Tsukimoto Makoto (nicknamed Smile) is a quiet high-schooler who's been friends with the loud and
energetic Hoshino Yukata (nicknamed Peko). They're both in the table tennis club and are very good at
it, though Smile's personality prevents him from winning against Peko. The club teacher however
notices Smile's talent and tries to make him gain some sportive tenacity.
(Source: Anime News Network)
There are very, very few series that are almost unanimously considered to be great. Ping Pong the Animation is one of them. It is set around the game of Table Tennis and follows five people whose entire lives revolve around this one game. Sports anime usually follow a very black/white mortality scheme with some cocky guy doing bad things until the MC comes around and defeats him after weeks of practice. Ping Pong deviates from this formula so much that I find it hard to call it a sports anime. It is so much more than what that implies. There is a very gray morality scheme and I couldn't really say that one guy deserved to win over the other or vice versa. All characters have a reason that drives them forward - forward to victory, but in a cut-throat game such as ping pong, there can only be one winner, and the rest are discarded as trash. img(http://i.imgur.com/y7deJVb.jpg) Artwork and Animation (6/10) One of the very first things you will probably notice about Ping Pong is its rather unorthodox artwork. It is still a matter of debate whether it was on purpose, or if it was just incompetence. While some may argue that it is one and the same, its not. Lazy and shit artwork are one thing, a unique artwork is quite another. Its kind of like the difference between, say SHAFT and TNK. One is out-of-place on purpose, the other is terrible while trying to look good. Ping Pong's main artwork is done by a certain Tatsunoko Productions. While they have a lot of anime under their belt, I have -embarrassingly enough- not seen even one of them. The only one I can think of is Gatchaman Crowds, which had an fairly average -if a bit heavily detailed- artwork. The same holds true for Ping Pong, except that Ping Pong's artwork is pretty irregular. It makes the entire series look uglier than it should have. I have no qualms with unique art, but I really don't like praising something based on uniqueness alone. The irregular and choppy artwork is a major annoyance early in the show, and some things are just downright disgusting (read: peco eating chewing gum). The irregularity also makes characters look all kinds of weird from different angles.On top of that, the artwork is very inconsistent, this is the case with most of the side characters. img(http://i.imgur.com/RikSNIX.jpg) That said, I won't call Ping Pong's artwork bad. I was actually quite tilted against it, but the last episode changed my mind. The sheer force of the game was stunning to be honest. The animation conveyed the energy of the game in almost a surreal manner and it then stuck me that bad artwork can't possibly achieve such an amazing experience - and even so, it went black and white. I hate to say it, but I have no idea why I liked the artwork at times. Its clearly terrible, but I just....liked it. To summarize, the artwork in Ping Pong is terrible from my viewpoint, but a lot of people can handle it, and even enjoy it. Besides, the plot and its immersion more than makes up for the bad artwork, with the artwork becomes steadily more comfortable as you progress further into Ping Pong. But that of course, holds true for almost any artwork. Sound and Music (9/10) The sound of shoes screeching on the floor, the sound of the ball hitting the table, the cry of cheer from the crowd and even the movement of a cycle are all done almost to perfection. Watching the game, it reminded me of back when I used to play, and I...you know, felt it. That love for the game, that passion. The biggest provider for that is -without a doubt- the sound. Its so lifelike that I don't really think I can praise it with mere words. Perhaps this is a little biased, but I'll call this perfection. The voice acting is -once again- brilliant. But hold on, take a look at the VAs. Other than Tsukimoto, most of the others are pretty inexperienced. In fact, Peco and Wenge have this anime as their debuts. But, during the entire course, I figured the VAs were some high class dudes with a lot of anime under their belt. I was surprised to see that didn't hold true at all. Not often do you see new VAs give a performance as awesome as they did in Ping Pong. God-tier will probably be too low for this. I don't know if it was the content of their words or their voices, but I connected pretty well to the characters thanks to this. Listen to Wenge telling his story, or when he sings. You can literally feel the pain and the responsibility that rests on his shoulders - even though he acts so indifferent to his story. After all, someone who has lived through stuff doesn't get re-emotional over that, he has probably accepted the fact and moved on. Despite that, it felt like an old friend was talking about how his life has gone, and he had just accepted his conditions and was preparing to change them. That's one part that really hit home. Another thing about Wenge is that his VA is a native japanese, but any chinese guy would swear that the guy is chinese due to his control over the language. Of course, Peco also has stellar voice acting, especially when he is brimming with confidence. img(http://i.imgur.com/3nSFVwE.jpg) The music is, once again, excellent. It just grips you with its power. Look at OP01, that is top quality stuff right there. While it goes a bit stale approaching the middle, it picks up again and just becomes god-tier. The ED is comparatively low-beat, but it did seem a bit....off-track. In episodes that end with a cliffhanger or maybe after a power play, it just seems weird that a calming voice comes out after such a trilling end. Kinda reminded me of Clannad and its *utterly depressing thing happens* *DANGO MOTHERFUCKING DANGO* Story and Characters (26/30) and (28/30) The story for the most part is about Peco and Smile (ironic). Smile is better than Peco but let's him win because they are friends. Then some douchebag coach going MISSSTERR TSUKIMOTO turns up and wants to coach his talent so he can unleash it in the interhigh tournaments. Even so, Smile lacks any motivation to do so. While the premise might sound boring, or perhaps rather uninspiring, its execution is nothing short of brilliant. It takes on a borderline tragedy face during the tournaments and the drama is rather unmatched. The story is extra serious and the plot progression is fair enough. The pacing is surprisingly very good despite being only 11 episodes. Most of the focus is on Smile and Peco's history and while that counts as great development at first, it starts getting boring fast. Even though sports is the major genre here, a one on one game is usually not shown, and even then its kept short, it was a bit disappointing, but to be perfectly honest, I think that was the best way to do it. The story spends an awful long time creating the characters and setting the pace. After that, a game is played. Despite it not showing individual points, the focus is on the two players, It shows as the completely outmatched player of the two realizes his doom, and notices how its all over for him, asking himself, questioning if Table Tennis is really what he should do with his life - with a wave of resignation hitting him. This development is what makes ping pong so ruthlessly excellent in its execution. Looking at it from a purely fact based view, its just one guy you never saw before losing and going "oh crap" but from the viewer's human view, its so much more than just that. img(http://i.imgur.com/6T2gZsn.jpg) That said, all is not well with the story. Yurie seemed rather side lined and pointless and her inclusion somehow soured the story. Even then, Ping Pong just...lost its touch at ep8. It revealed a bit too much too fast and ended up giving a painfully obvious prediction away. ~! In ep8, We are told the story of how butterfly Joe was unable to defeat his old friend out of pity, and then we get to see that Peco had injured his knee before going into the interhigh. It was just too obvious from then on out. It was almost like someone spoiled the story for me. I already knew that Peco would trash Wenge and Kazama because that's the only way to recreate that match those many years back. That is precisely what happened. To be completely fair though, Ping Pong answered back by just closing my 'spoiler' with one line - "can you do it, Tsukimoto?" "Yes" which allowed for a great episode 11, but the damage was already done, two episodes leading up to the end were destroyed.!