Sometimes you only learn when you're dragged right to the brink of defeat -- and Viper gets his chance to learn in this week's episodes of The Prince of Tennis. When a reluctant Viper gets paired up with Momo against a tricky St. Rudolph doubles team, tempers fly and the temperature gets high! Will the less-than-dynamic-duo figure out a way to work together in time to save the match, or will they end up coming to blows first? Let's root for Team Harmony and catch the latest episodes over in the Prince of Tennis section!

Episode 29: Momo and Viper
Momo and Kaido are assigned to play doubles by Coach in the next match, but their stormy rivalry just might get in the way—or could it work to their advantage?

Episode 30: Mizuki's Scenario
The intense doubles match goes long, and Kaido finds that his snake is ineffective against the St. Rudolph duo. The pressure pushes Kaido to the brink and a new move is unleashed.

What happens when you match genius against perfection? We're about to find out in the latest volume of the Prince of Tennis manga (vol. 36), now in stores. The semifinals of the National Tournament are on, with Seishun pitted against powerhouse team Shitenhoji. Seishun's resident "genius" Shusuke is up against the Shitenhoji captain, Kuranosuke Shiraishi, who is rumored to play "perfect tennis," a game with no flaws. When you have players that are evenly matched, it might take a little extra heart and guts to win the day... but will the ever-even-keeled Shusuke ramp it up in time?

You can pick up The Prince of Tennis vol. 36 at the VIZ store, along with other Prince of Tennis manga and DVDs. And of course, you can watch the anime series here on vizanime.com.

Just because you're known as the Prince of Tennis doesn't mean that you can't make mistakes -- it's a good thing that Ryoma's mistakes makes for good entertainment for us this week, as we debut two fresh Prince of Tennis episodes. Maybe there's not a whole lot of tennis in episode 27, but who doesn't love a cute cat? And in episode 28, we get to marvel at the sight of Horio pretending to be part of the Seigaku team! Wonder what his "twist" serve looks like? Check it all out in the Prince of Tennis section! 

Episode 27: Kalpin's Adventure
Ryoma accidentally packs his cat Kalpin’s favorite toy in his tennis bag, and the cat follows him to school. When Ryoma finds out his cat is wandering around campus, the search is on to find Kalpin!

Episode 28: A New Regular Appears?!
It's the day of the Metropolitan Tournament and Ryoma oversleeps, forcing his teammates to find a substitute for registration—Horio in a team jersey! Will the imposter be found out?

You figure that with a series titled The Prince of Tennis that the lead character is the best player on the court, right? Not so fast! An injured Captain Tezuka is ready to challenge our hero Ryoma to a match -- and maybe prove a point about Ryoma's motivations. We all know that Ryoma is aiming to take down his father, the former all-world tennis pro Nanjiro Echizen, but is the desire to beat one person enough to take you to the top of your game?

You have to admire the "tough love" approach upperclassman Tezuka takes in his match with underclassman Ryoma -- it's a pretty common theme in anime and manga, but here it gets taken to an extreme as Tezuka risks his own ability to physically play tennis! Ah, the devotion and mutual respect between senpai and kōhai -- it's enough to bring a tear to the eye. Where else are you going to find psychology, destiny and desire, plus a whole lot of strategic tennis, coming together in a sports anime? Check it all out in the Prince of Tennis section!

Episode 25: Seigaku's Strongest Man, Part 1
Captain Tezuka challenges Ryoma to a match because he feels Ryoma’s tennis is a copy of his father’s game, even though he is staking his own health. He wants to challenge Ryoma to aim higher, beyond just wanting to beat his father.

Episode 26: Seigaku's Strongest Man, Part 2
Shuichiro Oishi watches Tezuka and Ryoma play their game, worried that Tezuka may injure his already weakened arm.

The competition may be fierce, the physical demands draining, but it's the off-the-court action that proves to be the real challenge in this week's new Prince of Tennis episodes! Truly, is anything on the court nearly as scary as...Inui's drinks? Unfortunately, the Seigaku tennis team is about to find out! Not only that, the Prince of Tennis himself might actually be on a date?! Check the new episodes out in The Prince of Tennis section!

Episode 23: Here Comes Inui's Deluxe Drink!
It’s nine days away from the Metropolitan Tournament! Captain Tezuka and Inui introduce a new way to train. The team members are separated based on their style of play and rally against each other. If a player loses they have to drink a new and “improved” version of Sadaharu’s vegetable juice…

Episode 24: Ryoma's Day Off
Coach Ryuzaki asks Ryoma to take Sakuno to restring her racket, but everybody else thinks he’s taking her out on a date!