| |
|---|---|
| Shūji Tanegashima | |
| Kanji |
種ヶ島修二 |
| Rōmaji |
Tanegashima Shūji |
| Gender |
Male |
| Age |
18 |
| Height |
184 cm |
| Weight |
71 kg |
| Birthday |
May 29 |
| Horoscope |
Gemini |
| Eyesight (Unaided) |
Left: 0.5 |
| Blood Type |
A |
| Family |
Grandfather |
| High School |
3rd Year |
| Japan U-17 Camp |
No.2 of All Japan Representatives |
| Occupation |
Model |
| Dominant Arm |
Right |
| Play Style |
All Rounder |
| Doubles Partner(s) | |
| Racquet(s) |
MIZUNO F97 COMP |
| Shoes |
MIZUNO WAVE TUSK 3s |
| Manga Debut |
Golden Age 27 |
| Anime Debut | |
| Voice Actor | |
Shūji Tanegashima (Japanese: 種ヶ島修二, Tanegashima Shūji) is one of the New Prince of Tennis characters. His name is romanized as Syuji Tanegashima in the Japanese anime.
Background[]
Tanegashima Shūji was first believed to be just another strong 2nd Stringer in the U-17 Training Camp. However, it is revealed that he was a member of the 1st Stringers and is the No.2 of the All-Japan Junior Representatives upon the rest of the Genius 10's arrival. He did not go with the team on their foreign expedition due to his hatred of airplanes.
Appearance[]
Tanegashima is a tall, slim young man and has white wavy hair and a notably dark skin tone in comparison to the rest of the camp as he is darker than the players from Kyushu who have been shown to be slightly darker than the rest of the players at the camp. In the anime, Tanegashima is depicted to have purple eyes, but his eyes are brown in the manga.
Personality[]
Tanegashima in his U-17 uniform watching a match.
Tanegashima appears to be a free-willed character who does most things for fun. As shown in his introduction as Tokugawa Kazuya claimed he looked while he was enjoying himself as he was sitting alone watching the middle schoolers defeat several high schoolers.
While calm and pleasant most of the time, Tanegashima likes to troll his teammates, especially Sanada, both on and off the courts. He is also seen frequently riding around in a segway and doesn't seem to train as much as the other players. He is also extremely good at "Look Over There", as he can predict his opponents' movements flawlessly in an instant, while any ordinary player would have relied on guesswork.
Tanegashima also appears to be vigilant and aware of the situation more than others as proven after the long and drawn out Singles match between Irie Kanata and Atobe Keigo when Irie claims he injured his shoulder. Tanegashima saw through this and threw a towel at Irie when he needed it in the changing rooms. Irie used his left arm, showing that he was lying earlier.
History[]
U-17 Camp[]
Team Shuffle[]
Tokugawa with Tanegashima as they watch Irie walk over Atobe.
He is introduced as a member of the 1st Court watching the middle schoolers defeating their High School opponents and working their way up to the 5th and 6th Courts with Tokugawa Kazuya with the latter claiming that Tanegashima seemed to be enjoying witnessing their rapid progress.
Tanegashima is then later seen during the Team Shuffle between the 5th Court and the 3rd Court, however it is revealed that he was a member of the 1st Stringers and No.2 of the All-Junior Japan Representatives upon the rest of the Top 10's arrival. He did not go with the team on their foreign expedition due to his hatred of airplanes.
U-17 Camp Revolution[]
Tanegashima is present with the rest of the 2nd Stringers upon the arrival of the Top 10. However Echizen Ryoma immediately asks Tanegashima why only nine players have arrived. Tanegashima then goes into his bag and puts on his 1st Stringer jersey No.2 badge, showing the rest of the middle schoolers that he was far stronger than they imagined. He lines up along with the rest of his Top 10 teammates to take on 2nd Stringers as part of the Foreign Expedition Group Challenge.
However, after finding out the shock news that the No.s 11-20 had been defeated and replaced, and the No.s 11-19 being defeated by Middle Schoolers, which the Top 10 found to be a disgrace, Kimijima Ikuto the No.7 decides to create a rota for the Top 10's matches including the middle schoolers.
Tanegashima stealing Sanadas drink
Tanegashima shows his childish side afterwards as for his own enjoyment, he decides to steal the drink of a thirsty Kaidoh Kaoru who had been jogging for a long time and need of a rest and a drink. Sanada Genichiro arrives to tell Kaidoh not to worry as his drink was nearby. Unfortunately to Sanada and Kaidoh's dismay, Tanegashima decides to take Sanada's drink also leaving the two Middle Schoolers infuriated with him.
