, also known as for short, is a series of live action stage musicals directed by Yukio Ueshima based on the manga series The Prince of Tennis created by Takeshi Konomi and serialized by Shueisha in Weekly Shōnen Jump.
The first musical premièred in the Golden Week of 2003, and the unexpected popularity, especially among girls, and requests for merchandise of the show encouraged Marvelous Entertainment to follow through with the series. Each new show covers an arc of the manga storyline, though adaptations to the original story were made to fit the format. Female characters were removed, and irrelevant scenes or minor arcs were cut to move the plot forward.
At the start of the production, tickets did not sell out and the type of production was merely an experiment. Manga-based musicals were not frequently seen, if at all. However, the musicals soon became popular via word-of-mouth and social media enough to demand for double casting of characters to handle the number of performances and to allow for overseas performances in Korea and Taiwan. In addition multiple shows were live streamed into theatres all around the country to make up for the lack of enough seats in the actual venue. Even Europe got a taste of the production, when three of the actors (namely Ryousuke Katou, Shintarou Akiyama and Yuuichirou Hirata) hit Paris to attend the 10th edition of the Japan Expo in 2009anime, 2009, Tenipuri Muujikaru Pari he Akiyama, Hirata, Katou . Retrieved 19 January 2011Japan Expo Official Site, list of guests 2009 . Retrieved 19 January 2011
In May 2010, after 7 years, 22 musicals, 5 main casts and about 150 different actors, the "first season" came to an end with the last performance of Dream Live 7th on the 23rd. Not too long after the end of the first season, the start of a "second season" was commenced.Ayachu, 2010, Season 2 of the Prince of Tennis musical coming back in 2011 . Retrieved 19 January 2011 The shows featured a completely new cast and a new script, but covered the same arcs as the first season. Following the end of the second season in 2014, a "third season" was made; similar to the second season, it featured a completely new cast and a new script, but covered the same arcs. The 3rd season commenced in February 2015 and ended in May 2020.
Synopsis
12-year-old tennis prodigy Ryoma Echizen returns to live with his father in Japan after winning the American Junior Tournament four consecutive times. He enrolls in Seishun Academy (known as "Seigaku" for short) and joins its famous tennis team, who strives to win the National Middle School Tennis Tournament. Though Ryoma immediately becomes a regular on the team, he begins to develop his own tennis style and discover what the sport means to him as he encounters new friendships and obstacles during his journey to reach the top.
Principal roles and cast members
Seigaku
Character Original cast(2003–2004) 2nd Generation;Film adaptation(2005) 3rd Generation(2006–2007) 4th Generation(2007–2009) 5th Generation(2008–2010) 6th Generation(2011–2012) 7th Generation(2012–2014) 8th Generation(2015–2016) 9th Generation(2016–2018) 10th Generation(2018–2020) 11th Generation(2021–present) Ryoma Echizen Kotaro YanagiYuya EndoKimeru Kotaro YanagiYuya Endo Dori Sakurada Shōgo Sakamoto Ryuki Takahashi Yuki Ogoe Kazuki Furuta Nichika Akutsu Hikaru Imamaki Takeshi Momoshiro Eiji Moriyama Masaki Kaji Shinpei Takagi Tetsuya Makita Toshihiro Nobuyama Toru Kamitsuru Mashu Ishiwatari Shuto Mashima Shunsaku Yoshimura Tatsuki Ōkubo Shun Hojuyama Kaoru Kaidoh Naoya Gomoto Kōsuke Kujirai Kōsuke Kujirai (2006)Tomo Yanagishita (2006–2007) Tomo Yanagishita (2007–2008)Yuichiro Hirata (2007–2009) Akihiro Hayashi (2009–2010) Ryosuke Ikeoka Hiroki Sana Hikaru Makishima Takuto Nakajima Yuga Iwasaki Takashi