~ Thankfully, I didn't predict too much and was still allowed to get a great ending. Speaking of endings, I believe that support characters (outside of Kazama and Wenge) didn't quite get the ending they deserved. A lot of support characters don't get any development, but considering how its only 11 episodes, I believe this was just fine. Ping Pong's Lifelike characters and stunning realism is pretty much what drives it forward with a little push from its storyline. The coming of age and the bitter rivalries between characters is portrayed beautifully. For such a short anime, its almost surprising to get this. img(http://i.imgur.com/eKHyqYD.jpg) Yet another thing that comes to mind is the script writing. Or to be more specific - dialogues. Throughout the series the interaction between characters was realistic and often left the viewer with some kind of an impression. Clearly though, Ping Pong is not something to watch on the train. You have to really sit down and lose yourself in it to really appreciate it. Its plot is serious and dedicated, which in turn gives off a good watch. Enjoyment (17/20) Do I have to say it? I loved every second of Ping Pong. While of course, it does have its faults, I believe that Ping Pong does do an extremely good job in achieving what others fail at - giving an unforgettable experience. I really really wish that I could call it a masterpiece, but that little artwork section is really holding it back. Despite that though, I enjoyed my experience - something that hasn't happened in quite a while now. To be honest, I would recommend it to everyone, be they sports fans or just in for some romance. Who I won't recommend it to would be 14 year old kids who most of the anime industry service day and night. I just hope that the positive feedback that Ping Pong has received drives the industry in a better direction and perhaps even to more dedicated storytelling. Then -just like it did this season- I'll be able to say "Ping Pong was the bastion that saved anime" img(http://i.imgur.com/ChCZgmS.jpg)
I am a seasoned anime veteran. I have watched a lot of shows but none stands out quite like this one. It is almost perfect! I have never seen characters play sport as well as the characters in this show. They are just so into it, so passionate. Peko's bowl haircut is the highlight of the show. It is so perfect and yet so meaningful. I would say his hair alone would make this a masterpiece. I give this show (4/6)(π)(r)^3 out of 10 tennis balls. __Visuals:__ Almost rotoscoped. But it isn't. That is how you KNOW it is good. Aku no Hana should take pointers. I have never seen something so fluid and yet so jagged. The way they move is beautiful on the count, but they look ugly sometimes. Except for the character China. China always looks beautiful. This whole art style takes a while to get used to but it grows on you. __Audio:__ The soundtrack is amazing. It gets you hype and motivated. Go out for a run while listening to Hero Theme. It gets your blood pumping like you inserted a literal pump into your veins. Anytime I need to get motivated I liked to that song as well as the Persona soundtrack. The other songs are just as good. Starting in episode one you will hear how great the OST is. Once you hear China's theme you will know that the rest of the anime will have great audio. __Translator's Note:__~!It isn't the country's National Anthem!~ __Story:__ Let me level with you. This show makes you really feel the struggle of being bad at things. The main theme is natural talent versus hard work. You really see this plot happen, mainly at the end. Other things happen to. Like working too hard and not focusing on loved ones. You will really start siding with characters once they get into the ring. They all have different purposes for playing air hockey, but we see these purposed in depth. A lot of it is sad. Also the robot motif is great. One of the character acts like a robot and he ~!quite literally as it was animated that way in the final episode!~ transforms into a human as the story progresses. Remember kids, be passionate and do your best. Even if there are people naturally better than you. The true plot is about not letting robots take over our lives. Fight back!
I remember a few years back, when I was discussing anime with someone in a year above mine at my school, that the discussion had turned to what we believed were the worst anime of all time. We discussed the usual that everybody brings up. Mars of Destruction, Boku no Pico as well as the then recently released second season of Tokyo Ghoul. As we kept discussing this topic, the other person, let's call him, "Light Novel Trash Lover" (as he kept telling me Infinite Stratos and SAO were the best anime ever made and he even came to school cosplaying Kirito a couple of times, complete with the dual swords and everything; how the hell he was let in was beyond me) then brought up Ping Pong: The Animation as being one of the worst anime ever. Struck with both surprise and curiosity I asked him his reasons why, for, at the time, I had only seen three episodes and had really liked what I had seen. Light Novel Trash Lover then told me that, "Ping Pong is the worst anime of all time because the animation and art style is terrible!". And this little story sums up why I believe Ping Pong The Animation is so overlooked within the anime community, which is a shame too, since many are missing out on perhaps one of the greatest sports anime of all time, and one of the best in this past decade of anime. Of course, disliking an anime's art style is not inherently bad, but dismissing the entire show as being bad, based off the art style seems pretty silly. Regardless of such, Ping Pong The Animation has recently become one of my favourite anime ever! It's a show less concerned about the sport, and more so a character study of its cast, filled to the brim with interesting and clever allegorical writing and symbolism, from one of the most critically acclaimed and respected directors working today, Masaaki Yusa! So let's grab our ping pong bats, taste some of our blood (as it tastes like iron, y'know) and allow me to explain why I believe this show to be a masterpiece! "The hero comes. The hero comes. The hero comes. Chant these words in your mind, and I'll surely come to you..." Reciting these lines in his mind, one of our protaganists, nicknamed Smile, fights on in each and every one of his ping pong matches, along with his friend, nicknamed Peco. Both boys have grown up together, bonding ever more closely over their shared passion of ping pong and, after growing older and reaching high school, both begin to play in tournament matches. The show sees them both grow, not only in their ping pong abilities and skills but also more so as people as well, as they influence the players who go against them, who, in turn, also have their own mental hang ups. Ping Pong's narrative, if anything, will not surprise you with any grand plot twists, and is, at its most fundamental level, a standard sports narrative. However, what makes the show shine so much is its well developed cast of characters, symbolism and amazing directing. Another thing that helps to make Ping Pong so much fun to watch from an entertainment perspective alone is how well paced the entire show actually is. The narrative is always pushing forward in some way, introducing new plot threads and mental dilemmas for its characters while also wrapping up several older ones at the same time, keeping the anime fresh and interesting. Another thing that makes this otherwise standard story so great is the how attached we become to both Peco and Smile as characters, generating intrigue from the audience, and many of the ping pong matches are exciting to watch since the narrative does a good job at creating narrative stakes and tension. The best example of this is the match between Weng and Kazama, where, if Weng loses this match, he will not be able to return to his home country of China, which makes the proceeding absolute beat down of his character in the match all the more emotionally gripping. The entire show is just very tightly written, with visual symbolism and motifs as well as well developed themes and ideas, used in many cases in order to convey more about the characters and what they're feeling without the use of dialogue to masterful