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.
The best episode of "Ping Pong the Animation" season 1 is "The Wind Makes It Too Hard to Hear", rated 7.9/10 from 219 user votes. It was directed by Takehiro Kubota and written by Masaaki Yuasa. "The Wind Makes It Too Hard to Hear" aired on 4/11/2014 and is rated 0.4 point(s) higher than the second highest rated, "Smile Is a Robot".
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.
Director: Takehiro Kubota
Writer: Masaaki Yuasa
Coach Koizumi has started working Smile hard, and he definitely doesn't appreciate the extra attention.
Director: Hideki Ito
Writer: Masaaki Yuasa
All the teams gather at the prefectural qualifiers, and China gets to play Smile at last.
Director: Masatsugu Arakawa
Writer: Masaaki Yuasa
Peco learns a hard lesson from someone he never took seriously enough, and then we finally see how Dragon earned his name.
Director: Fumihiro Ueno
Writer: Masaaki Yuasa
Dragon's obsession with Smile prompts Akuma to do something rash.
Director: Masaki Utsunomiya
Writer: Masaaki Yuasa
Five athletes have five very different Christmas Eves, and Peco gets a wake-up call.
Director: Takehiro Kubota
Writer: Masaaki Yuasa
Players, coaches, captains, and their families.
Director: Ryota Itoh
Writer: Masaaki Yuasa
Smile, Peco, Dragon, and China begin another prefectural qualifier. Will the results be different this year?
Director: Ho Pyeon-gang
Writer: Masaaki Yuasa
In the third round, Dragon has an unexpected visitor, Sanada questions himself, and Peco scares lots of people in lots of ways.
Director: Ryota Itoh
Writer: Masaaki Yuasa
Peco and Dragon tackle the question of whether only birds can fly.
Director: Eunyoung Choi
Writer: Masaaki Yuasa
The final match is on.
Director: Masaaki Yuasa
Writer: Masaaki Yuasa