I can’t get over the math problem shown in this episode.
Our main character Ei-chan is a straight-A student. Actually, he’s not really a typical nerd as he mentions he doesn’t really enjoy studying. He’s more of an obsessive-compulsive type of person that has to do everything perfectly and orderly. This includes studying, extra-curricular activities, and even the order of eating his food.
But he’s got a problem. He’s not really in shape. Being the OC person that he is, he needs to do something about it. Good thing he’s got 1 afternoon per week free after blocking off cram school and school committee stuff. So he decides to try some physical activity. How about tennis, then?
Well, it just so happens that a nearby tennis facility is offering free trial lessons. And it just so happens that one of the most beautiful girls in his school is a member of that facility. And thus begins Ei-chan’s venture into the world of tennis. Things are looking good, right?
The pilot episode manages to do a pretty good job of setting things up. It introduces our main characters who are decently likeable. The premise of an OC kid trying out tennis for health reasons is realistically presented with enough quirks to keep things from being boring. And it shows us a glimpse of the future Ei-chan playing tennis to give us a rough idea of what to expect from this show: a possibly highly technical moneyball-esque look at tennis.
If there’s something to complain about, it might be the visuals. The art isn’t really among the prettiest I’ve seen, as some shots and angles of the characters look awkward. Add that to the fact that the animated tennis sequences isn’t exactly blistering fast, and we’ve got some less than spectacular visual experience.
But all in all, it’s a breath of realistic fresh air from all the superpowers of Prince of Tennis.
Rating: 7/10
P.S.: The thing about the math problem is that the show says that Ei-chan solved the problem correctly, but he didn’t. The solution had a mistake in that there was a squared sign that shouldn’t be there. Technically, the process of his solution is correct, but he wrote down something wrong.
