The Prince of Tennis (2008)

I for one, really liked this version. I liked this version far better than the Japanese live action movie, which was rubbish imo. I think this pretty much captured the anime quite well. I didn't read the manga, and have no intention in doing so. I don't mind that in this, some of the characters are slightly different than the anime. Take Viper for example. In the anime, I found him to be creepy af. I'm glad that he smiled and joked around with his teammates. It made him seem less of a weirdo. And thank god the producers didn't make him hiss. I mean, that would have been so bizarre in the live action (I dunno if Viper hissed in the movie, I really can't remember tbh, as it wasn't a memorable movie imo) drama. I think the character of Captain Tezuka was portrayed fantastically by Bai Xu Xu. I think a lot of people don't give this adaptation the credit it deserves. If you're looking for something that best portrays the Prince of Tennis anime, then I strongly recommend watching this. I also recommend watching the sequel afterwards if you can, as both series are very good.

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Don't read this review if you are a fan of this drama.

I formally and sincerely apologies for any fans of this drama that I intentionally or unintentionally insulted.

Warning: I use the japanese names of the characters.

When I saw the first few minutes of the first episode, I thought it was okay. Ryoma's(Long Ma) father was more...sensible than his japanese counterpart (he was more silly and obnoxious in the manga, anime, and movie), figure of Ryoma was also taller (he was known to be short in the manga, anime, and movie).

I was a bit uncomfortable with the changes but I was sure I would get used to it. Thirty minutes into the drama, I perished that thought. There was nothing wrong with the plot or acting of course, except for the fact the characters were nothing alike to the originals AKA manga/anime.

Ryoma was portrayed wayyyy more angsty, limitlessly impulsive and emotionally explosive, picking fights with people who so much as look at him wrong left, right, and center, not at all like the Ryoma who is very composed, arrogantly calm and enjoys ruffling people's metaphorical feathers.

Kaido was another unpleasant surprise. He was shown as being SOCIABLE, SMILING and MAKING JOKES (the world must be coming to an end) with his teammates, no hissing (Kaido trademark copyright), although his pride hasn't changed at all.

All in all, I don't think I'll ever come to fully like this drama. The plot good, that I would gladly admit, nor was there anything wrong with the actors themselves or their skill of acting,but some of the characters were so out of sync that watching was just painful (I loved manga Ryoma's arrogant smirk. *sniffle* Why oh why couldn't it appear in the drama?).

I formally and sincerely apologies for any fans of this drama that I intentionally or unintentionally insulted.

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