Tennis no Oujisama is an ever growing tennis manga series that is currently being published in the Weekly Shounen Jump magazine in Japan, currently at thirty-seven published volumes and over two hundred chapters. Tenipuri, as nicknamed by the fans and creators alike, has spawned more than just a manga, however - an anime series that had a fantastic run from 2001 to 2005 on TV Tokyo, the total episode count ending at 178 episodes, and OVAs currently being produced on singular CDs to air the nationals tournament that was not featured in the actual anime series, as well as twelve musicals and counting (Tenimyu), thousands of dollars of merchandise, a radio show featuring the Tenipuri voice actors (Raijpuri), over one hundred CDs, video games, doujinshi, and more. Despite the anime series ending two years ago, now, Tenipuri is still going strong, just as popular - if not more - and shows no signs of stopping any time soon.

The Golden Pair are Seigaku's top doubles pairing, and are nationally ranked in the Kantou region along with other doubles pairings such as Rikkaidai's Niou and Yagyuu, Yamabuki's Minami and Higashikata, and Hyoutei's Shishido and Ootori. The Golden Pair are best known for their phenomenal doubles combination, and are often described to be as if they are two halves to a whole - you cannot have one exist without the other. While the Golden Pair aren't the strongest tennis skills wise - often losing matches against doubles pairings equally ranked, but stronger - their combination is one of a kind; something that is not easily found in just any two people who play doubles together. Every time the Golden Pair play a match together - whether it is a victory, or a loss - they are always growing; always working on improving their game; working to make their partnership stronger. In Japanese, after Eiji's singles match with Kai in the nationals, Eiji uses the word "aibou" when calling up to Oishi - "aibou" basically means "partner," but with much stronger connocations/deeper feelings behind it. The Golden Pair aren't best friends; however, they have a bond that is special only to them, whether on the courts or off the courts, and has proven to not be easily breakable.


First, there's Oishi Syuichirou. Oishi is the type of man that many girls are after - vice-captain of the tennis team, smart, good-looking, cares a lot for the people close to him (often being called the "mommy" of Seigaku), is prone to worry about many things (most often, that worry either directed toward himself or to Tezuka), and has proven that when time calls, he can step forward to take a leadership role, even if he is more suited to being second in command. There would be no Seigaku team without Oishi - he is the glue that keeps the team close together. However, while Oishi is generally a very cheerful teenager (and is also extremely dorky, as he proves time and time again in his plots like prancing around in a tutu to distract Ryuuzaki, or gather the team up to go hiking up a mountain to watch the sunrise), he also has a temper - push him too far, and he will snap: the most memorable moment is when he smacks Eiji across the court before the first Hyoutei matches.

By nature, Oishi is a supporter; he can hold his own in a singles match, but has always trained in doubles since he joined the tennis club with Tezuka. He often played with an upperclassman during his first year in doubles matches until he met and became partners with Eiji, and as far as canon suggests, he has never played official matches without Eiji by his side.
Then, of course, with Oishi comes Kikumaru Eiji. While Oishi is the more reserved half of the Golden Pair, Eiji is the cheerful, energetic, spunky redhead who is the type of character that is designed for people to like. Eiji has a lot of spirit - he is often the one you see cheering on the rest of the team, and designing silly cheers that do, indeed, boost everyone else's spirits. He's friendly, and very lively - it's rare to see Eiji standing still unless he's in a serious mood. While many people simply see Eiji as the brainless, hyperactive, cat-like acrobatic of Seigaku, there is actually a lot more to his personality when you look past speech softly accented with 'nya's, and the constant clinging onto Ryoma/whoever else is in the vicinity. Eiji is prone to random bouts of insecurity, and often becomes very frustrated when he's targeted specifically - especially on a tennis court. He often speaks out without thinking first (which was the cause of Oishi hitting him), and can be rather bratty at times; one can only assume this is because he is the youngest of four siblings, and everybody knows what the dreaded, typical youngest sibling can be like.

At first, Eiji was not a doubles player; we were introduced to him proclaming that he wanted to be in singles wearing the Seigaku regular jersey. However, it was after Oishi beat Eiji in a match (something that was rare, looking back at Eiji's reaction to the match) and when he saw Oishi practicing tennis against the green bin that later became their place of reflection, when Eiji realized how he had underestimated Oishi; despite Eiji's first impression, Oishi was extremely dedicated/passionate. That day, Eiji asked Oishi to be his doubles partner until the day Eiji could beat him - a time that hasn't happened yet, and probably won't for as long as they know each other.