The Prince of Tennis - Match! Tennis Juniors

Overall I somewhat enjoyed this series, but...

This is a 16 episode comedy/drama done in 40 episodes. I've seldom seen such a long, drawn-out, repetitive show.

Some of the characters are semi-engaging, but remain 2-D throughout. This isn't exactly a one-joke show, but it's a dozen sub-themes repeated every episode. The story theme was so extremely repetitive that by the 20th episode I wasn't sure if I wanted to continue watching this. By the 30th I was absolutely sure of it, but by then I had vested so much time in it I had to see how it ended.

The humor is droll. In the entire 40 episodes I think they got 3 laughs out of me (and I enjoy comedy). Even tennis fans will likely be put off by this highly-fictionalized representation of tennis . By the end, some viewers will probably not care whether the team wins the Nationals or not. Just get it over with! (I got sooooo tired of "boomerang snake" moves.)

Had this been 12 to 16 episodes long with the story properly compacted to keep the viewer engaged, this might have been tolerable. But at 40 episodes it just drags on. Okay we get it: personal relationships and one's viewpoint of life is important. Never quitting is important. We know, we know... especially by the 40th episode... we get the point.

Decidedly NOT "binge-worthy"; about halfway through many will wish they'd never started watching. The series overall doesn't disappoint as far as overall story line goes... it just takes a very long time to get there. Can't put this is on my top-ten list of Asian series. There's just too much plot repetition to make it a truly enjoyable watch.

If you can look past the actors are all 25-35 pretending to be in high school. It appeared as if China is stuck in the 80's with the tight fitting pants and rolled up cuffs with no socks. Only to get hit in the face with Gimmick tennis. Where every single person has their own special move with its own post production effect added in to sell it to the audience. Every attempt at "comedy" was so extremely bad I literally cringed every time. You could say the acting is horrible, but to be fair the show didn't give them a lot to work with so don't hold it against them. Every thing was over the top none sense, so your basic Chinese made show is what it comes down too.

I quite like the show. It follows the same story as the anime for which it was based off of. For someone who watch the anime when they was younger I feel like this show did it justice. It has the same quirks and appeals that the enemy had. So if you are a fan of the anime or just looking for a comedic dramatic sport series then I would highly recommend watching this.

If I were more sports minded, I bet I would have loved this drama. It details a team's rise in the national league championship. It stars Peng Yu Chang as Lu Xia, a 10th grader tennis genius who was able to be a main player in his school's tennis team. Initially a loner, he learns to be part of a team. Aside from his struggles, both personally and sports-wise, the drama also delves deeper into the lives of his teammates and key players of opposing teams.

It's well-made and the matches are exciting. However, I mostly watch dramas for romance which is not the main offering of this drama. If this were shorter, I would have watched to the end to find out what happens between Lu Xia and his love interest Qi Ying (Ireine Song). But 42 episodes that mostly deal with tennis techniques and matches are too much for me. I'm dropping off at episode 17 but still giving this a fairly high mark since what I've watched so far have been impressive, just not my type.

I really liked this series, it's really addicting and I got this recommended from a friend. I don't regret watching all 40 episodes on Netflix. Each character has something about them which makes them special in a way and at the tender parts, I cried. I have no shame saying that. I recommended to my friends and they also fell in love with the series and actors. I just wish that the female main would've had something more interesting about her. Overall 10/10 It was great, unrealistic but good and I wish that there would be a season 2 :)