| |
|---|---|
| Kentarō Aoi | |
| Kanji |
葵剣太郎 |
| Rōmaji |
Aoi Kentarō |
| Gender |
Male |
| Age |
12 |
| Height |
165 cm |
| Weight |
53 kg |
| Birthday |
December 20 |
| Horoscope |
Sagittarius |
| Blood Type |
O |
| Family |
Grandfather |
| Junior High |
Rokkaku Junior High (1st Year) |
| Class |
1-1 |
| Club Position |
Captain |
| Dominant Arm |
Right |
| Play Style |
Aggressive Baseliner |
| Racquet(s) |
Made by Ojī |
| Shoes |
WIMBLEDOM WBM-101 |
| Manga Debut |
Genius 143 |
| Anime Debut |
Episode 90 |
| Movies | |
| Voice Actor |
Toshiyuki Toyonaga (Japanese) |
Kentarō Aoi (葵 剣太郎, Aoi Kentarō) is the jolly, talkative and energetic captain of Rokkaku. What makes him stand out is that he is only a freshman, and some teams are doubtful of his capabilities as a team captain. However, despite being a rookie, Aoi is a high-caliber player, who were able to match up with Kaidō Kaoru (manga) and Echizen Ryoma (anime).
Appearance[]
Aoi has black hair but it is shaved down all the way to his scalp. He has dark blue eyes. Aoi also has a fairly slender build.
Personality[]
Aoi is a very carefree and friendly individual. He is always very loud and passionate in whatever her does. Aoi often tries to make friends with everyone he meets, however, he is also a very "girl-loving" person almost to a fault. He does not have enough charms to get these girls though but nevertheless is always fantasizing about finding a cute girlfriend one day. He can get fairly envious of other guys who have better luck at women than him, like his upperclassmen Saeki.
History[]
Regionals[]
Aoi is first seen watching the match between Tezuka Kunimitsu and Atobe Keigo. For a first-year student, Aoi has an incredible credential, leading as Rokkaku's captain. Throughout the tournament, to challenge himself, Aoi deliberately loses the first few games to his opponents, but has always managed to dig himself out of the hole and emerged victorious.
That is until he played Kaidō Kaoru during the Kantō semifinals. After trailing 0-4, Aoi tied the score, but failed to replicate his previous results and eventually lost to Kaido,
Nationals[]
A bigger shock for Aoi came during the first round of the Nationals where he failed to put himself on the scoreboard against Chinen Hiroshi.
Playing Style & Techniques[]
Aoi Kentaro is an aggressive baseliner who is skilled enough to be picked by Oji to be his team's captain, despite his young age. While records show that all of his matches are close calls, with the scores at 6-4 and 7-5 (with one exceptions), it's been shown that those scores are due to Aoi letting the opponent purposefully win the first four to five games. This habit of Aoi's to deliberately put himself at a disadvantage is to heighten the pressure he intentionally puts on himself, while he makes bets against himself to further increase that pressure. This also shows that he is confident enough in his skills to make a comeback win despite the major handicap he put on himself.
Once he puts himself in that mentality, however, he showcases a phenomenal improvement in his overall game, being able to immediately hit 3 service aces against his Kanto semifinals opponent Kaido Kaoru back-to-back. Aoi's confidence and the pressure he puts on himself doesn't hinder him at all, instead increasing his concentration and allowing himself to play at his fullest.
Aoi's strong enough to hit fast serves (at least 180 km/hr while having a first serve average of 76%, according to Inui's notes), fast enough to pull off a serve-and-volley and score a quick point, and has a very delicate touch to be able to not only hit well-placed drop shots but be able to intentionally aim for cord balls as well. This allowed him to immediately win back 4 games in a row against Kaido.
His habit of intentionally falling behind has worked against him, however, as against Kaido, the extra time given to Kaido for playing longer took a toll on his stamina, which eventually affected his control and gave Kaido the win. Against Higa's Chinen, dropping 4 games in a row gave him little time to be unable to score a game against him, as he fell prey to Chinen's Shukuchiho.
