Anime · Fuji TV
Ping Pong the Animation
Enter the hero! Enter the hero! Enter the hero!
Who's in it
Cast
The principal ensemble across the run of the series.
Koki Uchiyama
Makoto 'Smile' Tsukimoto (voice)
11 eps
Fukujuro Katayama
Yutaka 'Peco' Hoshino (voice)
11 eps
Yousei Bun
Wenge 'China' Kong (voice)
11 eps
Shunsuke Sakuya
Ryuuichi 'Dragon' Kazama (voice)
11 eps
Subaru Kimura
Manabu 'Demon' Sakuma (voice)
11 eps
Yusaku Yara
Jou Koizumi (voice)
11 eps
Masako Nozawa
Obaba Tamura (voice)
11 eps
Airi Ootsu
Piiko (voice)
1 eps
Kenjiro Tsuda
Egami (voice)
4 eps
Tei Ha
Wenge's Coach (voice)
8 eps
Takahiro Shimada
Michio Tamura (voice)
5 eps
Yu Seki
Tsujidou Club Member B (voice)
1 eps
Yohei Shintaku
Student E (voice)
1 eps
Una Sahara
Mrs. Koizumi (voice)
2 eps
Yuya Tamaki
Katase Club Member C (voice)
3 eps
Akira Fukuzawa
Announcer (voice)
1 eps
Yuma Uchida
Katase Club Member B (voice)
5 eps
Takuya Masumoto
Kaiou Club Member B (voice)
2 eps
Shohei Shimada
Yamada (voice)
6 eps
Takayuki Nakatsukasa
Koeda (voice)
10 eps
Hiroki Goto
Akuma's Father (voice)
1 eps
Haruka Shiraishi
Woman (voice)
1 eps
Shiho Kokido
Girl (voice)
1 eps
Takahiro Miyamoto
Dotechin (voice)
2 eps
So Nozawa
Kimura (voice)
4 eps
Sho Koneri
Tsujidou Academy Advisor (voice)
2 eps
Kenji Hamada
Sanada (voice)
8 eps
Tasuku Hatanaka
Katase Club Member A (voice)
5 eps
Yasuyo Tomita
Peco's Younger Brother (voice)
1 eps
Ayako Kawasumi
Yurie (voice)
5 eps
Akihiko Ishizumi
Taku Kazama (voice)
7 eps
Ryu Ken
Kong's Mother (voice)
2 eps
Erina Kurita
Muko (voice)
1 eps
Mitsuaki Hoshi
Takamura (voice)
9 eps
Mitsuki Nishida
Yutaka 'Peco' Hoshino as a Child (voice)
8 eps
Shinya Hamazoe
Hama-chan (voice)
5 eps
Hiromu Satomura
Makoto 'Smile' Tsukimoto as a Child (voice)
5 eps
Shinji Ogawa
Ryuu 'President' Kazama (voice)
6 eps
Takumi Ikezawa
Manabu 'Demon' Sakuma as a Child (voice)
3 eps
Kenichi Hoshino
Head Referee (voice)
4 eps
The Nutevio profile
TV DNA
How Ping Pong the Animation actually feels to watch, measured on the traits our editors track across every series.
Signature profile
Ping Pong the Animation reads strongest on Character Depth, Bingeability and Emotional Weight.
How fully written and psychologically layered the ensemble is.
How hard it is to stop after one episode.
How much the series is designed to affect you.
How much each hour depends on the one before it.
Visual ambition — scale, craft and set-piece filmmaking.
The scale, internal logic and texture of the world.
How often an episode ends on a hook you can't ignore.
The sustained pressure the series keeps you under.
How often the series is genuinely funny, by design.
The story
What it's about
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.
Where the series peaks
Best Episodes
The hours that define the show, ranked by audience response and editorial signal.
S01E11
Blood Tastes Like Iron
The final match is on.
S01E10
I Thought You Were the Hero!!
Peco and Dragon tackle the question of whether only birds can fly.
S01E04
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.
S01E01
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.
S01E06
You Love This Sport More Than Anyone!!
Five athletes have five very different Christmas Eves, and Peco gets a wake-up call.
Recently aired
Latest Episodes
S01E11
Blood Tastes Like Iron
S01E10
I Thought You Were the Hero!!
S01E09
Gonna Cry a Bit
S01E08
The Hero Appears
S01E07
Yes, My Coach
S01E06
You Love This Sport More Than Anyone!!
Behind the series
Created by
Showrunners, creators, executive producers and the writers who set the voice of the series.
The craft
Key Crew
Directing, writing, production, camera, music and editing.
Executive production
- Masuo UedaExecutive Producer
- Yohei ShintakuProducer
- Yuka OkayasuProducer
- Yuichi NakaoExecutive Producer
- Yoko MatsuzakiExecutive Producer
- Koji YamamotoExecutive Producer
Writing
- Masaaki YuasaWriter
Direction
- Takehiro KubotaDirector
- Masaki UtsunomiyaDirector
- Masaaki YuasaDirector
- Hideki ItoDirector
- Ryota ItohDirector
- Eunyoung ChoiDirector
Cinematography
- Shunsuke NakamuraDirector of Photography
Music
- Kensuke UshioOriginal Music Composer
Where to watch
Streaming
Availability verified against regional listings.
- Amazon VideoBuy
- Apple TV StoreBuy
- CrunchyrollStreaming
- Crunchyroll Amazon ChannelStreaming
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