Teekyu
Teekyu is a sports comedy manga series written by Roots and illustrated by Piyo. It was serialized in Earth Star Entertainment's Comic Earth Star from February 2012 to January 2018. The name of the series is a pun on the Japanese word for tennis, teikyū. The manga has been adapted into an anime television series, which ran from 2012 to 2017.
Teekyu also had a spinoff comedy manga series, also serialized in Comic Earth Star, named Takamiya Nasuno Desu!, translated as "I am Takamiya Nasuno!", featuring one of the main characters of Teekyu in her own adventures. It has had two tankōbon releases, and also received a 12-episode anime adaptation in 2015.
Another spin-off manga series named Usakame which features the Tennis Club's opponents was released in 2015 and ran for three volumes. It has had three tankōbon releases so far, and also received a 12-episode anime adaptation in 2016.
Plot
The story follows the everyday lives of four girls of the Kameido High School's tennis club. The series' focus is not really on tennis, but on the wacky and eccentric characters, with strange object associations and even stranger misconceptions, on their many random adventures. These adventures have included traveling to an army base, going skiing, helping a cake shop owner with financial troubles, and helping an alien refuel her spaceship.Characters
;Yuri Oshimoto;Kanae Shinjo
;Nasuno Takamiya
;Marimo Bando
;Tomarin
;Udonko Kondo
;Annenkov Kondo
;Kinako Tanaka
;Kurumi Sato
;Ayako Suzuki
;Nishi Nishiaraidaishi
;Sora Shibakusa
;Yota Oshimoto
;Udon shop manager
;Grandma
;Yucatan
;Mika-san
;Bobby
;Ayano Takamiya
;Nasuno's father / Alfred
;Cake shop manager / Tenchio Keikiya
;Hoheto Irohani
;Moriko Bando
;Tasuku Furubira
;Miyako Baba / Ba-myan
;Usami Nakata
;Tsumire Sugiya
;Sana Arakaki
Media
Manga
Teekyu
The Teekyu manga series is written by Roots and illustrated by Piyo. Its first chapter was published by Earth Star Entertainment in Comic Earth Star 12th issue, released on February 10, 2012, and the series has also been compiled in 15 tankōbon volumes. On March 3, 2021, a one-shot was published. The one-shot takes place a decade after the end of the manga.Takamiya Nasuno Desu!
The Takamiya Nasuno Desu! manga is also written by Roots and illustrated by Piyo, and also published by Earth Star Entertainment. It is a spinoff of Teekyu that focuses on the daily life of Takamiya Nasuno. It has, as of October 10, 2015, had two tankōbon volumes released.Usakame
Anime
Announcement of an anime adaptation of Teekyu came in August 2012, alongside the release of the first tankobon. The announcement came five months after the manga was first published, the fastest manga-release-to-anime-announcement time that Earth Star Entertainment has ever had. Each episode of the anime is about 2 minutes long, so characters speak and actions are performed at a very quick pace, with shortcuts used to save time on animation sometimes. Shin Itagaki is the director and writer for each season.The series has had nine seasons so far. The first season aired between October 7 and December 23, 2012, the second one between July 7 and September 22, 2013, and the third one between October 6 and December 22, 2013. The fourth season aired from April 6, 2015, to June 22, 2015. The fifth season began airing on July 6, 2015. The sixth season aired from October 5, 2015, to December 21, 2015. The seventh season ran from January 12, 2016, to March 29, 2016. The eight season ran from on October 5, 2016, to December 21, 2016. The ninth season aired from July to September 2017.
Takamiya Nasuno Desu! received a 12-episode adaptation, and aired on the same days as the fourth season of Teekyu, from April 6, 2015, to June 22, 2015. Like Teekyu, each episode is two minutes in length, and character speech and actions are performed at a quick pace. Shin Itagaki is also the director and writer for this series.
Usakame received a 12-episode adaptation from April 11, 2016, to June 27, 2016.
Stage play
There was a stage play adaptation of Teekyu called "Butai-ban Teekyu Senpai to Meguriau Jikantachi", about a musical being put on by the tennis club members during their high school's Culture Festival. The play was performed at Japan Newart College Omori Campus Theater in Tokyo, Japan, from July 29 and August 2, 2015.Reception
Chris Beveridge of The Fandom Post, reviewing the first three episodes, gave the anime a C, stating that he enjoyed the comedy, but the short length of the episodes and the quick pace ruined the experience. Ryan Hand of B-TEN, reviewing the first 3 seasons, gave the show a 5.25 out of 10, again stating that he enjoyed the show and its characters. However, he criticized the poor animation and art, although he commented on how it fits the fast-paced action of the show. It has been suggested that the show has not been as well received outside of Japan due to the language barrier for non-native speakers, causing difficulty in following the unusually fast-paced dialogue.The official Twitter account for the franchise has over 20,000 followers.