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Seishun Academy

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Seishun Academy (|青春学園|Seishun Gakuen), or Seigaku (|青学) for short, is the main school that the main character, Echizen Ryoma goes to. It is famous for its tennis club, which is the reason Echizen Nanjirō enrolled his son into, formally attending the school himself. It was established in 1925. There are 33 members in the tennis club, and is located in Tokyo. The principal's name is Ishikawa Hiroyuki.

Seigaku is one of the few schools shown to have a high school division.

1 History
2 Tennis Team Members
3 Other Characters
4 Trivia
5 Gallery

HistoryEdit

In the The Prince of Tennis universe, Seigaku's tennis club was not always the feared monster that it is seen in the run of the series, and was average talent-wise when the school opened in 1925. The appearance of a young Echizen Nanjirō, father of Echizen Ryoma, was what had initially transitioned the club's performance from mediocre into one of the strongest teams in the area.

Although Seigaku was well known for their tennis skills in the past, the absence of Echizen Nanjirō threw the team into somewhat of a slump, leaving them unable to make it to Nationals over the next several years until a first year, Tezuka Kunimitsu, joined the Regulars. His outstanding talents played an important role in starting up where Nanjiro had left off. With the help of his then-captain Yamato Yūdai, Tezuka became the team's captain and pillar of support at the beginning of his third year. By this time, a few other extremely talented players began making their way onto the team. Yet, despite the obvious talent and potential that Seigaku's tennis club held, a few of the players lacked the heart that it took to win the game (Fuji Shūsuke), while others were simply unaware of their own inner drive toward perfecting their skills (Inui Sadaharu) and bringing their hidden talents to the surface (Kaidō Kaoru).

The arrival of twelve year old tennis genius Echizen Ryoma is what finally lit Seigaku's motivational fuse, allowing them to advance. Feeling inspired, rather than resentment toward the freshman's skills, the team combines intense training, perseverance, trust, and teamwork in order to secure a spot at the Nationals. Stated during the Yamabuki arc, one of Seigaku's flaws is that they do not have a steady doubles team besides the Kikumaru/ Oishi Pair; their individual talents are so strong that they do not work well together. In the beginning of the series, Doubles 2 is usually played by the Kawamura/Fuji pair, while later in the series, Momoshiro/Kaido pair and Inui/Kaido pair have taken its place, showing that Seigaku is overcoming its lack of skilled doubles teams. The team is really close with rival schools Fudomine and Rokkaku Middle Schools, and share a strong rivalry with Hyotei Academy.

The team's uniform is blue and white shirts, white shorts (started out as gray for the first nine episodes of the anime, but Echizen is the only member of the team to wear his usual black shorts), and blue and white jackets with the Seigaku logo on the back with several red stripes on the cuffs and collar. The regulars also get their name personally stitched into the jacket. They also have blue warm-up pants with "Seigaku" printed on one side, and usually remove them before a match (Kaido and Echizen are the only ones who never wear these).

By the end of the series, Seigaku manages to pull off its first National victory.

Tennis Team MembersEdit

CoachEdit

Sumire Ryūzaki (竜崎スミレ, Ryūzaki Sumire?)

Position: Coach, Math Teacher
Voiced by: Shizuka Okohira (Japanese), Barbara Goodson (English)
Signature Technique: Continuous Ball Pretense (Hora Hora Attack)

Sumire Ryuzaki (竜崎スミレ, Ryūzaki Sumire?) is the coach of Seigaku's tennis club, as well as one of the school's math teachers. It was thanks to her that Echizen Nanjiro was able to develop his skills. She is the grandmother of Sakuno. She also has a sort-of rivalry with her ex-mentor, Banda Mikiya a.k.a. Banji, who is the coach for Yamabuki. She is always there to yell, but is also considered to be a great and reliable coach. She has a good relationship with her regulars, and participates in their recreational group activities: the bowling reunion and the beach-volley mini-tournament with Rokkaku Middle School.

For the Prince of Tennis live action movie, Ryuzaki's whole personality and back story was changed. Instead of being a middle-aged teacher and ex-coach to Nanjiro Echizen, she is a young, and more cheerful woman as well as Nanjiro's former classmate, who was her reason for playing tennis and becoming coach. She was played by the popular singer Hitomi Shimatani. The Chinese drama also makes her a young woman, and in this version she is portrayed by Jiang Hong Bo.

OB'sEdit

Nanjirō Echizen (越前南次郎, Echizen Nanjirō?)

Former Position: Regular, Captain (?)
Years since Graduation: 25 years ago from the start of the series

Nanjiro is Ryoma's father, and was known as Samurai Nanjiro due to his invincible tennis skills during his professional career. His specialties included the "Nanjiro Zone," which is the completed version of the current captain Tezuka's Tezuka Zone, as well as discovering ambidextry that he calls "Nitoryu" by himself.