A return that hits the top of the net and drops into the opponent's court, Aoi is able to aim for these shots on purpose. His control is amazing, as Aoi is able to deliberately aim for a cord ball that drops right on the singles sideline (when aiming for a cord ball alone is already difficult).
Unfortunately, against Higa High School in the Nationals, this shot was easy fodder for Chinen's Shukuchiho, whose ability to go from the baseline to the net in one step was a natural counter to Aoi's talent with this shot.
Tennis Record[]
Official Middle School Tournaments[]
| Tournament | Round | School | Position | Partner | Opponent(s) | Score |
| 2008 Chiba District Preliminaries | Round 2 | Ikeue Jr. High | Unknown Singles | None | Chida | Won (7-5) |
| 2008 Chiba District Preliminaries | Round 3 | Shinshou Jr. High | Unknown Singles | None | Hayashi | Won (7-5) |
| 2008 Chiba District Preliminaries | Round 4 | Masa Jr. High | Unknown Singles | None | Wakataku | Won (7-5) |
| 2008 Chiba District Preliminaries | Quarterfinals | Kainoku Jr. High | Unknown Singles | None | Kaneko | Won (7-5) |
| 2008 Chiba District Preliminaries | Semifinals | Sankyou Gakuin | Unknown Singles | None | Wake | Won (6-4) |
| 2008 Chiba District Preliminaries | Finals | Kasahara 2nd High | Unknown Singles | None | Kitsuda | Won (7-5) |
| 2008 Chiba Prefectural | Round 3 | Funabashi | Unknown Singles | None | Torimoto | Won (6-4) |
| 2008 Chiba Prefectural | Round 4 | Chokai Jr. High | Unknown Singles | None | Oozuka | Won (7-5) |
| 2008 Chiba Prefectural | Quarterfinals | Rakuka Gakuin | Unknown Singles | None | Kitaori | Won (7-6) |
| 2008 Chiba Prefectural | Semifinals | Hana Jr. High | Unknown Singles | None | Kuragi | Won (6-4) |
| 2008 Chiba Prefectural | Finals | Hiko Fuzoku | Unknown Singles | None | Furuhashi | Won (7-5) |
| 2008 Kantō Regionals | Round 1 | Ooguchi Minami | Doubles 1 | Itsuki Marehiko | Akashi Makoto/Sunaga Hirohito | Won (7-5) |
| 2008 Kantō Regionals (NOTE-1) | Semifinals | Seishun Academy | Singles 3 | None | Kaidō Kaoru | Lost (5-7) |
| 2008 Kantō Regionals (NOTE-1) | Semifinals | Seishun Academy | Singles 3 | None | Echizen Ryoma | Lost (4-6) |
| 2008 Nationals | Round 1 | Higa Junior High | Singles 3 | None | Chinen Hiroshi | Lost (0-6) |
- NOTE-1 In the anime, he played against Echizen Ryoma during his match against Seigaku, while in the manga, his opponent was Kaidō Kaoru.
Personal Information[]
- Special Move: Forcing the opponent to hit the same spot
- Favorite Food: Roasted Meat
- Hobby: Sea Activities
- Father's occupation: Office worker (Construction)
- Favorite Subject: Japanese, Morals, Social Studies
- Favorite Color: Blue
- Preferred type: Girls that like me
Etymology[]
- The name Kentarō means "sword, blade, saber, bayonet, sting, clock hand" (剣) (ken), "thick, big, great" (太) (ta) and "son" (郎) (rō).
- Kentarō's surname Aoi means "hollyhock, althea" (葵).
Trivia[]
- Kentaro is significantly taller than both Ryoma and Kintaro, although all of them are first years.
- Kentaro is the only first year middle school captain in the current Prince of Tennis timeline.