Theatre / The Prince of Tennis

Seigaku's 4th Cast. 2007

The Prince of Tennis Musical (ミュージカル・テニスの王子様 Myūjikaru Tenisu no Ōji-sama), also known as "TeniPuri Musical," "Tenimyu," or "GekiPuri" (Stage Prince), is a series of live action stage musicals directed by Yukio Ueshima based on manga series The Prince of Tennis created by Takeshi Konomi and serialized by Shueisha in Weekly Shonen Jump.

What Sera Myu is for the Sailor Moon franchise, Tenimyu is for Tenipri. These musicals have become a veritable cash cow in of themselves since their origins in 2003, and have been one of the major places aspiring male idols or young male stage actors get to shine. With a run of seventeen years and counting, Tenimyu shows no signs of stopping.

In 2020, the musical franchise began adapting Shin Prince of Tennis, starting in December.

The Musicals, in order of performance are as follows:

Musical: The Prince of Tennis

Season 1 (2003 - 2010)

• Musical The Prince of Tennis. 30 April – 5 May 2003
• Musical The Prince of Tennis: The Remarkble 1st Match Fudomine. 31 December 2003 – 5 January 2004
• Musical The Prince of Tennis: More than Limit St. Rudolph. 29 July – 15 August 2004
• Musical The Prince of Tennis: Side Fudomine. 29 December 2004 – 2 January 2005
• Musical The Prince of Tennis: Side Yamabuki. 8–23 January 2005
• Musical The Prince of Tennis: Imperial Match Hyoutei in Summer. 8–20 August 2005
• Musical The Prince of Tennis: The Imperial Match Hyoutei in Winter. 19 December 2005 – 2 January 2006
• Musical The Prince of Tennis: Advancement Match Rokkaku. 3–25 August 2006
• Musical The Prince of Tennis: Absolute King Rikkaidai ~1st Service. 13 December 2006 – 27 January 2007
• Musical The Prince of Tennis: Absolute King Rikkaidai ~2nd Service. 2 August – 9 September 2007
• Musical The Prince of Tennis: The Progressive Match Higa. 12 December 2007 – 11 February 2008
• Musical The Prince of Tennis: The Imperial Presence Hyoutei. 29 July 2008 – 3 November 2008
• Musical The Prince of Tennis: The Treasure Match Shitenhouji. 13 December 2008 – 31 March 2009
• Musical The Prince of Tennis: The Final Match Rikkaidai First. 30 July 2009 – 4 October 2009
• Musical The Prince of Tennis: The Final Match Rikkaidai Second. 17 December 2009 – 14 March 2010

Season 2 (2011 - 2014)

• Seigaku VS Fudomine. 5 January 2011 – 11 February 2011
• Seigaku VS St. Rudolph/Yamabuki. 31 March 2011 – 15 May 2011
• Seigaku VS Hyoutei. 15 July 2011 – 24 September 2011
• Dream Live 2011. 5–13 November 2011
• Seigaku VS Rokkaku. 17 December 2011 – 12 February 2012
• Spring Undoukai 2012. 13 May 2012
• Seigaku VS Rikkai. 13 July 2012 – 23 September 2012
• Seigaku Farewell Party. 11 October 2012 – 14 October 2012
• Seigaku VS Higa. 20 December 2012 – 17 February 2013
• National Tournament Seigaku VS Hyoutei. 11 July 2013 - 29 September 2013
• Seigaku VS Shitenhouji. 19 December 2013 – 2 March 2014
• Spring Undoukai 2014. 26 April 2014
• National Tournament Seigaku VS Rikkai. 12 July 2014 - 28 September 2014

Season 3 (2015 - 2020)

• Seigaku VS Fudomine. 13 February 2015 - 17 May 2015
• Seigaku VS St. Rudolph. 5 September 2015 - 3 November 2015
• Seigaku VS Yamabuki. 24 December 2015 - 21 February 2016
• Seigaku VS Hyoutei. 14 July 2016 - 25 September 2016
• Seigaku VS Rokkaku. 22 December 2016 - 12 February 2017
• Seigaku VS Rikkai. 14 July 2017 - 1 October 2017
• Seigaku VS Higa. 21 December 2017 - 18 February 2018
• National Tournament Seigaku VS Hyoutei. 12 July 2018 - 22 July 2018
• Seigaku VS Shitenhoji. 20 December 2018 - 17 February 2019
• Seigaku VS Rikkai First Half. 11 July 2019 - 29 September 2019
• Seigaku VS Rikkai Second Half. 19 December 2019 - 16 February 2020

