The Prince of Tennis Announces First New TV Anime in a Decade

By Nick Valdez

The Prince of Tennis has announced the first new TV anime series in ten long years! Takeshi Konomi's The Prince of Tennis is actually celebrating the 20th Anniversary of its anime's original debut this year, and fans might have noticed how the franchise has been returning in recent years with surprise new projects. These have not only included a series of OVA episodes highlighting some of the standout matches of the series, but a brand new, CG animated feature film that helps to bridge the gap between The Prince of Tennis and its The Prince of Tennis II sequel series.

Now the anime will be coming back in proper form with the first new TV anime series for the franchise in a decade. As part of the 20th Anniversary celebration for The Prince of Tennis' anime, The Prince of Tennis II will be coming back for a new anime series taking on the U-17 World Cup arc titled The Prince of Tennis II: U-17 World Cup. It's currently scheduled for a debut next year in Japan, and you can check out the first teaser poster featuring Ryoma Echizen, Kunimitsu Tezuka and Hoo Byodoin below: 

The Prince of Tennis II: U-17 World Cup feature some returning staff and cast members who have worked on the recent OVA special episodes such as Keiichiro Kawaguchi returning to direct the series for Studio KAI and M.S.C. Mitsutaka Hirota will be supervising the scripts, Chihiro Tamaki returns to compose the music, and Akiharu Ishii will be designing the characters and serving as chief animation director. There's also a number of returning cast members as well. These include Junko Minagawa as Ryoma Echizen, Ryotaro Okiayu as Kunimitsu Tezuka, Hiroki Yasumoto as Hoo Byodoin, Junichi Suwabe as Keigo Atobe, Sachiko Nagai as Seiichi Yukimura, Yoshimasa Hosoya as Kuranosuke Shiraishi, Tarusuke Shingaki as Eishiro Kite, and Mamoru Miyano as Ryoga Echizen all confirmed to return. 

If you wanted to check out The Prince of Tennis II to catch up before this new anime premieres next year, you can now find it streaming with Funimation. It's described as such, "Middle school students fought fiercely against one another in a national tournament. Now, 50 chosen representatives return to fight again as high school students! The stage is the U-17 (Under Seventeen) Japanese Representative Training Camp. Middle school students have been invited for the first time to a camp known to produce the best Japanese tennis players. National champions from Seigaku, Hyotei, Rikkai, Shitenhoji... 

With all the rivals from the national tournament attending, everyone eagerly awaits their reunion. At first, the middle schoolers do not expect much from their high school opponents. However, the training camp is not so easy! Athletes with skills incomparable to those they previously faced and their mysterious coach appear before them. Faced with numerous demanding challenges, can the middle schoolers survive in this meritocratic training camp? The new chapter of "Prince of Tennis" begins here! The curtain rises on a new stage--"

How do you feel about The Prince of Tennis making its big anime return to finally show off the U-17 World Cup? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animated and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!

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