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Prince of Tennis Musical Tops 2,000 Performances
posted on by Kim Morrissy
The Prince of Tennis stage musical series celebrated its 2,000th performance on Saturday, after almost 20 years on stage. The cast celebrated the occasion with a special curtain call. Actor Hikaru Imamaki (Ryōma Echizen) commented: "Last year, we cracked the 3 million visitor milestone, and now we've achieved 2,000 performances. I am so happy that we were able to achieve this."
He thanked the fans, staff, and previous actors for their support, and expressed his hope that the series would reach 3,000 or 4,000 performances.
The stage musical series began with its first season in 2003. The fourth season launched in September 2020 with a new creative staff. The sequel series, The Prince of Tennis II, was first adapted to stage in 2020, and it will hold its first live event in October.
Takeshi Konomi serialized The Prince of Tennis manga's original run in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine from 1999 to 2008. The manga follows middle school tennis player Ryōma Echizen as he battles rivals to reach the national tournament. That original manga inspired various anime projects.
Konomi then launched The Prince of Tennis II manga series in Shueisha's Jump SQ. magazine in 2009. The story picks up after the national tournament, when Ryōma joins a select group of middle school players at Japan's top training camp for players under 17. This ongoing sequel manga spawned its own 2012 television anime series The Prince of Tennis II. The Prince of Tennis II OVA vs. Genius 10 series then ran for five volumes from October 2014 to June 2015. The Shin Tennis no Ōji-sama U-17 World Cup (The Prince of Tennis II: U-17 World Cup) anime series debuted on July 6 at 24:00 (effectively, July 7 at midnight).
Source: Comic Natalie
