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ピンポン THE ANIMATION
Enter the hero! Enter the hero! Enter the hero!
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.
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.
Coach Koizumi has started working Smile hard, and he definitely doesn't appreciate the extra attention.
All the teams gather at the prefectural qualifiers, and China gets to play Smile at last.
Peco learns a hard lesson from someone he never took seriously enough, and then we finally see how Dragon earned his name.
Dragon's obsession with Smile prompts Akuma to do something rash.
Five athletes have five very different Christmas Eves, and Peco gets a wake-up call.
Players, coaches, captains, and their families.
Smile, Peco, Dragon, and China begin another prefectural qualifier. Will the results be different this year?
In the third round, Dragon has an unexpected visitor, Sanada questions himself, and Peco scares lots of people in lots of ways.
Peco and Dragon tackle the question of whether only birds can fly.
The final match is on.
