In 1999, Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump introduced readers to Takeshi Konomi's The Prince of Tennis. The sports manga series follows a young middle schooler as he takes on various rivals from different schools, in tennis matches. Though the concept is simple, the show was such a hit that an anime series was released in the early 2000s. The franchise also spawned a live-action film, video games, and even stage plays!
Bouncing off from the original series, The New Prince of Tennis launched in Shueisha's Jump SQ magazine, in 2009. The series is a direct sequel, written by Konomi, and follows the main character Ryoma Echizen, from the first series. His continuing journey in facing off in various other tennis opponents, That series met equal success to the original and even got an OVA series. Now, a new and original project has been in development.
This series is developed specifically for anime. The series tells a new story about the competition between Hyotei and Rekkai, Konomi will be helping with series development, by supervising matchmaking. The enjoyable part of the series is this marks the first time the two schools have faced. Recently, in Jump SQ, new staff members were revealed, which includes director, Keiichiro Kawaguchi (ISLAND), writer Mitsutaka Hirota (Nanbaka), and Akiharu Ishii (Blood+) will be working on character design.
While there is no set release date yet, it's safe to say the new series will be entertaining and exciting! Can't wait for The New Prince of Tennis: Hyotei vs. Rekkai Game of Future? We would love to hear your thoughts in the comments!