The Prince of Tennis: Match! Tennis Juniors

I won't lose. Lu Xia always says that. He's almost always right.

PoT is a 2019 release that is rated 8.4 on MDL. It is 1 season consisting of 40 45-minute episodes, and is based on the Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Takeshi Konomi. It's also an anime... A movie... A musical! ...It's a HIT.

A Chinese show that is based on a Japanese manga invariably makes a tennis club seem more like a martial arts sect. That's the spirit, the vibe, the plot, and the appeal. The characters are the show's strongest assets. They are likable, being written and acted out well. Moon ascend volley. Snake ball. Twist serve. The Australian Formation. Celestial Drive. The vibrating Ball (it's an optical illusion). Their signature super-shots have amazing names. Some of these balls don't even bounce up, but spin on the court like they will bore a hole through the clay. One team works so hard to be able to defend the Snake Ball ~🐍~ only to be hit with the /boomerang/ snake ball!

Peng Yu Chang (I Am Nobody) is ML, Lu Xia. His father was a tennis star - a stratospheric one. All he wants is to beat his dad. He's the only freshman to make the starting team. His father appears to be a cheerful goof and their relationship is intermittently competitive (more on Lu Xia's part than dad's) and supportive. Ireine Song (Ever Night, Different Princess) plays a girl, Qi Ying, who's infatuated with him. She is a tiny, adorable thing. He doesn't seem to mind her presence around him at all.

Dong Li (Arsenal Military Academy) is Qiao Chen; Zhang Yi Jie (Scent of Time) portrays Zhuo Zhi; Xie Bin Bin (Please Be My Family, The Code of Siam) is Mu Si Yang; Zhu Zhi Ling (The Sleepless Princess-9.1) portrays Chi Da Yong; Xu Ke (The Last Immortal, A Love So Beautiful) Plays Tang Jia Le; Wu Xu Dong (The Eternal Love) is Zhang Bai Yang; Herman Li (Detective Samoyeds) portrays Yan Zhi Ming; and Fan Lin Feng (Good Bye, My Princess) plays He Xing Long. Their personalities are all over the place. One is a sweetheart until he picks up a Racket. Some are morose, others dutiful, cheerful, coldly analytical, playful, angry, aggressive... They are a team of distinct individuals. In addition, Xiang Yun Long (My Roommate Is a Detective) makes an impressive appearance as Tian Zi Long, an anger-riddled competitor with dramatically white streaked hair.

TPoT reinforces teamwork and individual achievement. It asks competitors to reflect on their motivations. It incorporates a cycle of mini-dramas set around tennis matches. The soundtrack and soft spoken Mandarin seem to be designed for a peaceful effect. I found the characters likable yet I had trouble focusing as the show went on. Halfway through the show I had involuntarily stopped giving it my full attention. I think if I just watched an episode or two a week I would have been able to stay with it better, but It was leaving Netflix and I had to watch one or two episodes a day. It's lots of cyclical plotlines where each match and story arc looks quite a bit like all the others, so it started feeling redundant.

They ramp up the drama and the players' special skills. As it's based on manga, that is to be expected. For a team with near super-powers, however, the show still felt slightly pedestrian. Viewers who prefer realism should take their ball to another court. Actually, viewers who prefer realism aren't apt to like nearly anything that China puts out; they may have to avoid the country altogether. Viewers who like manga, sports- tennis in particular, relaxing soft-spoken voices, low drama, and Chinese shows to begin with, will likely enjoy this show.

QUOTES📢

Someone who doesn't want to admit their weakness can only show their evil side to the whole world.

Losing is not a frightening thing. What's terrifying is that we can't learn a lesson from it.

〰🖍 IMHO

📣6 📝7.3 🎭7.5 💓5 🦋3 🎨5 🎵/🔊6 🔚? It goes on... 🤗3 ▪ 🌞5 ⚡4.5 😅3 😭2 😱1 😯2 🤢1 🤔4 💤5

Re-📺? I couldn't give it 100% attention the first time.

Age 9+ Language: d@mn

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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.

This is the story of a young man, learning life and tennis. He experiences lots of life's lessons, through the good advice of many coaches, teammates, and his Dad, who is an ex pro tennis champion. Even though he is young, Lu Xia is a high-quality powerful tennis player for his high school team! His progression as a tennis player and a person is good to see. All the players on his team are good guys, who care about each other, playing their best, supporting each other, and bringing a victory! Most of the side characters were stiff, boring, annoying or unnecessary. Especially the female lead who added nothing to the drama. Her weird stalking was awkward, Lu Xia ignored her, and asked her numerous times,"why are you here?" Felt that! All the opposing players were equally interesting people and powerful tennis players. Didn't understand all the bullying and injuries to Lu Xia's team by those opposing players that went unpunished, that was weird. The tennis games with all the powerful moves may have been a little exaggerated, but it was entertainingIng! Overall, it's a good show, (didn't mind how many episodes), stayed interested and enjoyed The Prince of Tennis-Match! Tennis Juniors-

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 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 :)