Genius 10 Challenge[]
The next day, Tanegashima and the rest of the Top 10 sit together away from the other camp members while they and the rest of the camp watch the Encounter between the Top 10 and their Middle School challengers.
After the Top 10 lose once and win three straight matches against the Middle School challengers, Tanegashima and No.6 Ohmagari Ryuuji prepare to face Sanada Genichiro and Jin Akutsu in a Doubles match. The match kicks off with an extremely fast and heated pace with Sanada bringing out his special attacks and Akutsu going on the attack however the High Schoolers stun them as Tanegashima effortlessly returns all of Sanada's moves and reflects back Rai onto Sanada and bursts his racket gut which startles him, further showing Tanegashima's amazing skill.
Tanegashima toying with Akutsu
Tanegashima then shows his troublesome side as he purposely faults and serves a hard shot directly onto Sanada's bench to knock his water bottle to the ground and then even he agitates Sanada even further by handing his racket over to Ohmagari Ryuuji and sits down whilst Ohmagari handles both Akutsu and Sanada at the same time with Tanegashima sitting casually on the ground no longer playing. However this doesn't last for too long as Sanada reveals he has perfected his Black Aura and forces Tanegashima to rejoin the match. Tanegashima then snatches his racket back from Ohmagari and nullifies Sanada's Black Aura shot all in one play.
Tanegashima scores against Sanada/Akutsu pair
Tanegashima and Ohmagari then completely exchange roles as Tanegashima becomes the solo player in what becomes another 2 VS 1 match against Sanada/Akutsu pair. Like how Ohmagari competely dominated the Middle School pair, Tanegashima effortlessly does the same. However, towards the end of the match, Tanegashima and the rest of the camp is stunned when Sanada unveils a "Double Clutch" version of his Black Aura shot meaning the ball completely changes its direction twice at sufficient speed and gets past Tanegashima's amazing reactions. Fortuntately for Tanegashima/Ohmagari pair, it was a fluke and Sanada had yet to master the "Double Clutch" version of his shot. Therefore Tanegashima easily cruised to victory in the end after the sudden scare.
Prior to the U-17 World Cup[]
Coach Mifune takes the high school and middle school representatives to the beach, presumably in the US, and tasks them all to pick up girls. Shuji cruises along on the segway and picks a girl up, successfully. However, since using the segway is cheating, the segway is confiscated and Shuji actually fails.
While all the other Japanese representatives are in Australia in preparation for the World Cup, Tanegashima is mentioned to be on a ship on his way to Australia.
Group League vs. Greece[]
Tanegashima's Flash Tennis
He is the assigned team leader of the team facing Greece. He was scheduled to play in singles 1. However, after seeing Shiraishi freeze up over his opponent, Tanegashima decides to step in. Zeus is shown to be completely dominating Tanegashima, winning 5 straight games. Tanegashima manages to win the next 7 games by adding a bottle cap to the bottom of his racket which makes his shots completely random even to Tanegashima. This prevents Zeus from controling the match's pace any further. Despite winning, he is scolded by Byodoin after it was confirmed Japan has defeated Greece.
U-17 World Cup Semi-Finals[]
Tanegashima is later included in the lineup against Germany in the semi-finals. He pairs up with Kirihara for the doubles 1 match facing Germany's Michael Bismarck and Elmer Siegfried. Three of Tanegashima's void techniques were completed and used in the match, which are the Void Before Birth, Ultimate Void, and the Reciprocal Void. After a tight match, Tanegashima and Kirihara eventually wins the match, (5-7), (7-6), (7-6).
Tennis Record[]
U-17 Camp Results[]
| Type of Match | Partner | Opponent(s) | Score |
| U-17 Representatives VS. 2nd Stringers Player Shuffle (3 Set Match) | Ryūji Ōmagari | Genichiro Sanada/Jin Akutsu | Won (6-0, 6-0) |
Group League (vs. Greece)[]
| Type of Match | Partner | Opponent(s) | Score |
| Singles 3 | None | Zeus Iliopoulos | Won (7-5) |
U-17 World Cup Semi-Finals vs. Germany[]
| Type of Match | Partner | Opponent(s) | Score |
| Doubles 1 | Akaya Kirihara | Michael Bismarck/Elmer Siegfried | Won (5-7), (7-6), (7-6) |
Japan U-17 Intra-Ranking Tournament[]
| Type of Match | Partner | Opponent(s) | Score |
| Doubles 2 | Kuranosuke Shiraishi | Bunta Marui/Eishiro Kite | Won (7-5) |
| Doubles 2 | Kuranosuke Shiraishi | Ryuji Omagari/Kintaro Toyama | TBA |
Playing Style and Techniques[]
On the court, Tanegashima plays a very defensive form of tennis. He is a right-handed player and plays in a unique manner which involves him removing his left arm from inside his jacket whilst the he is still wearing it half zipped causing half of the jacket to hang from behind him awkwardly as he plays. As expected of a player of high rank of being listed the second best in Japan, was capable of easily returning Sanada's Lightning and then Black Aura shot without breaking his racket gut and instead broke Sanada's with it. Oni Juujiro goes as far as to mention that Tanegashima is a man he has never beaten, even though Tanegashima says in return that he also has never won against Oni.