Yūdai Yamato (大和祐大, Yamato Yūdai?)

Former Position: Captain
Years since Graduation: 2 years ago from the start of the series
Voiced by: Masanori Ikeda

Yūdai Yamato is the captain during Tezuka's freshman year. He talks Tezuka into staying in the tennis club as Seigaku's pillar of support, calming him down when he was on the verge of quitting after being injured. Eccentric, insightful and gentle, Yamato has a unique "way" of explaining things that even Sumire Ryuzaki has trouble understanding him. He continued to help the tennis club after he graduated; in the anime, coach Ryuzaki asks him for his guidance when they go to a training camp to prepare for the Kantō conference final against Rikkai Daigaku.

Takesue

Former Position: Team Member

(Former Tennis Team Member)

Sugiyama

Former Position: Team Member

(Former Tennis Team Member)

3rd YearsEdit

Kunimitsu Tezuka

Position: Regular (Captain)

The current captain of the Seigaku tennis team. He is a stern but highly-respected leader. As a player, Tezuka is recognised as one of the best singles players, having reached the Nationals previously.

Shūichirō Oishi

Position: Regular (Vice-Captain)

Vice-captain of Seigaku and close friend of Tezuka. Oishi specialises in doubles, pairing with Kikumaru to form the "Golden Pair".

Shūsuke Fuji

Position: Regular

A calm and cheerful player, known widely as a tennis prodigy. Usually a singles player, but sometimes plays doubles.

Eiji Kikumaru

Position: Regular

A highly athletic player. Specialises in doubles, forming Seigaku's "Golden Pair" with Oishi as well as playing with other team members on occasion.

Takashi Kawamura

Position: Regular

A skilled singles player that plays with pure power, occasionally plays doubles. Aiming to be Japan's No. 1 "Power Player".

Sadaharu Inui

Position: Regular

An intelligent player, Inui is known for gathering data about the team and their opponents, and takes charge of the team's training.

Kuwahara Naoya

Position: Team Member & Goods Manager

Mikami Koji

Position: Team Member

Nishi Hideto

Position: Team Member & Treasurer

2nd YearsEdit

Takeshi Momoshiro

Position: Regular (Vice-Captain in the epilogue)

The first 2nd year to be briefly shown and the third 2nd year to be fully introduced, he is known as the Seigaku's number one rascal. His specialties include the Dunk Smash and power moves, as well as faking out the opponents in doubles.

Kaoru Kaidō

Position: Regular (Captain in the epilogue)

Another 2nd year, he is usually known playing singles but on occasion, he plays doubles with Momoshiro or Inui. Notable moves include the Snake Shot and the Boomerang Snake.

Masashi Arai (荒井将史, Arai Masashi?)

Position: Team Member, Backup Regular (anime only)
Seiyū: Norihisa Mori (Japanese)
Voice Actor: Liam O'Brien (English)

Masashi Arai is a second year student, and the best reserve player on the team, who is the closest to becoming a regular, almost getting a shot to play in Kantō Tournament finals in the anime when Momoshiro and Kaido were nowhere to be seen. He is known for his hotheadedness and hazing of weaker players. He is as hard on himself as he is on the others during training. In the anime, he also tried to con the Freshmen Trio out of their money. He is also later attacked in another episode by Yamabuki's Jin Akutsu. Although he had a very bitter relationship with Ryoma at first, he cheered him on during his match with Akutsu. He often hangs around with Ikeda and Hayashi.

Daisuke Hayashi

Position: Team Member

The first 2nd year to be introduced in the series, he tried to con the Freshmen Trio out of their money by disguising the price of a game, but Ryoma was able to see through the scheme.

Masaya Ikeda

Position: Team Member

The second 2nd year to be introduced in the series, along with Hayashi, he tried to con the Freshmen Trio out of their money by disguising the price of a game, but Ryoma was able to see through the scheme. Possibly because of this, Ryoma holds a slight grudge against Ikeda, completely crushing him during the Second Intraschool Ranking Match, even using his Twist Serve.

Yoshimura Shun

Position: Team Member

Yoshimura Yuu

Position: Team Member

Fushimi Ayata

Position: Team Member

Hiratsuka Kazuya

Position: Team Member

Nagayama Michio

Position: Team Member

Nakahama Yuuya

Position: Team Member

Ninose Manabu

Position: Team Member

Saeki Norifumi

Position: Team Member

Tsuda Shuushi

Position: Team Member

Yamazaki

Position: Team Member

Sakai

Position: Team Member

Nagayama

Position: Team Member

Sawada

Position: Team Member

Izumi

Position: Team Member

Osada

Position: Team Member

Ishikawa

Position: Team Member

Kuwahara

Position: Team Member

Kaneko

Position: Team Member

Kishino

Position: Team Member

1st YearsEdit

Ryoma Echizen: Position: Regular; The main character in the story, he is the only freshman regular on the team. His specialties include the Twist Serve and several drive volleys.

