English Dub Review: The Prince of Tennis II U-17 World Cup “The Outcome of the Tiebreak; Final Set”

Overview


“The Outcome of the Tiebreak”

The second set of the doubles match between Tanegashima-Kirihara and Bismarck-Siegfried gets drawn into a tiebreak. If Team Japan loses this set, they will be eliminated from the semifinals.


“Final Set”

The doubles pairs Tanegashima-Kirihara and Bismarck-Siegfried ramp it up for this final set, showing teamwork that activates skills never seen before.



Our Take

This week’s double episode from Crunchyroll offered a mix of intense moments and perplexing decisions. The tiebreak match between Kirihara and Bismarck brought high stakes and tension as Japan fought to stay in the game, but the pacing felt uneven, with the match stretching across three episodes. While character dynamics and strategic twists provided intrigue, the overuse of unexplained powers and excessive focus on minor players made it difficult to fully engage with the narrative.

The progression of the match leaned heavily on sudden, poorly justified abilities, with powers being introduced without proper explanation or buildup. This approach, which once relied on dramatic backstories and gradual development, now feels chaotic and unearned, as if the series is losing touch with its own internal logic. The reliance on gimmicks like “invisibility” and other over-the-top abilities undermined the grounded tension that made earlier matches more compelling.

Overall, the episode highlights the series’ growing struggle to balance creativity with coherence. The extended runtime and gratuitous power-ups detracted from the story’s impact, leaving the match feeling overlong and unsatisfying. Dialing back on unnecessary spectacle and focusing on meaningful, character-driven action could help restore the balance and excitement that defined the franchise’s earlier successes.