Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

History

Kaidoh’s nickname is “Mamushi”, or the “Viper,” which fits him well. He wears a bandana (in the anime, it’s orange until episode 12 when it changed permanently to green) and often exhales making a “fshuuuu” sound, similar to a snake. Understandably, Kaidoh does not like this nickname, and often reacts badly when called that within earshot, especially if the person uttering the nickname is Takeshi Momoshiro or Akira Kamio (he once even comes to try hitting Kamio during the Fudomine matches, placing Tezuka in a rather uncomfortable situation).

His signature move is the “Snake Shot” (derived from the “Buggy Whip Shot”), a curving forehand that keeps his opponents running. He later develops the “Boomerang Snake,” which is a shot that swerves out of bounds, around the net pole, and back in bounds. He developed the shot under Inui’s advice and by working with him in doubles. Kaidoh trains rigorously, increasing the training program given to him by his mentor Sadaharu Inui to give him unbeatable endurance. Both he and Takeshi Momoshiro are second year regulars and rivals. They constantly try to one-up each other, which is actually beneficial for the growth of their tennis skills; this makes them extremely powerful as a doubles pair, because the two rivals know each other so well.

Kaidoh and Sadaharu Inui also make an excellent doubles pair, mostly because after beating Inui himself during the same line-up matches where Ryoma became a regular, Inui has seen Kaidoh’s potential and has taken him under his wing. In the fandom, they are often known as the Emerald Pair. This is presumably a pun based on the name of Seigaku’s “Golden Pair” (Eiji Kikumaru and Shuichiro Oishi) and several green items associated with the Emerald Pair, such as Kaidoh’s bandanna and Inui’s notebook and special juices.

Techniques

Snake Shot

An abnormal curving baseline forehand and a variation of the buggy whip shot. This move is used to keep opponents running, therefore draining their stamina.

This is also called a Buggy Whip Shot, and is said to be used often by pros. By swinging the racquet upwards, Kaidoh puts intense topspin on the ball with centrifugal force. The Fudoumine players refer to it as a buggy whip shot in the manga as does Sadaharu Inui. In the anime, while Echizen Ryoma is playing Kaidoh, the turning point of the game is when Echizen realizes, and actually states, that the “Snake” is the Buggy Whip Shot. Sometime later, freshman Horio was also commenting on the excellence of Buggy Whip Shot, presumably when performed by Ryoma, much to the irritation of Kaidoh.

Boomerang Snake

Similar to the original Snake. The Boomerang Snake is a move from in which the tennis ball swings around the net instead of going over the net. It was initially performed by accident when he slipped while diving for the ball. After that, he needed to spend a lot of time training in order to hit it properly during a singles match.

Short Snake

A variation of the Snake shot which has a much greater curve than the original. Instead of going deep into the court, the ball curves a lot more and a lot more quickly so it lands around the service line with much more curve, making it harder to return. Kaidoh first uses this move in his doubles match with Momoshiro against Bunta Marui and Kuwahara Jackal of Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku.

Reverse Snake

A backhand Snake Shot that goes in the opposite direction of a normal Snake Shot. Kaidoh develops this shot in order to counter Kuwahara Jackal’s usage of the Snake.

Tornado Snake

Yet another variation of the Snake, the Tornado Snake has a gyro spin version. Kaidoh hits the ball with an upward facing backspin of a Magnus power and travel direction against a spin axis with a 45 degree entry angle. Because it’s spinning, the ball barely receives any air resistance. Due to the spin, it’s about 0.02 seconds faster than any other straight ball. Kaidoh first uses this technique at Nationals in the doubles match against Hyoutei Gakuen, which he and Inui defeat Wakashi Hiyoshi and Gakuto Mukahi. There are also different variations of the tornado snake.

Laser Beam

This an extremely fast forehand shot developed by Hiroshi Yagyuu of Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku. When Kaido and Yagyuu play an unofficial doubles match against a pair from Murigaoka, they disguise themselves as each other and each hit each others signature shots. He is also seen using this move against the Yanagi/Kirihara Pair.

