Shinji Ibu is one of Fudomine's two aces, a tennis prodigy whose natural talent is so great that even Sumire Ryuzaki remarked he was on par with Shusuke Fuji in that regard alone. He is known for his mumbling speech and moody, yet brilliant, on-court presence.
Shinji Ibu stands at 166 cm (previously 165 cm) and weighs 55 kg. He is known to dedicate an astonishing 2 hours and 40 minutes to his hair care routine every day.
Shinji has a somewhat moody personality and is known for his characteristically mumbling tone of voice. He tends to complain when things don't go his way and has a sharp tongue, though he's often unaware of his own bluntness.
He dislikes loud people and those who can't read the atmosphere. His personal motto is "Walk the talk."
Shinji is a second-year student at Fudomine Middle School, in Class 2, Seat 2. He is one of the team's two primary aces, alongside Akira Kamio.
His family consists of his father, who is a civil servant, his mother, two younger sisters, and a younger brother. Shinji also serves as the groundskeeper for the tennis club.
Play Style
Shinji is a Counter Puncher, wearing down his opponents from the baseline. His official stats are Speed-2, Power-3, Stamina-3, Mental-2, and Technique-4.
Special Moves
Kick Serve
This is a serve that bounces at a sharp, high angle after landing, similar in effect to a Twist Serve.
Spot
By repeatedly alternating between topspin and slice shots, Shinji forces his opponent's muscles into a state of temporary paralysis. However, Ryoma Echizen countered this by simply switching his racket to his other hand and eventually prevented him from using the technique by not allowing him to hit topspins.
District Preliminaries
Shinji defeated Kuwaki, the ace of Kakinoki Middle School, in the semifinals. In the finals against Seigaku, he played in the Singles 2 spot, becoming the opponent for Ryoma Echizen's first-ever team singles match.
He was initially caught off guard by Ryoma's Twist Serve but fought back with his own Kick Serve. He then gained a significant advantage by using his special move, "Spot," to numb Ryoma's arm. The match was temporarily halted after Ryoma injured himself trying to force a shot, but Shinji remained in control after it resumed. However, Ryoma eventually discovered the weakness of "Spot" and turned the match around, leading to Shinji's defeat.
Kanto Tournament
In the Kanto Tournament semifinals, he teamed up with Akira Kamio for a doubles match. They suffered a complete and decisive loss against Rikkai's formidable pair, Genichiro Sanada and Renji Yanagi.
National Tournament
During the Nationals, Shinji secured a crushing 6-1 victory against Kadowaki in the second round. He was set to face Kintaro Toyama in the quarterfinals but ultimately forfeited the match.
While primarily a singles player, he is often paired with Akira Kamio for doubles matches when facing powerhouse schools.
The New Prince of Tennis
In the drop-out tie-break match at the U-17 training camp, he faced his teammate Akira Kamio. He lost the match after two unfortunate cord balls failed to go his way.
- School: Fudomine Middle School, 2nd Year, Class 2, No. 2
- Birthday: November 3rd
- Blood Type: AB
- Dominant Hand: Right
- Foot Size: 27cm
- Vision: Left 0.9, Right 0.6
- Family: Father, Mother, two younger sisters, younger brother
- Father's Occupation: Civil Servant
- Elementary School: Fudomine Chuo Elementary
- School Committee: None
- Favorite Subject: Physics
- Least Favorite Subject: English (dislikes the pronunciation)
- Hobbies: Listening to music, Rexy Data
- Favorite Food: Pickles
- Favorite Color: Gray
- Favorite Movie: A splatter film with dolls (he forgot the title)
- Favorite Book: TV magazines
- Favorite Music: Folk songs, Rock
- Preferred Type: Cute girls (with nice teeth), foreigners
- Favorite Spot at School: The clubhouse building
- Ideal Date: Going to see a movie
- Allowance Usage: Renting CDs and videos
- Wants Most Now: A home planetarium
- Daily Routines: Singing lullabies to his younger sisters (in a mumbling voice) and calling Akira Kamio.
- Daily Routine (New Prince of Tennis): Cleaning his own hotel room, as he doesn't want the staff to enter.
- Skills Besides Tennis: Flower arranging, essay writing, and carving apples into bunnies.
Voice Actor
- Eiji Moriyama
Musical Cast
- 1st Season: Hiroki Konishi (District Tournament), Motohiro Ohta (Nationals)
- 2nd Season: Kazuhiro Okazaki (District Tournament)
- 3rd Season: Kento (District Tournament)
- 4th Season: Naotake Tsuchiya (District Tournament)
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