Young man!
Don't do it, son. It's not worth it.
I had a bad day at the track. All I've got is Yen60...
...but I'm not giving up.
What'll your parents think if you die?
Die?
Yeah. You'll never amount to anything if you're dead.
I'm not going to die.
No?
I'm going to fly.
Yeah? Great!
I can touch the moon no problem!
That's the spirit!
PING-PONG
Tamura Table Tennis Dojo
Here they call me 'Peco'.
You can call me that, too.
'Peco', huh?
But...
...if I win, you call me Mr Peco, OK?
You call me...
...'Mr Peco'.
Ow!
You ripped my hair out!
He's the best player at his university!
He could beat you left-handed!
Hey, Granny... give me Table 3.
Not if you're going to bet!
Say something!
You're too stuck-up to talk to us!
Cut it out!
It's Peco! Run!
You know what? You can taste iron in blood.
I don't mean it like those guys, but why are you so stuck-up?
If you get mad, show it! If you're happy, laugh!
OK... I'll try.
Why do you always skip school?
I'm busy.
Come on Peco!
All the tables'll be gone!
You go ahead, Demon!
OK!
Don't you know what table tennis is?
Come on. I'll teach you.
Enter...
...the hero!
18-6!
Your damn floor's too slippery!
Who's he playing?
Some college jerk.
How's the school team?
Ping-pong's ping-pong.
You're dead wrong.
Katase High School!
Fight!
Katase High School!
Bear down!
Hey! Mr Ota!
Yes, Coach?
Where's Tsukimoto?
I sent him to get Hoshino.
Hoshino?
The freshman with the bowl-cut.
Who's better, the bowl-cut or Tsukimoto?
That'd be Hoshino.
He's the best we've got.
Ota! The next dragonfly's yours!
OK!
Coach?
If Tsukimoto's not here...
Stop following Peco and start playing to win.
Yes! Start now and you might give me a game in 300 years!
That'll be Yen3000.
Hey...
One more set! Yen2,000 a game.
Don't bother to call.
Hey, wait!
What the hell?!
Hey, Smile!
Come on. I'm buying a new rubber.
Come to practice
Why?
Because...
...the team's awful without you.
Did Ota send you?
Yes.
I hear you.
Aren't you playing?
He treats the game like a job!
You get tired, living like that.
He looks real cute when he smiles, though.
I've never seen it.
I have, but only once.
When was it?
Could I ever be like Peco?
'Born...'
Gross!
Read that.
'Table Tennis Shown To Ward Off Senility.'
No, not that!
Tsujido Academy got a Chinese guy to try and beat Dragon.
Dragon?
Kazama, from Kaio Academy. He kicked your ass in Junior High.
What do I care?
You don't care, huh?
Katase High School!
Bear down!
Katase High School!
Fight!
Put your dicks into it! Let's hear you!
Where did Hoshino and Tsukimoto go?
I'm going to Europe after high school.
Why?
To be world champion, of course!
First I'll get on a pro team in Germany...
Then why are you skipping practice?
Look... Potato chips with special Osaka-noodle flavor.
Why not just eat noodles first?
Our snack-food industry is all screwed up.
Right?
Conversation with you is so much fun.
Next station?
The one after that.
'Born'...
Sing 'in the USA', too.
What?
Nothing.
Tsujido Academy
Hello! Hello!
It's a break up!
Yep.
Kong! Why aren't you running?
I wish I'd gone to Sweden or Germany.
Come on!
Don't forget they hired you to beat Kazama.
Somebody's a chopper.
Against a quick-attacker.
The chopper's playing to lose.
Why?
I don't know. Japanese modesty?
Let's go inside.
I can't hear in all this wind
I'll take that.
Yes!
Keep playing to lose, Four-Eyes...
...and it'll get to be a habit.
China!
You're giving him all his shots.
Uh, he's saying that...
Don't translate. He gets it.
Come on, Four-Eyes.
Right on.
See if you can chop against me.
Uh not you... him.
It'll just be a loss.
He says it'll be a loss.
A loss?
Who?
Let's go.
What's up, China? You scared?
Come on, you damn panda.
Thanks a load.
Eat this.
Kamikaze!
I got skunked!
You always cry when you lose.
What are you looking at?!
What does 'skunk' mean?
Losing 21-0.
Peco got skunked!
Skunked! Skunked! Skunked!
I wish I'd never been born.
He's one of Shanghai's top juniors.
Who do you think you are?
I've shamed Japan! I want to die!
Do it outside.
Here and now!
