the index intro lucky sengoku vitals fanbook translations notable matches play style persona & insight appearance name theory quotes relationships junior senbatsu radiobox tenimyu info parallels the english dub zodiac info lucky, lucky? media stuff linkage and exits details + love the disclaimers 8th princess   the persona an interpretation of his lovable character Sengoku isn't the kind of character that has secret, hidden motives or some sort of pokerface; in fact, out of all the characters i've written personality descriptions about, I believe Sengoku to be one of the easiest. When it comes down to it, the basic idea to grasp about his exterior: Happy-go-lucky, lively, energetic, flirtatious, and passionate. And not to mention, extremely superstitious. I also often peg Sengoku for being a little on the lazy side for not doing much of anything afterschool besides tennis, but that's something i'll touch on a bit later. AND THEY CALL ME HAPPY-GO-LUCKY The term 'happy-go-lucky', in my interpretation, is a relaxed individual, someone's who's very casual about life and doesn't get anxious over small frustrations. And yes, Sengoku is a happy-go-lucky character; though somehow this sort of clashes with his need and desire to peer into the future (wouldn't knowing the outcome of something make you more anxious?). However, his quote from 40.5 ("fortune telling is random") suggests that he probably doesn't rely completely on predictions. Which brings me to another point, Sengoku fearlessly takes on challenge without question or hesitation. I like to think that Sengoku doesn't worry about the consequences until a later time, instead, takes on whatever task as it comes to him. Talk about spontaneous. He's not the most comic relief character (leave that to Mizuki or the homo pair from Shitenhouji), but he certainly has special traits that earn him a couple giggles from fans. His catch phrases like, "Lucky~!" (yes, the squiggle MUST be there) or "Yosh!!" are just a couple raw examples of his unique positivity. HARDWORKING & INSPIRING Yamabuki really values Sengoku as their ace player. On Yamabuki, everyone's pretty good, but Sengoku seems to outshine them the most, next to Akutsu. The one thing that's not relaxed in Sengoku's personality is his passion and drive for tennis. It's a given that every player in this series holds a love for tennis, but for Sengoku, I think it's something he really aims to be the best at. Taking on the trial and error approach to tennis, after losing to Momoshiro from Seigaku and Kamio from Fudomine, Sengoku comes to the conclusion that he really needs to change his style of tennis. And he did, taking Yamabuki right up to the brim of Nationals, though not quite as far as they wanted. In the manga, it wasn't exactly touched on however you can read about his evolution in tennis here. Not a lot of other characters take a long hiatus off tennis to do something else (Sengoku's case, boxing) in order to improve their game (to mention one, Tezuka). To me, that's some really intense dedication. His fruits of hard labor were well rewarded in the anime as he was chosen for the Junior Invitational team. TENACITY seems to be Sengoku's forte. DON'T BREAK THE MIRROR!! THAT'S BAD LUCK! Oh boy, Sengoku is really supersitious and keen about horoscopes and predictions. Anything that is unlucky is easily avoided by Sengoku. He isn't called LUCKY Sengoku for nothing, after all. His luck is what brought Yamabuki to be feared. He likes lucky colors, numbers, has a maneki neko sitting at his locker facing at a lucky direction, and I wouldn't be surprised if Sengoku even practiced feng shui. I think over time and going all the way up to Nationals, this sense of relying on pure luck and horoscope has waned slightly. "You cannot just wait around for luck, you have to MAKE it." -- A quote directly from an episode in the Junior Senbatsu. Though JS is not technically all that canon, I believe that Sengoku probably would've said something similar to it in the manga. I don't think that Sengoku could ever shake off his dependance on predictions or luck amulets, but he's starting to know that his destiny can be altered at any given time, no matter what was prophesied. HUMBLE TO YOUR VICTIM He doesn't exactly share in the universal-Tenipuri-cocky boy's circle (see: Atobe, Marui..), but he does have a lot of confidence in his skills. I don't think it's the cheering fans that got to his head, but the confidence from his horoscopes. Sengoku is another one of those rare ones that doesn't "talk smack" (speak badly) about his opponent. He actually respects who's standing from him across the court. It's tempting for Sengoku to smile on other's misfortunes (see: Momo's cramp during their match), but in his heart, he knows it's not right to think that's okay, though it may be his only chance. I personally feel it's good that he's like this; he's human enough to realize when he's being spiteful. PSYCHOLOGICAL DAMAGE is one of Sengoku's favorite tactics to use on his opponents; which can be noted during his match with Momoshiro, as he successfully mirrors Momo's signature 'Dunk Smash'. I often notice that Sengoku really loves catching his opponents off guard (the damage is basically driving the opponent up the wall so that they can't figure out what to do any longer) by taking random risks like this; but the risk is always well worth it to score a point. MR. FLIRT Ah yes, I cannot forget to mention Sengoku's love for the female sex. Sengoku is a hunter of love and it's even shown in his first appearance as a character! When spying on Seishun Gakuen to find out information about the opposing team, he runs into Sakuno and Tomo (Seigaku's cheerleaders?) who are practicing their tennis; and he wears this dopey-perverted smile while looking at them. I don't think that Sengoku is bashful at all when it comes to girls, since throughout the entire series, when there are girls in the same vicinity of Sengoku, there's a 100% chance he's going to try his luck with them. Not quite sure if he's lucky in love or in the least bit popular, maybe even the Ladies' Choice -- though I should hope so. ....He's definitely Airi's choice.