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Musical: The Prince of Tennis
Logo
Music	Toshihiko Sahashi
Lyrics	Yuuji Mitsuya
Basis	The Prince of Tennis by Takeshi Konomi
Premiere	2003
Productions	2003–2010 (1st Season) 2011–2014 (2nd Season) 2015-2020 (3rd Season) 2021-present (4th Season)

Musical: Prince of Tennis (ミュージカル・テニスの王子様, Myūjikaru Tenisu no Ōji-sama), also known as TenniMu (テニミュ, TeniMyu) for short, is a series of live action stage musicals directed by Yukio Ueshima based on the manga series The Prince of Tennis created by Takeshi Konomi and serialized by Shueisha in Weekly Shōnen Jump.

The first musical premièred in the Golden Week of 2003,^[1][2] and the unexpected popularity, especially among girls,^[3] and requests for merchandise of the show encouraged Marvelous Entertainment to follow through with the series. Each new show covers an arc of the manga storyline, though adaptations to the original story were made to fit the format. Female characters were removed, and irrelevant scenes or minor arcs were cut to move the plot forward.^[2]

At the start of the production, tickets did not sell out and the type of production was merely an experiment. Manga-based musicals were not frequently seen, if at all.^[2][4] However, the musicals soon became popular via word-of-mouth and social media enough to demand for double casting of characters to handle the number of performances and to allow for overseas performances in Korea and Taiwan. In addition multiple shows were live streamed into theatres all around the country to make up for the lack of enough seats in the actual venue.^[2] Even Europe got a taste of the production, when three of the actors (namely Ryousuke Katou, Shintarou Akiyama and Yuuichirou Hirata) hit Paris to attend the 10th edition of the Japan Expo in 2009^[5][6]

In May 2010, after 7 years, 22 musicals, 5 main casts and about 150 different actors had passed,^[1] the "first season" came to an end with the last performance of Dream Live 7th on the 23rd. Not too long after the end of the first season the start of a "second season" was commenced.^[7] The shows featured a completely new cast and a new script, but covered the same arcs as the first season.^[1] Following the end of the second season in 2014 a "third season" was made; similar to the second season, it featured a completely new cast and a new script, but covered the same arcs. The 3rd season commenced in February 2015 and ended in May 2020.

Synopsis

12-year-old tennis prodigy Ryoma Echizen returns to live with his father in Japan after winning the American Junior Tournament four consecutive times. He enrolls in Seishun Academy (known as "Seigaku" for short) and joins its famous tennis team, who strives to win the National Middle School Tennis Tournament. Though Ryoma immediately becomes a regular on the team, he begins to develop his own tennis style and discover what the sport means to him as he encounters new friendships and obstacles during his journey to reach the top.

Principal roles and cast members

Seigaku