The series tells the story of Hiromi Oka, a high school student who wants to become a professional tennis player as she struggles against mental weakness, anxiety and thwarted love.
While attending Nishi (西高), Hiromi begins playing tennis after becoming fascinated by Reika Ryūzaki (竜崎麗香, Ryūzaki Reika), an older girl who is the best player on the team and is nicknamed "Madame Butterfly" (お蝶夫人, Ochōfujin) owing to her grace on the tennis court.
Hiromi often loses confidence in her playing abilities, but with the support of her coach and her friends she overcomes her anxiety.
was written and illustrated by Sumika Yamamoto; its first chapter was published by Shueisha in the Japanese magazine Margaret in January 1973.
Its serialization finished in 1975, but because of demand from readers, partly brought about by the phenomenal success of the anime in reruns, its publication restarted from 1978 to February 1980.
[16] Due to its initial poor ratings in Japan, the series was cancelled with half the original intended number of episodes.
Tenis Ōkoku no Cinderella (テニス王国のシンデレラ) that was derived from television series was distributed theatrically by Toho in Japan on December 20, 1973.
[28] With the popularity of Shin Ace o Nerae!, the studio decided to produce an anime film adaptation.
[17] The film was directed by Osamu Dezaki, written by Keisuke Fujikawa, music by Kōji Makaino, and produced by Yutaka Fujioka.
In addition to the original incidental music newly composed for the movie version, many insert songs and BGM are recycled from the second series, which was also scored by Makaino.
", and the ending theme song, "Shiroi Tennis Court" (白いテニスコート), from the original anime series were performed by Kumiko Ōsugi.
(青春にかけろ) and "Ashita ni Mukatte" (明日に向かって), the opening and ending theme from Shin Ace o Nerae!.
[54] In 2005, TV Asahi conducted a "Top 100" online web poll and nationwide survey asking viewers for the best anime television series; Aim for the Ace!
[55][56] Responsible for a tennis boom among high school students in the 1970s,[51] the series was still popular as of 2015 appearing in several online web polls of most influential sports anime.
[53] Gainax's science fiction OVA Gunbuster incorporated the set-up and the style of Aim for the Ace!, acting as parody to the series.
[67] Shuzo Matsuoka, considered "the first successful Japanese [tennis] player",[68] was influenced to play because of the esteem he had on the series.
[53] Justin Sevakis, writing for Anime News Network, and Erica Friedman, founder of Yuricon, consider the series a "true" shōjo.
[16][65] Friedman wrote, "As a representative of early shoujoai, Ace wo Nerae is a spectacular example, but expect a fair dollop of cheesy-ness, as the character designs, music, art, etc are all over 30 years old.
He also declared, "Despite being Western-looking and ostensibly about universally accessible sport of tennis, it's a fascinating look at Japanese personal motivation, interaction and decorum," playing "like a catalog of Japan's most interesting cultural quirks.
"[16] Art-wise it was compared to Dear Brother and The Rose of Versailles by Anime News Network's Lynzee Loveridge, who said it "reinforces a lot of the dangerous work ethic that permeates sports series, like battling through a serious injury or abandoning emotional 'dalliances' like romance.
Nippon Telenet adapted the series into a Super Famicom video game, which they published on December 22, 1993.
[70] Tristar published two video game adaptations for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X; the first was released on November 30, 2002, and the second on December 3, 2004.
[76][77] It was directed by Hidetomo Matsuda, Shunji Muguruma and Yoshinori Kobayashi, produced by Motohiro Matsumoto and Shizuo Sekiguchi, and the screenwriters were Akiyo Takikawa, Naoya Takayama and Hiroko Kanasugi.
[80] Serving as a sequel to the series, a special episode was aired on September 23, 2004, and then was released on DVD on December 22 by Geneon Universal.