Jack Knife

The Jack Knife, which is one of the signature shots of Kaido’s rival, Takeshi Momoshiro, is a very high level backhand shot in which the person hitting it jumps off the ground with their left foot. It is not only powerful, but fast as well, and it was stated a normal Junior High School student wouldn’t be able to keep up with it.

While disguised, Kaidoh and Momoshiro play against Hitouji and Konjiki of Shitenhouji. Kaidoh hits the Jack Knife in order to cause the opponents to think he and Momoshiro had switched places.

Hadoukyû Boomerang (Anime only)

This is a combination of the Hadoukyû technique and Boomerang Snake. The shot moves like Boomerang Snake shot, but it is very powerful and can knock the opponents racket out of their hand.

Trivia

* Kaido lives with his mother Hozumi (40), father Shibuki (37), and younger brother Hazue (11). His father and younger brother are so similar in looks to him that they’re practically just older and younger versions of Kaido, respectively. His mother is a sweet, calm, always smiling woman who looks younger than she really is and is famous for her excellent home-made meals. Kaido’s school lunches are usually prepared by her, and to honor Hozumi’s good cooking and dedication Kaidoh eats his home-made lunch in a highly ritualistic and solemn manner that weirds out his schoolmates. Hozumi is among the very few adults (apart of the coaches, that is) featured in the Prince of Tennis video games, too; the “Rush and Dream 2″ one has her eavesdropping on Kaidoh and the main girl, Tomoe, as they prepare noodles.

* Kaido normally wears a green bandanna except when at school or home. From time to time, though, he wears other colors, such as grey, yellow, orange, and blue.

* Kaido seems to be VERY naive when it comes to personal relationships, always blushing when those older than him praise him more or less directly, or when his friends speak about sentimental matters. This is more pronunciated in the anime; during the fake “date” between An and Momoshiro, Inui called him and cryptically said “it’s a date”, but Kaido mistakenly thought Inui was asking *him* out and was so flustered that he spent the rest of the episode pondering if he should go out with Inui or not, thus missing the Momo/Kamio v/s Ryoma/Shinji game in the street courts.

* Kaido adores animals, especially cats. He’s seen playing with Karupin, Ryoma’s cat, when he reaches the Seigaku grounds, and in the anime he and Momoshiro teamed up to save a drowning puppy just before the Rikkaidai match. In the dating sim “Gakuensai no Oujisama” he takes the main girl, Shizuka Hirose, into animal-related dates like an aquarium and a zoo, and is seen playing with a bunch of stray cats.

* In the anime, Kaido is easily scared of anything supernatural, as with the episode “Cursed Racket”, and several other occasions where he backs out because of supposed haunted location, objects.

* In the TeniPuri Family chibi episodes, Kaido is the toddler of the family. Everyone refers to him as “Kaoru-chan” and he has yet to learn to speak, so he’s always seen sucking on his pacifier and the only thing he ever says is his signature “fshuuuu” sound. He also has a very child-like view of the world, spending a whole chibi episode searching for Santa Claus.

* Kaido is never seen wearing socks.

Actors

* In the Anime series, Kaido’s seiy? (or voice actor) is K?hei Kiyasu.

* For the live-action adaptation film of The Prince of Tennis, actor Kousuke Kujirai portrays Kaido.

* In The Prince of Tennis Musicals, Kaido is portrayed by actors Naoya Gomoto (2003-2004), Kousuke Kujirai (2005-2006) and Tomo Yanagishita (2006-current)

History

Momoshiro is known as Seigaku’s number one rascal. He really wants to be liked by everyone, which is evident by his preference to be called “Momo-chan,” even by the freshmen. As a compromise, some of the freshman call him “Momo-chan-senpai” while the third years call him by “Momo.”

