Tennis no Oujisama Nationals OVA Ep. 13 - Deathmatch: ~King vs. Prince~ Thoughts

Quite an interesting match, as far as getting to know Ryoma’s and Atobe’s characters goes. How do you know this will be an amazing episode?

Insert class-A cockiness, a verbal beatdown, crazy bets, and hysterical laughter before the match even starts and you know it’ll be a good one.

While the match is good, and I usually have something deeper to talk about on blogs like this, with this match it’s difficult to come up with some philosophical view on it, so I’m resorting to discussing the main characters. Perhaps I’ll find something to discuss within Ryoma or Atobe.

First, Atobe Keigo.

Perhaps if everyone knows what my initial reaction to Atobe was, and why that was my reaction, it will be a bit easier for you to see why, after this episode, I connect to him on somewhat of a better level. Upon first meeting Atobe, I thought him a snotty, pampered, narcissist jerk with an overinflated ego who could only win a match by doing injury to his opponent… who might also possibly be somewhat insane.

Reasons: Atobe is an only child, and his parents are excessively rich. Atobe has his own gym, for crying out loud. He has a gorgeous face, lovely deep voice, and amazingly fashionable outfits. Plus, during his match with Tezuka, he purposely drew out the match in order to injure Tezuka enough that Tezuka wouldn’t be able to play tennis again. That’s really quite an evil thing to do, if you ask me.

As for the ego thing… he calls himself “ore-sama” (to those of you that don’t speak Japanese, that’s a rather disturbingly high level upon which to say “I”), continually brags that his prowess is something to be amazed at, or that shines brighter than the sun (no lie), constantly values himself over others, and has a song called “My Charm Point is My Tear-Mole” (the beauty spot under his right eye). If that doesn’t sum up Atobe in a nutshell, I’m not quite sure what does.

His actions following the match with Tezuka-buchou somewhat won over my grudging will to at least respect him, but he was still someone I was fairly unable to connect to. Beautifully-structured, too good to have lost a match, and not really having any reason to improve himself, Atobe was to me, like Fuji, one of the more dull characters.

I know a lot of people like Atobe (whether it’s just because he is, in fact, one of the better-looking characters, or because of his personality, I don’t know) and I’m not sure how to respond to that. He was a character I believed I would hate with a passion, and though that didn’t necessarily end up being case, it’s not been an easy road for him to worm his way up into my “top ten” characters. I’ve really had a hard time coming to like him as much as I do, seeing as every time I do think I might start to like him he does something that really puts me off. It’s not for lack of trying – it’s just the way he is. He’s a very on-and-off character to me.

So, onto this episode and how my opinion of him has changed.

I could only focus on one thing my first watch through, however, something that I won’t go into too much detail on: This episode gives me more than one reason that would probably be good enough to send Atobe to a mental institute. To be honest, the man (boy?) is insane. While throughout the entire series, I’ve been thinking to myself that maybe, just maybe, Atobe needs some help, I think this episode pretty much solidified my suspicious that Atobe’s not wired quite right in the head.

It’s something you kind of have to watch to understand. Anyway. On with the more serious stuff.

I must also point out that in this episode, Atobe looks extremely… evil. But since I’m not one to care too much about his appearance, it didn’t put me off for too long. What really caught my attention from the very beginning of the episode (the second watch-through) was Atobe already underestimating Ryoma, far before the match even started. With the declaration he would shave his head if he lost, followed by the rather (rude) comment that Ryoma hasn’t reached Tezuka’s level yet.

Atobe has been, I think, dangerously obsessed with Tezuka-buchou since their match. He has been training and training to face Tezuka, and instead faces Ryoma. His irritation is obviously clear in the condescending way he treats Ryoma throughout the match, though he’s well aware of Ryoma’s prowess in the world of middle school tennis. Him expecting Ryoma to be at Tezuka’s level, though I do agree that Ryoma probably is almost there, seems like a bit of a far stretch, especially given Ryoma’s personality.

