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The Schools Well, believe it or not, Prince of Tennis is all about junior high school tennis, in spite of the very mature appearance of many of its characters. Of course, this means that which school the characters are from plays a big part in how they're portrayed in the series, especially because each school has its own kind of personality. So in this section of The Seven Lines, I'll be discussing both the junior high of the protagonist as well as several rival schools they compete against for championships. Simply scroll down for the info! :) __________________________________________ Seishun Gakuen [a.k.a. Seishun Academy or Seigaku] Seigaku is the protagonist school of Prince of Tennis. It is famous for its exceptional tennis club, but in spite of that reputation, the tennis team hasn't been able to make it past the prefectural level for many years. Well, that is, until now. Currently the tennis team is headed up by Tezuka, a captain skilled enough to potentially carry the team to its first National Championship in many years. With the sudden appearance of Ryoma Echizen on the scene, those chances are looking better and better, since he's the first twelve-year-old skilled enough to become a Seigaku Regular in the school's entire history. In the city tournament (first of the competitions leading to the National Tournament), Seigaku is always the first seed, so they're notoriously skilled. They're also famous for being a team of exceptionally stubborn people who dislike losing with a passion. This stubbornness occasionally manifests itself as an overly-cocky attitude, especially in the case of their star rookie. They're easily recognizable in tournaments... they're the ones strolling around with a particularly formidable composure and wearing the tell-tale blue and white Seigaku uniforms. As a team, the Seigaku Regulars can be somewhat sentimental and idealistic, with strong principles about winning honorably and putting all they've got into the matches they play. In that way, they are typical protagonists. However, they also have a bizarre streak that comes out every now and again... After all, it's not every team that receives, as punishment for bad performance in practice, a glass of vile-looking vegetable juice which they must drink in one swig.   Fudomine Junior High Fudomine is the first notable school that Seigaku plays against, during the City Tournament. They are best known for their backstory... They are a school that was disqualified from the City Tournament the previous year because of an incident of violence involving the team's current captain, Tachibana. However, they overcame that situation and started a brand new tennis club with no adult supervision (the incident of violence was a direct result of the ugly attitude of the former coach). Tachibana is the leader of Fudomine's team, with all of his teammates willing to do just about anything for him in return for his commitment to starting a new tennis team that respected the talents of the underclassman. For that reason, Tachibana is the only third-year student on the team. All the other regular players on Fudomine are second-years. Because of this reputation and the fact that they weren't known as a particularly gifted team before Tachibana came along, they almost always shock their opponents with their skills. They use this to their advantage and more than once catch arrogant teams completely off-guard, defeating them. They're the team in the almost completely black uniforms, a color that matches their somewhat rough appearance.   St. Rudolph St. Rudolph is a gifted tennis team from a private school that Seigaku was matched up against in the Prefectural Tournament. They just recently elected a new team manager, the conniving Mizuki, who gathers data on opponents much like Inui of Seigaku gathers data on other players. However, he uses his data somewhat differently... He analyzes weak spots and tells his teammates all about the best ways to beat the players they come up against. For that reason, St. Rudolph is known for strategizing and plotting against their opponents, sometimes even managing to use a player's strengths against them. Still, despite having many skilled players and plenty of useful strategies, they are unable to make it to the Kantou Regional Tournament. The most notable of the skilled players on St. Rudolph, at least from Seigaku's perspective, is probably Yuuta Fuji, Shusuke Fuji of Seigaku's younger brother. He's particularly gifted and even played against Ryoma during the Prefectural Tournament. St. Rudolph's uniforms are predominantly white, with maroon accents.   Yamabuki Yamabuki first shows up against Seigaku in the finals of the Prefectural Tournament. It is an unusual tennis team, nearly as unusual as its coach, a man by the name of Banji who happens to have a lot of history with Ryuzaki-sensei. Banji has been the coach at Yamabuki for quite some time... in fact, since before Nanjiroh was attending Seigaku in junior high. Yamabuki's players themselves are kind of a mixed bag of eccentric characters. Their star player goes by the name of "Lucky Sengoku" and is known for his fortunate wins and his invitation to the Junior All-Star Tennis Camp awhile back. However, Yamabuki's newest player is not as likable a character... The antagonistic Akutsu is something of a thug and often goes around beating on opponents literally. This somewhat goes against Yamabuki's normally laid-back reputation. Because of this, Yamabuki is kind of an unpredictable team. They're known for having mastered the basics of tennis in particular, especially their number one doubles team that goes by the nickname of "Jimmies." They once defeated Oishi of Seigaku in doubles in a notable match... before Oishi started playing with Eiji as part of the Golden Pair. Yamabuki is the team with the green uniforms with white and yellow accents.   