He does not go easy on himself and pushes himself more, rather than letting himself rest.
He is specifically a singles player, though he did try doubles once with teammate Momoshiro Takeshi.
After seeing how bad he was at doubles, Coach Ryūzaki usually placed him in the S3 (Singles 3) ou S2 (Singles 2) position.
When captain Tezuka Kunimitsu goes away for rehabilitation for his arm, Ryoma and teammate Fuji Shūsuke take turns for the S1 (Singles 1) position.
In the Nationals, Ryoma often found himself placed in the S1 position nearly every match.
Ryoma has a habit of forgetting people that he finds insignificant ou met for a brief moment.
The first person he forgets is Sakuno which saddens her.
Another person he forgets is Sasabe and his father.
He also forgot Sengoku as they met just briefly.
Whether he does this on purpose is as of yet unknown.
His catchphrase (and favori phrase) in the Japanese animé is "Mada Mada Dane", literally meaning "No, not yet" ou "Not good enough", although the literal translation in Japanese is "You still have lots plus to work on".
In the American version, it is translated as "You still have a ways to go".
In the Prince of tennis movie tennis no Ōjisama - Futari no Samurai, Ryoma supposedly has an older brother named Ryōga Echizen, but the latter is later revealed to simply be a child that Nanjirō took in a few years ago.
Ryoma can be quite arrogant at times, but is usually able to back up his statements with his tennis skills.
He is usually distrustful of other tennis players, and often provokes his opponent before a match.
In the beginning of the series, Ryoma is not taken seriously par the other students at his school, especially at the Seishun tennis Club.
It is only after he beats two of Seishun's regulars (Kaoru Kaidō and Sadaharu Inui) that he gains respect from fellow club members.
He is also unafraid almost to the point of recklessness, but rarely gets angry ou out of control.
In the TeniPuri family chibi episodes, Ryoma is the eldest son of the family and always creates all sorts of troubles.
In other chibi episodes, he is mostly shown very skilled.
At the beginning of the series, all of Ryoma's tennis skills are a copy of his father's.
With the help of his team captain, Kunimitsu Tezuka, Ryoma realizes his need to develop his own style of tennis if he intends to reach his goal and defeat his father.
With each match, it becomes apparent that Ryoma not only brings his potential to the front, but that he is constantly reaching a new point in the state of self-actualization – especially so during crucial points in a match.
Although he vues each opponent as a stepping stone of advancement, Tezuka soon becomes the mur that Ryoma has set up for himself in order to achieve actual greatness.
Although Ryoma has a rather tunneled vision as to whom he considers a rival (his father, Tezuka, and Fuji), there are many that view the first an as just that.
One of the plus notable examples of this in the animé is Kevin Smith, the son of the tennis coach George Smith, who was defeated par Nanjiro Echizen fifteen years il y a in defense of George's pupil Rinko Takeuchi, who becomes Ryoma's mother.
Kevin appears later in the series in the "friendly" match between the U.S.A West Coast Region and the Japon Kanto Region.
Kevin became obsessed with wanting to play Ryoma because of their pasts, whereas in the beginning Ryoma regarded Kevin's threats with a rather unconcerned attitude until he saw him play against Yamabuki's Jin Akutsu in the streets.
Tezuka was unimpressed with Ryoma's attitude toward the matches, and as a result, Ryoma is forced to earn his place as a reserve player.
Ryoma also cares much about his family cat Karupin.
In episode 27, Karupin follows Ryoma to school after he accidentally packs its toy into his bag.
After he discovers the fact, he frantically searches for his cat around the district.
Also, Karupin had followed Ryoma to the US Open tournament par sneaking into Ryoma's bag.
He has many girl fans that are so obsessed with him.
He currently doesn't montrer any interest in girls because of his dedication toward tennis.
Occasionally, he has been seen dismissing them.
Although his apathetic nature, he does montrer Sakuno his genuine concern.
In the anime, he has saved her from time to time.
In the manga (Chapter 306), he threw a tennis ball at a thief for making the prepared nourriture she made drop onto the floor.
He defeated everyone that he battled except against his captain, Tezuka.
It should be noted that while he inherited his fathers tennis skills and cockiness, his way of thinking seems to be plus similar to his mother as he is shown to be quite serious, studious, and silent when possible.
He is specifically a singles player, though he did try doubles once with teammate Momoshiro Takeshi.