Kawamura Yoshitsugu AbeEiki Kitamura Yoshikazu Kotani Kouji Watanabe Gong Teyu Hiroaki Ogasawara (2008–2009) Ikko Cho (2009–2010) Sora Yaguchi Shohei Koudai Takikawa Masaya Suzuki Tomoki Iwata Kai Otomo Sadaharu Inui Sota Aoyama Hirofumi Araki Masei NakayamaYūta Takahashi Yusuke Arai Teruma Seiya Inagaki Ryosei Tanaka Sho Kato Daisuke Takenouchi Ichigo Shiota Shusuke Fuji KimeruTakashi Nagayama Hiroki Aiba Yūta Furukawa Hiroki Aiba (2008)Taito Hashimoto (2008–2010) Ryo Mitsuya Yusuke Yata Yuki Kamisato Fuma Sadamoto Ibu Minaki Haruki Mochida Eiji Kikumaru Takashi NagayamaYamazaki Ichitaro Osamu Adachi Koji Seto Kyousuke Hamao Shouta Takasaki Yuta Koseki Mario Kuroba Reo Honda Seiichiro Nagata Tsukasa Taguchi Sosho Tomimoto Shuichiro Oishi Yuichi Tsuchiya Hiroki Suzuki Yukihiro Takiguchi Yuuya Todoya Yuki Tsujimoto Jin Hiramaki Ikkei Yamamoto Shun Ishida Yu Matsumura Takanori Ezoe Takakazu Hara Kunimitsu Tezuka Eiji TakigawaKengo Okuchi Yu Shirota Keisuke Minami Daisuke Watanabe Ryōma Baba Takuma Wada Hideya Tawada Takuma Zaiki Yuya Uno Ryo Aoki Kento Yamada Satoshi Horio Yusuke Ishibashi Masaki Hara Masaki HaraRyo Yamada Shun Maruyama Kento Masui Yoshito Iwa Seiya Shimo Shinta Soma Ryuga Ryota Kachiro Kato Toshiyuki Toyonaga Yuya Mori Ryo KawamotoTsubasa Ito Hiroki Hirai Shunya Ōhira Ryo Mitsui Ryu Shinohara Nagato Okui Toshiki Nakamigawa Kotobuki Shiraishi (2021)Sena Totsuka (2022-) Katsuo Mizuno Masaru Hotta Yuki Okamoto Koichi EguchiMasashi Watanabe Rio Takahashi Mizuki Ohno Mizuki Kobayashi Arata Sarashina Shion Hatakeyama Yumeto Okuda Manato Ichikawa
Fudomine Character 1st Season;(2003–2010) 2nd Season;(2011–2014) 3rd Season;(2015–2020) 4th Season;(2021–present) Tetsu Ishida Mamoru Miyano Kyoshiro Takagi Taro Nakamura Totaro Masaya Sakurai Shun Takagi Fumiya Takahashi Ryotaro Yuto Fukazawa Akira Kamio Yasuyuki MatsuiYuki Fujiwara Kinari Hirano Ryujiro Izaki Kosuke Maiguma Shinji Ibu Ryosei KonishiMotohiro Ota Kazuhiro Okazaki Kento Naotake Tsuchiya Kippei Tachibana Takuma SugawaraYOHTakashi Kitadai Yusuke Ueda Soramu Aoki GAKU Tatsunori Mori Yoichiro Omi Tatsuya Kobayashi Rayshy Kyosuke Uchimura Mao Kato Masaki Takane Hayato Kikuchi
St. Rudolph Character 1st Season;(2003–2010) 2nd Season;(2011–2014) 3rd Season;(2015–2020) 4th Season;(2021–present) Ichiro Kaneda Yuki Matsuoka Shotaro Ōkubo Kaisei Kamimura Raimu Ninomiya Shinya Yanagisawa Mitsuyoshi Shinoda Sho Jinnai Riku Ozeki Yudai Kubo Atsushi Kisazaru Ryosuke Kato Daisuke Hirose Yugo Sato Rei Sato Hajime Mizuki Hidemasa Shiozawa Yutaka Kobayashi Kodai Miyagi Junpei Mitsui Yuta Fuji KENN Seiya Konishi Kaiki Ōhara Yueto Ishihara Yoshiro Akazawa Aoki Kenji Kenta Izuka Kenya Nakao Hitoshi Okumura Takuya Nomura Daiki Sagawa Shuto Yaezawa
Yamabuki
Character 1st Season;(2003–2010) 2nd Season;(2011–2014) 3rd Season;(2015–2020) 4th Season;(2021–present) Toji Muromachi Takahiko Yanagisawa Kensho Ono Yuji Nishina Leon Terashima Taichi Dan Yuki Kawakubo Reiya Masaki Mashiro Sano Yuki Hashimoto Masami Higashikata Iori Hayashi Takeshi Terayama Ryoshiro Tsuji Soushi Haitsuka Kentaro Minami Hiroshi Yazaki Joji Saotome Naoya Kitagawa Sho Kuwahara Kiyosumi Sengoku Masato Wada Seiya Touya Morita TAISEI Jin Akutsu Ryotaro ShimizuJuri Takuya Kishimoto Shota Kawakami Takumi Masunaga Inakichi Nitobe Yuma Tonoshiro Rin Matsubara Ichiuma Kita Jin Aoki Futo Uchino
Hyotei