effect, which I will be getting more into in a moment. The crux of the show is certainly the relationship between Peco and Smile, and how each one of them develops throughout the course of the show. What's particularly interesting about their relationship is the juxtaposition of their personalities. Peco is rather upbeat, cocky and is highly motivated to become the best in ping pong while Smile is much more quiet and is referred to as being a robot with no emotions by his peers and the people who go against him in matches. In fact, his name, Smile, was given due to him rarely smiling (which we later learn was actually given to him by Peco after seeing how much Peco enjoyed playing ping pong as a kid). Smile's character is all about learning how to enjoy the game of Ping Pong once again and break away from the robotic play style and mould he has been using for many years. The reason as to how Smile achieves this is through Peco's involvement in his life. Thus Peco is Smile's hero; the salvation he needs to enjoy the sport he holds so dearly once again, which results in some fantastic cathartic pay off at the end of the series. The motif of the hero, as well as the idea of flight is a consistent theme in the show and is used often to convey how character's are feeling too, with the depiction of a hero with wings being the representation of Peco. During the final match between Peco and Smile, as Smile begins to break free from his robotic play style, we see an image of a bird flying freely through the sky, representative of Smile's newly gained freedom. Peco's energetic play style and massive love for ping pong ends up being the salvation of other players too, in particular, to Kazama, who had devoted his entire life to a strict training regime in order to win at ping poing and to further his career. However, his constant winning also leaves him isolated and secluded, as he frequently finds comfort in hiding in bathrooms before playing a game. In the penultimate episode of the show, we see visual imagery of the hero, in other words Peco, extend a hand to Kazama, before taking it back and smiling at him. Kazama then grows wings himself, and flies after the hero, looking down at the bathroom he used to hide himself in signalling that his character has indeed grown, and he is now able to enjoy ping pong once again, reflected in his changed attitude in the game he is playing. More evidence that Peco is indeed Smile's hero comes from the line "Iron tastes like blood" which I referenced a little earlier in this review. The idea is that iron and blood are two juxtaposing elements, both representative of the contrast in personalities between the two characters. Blood is something that is alive, something that is moving, representing life, thereby linking into the idea that Peco is a hero and plays ping pong because he loves it, while the iron, which is associated as being cold and metallic is representative of Smile's character and play style. The idea that Peco tells Smile that "Iron tastes like blood" could be seen that Peco is trying to make Smile see that he is more human than Smile, and everyone else, believes. Another piece of symbolism used to contrast their characters are the use of the star and the moon, both typically found on each respective person's item of clothing or on their ping pong bats. The star is used to represent Peco, always full of life and shining brilliantly, illuminating everyone around him, fitting into the hero motif, while the moon is used to represent Smile, an object that has two sides to it: the dark side and the light side, representing the change that is going to take place in his character. Some clever visual imagery is used in regards to Peco's character when he throws his bat into a river, which has the star symbol on it, signifying that Peco's light, and ambition is now no more. And there are plenty of these visual motifs in this show, all of which are used to showcase or add onto characterisation, making for some of the most interesting characters I've seen before in any show, most of which are rather relatable which drives the emotional weight of the characters even more. Each theme and motif in ping pong is integrated into the narrative in order for us to learn more about the characters. Take for example, the motif of the butterfly in regards to Smile's coach, Koizumi, or the theme hard work being crushed under natural talent in the case of Sakuma in his match against Smile. Ping Pong also has one of my all time favourite soundtracks with each track fitting the theme and personality of a character perfectly. The opening is damn great and never fails to get me pumped up while, at the same time, sprinkling in some lyrics relating to the motif of flying in the show. Peco's theme is fast paced, frantic and fun, mirroring his character and the motif of a hero, and is used to fantastic effect during his match with Kazama. In contrast, Kazama's theme is foreboding and powerful, representing Kazama's strength, which is used amazingly during his match with Weng, that I briefly touched upon before. I'd also like to use this match as an example of how great and imaginative the animation can be at times too. As previously mentioned, this match has a lot of narrative stakes since it is the final chance for Weng to get back into China after being kicked off the Chinese team, so as an audience, we sympathise more so with him, and want him to succeed. However, what follows, is an utterly hopeless beat down, and the entire match feels helpless. Just as much as Weng is feeling desperate, so do we an audience member, and the anime conveys this feeling of helplessness with fantastic visuals of Kazama towering over Weng, signifying their difference in skills and talent, as the ping pong table itself stretches out, emphasising this idea. Not only that, but every time Kazama hits the ball, a streak of purple lighting is used to convey the power and lighting fast reflexes Kazama retains. In addition, we also see him depicted as being a giant, again, referencing his raw strength, but also the colour used is important as well: purple. In Ping Pong, the colour purple is used to represent those respected in the world of ping pong, as both teachers of Peco and Smile frequently wear shirts with some shade of purple and the highly influential academy Kazama attends is also largely purple. Taking this idea of purple, and applying it to this situation, makes for an interesting idea when we see Kazama transform into a giant purple dragon. Dragons are typically associated with Chinese culture, the place where Weng is trying to get back to, and having Kazama transform into a dragon is symbolic of his team who turned their back on them and the idea that he will never reach them ever again. The use of the purple signifies that they're respected in the world of ping pong, and the lack of any purple on Weng represents the idea that he will never get there again. The entire show is loaded with this much visual imagery and creative metaphors and is so insanely dense that it would be impossible to talk about it all, which is what makes the show so insanely well crafted and interesting to watch for anyone who loves creative animation. The animation as a whole is incredibly fluid and, at times, rather bouncy and energetic. I also love the art style too, albeit, if it can sometimes look jarring or wonky at times; it was never enough to pull me out of the overall experience however. When it comes down to it, Ping Pong is a hard series to summarise and talk about because of how dense and how well constructed everything is. I could go on forever about what I personally think the show is trying to say and what each element represents, but I believe part of the fun of this show is trying to piece and make sense of everything for yourself, and if there is anything of what I said, you think is misinterpreted or just flat out wrong, please feel free to tell me. After all, all the analysis is just from my mind. Ping Pong The Animation is a marvel. A great example of what can be accomplished in animation and a true testament that a simple idea can become a wonderful show. It's characters are very well developed and the allegorical meaning behind what each represents are interesting, the music is fantastic, and overall, this is one of the best experiences I've had with a show ever. With that all said and done, thank you for taking the time to read my review, and I'll leave you with my favourite quote from the show: "We're alive, and that's why we're happy..."