After seeing how bad he was at doubles, Coach Ryūzaki usually placed him in the S3 (Singles 3) ou S2 (Singles 2) position.
When captain Tezuka Kunimitsu goes away for rehabilitation for his arm, Ryoma and teammate Fuji Shūsuke take turns for the S1 (Singles 1) position.
In the Nationals, Ryoma often found himself placed in the S1 position nearly every match.
Ryoma has a habit of forgetting people that he finds insignificant ou met for a brief moment.
The first person he forgets is Sakuno which saddens her.
Another person he forgets is Sasabe and his father.
He also forgot Sengoku as they met just briefly.
Whether he does this on purpose is as of yet unknown.
His catchphrase (and favori phrase) in the Japanese animé is "Mada Mada Dane", literally meaning "No, not yet" ou "Not good enough", although the literal translation in Japanese is "You still have lots plus to work on".
In the American version, it is translated as "You still have a ways to go".
In the Prince of tennis movie tennis no Ōjisama - Futari no Samurai, Ryoma supposedly has an older brother named Ryōga Echizen, but the latter is later revealed to simply be a child that Nanjirō took in a few years ago.
Ryoma can be quite arrogant at times, but is usually able to back up his statements with his tennis skills.
He is usually distrustful of other tennis players, and often provokes his opponent before a match.
In the beginning of the series, Ryoma is not taken seriously par the other students at his school, especially at the Seishun tennis Club.
It is only after he beats two of Seishun's regulars (Kaoru Kaidō and Sadaharu Inui) that he gains respect from fellow club members.
He is also unafraid almost to the point of recklessness, but rarely gets angry ou out of control.
In the TeniPuri family chibi episodes, Ryoma is the eldest son of the family and always creates all sorts of troubles.
In other chibi episodes, he is mostly shown very skilled.
At the beginning of the series, all of Ryoma's tennis skills are a copy of his father's.
With the help of his team captain, Kunimitsu Tezuka, Ryoma realizes his need to develop his own style of tennis if he intends to reach his goal and defeat his father.
With each match, it becomes apparent that Ryoma not only brings his potential to the front, but that he is constantly reaching a new point in the state of self-actualization – especially so during crucial points in a match.
Although he vues each opponent as a stepping stone of advancement, Tezuka soon becomes the mur that Ryoma has set up for himself in order to achieve actual greatness.
Although Ryoma has a rather tunneled vision as to whom he considers a rival (his father, Tezuka, and Fuji), there are many that view the first an as just that.
One of the plus notable examples of this in the animé is Kevin Smith, the son of the tennis coach George Smith, who was defeated par Nanjiro Echizen fifteen years il y a in defense of George's pupil Rinko Takeuchi, who becomes Ryoma's mother.
Kevin appears later in the series in the "friendly" match between the U.S.A West Coast Region and the Japon Kanto Region.
Kevin became obsessed with wanting to play Ryoma because of their pasts, whereas in the beginning Ryoma regarded Kevin's threats with a rather unconcerned attitude until he saw him play against Yamabuki's Jin Akutsu in the streets.
Tezuka was unimpressed with Ryoma's attitude toward the matches, and as a result, Ryoma is forced to earn his place as a reserve player.
Ryoma also cares much about his family cat Karupin.
In episode 27, Karupin follows Ryoma to school after he accidentally packs its toy into his bag.
After he discovers the fact, he frantically searches for his cat around the district.
Also, Karupin had followed Ryoma to the US Open tournament par sneaking into Ryoma's bag.
He has many girl fans that are so obsessed with him.
He currently doesn't montrer any interest in girls because of his dedication toward tennis.
Occasionally, he has been seen dismissing them.
Although his apathetic nature, he does montrer Sakuno his genuine concern.
In the anime, he has saved her from time to time.
In the manga (Chapter 306), he threw a tennis ball at a thief for making the prepared nourriture she made drop onto the floor.
He defeated everyone that he battled except against his captain, Tezuka.
It should be noted that while he inherited his fathers tennis skills and cockiness, his way of thinking seems to be plus similar to his mother as he is shown to be quite serious, studious, and silent when possible.
He is greatly admired par his classmates (although he falls asleep in his English classes).
Sport other than tennis that he is also skilled in is table, tableau tennis (Tennis vs Ping Pong), bowling (Prince of Bowling), and billiards (The Prince of Billiards).