At the beginning of the series, he played an unfinished match with Ryoma Echizen (He did this to see the twist serve), though Momoshiro was injured at the time. Later, they become best friends and even doubles partners for once. Momoshiro’s signature move is the “dunk smash,” a very powerful response to lobs as he leaps several feet into the air, which he likes to finish off saying, “Don,” upon landing. He later develops the “Jack Knife,” a strong backhand shot.

Momoshiro is an aggressive baseliner. For a short time, he is cut from the regulars, after losing to Inui and Tezuka during Seigaku’s 2nd monthly ranking matches. He takes being cut pretty hard and doesn’t show up to practices for three days, leading the first years to think that Momo has quit the club. Instead of going to practice, he spent his time playing street tennis; however, as he plays a match with Ann Tachibana, a good friend of his, he realizes his flaws as a tennis player and that in order for him to become stronger, he needs to stop underestimating his opponents. It is during this time that Momoshiro’s importance to Seigaku as a team is revealed.

As the player who is the most open and friendly with everyone, Momoshiro is connected to everyone on the team on some level. And as such, he’s one of the few members on the team that everyone seems to care about, which is why his disappearance affects all the regulars in some way. Momo being cut from the team even leads to the temporary break up of the Golden Pair and even Eiji notes how practices are not the same without Momo around. Although Ryoma, in particular, seems unconcerned about Momo being cut from the team, in reality, he is worried about Momoshiro and goes looking for him during lunch period; a moment that reveals both how important Momo’s friendship is to Ryoma and how important Momo is to Seigaku. Thus, when Momoshiro returns to practices, all seems right with the team again, although Tezuka punishes him for missing practice by making him run a record high of 100 laps. This is also when Momoshiro as a character is revealed in that Momo doesn’t worry about taking himself too seriously and despite being cut from the team, he is determined to support and cheer his teammates on as they face Hyotei in the Regionals.

Yet, Momoshiro ends up having to play a serious part again, almost instantly, when Oishi gets injured and doesn’t show up for the match against Hyotei. Momoshiro’s character is further revealed as he shows courage by first attempting to relieve Oishi from the hospital as quickly as possible and then, by being the one to take Oishi’s place as Eiji’s partner. Up until this point, Momoshiro is still a novice at playing doubles. But in one of Momoshiro’s finest moments, he not only helps Eiji win the match against Hyotei, but takes the opportunity to master doubles with Oishi’s quickly-given advice. Momoshiro shows that he is not only one of the most adaptable people in Seigaku, but he’s also a player and a friend who always gives 100% and comes through for his teammates. Even Inui has noted that Momoshiro’s ability to overcome hurdles is amazing. He then is able to remain as Regular on the team when Tezuka has to leave the team to recuperate from his injury from his match with Hyotei’s Atobe.

As Momoshiro is the closest to a true friend Ryoma Echizen can claim, the two spend much time together eating hamburgers or playing street tennis. Unlike Echizen, who is absolutely clueless as a doubles player, Momoshiro develops an affinity for playing doubles and even masters it, despite expressing a preference for singles. Momoshiro is good at “faking out” his opponents, and can be extremely sly and tricky on the courts. His ability to read the opponent’s movements and to observe their viewpoints and expression allow Momoshiro to read his opponent’s mind, thus he is able to guess where the ball will go and use shots that will confuse his opponents; however, it’s an ability that Momoshiro, himself, hasn’t noticed yet. Kunimitsu Tezuka, arguably one of the best tennis players in the middle-school circuit, has commented that when Momoshiro realizes his true potential as a tennis player, he’ll be an extremely formidable and troublesome opponent.

Momoshiro and Kaoru Kaidoh are eternal rivals, and constantly try to out-do each other. Surprisingly enough, this makes them efficient as a doubles pair, because the two rivals know each other so well.

Before the National tournament, Momoshiro trained in the mountains, and as a result of his training he improved upon his natural “insight”. While similar to Atobe Keigo’s ability to see the weakness or potential of another player, Momoshiro’s time in the mountains caused his insight to be related with nature, ex: the position of the sun, the direction of the wind, stray stones to deflect serves, etc.

