Profile of Ryoma
Eye color
Hazel
Hair color
Black-Green
Height
151
Birthday
December 24
Blood type
O
School
Seigaku
Year / Class
1st / Class 2
Playing Style
All Rounder, Left-handed
Favorite Shoes
Fila
Favorite Racquet
Bridgestone (Dynabeam Grandea)
Favorite Foods
grilled fish, chawan-mushi, shrimp rice cracker
Hobbies
Trying different bath salts out while taking a bath
Ryoma is a first year student at Seishun Academy Middle School, where he begins attending immediately after his arrival in Japan after residing in the United States. Although only a freshman, Ryoma had already earned notoriety through winning four consecutive titles in the American Junior Tennis tournaments – all in a little over a year. Due to his nearly invincible tennis play, Ryoma has earned the label 'genius' by the age of twelve. His looks and confidence make him highly popular with girls, although he seems not to notice, having his focus exclusively on tennis.
He is an all-round tennis player with many special shots and abilities. One of Ryoma's greatest talents is his ability to learn new techniques at an amazingly fast pace.
Although he is left-handed, his famous Twist Serve is only effective when delivered from the dominant hand of his opponents (i.e. he uses his right hand when serving against right handed players). He occasionally plays tennis with his right hand as either a handicap for weaker opponents or a way to test his opponent's abilities. When the need for returning at a difficult angle or distance arises, Ryoma also incorporates the use of "nitoryk" or ambidexterity.
His catchphrase in the Japanese anime is "mada mada dane," literally meaning "no, not yet." Depending on the context, it can either mean "you still have lots more to work on" (to an opponent) or "it's not over yet." In Prince of Tennis's English dub, this is translated as "You still have a ways to go." Having been brought up in the United States, Ryoma is fluent in English, and in the manga and the match with Sanada in the anime, he says "You still have lots more to work on."
Ryoma can be quite cocky and arrogant at times, but is always able to back up his statements with his tennis skills. Often before a match, Ryoma will provoke his opponent. In the beginning of the series, Ryoma was not taken seriously by the other students at his school, and especially at Seigaku tennis club. It was only after he had beaten two of Seigaku's regulars that he gained respect with fellow club members.
Ryoma is quiet by nature, but always stands up for himself and others, even if it involves confronting an upperclassman. He is unafraid almost to the point of recklessness, but rarely gets angry or out of control. Much of the time, he is serious, quiet, and untalkative.
Sakuno Ryuzaki, Ryoma's friend and coach Sumire Ryuzaki's granddaughter, has a crush on him, but because he is so aloof and she is so shy, he does not recognize her feelings for him and treats her much the same as he treats the other freshmen students. The manga hints that this may change, as Ryoma shows signs of jealousy after Sakuno befriends Shitenhouji's Kintarou Tooyama.
At the beginning of the series, all of Ryoma's tennis skills were a copy of his father's. With the help of his team captain, Kunimitsu Tezuka, Ryoma realizes his need to develop his own style of tennis if he intends to reach his goal and defeat his father.
With each match, it becomes apparent that Ryoma not only brings his potential to the front, but that he is constantly reaching a new point in the state of self-actualization – especially so during crucial points in a match. Although he views each opponent as a stepping stone of advancement, Tezuka soon becomes the wall that Ryoma has set up for himself in order to achieve actual greatness.
Although Ryoma has a rather tunneled vision as to whom he considers a rival (Tezuka and his father), there are many that view the freshman as just that. One of the more notable examples of this in the anime is Kevin Smith, the son of the tennis coach George Smith, who was defeated by Nanjiro Echizen in defense of George's pupil Rinko Takeuchi, who'd later become Ryoma's mother, fifteen years ago. Kevin appeared later in the series in the "friendly" match between the U.S. and Japan; Kevin became obsessed with wanting to play Ryoma because of their pasts, whereas in the beginning Ryoma regarded Kevin's threats with a rather unconcerned attitude until he saw him play against Yamabuki's Jin Akutsu in the streets. Tezuka was unimpressed with Ryoma's attitude toward the matches, and as a result, Ryoma was forced to earn his place as a reserve player
Sakuno
Profile
Brown
January 14
unknown
1st / Class 1
unknow
The manga and anime portrayals of Sakuno are basically similar, yet have some important differences.
