This was a hard one to judge.

Basically it's about a genius who's great at Ping Pong but has no real ambition to do it. Feels like it's not that important. However, his best friend loves Ping Pong and is good but not nearly as good. He learns that soon as he sees his friend excel at it. Smile is the name of the main character and when he begins to get coached and takes the game serious he becomes a monster of a player. This first volume is his growth as a player while also giving us a look into other kids trying their best to win the championship and be the best.

And the thing is it has all the right ingredients. The art is different but works real well for action. The motivation to keep going is there. The idea we get to see how ALL the kids struggle to better themselves is always nice. But I just couldn't seem to connect to anyone personally. I get the idea of it and where they were going but it didn't get me that invested.

Saying that it is still a really solid book and much better than I expected any manga/book to be about Ping Pong. A 3.5 out of 5.