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Ping Pong Anime's 'Dragon' Character Previewed in TV Ad

Fuji TV's Noitamina began streaming its fourth television commercial on Thursday for the Ping Pong television anime series, introducing the character Dragon. The anime series will premiere on April 10.

In the preview, Dragon says he is strong, and that there is truth in victory.

Taiyo Matsumoto's original manga revolves around two longtime friends Smile and Peco who are both members of the Ping Pong Club at their high school and are both very talented at the sport. However, Smile's quiet personality keeps him from being able to win against Peco. The club's teacher takes notice of Smile's talent and works to change his attitude toward the sport.

The cast includes:

Fukujūrō Katayama as Yutaka "Peco" Hoshino

Kōki Uchiyama as Makoto "Smile" Tsukimoto

Shunsuke Sakuya as Ryūichi "Dragon" Kazama

Subaru Kimura as Manabu "Akuma" sakuma.

Yosei Bun as Kon "China" Wenga

Masako Nozawa as Obaba

Yuusaku Yara as Jō Koizumi

Masaaki Yuasa (Mind Game, The Tatami Galaxy, Kick-Heart) is directing the television anime at Tatsunoko Productions. Nobutake Ito is designing the characters, while kensuke ushio is composing the soundtrack. Kunio Tsujita serves as the color key artist, and Kevin Aymeric is the art director. The staff also includes Shunsuke Nakamura as director of photography, Kashiko Kimura as editor, and Eriko Kimura as sound director. The band merengue will perform the series' ending theme.

The first three commercials featured Smile, China, and Akuma. The next commercial will feature Peco.