On one hand, Sakuno has far more spotlight in the anime than the manga, where she's regularly seen hanging out with the Seigaku team along with her best friend Tomoka Osakada, and even helping them out during different training camps. In the manga, she's seldom seen cheerleading and at times even seems to fade away from the storyline, since she spends her time training with the girls of the tennis club.
On the other, the emphasis given to Sakuno's chronic shyness in the anime makes her prone to ditz spells and even small emotional breakdowns, while manga Sakuno is more insightful, mature and intuitive; one example is that, when Kotoha from Tsubakikawa appeared in the Seigaku grounds during chapter 241 and said she had fallen for Ryoma, Sakuno chose to mostly keep her thoughts to herself and noticed that Ryoma had not taken Kotoha's claims seriously, unlike Tomoka who quite freaked out and expressed this very loudly. Also, in the manga Sakuno seems to have more faith that the team and Ryoma will always win, unlike in the anime when her faith is often shaken.
Sakuno is the closest thing to a possible "girlfriend" for Ryoma, although as of yet they have not gotten together. Some hints include bits of jealousy appeared in Ryoma when Kintarou Tooyama, from Shitenhouji, ate her onigiri even when they had fallen on the ground and complimented on how good the onigiri were. Another reason is the "date" during episode 24 of the anime (though it turned out that he was only taking her to a sports shop to get her racket fixed) and the picture taken of them that made them look like a couple (Takeshi Momoshiro bumped into Sakuno, who bumped into Ryoma just as the picture was taken).
While in both anime and manga, Sakuno's crush on Ryoma is clear, she hasn't had a chance to really tell him due to her own shy nature, some degree of bad luck and the meddling of other people (especially Nanjiroh and Momoshiro). On the other hand, Ryoma doesn't take a possible relationship with Sakuno seriously (most likely because of his dedication to tennis and his own early age), but does show friendly concern for her; he has rescued Sakuno from bullies several times, doesn't mind her tagging along with the team, and has coached her and Tomoka in tennis (although unwillingly). Ryoma's head is only for the tennis and he's still a kid, so he doesn't see Sakuno as a prospect yet.
Shusuke Fuji
Blue or Brown
167
February 29
B
3rd / Class 6
Counter-Puncher, Right-handed
Nike
Prince (Michael Chang Titanium)
Apples, Cajun Cuisine, Spicy Ramen Noodles, Wasabi-filled sushi
Collecting and taking care of Cacti, Photography
Shusuke Fuji is a third year student at Seishun Academy, and is approaching fifteen years of age at the beginning of the series. He is given the title 'tensai', or genius, owing to his tactical skill on the tennis court. He is in the same class as Eiji Kikumaru, and is Eiji's good friend. Fuji is a leap year baby (his birthday is on February 29), and thus he can only properly celebrate his birthday once every four years. Fuji is cheerful and easygoing, with a penchant for playfully teasing those around him.
Fuji grew up in Chiba, where he became friends with Kojirou Saeki, the current vice-captain of the Rokkaku Chuu Tennis Club. Later on, he moved to Tokyo and entered Seigaku.
Fuji has an older sister, Yumiko, and a younger brother, Yuuta Fuji. Fuji is particularly protective of Yuuta (probably to make up for former disagreements that almost brought them apart), as is displayed throughout the series, as he actively tries to "destroy" and punish those who have defeated his younger brother or have made him go through something dangerous (as proved by how differently he treats Jiroh Akutagawa from Hyoutei and Hajime Mizuki from Saint Rudolph; he holds no personal grudge towards Jiroh, who won fairly against Yuuta, but resents Mizuki for a long time after seeing how he treated his brother as someone expendable to ensure his team's victory), with the exception of the aforementioned Jiroh and Ryoma Echizen. It's later revealed that Fuji felt guilty for a long time since he couldn't bring himself to tell yuuta that he was sorry for all that he went through.
