Akuma is the nickname of Manabu Sakuma, a student at the prestigious Kaio Academy and a member of its highly competitive table tennis team. His real name is given as Manabu Sakuma, and he is a first-year student who later advances to his second year. On the court, he is a right-handed player who uses a penhold grip with short pimple rubber, favoring a fast-attack playing style.

Akuma’s background is rooted in a deep-seated sense of inadequacy. As a child, he began playing table tennis at the Tamura dojo alongside his more naturally gifted peers, Peco and Smile. Even from a young age, he was acutely aware that he lacked the raw, effortless talent that seemed to come so easily to others, particularly the flamboyant and charismatic Peco. This early experience of being overshadowed by a friend’s innate ability became the central force driving his actions. He wore thick glasses due to severe astigmatism, a physical detail that contrasted sharply with the sharp-eyed, talented players he so desperately wanted to emulate and defeat.

Personality-wise, Akuma is defined by a potent mixture of bitterness, determination, and a profound need for validation. He is serious and hardworking, possessing a strong sense of discipline and respect for authority, especially within the hierarchical structure of the Kaio team. However, this is undercut by a simmering resentment toward those born with greater gifts. He is not a naturally happy person; his expressions are often tense, angry, or sullen. He can be sharp-tongued, especially when interacting with his childhood acquaintance Peco, but this is less about malice and more a manifestation of his own frustrations. Despite his bitterness, he is not without principle and holds a strict personal code of conduct.

His primary motivation is to prove that relentless effort can overcome a lack of natural talent. He joined the powerhouse Kaio Academy specifically to defeat Peco, his childhood hero and rival, whom he saw as representing everything he was not. Akuma does not play for the love of the sport, but to win and to be acknowledged. He craves recognition from those he considers truly strong, most notably the supremely talented team captain, Ryuichi Kazama, also known as Dragon. For Akuma, being acknowledged by a player like Kazama would be the ultimate validation of his life’s work. This pursuit of external approval is a trap, as defeating someone he looks up to would only render their validation meaningless.

In the story, Akuma serves as a powerful foil to both Peco and Smile, embodying the theme of hard work versus innate talent. His first major role is in the high school prefectural qualifiers, where he faces a rusty and complacent Peco. Through intense study and clever strategy, Akuma manages to defeat his more talented childhood friend, a victory that feels monumental for him but ultimately brings him little satisfaction. Later, after seeing Kazama show more interest in the unassuming prodigy Smile, Akuma is consumed by jealousy. He violates Kaio’s strict rules by challenging Smile to a private match, a high-stakes gamble where a loss would mean expulsion from the team. The match is a devastating and one-sided affair, with Smile coldly dissecting Akuma’s game and concluding that he simply has no talent for table tennis.

Akuma’s key relationships are all defined by talent. His relationship with Peco is one of envious rivalry, where he defines his own success by Peco’s failures. His relationship with Kazama is that of a devoted but unacknowledged follower, desperate for a sign of respect that never fully comes. His dynamic with Smile is the most brutal, as Smile’s emotionless and clinical superiority serves as a living embodiment of the talent gap Akuma has fought his whole life to ignore. His relationships with his other teammates and coach at Kaio are more positive; they respect his work ethic and discipline even if they, too, recognize his limits.

Akuma’s character development is a tragic arc of acceptance. After his crushing defeat to Smile, he is expelled from the Kaio team, gets into a fight, and is suspended from school. He quits table tennis, throwing his racket into a river, and drops out of high school to work a manual labor job on a construction site. In a moment of desperation, he attempts to learn the defensive cut shot, but realizes he cannot even master that. This final failure, however, allows him to let go of his obsession. In a crucial scene on a beach, he is able to speak honestly with a dejected Peco, helping to reignite the flame in the one person he believes has true talent. This act signifies his maturation; he finally accepts his own limits and finds a form of peace outside the sport that caused him so much pain. Later, he is seen having moved on with his life, now with a girlfriend and smoking cigarettes, able to watch Peco’s success with genuine happiness rather than envy.

Akuma does not possess notable flashy or superhuman abilities. His greatest skill is his sheer willpower and capacity for hard work. He is a tactical player who uses his mind to compensate for what he lacks in reflexes and power, as seen in his victory over Peco. His real ability is his resilience and his role as a catalyst for others; his struggle and ultimate surrender to reality serve as a stark contrast that helps highlight the journeys of the naturally talented protagonists.