Shuichiro Oishi

Infobox animanga character
name = Shuichiro Oishi
series = The Prince of Tennis


caption =
first =
last =
creator = Takeshi Konomi
voiced by = Takayuki Kondo (Japanese)
Sam Riegel (English)
age =
born = April 30
class = 3-2
relatives =
aux1 name = School
aux1 = Seigaku
aux2 name = Style
aux2 = Counterpuncher, right handed

nihongo|Shuichiro Oishi|大石 秀一郎|Ōishi Shūichirō is a fictional character in the anime and manga "The Prince of Tennis". His name is spelled "Shuichiro Oishi" in the English manga, and it is spelled as Syuichirou Oishi in Roman characters in the Japanese version of the TV show. It is spelled "Syuitiroh" in some artwork, probably because the "chi" hiragana technically belongs to the "t" row.

In the fourth character popularity poll for the series run in Weekly Shonen Jump, Oishi came in 8th place.cite book |title= Prince of Tennis　Vol. 38 |last= Konomi |first= Takeshi |year= 2007 |publisher= Shueisha |isbn= 978-4-08-874353-0 |pages= 192 |chapter= Genius 333 ]

History

Oishi is a third year student at Seishun Academy (Seigaku) and the co-captain of the tennis club. Along with Eiji Kikumaru he is part of Seigaku's "Golden Pair," a doubles team that made it to Nationals the year before the series takes place. His only special shot is the "Moon Volley." This shot is a topspin lob that travels very high and lands just inbounds. Oishi is calm and rational in a match, and while he is not the greatest of singles players, as a doubles partner he is the perfect complement for the acrobatic Eiji.

Oishi is known as the mother of Seigaku, because he constantly worries and frets for the team's well-being. This doesn't mean that he cannot crack or even be mean, though; he can be as spiteful as the others, as proved when Eiji went too far with his teasing during a training session prior to the Hyoutei matches and Oishi ended up knocking Eiji to the ground in front of everyone.

He is also notable for his strange hairstyle (which changes every year) and his pet fish. In the absence of the team's captain, Kunimitsu Tezuka, Oishi reluctantly takes on the position of captain.

Oishi and Tezuka initially became friends in their first year in the club. Oishi had proposed to Tezuka that they take Seigaku to the Kantou Tournament during their time at the school, but Tezuka responded that they should go to the Nationals.

At one point, when Eiji was still a flashy singles player, Oishi played him and defeated him 6-4. From that point on, Eiji decided to play Doubles with Oishi until he could surpass him. Prior to the Kantou Tournament, Oishi's wrist is injured during an incident where he saves a pregnant woman from falling. His injury forces Takeshi Momoshiro to play doubles with Eiji Kikumaru. The match that ensues is remarked upon by Hyotei captain Keigo Atobe to be played not with just Momoshiro and Eiji, but with Oishi, as well - a doubles game with three.

Oishi returns for the match against Rikkai Daigaku Fuzoku, and he and Eiji play once more. During this match, the pregnant woman he helped shows up with her husband and newborn baby to watch him. However, they suffer a loss to Masaharu Niou and Hiroshi Yagyuu.

In the manga, when Tezuka returns from rehabilitation, Oishi sacrifices his wrist (injured during the incident involving the pregnant woman that led to the formation of the Momoshiro-Eiji doubles pair) in a match with Tezuka, thereby offering Tezuka his place on the regulars instead of going through a ranking match.

In the anime OVA, the above event occurs somewhat differently. As the anime had already had Tezuka return, he instead plays a match with Ryoma Echizen, who had left the team at the end of the TV series, and returned in the first episode of the OVA. The end result is the same, with Oishi giving up his place and reinjuring his wrist.

Although Oishi remains an observer during the match between Seigaku and Higa Chuu, when he observes Tezuka's match against Hyoutei Gakuen, he desires to make a comeback. Oishi re-registers to play with Eiji in Doubles 1, where the two are matched up against Ryo Shishido and Choutarou Ootori. The two doubles pairs go all the way to a tiebreak, and Oishi and Eiji achieve a new state called Synchro, where they move in perfect unison with one another. However, Eiji stops when he realizes the damage that will be done to Oishi's wrist and forfeits, allowing Shishido and Ootori to win.

Techniques

;Moon Volley:A topspin-lob volley hit high into the air and landing directly on the baseline (or anywhere else that is unprotected at the time).

;Australian Formation:A specialty formation Oishi and his double's partner Eiji Kikumaru perform. It involves standing directly on the center line and confusing the opponents as to which way each player will move when the ball is placed into the opposing court. It requires extreme knowledge of one's double's partner.

;I-Formation:A variation of the Australian Formation, Eiji stays below the net while the Golden Pair both line up on the center line. This allows Oishi to serve without worry about Eiji and confuses the opponent even more to where to return the ball to. Also, by aiming at the center of the court, the opponents have a tougher time returning the ball.