Yuuta isn't also the only person he's been protective of in this sense; in the anime, he is very upset when Kippei Tachibana is injured in his match against Akaya Kirihara. He is also upset when Akaya Kirihara insults the two schools (Seigaku and Fudomine); Kirihara says that both teams have retired captains because they aren't practicing (this is due to Seigaku captain Kunimitsu Tezuka and Fudomine captain Tachibana both being injured).
Fuji is often seen with a calm and content expression on his face, with his eyes seemingly closed from lightly smiling. However, when he is excited or provoked, or when playing seriously, Fuji reveals his sharp eyes: they are blue in the anime and light brown in the manga.
Fuji differs from almost every other character in Prince of Tennis in that he enjoys playing around when his opponent is pushing himself to the limit, giving many the impression that either Fuji is a fearsome sadist or that he doesn't really care about tennis itself. There are few people that can wake the sleeping genius in Fuji and force him to play seriously, and these few are either nationally-ranked or extremely talented tennis players. Seigaku captain Kunimitsu Tezuka, Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku regular Akaya Kirihara, Seigaku regular Ryoma Echizen, and Shitenhouji captain Kuranosuke Shiraishi have been acknowledged by Fuji to be actual challenges.
Along with Tezuka, Fuji is possibly the only person on the entire Seigaku team who is immune to Inui Sadaharu's various concoctions. While he may occasionally intentionally fault in practice in order to try the penal concoctions, he has also mentioned that he enjoys seeing others suffer from drinking the concoctions even more. He is, however, not immune to "Aozu", a horrific blue vinegar and cod liver oil concoction; this drink causes his only blackout, and since then Inui has believed that Fuji has a grudge against him. His odd tastes in food do not stop at Inui's gruesome health drinks, and he takes delight in wasabi rolls, honey-mustard and horseradishes.
Fuji usually takes the position of S2 (Singles 2), although sometimes he is paired with Takashi Kawamura or Eiji Kikumaru in Doubles. He also temporarily takes the position of Singles 1 when Tezuka is in rehabilitation.
Prior to the National Tournament, Fuji plays a practice match against Fudoumine Chuu's Tachibana, who breaks each of Fuji's Triple Counters. Realizing that his counters are not enough for a national-level tournament, Fuji then develops his 4th Counter, the "Kagerou Zutsumi" (Dragonfly Illusion). However, during Seigaku's Nationals semifinal match against Shitenhouji's Kuranosuke Shiraishi, Fuji suffers his first loss in an official match, when he makes a comeback from 0-5 only to lose 6-7 during tiebreak, when his final Hakuryuu lands out.
Fuji is fairly popular amongst his peers. In one episode, he goes on a date with Kurumi, grade schooler who falls in love with him in first sight, thinking of him as a prince of sorts. However, Fuji has a serious side as well. He engages in a serious match with Kirihara Akaya, who plays a fairly violent form of tennis. Kirihara injures Fuji's knee and knocks over an already injured Tachibana (who arrives to encourage Fuji); thanks to this and the fact that Tezuka is also absent due to injury, Fuji becomes serious and goes on to win the match. According to what Fuji's sister, Yumiko, tells Hajime Mizuki, Fuji never gets angry about what happens to him, but when his family or friends are in danger, he doesn't hold back and attacks with full seriousness.
Despite his penchant for jokes and pranks off-tennis, Fuji can be insightful and even sweet when his friends need it; during his date with little Kurumi, when she reveals that she has low self-esteem since she feels overshadowed by her beautiful older sister Narumi, Fuji helps her to sort their problems out, seeing his own situation with Yuuta reflected in the sisters´ quarrels.
