Tamashiro Dan is a quarter-German kid living in Germany whose grandfather was known as Hagen Wolf, one of the greatest table tennis players of his generation. Yes. This manga is about ping pong. After his grandfather’s death Dan and his mom move to Japan where Dan is determined to take the ping pong world by storm. He first meets Shiraishi Marin, a 13 year old ping pong prodigy who is surprised when he plays her to a stand still.
She tells him that he should join the best table tennis after school program, which he gets into by defeating Atsushi, an upper classman. Marin then tells him that he now needs to join Ohzono, the best ping pong private middle school, which his mom just casually allows him to do. Dan joins the school and is able to find the table tennis club with help from Koshino who doesn’t matter, and he meets a bunch of cool older kids. Dan makes his intentions of domination known, and is challenged to a match by Kan, one of his seniors. After a bunch of games where Kan is slowly educating Dan on why he sucks, Dan manages to win.
Dan and Atsushi hang out with Marin on her day off which doesn’t really matter except that it’s kind of a date. Then Dan must prepare for the big tournament where he’s facing Nanjou Yukiya, a ping pong genius who actually hates ping pong and talks shit on Marin. During the match Dan is doing really well which makes Yukiya big mad. 4 years later Dan and Marin are now dating and reminisce about that time that Dan beat Yukiya and won the tournament as Dan prepares to head back to Germany to go pro.
Characters
Tamashiro Dan
Quarter White
Grandpa was a prodigy in germany
Has the power of the spin
Modest but confident
Special loop attack
Shiraishi Marin
Prodigy table tennis
Thinks she’s the best and gorgeous
Tsundere?
Where the fuck does she go?
Narukawa, Atsushi
Determined!
Top player
Always fresh
Nanjou Yukiya
Fuckin dick
Loves clash of clans
Hates table tennis
Family of doctors
Why it Failed
Wow a short protag in a sports manga
Art is fine at least the female characters have somewhat realistic proportions
This is loooong setup to actually seeing some fucking table tennis, probably needed this first part as a flashback
This first chapter really focuses on characters kinda talking to each other but doesn't set up much of a plot
That second chapter is kind of a slog
Four chapters in I still don't know what the point of this series is
I feel it's a struggle making a series about a protagonist who's good at the sport
They spent way too much time on that 1v1 on his first day at the school
I never have a sense of understanding what’s the actual focus of this series
Why does everyone have this super rigid staring down pose
Man got lost in the sauce like we don’t care about pingpong this much
Why did the blow over the first ever doubles match, isn’t that like a big deal?
What it Did Well
Table tennis is at least a novel sport and is nice that it’s both a team sport but can focus on the MC heavily
I like how global this feels and not just japan japan japan
Does a good job making the art look intense
Dan is a likable character who's excited about pingpong without being annoying
Definitely made me more interested in ping pong than I ever have been before
Where it Could Have Gone
Maybe further use how the mc uses pingpong as a way of understanding and interacting with people since he lived kinda isolated. Yes eyeshield ripoff whatever it’s a good idea
Focus more on the global community of the sport
Have some actual female characters
Also show them doing non pingpong things jesus people got lives ya know
Misc Thoughts
The word noob now I haven't heard that in a very long time
Lmao they had to last minute be like oh yeah he has a mom and needs to approve his school change
I'm not sure how I feel about the weird art style shifts where it gets a lot more angular when the mc is being serious
Is the homoerotic just me or y'all feel it too
This panel reminds me of togashi for some reason
Maxy Bee thoughts:
Viz Media ran this in their digital magazine for its first three chapters as part of its Jump Start initiative.
Volumes 2 and 3 each contain two one-shots, meaning at least half of each book isn’t even Full Drive. Buyer beware for six years ago, I guess.
The author states that he focused a lot on fashion with Marin, as girls look best when dressed up and otherwise she’d be in a jersey all the time.
Chapter 11 has extra pages to promote the series. According to the author the chapter was well-received for its focus on Marin, and improved the series ranking temporarily, so it kind of worked.
Volume extras include:
Comedy sketches between chapters
Profiles (vol.2-3, Marin and Dan saved for last)
A 3-page strip where Dan, Atsushi and Marin go out for McDonalds
One-shots! Vol 2 has ‘Bloom in Love, Mikoto’ and ‘Gun-cutting Sword in the Heart’. Vol.3 has ‘Dobu no Kyuuki’ and ‘Red-Haired Acho!!’.
Pure conjecture, but reading the one-shots before Full Drive got published makes me think the author is a big fan of Hiro Mashima (Rave Master, Fairy Tail), and Fukuchi Tsubasa (The Law of Ueki). Like his early art style is just uncannily like the both of them.