On Tezuka.

[prillalar]

Oh, Tezuka, you keep me up at night.

Ryoma has both Nanjiroh and Tezuka to help him grow. Who does Tezuka have? We hardly see Tezuka play. When we do, we hardly see him challenged. (Moreso now in the manga, though it seemed odd that he was challenged in that last match

Comments

[prillalar]

I'm thinking more about where those teams were when little Tezuka was picking out a school to attend, rather than where they are now. Hyotei seems pretty consistantly strong, judging by their reputation, the size of their club, and their coaching.

Rikkai is an interesting one. I can't remember how long their Nationals-winning streak is. What really strikes me is that we never see a coach at their games. Is it like Fudomine, where Tachibana is the coach as well as the captain?

Nanjiroh picked Seigaku for Ryoma, I imagine because Ryuzaki is there. (I can't recall if we know for sure that the school where Ryuzaki coached Nanjiroh was also Seigaku.) Why is Tezuka there, in particular?

The truth is, Seigaku needs somebody like Tezuka- without him, they collectively might be where St. Rudolph's is now.

Yes, very true. He and Oishi have pretty much pulled Seigaku up to where they are now and Oishi never would have done it without Tezuka to take the initiative.

That being said, it could've been his grandpa.

I've been thinking about Tezuka's grandfather lately. From the tiny glimpse we get of him, he seems like quite a strong character. Without siblings, Tezuka probably naturally adopts more adult behaviour. (Ryoma doesn't, but then his father is Nanjiroh.)

[wonapalei]

I can't remember how long their Nationals-winning streak is.
Their winning streak at Nationals is two years, ever since the three demons were ichinen. However, they've won Kantou for the past fifteen years. Which must be very frustrating for Hyoutei. No wonder they were willing to help out Seigaku in the anime.

Is it like Fudomine, where Tachibana is the coach as well as the captain?
No; Tachibana was the coach only because the old coach got booted when the old club was dissolved. With such a long pedigree of wins, and being a private school with plenty of money (Fudomine's public), Rikkai must have a coach. However, I think the three demons more or less took over the team when they came, and I figure the coach generally acts as a sort of consultant, possibly supervising the non-Regulars. It is a bit strange that he's never mentioned, though. (Although St. Rudolph also has a coach, as we see in the flashback where Kisarazu and Yanagisawa are training to beat Kaidou's Snake, and he never seems to come to tournaments either.)

I can't recall if we know for sure that the school where Ryuzaki coached Nanjiroh was also Seigaku.
It is. That's alluded to during the Yamabuki match, when they're discussing the evilness of Banji. We also see it during the flashback during the match with Shinji: Nanjirou's wearing an older version of the Seigaku shirt. On another note, it seems that it was fifteen years ago that Nanjirou left Japan to head for America and his big dreams (which apparently took him about five years to fulfill, supposing that Ryouma's two when he quits pro tennis). At that time, Ryuuzaki was young and hot, tight red dress and all. She certainly didn't look old enough to be Nanjirou's mother. Yet fifteen years later, she's an old grandmother. Either she suddenly started aging really badly or someone screwed up the timeline. When the hell did she get married, have a son, get her son married, and get a granddaughter the same age as Ryouma?

Why is Tezuka there, in particular?
Perhaps he has legacy there as well? Just because his father and grandfather don't appear to play tennis doesn't mean they don't have fond memories of Seigaku. And if the tennis program was decent enough, I don't think Tezuka would particularly mind if the team doesn't end up winning, as long as he does well. There are, after all, independent tournaments like the one Ryouma was late to, where he could make a name for himself. This, of course, is before Yamato gets him all attached to Seigaku as a team. And in any case, I can't see Tezuka deciding on a school based purely on tennis; there are other factors, like academics and convenience, that also come into play.

I really love the scene in 10.5 of Kunimitsu standing next to Kunikazu. Kunimitsu is so clearly the spitting image of his grandfather--though he did appear to get his father's hair. His mother comments on the two of them both always being up early, and I get the feeling that poor Kuniharu is caught between the two of them. Kunikazu berates him for having poor reflexes, and while I'm sure Kunimitsu is always properly respectful, Kuniharu probably knows that he's not his son's role model. I think it's quite likely that Kunikazu is Kunimitsu's role model in a lot of ways, though as we see so little of them, it's hard to judge.

Two entirely random thoughts to end with: I adore Tezuka Ayana's little "Kunimitsu, you're smiling a lot more these days" remark, especially given the way the two men do a double-take and go "Really?" while Kunimitsu doesn't alter his expression one whit. Also, oh god, the names of the male Tezukas never fail to crack me up. XD

[prillalar]

I think whatever happened to Ryuzaki in those intervening years is the same thing that happened to Obi-Wan in between Episodes 3 and 4. :)

I find it very odd that we never see a coach for Rikkai. I would expect a school like that to have a coach who would actually, you know, coach the players and support them at tournaments.

Unless they don't consider Kantou worth the coach showing up for. Like Hyotei in the prior tournament -- Atobe was giving Sakaki the results over the phone there. (Of course, if Sakaki had been there, they probably wouldn't have lost like that.)