Mixed Doubles 2017

Tamako Tomita is a child table tennis prodigy who trains relentlessly under her mother. After that devoted parent passes away, she stepwise quits the sport and stops playing, her once-bright future dimming as she moves away from competition. She falls for Ejima Akihiko, a male table tennis player at her company, only to watch him betray that trust when a new female player arrives, Airi Ogasawara, and their relationship ends in a painful breakup. Dejected, she walks away from the job and returns to her hometown, where life begins to reveal its tougher sides.

There, she discovers that her father, Tatsuro Tomita, a taxi driver, is deeply in debt and pleads for help. She starts out in a canned food factory, but clumsiness costs her the job, and she finds herself with little choice but to take over the family’s run-down table tennis club, which barely holds five members. Nearby, Hisashi Hagiwara, a divorced former boxer who now works in construction, sees the club’s potential and joins, drawn by the shared passion for the sport that his daughter has taken up as well. Together, they form a ragtag team eager to prove themselves.

To gain recognition and draw in more players, Tamako decides to enter the national tournament, choosing Mixed Doubles because it seems the easier route to glory. With the rest of the club already partnered, she ends up reluctantly paired with Hagi. The trio of pairs suffers crushing defeats in the regional showdown, yet they refuse to quit, vowing to train for a full year and try again. Their determination leads them to recruit a group of Chinese restaurant owners—once-rejects from the China national team—who agree to coach and push them harder than ever. Months of grueling practice culminate in Tamako and Hagi finally defeating the challenge posed by the Chinese squad, and the team grows more confident for the regional tournament ahead.

Meanwhile, Hagi’s ex-wife and daughter appear at the club, offering him a chance to rebuild his life and secure a job. The timing is tense because a job interview collides with the tournament, presenting a dilemma that could redefine his future. Realizing this is a rare chance to mend his broken family bonds, Tamako makes a selfless choice and steps back from the tournament, returning to the canned food factory to help support them in a steadier way.

The other two pairs show improvement but fall before the final rounds, while Hagi confronts a personal turning point. He seeks out Tamako and reveals how his ex-wife and daughter have moved on with new lives, professing his love for her in a moment of newfound clarity. The two runners finally rush to the tournament just in time, storming through the brackets to reach the final. They face Ejima Akihiko and Airi Ogasawara in a grueling, nerve-wracking match that stretches all the way to the last set, where luck tips the balance in Ejima’s favor with a reflex save that proves decisive.

Even in defeat, the pair’s performance earns them unexpected fame, and the once-struggling table tennis club blossoms into a widely celebrated community hub, drawing attention and new members from across the region.