Characters In Order of Appearance[]
- Takuma Egawa (flashback)
- Natsu Takasaki (flashback)
- Eiichiro Maruo (flashback)
- Eiichiro Maruo
- Natsu Takasaki
- Kojirou Kageyama
- Sanae Maruo
- Takuma Egawa
- Akiko Kosaka
- Yuki Tajima
- Coach Morimoto
- Yusaku Miura
Summary[]
Eiichiro is still hitting against the wall in order to recreate the "perfect shot" that he experienced before. As Eiichiro continues to work hard, Natsu is motivated to do her best as well and believes that one day, Eiichiro will become a really good tennis player. During one of Eiichiro's practice, he ends up in a challenge game against Takuma due to some circumstances.
Synopsis[]
Eiichiro sees Natsu and Takuma is about to kiss - turns out, Takuma helps Natsu to remove something from her eye. After Takuma leaves and Natsu is about to leave as well, she suddenly stops after she hears someone calls out Eiichiro and notices Eiichiro's presence as well. Later, she accompanies Eiichiro in his practice in returning the ball and learns that Eiichiro is actually keeping notes on tennis. While Eiichiro is flustered that Natsu will call his tennis notes weird, Natsu confirms that it is one form of mental training of some professional tennis players. After Natsu leaves, when Kageyama asks Eiichiro if Eiichiro likes Natsu, Eiichiro becomes shocked and embarrassed with the question. Seeing such reaction, Kageyama feels happy and teases Eiichiro. At Eiichiro's house, after finishing the homework, Eiichiro wonders what "to like someone" means and Natsu's comment before regarding studying.
Eiichiro being focused on his tennis practice
The following day, while Natsu prepares for her training, she hears someone practicing somewhere. Turns out, Eiichiro is working hard by practicing hits against the wall. This motivates Natsu to work hard as well for the day. On the court A, Takuma is scolded by Coach Miura as Takuma rests after winning his practice match. Suddenly, a ball goes to Takuma without warning but Takuma manages to catch it perfectly and and smirks at Coach Miura, as if ridiculing the coach. The coach's frustrations adds up when Takuma suddenly changes his mind and wants to join the practice as Natsu is present as well.
After the practice, Natsu decides to check if Eiichiro is practicing hits - and indeed, Eiichiro is still doing it. Eiichiro is so focused on his practice that he did not notice Natsu's presence. From his training, he manages to learn how to hit shots perfectly though he still needs a lot of practice and endurance. Later, Takuma appears and notices how Natsu keeps on paying attention on Eiichiro. Natsu then tells to Takuma that they have to work hard as well as Eiichiro is going to become a really good tennis player and will overtake them in the future. Takuma treats Natsu's words as a joke but he cannot help but to think about it a bit.
At school, while Eiichiro is helping his teacher, he sees Takuma being scolded by one of the teachers. As Takuma leaves, he passes Eiichiro and Eiichiro greets him, which surprises his teacher as he did not expect Eiichiro to know such "delinquent". In the classroom, Eiichiro and Kageyama talk on how Eiichiro is starting to enjoy tennis. In STC, Eiichiro is transferred to Court D and learns more tennis terminologies as he starts to play his first practice match with Tajima.
Eiichiro prepares for his challenge game against Takuma
After the practice match, Eiichiro learns that his primary weakness is his return. With his current condition, his return will definitely not work against fast serves. His coach then suggests to watch Takuma's serves in the court A as his serves are known to be one of the fastest. He decides to take notes on it and learns on how much things he has to adjust to hit such fast serves. After Takuma's serving practice, Eiichiro asks Takuma if Takuma is also aiming as a pro like most players in STC and he seems to be the best player in STC. However, Takuma, in his fury, grabs Eiichiro's shirt which surprises everyone on the other courts, as if a fight is about to start. Takuma is stopped only when Coach Miura intervenes. Eiichiro wants to know the reason Takuma suddenly becomes angry at him but Takuma tells him to forget what happened. Due to Eiichiro's insists, Takuma suggests a practice match in the form of Eiichiro has to return Takuma's serves once. If Eiichiro wins, he will learn the reason behind Takuma's anger but Takuma has to punch Eiichiro if Takuma wins.
Manga & Anime Differences[]
- While Kosaka already appeared, her first anime appearance looks different compared to future appearances.
- In the manga, Takuma asks Natsu if she wants any drink but Natsu declines while in the anime, Takuma tells Natsu that he will stop by to get a drink and Natsu replies that she will wait at the bus stop.
- In the anime, Takuma is told off by his teacher for skipping class and sleeping. In the manga, he was smoking cigarettes instead.
- The scoring system in tennis and the meaning of 'one set' are explained in the anime.
- In the manga, Tajima is not present in the courts when Takuma challenges Eiichiro to hit one of his serves while in the anime, he is.
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