Twelve years before the events at the focus of the series, the nine-tailed demon fox attacked Konohagakure. It was a powerful demon indeed; a single swing of one of its nine tails would raise tsunamis and flatten mountains. It raised chaos and slaughtered many people, until the leader of the Leaf Village – the Fourth Hokage – defeated it by sacrificing his own life to seal the demon inside a newly-born child, whose origins are as yet unknown. That child's name was Naruto Uzumaki.
The Fourth Hokage was celebrated as a hero for sealing the demon fox away. He wanted Naruto to be respected in a similar light by being the containment vessel for the demon fox. The village he grew up in, however, mostly shunned Naruto; they regarded him as if he were the demon fox itself and mistreated him throughout most of his childhood.
A decree made by the Third Hokage made it so that the other villagers were forbidden to mention the event to anyone, even to their own children. However, this did not stop them from treating Naruto like an outcast. Although their children did not specifically know why their parents treated Naruto the way they did, they learned through example to despise the boy. As a result, Naruto grew up as an orphan in a lonesome atmosphere without friends, family, or acknowledgment. He could not force people to befriend him, so he sought acknowledgment and attention the only way he knew – through pranks and mischief. However, that soon changed after Naruto graduated from the Ninja Academy by using his Multiple Shadow Clone Technique to save his teacher, Iruka Umino, from the renegade ninja Mizuki. That encounter gave Naruto two insights: that he was the container of the demon fox, and that there was someone besides the Third Hokage who actually cared about him. His graduation from the academy opened a gateway to the events and people that would change and define his world, including his way of the ninja for the rest of his life.
Naruto maintains a balance between drama and comedy, with plenty of action interspersed. It follows Naruto and his friends' personal growth and development as ninja, and emphasizes their interactions with each other and the influence of their backgrounds on their personalities. Naruto finds two friends and comrades in Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno, two fellow young ninja who are assigned with him to form a three-person team under a very experienced sensei named Kakashi Hatake. Naruto also confides in other characters as well that he has met through the Chunin Exam. They learn new abilities, get to know each other and other villagers better, and experience a coming-of-age journey as Naruto dreams of becoming the Hokage of the Leaf Village.
Naruto places strong emphasis on character development. Almost all outcomes are a result of decisions, character, and personality; very few things happen just because of chance. At first, emphasis is placed on Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura, who are the members of Team 7. However, other characters are developed, such as Kakashi, Guy, and Jiraiya, as well as Naruto's peers in the other Genin teams and other villages.
Daisuke Niwa is a 14 year-old-boy who has a special DNA due to his genes. Whenever he sees or thinks of his crush, Risa Harada, he turns into Dark. Dark was created by "The Black Wings," a very large piece of artwork, along with Krad. Krad is the complete opposite of Dark, and is from the Hikari family like Dark is to the Niwa family.
Later on, after being rejected by Risa, Daisuke starts to notice Riku more often then later on he falls in love with her. Riku first thought Daisuke was an idiot but then she realises that she likes Daisuke. Riku had a crush on Daisuke near the beginning, way before Daisuke liked her. But until Daisuke is able to tell Riku about his condition and she can love both him and Dark, he'll keep transforming. Unfortunately Riku, who had her first kiss stolen by Dark, now thinks Dark as a "pervert" and hates him for kissing her. She loves Daisuke and cares about him a lot, but on the other hand she doesn't know Daisuke's other half is Dark and she hates Dark for kissing her.
Satoshi Hiwatari is a student at the same school as Daisuke and the Harada twins. He attends to keep an eye on Daisuke because he is the Commander of the police force, and heads the investigation on Dark. Satoshi has Krad within him in much the same way Daisuke has Dark within him.