Tanegashima has the godly and natural skill to see the spin placed in a shot and instaneously give this information to his wrists which allows to able to nullify the effect of practically any special shot.
Tanegashima voids his own mind which makes his shots unpredictable.
A lob that stalls itself in the air for a brief moment messing up the opponent's return by ruining their timing.
Tanegashima is able to void his presence on the court to appear invisible to the opponent.
Tanegashima is able to void the presence of another person, specifically his doubles partner. The technique was first used during his match against Germany with Akaya Kirihara.
U-17 Stats[1][]
Speed - 5: No matter what kind of ball, he is able to deal with it nimbly and return it. His kinetic vision was forged from rail shooting games.
Power - 5: The secret of his superior muscles lies in the bones. It seems the collagen he gets from consuming pigs feet bestows favorable results to strengthening his bones.
Stamina - 5: Because he is always trying to see through his opponent's abilities while in battle, he seldom gets his pace disturbed. He almost never has to worry about his stamina depleting in the middle of a match.
Mental - 7: Because he is the kind of person who does things just to amuse himself, he can change even a pinch into a chance. Because flexibility supports his foundation, whether it be enemy or ally, he has the acumen to see through and surpass them.
Technique - 6: With the skills to hit a can into the trashcan behind himself without even looking, he has a shining level of control.
Kurobe Memo: He has natural incredible perception and a large field of vision which he uses to see through one's weaknesses. Because he's always riding his Segway around, he has become accustomed to seeing things that move at incredible speeds. However, his one flaw is that he is a very moody person. In real matches, he has a tendency to recklessly show off.
Trivia[]
Character Trivia[]
- Tanegashima speaks with a Kansai-ben (accent) like the members of Shitenhoji.
- Tanegashima is Akogare's reader model in Men's Non-no, a Japanese fashion magazine targeted towards teenage males.
- He's from an island in the south.[1]
- Since he hates airplanes he came to Tokyo by ship.[1]
- While out walking with Kimijima, Tanegashima was scouted and has been a model for a magazine.[1]
- The segway Tanegashima uses actually belongs to Kurobe Yukio.[1]
- When he was small, a model airplane stabbed his head while he was sleeping. That is why he fears planes.
Other Trivia[]
- Tanegashima's first name, Syuji is very similar to his voice actor's name, Ryuji. The only difference is the first letter. This only applies when Syuji's name is romanised as Syuji.
Personal Information[1][]
- Hobby: Shooting and Cruising
- Committee: Animal Committee
- Favorite Food: Pigs Feet and Chinese Seaweed
- Thing he wants most: Earplugs
- Thing you're bad at: Airplanes
- Specialty outside of tennis: Swimming
- Favorite motto: “All things come from nothingness.”
- Favorite color: Light blue
- Favorite books: He buys fashion magazines where he’s on the cover
- Preferred type of person: A girl who will have fun with him at Disneyland3
- Preferred date spot: A night pool
- Most wanted thing right now: A Nightbot One hoverboard
- His routines during tournaments: At night he swims in the hotel pool
Messages to Tanegashima[]
- From Shirashi: “Seeing your ‘flash tennis’ inspired me to a new level. I really can’t express my gratitude enough.”
- From Irie: “I’ve been practicing a new song. You’ll listen to me play without running away this time, right? Ju~ust kidding.”
- From Zeus: “You’re a brave man, deceiving me like that. I admire it. Was this meeting guided by the Twelve Olympians or what?”
- From Sengoku: “Tanegashima-san, you hate airplanes? But you’re lucky that you can watch brand new movies on the in-flight entertainment seatback screens.”
References[]
Gallery[]
Managa[]
Anime[]
