The Prince of Tennis Vol 5 by Takeshi Konomi Manga Review
Title: The Prince of Tennis Vol 5
Author: Takeshi Konomi
Publisher: Viz
ISBN: 9781591164395
May Contain Spoilers
It’s the showdown of the century! Or at least the showdown of volume five. So far every volume of PoT has delivered a tense, exciting match up, and this one is no exception. Ryoma is up against Shinji, and both of them have some annoying little habits. Ryoma taunts every player he’s playing, and Shinji is a mumbler. I think the taunting would give bigger edge over the mumbling, but both ploys prove to be distracting.
When Ryoma is injured during the match, resulting in a heavily bleeding cut above his eye, he refuses to forfeit his match. Coach Ryuzaki tends to his wound, telling him that the bleeding will only be stopped temporarily. Tezuka gives Ryoma ten minutes to finish up the game, or he’ll forfeit it for him. Now Ryoma has a couple of challenges to surpass - his eye is bandaged, affecting his vision, and he has a set amount of time to beat his opponent. Not to mention that having your head sliced open must hurt like a S.O.B.
I couldn’t stop reading this once I started. At first, Ryoma was dominating Shinji, but his lead was soon reduced to nothing, and then he had to battle his way out of a hole, with a huge disadvantage. The time limit gave the match an added sense of urgency; if Ryoma didn’t play all out and turn the momentum back around, he was going to suffer a very heart wrenching defeat. I love how he plays with his opponents and changes his strategy during the games, offering no quarter during the match.
The reporters from Pro Tennis Monthly pay a visit to Ryoma’s father, and what they get isn’t quite what they expected. Inoue finally gets to meet his idol, and the guy is an utter slob. When he’s invited to play a casual game of tennis with Nanjiro, he couldn’t be more delighted. He also learns that judging a book by its cover opens you up to being utterly humiliated. No wonder Ryoma is so brutal with his opponents; his dad leaves no survivors after a game of tennis! I really like Nanjiro and hope we get to read more about him.
Grade: B+
Originally published at Manga Maniac Cafe. Please leave any comments there.