Interestingly enough, Risa falls in love with Dark, and proceeds to do all sort of absurd things to get him to go out with her, which he eventually does. She has also kissed him on more than one occasion, and it is hinted that Dark loves Risa; but Dark claims that he does not love her, and that (according to the anime) Risa's grandmother, Rika, is the only woman he has ever loved. In the manga, Dark's reasons for rejecting Risa seem to be so that she is not hurt by the fact that he is immortal and not really human, and therefore cannot participate in a functional relationship. As expected, Risa doesn't really listen to him and continues to try to get him to go out with her.
The Methuselah are a group of humans that have been infected by a virus that drives them to feed on human blood. Before the symptoms manifest, contact with sunlight does not harm them, and they age at the same speed as an uninfected human. But once the symptoms start to make themselves evident, an "awakening", the virus will prolong the lifespan of its host, in addition to bestowing superior strength, speed, and healing ability. In turn, it feeds on its host's red blood cells, and when they become depleted, the virus will cause its host to crave blood, thus earning them the name "vampire". Common perceptions associated with the undead monster of mythology do not, however, hold true with regards to them: they can procreate (offspring inherit the condition), and they can consume normal food.
In addition to their athleticism and stamina, Methuselahs also posses varying individual powers. These include:
1. Blades: This is the most common power. Most vampires can create some kind of blade. It can be in the form of an actual blade that comes out of the arm, claws, or even as sharp, prehensile hair.
2. Flight: An ability Astharoshe and the Methuselah who turned her possessed. This hints that Methuselahs share abilities with those who turn them into vampires.
3. Elemental Forces: This is the ability to control classical elements. The controlled elements shown in the series are fire (Radu) and ice (Helga). Dietrich states that this is a rare power, though as he said it to Radu he may have been referring only to fire.
It is unknown if Methuselah are able to regenerate lost body parts like the vampires of certain myths (though in Volume I of the manga, a Methuselah does state that they "have the power of regeneration"). However it is implied that they are able to continue living as long as the heart is not destroyed. This is implied in the first episode of the anime where one methuselah has sustained horrific decapitation and mutilation yet carries on living, but screams and dies as his heart is destroyed. It was shown recently, that Abel, while in Crusnik form, can regenerate lost limbs; after losing an arm to tank artillery fire. He regrew his lost arm, in a swarm of black specked matter, which could be the nanomachines in his body; in a dust-like cloud form.
The Crusniks (based on Krsnik) are vampires who feed on the blood of other vampires. They possess immense power and destructive potential, easily able to overwhelm even the most powerful of Methuselahs and with enough strength to raze a whole city. Their lifespan is longer than that of normal vampires. However, whereas normal vampires in this series are born or infected, Crusniks are a result of an experiment, "expendable goods for the Mars Colonization project", according to Abel. Cain states at one point that he and Abel have identical DNA.
Names of all four known Crusniks can be found in biblical lore, where Cain, Abel, and Seth are sons of Adam and Eve. The name of Lilith is not as prominent, though some mythos refer to her as the first wife of Adam.
When a Crusnik's nanomachines are activated, he or she undergoes a change in appearance:
There are several planes of existence in the Bleach universe. These broadly correspond to the life and afterlife of human belief systems. The living humans of Bleach reside in a world resembling the present day; buried souls live in a kind of Heaven called Soul Society; neglected spirits passed over by the shinigami reside in a purgatory called Hueco Mundo; evil souls are sent to Hell. Once in Soul Society, a spirit is able to live much longer than humans in the living world, with many aging into the thousands. Once a spirit dies in Soul Society, its soul is sent back to the living world and reborn as a new human. This provides the two worlds with balance.
Bleach characters move from world to world by several means. Human souls usually cross between planes through birth into the human world or soul burial by shinigami. However, living humans can also use special portals to move between worlds. Shinigami open passages between worlds by means of their zanpakutM. Moths created during soul burial, called hell butterflies, make these routes safe. While hollows are portrayed as able to move between planes at will by opening rifts in space, they usually remain in Hueco Mundo due to the risk of discovery in Soul Society or the human world. Encounters between roaming and displaced characters are a driving plot force in Bleach.
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