| |
|---|---|
| Michael | |
| Gender |
Male |
| Age |
40s |
| Affiliation |
Spartan Tennis Club |
Background[]
In the manga only, Michael is introduced as a student of Kevin Smith's father, George Smith. This is during Nanjiro's younger days when he first arrived to America and met Rinko at a tennis club, prior to the birth of Ryoma and Kevin. It should be noted that in the manga, George Smith appears to be an older man, while Michael appears as he does in the photo. Michael does not appear in the anime, and George Smith takes on a younger appearence in the anime that bears a stricking resemblence to Michael's manga character design.
History[]
Michael first appears as a tennis player jealous that Nanjiro is flirting with his girl, Arisa. Michael challenges Nanjiro to a tennis match, and is utterly beaten though the exact results of the match were not shown.
Later, after Nanjiro seens an injured Rinko, he asks Michael what happened to her, leading to Nanjiro challenging George Smith in a match. During the match, Nanjiro gets serious with Coach Smith, causing Michael to tell Rinko about a rumor he recently heard about an amazing tennis player from Japan. Michael tells Rinko about how he heard that the rumored tennis player from Japan was a Samurai Warrior that appeared in various tournaments and defeated all his opponents, winning each title. Michael realized that he was defeated by Nanjiro because he underestimated him and that Nanjiro had been training every day he went out, surprising Rinko who believed Nanjiro only went out to play with girls everyday.
The number 1 ranked tennis player in the world, Bundro, then shows up to the court telling Michael that he lost his last match against Nanjiro, surprising both Michael and Rinko. Nanjiro then wins the match against George Smith and rides away with Rinko on her motorbike.
Michael is last seen giving a thumbs up to the pair driving away, most likely setting his differences with Nanjiro aside.