His abilities in plage volleyball, however, may be questioned.
When the Seigaku students go to the plage during the animé series, Ryoma plays well when paired with Kaidoh (Cheap Housing plage Volleyball).
However, he plays quite poorly in the OVA when paired with Tezuka.
In the same event in the manga, Ryoma, paired with Rokkaku's Kentaro Aoi, plays decently only after activating Muga no Kyōchi.
It is possible however, that the seconde time, they were using a plage ball, which was too light for any tennis related moves.
Ryoma faces Tanishi Kei in Singles 3, and shows his souvenir from America - the COOL Drive.
Ryoma continuously uses Drive C which everyone believes to be his COOL Drive, but he reveals that his COOL Drive has twice the spin of Drive Cs.
However, Tanishi's Big Bang Serve allows him to win all of his service games, while Ryoma manages to win all of his, forcing a tiebreak.
It is there that Ryoma manages to return the Big Bang Serve.
Ryoma had not let on to the fact that the serve had been weakening in power as the games progressed; as such, Tanishi was unaware of his own weakness, allowing Ryoma to get a return ace.
Finally montrer the true COOL Drive, Tanishi attempts to return it before it can land, however, when the ball hits Tanishi's raquet the amazing spin he puts on it forces the ball to greatly hit Tanishi's face.
Ryoma takes the first win for Seigaku.
Ryoma usually slides up near the net and then jumps to perform the Drive B.
However, during his match against Aoi Kentarō, Ryoma also uses a Drive B when he is still sliding on the ground.
He then uses the force made par the ball to go even faster.
Though it grants him plus speed, this version lacks the regular Drive B height; due to the topsin, it curves towards the ground instead of going out.
It may be defeated par direct smash.
This is Ryoma's first original shot (as opposed to moves he copies from other players), and is first used in his match against Fuji Yūta.
Besides the twist serve, it probably is his most notable shot, In the English dub, it has been renamed Drive V.
However, after throwing the ball up into the air to serve it, the body jumps vers l'avant, vers l’avant to hit the ball, resulting in a fast serve.
It's not his serve at all, Matsudaira Chikao, who is in Court 10, used his 'best and fastest' serve, which Ryoma, in return, commenté how slow it was, and used it after letting Matsudaira enjoy his 10 minutes of fame.
Echizen Ryoma
Kanji -
越前 リョーマ
Romaji -
Echizen Ryōma
Nicknames -
Prince of Tennis
Samurai Jr.
Super Rookie of the East
Super Freshman
Seigaku's Pillar of Support
Ochibi (by Kikumaru Eiji)
Chibisuke (Ryoga Echizen)
Brat (by Akutsu Jin)
Koshimae (Kintarō Tōyama)
tennis No Ojisama (by Keigo Atobe)
Seishonen (by Nanjirō Echizen)
Samurai (by Ken)
Heralded Newcomer (by Arai Masashi)
School and Class -
Seishun Academy (1st Year), 1-2 #4
Height (cm) and Blood Type -
151, O
Birthday -
December 24
Notable Relatives -
Nanjiro Echizen (Father)
Rinko Echizen (Mother)
Ryoga Echizen (Brother)
Nanako Meino (Cousin)
In the OVA, Ryoma tried to use the twist serve in a slanted court, which resulted in the bounce of the serve being too weak and making it easy to return (basically, it failed
Ryoma then adjusted his grip to make the twist serve bounce as it would normally in a court, and when used in a regular court, it became an irregular bounce.
He uses it on Sasabe - the older brother.
*It only appears in The Prince Of tennis OVA Episode 27, which most known as The Prince Of tennis OVA: A jour On Survival Mountain
He played in Singles 3, beating Yuuta Fuji 6-4.
It was during this match that he invented Drive B, his first original signature shot.
He also utilized the Super Rising, but it was not perfected.
In the semi-finals, Ryoma did not get to play as Ginka forfeited because of a "stomach ache" (they were afraid of Seigaku's regulars).
In the finals, against Yamabuki, he played in Singles 2, beating Yamabuki's Jin Akutsu 6-4, leading his team to the Kanto tournament.
It was in this stage that Ryoma perfected the Super Rising and invented a new shot, Drive A.
It was here that Ryoma had his revenge (Akutsu had come to Seigaku and served rocks at Echizen and cut his face).