;Spin Serve (Anime only):Very similar to the Kick Serve whereas a large amount of topspin is added to the ball during the serve motion at an oblique angle causing it to bounce unusually high. Used against Shou Oota of Jyosei Shonan whose small body rendered him incapable of returning it.

;Oishi Territory:This formation has the defense expert Oishi go to the net, while attacker Eiji stays in the back. Using this, Oishi combines his game making abilities with Eiji's Seal Step in order to control the flow of the game.

;Synchronization:When playing in the nationals with Eiji as his doubles 1 partner, they become fully synchronized and moved as if they were one; breathing as one and knowing exactly what their partner's next move would be. It was said that doubles players could not go pro without 'synchronization'. During the national finals against Bunta and Jackal, he and Eiji entered this state willingly.

Tournament Matches

legend0|#ADD8E6 = Win
legend0|#C4C3D0 = Loss

Notable Matches

Masaharu Niou and Hiroshi Yagyuu

The game started by Seigaku winning 3 straight points but they didn't know that Niou started to read Eiji's net game. After Niou read Eiji's net game, Eiji became agitated and began to lose his cool, Rikaidai won the next points and won 5 straight games. Before Rikaidai pair take the next point, a flashback of Oishi's conversation with Sanada is shown and suddenly Eiji regained his spirit back. They took the next points and won 4 straight games giving the score of 4 games to 5. After that event, Yagyuu starts to play on his own and won the next points, Eiji hit the ball where Yagyuu can't reach but Niou assists Yagyuu and made a sharp backhand, finally, they won the last point giving the victory to Rikkaidai with 4 games to 6.

Ryo Shishido and Choutaro Ootori pair

This match is Seigaku's "Golden Pair"'s first match in the national tournament. Both pairs are shown to win 3 games. Shishido and Ootori counter attacked by using a unique formation to counter th "Australian Formation". Golden pair won the game, Ootori then displayed his new move, "Neo Scud serve". The Golden pair have a hard time with Ootori's serve and begin to lose games but in the end, they proceeded with a tie break. Oishi showed his "Oishi Territory" and won points. To counter, Shishido and Ootori displayed their ultimate formation, "Pile Mirrage". The Golden Pair starts to lose hope, but the Golden Pair suddenly tap Synchronization. They catch up, but in the end, Eiji stops Oishi's last attack and they lose in the tiebreak 6-7.

Jackal Kuwahara and Bunta Marui

This match started by Seigaku pair winning 1 game before the Rikkaidai pair removed their power weights. The Seigaku pair are later pushed into a corner by the Rikkaidai pair 5-2. Marui also revealed his new myougi, the jikansa jigoku, which shocked the Seigaku pair. Oishi and Eiji later revealed that they pretended to be losing on purpose to stall time for Ryoma to regain his memory in order to play in Singles 1. This shocked everyone and greatly affected the Rikkaidai pair. After using 'Synchro' willingly, they won the game 7-5 .

This is the only match so far that forced Bunta Marui not to blow his bubblegum and play seriously.

Reception

Oishi has charted on all of the official character popularity polls for the series. In the first poll he came in 9th place [cite book |title= Prince of Tennis　Vol. 10 |last= Konomi |first= Takeshi |authorlink= Takeshi Konomi |year= 2001 |publisher= Shueisha |isbn= 4-08-873162-X |pages= 184 |chapter= Genius 83 ] , while he dropped to 11th in the second poll [cite book |title= Prince of Tennis　Vol. 18 |last= Konomi |first= Takeshi |year= 2003 |publisher= Shueisha |isbn= 4-08-873407-6 |pages= 192 |chapter= Genius 158 ] , and 17th in the third [cite book |title= Prince of Tennis　Vol. 33 |last= Konomi |first= Takeshi |year= 2006 |publisher= Shueisha |isbn= 4-08-874048-3 |pages= 192 |chapter= Genius 276 ] . However, he had his strongest showing in the fourth poll, where he moved up to 8th place.

Trivia

* Oishi lives with his father, mother and younger sister. He has an uncle, Akitaka, who is the doctor who took care of Tezuka after his arm was injured.

* Oishi is often called the 'Mother of Seigaku' for his nurturing and caring disposition for other members of the team. This has also been mentioned by Inui in episode 71. This is parodied in the super deformed episodes, where Oishi is portrayed as the impulsive, loving, and somewhat violent mother of the TeniPuri family.

* Oishi seems to be pretty popular among the Seigaku female students. In the anime he once goes searching for Momoshiro, enters the second-year classrooms and is surrounded by girls who want him to sign their notepads.

* Oishi is also involved in the student council, as indicated in the Prince of Tennis manga fanbook.

Actors

* In the Anime series, Oishi's seiyū (or voice actor) is Takayuki Kondou.

* For the live-action adaptation film of "The Prince of Tennis", Tenimyu actor Hiroki Suzuki portrays Oishi.

* In The Prince of Tennis Musicals, Oishi is portrayed by actors Yuichi Tsuchiya (2003-2005), Hiroki Suzuki (2005-2006), Yukihiro Takiguchi (2006-2007) and Yuya Toyoda (2007-present).

References