Special Tennis Moves

Bullet Serve

It’s a fast and powerful serve Momoshiro likes to use.

Dunk Smash

Momoshiro’s signature move to finish off lobs; however, Momoshiro’s Dunk Smash is different than normal smashes in that he uses the momentum from running to hit the smash, through perfect timing, by jumping forward, instead of the usual jumping backwards to hit a smash; thus causing Momoshiro’s Dunk Smash to be twice as powerful and more effective than a normal smash.

Jack Knife

The Jack Knife is a fast, sharp and powerful high-leveled backhand shot made by using the front foot to jump into the air with balance while utilizing the weight of the body to achieve maximum strength. When Momoshiro uses the Jack Knife, he keeps the ball at his racket until the last moment to make it a strong shot. He uses this move to win his match against Yamabuki’s Sengoku. It is noted in the anime that the Jack Knife is a move no ordinary junior high student can do, only professionals are able to use the move successfully, which makes Momoshiro especially formidable as he can use it.

It is shown that he is starting to do this shot during a practice match with Tezuka Kunimitsu

Super Great Momoshiro Special/Super Dunk

Similar to the “Dunk Smash”; however, “Super Dunk” is unique in that Momoshiro uses his strength to delay the timing of the ball’s bounce after it has hit the ground, thus making predicting when the ball will bounce off the ground difficult. Momoshiro developed this shot during a practice match with Gakuto Mukahi of Hyoutei Gakuen. The name was changed from Super Great Momoshiro Special to Super Dunk because many were unhappy about the former.

This shot exists only in the anime.

Tornado Snake

One of the signature shots of his rival, Kaoru Kaidoh, Momoshiro uses this shot during his and Kaidoh’s match against Hitouji and Konjiki of Shitenhouji, in order to cause them to think he and Kaidoh have switched places(they were wearing masks at the time).

Insight

Prior to the Nationals tournament, Insight is a skill Momoshiro unearths during his training in the mountains. He is able to sense the subtle changes in the atmosphere around him and use it to his advantage.

Prediction

During his match with Kurobane Harukaze and Amane Hikaru of Rokkaku Chuu in Doubles 2, Momoshiro was able to predict his opponent’s moves and where the ball was going to land. He was able to recognize the ball was going to be out when they were playing for match point thus ultimately winning the match for Seigaku. That was shown during his match against Oshitari Yuushi. While playing Oshitari, Momoshiro gives up his “Prediction” style of playing and returns to his previous tenacious play style by playing at 100% and re-integrating his “Jack Knife” shot.

Trivia

* Momoshiro lives with his parents and two much younger siblings who are in elementary school.

* In the TeniPuri Family chibi episodes, Momoshiro is the second child of the family and younger “sister” to Ryoma. His name is Momoko and she’s a tomboyish and mischievous girl with braids and pink dresses.

* “Takeshi” is also the first name of the Prince of Tennis creator, Takeshi Konomi.

Actors
Masaki Kaji as Momo, in the Prince of Tennis Musical Side Yamabuki
Masaki Kaji as Momo, in the Prince of Tennis Musical Side Yamabuki

* In the Anime series, Momoshiro’s seiy? (or voice actor) is Masaya Onosaka.

* For the live-action adaptation film of The Prince of Tennis, actor Masaki Kaji portrays Momoshiro.

* In The Prince of Tennis Musicals, Momoshiro is portrayed by actors Moriyama Eiji (2003-2004), Masaki Kaji (2005-2006) and Shinpei Takagi (2006-current).

History

Three years prior to the start of the series, Inui and Renji Yanagi from Rikkaidai were an unstoppable Elementary School Doubles Pairing. Unfortunately, their doubles pairing was ended when Yanagi suddenly moved to the Kanagawa Prefecture.