Even so, even though he is probably (justly) underestimating Ryoma, you would think he might have remembered what happened to other opponents who did just that. Sanada Gen’ichirou, The Emperor, vice-captain of the Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku Chuu tennis team, notably comes to mind.

Atobe also seems a little too intent on dragging Muga no Kyouichi, the State of Self-Actualization, out of Ryoma. That seems like a bit of a cocky thing to do, and I’m once again remembering the fate of Sanada once Ryoma showed he can achieve Muga no Kyouichi. But, once Ryoma is forced to comply when Atobe shows his Tannhäuser Serve, Atobe comments that Muga no Kyouichi is nothing special, and thus engages what I call the “Match of Stealing Other People’s Moves”.

What struck me as odd is the difference between Ryoma’s actual Muga and Atobe’s repelling of it with the same method – using moves that aren’t yours, but that you have experienced or watched. For the most part, Ryoma uses moves such as Akutsu Jin’s Devil Tennis, Tanishi Kei’s Big Bang, and Hiyoshi Wakashi’s Enbu Tennis in order to return the ball; in other words, he uses the techniques of those he’s defeated in matches and, in a way, “inherited” the move. Atobe uses techniques he’s merely witnessed, such as Kai Yuujirou’s Viking Horn, and Oshitari Yuushi’s Higuma Otoshi. He comments on the fact that if all Muga no Kyouichi is is the unpredictable switching and using of other’s techniques, he doesn’t require it to win. In this way, he elevates himself above Ryoma, and demonstrates that he does not need Muga in order to accomplish the using of other techniques which, in deeper thought of it, would probably be very difficult to pull off in a normal state of mind without having practice.

I find this irritating, but it’s an interesting way of showing Atobe’s superiority complex.

And, at the same time, I laugh because Atobe’s unnecessarily complicated education allows him to actually understand what Ryoma is saying while he’s in Muga (Ryoma usually speaks English while in the State of Self-Actualization). Atobe seems to be one of the few people in the series that can understand English (I remember a match when he had to translate everything the opponents said for his doubles partner).

He also takes the opportunity to degrade Ryoma’s level of play, stating that just because he can achieve Muga no Kyouichi doesn’t mean he can reach Tezuka’s level. He then takes the opportunity to take out his frustration at this fact on Ryoma by doing something that is somewhat frightening: he returns the ball in such a way that Ryoma is completely unable to react to.

Thanks to entering Sanada-fukubuchou’s memories, we’re able to see the beginnings and finalizing of this technique. It appears that one day, Atobe showed up at Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku Chuu’s campus and challenged Sanada to a match (the Tango Pair is breaking up, it seems). Sanada’s play level is ridiculously high – he is the one that forced Ryoma to enter Muga no Kyouichi for the first time, and subsequently lost due to Muga’s influence over Ryoma – so it seems he has no problem driving Atobe into a wall. However, Atobe does the same thing that he has done to Ryoma in the present time – hit the ball in a way that makes it physically impossible for Sanada to return.

Though I’m sure Sanada-fukubuchou would have loved to attempt to escape from this, Yukimura-buchou steps in to stop the match and sends Atobe on his way home. When Sanada asks him why he stopped the match, Yukimura-buchou replies that, had the match continued, Sanada would have lost.

A scary thought, especially since Sanada is considered one of the best middle-school players in the country.

Atobe’s Koori no Sekai, or World of Ice, renders Ryoma completely incapable of returning Atobe’s shots. Again, Atobe continues to stroke his ego and elevate himself above Ryoma, shattering blind spot after blind spot.

Since I like to look into move names, let’s take a look at Koori no Sekai. First of all, it’s a world that only Atobe can see. Granted, it’s his insight, but that gives it all the more touch of a pompous individuality. Normally, I would think another player would call it a type of “sight” or “vision”, yet Atobe calls it a “world”. A world where he is the supreme ruler, a world that only he can glimpse and use… Atobe has ascended to a type of god mentality.

