A new teaser trailer and key visual for The Prince of Tennis II: U-17 World Cup have been revealed, highlighting the upcoming anime's international flare.
As reported by Crunchyroll, the visual and trailer were dropped during AnimeJapan 2022, giving fans a glimpse of the anime's many new characters who will come from all over the world. Several voice actors behind these characters were revealed as well, including Kentaro Tone (Haikyu!! To The Top) who will voice Jürgen Barrisavich Bork of Germany, Tomokazu Seki (Great Pretender) as Zeus Iriopoulos of Greece and Subaru Kimura (Tokyo Revengers) as JJ Dolgias of Australia. Kazuyuki Okitsu (Overlord) and Natsuki Hanae (Rust-Eater Bisco) will voice Alexander Amadeus of Switzerland and Prince Ludwig Chardar of France, respectively.
These voice actors join several members of the original Prince of Tennis cast, who have been confirmed to reprise their classic roles for The Prince of Tennis II: U-17 World Cup. This includes Junko Minagawa (Black Clover) as protagonist Ryoma Echizen, Ryōtarō Okiayu (Shaman King) as Kunimitsu Tezuka and Junichi Suwabe (The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window) as Keigo Atobe.
The Prince of Tennis manga series by Takeshi Konomi was originally between 1999 and 2008 in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. The story follows tennis prodigy Ryoma as he and other members of Seishun Academy's tennis club endeavor to win the National Middle School Tennis Championship. The manga was adapted into 178-episode anime series by Trans Arts, which initially aired from 2001 to 2005.
Seemingly following the events of Konomi's The Prince of Tennis II sequel manga, The Prince of Tennis II: U-17 World Cup will be set after the national tournament depicted in the original anime and will see Ryoma participate in an intense, meritocratic training camp. It is directed by Keiichiro Kawaguchi (Sket Dance) with Mitsutaka Hirota (Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS) overseeing the series composition, Akiharu Ishii (Blood+) designing the characters and Daisuke Hiraki (My Dress-Up Darling) handling the editing.
The Prince of Tennis II: U-17 World Cup is scheduled to premiere in July 2022 after the release of another entry in the Prince of Tennis franchise, Ryoma! The Prince of Tennis. While Ryoma! The Prince of Tennis originally premiered in Japan in 2021, it is set to make its theatrical debut in the United States on May 12. Directed by Hiroshi Koujina (The Vampire Dies in No Time), the movie follows Ryoma as he is transported back in time to when his father competed in his infamous tennis match at the US Open.
The first 50 episodes of the original Prince of Tennis anime series are available to stream on Hulu.
Source: Crunchyroll, YouTube
