# The Ping Pong Club

The Ping Pong Club (Japanese: 行け!稲中卓球部, Hepburn: Ike! Inachū Takkyū-bu, lit. Go! Inachū Middle School Ping-Pong Club) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Minoru Furuya. It was serialized in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Weekly Young Magazine from 1993 to 1996, with its chapters collected in 13 tankōbon volumes. It is about the dysfunctional members of a middle school ping-pong club.
The Ping Pong Club was adapted by Grouper Productions into a 26-episode anime television series. It was licensed in North America by Central Park Media.
By September 2010, The Ping Pong Club had over 25 million copies in circulation, making it one of the best-selling manga series. In 1996, the manga won the 20th Kodansha Manga Award for the general category.

## Plot

The story follows the adventures of a somewhat unusual ping-pong club: the players are indeed more focused "on panties" and obscene jokes than on the game. The arrival of Iwashita, the new head of the club, makes it possible to change things, the latter somehow managing to interest his undisciplined players in ping-pong. A difficult mission as the temptations of the outside world are great for our protagonists.

## Characters
### Maeno

    Voiced by: Kōsuke Okano (Japanese); James Carter Cathcart (as Jimmy Zoppi) (English)
    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).

### Hiromi Izawa

    Voiced by: Takumi Yamazaki (Japanese); Buddy Woodward (English)
    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 Yabuki from the popular manga Ashita no Joe. 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.

### Takeda

    Voiced by: Tsutomu Takayama (Japanese); Crispin Freeman (as Mark Percy) (English)
    One of ping-pong club's two 'pretty boys'. Takeda has a bowl haircut with short bangs, and he is also the crush of female character Kyōko. 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).

### Yūsuke Kinoshita

    Voiced by: Susumu Kaseta (Japanese); Wayne Grayson (as Hans Brikfeice) (English)
    The quintessential "pretty boy" out of the two in the 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.

### Tanaka

    Voiced by: Yasuhiro Takato (Japanese); Gil Goujons (English)
    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".

### Mitchell Gorō Tanabe

    Voiced by: Masato Amada (Japanese); Dan Green (as Jack Bean) (English)
    Half American and half Japanese. 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 gentle and helpful as well as being very sensitive. 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.

### Kyōko Iwashita

    Voiced by: Sakura Uehara (Japanese); Sharon Becker (as Cookie D'Goodie) (English)
    She's a tough-as-nails, and landed the managerial job because the principal of the school hoped it would be a way to keep her out of trouble. She barely tolerates the antics of the room of adolescent boys trying constantly to get in her panties. In the episode "the Burning Spirit," she proves to have incredible motivational skills for the boys when she offers a "sex pass" to the best player on the team: "The holder of this pass can do anything they want with my body for a month!" The offer powers the below mediocre team into the city finals.

### Chiyoko Kamiya

    Voiced by: Nanami Kurosaki (Japanese); Kayzie Rogers (as Paula Brown) (English)
    Shows up in later episodes as a shy girl who has a crush on Kinoshita, and figures if she can improve her ping pong skills, she'll catch his eye. A good plan, but her mistake is going to nerdy freak Izawa to unquestioningly enlist him as her ping pong sensei. Izawa's fondest dream is to have a beautiful girl that obeys his every word, and not abusing his new-found position of power proves to be impossible.

## Media
### Manga

Written and illustrated by Minoru Furuya, The Ping Pong Club was serialized in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Weekly Young Magazine from 1993 to 1996. Kodansha collected its chapters in thirteen tankōbon volumes, released from November 6, 1993, to February 6, 1997.

