Ping Pong
Seen it?2002 | 114 min | Comedy, Drama
Weeknight Watchearly ratingWhy it’s a Weeknight Watch
With almost no lasting buzz and soft box office, it's a mixed bag. Fine if it's on; don't plan your night around it.
Based on critics, audiences, awards, box office and buzz. Details below.Is it for you?
- Who'll love it
- Made for anime fans and anyone who loves an underdog. Made in the anime tradition: bold, emotional and willing to go dark. Fans of The First Slam Dunk should feel right at home. The sport matters, but the people playing it matter more.
- The mood
- Funny with heart.
- The pace
- Lets scenes breathe, at 1 hr 54 min.
- What might put you off
- It's in Japanese, so expect subtitles (or a dub).
- Not the pick if you want something heavy or meaningful.
As children, the introverted Smile was being bullied by a gang of kids until the brash Peco comes by and chases all of them them away. Peco then takes Smile under his wings and teaches him how to play the game of ping pong. From there a life long best friend relationship comes into existence between these two polar opposite kids.
How it earned its rating
- CriticsSolid
75% on Rotten Tomatoes, 59 on Metacritic
- AudiencesNot counted
Not measured yet: not enough ratings
- AwardsNot counted
No major awards or nominations
- Reach & staying powerBelow par
Streaming release that reached a small audience so far; still draws a steady audience long after release
- Buzz & cultural impactWeak
About 16K people sought it out in the past year
Trailer
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Cast & crew
Directed by Fumihiko Sori
- Yosuke KubozukaYutaka "Peco" Hoshino
- Arata IuraMakoto "Smile" Tsukimoto
- Sam LeeKong "China" Wenge
- Shidou NakamuraRyuichi "Dragon" Kazama
- Koji OhkuraManabu "Demon" Sakuma
- Naoto TakenakaButterfly Joe
- Mari NatsukiObaba
- Suzuki MatsuoPolice Officer on the Bridge
- Yoshiyoshi ArakawaOta
- Koen KondoTako