Inui is a highly intelligent player. He plays what he calls “Data Tennis,” which involves collecting and analysing data for a player in order to determine weaknesses. He is even able to determine the exact probability of certain shots being successful. The Data Tennis style actually originated from Yanagi. To his surprise, Data Tennis does not work against Ryoma Echizen who evolves over the course of a match. Inui also finds it difficult to get accurate data on Shusuke Fuji and Kunimitsu Tezuka.

Inui was beaten by Kaidoh at the beginning of the series and became the team’s manager. He uses his data to create exercise programs for the team. His most hated innovation would have to be his “Inui Juice” or “Penal Tea” (penalty), a disgusting health drink which is used as punishment. The contents of “Inui Juice” are unknown, but Inui is always coming up with new and “better” recipes. In one episode, when the team went bowling, Inui’s new invention “Aozu” first knocked out Kaidoh and even Fuji (who usually enjoyed drinking the “Inui Juice” or “Penal Tea”), the rest of the team. Even Inui himself falls victiom to the “Aozu”.

Eventually, Inui is able to make it back as a regular by using the data he obtained over the time he was manager, losing to Kunimitsu Tezuka but beating Takeshi Momoshiro. While he’s a very good singles player, he usually plays doubles with various partners, most notably his protegé Kaoru Kaidoh.

Techniques

Sonic Serve

A serve used by Inui that is very fast and difficult to return. Inui achieved an even faster version of this serve after removing his weighted wrist band (a part of his continuous training prior to the Kantou tournament) during his match against Hyotei Gakuen’s Doubles 1.

Data Tennis

More of a playing strategy than a special move, he collects data during and before the match to defeat his opponent. He uses probability to determine what shot will be made, and where it will go. The effectiveness of his use of Data tennis increased greatly after he implemented a new training regimine (2.25 times more difficult than Kaidoh Kaoru, whose own training menu was three times harder than that of the rest of the team, making Inui’s training several times as hard as that of the others) in order to improve his ability to physically reach the predicted location of tennis balls.

Waterfall

A serve that is faster and stronger than the Scud serve, it set a new record at 212km/h in the nationals. But later the record was broken by the Neo Scud Serve at 215 km/h. Its arc and descent resemble that of a waterfall. It was first seen in the OVA national championship against Hyotei Gakuen in Doubles 2, and was later beaten by Renji Yanagi in the finals.

Jack Knife

The Jack Knife is a fast, sharp and powerful high-leveled backhand shot made by using the front foot to jump into the air with balance while utilizing a pendulum-like effect of the body to achieve maximum strength. Originally used by Takeshi Momoshiro.

Notable Matches

Echizen Ryoma

During the First Ranking Tournament of the school year, Ryoma broke his Data Tennis using the one-footed Split Step.

Tezuka Kunimitsu

After defeating Takeshi Momoshiro, Inui was waiting for a match with Tezuka since long time ago. The team also discovered that Inui trained 2.25 times the training menu he has given to the team during his manager role, pulling out his data tennis and his physical condition to another level. But at the end, Tezuka won the match 6-4, proving that he’s still Seigaku’s captain and current Pillar of Support.

Renji Yanagi

In the final match of the Kantou Tournament, between Seigaku and Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku, Inui and Yanagi once again meet one another. As the match starts, Yanagi’s Data seems to be too much for Inui’s. Inui then announces that he’ll abandon his Data, shocking everyone. The two fight back and forth, reaching a score of 5-4, in Yanagi’s favor. At that point, Inui reminds Yanagi that they had an unfinished match with that score from 3 years ago, and he realizes Inui never even abandoned his data, but manipulated everything to this point. In the manga, this is apparently intentional, while in the anime, an idea is given that it was partly accidental and Inui only took advantage of the turn of events to convince Yanagi of his skills.

Inui fights hard against Yanagi, forcing the two to go into a tiebreak. Eventually, Inui manages to defeat his old friend and rival.

