Genichirou Sanada
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| Genichirou Sanada (真田弦一郎) |
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Genichirou Sanada (真田弦一郎 Sanada Genichirou?) is a fictional character in the anime and manga The Prince of Tennis.
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[edit] Personality
Sanada is a third year at Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku (Rikkaidai), where he is the vice-captain. Currently, he is also the temporary captain for Seiichi Yukimura, who is hospitalized because of Guillain-Barre Syndrome. Sanada comes from a very traditional family, is stern and noble, plays with honor, and expects the best from himself and his teammates. In fact, he insists that people on his team are not supposed to lose. Sanada has a famous powerful slap, which he uses when a member on his team loses (like Renji Yanagi, even though Sanada is stopped by Akaya Kirihara) or grossly steps out of line (like Kirihara himself).
Sanada practices kendo and combines it with tennis with a great result. During the ball machine training, Sanada uses a technique that makes it look like he has six arms, like the Hindu demon Asura. Sanada is known in Kantô as one of the best Junior tennis players in Japan, and he can be seen in a lot of newspapers.
Even though Sanada seems to be a lonely wolf, he often hangs out with his friend and captain, Yukimura, and he holds big respect for him. He is characterized as unquestioningly loyal to Yukimura and often visits him at the hospital.
Sanada holds a three-way rivalry with Seishun Gakuen's Kunimitsu Tezuka and Hyotei Gakuen's Keigo Atobe. So far in the manga, Sanada has defeated Atobe once and Atobe was about to win a match that was stopped by Yukimura. Atobe has defeated Tezuka (although Tezuka was injured at the time), and it is still unknown if Tezuka and Sanada ever have faced each other. But Sanada has also gained a new, unexpected rival: young Ryoma Echizen of Seigaku.
Ryoma meets Sanada at first when Sanada is targeting leaves as training. Ryoma challenges Sanada after a little showing off. In their first match, Sanada easily defeats Ryoma. Ryoma then returns later and challenges Sanada again. Ryoma fires off a super fast serve that is similar to Sanada's Invisible Serve. Sanada is impressed and tells Ryoma that he is in Singles 1. Ryoma then ends the match and leaves the court. They then face off one last time in the Kantô finals. (This only happens in the anime.)
[edit] Ryoma vs. Sanada match
The match differs greatly in the anime and manga.
In the manga Sanada's techniques are called "FuuRinKaZan". He only uses Fuu though. In the anime, he has the extraordinary ability to swing his racket at an incredibly high speed so that his swings and serves become "invisible" called "the Invisible Swing". This renders the opponent unable to predict where the ball will land.
In the anime Sanada's Invisible shots are too much for Ryoma, and Sanada takes the lead. In the manga Ryoma wins the first game by using his "Muga no Kyouchi". Sanada then uses his Fuu and takes it up to 4 games to 1. In the anime Ryoma then uses his new invented technique the "Cyclone Smash". In order to take it back Sanada starts to put so much spin on his Invisible Swings that they start to blurr, making it difficult for Ryoma to reurn he ball. The blurring starts to irritate Ryoma's eyes. He then gets an idea. He uses one of his father's techniques "Samurai Ear": he shuts his eyes and hears where the ball is coming, and then he returns them back at an astonished Sanada. Due to his eyes being closed he doesn't get confused since he can hear where the ball is. Ryoma even uses a Cyclone Smash. Due to Sanada's speed and reflexes, he manages to catch up to it, but his racket gets knocked out of his hands.
In the manga Ryoma makes a comeback with the "Muga no Kyouchi" first making the score 5-2, 5-4 then 5-5.
In the anime Sanada then remembers his promise to Yukimura and that awakens the true warrior in him, or, more correctly, the true samurai. He uses his Invisible Serve. Ryoma open his eyes in shock; he couldn't tell where the ball was going. Sanada swings his racket like a katana, and the ball speed increases far more than the "Invisible Shot". Ryoma tries the Cyclone Smash but Sanada returns it with no problem. Ryoma doesn't know what to do, and he becomes paralyzed in shock. Sanada makes serve aces up to match point without Ryoma even trying to reach them.
