sure, the flip-flopping outcome of this match wasn't the most action-packed but I was much more emotionally invested in the payoff than pretty much every other match in this series.

Plus, I love when characters try their all to the point where the winners feel like it was a bad game. Not to say that's what happened here but in this volume there was a lot of debate over whether Shusuke would lose, and if he did lose if he would be satisfied by it. Again, it's one of the reasons why I love sports manga, this trope that you have characters hesitating so they don't feel bad if they commit and still lose. Seeing characters find their resolve and put everything into the match, trying to have a good game whether they win or lose because it's the game that matters (rather than the win) is fantastic. And when a character does lose, and it hits them all the harder for it? Hell yeah, that gives them a reason to fight back harder next time.
5,870 reviews146 followers
February 17, 2020
The Prince of Tennis, Vol. 36 continues where the previous tankōbon left off and contains the next nine chapters (313–321) of the on-going manga series.

The tankōbon starts the Semifinals of the All-Japan National Tournament that has Seishun Academy playing against Shitenhōji Middle School. It starts and concludes the first Singles Match between Shūsuke Fuji and Kuranosuke Shiraishi. He is the captain of Shitenhōji Middle School and is heralded as having so called Perfect Tennis and is a par above Fuji.

Shiraishi takes an early lead by winning the first five sets. However, Fuji with some choice words from Ryōma Echizen, he gets his second wind and plows through by winning the next six sets and was on the verge of winning the match. However, Shiraishi manages to win with a score of 6–7. With this win, Shitenhōji Middle School takes the lead with one set.

This tankōbon is written and illustrated by Takeshi Konomi. It slowly starts the Semifinals for the All-Japan National Tournament, which concludes the first Singles Match between Shūsuke Fuji and Kuranosuke Shiraishi, which was a rather interesting match as it is the first time that Fuji, the tennis genius had met his superior and was a point away from defeating him. Narrative wise, it was a tad unusual for an entire tankōbon to cover one match as it usually tries to end in a cliffhanger.

All in all, The Prince of Tennis, Vol. 36 is a wonderful continuation to a series that seems intriguing and I cannot wait to read more.
Profile Image for Larissa Modean.
80 reviews
May 27, 2025
5/5 (Review is for the series as a whole and does not contain spoilers)

This series follows 7th grader Ryoma Echizen as he strives to become the number one tennis player at his junior high school. Throughout the series, Ryoma faces off against numerous opponents, each one stronger than the last, in an effort to help lead his tennis team to becoming the champions of the National Tennis Tournament.

This series is a cute, action packed story about some junior high school students playing tennis. No prior knowledge of tennis is necessary, as the author takes the time to explain how certain shots are executed and briefly mentions which professional tennis players may use those shots. As the story progresses, some of the tennis shots get a bit more unrealistic and overly dramatic, but it adds to the excitement and builds tension. (So note that if you are an avid tennis player, it might seem a bit out there in terms of realism.) This is a great series for people who enjoy sports manga, and who enjoy competition, as the boys in this manga continue to push each other to new heights in their skills. There are also some good lessons in the story that teach the readers about having fun and continuing to persevere even when things get tough. It also teaches readers that sometimes we lose, and that’s okay too. In terms of age ratings, I would say that this series is a safe one for those in middle school, or perhaps even a bit younger. Overall, I really enjoyed this manga for its low stakes, fun action, and enjoyable cast of characters.
Profile Image for Stephanie.
691 reviews27 followers
October 4, 2022
Loved this volume really good match between the genius Shusuke and the bible Shiraishi. I really loved the chapter panels in this volume especially Chapter 320: My Time.
61 reviews1 follower
July 14, 2010
The book was good but they could have squeezed more matches into the book. There was only one match in this book and my attention began to waver the longer i read about the match. AT this rate seishun will win the nationals by book 48.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews

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