Well, I'm back from Japan... anyone traveling there will be happy to know that in touristy areas the signs tend to be subtitled... though even my mediocre Japanese was enough to get by in places where there was no English to be seen.

Let me include the Tezuka Zone Dialogue that was written so far... it was originally part of my travelogue, but most of that is scrap-booky and can't be posted. This, however, I can do. It's based on a conversation my friends and I once had, with names changed to make them sound more Greek (this makes more sense if you've both read Plato and watched Prince of Tennis):

AMICLES: Do you recall, o Sabrinos, how we were sitting on the stairs and Neviades posed to Skinner-tes the question: Skinner-tes, what is the Tezuka Zone, and can it be taught?

SABRINOS: I remember it well, Amicles. We never did settle that...

TIREXENOS: And we aren't going to do so now. Veto.

The Assembled: Aww...

SKINNER-TES: We'll have to answer them separately, and first we must say what is the Tezuka Zone before we can say if it is teachable. ::squee:: Tezuka's so hot!

SABRINOS: Yes, dear.

TIREXENOS: I can already sense that you will have trouble reaching a conclusion.

AMICLES: Yeah, we've all ready Plato.

SKINNER-TES: Can we talk about Tezuka? You wanted to know what the Tezuka Zone is, right?

SABRINOS: Well, it's certainly a power only Tezuka seems to have... to hit the ball so the opponent's return comes to the same place every time.

SKINNER-TES: No, no, wait. That's not what it *is*, that's what it *does*. That's the for-the-sake-of-which of the Tezuka Zone. Our task must be to describe the being of the Tezuka Zone in particular.

AMICLES: Are we doing Plato or Aristotle? Oh well, whatever. We'll have to sort out if what Nanjirou does for the same effect is the same as or different from the Tezuka Zone.

SKINNER-TES: *Not* *Tezuka*

TIREXENOS: Skinner-tes has spoken.

AMICLES: I'll take that as, "Different from..."

SABRINOS: That seems best.

SKINNER-TES: So, can anyone say what is the being of the Tezuka Zone itself?

SABRINOS: The great Inui says on the subject, "Tezuka can freely control the spin of the ball." His data indicates this as probable.

TIREXENOS: Data never lies, after all.

SKINNER-TES: But it often falls short of encompassing Tezuka.

TIREXENOS: Your opinion may be biased.

SKINNER-TES: That's canon!

AMICLES: But let us take into account... The great Inui believes from observation that Tezuka must be controlling the spin on the ball. He does not have this belief confirmed by either Eiji or Echizen, who could easily see a ball's spin, and he does not provide measurements with regard to the positioning of the racket that would produce the spin he mentioned. Surely Inui, who ccan measure millimeters and degrees by sight alone could say such things!

SKINNER-TES: Then, in this case, the Dataman could be mistaken. Not because his data has lied, but because he made his supposition with incomplete data?

SABRINOS: So it would seem.

SKINNER-TES: But let us not dismiss the idea, for the great Inui has merit beyond telling. Instead let us gather evidence for and against such that a conclusion might be made.

AMICLES: It is a known fact that spin will change the direction of a ball's bounce. But can we say it is possible in physics to control the bounce of a ball that another person will hit?

TIREXENOS: Recall, Amicles, if you will, that we are dealing not with physics but rather with the special physics outlined in Prince of Tennis.

AMICLES: Naturally, Tirexenos, this will be taken into account. The two are by no means the same.

SABRINOS: Do we have a precedent? Can secondary motion be controlled? Can we find such an example without referring again to Echizen's father -- who, I must vehemently say, does not count.

TO BE CONTINUED...

I still am looking for suitable examples with which to continue the dialogue. I had immediately thought to use Rokkaku's captain, but decided against it since he's using point control on his own shots, not the opponents'. However, I may change my mind again and include it since that was *also* Amy's first reaction and the intent is a conversation. We all read so much Plato in college... I know this will be sense-making only to a very small audience, but hopefully people will enjoy it.

Am now in the middle of packing to move. Translation can start up again once I'm settled. I picked up, among many other things, a Shounen Onmyouji anime guide, which should provide kanji for most of the terms that are confusing. Selections that I find particularly relevant I will translate to my research page.

Your humble proprietor,
Skinner