In shonen stories there are often relationships between boys that aren't shonen-ai, but that are otherwise very significant and unexpectedly deep. In a sense, they are bromances. I see bromance as being a bit like a romance; the pair involved act in ways that are unfathomable to others but which make perfect sense to them.
One of these odd bromance-type, not easily defined relationships can be found in The Prince of Tennis between the protagonist Ryoma Echizen and Kunimitsu Tezuka, the captain of the school tennis club.
Ryoma Echizen is a short 12-year-old tennis prodigy. Born and raised in America, and already the winner of four American junior championships, when his family returns home to Japan Ryoma enrolls at Seishun Gakuen, or "Seigaku" for short, and joins the tennis club.
Ryoma is an odd shonen hero. He is taciturn, most of the time choosing to watch others and only reacting when provoked. Usually he will observe events, then get a little smirk on his face and say something snarky. Then he'll go beat someone at tennis. He is the most unexpressive shonen hero I've seen yet. His trademark saying is mada mada da ne, meaning approximately "you're not there yet" or "you're not ready yet." He usually uses this phrase on bullies (before he beats the pants off of them in tennis).
In the initial episodes, we first see team captain Tezuka standing on the sidelines, stone-faced, issuing one-word commands to his team. He speaks even less than Ryoma. (He's voiced by Ryotaro Okiayu, who also portrays Scar in Fullmetal Alchemist and Byakuya in Bleach, so that should give you an idea as to how aloof and unapproachable the character sounds.) Tezuka may look emotionless, but he cares fiercely about his team, preferring to show it through action rather than words. His typical saying is don't get careless or don't let your guard down.
(A side note on why everyone looks older than they're supposed to be: originally The Prince of Tennis was set in high school, but then it was switched to junior high. The character designs were never changed, however; and thus you have Tezuka - who looks not a day under 17 - and the other third-year junior high students supposedly being "14 years old." Everyone looks high-school age, in essence, with the exception of Ryoma.)
Despite his stern visage and adherence to formality, Tezuka actually breaks the rules for Ryoma practically from day one. Early on, seeing Ryoma's enormous potential, he challenges him to a secret tennis match in which he beats the freshman, leaving the younger boy panting on his knees on the ground. Across the net, Tezuka stares down at him and intones, "Echizen - become the pillar of support for Seigaku."
This statement is a clue as to why Tezuka treats Ryoma differently. In flashback, when Tezuka was a freshman, we see that a senior team member - angered by what he perceived as being Tezuka's arrogance - slammed a racket into his elbow. Tezuka was going to quit the club until then-captain Yamato told the brilliant young player to let go of this trivial event and "become the pillar of support for Seigaku." Tezuka then chose to remain, eventually becoming the selfless leader of Seigaku's tennis team as well as its top player.
So Tezuka views Ryoma as a younger version of himself; and everything that he does throughout the story is intended to mold Ryoma into the best player and person he can be, as well as possibly the future captain of Seigaku. And central to that view is Tezuka's perception that Ryoma, the son of a former tennis champion, is so blinded by competing with his father that he loses sight of the opponents that are right in front of him - which later leads to a critical moment in Ryoma's development.
Tezuka plays all out in a semi-final match, in part to show Ryoma by example what it means to put the team ahead of everything else. In the match, he injures his shoulder severely and goes to a rehab clinic in Germany to prepare for Seigaku's competition in the national tournament.
In an anime-only arc not featured in the manga, Seigaku's coach falls ill and calls Tezuka back from Germany to serve in her place at a training camp. The camp has been set up to choose the members of Japan's team who will play America's team in a junior high goodwill invitational tournament.
At the camp, Tezuka initially considers Ryoma for the team, but then he observes Ryoma's attitude. Ryoma has become complacent after winning an important match in the regional finals, and is considered by all to be a shoo-in to be chosen for the team. When he asks Tezuka for a rematch, Tezuka cryptically tells him that there are a lot of strong people in the world and that "someone who becomes distracted and doesn't fight seriously" has no chance of winning. Even when Ryoma learns that Kevin Smith, the American team captain, has a grudge against him and is playing dirty tennis against other junior high players - he lazily remarks that maybe he'll just ignore Kevin. Unknown to Ryoma, Tezuka overhears this, and it's the final straw. When the members are announced for Japan's team, Ryoma is not among them.
Riding the team bus home from camp, Ryoma's face is expressionless. When they get off the bus, however, someone tells him that Kevin Smith is playing tennis at the nearby park. Tezuka follows Ryoma to the park along with Kawamura, another Seigaku team member.
What happens next is one of those moments that truly seems WTF until you look at it in context. The best way to get the full impact is to watch the scene from the anime.