Character 1st Season;(2003–2010) 2nd Season(2011–2014) 3rd Season;(2015–2020) 4th Season;(2023–present) A B Munehiro Kabaji Ryo Washimi Joji Kawada Hiroyuki Furuie Takanori Yamaki Itsuki Kurihara Wakashi Hiyoshi Ryunosuke Kawai Kei Hosogai Daiki Ise Akiyoshi Utsumi Futa Sakayori Jiro Akutagawa Takuya Taiki Naito Tomoru Akazawa Shougo Tamura Kazan Yokoyama Chotaro Ootori Koji Date Yusuke SetoLi Yong En Jin Shirasu Aoto Watanabe Riku Akashi Ryo Shishido Kenta Kamakari Ryouta Murai Kousuke Kuwano Shunsuke Kobayakawa Yuto Hiroi Gakuto Mukahi Ruito Aoyagi Seiji Fukuyama Jun Shison Satsuki Kitano Iori Kotsuji Yuushi Oshitari Takumi Saito Shintaro Akiyama Takuya Kikuchi Ikumi Isaka Ryono Kusachi Keigo Atobe Kazuki Kato Masahiro InoueYuki Kubota Tsunenori Aoki Hiroki Miura Ryoya Takahashi Haginosuke Taki Kenta Nishijima Shougo Yamazaki Ryota Nakata
Rokkaku Character 1st Season;(2003–2010) 2nd Season;(2011–2014) 3rd Season;(2015–2020) 4th Season;(2023–present) Ryo Kisazaru Ryosuke Kato Daisuke Hirose Yugo Sato Shunki Kishimoto Marehiko Itsuki Shouma Ikegami Shinichi Hashimoto Shinnosuke Takagi Shion Morishita Hikaru Amane Ire Shiozaki Atsushi Kimura Reiji Sakagaki Kodai Kurihara Harukaze Kurobane Gaku Shindo Shouta Motokawa Kento Hinata Leon Kirita Koujiro Saeki Kanata Irei Daisuke Utsumi Kaname Futaba Arihiro Matsunaga Kentaro Aoi Kazuma Kawahara Daiki Yoshida Takuya Yashiro Syoki Tsuru Satoshi Shudo Kota Chiba Ken Nakajima Oji Ujisuke
Midoriyama Character 4th Season;(2023–present) Yasuyuki Kiraku HARUKI
Rikkai
Character 1st Season;(2003–2010) 2nd Season(2011–2014) 3rd Season;(2015–2020) A B Jackal Kuwahara Jutta Yuki Shingo Toda Kohei Shiota Yusaku Kawasaki Bunta Marui Renn Kiriyama Mio Akaba Junpei Yasukawa Taka Ooyabu Akaya Kirihara Genki Okawa Genki OkawaMitsuaki Nishimura Motoshisa Harashima Ryutaro Maeda Hiroshi Yagyu Toru Baba Toru BabaRyonosuke Onoda Ryosuke Mikata Yuuta Oosumi Masaharu Niou Masataka Nakagauchi Masataka NakagauchiTaisuke Wada Hidetoshi Kubota Dai Goto Renji Yanagi Kento Ono Yuki Yamaoka Atomu Mizuishi Takuma Isawa Genichiro Sanada Kentarou Kanesaki Ken Ogasawara Shougo Tazuru Seiichi Yukimura Ren Yagami Toshiki Masuda Keisuke Kaminaga Toshiki Tateishi
Higa
Character 1st Season;(2003–2010) 2nd Season;(2011–2014) 3rd Season;(2015–2020) Kei Tanishi Yutaka Matsuzaki Yuki Tomotsune Makoto Takata Rin Hirakoba Yasuka Saitō Toshiyuki Someya Naoya Iwaki Hiroshi Chinen Takeshi Hayashino Yu Yoshioka Raita Yuujiro Kai Hijiri ShinotaniTsunemitsu Imai Yoshihiko Aramaki Tsubasa Yoshizawa Eishiro Kite Luke.C Kazuki Doi Kento Muto Tomoya Shiranui Masashi Sonomura Aragaki Koichi Haruki Matsui
Shitenhoji
Character 1st Season;(2003–2010) 2nd Season(2011–2014) 3rd Season;(2015–2020) A B Gin Ishida Yusuke Hirose Yuta Yoneyama Keisuke Yamaguchi Ippei Mori Hikaru Zaizen Hisanori Sato Hisanori SatoBishin Kawasumi Ryuji Sato Ryota Hirono Yuji Hitoji Ryo Hirano Makoto Uenobori Taishi Sugie Tsubasa Yatsu Koharu Konjiki Takeya Nishiyama Manabu Iizumi Kaita Fukushima Rikito Morita Kenya Oshitari Takuya Uehara Kouki Mizuta Masaki Sato Kyohei Chida Senri Chitose Ryuuko Isogai Masashi Ooyama Keisuke Higashi Koki Emoto Kintaro Tooyama Yuya Kido Takuya Kawaharada Koudai Matsuoka Raima Hiramatsu Kuranosuke Shiraishi Kyosuke Harukawa Yoshihide Sasaki Shintaro Anzai Atsuki Mashiko Koishikawa Kenjirou Shutaro Ando Osamu Watanabe Yuki Kimisawa Masato Saki
Extra
Echizen Nanjirou: Actor Season Yukio Ueshima 1st SeasonShinnosuke Motoyama 1st/2nd/3rd SeasonEiji Moriyama 2nd/3rd SeasonMasanori Tomita 3rd SeasonMasataka Nakagauchi 4th Season
Reception and legacy Musical: The Prince of Tennis has sold over 2 million tickets during the first 10 years of its run and is credited with the growing interest in 2.5D musicals. The musical productions were also credited for providing a starting point for young talents and launched the careers of many of young Japanese actors. The success also led its initial director, Makoto Matsuda, to launch the Japan 2.5-Dimensional Musical Association in 2014.
Musical: The Prince of Tennis celebrated its 15th anniversary with a cultural festival taking place at Sunshine City in Tokyo from 23 and 24 November 2018.
Production history