On May 17th, a stage greeting for the Japanese dubbed version of "Table Tennis Girls: Beyond the Flash," the first original anime by "Gaomai Animation," an up-and-coming animation studio established in China in the summer of 2019, was held at Shinjuku Wald 9 (Shinjuku, Tokyo), with voice actors Shiina Natsukawa, Sora Amamiya, and Momo Asakura making an appearance. Asakura's character, Li Xingtong, is good at cooking, and the topic of "ideal breakfast" came up, Amamiya, who plays Wang Lu, spoke about a mysterious dish called "Shautama."
Amemiya explained about "Shautama" that "you cook the Shau Essen thoroughly, add a generous amount of butter, and pour in beaten eggs." "That's it! Shautama is the best!" he said emphatically.
Natsukawa, who plays Jiang Ruoi, commented, "I want to eat natto. I like sticky things. I want to have sticky things in the morning. Tororo, natto, okra... I want to put sticky things on rice." Asakura said, "I'm a udon person. I've been eating it (for breakfast) since I was in elementary school. I put fried tempura bits, wakame seaweed, and kelp in plain udon."
The story is about Zhang Ruoi, who was born into a family of table tennis players but had drifted away from the sport, who decides to start a new life by attending a high school in Hangzhou, far from his hometown in northeastern China. After meeting Wang Lu, an honor student who excels in both academics and sports, Li Xintong, a bright table tennis nerd, and Ding Xiao, a free-spirited troublemaker, Zhang Ruoi picks up his racket again. The Japanese dubbed version was released as a theatrical animation on May 16th.
The opening theme song "Astride" will be performed by the unit "TrySail" consisting of Natsukawa, Amemiya, and Asakura. The Chinese audio and Japanese subtitled version will be screened from May 23rd.