The WTF moment, if you need it to be specified (though I'm guessing you won't - it's very obvious) - comes at the 4:00 minute mark:
In case the embed fails, to recap what happens: Ryoma faces off against Kevin while ignoring Tezuka's orders to stop. When Tezuka finally grabs Ryoma's arm, Ryoma tells him to let go. Whereupon Tezuka backhands him across the face, sending the smaller boy sprawling to the ground.
This scene - which would be wildly out of place between any characters other than these two - somehow weirdly works because it's these two. For all of his seeming initial lack of reaction, Ryoma's passive-aggressive behavior in this scene shows how angry he actually is at Tezuka, and hurt at not being named to the team. Tezuka's act, while obviously extreme, fits in his role as Ryoma's mentor. In general he's trying to instill discipline and respect, but he's also hoping to bring Ryoma to his senses. In Tezuka's world of traditional Japanese hierarchy and order, Ryoma has already gone dangerously off the rails. And he's been trying to make a greater point to him for days now, but Ryoma hasn't been listening.
As the rest of the episode unfolds, Ryoma - still mutinous - continues to look for Kevin on neighborhood tennis courts, until finally he has only one place left he can go.
He goes to Tezuka's house late at night. Tezuka meets him in the foyer and asks Ryoma what he has come for:
Ryoma: I want to ask a favor.
Tezuka: What is it?
Ryoma: I... I do want to play in the Junior Invitational.
Tezuka: The members have already been chosen.
Ryoma: Then... What are you saying I should do? You won't let me play in the tournament and you won't let me play an unauthorized match. I - What am I supposed to do?
This is actually the most emotional we ever see Ryoma in the entire series. He's enormously frustrated and everything that Tezuka has been saying to him hasn't taken yet - but finally he's come to Tezuka. This is the teachable moment Tezuka has been waiting for.
As the conversation continues, Ryoma says he now understands that Tezuka was trying to get him to focus on his current opponents, and admits that his fighting spirit wasn't there. Now fired up over Kevin's challenge, he asks again to be placed on the team. When Tezuka again states that the team members have been chosen, Ryoma lowers his head in despair. Then - and only then - Tezuka mentions that the position of substitute is still open, with no guarantee that Ryoma would get to play - but the possibility would be there. Ryoma eagerly accepts the position.
We then see in flashback that Tezuka anticipated something like this and was ready for it. When the members were being chosen, Tezuka had already decided that Ryoma would be the substitute; but he had asked to be allowed to inform Ryoma of this later. In other words, Tezuka had been waiting for Ryoma to come to him once his attitude had changed. He was holding the news of his substitute position on the team until he was sure Ryoma deserved to hear it.
Towards the end of the series, Ryoma receives an unexpected invitation to the U.S. Open prelims just as Seigaku is about to compete in the national tournament. At first he tells the team that he'll forgo the U.S. Open and stay with Seigaku, but Tezuka knows better. Ryoma is clearly distracted, and forfeits a match against another team member because he is conflicted about his decision.
Later, Ryoma apologizes to Tezuka for forfeiting the match, saying that he doesn't want to fail to meet the captain's expectations to become "Seigaku's pillar of support." Perhaps surprisingly, Tezuka says that he never meant his statement to restrict Ryoma's future. He tells him that even if he goes to play in America that the team will take courage from his example; in essence saying to Ryoma that he will be a pillar of Seigaku no matter what he chooses to do. With this, Ryoma's mind clears, and he decides to compete in the U.S. Open.
In this relationship, we see Tezuka making sacrifices and putting in a great deal of thought as to how to treat Ryoma in ways that help him develop as a person and a team player. Although Ryoma's character doesn't change much in the story, practically the only growth he does experience is directly due to Tezuka's influence. The two silently understand one another...
... which to me is the essence of bromance. ;) In an anime series that isn't high on character development, this is the closest The Prince of Tennis comes to true depth.
2 comments:
Bromance is a funny subject, because I think it's a distinctly American coping mechanism. Other cultures already have outlets for this kind of male bonding, Japan included.
Prince of Tennis leaves me utterly bewildered. I just don't even know where to start; the massiveness of it frightens me. But I read this and did my best to follow along, and what you say makes sense. Cheers.
It's really hard for me to explain why I still have PoT on the brain, several months after I finished watching the anime. The storyline is completely predictable and the characterizations are not all that deep - including that of Ryoma, the hero, a protagonist who many fans say they don't even like very much.
For me, the PoT anime was entertaining and very easy to watch. It pulls you in easily, but that still doesn't explain why it lingers(?). Thanks for reading.
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