Yen1,000 fine for climbing on a table.
Yuck! Granny-panties!
Yen2,000!
Keep away from Hoshino. Keep away from Tamura too.
Why?
Because...
...against Hoshino you let up.
No, I don't.
Wow!
You don't even realize it!
OK... starting tomorrow you come here at 5 a.m.
We'll do two months 'special training' for the inter- high tournament.
It's like we'll be married.
One, two...
...three, four...
...five, six... legs and arms!
Hey! Mr Tsukimoto!
I knew you'd come!
I was wrong, Coach.
You were wrong?
Don't worry about it! Let's get to work.
Yes, Coach.
Let's go!
Ready, Tsukimoto?
You poor old bastard!
Isn't this fun?
Change the line!
Attack! Make your own chances!
Hey, skinhead... is he always like this before a tournament?
Who are you calling 'skinhead'?!
He's mad about this morning.
Recognize and react!
Recognizing takes a tenth of a second!
Then you react! Bring that time as close to zero as you can!
No other sport demands the reaction time of table tennis!
Tsukimoto's getting pissed off.
Coach keeps stepping on the balls!
There's another one!
What is this? A hot spring?
Shape up or ship out!
He's pissed off.
Another ball!
What's wrong?
I'm shipping out.
We just started!
Real hot, ain't it?
Why are you following me?
You're going to beat China, right?
Hell, yeah!
So you can't skip practice any more.
Practice like that? It's a total waste of time.
I've been really tired lately.
Of what?
Tabe tennis relationships... life's getting too complicated.
I'm a simple guy.
All I want is to be the best table tennis player...
...on the planet!
Winning's everything, right?
No, it isn't.
No?
I don't like dragging someone down just to win a game.
That's the cool part.
For me, ping-pong is only killing time.
Not for me.
Yeah, but you're cool.
I don't like it when you look bad.
Then let's go back.
I can't practice without you.
I'll buy you a popsicle.
Hurry up, Smile!
Run!
Hey! Popsicles!
Welcome to the 2000 Inter-High Prefectural Preliminary...
...Men's Table Tennis Tournament.
I have to play those losers?
I wish I was dead!
I don't see the guy with the glasses.
Kaio!
Look out!
Who'd you draw?
China, in the third game.
That sucks, dude. Rest in peace.
What about you?
I drew...
...'that', in the third game.
Demon?
Well, if it isn't Peco!
You're such a shrimp I almost didn't see you.
Maybe a certain bald guy needs better glasses, huh?
Does your shit school put frosh on the varsity squad?
Better than picking up balls for three years at a name school.
Dumb-ass!
I'm on the varsity!
Sakuma!
Team meeting!
Right!
Later, Peco. Have your hanky out.
What?
For when you start crying.
I'll put a ball right through those glasses, asshole!
I'm going to skunk you, Demon!
There he is!
You happy now?
Where's Mr Kazama?
He always shuts himself in the can before a match.
Diarrhea?
No.
One day you'll understand.
Game, set! Hoshino, Katase High School.
Thank you, thank you...
Shut up, stupid It's only the first game!
What does he think he's doing?
Kong, baby! Show us some kung-fu!
Hey, China!
China! China!
Hey, fortune-cookie!
Silence!
To hear you speak ill of him...
...is repellent.
He's pissed off.
Who the hell do you think you are, egghead?!
Cool it!
Huh? Huh?
Just shut up!
The Kaio team is having its meeting, Mr Kazama.
I want to talk to you.
Do you mind?
I'm going!
Wait!
I met your mother at an Inter- High Tournament!
He represented Aomori and I represented Ehime!
Table tennis is in your blood!
I won't stand by and let you quit!
Let go of me!
So what if he's Chinese? Some black people can't dance.
What? Is that true?
Yeah! And some Germans don't like beer!
Your father's from Aomori but he hates apples!
Yeah!
Shanghai-Schmanghai!
He'll fall down, go boom!
Fall down go boom!
Yes!
How childish!
He didn't make China's national team...
...so he's trying to start over in Japan.
I hate to think how that'd feel.
But he shouldn't show up someone in front of everybody like that.
How will that guy feel?
You play your best out of respect for your opponent.
Tsukimoto...
...I hate the way you play...
...going easy on people out of consideration for them.
It's patronizing.
If you want to make me mad, you're succeeding.
You're not fit to hold a racket.
I hate you.
It's almost time...
I'm coming.
Where's the old glass bottle?
Yen200 for this is a rip-off!
Huh?!