#### Volumes

| No. | Release date | ISBN |
| 1 | November 6, 1993 | 4-06-323432-0 |
| 2 | March 5, 1994 | 4-06-323450-9 |
| 3 | June 6, 1994 | 4-06-323471-1 |
| 4 | September 6, 1994 | 4-06-323487-8 |
| 5 | January 9, 1995 | 4-06-323510-6 |
| 6 | April 6, 1995 | 4-06-323528-9 |
| 7 | July 6, 1995 | 4-06-323546-7 |
| 8 | December 6, 1995 | 4-06-323568-8 |
| 9 | March 6, 1996 | 4-06-323586-6 |
| 10 | July 5, 1996 | 4-06-336605-7 |
| 11 | October 4, 1996 | 4-06-336627-8 |
| 12 | January 8, 1997 | 4-06-336644-8 |
| 13 | February 6, 1997 | 4-06-336648-0 |

### Anime

A 26-episode (consisting of two segments each) anime television series adaptation, animated by Grouper Productions, was broadcast in Japan on TBS from April 6 to September 28, 1995.
In North America, the series was licensed by Central Park Media and released under their Software Sculptors label. The series had first a sub only release on VHS starting in 1999. It was later released with an English dub on five DVDs, starting from the fourth volume, released on October 9, 2001; the fifth volume was released on December 11, 2001, and the first to third DVDs were released from August 13 to December 3, 2002. A DVD box collection was released on December 3, 2002.