Secondly, everyone has a reaction to the word “ice”. I think the general reaction is that of freezing, part of the cold, hopeless, darkness of winter. If you’re frozen, you can’t move. You can hardly keep alive. Plus, anything that’s frozen is several times easier to break.

A world of painful, hopeless death is what I’m looking at.

Atobe says of Koori no Sekai: “Human beings can’t react to dead angles, no matter how much they try. Seeing the dead angles accurately, and making the opponent immovable like he’s frozen… this is Koori no Sekai.”

… okay, since you’re all looking at me funny, I’ll go ahead and admit it. I respect Atobe for achieving this level, no matter how terrible it is. It’s a level that appears that no one else has attained, so I can only imagine the hard work Atobe put into being able to reach this state. I dislike the way he flaunts it, but I do find it admirable that he would have worked so hard to get to this point.

Change in opinion number one.

Ryoma’s response, after awhile of trying and trying, is to pull out what we know is going to tick Atobe off: the Tezuka Zone. Of course, this makes Atobe very angry. He seems to think Tezuka is standing in his way, and, the way he’s looking at things, I say: “Well… of course he is. You’re letting him get in your way. If everything you see happen, you rationalize through Tezuka, you’ll never be rid of him. Never.”

And still, Atobe refuses to even doubt himself, continues to degrade Ryoma in his mind, more and more. Even as Ryoma catches up and starts to overtake him, Atobe still says, “You can’t win against me. You’ll never win, ever.” He even goes so far as to yell at Tezuka that the reason Seigaku is about to fail is because Tezuka passed on the title of the “pillar of support” to a freshman.

But, even then, I see something very strange happen: Atobe wants to win. He begins to try his hardest to win the match. He doesn’t treat it like a cat-and-mouse game, like he usually does, where he plays long to wear out his opponents and then easily smashes them. He shows his true self, his true power, shine through from under the restraints he self-imposed in order to play in his own little world.

As the Hyoutei coach Sakaki says, Atobe has chosen his responsibility as a captain to win for Hyoutei. Ultimately, I think Atobe became this way after watching Tezuka fight halfway to death for the same reason: victory falls to the one that leads and supports the group. Atobe has thrown away his own wants in order to be able to shoulder this duty for his team, for the school.

In the end, that’s what made me begin to understand and connect to him. He’s no longer selfish, but has realized what he couldn’t understand before. He has done what he needs to do in order to sustain himself in the long run. In my mind, he’s changed from a spoiled, pampered brat to a young man who’s learned to take responsibility for himself, a young man who’s a hard worker and one that is willing to continue to work hard for victory.

Perhaps not entirely. But he’s on his way.

And, after that rather lengthy rant about Atobe, what of Echizen Ryoma?

The rant on Ryoma will be a lot shorter. :P Since Ryoma’s the main character he’s a bit easier to learn about and understand, especially through nearly 178 episodes of having him appear at least once.

I think this episode is where I noticed for the first time that Ryoma has become much more mature, both appearance-wise and personality-wise. It’s true that he still acts fairly like his old snarky self, but there’s somewhat of a more grown-up touch to it that made me watch the match with Ryoma in a new light.

I’m not quite sure whether he suddenly became mature, or if it’s just suddenly hit me in this episode. In the beginning, Ryoma came across as quiet, aloof, cocky, socially dense, and somewhat of a brat, but since you see him so much it was easy to learn that although he is all of the aforementioned things, he’s also a good, kind-hearted, proper traditional Japanese boy who respects his elders and who seems to truly want to do his best.

Despite that, he’s always seemed a bit immature to me. Always, through 178 episodes, Ryoma was always a bit on the immature side. Today, I finally saw him growing up a bit.

It definitely is weird to think of Ryoma growing up, in any sense. Thinking of him being as tall as Momo or Kaidou, or even Tezuka-buchou, with a deep voice scares me, quite frankly. I kept noticing all through this episode, over and over again, that Ryoma is beginning to resemble his brother Ryoga, even more so than before.

