The second stage greeting to celebrate the release of “Ryoma! The Prince of Tennis: The New Movie” was held at TOHO Cinemas Roppongi Hills on September 11, 2021. Along with Konomi Takeshi, the original writer and executive producer of the film, all the past and present actors as Echizen Ryoma from the musical “The Prince of Tennis” (a.k.a. Tenimyu) gathered together for the first time in history.
“Ryoma! The Prince of Tennis: The New Movie” is the first 3DCG animated film that depicts the three blank months between “The Prince of Tennis” and “The New Prince of Tennis”.
After winning a deadly battle in the finals of the national tournament, Echizen Ryoma, who is going on a learning mission to the United States by himself, arrives at a time when the young Echizen Nanjiro was active as a “samurai” from the distorted time and space by a “certain event”, and then……
In the second stage greeting to celebrate the release of the movie, the actors appeared with Konomi including Yanagi Kotaro, who played the first-generation Ryoma, Sakamoto Shogo, who played the fourth-generation Ryoma, Takahashi Ryuki, who played the fifth-generation Ryoma, Ogoe Yuki, who played the sixth-and-seventh-generation Ryoma, Furuta Kazuki, who played the eighth-generation Ryoma, Akutsu Nichika, who played the ninth-and-tenth-generation Ryoma, and Imamaki Hikaru, who played the current Ryoma. And KIMERU, who played Fuji Shusuke and understudied Ryoma, took the stage as MC.
In front of the eight “Ryoma” including KIMERU, Konomi looked deeply moved, saying “A miracle has happened”, and KIMERU shared the same feeling, saying “I also feel like a reunion”.
While the speakers were saying a few words, KIMERU read the comments from Endo Yuya, who played the second-generation Ryoma, and Sakurada Dori, who played the third-generation Ryoma, who were unable to attend the event, instead of them. Then, a big applause came from the audience.
As the event was to be “all Ryoma”, photos of the time were shown on the screen, and everyone nodded their heads when Furuta commented, “Each of them looks like Ryoma, even though they don’t look alike.”
When asked what was in his mind when playing Ryoma, Sakamoto said, “I had my bangs in mind,” and Ogoe and the rest of the cast agreed. Since the cap is Ryoma’s signature, he was particular about the bangs peeking out from the cap.
Ogoe also continued, “I also remember that I had a blue flame burning inside me.” Akutsu revealed his mind, saying, “Ryoma has a lot of physical activity, so I was thinking about how I could play him cool without getting breathless and Imamaki said, “I had a low natural voice, so I tried to act with a high voice.” They revealed what was in their mind.
Yanagi, who played the first-generation Ryoma, had Ryoma’s cool and unflappable appearance in his mind and recalled, “I tried not to smile while acting cool Ryoma.” and Konomi responded to his words, “I think Ryoma is here today because of your hard work, Yanagi-kun,” talking about his feeling for 18-year “Tenimyu.”
In addition, when everyone was asked their favorite scene from the movie “Ryoma!” Takahashi mentioned the church scene between Ryoma and Sakuno, saying, “When I saw that scene, I wanted to do Tenimyu again!”
While each of them showed their favorite scenes, KIMERU said, “I also played Ryoma as a substitute, but the scene with Nanjiro reminded me of that time and made me feel so emotional.” It seems that all the actors who played Ryoma in the past felt the same about the scene where Nanjiro and Ryoma faced each other, which was very moving.
At the end of the event, Konomi seemed to embrace the miracle again, saying, “I can’t believe to see so many Ryoma here…….” He was overwhelmed with a flood of emotions, saying, “I’d like to thank the eight Ryoma for coming here and everyone who comes to the theater. I appreciate your continuous support for ‘Ryoma!’” and closed his thoughts.
“Ryoma! The Prince of Tennis: The New Movie” is currently in theaters.
Event: The second stage greeting to celebrate the release of “Ryoma! The Prince of Tennis: The New Movie” where all Ryoma gathered!
Date and time: September 11 (Sat)
Place: TOHO Cinemas Roppongi Hills
Speakers: Konomi Takeshi (Original Writer/Executive Producer), Yanagi Kotaro (the first-generation Ryoma), Sakamoto Shogo (the fourth-generation Ryoma), Takahashi Ryuki (the fifth-generation Ryoma)
Ogoe Yuki (the sixth-and-seventh-generation Ryoma), Furuta Kazuki (the eighth-generation Ryoma), Akutsu Nichika (the ninth-and-tenth-generation Ryoma), Imamaki Hikaru (the current Ryoma)* titles omitted
MC: KIMERU (the first-generation Fuji and substitude of the first-generation Ryoma)
(C) Konomi Takeshi/Shueisha (C) The New Prince of Tennis the Movie Production Committee
(C) Konomi Takeshi TK WORKS/Shueisha, TV TOKYO, NAS (C) Konomi Takeshi/Shueisha, Marvelous Music Publishing, NELKE PLANNING, ADK
(C) Konomi Takeshi TK WORKS/Shueisha, TV Tokyo, NAS (C) © Konomi Takeshi/Shueisha, Marvelous Music Publishing, NELKE PLANNING
(C) Konomi Takeshi/Shueisha, NAS, The Prince of Tennis Project (C) Konomi Takeshi/Shueisha, Marvelous Entertainment, NELKE PLANNING
(C) Konomi Takeshi/Shueisha, NAS, The New Prince of Tennis Project (C) Konomi Takeshi/Shueisha, Tenimu Production Committee
(C) Konomi Takeshi/Shueisha, Tenimyu Production Committee