TV series
Ping Pong the Animation
Overview
Makoto 'Smile' Tsukimoto and his friend Yutaka 'Peco' Hoshino have been playing table tennis together since they were kids, but as they enter high school, they find that the game, and how they see it, has changed. Peco, brimming with confidence and energy, wants to be the best in the world, but the reserved Smile has little fighting spirit and doesn't want to sacrifice others' happiness just to win, despite his innate talent. As the two grow, and experience the ups and downs of the sport – and life – they try to figure out exactly who they really are and what drives them to play.
Details
- First air date
- 2014-04-11
- Status
- Ended
- Seasons
- 1 season
- Episodes
- 11 episodes
- Genres
- Animation, Drama
- Network
- Fuji TV
- Production
- Tatsunoko Production, Aniplex, Kyoraku Industrial Holdings, dentsu
- Country
- JP
- Original language
- JA
Cast
- Koki Uchiyama as Makoto 'Smile' Tsukimoto (voice)
- Fukujuro Katayama as Yutaka 'Peco' Hoshino (voice)
- Yousei Bun as Wenge 'China' Kong (voice)
- Shunsuke Sakuya as Ryuuichi 'Dragon' Kazama (voice)
- Subaru Kimura as Manabu 'Demon' Sakuma (voice)
- Yusaku Yara as Jou Koizumi (voice)
- Masako Nozawa as Obaba Tamura (voice)
- Takanori Hoshino as Oota (voice)
- Takayuki Nakatsukasa as Koeda (voice)
- Mitsuaki Hoshi as Takamura (voice)
- Tei Ha as Wenge's Coach (voice)
- Kenji Hamada as Sanada (voice)
Creators and crew
- Masuo Ueda - Executive Producer
- Yoko Matsuzaki - Executive Producer
- Yutaka Ishikawa - Executive Producer
- Koji Yamamoto - Executive Producer
- Yuichi Nakao - Executive Producer
- Yuka Okayasu - Producer
Episodes
Episode 1: The Wind Makes It Too Hard to Hear
Two old friends go to spy on a new table tennis champ at a rival high school, but meanwhile their own team is falling apart.
Episode 2: Smile Is a Robot
Coach Koizumi has started working Smile hard, and he definitely doesn't appreciate the extra attention.
Episode 3: Staking Your Life on Table Tennis Is Revolting
All the teams gather at the prefectural qualifiers, and China gets to play Smile at last.
Episode 4: The Only Way to Be Sure You Won't Lose Is to Not Fight
Peco learns a hard lesson from someone he never took seriously enough, and then we finally see how Dragon earned his name.
Episode 5: Where Did I Go Wrong?
Dragon's obsession with Smile prompts Akuma to do something rash.
Episode 6: You Love This Sport More Than Anyone!!
Five athletes have five very different Christmas Eves, and Peco gets a wake-up call.
Episode 7: Yes, My Coach
Players, coaches, captains, and their families.
Episode 8: The Hero Appears
Smile, Peco, Dragon, and China begin another prefectural qualifier. Will the results be different this year?
Episode 9: Gonna Cry a Bit
In the third round, Dragon has an unexpected visitor, Sanada questions himself, and Peco scares lots of people in lots of ways.
Episode 10: I Thought You Were the Hero!!
Peco and Dragon tackle the question of whether only birds can fly.
Episode 11: Blood Tastes Like Iron
The final match is on.
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