(Discussed further in Episode 27 of the podcast I am in, Digitized Desperadoes. Here’s a link- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rS6fKnuqMsE ) (Spoiler warning.) Masaaki Yuasa takes the Coming-of-Age story, bounces it between two paddles, rips it to shreds, blends it, and drinks it for breakfast. Well, Yuasa adapted a manga series, but he did it in such a way that I can’t imagine it in any other medium. PPTA is a story about recreation, competition, and growing up, but not in the typical sense of coming into the world. It’s about why we do the things we do in our daily lives. Each character is asked the question (not literally): “Why do you play Ping-Pong?” And each is forced to answer through their actions. The visual style of the series is impeccable. There’s a sense of realism. The characters’ faces are modeled more after real life than the typical anime style, and that’s a-okay. It turns out a little bit uncanny sometimes, but I think that’s part of the charm. The motion and action is all incredibly dramatic, with zoom-ins and manga-esque panels. Sometimes the matches even go into fantasy sequences, with characters being represented by animals or forces of nature. It’s incredibly impressive, and absolutely engaging to watch. The plot itself? I can’t say I love it. It’s incredibly toxic-masculine until the very end, and not very condemning of those attitudes and lifestyles. “But garthol, the manga was written in 1995 Japan! It was a different time!” Yeah, sure, and at times it does really call out how horrible their attitudes are towards the sport. There’s a great scene near the end, when two characters play against each other and realize they’re actually enjoying the match, which is crazy! It emphasized a lot of the themes I was feeling, and I wish they explored that more. I felt like the reason behind the story was that these people weren't playing Ping Pong. They were playing in some kind of mental hellscape where they were always trying to prove themselves to themselves or someone else. One is trying to pull his friend out of a funk, one is trying to redeem his family, one constantly remembers his home country… Sure, a lot of these things are probably emblematic of Japanese sports media. You need the rivalry and clashing motivations, and I ate it up. Kong Wenge, a “minor antagonist,” if you’ll allow the metaphor, ended up being my favorite character. There’s a strange Christmas episode halfway through, and it’s really obvious that he’s the guy who gets his shit together immediately after he realizes his problems. In the beginning he’s a huge jerk to the people around him, but after reevaluating his actions, he gets right back up and becomes a better person. I liked it better than the “main plot,” where it just seemed like people were hurting themselves to prove idiotic points to their friends. The toxic masculinity is painful for me to watch, and I’m not a fan of Peco and Smile’s saga, but the delivery and execution of the story is still brilliant. There’s enough there to pull a viewer in, but not enough to get definitive answers. I mean, one of the climatic scenes just turns into an abstract musical number rather than give you the results. (They’re revealed through a later conversation, though.) It’s bleaker and less visually appealing than Tatami Galaxy, but it’s also a completely different kind of coming-of-age story that I think Yuasa excels at. There are multiple stories written into these 11 episodes that were worth telling in this specific medium, and I don’t regret watching it, even if the ones they focused on were not my favorites. I’d say give this a shot. In terms of sports media, I feel like it’s a shining star, but it’s not Yuasa’s best. 6.5/10.
This is the most consistent anime i have ever seen, for me every episode was a 10/10. Despite only being eleven episodes long it has incredible character development with almost every character getting fleshed out extremely well alongside a meaningful story that shows very realistic characters grow and come of age with a unique but fitting art style and some stunning animation. The show starts with a flashy black and white opening with a loud energetic song but don't be fooled this is not at all a flashy show, this is definitely an anime that you have pay attention to while watching or things will go over your head. img220(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B95b6qZIQAAzox8.jpg) I personally missed a lot of things on the first watch and i don't doubt i am stilling missing some small things on my third watch through. The theme of this show seems to be the question "why do we play?" and failure. The question of why do we play comes up when you see how hard they struggle. Why do we play when it makes us hurt so much? Why do we play knowing we are going to get hurt? Why do we play when we know we aren't going to win? Because we love it. img220(https://reallifeanime.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/ping-pong-episode-11-being-alive.png) I played football for team 6 years because i loved it, i loved the highs of a strong tackle, a great goal, a perfect cross but when i stopped enjoying those things i stopped playing, the lows, the time dedicated to training, the humiliating defeats are only worth it for the highs playing brings. When i stopped playing it was because i stopped really enjoying the highs and when you don't enjoy the highs the lows aren't worth it anymore. Ping pong has these players go through extremely low lows but the highs are worth it for them because they love playing. img220(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/0p4DKzvYerA/maxresdefault.jpg) They fail and get back up because they love playing, and they grow by failing and only by failing and getting back up do they start to understand themselves. With characters like Sakuma coming to terms with the fact that no matter how hard he works he will never catch up to Smile or Peco if they just put a tenth of the effort in just because they have more talent than him, img220(http://i.imgur.com/Wy5ymBp.jpg) or Kong who bet too much on ping pong slowly realising his life can be more than ping pong and learning how to set aside his arrogance and entitlement, that his life is not over if he fails. I believe smile had at least some level of joy in playing ping pong and though the main reason he played ping pong was to bring his hero and friend Peco back after he became lazy and selfish, he still enjoyed playing. But i do still think he didn't enjoy it as much as everyone else in the show and that shows in how ready he was to quit and his reason for it : "If i don't enjoy it, why should i play?" If he doesn't get the highs from playing ping pong that everyone else does but still gets the lows why should he play? Because he wants to bring Peco back to his old self, the Peco that was his hero, the Peco he looked up to, who he wanted to be like, so he minimises his lows by staying inside of his comfort zone and never really trying, this way he doesn't get the same highs as everyone else but he doesn't get their lows. Like a machine he just stays still and does the best he can without going outside his comfort zone. img220(https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/ping-pong-the-animation/images/b/bf/Young_smile.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20151021011729) He only really starts trying after Peco quits ping pong and i think that is because Peco has left him Peco is no longer the hero to him he once was, so frustrated he retreats back into his shell and starts playing robotically and following his coaches orders like a machine and that is when you start to hear robotic sound affects when he plays. The metaphors and meanings in this anime are beautiful and almost poetic in the way they are handled, the hero being the main one with smaller metaphors such as the butterfly really elevate this show from an amazing show to an absolute masterpiece. img220(http://moarpowah.