Musical: New Prince of Tennis

• The First Stage (15 Dec 2020 - )

Concerts

Dream Lives

• Musical The Prince of Tennis: Dream Live 1st. 13 June 2004
• Musical The Prince of Tennis: Dream Live 2nd. 4 May 2005
• Musical The Prince of Tennis: Dream Live 3rd. 28–29 March 2006
• Musical The Prince of Tennis: Dream Live 4th. 30–31 March 2007, 17–20 May 2007
• Musical The Prince of Tennis: Dream Live 5th. 17–18 May 2008, 24–25 May 2008
• Musical The Prince of Tennis: Dream Live 6th. 2–3 May 2009, 9–10 May 2009
• Musical The Prince of Tennis: Dream Live 7th. 7–9 May 2010, 20–23 May 2010
• Dream Live 2013. 27 April 2013 - 5 May 2013
• Dream Live 2014. 15 November 2014 - 24 November 2014
• Dream Live 2016. 13 May 2016 - 22 May 2016
• Dream Live 2017. 26 May 2017 - 28 May 2017

Team Parties

• Team Live Seigaku. 10 June 2015 - 28 June 2015
• Team Live Fudomine. 29 July 2015 - 9 August 2015
• Team Live St. Rudolph and Yamabuki. 17 March 2016 - 3 April 2016
• Team Live Hyoutei. 12 April 2016 - 16 April 2016
• Team Party Seigaku and Rokkaku. 26 October 2017 - 5 November 2017
• Team Party Rikkai. 5 April 2018 - 8 April 2018

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This show provides examples of:

• Adaptation Distillation: Each installment of Tenimyu does a great job of condensing an entire arc of the manga into a two-hour musical. For the Rikkai arcs in the 1st Season, it took two musicals for each.
  • Even the Dream Lives represent some of the gag fillers from the manga. Dream Live 1st showcases the Bowling Tournament, Dream Live 4rd has the Seigaku-Rokkaku Beach Volley match and Dream Live 6th shows the Yakiniku Tournament between Seigaku, Higa, Shitenhouji, and Hyotei.
  • Adaptation Dye-Job: While some of the wigs resemble the original manga coloring (Saeki's honey brown hair instead of silver-black, Yagyuu's brown hair instead of purple, etc), there are also looks taken from the Anime version (Atobe's lavender hair, Ohtori's white hair, Jiroh being a redhead in the 2nd season, Kenya's dirty blond-light brown instead of his original lighter blond, etc.)
  • Adapted Out: All the female characters are not included in the Musicals. Partially Averted in the Shitenhouji Musical, where Sakuno does appear... played by one of the actors in drag.
    • Even though Seigaku has a brief match against Midoriyama, the Musicals skip directly from Hyotei to Rokkaku, alluding to it in a recap song.
• All Musicals Are Adaptations
• Ascended Extra: Compared to the manga, the Freshmen Trio has larger roles and musical numbers.
  • In 2nd Season, some minor characters are added, like Uchimura and Mori from Fudomine and Taki from Hyotei.
• Breather Episode: The Dream Live Concerts can be considered this since they're random events that don't count as canon in the musicals, but serve as "variety shows" for both the cast and the fans.
• Bowdlerise: In the 4th Dream Live, the beach-volley mini-arc is staged, including the accidental de-pant of Inui. Right when they pull Inui's pants down, Inui covers his butt with his notebook (Nakayama Masei was wearing an illusion net, anyway).
• But Not Too Foreign: The cast had half-Japanese actors during the 1st Season run.
  • Shirota Yuu (Segaku 2 Tezuka) is half-Spanish.
  • Irei Kanata (Rokkaku 1 Saeki) is half-Chilean.
  • Shiozaki Airu (Rokkaku 1 Davide) is half-Irish.
  • Luke Crawford (Higa 1 Kite) is half-American.
  • Yuki Jutta (Rikkai 1 Jackal) is half-brazilian.
• Cast Full of Pretty Boys: True to the nature of the original series, all the actors are young idols.
• The Cast Show Off: All teams have at least one professional singer, the most famous being Kimeru (who played Fuji Shusuke, and did themes for the anime) and Kato Kazuki (Atobe).
  • During the curtain calls, some of the boys might do a flip to impress the crowd.
• Celebrity Paradox, Actor Allusion: Discussed and Played with in the Dream Live 1st, where Tenimyu!Ibu meets Momoshiro (played by Moriyama Eiji), who is also Ibu Shinji's voice in the anime. And also Fuji sings the 1st ending and 3rd Opening.
• Counterpoint Duet: Most notably "Ikkiuchi" (only featured for "The Imperial Match Hyotei in Winter"), which has Atobe singing the tune of "Koori no Emperor", while Tezuka sings "Yuudan Sezu ni Ikou" during their dramatic match.
• Creator Cameo: Yukio Ueshima (the director and choreographer) plays both Nanjiro Echizen and coach Tarou Sakaki during the first season.
• Dance Battler: Since it's a musical, expect some of the matches to become this.
  • Since many of the actors are professional dancers, Dream Live concerts always have a Dance Battle between each team, represented by the best.
    • Dream Live 2 has one with Aiba Hiroki vs. Endou Yuuya.
    • Dream Live 3 features one with Aoyagi Ruito and Yabuki Takuya vs. Aiba Hiroki and Adachi Osamu.
• The Determinator: Yanagi Kotarou, the first actor for Echizen Ryoma, suffered a car accident close to the premiere of Remarkable 1st Match Fudomine. Doctors predicted he would never be able to walk again. Not only did he prove them wrong, but he came back to perform as Echizen in the second generation cast, despite his abilities being much more limited due to his injuries. The directors and choreographers even specifically tailored the performance so that it wouldn't overstep his limitations, even though they could've easily just hired someone who was completely physically fit.
• Eyes Always Shut: Since Yanagi Renji is supposed to have his eyes closed, it's averted for practical effects by Ono Kento (the first Yanagi). Played straight with Yamaoki Yuuki, who had his eyes closed every time he could.
• "I Am" Song: While every team has one (Seigaku has one for every musical), an Individual example is Yuuta's song "Ore wa Ore no Namae de Yobaretai"
• Ink-Suit Actor:
  • Kamakari Kenta (the first Shishido) had A LOT in common with Shishido, which is also mentioned during a backstage interview (both are 172 cm height, B+ bloodtypes, play billiards, etc.)
  • Date Koji (the first Ohtori) also was a National Ranked Tennis player when he was in high school, and, like Ohtori, is very good at instruments (Date, however, is more rocker while Ohtori is more classically inclined).
  • Yuki Jutta (Rikkai 1 Jackal) is also half-brazilian.
• Large Ham: While covering the manga storyline, the actors always find a way to be goofy and over the top. This is especially played during the Dream Live Concerts, where everything is allowed.
