Ping-Pong Club

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ping-Pong Club
行け!稲中卓球部
(Ike! Inachō takkyū-bu)
Genre Comedy
Manga
Author Minoru Furuya
Publisher Flag of Japan Kodansha
Demographic Seinen
Magazine Flag of Japan Young Magazine
Original run 1993 – 1996
Volumes 13
TV anime
Director Masami Hata
Network Flag of Japan TBS
Original run April 1995 – September 1995
Episodes 26

Ping-Pong Club (行け!稲中卓球部 Ike! Inachū takkyū-bu?, lit. Go! Inachu Middle School Ping-Pong Club) is a Japanese manga by Minoru Furuya about the members of a middle school ping-pong club. It was adapted as an anime television series in 1995. In 1996, the manga won the Kodansha Manga Award for general manga.[1]

Contents

[edit] Characters

Maeno
Somewhat the 'leader' of the Ping Pong Club. He has a strange demeanor and enjoys any conversation or subject involving his glorious 'ass', of which he is very proud. Contrary to the belief that his strange and perverted attitude would repel girls, it actually attracts them (as well as his good friend Izawa). Voiced by: Kōsuke Okano
Hiromi Izawa
Izawa's strange hairstyle is constantly the 'butt' of many a joke in the series. He is a kind and caring person, although quite perverted at times, and he lives his life by the laws of chivalry. He is a huge boxing fan and wears his shoulder length hair in the style of Joe Boxer from the popular manga. He and Maeno constantly play little games in which Izawa almost always acts as the woman, be it a mother, child, or love interest. His relationship with Maeno can be debated. He is pretty much Maeno's very close friend but he has a very strange adversity to Maeno's getting a girlfriend and he even went so far as to dress up as a woman to repel Maeno's soon-to-be lover. He is also the only one in the show who has freckles. Voiced by: Takumi Yamazaki
Takeda
One of Ping Pong Clubs two 'pretty boys'. Takeda has a bowl haircut with short bangs, and he is also the crush of female character Kiyoko. He even has a whole episode devoted to him fondling her breasts (in which Maeno, Izawa, and Tanaka are all hiding naked in a locker). Voiced by: Tsutomu Takayama
Yūsuke Kinoshita
The quintessential 'pretty boy' out of the two in Ping Pong Club. He, like Izawa, has hair down to his shoulders and is the most popular and cool guy in the whole school, constantly having girls chase after him. In one episode however, Maeno and Izawa dress him like a girl and it's now Tanaka who's chasing after him. In the English dub of the series, Kinoshita is shown as having a slacker 'surfer-boy' accent. Voiced by: Susumu Kaseta
Tanaka
A tiny little pervert coming from a long line of 'Panty Masters'. Under his clothes, he has a very shapely feminine body that is mistaken for that of a girl's from the back in an episode. He is constantly tricked into playing along with Maeno and Izawa's schemes. He also constantly refers to girls he likes as 'Mommy'. Voiced by: Yasuhiro Takato
Mitchell Gorō Tanabe
The token American of the series. Hairy, blond, and blue-eyed, Tanabe is always looking out for people in trouble and for ways to help his good friend, Tanaka. He is known for his exponential stench and bad B.O. The only thing that has been able to destroy his horrible smell is pool disinfectant. Voiced by: Masato Amada

[edit] Anime

The episodes in Ping-Pong Club are actually split into 12-14 minute segments, combined together to form a typical 25 minute single episode. Seeing that there are 26 full episodes, when in fact all are split to a total of 52 episodes.

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • The characters Maeno and Izawa often play a game called "Lupin and Fujiko", where one of them dresses as Fujiko Mine whilst the other dresses as Lupin the 3rd and gropes the other. This is a clear parody/reference to the anime Lupin the 3rd.
  • Izawa starts the anime with heavily gelled hair and is often seen sporting a style similar to that seen in Ashita no Joe.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Joel Hahn. Kodansha Manga Awards. Comic Book Awards Almanac. Retrieved on 2007-08-21.

[edit] External links