I guess real-life aging in an anime wouldn’t be unwelcome. There are far too many where, no matter how many in-universe years pass, the characters never really physically age (Kaiba Seto of Yu-Gi-Oh comes to mind). It would be a little weird, though, to see our tiny little Ryoma becoming tall and becoming a man.

However, there’s no doubt to the maturing of his personality. Ryoma has seen his teammates work and suffer (namely Tezuka-buchou, who Ryoma seems to truly admire), and has grown and evolved himself through hundreds of hours. He’s been separated from the team he’s worked so hard with to go play in a tournament in America. No less to mention, Ryoma himself has been injured several times, and has been backed into so many corners there’s been no way around him needing to improve himself. However, only Ryoma can go through such personality growth, and still retain his trademark traits.

As I mentioned earlier, it’s not as if Ryoma is a completely different person. He’s just acting a little more mature – at least enough so that I notice it for the first time.

It’s nice that he hasn’t become a completely different person, as I’ve seen that happen too much in other anime as well. Usually, when characters reach a point when they begin to develop, they become too different. It’s almost like you’re reading or watching a different manga or anime than you thought you were. I usually become somewhat alienated from a series when such a drastic thing takes place, since I’ve experienced people who completely change in real life. It’s difficult to know how to treat and act around them. I’ve literally seen someone at the end of school, then seen them at the beginning of the next school year two months later and hardly recognized them because they’ve changed so much. It’s a hard thing, to have to try to remember that this person before you is someone you thought you knew so well.

He still acts as recklessly as ever, but to still have a Ryoma that’s the same, only growing up normally like the rest of us, is a refreshing thought.

/character rants.

Of course, the most startling part of this episode is where it got the name “Deathmatch” from.

That’s right. Let’s discuss quickly the end of the episode and the impact it had on me.

Take a look at this image and tell me if this doesn’t grant the episode its title:

Ha! You thought I would just show you, right? XD *pelted with rotten tomatoes*

I thought it was funny. Anyway, go ahead and look.

Ryoma and Atobe have played themselves into a 117-117 tiebreak round and, rightly, have played past their limits. They’re exhausted. Since they refuse to let the other win, they’ve played themselves from afternoon right up until sundown, played to the point they can’t even stand.

This is where I really start to respect Atobe. Unwilling to lose after he’s fought this hard and gotten this far, he struggles to his feet, much to the elation of his teammates.

Ryoma, also, fights his way to his feet and, despite being completely exhausted, makes his serve and takes the point with a Twist Serve. Only then does he notice that, though he’s standing, Atobe is unconscious.

Atobe’s desire to win might have surpassed his physical limits, had they not already been passed a long time ago. I respect that. I admire that. That’s the kind of person I want to be.

Ryoma acknowleges Atobe is strong, and thus Seigaku finally, finally wins the round and heads into the semifinals of the Nationals. It’s a bitter blow for Hyoutei, who came so close yet again to winning over Seigaku.

However, as it seems to go in the Seigaku vs. Hyoutei matches, it doesn’t really end up being a decision by skill, but one by willpower. Seigaku truly lucked out – had Ryoma not stood up and taken his serve, they would have lost.

Perhaps it’s a sort of “rebirth” idea. The two have definitely changed through the course of the match. Their “old selves” died, and now they have gotten back to their feet, a new person, stronger than before. As for Atobe’s passing out… maybe he wasn’t quite ready to become his new self XP (< -- making stuff up now).

And, now that I’ve effectively wasted all your time with this and probably melted your brains (and slowed down your server with all the images), I’ll leave you to ponder my thoughts. Please share your own. I’m always happy to know how others feel about things like this. :)

Plus, if you've managed to actually read this whole thing, you get mad props and a cookie from me.

[Screencaps taken by me, so if you feel like taking them, please give me credit mmmkay? :)]