• Leitmotif: All teams have one representative tune.
  • Hyotei's themes. They have at least 6 for the whole franchise, not counting individual songs (Atobe alone has at least 4 themes for himself).
  • Rikkaidai also has as many themes as Hyotei or Seigaku.
• Limited Wardrobe: Played straight for the regular musicals with a few exceptions during the play, since the most common outfits will be tennis uniforms or regular school uniforms.
  • Averted for the Dream Live concerts, where the characters have special outfits (casual clothes or themed costumes for special songs).
• Minor Character, Major Song: Every notable secondary character has one, but a more accurate example are The Freshmen Trio (Horio, Kachiro, and Katsuo), who have a song in every musical.
• The Musical: A big stage case for a series about pretty boys playing tennis.
• Passing the Torch: The graduations serve to give a send-off to the current actors and give the role to newer talents.
  • The Bus Came Back: In some cases past actors returned to reprise their roles:
    • After his recovery from the accident, Yanagi Kotaroh returned as Ryoma right for Dream Live 2nd, until he properly graduated with the rest of the 2nd cast.
    • After already graduating from their roles, Kousuke Kujirai returned as Kaidoh for Advancement Match Rokkaku when the original actor dropped out. Hiroki Aiba also returned as Fuji Shusuke for The Imperial Presence Hyoutei to replace the actor for the Seigaku Cast B.
    • The Imperial Presence Hyoutei had a special show exclusively for Tokyo that gathered the original Hyotei cast ^note (except for Date Koji as Ohtori, who had to be recasted).
    • The Original Seigaku First Cast returned for the Dream Live 7th, which was also the last production of the 1st Season.
    • In New Prince of Tennis, actors from the first season return in different roles.
    • Kento Ono (the first Renji) plays Kazuya Tokugawa.
    • Hiroki Aiba returns once again, but this time playing Kanata Irie (who he also voices in the anime) along with Kazuaki Yasue as a double cast.
    • Eiji Moriyama (the first Momoshiro) returns but plays Nanjiro.
    • Luke Yosuke Crawford (the first Kite) plays Ralph Rhinehart (USA Team)
• Previously on…: In both 2nd parts of the Rikkaidai tournaments of the 1st season.
  • Right at the beginning of Absolute King Rikkai feat. Rokkaku ~ Second Service, "Omaera...Gakeppuchi Giri Giri" recaps the two doubles match from the previous play, performed by Rikkaidai.
  • In The Final Match Rikkai Second feat. The Rivals, the song "Highlight" resumes all the important games between Rikkaidai and Seigaku, right before Ryoma's final match against Yukimura.
• Regional Riff: Most notably Higa's "Minami no Shima kara kita Shikaku" and "Dark Horse", both songs based on Okinawa folk tunes.
• Set Switch Song: Usually present before the 2nd act, where the tournaments take place.
• Screen-to-Stage Adaptation: The first installment of Tenimyu back in 2003 was the first of a ridiculously popular series of musical adaptations of the manga. Each consecutive musical focuses on the matches against each of the rival teams that Seigaku faces, and is surprisingly faithful to the original story. To date, Tenimyu has had over a dozen different installments, several Dream Lives (concerts that are outside the sequence of the story), and has helped launch the careers of a plethora of Japanese pop-culture idols.
• Special Guest:
  • Every once in a while, Takeshi Konomi, the author of the manga, is invited to stage during the curtain call.
  • The Original Seigaku 1st cast starred in the Dream Live 7th. Yoshitsugu Abe (Kawamura 1st A) was unable, so Eiki Kitamura (Kawamura 1st B) replaced him. Many of the past actors were also invited on stage As Himself in different days.
  • Dream Live 2013 had special guests in different dates: Sasaki Yoshihide (Shiraishi B), Wada Takuma (Tezuka 6th), Furukawa Yuuta (Fuji 4th), Kimeru (Fuji 1st), Mamoru Miyano (Ishida Tetsu A), Nakagauchi Masataka (Niou A), Yanagi Koratoh (Ryoma 1st), Moriyama Eiji (Momoshiro 1st), Tsuchiya Yuichi (Oishi 1st), Takahashi Ryuki (Ryoma 5th), Irei Kanata (Saeki A) and Kato Kazuki (Atobe A).
• Spontaneous Choreography: Often there would be a musical number with a choreography in the middle of a game.
• "They've Come So Far" Song: Fudomine's Song "Shinken Shoubu to wa Sou Iu Koto" ("This is what We Call an Earnest Fight").
• To Be Continued: Absolute King Rikkaidai ~1st Service ends in a cliffhanger after the doubles matches, with the song "Next", which teases the upcoming singles games in ~2nd Service.
  • There's another one for The Final Match Rikkaidai First, which ends before the Ryoma vs. Yukimura game.
• Token Minority: 1st Season featured as alternates taiwanese actor Li Yong En (Hyotei B's Ohtori) for the Taiwan Overseas show, while korean actor Kon Teyu (Seigaku 4's Kawamura) for the Korea Overseas show.
• Triumphant Reprise: All the musicals end in one.
• Villain Song:
  • Akutsu's song "Ore ni Sashizu Suru na!", while he beats up anyone on his path.
  • Higa's "Minami no Shima kara kita Shikaku" and "Dark Horse"
  • Season 2's "Seigaku vs. St. Rudolph & Yamabuki" features a medley of Hand in Hand and another original song Marionette, which is clearly Mizuki's villain song.