Suddenly, Atobe starts to encourage Ryoma, followed by several other players. Ryoma reawakens as the true samurai and returns Sanada's Invisible serve once again. Ryoma then makes a comeback easily winning back all the lost points. Ryoma then says his trademark phrase, "mada mada da ne".
But Sanada isn't out yet; he fights bravely with his "Samurai Chop". (The ending of the match has a huge difference in the manga and anime) In the manga Ryoma has already entered "Muga no Kyouchi" and rushes towards the net. Sanada is still able to return hisTwist Shots. Sanada then fires a high lob, but Ryoma jumps up high after it and uses his new technique the "COOL Drive" the ball smashes to the ground and just like Tsubame Gashi, doesn't bounce. Sanada can't return it and Ryoma wins. In the anime they use the ending sequence between Ryoma and Akaya Kirihara from the manga. Ryoma activates "Samurai's Eye" (in the manga he uses his "Muga no Kyouchi"). He uses the special moves of all the people he's ever faced: when he uses Shinji Ibu's "Spot" , Sanada drops his racket, wondering what happened to his arm. Ryoma then uses Shinjou's "Deep Impulse", Jin Akutsu's special smash, Yuuta Fuji's "Twist Spin Shot", and Wakashi Hiyoshi's "Enbu Tennis".
Ryoma finally wins, and Seigaku wins the Kantô Championship. A good sportsman, Sanada first congratulates Seigaku's vice-captain, Shuichiro Oishi, before he congratulates Ryoma. At the current time, since Atobe has mastered "Koori no Sekai" and Tezuka "Hyaku Ren Jitoku no Kiwami", it seems as Sanada is the weakest one among the three rivals.
[edit] Special Moves/Shots
[edit] Invisible Swing
- Sanada's Invisible Swing has a very simple concept behind it, despite the destructive power and speed it has. Basically, Sanada has mastered an incredibly fast swing, making it near invisible for the normal naked eye to see the exact swing, hit, and spin of the ball he handles. His swing doesn't work for people like Ryoma Echizen or Eiji Kikumaru, though, because of their extraordinary ability to see moving things more clearly with their inborn enhanced eyesight.
[edit] Invisible Serve
- The Invisible Serve is essentially the same thing as the Invisible Swing, except in this case, it is a serve swing and not a return swing. It has the same concept and does the same thing. Despite the simple concept, though, it does a lot to hinder the opponent from making a successful return, since there is no sure way of seeing the speed, direction, and spin of the ball.
[edit] Fuu Rin Ka Zan
- This is the name of Sanada's techniques in the manga. None of them have been shown or used in the anime thus far, and it is unknown if they will ever appear. When performing the "Fuu Rin Ka Zan" Sanada usually says a phrase for each of the moves.
- Fuu (Wind)
- Fuu is one of the "Fuu Rin Ka Zan" techniques. Fuu is an extremely fast swing that is based on the quick sword drawing technique. This is the move on which the "Invisible Swing" was most likely based in the anime. Fuu can be used to counter the Ka technique. When using Fuu, Sanada mumbles "Swift like the Wind".
- Rin (Forest)
- Sanada hasn't revealed this technique yet, but it seems that Renji Yanagi, another powerful regular at Rikkaidai, is powerless against this shot. When using this shot Sanada says "Quiet Like The Forest".
- Ka (Fire)
- Another special move that only exists in the manga. Ka is an extremely powerful ground smash. When using it, Sanada says "Invade like Fire".
- Zan (Mountain)
- This move hasn't been shown in the manga either; however, it is known that it was with this technique that Sanada defeated Keigo Atobe during their first meeting. When used, Sanada says "Immovable like a Mountain".
- In the latest chapter of Prince of Tennis, Sanada has been shown to have a new technique "Thunder". When used, Sanada says "Shaking like Thunder".
[edit] Muga no Kyouchi (無我の境地) (State of Self Actualization) (Manga only)
A state in which the user naturally intakes all techniques he sees and can perfectly copy them. Sanada uses this in the Kantô finals against Ryoma, but ends up losing anyway.
