Prince of Tennis U17 Final Selection Match Airs Today

Japan beat Germany. Now Japan has to beat Japan. The Prince of Tennis II: U 17 World Cup Final Member Selection Match premieres tonight, Wednesday September 30, on TV Tokyo at midnight and on Crunchyroll the same day. It is the third part of the U 17 World Cup series, a direct sequel to 2024’s Semifinal, and the first Prince of Tennis anime to air since Takeshi Konomi ended the manga in August after 27 years. Here is the schedule, where the story stands, who is on the roster, the new Spanish cast, and why an intra squad tournament is the right way to spend a season.

Prince of Tennis U17 Final Member Selection Match release and where to watch

Where the U 17 World Cup stands

The 2022 season took Japan through the group stage and a win over France, after Ryoma Echizen’s expulsion from camp and brief flirtation with Team USA. The 2024 Semifinal was the big one: Japan against Germany, the world number one, led by the pro Jurgen Borisovich Volk, with Kunimitsu Tezuka playing for the other side. Fuji and Watanabe took the first doubles, Atobe and Irie were crushed 0 to 6 by Tezuka and Q.P., Tokugawa and Yukimura lost a close third doubles after fusing Yukimura’s yips with Tokugawa’s Black Hole into something the show called a sixth sense, and the singles included the Tezuka against Yukimura match fans had waited a decade for. Japan won the tie.

Now Spain waits in the final. Coach Mifune, who believes Japan’s strength is growing through matches, decides the roster for the final will be settled by a tournament among the players themselves. Teammates who fought side by side against Germany now play each other for a spot. That is the whole season.

Who is on the roster

• Ryoma Echizen (Junko Minagawa), back with Japan and front and center on the key visual.
• Byodoin Hoo, Japan’s captain, returning from injury.
• High school first stringers Tokugawa (Daisuke Ono), Irie, Tanegashima and Omagari.
• The middle schoolers: Atobe (Junichi Suwabe), Oshitari, Shiraishi (Yoshimasa Hosoya), Kintaro, Fuji and Yukimura.
• Not available: Tezuka, who is still on Germany’s side of the bracket.

The teasers point at the matchups. The second teaser visual was all doubles. The third put Atobe against Oshitari, two Hyotei teammates, and the ending theme is a duet by those two characters, so read into that what you like.

The Spain cast and the staff

Spain’s players appear as the looming opponents. Yu Shirota voices Romeo Fernandez, and that is a piece of franchise history: Shirota played Tezuka in the live action film and in the TeniMyu stage musical, and this is his first anime role in the series. Tasuku Hatanaka is Julio Roman, Reiji Kawashima is Mares de Colon, Ryuho Nagaoka is Silva Serra Bambieri and Megumi Han is Seda. Han said joining the cast was a lifelong dream and she auditioned thinking it might be her last chance with the manga ending.

M.S.C animates with NAS producing. Yoshinobu Tokumoto directs again after Semifinal, Meiji Ishii designs the characters, Mitsutaka Hirota writes and Chihiro Tamaki composes. The opening, “Walls And Bridges,” is by Aozu, the character unit of Ryoma, Tezuka, Fuji and Oishi. The ending, “Kinkanshoku phenomenal,” is sung by Atobe and Oshitari.

The franchise by the numbers

Takeshi Konomi’s original ran in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1999 to 2008 for 42 volumes. The sequel, The New Prince of Tennis, ran in Jump SQ from March 2009 until August 4, 2026, ending at 48 volumes, with the final volume out September 4. Combined circulation is over 60 million. Demand for the final chapter forced Jump SQ’s first reprint in 19 years. The anime side runs from the 2001 series through the 2012 sequel, the Genius 10 OVAs, the 2021 Hyotei and Rikkai ONA, and the 2022 and 2024 World Cup seasons, all licensed by Crunchyroll.

FAQ

When does the new Prince of Tennis anime start?

September 30, 2026 on TV Tokyo and Crunchyroll.

Is this the final against Spain?

No. This season is the tournament that decides who plays Spain. The final itself is not in it.

Is Tezuka on Team Japan?

No. He is still with Germany.

Do I need to watch the earlier seasons?

Yes, at least the 2022 and 2024 World Cup seasons. The official channel posted a 30 minute Semifinal digest for catching up.

More sports anime coverage in Anime News, and try our character quizzes. Details via Anime Corner and the official site.

My take: An entire season where Japan plays itself sounds like a stall, and I think it is the best idea this arc has had. The problem with the World Cup as a story has always been the opponents. Germany, France, Spain, they are stacks of new characters with one gimmick each, and nobody outside Japan has 25 years of feelings about Jurgen Borisovich Volk. Everybody has feelings about Atobe versus Oshitari. Ryoma versus Tokugawa, Fuji versus Yukimura, Shiraishi versus Kintaro, these are the matches the fandom has been arguing about since the Jump SQ days, and Konomi has finally found a frame that lets him stage them without breaking the tournament. It also solves the Tezuka problem. With him on Germany, the show can build Japan’s roster as an underdog again instead of a team that already has the best player alive. My prediction is that this outperforms Semifinal with the existing audience and does nothing for new viewers, because there is no on ramp here and the show does not want one. The bigger story is the ending. The manga finished in August and this is the first season since. Crunchyroll has licensed every entry, the reprint numbers say the fans are still here, and M.S.C is producing at a pace of one season every two years. If this one lands, the final against Spain in 2028 is the last Prince of Tennis anime, and I would rather it end on a match that matters than fade out on an OVA.