This contains minor spoilers for Prince of Tennis II, now streaming on Crunchyroll.
When an anime gets approved for another season, it usually takes a couple of years for that continuation to air. There are exceptions, like Attack on Titan, which took four years before the second season was released.
However, the most recent addition to this list of exceptions is ThePrince of Tennis II - U-17 World Cup, which comes almost a decade after its previous season. It's often hard for anime to recapture what made them special after so much time in between seasons or series. Does The Prince of Tennis II meet fan expectations?
The Last Time Fans Saw the Prince
The latest season of Prince of Tennis II comes almost a decade later after the previous season ended on a cliffhanger. Ryoma Echizen, banned from the Japanese U-17 (players who are under 17) High School Representatives Selection Camp for interrupting the match between Kazuya Tokugawa and Hōō Byōdōin, is unaware he was chosen as a representative for Japan’s team in the upcoming U-17 World cup. In standard Eichizen fashion, he leaves for America with his brother Ryoga, aiming to join the North American team in order to play against Byōdōin. Now, almost a decade later, fans of the series are able to finally see the next steps of Echizen’s journey, crushing Japan’s hopes at the U-17 World Cup of seizing the tennis world and claiming victory for the United States.
With almost eight years between the previous season and now, the question remains: does this continuation have the same charm as the previous seasons? Short answer: absolutely. Prince of Tennis as a series is part of a niche style within the sports anime genre. Along with shows like Keijo!!! and Kuroko no Basuke, Prince of Tennis strays away from the realism that sports anime have come to be known for. From tennis swings so intense that the ball breaks concrete walls to creating literal black holes, Prince of Tennis has never been an anime that focuses on the accuracy of the sport they play. Viewers enjoy these types of shows because they aren’t realistic.
Prince of Tennis' Special Brand of Crazy
This new season only adds to Prince of Tennis’ iconic brand of tennis-themed insanity. While the previous season brought moments like fighting balloon-hunting eagles with chestnuts launched like tennis balls, the latest season comes with scenes like Ryoma playing tennis on a horse against a French representative and a player whose play style and personality changes through face paint hypnosis. Each country’s representatives are themed through their character designs, names, and special moves thus making each match up different than the last, something that is reminiscent of the original series and the various schools that Seigaku would play against.
Sports anime as a genre can be polarizing among fans. While some enjoy shows and manga like Days, Hajime no Ippo, or Baby Steps for how accurate they depict the sport they are based on, shows like Prince of Tennis and Kuroko no Basuke do the complete opposite and take whatever the sport is known for and dials up the intensity to an 11. A regular forehand turns into an actual tornado and what should be a regular serve soon gains the ability to explode in a similar fashion to the Big Bang. Prince of Tennis as an anime brings many things to the sports genre, however, subtlety is not one of those things.
ThePrince of Tennis II - U-17 World Cup stays true to its roots while keeping an updated feel through its animation. The new season as a whole feels less like a new season as a whole and more like a continuation. If anything, the new season embraces the nostalgia from the original series but with animation and an art style that brings The Prince of Tennis into this decade of sakuga-filled anime.