Tennis no Oujisama Nationals OVA Ep. 18 - Thoughts

After spending several hours studying the other night, and after getting quite a lot done, I decided to treat myself and allow myself to stay up just a little bit later than usual to watch a newly-released episode of the TeniPuri OVAs. I only watched one episode, as it was getting rather late, and it proved to be quite... interesting, for lack of a better word.

I never thought there would be an episode that would leave me wondering whether or not I actually liked it. But I have come across one. Interestingly enough, it involves one of my favourite characters and one of my less favourite characters. Tezuka Kunimitsu vs. Chitose Senri.

I'm not really quite sure why I don't like Chitose, other than the fact that he really just bugs me. He's like Atobe in the way that he isn't really a dislikeable character in the first place; it's just my problem that I don't like him.

(And his sister is the only girl in the entire continuity of the series besides Seigaku's coach that I feel deserves to actually be in the storyline).

Anyway, the basic overview of the episode can be seen in a series of select images.

Begin the image-heaviness.

Behold, the pairs that DEFINITELY weren't thrown together at the last moment Tezuka-Inui Pair vs. Chitose- ... .... someone... pair.
(Omigosh buchou actually looks like he might be in his teens!)

Tezuka struggles a bit against Chitose's Hyakuren Jitoku no Kiwami...
(Does Chitose remind anyone else of Scar from The Lion King? Anyone?)

But Tezuka, the stoic hero, reveals his powers...

Tezuka retaliates with amazing strength, showing that he too has achieved Hyakuren Jitoki no Kiwami.
(Tezuka-buchou, have you ever heard of a thing called "eating"?)

And thus, the result is:

Seigaku Victory!!
(Why is Chitose sweating so much and Tezuka looks completely unphased?)

... Okay, so that's not really how it goes. But it might as well be. (That's about all you need to know to know what the episode consists of.)

I'm not complaining about the match. I always enjoy Tezuka's matches, whether or not they're absolutely ridiculous (like this one) or a serious part of the plot (like his matches against Ryoma or Atobe).

But honestly, I don't think this is a match that was really essential to the plot.

Nice to know that Tezuka is amazing (as if nobody already knew that), nice to know that he is always showing how powerful he is, that he is Ryoma's one true opponent, blah blah list goes on blah. But this match, in my opinion, doesn't have much consequence to the rest of the series.

Plus, twenty-five minutes of Chitose is almost more than I can stand.

The thing I won't complain about is the amazing shots that this episode is comprised of. There are a lot of really beautiful visuals, and it's always interesting to see what the animators can come up with to metaphorize and show Tezuka's strength (and, I guess in this case, Chitose's as well).

I could rant about the next episode buuuuttt... I won't. :| It might actually be worse than this one. I'll wait a little while and see if I can pull something worthwhile out of the next episode.