- 6 wins & 7 nominations.
- See more »
Photos and Videos
Cast
Yôsuke Kubozuka | ... |
Yutaka Hoshino / Peco
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Arata Iura | ... |
Makoto Tsukimoto / Smile
(as Arata)
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Sam Lee | ... |
Kong Wenge / China
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Shidô Nakamura | ... |
Ryûichi Kazama / Dragon
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Kôji Ohkura | ... |
Manabu Sakuma / Demon
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Naoto Takenaka | ... |
Butterfly Joe
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Mari Natsuki | ... |
Obaba
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Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
Yoshiyoshi Arakawa |
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Takahiro Hirano |
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Mako Ishino |
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Kôen Kondô |
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Erika Mabuchi |
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Suzuki Matsuo | ... |
Policeman
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Asumi Miwa |
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Ayumu Moriyama |
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Akira Nishihara |
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Kaei Okina | ... |
(as Hua Rong Weng)
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Teppei Sasaki |
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Mikio Satô |
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Kenichi Suemitsu |
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Kiyotaka Suzuki |
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Chie Tanaka |
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Yôhei Toyoda |
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Kanji Tsuda |
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Shinji Yamashita |
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Satoshi Ôe |
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Directed by
Fumihiko Sori |
Written by
Taiyô Matsumoto | ... | (comic) |
Kankurô Kudô | ... | (screenplay) |
Produced by
Toru Ishitoya | ... | assistant producer |
Shinji Ogawa | ... | producer |
Tamotsu Shiina | ... | executive producer |
Sanae Suzuki | ... | producer |
Mitsuru Uda | ... | assistant producer |
Cinematography by
Akira Sako | ... | (as Akira Sakoh) |
Editing by
Sôichi Ueno | ... | (as Soichi Ueno) |
Art Direction by
Koichi Kanekatsu |
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Shinsuke Ono | ... | assistant director |
Sound Department
Mizuki Ito | ... | foley artist |
Akihiko Okase | ... | sound effects |
Hitoshi Yamada | ... | sound |
Visual Effects by
Kazuyuki Endo | ... | cg designer: Digital Frontier |
Hideki Fukuchi | ... | cg operator: Digital Media Lab |
Makoto Fukushima | ... | cg producer: Digital Media Lab |
Takeshi Harada | ... | cg designer: Digital Frontier |
Junichiro Hoshikawa | ... | cg artist: TBS CG |
Tadao Matsuno | ... | cg director |
Tomoyo Nakanishi | ... | cg designer: Digital Frontier |
Tetsuya Nozawa | ... | cg designer: Digital Frontier |
Fumikazu Sato | ... | cg operator: Digital Media Lab |
Manabu Tagawa | ... | cg operator: Digital Media Lab |
Yoichiro Tajiri | ... | cg designer: Digital Frontier |
Toshinori Takata | ... | technical director |
Yûsaku Toyoshima | ... | cg producer: Digital Frontier |
Yasuhiro Ôtsuka | ... | cg director: Digital Frontier (as Yasuhiro Ohtsuka) |
Stunts
Tatsumi Nikamoto | ... | stunt coordinator |
Camera and Electrical Department
Koichi Kuroda | ... | still photographer |
Kôichi Watanabe | ... | gaffer |
Script and Continuity Department
Christian Storms | ... | script translation |
Production Companies
Distributors
- Asmik Ace Entertainment (2002) (Japan) (theatrical)
- Viz Pictures (2007) (United States) (theatrical) (subtitled)
- Asian Crush (2011) (United States)
- Digital Media Rights (2011) (United States)
- Filmfreak Distributie (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)
- Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) (2003) (Japan) (tv)
- Viz Pictures (2007) (United States) (DVD)
Special Effects
Other Companies
- Artnature (wig)
- Mitsukaido Daiichi High School (filming cooperation)
- Mitsukaido Daini High School (filming cooperation)
Storyline
Plot Summary |
As a child, the introverted Smile was being bullied by a gang of kids until the brash Peco came by and chased all of them away. Peco then takes Smile under his wing and teaches him how to play the game of ping pong. From there, a lifelong best friend relationship comes into existence between these two polar opposite kids. Fast forward a decade later, and Smile and Peco are now about to compete in a high-stakes regional ping pong tournament. While Peco has always wanted to be the best ping pong player in the world, he has never had the drive to fully devote himself to the game. Rather than finding him practicing in the high school gym, you would more often than not find Peco hustling other kids out of money at the local ping pong parlor. This is in contrast with Smile, who has the god-given talents to actually become the worlds best ping pong player but is too humble to destroy his opponents. More often than not, he allows his opponents to win points and even entire games out of sympathy for them. Now these two best friends try to deal with their own inner turmoils as they move further and further into the regional ping pong tournament. Peco has to overcome a knee injury while trying to rediscover the fun aspects of the game of Ping Pong. Meanwhile, Smile now seems to have gained the killer instinct by going through a rigorous training regiment instilled by his high school coach. As the tournament progresses, it becomes more likely that these two best friends will face off against each other in the final match. |
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Parents Guide | Add content advisory for parents » |
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Box Office
Opening Weekend Japan | $208,780, 09 Aug 2002 |
Did You Know?
Trivia | Based on a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Taiyou Matsumoto about table tennis. It was serialized in Shogakukan's seinen manga magazine Big Comic Spirits from 1996 to 1997 and collected in five tankobon volumes. See more » |
Movie Connections | References Gigantor (1964). See more » |