#### Episodes

| # | Title | Original air date |
| 1 | "School Boys / Evil Plot" Transliteration: "Kōsha no Rokuri / Jiage Kyōshi no Inbō" (Japanese: 校舎の六人 / 地上げ教師の陰謀) | April 6, 1995 (1995-04-06) |
| 2 | "Half-Baked / The Worms" Transliteration: "Fukanzen Nenshō Otoko / Mushikera no Gyakushū" (Japanese: 不完全燃焼男 / 虫けらの逆襲) | April 12, 1995 (1995-04-12) |
| 3 | "Maeno Germ / Seductive Snob" Transliteration: "Dango Mushi no Yō ni / Tsuntsun Musume" (Japanese: ダンゴ虫のように / ツンツン娘) | April 29, 1995 (1995-04-29) |
| 4 | "The Purchase / Hot Summer" Transliteration: "Kaimono Bugi / Natsuiatsu" (Japanese: 買い物ブギ / 夏い暑) | April 27, 1995 (1995-04-27) |
| 5 | "Training Camp / Curse of Takeda" Transliteration: "Osaru na Gasshuku / Norowa Reta Kamo Shirenai Takeda" (Japanese: おサルな合宿 / 呪われたかもしれない竹田) | May 4, 1995 (1995-05-04) |
| 6 | "Sixty Years / Burning Spirit" Transliteration: "Takkyū-reki Roku Jū-nen no Waza / Sorezore no Yaru Ki" (Japanese: 卓球歴六十年の技 / それぞれのヤル気) | May 11, 1995 (1995-05-11) |
| 7 | "Inachu Vs. / Sex Ticket" Transliteration: "Inachu Bāsasu Kishinaka / Furī Sekkusu-ken no Yukue" (Japanese: 稲中VS岸中 / フリーセックス券の行方) | May 18, 1995 (1995-05-18) |
| 8 | "Love & Comedy / Love & Comedy Part II" Transliteration: "Rabu Kome Shine Shinedan Tōjō (Mae-hen) / Rabu Kome Shine Shinedan Tōjō (Ato-hen)" (Japanese: ラブコメ死ね死ね団 登場 （前編） / ラブコメ死ね死ね団登場（後編）) | May 24, 1995 (1995-05-24) |
| 9 | "First Love / Loser's Community" Transliteration: "Ubawa Reta Hatsukoi / Dame Ningen Kyōdōtai" (Japanese: うばわれた初恋 / ダメ人間共同体) | June 1, 1995 (1995-06-01) |
| 10 | "Dress-Up Dolls / Ultra Tanabe" Transliteration: "Kise Ka e Ningyō / Chōjin Tanabe" (Japanese: 着せかえ人形 / 超人TANABE) | June 8, 1995 (1995-06-08) |
| 11 | "Winning the Lottery! Part 1 / Winning the Lottery! Part 2" Transliteration: "Ikkakusenkin Otoko Mae-hen / Ikkakusenkin Otoko Ato-hen" (Japanese: 一獲千金男前 編 / 一獲千金男後 編) | June 15, 1995 (1995-06-15) |
| 12 | "Shibazaki's Plan / Survival" Transliteration: "Shiba-chan no Buin Kōsei Keikaku / Sabaibaru" (Japanese: 柴ちゃんの部員更生計画 / サバイバル) | June 29, 1995 (1995-06-29) |
| 13 | "Friendship / Tsutomu" Transliteration: "Tomojō / Boku no Sukina Tsutomu-kun" (Japanese: 友情 / ぼくの好きなつとむ君) | July 6, 1995 (1995-07-06) |
| 14 | "Saturday Hare / The Wimp" Transliteration: "Doyō no Usagi / Koshinuke Otoko" (Japanese: 土曜のウサギ / 腰抜け男) | July 13, 1995 (1995-07-13) |
| 15 | "The Outcast / Shorty" Transliteration: "O miso / Chibi" (Japanese: おみそ / チビ) | July 20, 1995 (1995-07-20) |
| 16 | "Dr. Maeno Part I / Dr. Maeno Part II" Transliteration: "Dokutā Maeno "Orega Yarazu ni Dare ga Yaru" Dai Sakusen Mae-hen / Dokutā Maeno "Orega Yarazu ni Dare ga Yaru" Dai Sakusen Ato-hen" (Japanese: ドクター前野「オレがやらずに誰がやる」大作戦前編 / ドクター前野「オレがやらずに誰がやる」大作戦後編) | July 27, 1995 (1995-07-27) |
| 17 | "Find Happiness / Sheds His Skin" Transliteration: "Maeno, Shiawase o Tsukamu / Maeno, Hitokawa Mukeru" (Japanese: 前野、幸せをつかむ / 前野、ひと皮むける) | August 3, 1995 (1995-08-03) |
| 18 | "Partner? Part I / Partner? Part II" Transliteration: "Aikata wa Dokoda? Zenpen / Aikata wa Dokoda? Kōhen" (Japanese: 相方はどこだ？ 前編 / 相方はどこだ？ 後編) | August 10, 1995 (1995-08-10) |
| 19 | "The Unfortunates / May I Have It?" Transliteration: "Fukōna Kyōdai / Sore, Kudasa" (Japanese: 不幸な兄妹 / それ、ください) | August 17, 1995 (1995-08-17) |
| 20 | "A River / Retirement" Transliteration: "Kawa / Intai" (Japanese: 川 / 引退) | August 24, 1995 (1995-08-24) |
| 21 | "Loan King / Flaming Perverts" Transliteration: "Shakkin Ō / Honō no Reipā" (Japanese: 借金王 / 炎のレイパー) | August 31, 1995 (1995-08-31) |
| 22 | "The Invasion / Into the Big Sky" Transliteration: "Shinryaku / Ōzora ni Mukatte" (Japanese: 侵略 / 大空に向かって) | September 7, 1995 (1995-09-07) |
| 23 | "I've Got Guts / A Dramatic Photo!" Transliteration: "Konjō Arimasu / Gekisha!" (Japanese: 根性あります / 激写！) | September 14, 1995 (1995-09-14) |
| 24 | "Fake Drunkard / Takeda Fondles" Transliteration: "Nise Dorankā / Takeda, Oppai o Momu" (Japanese: にせドランカー / 竹田、おっぱいをもむ) | September 21, 1995 (1995-09-21) |
| 25 | "Wanted Part I / Wanted Part II" Transliteration: "Kyūbo Zenpen / Kyūbo Kōhen" (Japanese: 急募 前編 / 急募 後編) | September 25, 1995 (1995-09-25) |
| 26 | "Dandy Principal / The Drifters" Transliteration: "Dandi Kōchō / Nagare-sha" (Japanese: ダンディ校長 / 流れ者) | September 28, 1995 (1995-09-28) |

## Reception

By September 2010, the manga had over 25 million copies in circulation. In 1996, the manga won the 20th Kodansha Manga Award for general manga.