Later on in the National’s Finals Match, Inui and Kaidoh play against Yanagi Renji and Kirihara Akaya of Rikaidai Fuzoku. Yanagi surprises Inui with his serve because it was against Inui’s data but Inui still manage to return it with a lob and then Kirihara went in for the kill by returning the lob by using Kaidoh’s Short Snake move. The ball made a wound on Kaidoh’s face. The match continues with both parties rallying. However kinhara taps into his muga no kyochi state and wins 4 straight sets. Being pressured, kaidoh uses his tornado snake but much to his surprise, kinhara returns it using the same move with more destructive power, causing more injury to kaidoh. As the match progresses, rikkaidai leads 5 games to love with renji predicting every shot of the emerald pair.

Inui Juice

One of Inui’s most notable traits is his penchant to brew horrible vegetable juices (named “Inui Juices”), which he uses mostly in practice as punishment for players who fail the training menus. Only he and Fuji dare to drink.

The Progression of Inui Juices throughout the anime series is:

* Inui Special Vegetable Juice //episode 9
* Inui Juice Deluxe //episode 23
* Golden Power Remix Inui Juice //episode 23
* Penal-Tea //episode 38
* Improved Penal-Tea //episode 39
* Special Improved Deluxe Penal Tea //episode 39
* Inui Juice Special High Grade Deluxe //episode 53
* Inui Hyper Remix Juice
* Revised Special Golden Power Remix Inui-juice Neo
* Aozu (blue vinegar)(All team members fall to this brew, including, for the first time, Inui and Fuji)
* Akazu (red vinegar) //episode 87 - Prince of Bowling
* Improved Akazu (dark redish violet vinagar) // episode 98 - Prince of Billiards
* Super Royal Inui Juice Z (combination of Aozu and Akazu) //episode 98 - Prince of Billiards
* Iwashi Mizu (Sardine Water) // Prince of Tennis (OVA) 7 - Beach Volleyball
* Marvelous Surprise Inui Juice Excellent // OVA - A Day on Survival Mountain

Trivia

* Like Tezuka, Inui is an only child. His parents are among the few of the Seigaku tennis team members that are barely mentioned in the series, contrasted with others such as Ryoma, Kawamura, or Fuji, who have had most of their family members introduced.

* Inui’s eyes are green in the anime and dark brown in the manga. In the anime, both of Inui’s eyes are first seen in the short movie Atobe kara no Okurimono (Atobe’s Gift in English). When Inui is jumping during one of the competitions held by Atobe in the festival, both of his eyes are revealed. Prior to that, only one of his eyes were shown in the anime series; during episode 168, which Inui’s glasses were broken in a regulars match with Eiji Kikumaru. In the manga, we can see his eyes during the match against Renji Yanagi, and we can see another picture of his eyes in the cover of his single “Distance”.

* In the Spanish dubbing for Animax channel in Latin America, due to the particular Spanish accents, his first name is pronounced “Sadayaru”. (Most of the characters are called by their given names.)

* Running jokes in the anime include characters getting a look at Inui’s eyes behind his glasses, his tendency to surprise others by appearing behind them unannounced, and various situations involving Inui Juice.

* Inui often spies on his teammates outside of school or practice, such as the time when An Tachibana took Momoshiro on a tennis date, or when Kawamura went on a “date” with Akutsu’s mother Yuuki, whom everyone mistook for his girlfriend since she was a beautiful and very young-looking woman. He also stalks people from other teams, like when he spied on the Ginka team right after Ryoma Echizen defeated them to rescue Sakuno Ryuzaki from their bullying.

* In the TeniPuri Family chibi episodes Inui is the father of the family and can always be seen quoting data and statistics. He’s also often beaten up by Oishi, who plays the mother of the family and has a rather volatile temper.

Actors

* In the Anime series, Inui’s seiy? (or voice actor) is Kenjir? Tsuda.

* For the live-action adaptation film of The Prince of Tennis, actor Hirofumi Araki portrays Inui.

* In The Prince of Tennis Musicals, Inui is portrayed by actors Sota Aoyama (2003-2004), Hirofumi Araki (2005-2006) and Masei Nakayama (2006-current).