We’re in the middle of Wimbledon and the U.S. Open is a few weeks away so there’s a lot of tennis talk. What’s interesting is there’s very little entertainment where with a tennis angle. There was I Spy with two spies posing as tennis pros and The Bionic Woman‘s previous career was a tennis pro before she became a super spy. Thankfully if you want a tennis fix between the two major tournaments, there’s an animate cartoon from Japan. Ryoma has been a young tennis pro working his way up the ladder in The Prince of Tennis Magna that was adapted into Anime series. Both the book and the TV series were major hits in Japan. They even made a live action movie. Now The Prince of Tennis has arrived on CGI to have the fuzzy balls flying across the screen with Ryoma! The Prince of Tennis.
Ryoma has come to America in search of a U.S. Open tennis title. Unlike the normal circuit pro, the young prodigy doesn’t show up on an airplane a few days before the tourney looking to be the king of Flushing Meadows, New York. He’s ready to spend a bit of time in America to get acclimated to the game. Turns out his father had once one the U.S. Open so he’s eager to make it a family tradition. This isn’t a boring tale of Ryoma hitting balls at a court in Manhattan. Things get interesting when he runs into Sakuno from back home. She’s eager to see more of the area except that goes bad when a gang kidnaps her. The only way he can get her freedom is a tennis match that gets so intense, Ryoma and Sakuno get transported in time back to experience his father’s last big U.S. Open match at the main court. It’s lethal racket action with a time travel twist which makes it perfect viewing while waiting for this year’s matches to take place at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Taking the action to 3D CGI adds to the tennis action since you see the fuzzy fly across the screen in a swift motion. This comes into play when the game turns into a form of combat. Ryoma looks fine as he crushes the ball over the net. It looks as effective as watching Wimbledon this week. Ryoma! The Prince of Tennis keeps up the tension with i’s ability to mix tennis balls into scenes that would normally be dominated by bullets. The time travel aspect doesn’t seem out of place. Ryoma! The Prince of Tennis serves all aces.
The video is 1.78:1 anamorphic. The CGI looks fine on the screen. The tennis ball action seems more vivid than if they used limited animation during the matches and battles. The audio is DTS-HD MA 5.1 with the original Japanese soundtrack. There’s also a DTS-HD MA 2.0 mix in Japanese. If you don’t speak Japanese, there’s an English dub in DTS-HD MA 5.1. The movie is also subtitled in English.
<Glory> Edition (100:04) is an alternate cut of the film that includes scenes with the team captains. There’s an extra bit after the credits so don’t turn off the film too soon.
DVD with the film.
Shout! Factory and Eleven Films present Ryoma! The Prince of Tennis. Directed by Hiroshi Kôjina. Screenplay by Takehiko Hata. Starring Ry McKeand, Chris Okawa, Christopher Wehkamp, David Wald, Edward Bosco, Jonah Scott and Tiana Camacho. Rating: Unrated. Running Time: 100 minutes. Release Date: July 5, 2022.