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Ping-Pong-the-hero.jpg) My favourite metaphor that i didn't fully pick up on the first watch was "blood tastes like iron" it didn't fully click to me until i saw someone explain their interpretation, i'm going to quote them because i don't believe i can word it any better than they did img220(http://i.imgur.com/s4A3Ovl.jpg) "But first Smile. I'm not gonna tell you what Smile is like since we've seen plenty of that already, but it is immensely important to understand why he is the way he is. Smile as a child hailed from a loveless, empty home and as a result he wasn't able to clearly express emotions which only made his case worse. The bullying and general asshattery prompted him to use his 'emotionlessness' as a shell, an armour against harm: if he only exists, then nobody will bother him. This attitude is immensely sad of course: what's worse is that it's the same attitude he had at the start of the show. After the Koizumi match, Smile unleashed the full power of this robotic defense mechanism, seemingly impervious to harm... but also impervious to life. There's only one thing that can break through his armour and it's facing him today. We've seen the scattered flashbacks over the episodes in which Smile is in a locker. Today, Ping Pong finally expands on that memory. It first displays Smile's defense philosophy of 'if I don't do anything, not even act like a human, then they will leave me be', but Peco exclaims that Smile's wrong, because 'you know, Smile? Blood tastes like iron'. To me, that line is a two-fold sentiment. The first thing it means is that no matter how 'emotionless' or 'robotic' Smile may seem... he's still human. Blood may taste like iron, but it's still blood: Smile can experience all those emotions just like everyone else, because he's human. The second part is that there's strength in being human. Smile used his robotic armour as a defense measure, but there is also strength to be had from expressing emotion and fighting with your heart on your sleeve, even if it's just during ping pong. Smile only fully realises it during his match against Peco, but he too, is a human capable of experiencing raw emotions. The moment he breaks free from his armour during the match is the moment where he breaks free of his own armour to finally, finally become human once more." img220(https://i.gyazo.com/ccb653b76c6ea192b7881846f50943d3.png) "Blood tastes like iron" is a phrase that you can interpret in multiple different ways and there is no incorrect way to interpret it, just like this show everyone can draw their own conclusions This is my interpretation and what Ping pong means to me My conclusion is that Taiyou Matsumoto really made a classic right here. Credit to u/watashi-akashi for the quote and his write ups helped me understand and appreciate this anime even more Credit to @Aleczandxr his video on Ping Pong helped me understand and appreciate it even more Credit to @semblancebros their reactions and discussions helped me pick up on more things i missed
Ping Pong: The Animation is one of the most astonishing anime I’ve ever seen. It’s something that could only come out of passion and devotion from an eccentric auteur who prides himself in the unique and extraordinary. Only masters and madmen could produce works as tight and uniquely crafted as this. It’s easy to see why this show is regarded as a masterpiece. Frankly, this anime deserves all the praise it gets. That’s not to say it will appeal to everyone. The art style is rough. There’s no denying that. It’s so rough that some may call it ugly, ignoring the stellar, often cinematic presentation and wonderful comic book style Yuasa mastered in the process. Some will forego praising the character designs because of the artwork, unable to appreciate how deliberately presented the matches are and how lovely the colors and imagery can be. No two matches are ever the same, and the last two are particularly stunning. They may even write off the show as badly animated despite how well-animated everything is, simply because they don’t like the drawings and because there’s some CGI (a lot of which you may not even notice) and missing faces every now and then. It’s a shame, but even if you find this Tatsunoko Production show ugly, I’d implore you to endure it for the wonderful writing and adrenaline-pumping displays of games and drama permeating each episode. It looks better than you’d expect, and better than many give it credit for. Accompanying the often-electrifying matches is the show’s OST composed by Kensuke Ushio. There are several engaging tracks that highlight the immense pressure each game instills on its players and the audience, effectively becoming memorable battle themes in the process. I’m also a fan of the one electronic track that appears in some moments of preparation and speculation in the tournaments, as it adds to the anticipation the show already delivers in spades. The only other memorable song outside of a fun karaoke track in episode 6 and another insert song in the finale, would be the opening. "Tada Hitori" by Bakudan Johnny is a raw and fun track that encapsulates the determination and passion the show’s characters have for the game. The keyboard works perfectly with the guitar, drums, and manly vocals. Now to get to what you’re really here for. Ping Pong: The Animation’s character writing is frighteningly good. The show juggles several different character arcs in each episode, with said arcs and characters influencing and interacting with each other in meaningful and standout ways. This happens even when one character’s arc concludes, such as with Manabu the “Demon” who helps a former rival out of his downward spiral after being forced to re-examine himself and his own jealousy. The best part is that all of this is done in the span of 11 22-minute episodes. With such a tight story length and brisk pace, you’d think these character arcs would feel rushed or incomplete. Most of them do not and even those that do feel a tad rushed in places have such minor slip-ups that most people won’t notice or care. You can always see a logical start and end with every single point in each character’s arc, whether that be Wenge Kong’s arrogance and desperation to prove himself to get back on his former team, or Smile’s change from a reserved, almost nihilistic drone playing to pass the time and find some fun in Ping Pong, to a tremendous machine whose ice is gradually thawed. This isn’t even going over Peco’s or Kazuma the Dragon’s arcs, which culminate in one of the best penultimate episodes I have ever seen. Additionally, we learn about each character’s playstyle and training regimens. Their backstories are presented with a certain amount of flair even early on before certain players suffer major losses. It avoids the pitfall of explaining everything about a character’s backstory at a life or career-threatening moment, as we learn about them way before their most critical games expand on their backstories once and for all. On top of that, their character dynamics are filled with such vibrancy that these people would take on a life of their own through that alone. They’re all incredibly well-realized and tactile, so their journeys are electrifying. The way their arcs are delicately woven together adds even more chemistry and life to these characters, making their arcs