Hey, did you shake this?! There's Yen100 gone already!
This sucks!
Feel the heat!
Game, set. Tsukimoto, Katase High School.
You were attacking...
Just for a change.
Play your own style.
Why? I just do this to kill time.
What's wrong with that?
I don't like this play-as-if- it- meant- your- life shit.
You sure sound relaxed.
Is that why you weren't chopping?
Is that a problem?
Maybe. I'm the guy who plays the attacking game.
Oh yeah?
Anyway, it's not smart to keep changing your game.
Are you OK?
About what?
Demon.
He's like a different guy from the old days.
Don't you worry bout me.
Hey, Peco...
...do you believe in heroes?
Heroes?
Someone who comes to help when you're in trouble.
They only exist...
... in comic books.
Maybe so.
Take this and play to win.
This is my spare.
I changed the rubber.
Long pips...
Why bother? I'm playing Kong.
Yes.
Not Hoshino.
So do me a favor, and don't hold back.
I don't need this!
Why are you always on my case? Leave me alone!
Mr Tsukimoto...
...let's make a bet.
You win your match and I get off your back.
And if I lose?
Lose and you're my dog. You do everything I say.
There are things you can only see from the very top...
...Mr Tsukimoto.
And you've been there?
Nothing's going to change for me, win or lose.
I'm not betting.
You'll lose.
Thanks, 'Coach'.
I'm telling the truth.
You're going to lose.
Sure you don't want to bet, Mr Tsukimoto?
If I win, don't try coaching me ever again.
Round 3!
Kong, Tsujido Academy, and Tsukimoto, Katase High School.
I want to hear you guys!
The loudest side wins!
If Tsujido outshouts us we lose!
Go, go, Tsukimoto!
Push, push, Tsukimoto!
Shut up!
This is my game.
There's no point shouting.
What?
It's irritating.
Dismissed!
Yes!
That's the best you can do?
You've got talent...
...but you never develop it...
...here.
Yes!
Game! Tsujido, Kong!
I knew we should be shouting.
We can't outshout China.
There's a billions of them.
Second Game! Tsukimoto to serve. Love-all.
Yes!
China was off-guard.
He's reading you!
Keep quiet, will you?
Now we'll see the real Smile.
Could we get him into our school?
China?
No. Your old buddy.
Smile?
'Smile'?
They call him that because he never does.
You're really into this.
It's half jealousy.
Lots of people want real talent...
...but very few have it.
Real talent?
Shit!
It's over, Wenge!
Lose this and you're finished!
Ignore him.
You're not here as a tourist!
They left you off the team, remember?
This is no time for attitude!
Do you hear me?
Yes.
Peco...
He's still too nice for his own good!
Game, set! Kong, Tsujido Academy.
Playing like that is an insult to the game.
Don't do it again!
Don't hit someone with glasses on.
Don't you know that?
Either come to play or quit!
Alright.
Smile isn't going to bring you back your youth...
...'Butterfly Joe'.
Tamura...
Round 3 Sakuma of Kaio Academy...
...and Hoshino, Katase High School.
Four years, three months since the last time.
24 wins...
Yeah, whatever.
...and 94 losses.
Soon it'll be 95.
Peco...
That's Mr Peco.
You can't imagine how long I've waited for this day.
I don't want to hear it!
The local hero?
Hand on table. 15-12.
What's all this blocking bullshit?
That's what's happening, 'Hero'.
Up yours!
First game. Kong serving, love-all.
Let's get this over with or we'll miss Mr Kazama.
Goodbye, junk-food junky!
Game, set! Sakuma, Kaio Academy.
I'll give you a tip.
You know how you stop losing?
By winning.
Work harder or quit, punk.
Shit!
Game, set! Kazama, Kaio Academy.
You staying here?
Peco?
I'll go on ahead.
'My blood tastes of iron.'
Move it! Faster!
Move it! Move it! Move it!
We're leaving, Coach.
He's a machine!
Here they call me 'Poco'.
You can call me that, too.
You're all messed up, kid. We said move.
But if I win, you call me 'Mr'.
Call me Mr Poco.
Owww!
I read your 'comment'.
Kazama Wins Second Title As Kaio Team Upset
'The decline of the team...
'...is more important than individual victories.'
'For Kaio to recover...
'...it needs more players like Tsukimoto of Katase High...'
What?
You've gotten slow.
Three days off means a week to get your speed back.
How many days have you missed?
One, two, three, four...
...five, six, seven...
Get out!
Greetings!
I am Sakuma Manabu, of Kaio Academy.