Hyoutei Hyoutei is one of the most skilled schools in all of Prince of Tennis. They are known for not even using their regular players until the Kantou Regional Tournament, a show of confidence that doesn't always sit well with their opponents. Hyoutei is a private school with a tennis club of over 200 members, all of which surround the tennis court during Hyoutei's matches and yell "Hyoutei! Hyoutei!" at the top of their lungs. This, as you might imagine, is extremely intimidating for their opponents. At the top of this massive tennis club stands Atobe Keigo, their captain and number one in his class. Atobe is a talented and extremely showy player with an ego the size of Japan. However, he is just one of many flashy characters that make up the group of Hyoutei's regular players. All of them are extremely talented and under so much pressure to win that they will be kicked off of the Hyoutei Regulars if they lose just one match. (It's a philosophy usually upheld by Sakaki, their stern coach, but he has had to make exceptions.) Hyoutei is probably the second most popular school according to Prince of Tennis fans, mainly because their characters are particularly well-developed during the Hyoutei story arc... and also because despite their huge egos, and maybe even because of them, they are unusually likable characters. As far as skill goes, they are probably second only to Rikkai for sure, with Seigaku being fairly similar to them in terms of talent. In fact, it was Hyoutei that prevented Seigaku from moving on to the Kantou Regionals last year, in a remarkable turn of events where a second-year Tezuka beat Hyoutei's former captain... followed by a second-year Atobe's victory over Seigaku's former captain. It's a backstory that provided a lot of drama during the Hyoutei arc that PoT fans will never forget.   Jyousei Jyousei is one of the teams Seigaku must compete against during the later rounds of the Kantou Regional Tournament. They are an impressive school without much of a reputation. Despite the fact that no one knows a lot about them and therefore they don't seem to be "on the map" in terms of National Championships, they are a very dedicated and notably skilled tennis team. They practice for long hours using only the finest equipment. This is all orchestrated by their coach, the eccentric Hanamura, whose goal is to make her tennis students into "masterpieces." While this sounds more than a little odd, all of her students are extremely loyal to her and her methods and want nothing more than to succeed as a testament to her work. Despite the unusual amount of science and physical fitness that goes into Jyousei training, the players of Jyousei are also among Kantou's most creative in making their own specialized moves, much like Seigaku itself. The combined results form a unique team that presents a challenge to any potential competitors. Jyousei wears turquoise-colored uniforms with slate blue accents.   Rokkaku Another one of the teams Seigaku competes against during the later rounds of the Kantou Regional Tournament, Rokkaku is one of the more eccentric teams. Their coach is known for his love for tennis and his ability to foster that kind of love for the sport in his students. He makes all the racquets that his students use himself, which is why Rokkaku is famous for using old-fashioned wooden racquets custom-built just for them. Equally eccentric is the fact that their coach chose a first-year student to be the tennis club captain, and Aoi Kentarou is just as strange a character as he is. Overall, Rokkaku is a tennis club of friendly, fun-loving members who are nevertheless extremely skilled in tennis and are formidable opponents on the court. They wear red uniforms with cream-colored accents.   Rikkai There is a reason why Rikkai is the last of the major teams to go against Seigaku in Prince of Tennis. Rikkai's tennis players are the reigning National Champions and are infamous for their practically supernatural tennis abilities. And from the way things are looking, they are first in line for the next Championship as well. As far as precision and dedication go, they are a team without equal. They are known for having three "monsters" on their regular lineup: Yukimura, Sanada, and Yanagi, respectively. But even though Yukimura, Rikkai's captain, has been hospitalized with a serious illness, there is a player equally ready to fill the gap left by his absence: Rikkai's second-year prodigy Kirihara, who is known for having a sadistic streak. It's no surprise, given all these factors, that Rikkai is respected and even feared as the top junior high tennis team in Japan. They are a team full of champions and prodigies and, as some have even said, "demons" of tennis. They have a formidable presence wherever they go, even when off the tennis courts. Their uniforms are yellow and black. They are also one of the most popular antagonist teams in Prince of Tennis, according to the fans... probably because as far as antagonist teams go, they have a more extensive backstory than most of the other teams. It's a story full of tension, high standards, illness, dreams, and duties that manages to make Rikkai surprisingly human, despite their inhuman tennis skills.