all the more rewarding. It’s because of this that the revelations and conclusions regarding each character in the back half are able to become some of the most hype moments I’ve witnessed all year. Every time a character resigns to his fate, it’s as powerful as a hero’s special move. Fitting given the motif that defines our main leads. I dare not say more. Just know that you’re getting a lot out of this cast in such a short period of time, and that the big matches this anime presents are as moving as some of the best anime fights out there. That’s why the writing’s so daunting and impressive. Another aspect of this show that is incredibly intricate and tactile is the world. Exposition dumps about the major schools of Ping Pong are presented through advertisements and through characters trying to encourage our main protagonist “Smile” to join their school. We get to see their training regimens, colors, ethos, and more through careful sprinkles of information or dazzling displays. Characters also often remark on strange fads and trends regarding delicacies like the sudden thinning of soda carbonation or these chocolate bar gimmicks that make the general populous unable to appreciate the basic $1 bar. Even minor characters that get defeated in one episode often get noticeable characterization to them to make this world become even more alive. My favorite example is this one character who is constantly looking for a place where he belongs. Long after he loses his match and he declares his next destination, you see him shifting from ping pong to the beach and then to the mountains, and so on. These are all small details, little touches that make this already vibrant anime even more lively. Nitpicks like the scores not accurately depicting what the anime is conveying regarding certain games, and a few character beats feeling rushed, aren’t enough to take that away from this show. Ping Pong is an anime that soars like few ever could. Assuming you’re not averse to the visuals or a quirky style, it’s hard not to get sucked into a show this rich and explosive. It’s daunting how this show can cram so much without feeling bloated. It’s commendable on that aspect alone, but the payoffs to our incredible characters’ arcs make for some of the most glorious and rewarding experiences I’ve had with anime all year. You’ve probably already made your judgment on whether or not to take this anime into consideration long before my meager self stepped into the fray, and there are several more talented writers and reviewers that have sung the praises of this anime to hell and back. However, if you’ve never considered watching this anime before, then I hope this review inspires even one person to do so. I’ll stand among those who have adored this anime, so here’s an invitation to join us. Written and Edited by: CodeBlazeFate Proofread by: Peregrine
__~~~Histoire 8/10 ~~~__ On reste sur une histoire assez basique de Ping Pong avec des entrainement, des concours mais ce qui le rends vraiment unique c'est le coté seinen qui va apporter un grand coup a l'anime en se focusant sur la psychologie des personnages. Ce qui ma fait mettre une bonne note sur le coté histoire est la fin de cette anime : ~!Peko gagne contre Smile mais cela s'apparente a une double victoire car avec une animation très propre Tsukimoto casse son blindage de robot et devient enfin un Humain alors que Peko réussis et poursuit son rêve.!~ Ce que j’ai apprécie pour finir encore c'est de comment les personnages sont étudie tout au long de l’œuvre on ne les perds pas du vue comme le premier adversaire de smile qui arrête le ping pong a cause de lui et revient plus tard et se rends compte de la beauté du sport. __~~~Personnage 8/10 ~~~__ Alors en sois les personnages sont assez basique mais ce qui ma beaucoup plus c'est l’évolution des personnages entre Peko, tsukimoto, Demon.. Meme de revoir reunir les seniors a la fin etais super sympa a mon gars et aussi Kong mème après ses défaites ils réussis a devenir une personnes alors que Kazama lui a force de tout reposer sur sa force va potentiellement devenir un joueur banal alors que des personnes comme peko qui faisait que rire devienne des pongistes d’exception Je laisse se paragraphe assez vide car il y a pas de personnages marquant juste des très bonne évolution __~~~Art 9.5 /10~~~__ Le point fort de cette œuvre avec les ost : mème si on constate que les personnages sont pas détaillé, la force de l’animation est présente leurs match sont très fluide et aussi je n'avais jamais vu ça des passages sont montré comme si ont lisais un manga.On voit les découpage sur l’écran c assez complique de l'expliquer ceux qui l’ont vu vont me comprendre. Moi qui prônent l'animation du studio ufotable ont ne peux pas changer celle de ping pong c'est inconcevable elle est beaucoup trop belle et impactant __~~~Song 9/10 ~~~__ Les ost op comme end ou encore ceux présent dans les épisodes sont vrmnt très bonnes. Celle qui ma beaucoup touché est celle du combat final spoil peko contre smile accompagné de flashback tres touchant ou o voit un smile qui pleure __~~~Enjoyment 8,5/ 10~~~ __ J'ai passé un bon moment ! la fin j'ai réussis a prédire a moitié mais sinon l'anime reste bon et j'encourage a ceux qui veulent changer de type d'anime a le voir le coté seinen est assez présent pas le plus poussé mais il est belle et bien la J'inisite que il ne faut vraiment ne pas avoir peur de l'animation qui peut repousser au premier abord foncez devant l'anime il se regarde lentement pas besoin de le rush ! Passez tous une tres bonne journée ( oui jai pas 2100 mots mais le site beug donc ta capté c chiant de se forcer ) ~~~__Overall__~~~ ~~~__8,6__~~~
~~~THIS IS A RAMBLING DISSECTION OF THE SHOW'S NARRATIVE STRUCTURE AND THEMES. IT SPOILS EVERYTHING. THE SHOW IS GOOD, GO WATCH IT. YES, I GET THAT IT'S "UGLY" GET OVER IT AND WATCH IT.~~~ Definition of terms: Ping Pong Layer - The layer of the narrative in which achievement in the sport of ping pong is equivalent to growth and development. Deeper below is the character layer in which achievement as a person and self-understanding is the standard of growth. The Wasteland - A metaphor for a character who falls into an ingenuine lifestyle, where they are not true to themselves and are fundamentally unhappy. From one of the original hero’s journeys, the Holy Grail. Ping Pong does the hero’s journey better than any other sports, or even fantasy story. This is not simply because it surpasses all of its contemporaries in style, writing, pacing, and just about whatever else you could think of, but because of the twist and flair it places upon the age-old narrative structure. Smile is what every shitty shounen or western “hero” protagonist that attempts to defy their mold aspires to be. It is a common trope within anime to differentiate their characters by making them “indifferent” and “cold” as a demonstration of their ability being so great that they needn’t even bother worrying about their obstacles or competition. Smile takes this, generally mediocre, archetype, and humanizes it to a point of believability. He is a robot, he, seemingly, does not feel, does not fear, does not care. And when he gets into the swing of things, his victories seem assured, in a manner that would normally remove any stakes from a work of fiction. But they don’t. Because most of his victories don’t matter. They are superficial, existing only in the ping pong layer. In reality, Smile, as a character, has won nothing, none of the achievements of success matter to him. In his own words, “Ping pong is just something to pass the time.” Were this coming from a place of superiority, it would be a profoundly cringe-worthy