Horiō Satoshi

Position: Team Member (freshman)

He is one of the freshmen trio and is famous for boasting about his 2 years of experience in tennis

Katō Kachirō

Position: Team Member (freshman)

He is one of the freshman trio.

Katsuo Mizuno (freshman)

Position: Team Member (freshman)

He is one of the freshman trio. He is the closest to look like Oishi, however most would assume that he looks more like Kentaro from Rokkaku.

Other Characters Edit

Sakuno Ryūzaki: Coach Ryuzaki's grandaughter and a member of the Girls' Tennis Team, she cheers Ryoma & the others with Tomoka.

Tomoka Osakada: She is a student at the school and as she calls herself the head of Ryoma's fan club.

Principal Ishikawa: He is the principal of the School and is shown once before the Kantō region finals.

TriviaEdit

Seishun academy seems to have many common points with rival schools Hyotei Academy and Rikkai dai. All three schools have the following in common:

The captains are all All-Rounder players at national level and dominantly play in singles;
The captains have lost to Echizen once, although in Tezuka's case it was an unofficial match;
There is at least one other All-Rounder player along with the captains: Echizen, Oshitari, and Sanada and Niou;
The future captains of each school are not All-Rounders: Kaidoh (Counter-puncher), Hiyoshi (Aggressive Baseliner), and Kirihara (Aggressive Baseliner);
Have Doubles Specialists as a coloured pair: Oishi/Kikumaru (Golden), Ootori/Shishido (Silver), and Yagyuu/Niou (Platinum);
Each have Doubles specialitsts that consist of a Serve & Volley/Counterpuncher pairing: Oishi/Kikumaru (Golden), Ootori/Shishido (Silver), and Marui/Jackal;
All have a Serve and Volley specialist with red-hair who enjoy performing moves for entertaining spectators: Kikumaru, Mukahi, and Marui;
There are three users of one playing style in each school: 3 Counter-Punchers from Seigaku (Fuji, Kaidoh, Oishi), 3 Serve & Volley players from Hyotei (Gakuto, Jiro, Ootori), and 3 All-Rounders from Rikkai (Yukimura, Sanada, Niou);
There is a left-handed player in each school: Echizen and Tezuka, Gakuto, and Niou;
All have an expressionless teammate: Tezuka, Kabaji, Yagyuu and Sanada (not as expressionless as the former two though);
All three have a tensai: Fuji, Oshitari, and Marui (self-proclaimed but stated in a databook to be one);
A team member who wears a cap: Echizen, Shishido, and Sanada;
All have someone who wears glasses: Tezuka and Inui, Oshitari (un-prescribed), and Yagyuu;
Cocky and arrogant players: Echizen, Atobe, Mukahi, Kirihara, Marui, and Niou;
All had another non-parental family member introduced: Echizen (brother Ryoga, cousin Nanako), Oshitari (cousin Kenya), and Sanada (nephew Sasuke);
There are regulars that have been regulars since first year: Echizen of Seigaku, Atobe, Gakuto, Jiro, Oshitari, and Shishido of Hyotei, and Yukimura, Sanada, Yanagi, and Kirihara of Rikkaidai;
One teammate who has a royal title/nickname: Prince (Echizen), King (Atobe), and Emperor (Sanada);
A senior is relatively close to a younger teammate: Tezuka and Ryoma, Shishido and Otori, and Rikkai seniors and Kirihara;
There is a member who looks older than their actual age: Tezuka (was mistaken as a teacher), Kabaji (appearance in general), and Sanada (his nephew calls him old);
There is a member with a feminine appearance: Fuji, Gakuto (when smiling), and Yukimura;
There is a member who is known for having a favourite quote: Echizen (Mada Mada Dane), Tezuka (Don't let your guard down), Atobe (Be awed at the sight of my prowess), Mukahi (Motto tonde miso), Nio (Puri/Pupina/Piyo) and Sanada (Tarundoru);
The two strongest of each school are best friends: Tezuka-Fuji, Atobe-Oshitari, and Yukimura-Sanada;

If Shitenhoji was included in the list of common factors, points 1 (Shiraishi), 3 (Kintaro), 9 (5 left-handed players), 10 (Zaizen), 11 (Koharu), 13 (Koharu), 16 (Kintaro), 19 (Ishida Gin) and 21 (Shiraishi's Ah Ecstacy and Kenya's No speed, no life) apply.