This is the version where Prince of Tennis finally stops pretending tennis is just an excuse for supernatural character moments and commits to actually drawing the sport like it matters. The animation budget shows up for every rally, every serve, every impossible angle Echizen pulls off. You watch teenagers solve problems across a net instead of through dialogue, and the pacing whips hard enough that you don't notice the tournament compression until you're already invested in who moves forward. It's built for people who want to see their favorite characters play the sport they're defined by, not just survive another tournament arc.

Seigaku's tennis team has made it to the National Tournament, where only the elite schools remain standing. Freshman prodigy Ryouma Echizen and his teammates open against Higa Middle School, an Okinawa squad seen as the tournament's dark horse. After seeing Higa win its first round through underhanded play, Seigaku resolves to prove that a fair, hard-fought win means more. The winner then meets old rival Hyoutei Academy in the quarterfinals. Hyoutei entered the Nationals only on a special invitation and wants to restore its pride after the Kanto Regionals. This thirteen-episode OVA mixes sports action with comedy and covers the start of the tournament, as Seigaku faces past and new opponents who each hold their own ideas about how tennis should be played.