line, but it’s not. It’s coming from a person who has lost that which is most meaningful to him. His nickname is from how much he used to smile when he played Ping Pong, but now the sport means nothing to him, because of the loss of his only real friend, Peco. From a surface level perspective, it is easy to say that Koizumi is the mentor within the structure of the story, but this is only on the ping pong layer of the story. He is Smile’s guide through remastering the sport and, while he does contribute to Smile’s character development, he is not the central mentor in his narrative growth. Peco, on the other hand, is the mentor of, not only Smile, but nearly all his competition. However, it is easy to miss this as being his role in the story, as he himself is a fleshed out character, as opposed to a static caricature of a teacher. It is Peco who initiates the first call to action for Smile, which Smile reluctantly accepts, in the form of teaching him ping pong. It is Peco who protects Smile as he develops into the ping pong prodigy we see in the beginning of the show. And it is Peco that is sacrificed to the plot at the chronological midpoint of the story to create stakes. Obviously, this plot summary is extremely reductionist, because it is in the details of these events, and how the characters react that Ping Pong reveals its full beauty. Peco is not merely sacrificed to a great beast or some “super strong” opponent to motivate our protagonist (well he is, in a way, to Wenge, but again that lies on the ping pong layer of the fiction). Rather, he loses to himself. He suffers from an internal plight that many adolescents experience: allowing one’s talent to goad oneself into the wasteland. He becomes overconfident in his ability, skipping practices, playing opponents vastly inferior to him, and fattening up on sweets, and this degradation of character is obvious to everyone but him. It is especially obvious to Smile. It becomes most obvious to the viewer when Peco quits the sport entirely, falling into a depressive, desperate state, in which he even attempts to take his own life at the realization that he cannot fly (this being a metaphor for the fact that his talent can no longer carry him through life). However, he is saved by Sakuma, who has finally gained an outside perspective on the story thanks to him “washing his hands of ping pong.” This ingenuine lifestyle that Peco falls into is the defining plight of the show, the central theme. Both Kazama and Smile are seen to also fall into it, during the same periods of their lives, as Kazama finds that he is no longer playing for himself, but for fear of loss. His entire existence is defined by the sunk-cost fallacy, with defeat seeming a worse fate than death. (Kazama is another master-class in trope inversion with the “Invincible antagonist that only seeks defeat” archetype, but that’s for another time) And Smile, with the loss of his friend and mentor to apathy, falls into a hole of repression deeper than before he met Peco. His life becomes simply about passing time until he dies, as does Kazama’s, Peco’s, and, to a lesser extent, Wenge’s (who is just passing time until he can return home). Throughout the show we watch as each of these characters finds their way out of the wasteland, all with heavy influence from Peco, all while Peco experiences his own personal growth at the hands of the retired Temura, who again serves as a mentor on the ping pong layer. Wenge, who initially has his ego boosted by his skunking of Peco whilst Peco was still within the wasteland, faces defeat against Kazama, forcing him to realize before anyone else that victory isn’t everything. His ego is put in check, allowing him to be the first to escape the wasteland, just in time for the christmas episode, in which we see him reunited with his mother, and closer to his team than ever, seemingly happy for the first time. Meanwhile the other central players in the fiction are experiencing christmas alone. Wenge’s new found distance from ping pong, which has allowed his growth as a person, is reaffirmed by his defeat by Peco, showing the transition of both parties towards what they actually care about. Next, Kazama faces defeat at the hands of Peco, because Peco flies, while Kazama simply climbs. Only now, the metaphor of flight doesn’t refer to him being carried by his talent, but by his joy and passion, which Kazama has slowly been drained of throughout his life. And in finally facing an opponent who not only cares, but poses a serious threat to him because of it, Kazama rediscovers his own passion, finally playing for himself, before his eventual defeat. Thusly, he escapes the wasteland, finally dedicating his life not to ping pong, but to himself. Finally, Smile faces Peco in the finals. Here, both sides are finally allowed to play to their full potential against a genuinely worthy opponent. While it may initially seem cruel of Smile to play full force against Peco, despite Peco’s injury, Smile is testing him. He is testing to see if his friend has truly escaped the wasteland and returned to being the “Hero” of their youth. This is the ultimate test of both their characters. Smile is forced to no longer go easy on Peco, allowing him to coast through life, as he does in the beginning of the show, as well as being able to show off the talents he has gained from his separate hero’s journey within the ping pong layer. Meanwhile, Peco is tested as to how high he can fly, and whether he is worthy of the title of “Hero.” Thanks to an overwhelming sense of genuine happiness that he is able to play ping pong, Peco passes this test, beating Smile, and passing on to the nationals. Seeing that his best friend has finally reignited his passion and found happiness, Smile no longer has to worry about being “the best,” as, deep down, it was only really so that he could challenge Peco. Meanwhile Peco, the one character whose life benefits from their obsession with Ping Pong, has finally committed to the sport, allowing to live out his dream of going international. Smile, on the other hand, who, while he enjoys ping pong, never really saw it as more than a past time, finally is allowed to move away from it. Taking after Peco’s previous lackadaisical attitude to the sport, further showing the effect Peco had on his growth as a character. He returns to his eden, not only physically in the form of his return to the ping pong school, but mentally as he returns to a mental state in which he believes in heroes. Thus each of the central cast escapes their previously depressing, ingenuine lives, and the show is brought to a satisfying conclusion. The beauty of the story lies in how each character learns from each other, and discovers their true self through Peco, finally distancing themselves from the sport that only brought them despair. While Peco finally rediscovers the sport that used to only bring him joy. There isn’t another narrative that I’ve seen with such clearly wrapped themes and morals, or a cast of characters more realized and tightly interwoven. Nothing comes even close. (Also I love that Peco’s struggle is mirrored in the traveling guy, who, after suffering a terrible loss moves away from Ping Pong, only to realize that ping pong is his one true passion and escaping his more literal wasteland to return to the sport in the finale. Even the fucking 5-minutes of screen time side characters are top notch its insane.) tldr: The sport of ping pong is used as a metaphor for the characters escaping their ingenuine lifestyles and finding happiness in the things they love, and it is portrayed through a multi-layered twist upon the age old hero’s journey. Masterpiece material.
This review contains spoilers, so it's mostly for those who have already watched the show. But if you haven't watched it already let me tell you right now in one single paragraph that i do recommend it, i think everyone should watch it and hey, if you come here to watch ping pong itself you should know that while theres plenty, this show is more about the relationships, stories and experiences of the characters behind the game and how that affects each match. Which means that even if you don't know anything about ping pong you can still enjoy it and have a blast. __Now begins the real review:__ I have been a fan of gurren lagann for the longest time now, and something that has always stayed with me about that show is how inspiring it is. I used to have depression and during that time i felt as if nothing made sense or had any kind of purpose, i remember going to sleep without any kind of motivation or desire to live and waking up the next day with the exact same train of thought, wondering why i was even alive in the first place. I feel like we all go through feelings like these at some point of our lives, obviously not everyone goes through the same and some have it worse than others in some ways (i for one had depression as i just stated) but im sure that everyone has had a point in their life in which they just dont know what to do anymore. During these times we tend to be lonely, we seek a place where we can be by ourselves. And most of the time what we see once we are all alone is quite scary, because that's when we get to truly get to know ourselves. Thats why its essential to remember the importance of people, bonds, family, friends, how warm it is to be around people and just talk to them. We need people, we need others to stay behind us so that they can be for us and we need to stay close to them too, so that we can also help them out. I believe that the only way to make progress and to achieve happiness is through understanding that we can't truly achieve anything relevant by ourselves alone, if we want to get far we need the strenght of others. And i feel like this is what this show is all about, the importance of our bonds, the importance of friendship, and what it means to be a hero. We are used to seeing heroes like Goku in anime, these all mighty beings, pure, kind hearted and strong, no one can oppose these imposing figures of good. Characters with little to no weaknesses, if anything they usually have traits like being stupid or stubborn. And im not trying to trash these kinds of characters, in fact i've enjoyed them for years and im sure i will for many years to come. But at some point i began to seek more realistic depictions of heroes, ive grown more fond of characters like Peco, one of the protagonists of Ping Pong the animation. Characters that portray a more realistic interpretation of what it means to be a hero. Peco is presented as what can be considered by many as an annoying and arrogant kid who is more in line with heroes like Goku. In the beginning he seems to be the absolute best, a beast who knows no limits and one that no one can ever even dare to stop. But then, the show decides to take a step back and show just how much humanity resides in this particular character. He goes from the shining and hopeful prodigy to... a person. He falls to the ground and has to learn about what it means to lose, and for once he now knows how it feels to be on the losing team. He throws everything away and decides to leave it all behind and just try to go on with his life, but as soon as he starts trying to be someone else and trying to seek joy in what he believes to be freedom, he notices just how empty and hollow he becomes. And this is the point in the story where what i said about the importance of having friends and people around starts to make sense: Sakuma, a character who was introduced as an asshole who only seeks triumph, who was once a close friend of Peco reappers in the story after suffering a crushing defeat that destroys him. Sakuma loses his motivation and no longer knows where to go, in a similar way to peco. The difference being that Sakuma regains his will to live and learns of new ways to enjoy and to go about life, and this is when he realizes that not everyone is made to shine and thats ok. But the fact that we cant shine in front of a crowd doesnt mean that we cant do it on our own for the people that we love, and Sakuma shows us how everyone can be of help and useful. This is an important theme through ping pong, not everyone needs to be popular or be known, every victory no matter the scale is still a victory and we are all necessary and we all got roles to fill. Peco goes from a shining prodigy to a teenager who wonders around aimlessly. Until his friends make him understand that falling isn't the end, and that there's always a tomorrow that we can look forward to. There's so much character development in these 11 episodes that it's almost insane, everything is perfectly tied together to convey this inspiring message about what it means to be alive and how everyone is unique in their own way and thats what makes us shine in our own way. And at the end of the day, the whole arc of Peco needs to be understood through the arc of Tsukimoto, our other protagonist. A kid who grew up for the most part on his own, one who was always bullied and who never really got how one is supposed to interact with people. They bullied him for "acting like a robot", he doesn't laugh, cry, nothing. But when he meets our hero as a kid he begins to smile when he is introduced to ping pong, but as time goes on and Peco falls from grace he begins to fall into that mindset that he used to be as a kid, he starts to think of himself as something other than a person once again and he's unable to connect with people (as Peco was the person he admired the most and his ultimate inspiration. So once he falls, Tsukimoto changes). And we get this pretty interesting dynamic, where when one falls, the other rises, and so begins the journey of Peco to regain his inspiration, his dream and his friend. In the process, becoming the most human hero i've seen in a while. He struggles, he goes through sadness, anger, dissapointment, and seeing him rising once again, regaining his inspiration and motivation is just glorious and so damn heartwarming. At the beginning of the series i hated this character for how he was presented and now i think its actually one of my favorite characters in all of anime. He's a person, someone who until the very last moment has to give it his all and struggle to become who he wants to be. Im sure we have all had a friend who went from being someone who we admire to someone that we dont even recognize anymore, and we would like them to rise once again and be even better than before. Peco feels like that friend, and he feels like the best case scenario of that kind of friend where we get to see this guy become greater than before. This show is just so damn inspiring and beautiful, and being that it's only 11 episodes long and considering that we are in the middle of a pretty harsh situation worldwide, i think that now more than ever we need these kinds of stories to remind ourselves why we should try our best and why is it worth it to live and to keep giving our all for the things and people we love. I feel like this show could be to many what gurren lagann was to me, and if you have read everything up to this point first i want to say thank you very much for your time, and secondly, please give it a watch if you havent, it's totally worth it. From the spectacular visuals that perfectly convey what this series is all about, most of the time giving a lot of cues about the development of the narrative and almost always telling the narrative through said visuals, to the incredible and exciting opening, to the flawless writing of the narrative between the main characters (hell, even many minor characters add a lot to the overall theme of the show), to the beautiful sound. I swear, the way these fucking ping pong balls sound is just SEXY, it's so damn good.
#__ Yuasa nos mostra que sim, pessoas podem voar.__ Esta não será uma análise profunda do anime, e sim uma síntese cobrindo algumas das qualidades dessa obra, evitarei spoilers. É mais um "convencendo você a assistir". __Premissa__ A obra foca majoritariamente em jogadores de tênis de mesa e no autodescobrimento dos mesmos, apesar de seu nome, Ping Pong apenas utiliza o esporte como o meio de comunicar e externalizar os conflitos de seus personagens. Ou seja, não é necessário conhecer a fundo o jogo para entender essa obra, mas claro que sua experiência será ainda melhor se dominar as nuances do jogo. (mas eu sou completamente leigo nele) webm(https://files.catbox.moe/ba8nze.webm) __Personagens__ Esse é um dos pontos mais fortes desse anime pra min, ao longo da trama somos introduzidos a mais de 10 personagens que possuem, majoritariamente, um ótimo desenvolvimento e papel narrativo. Diferentemente da maioria das obras, Ping Pong não se dá ao luxo de perder tempo com coadjuvantes mediocres, mesmo aqueles com pouco tempo de tela ainda são marcantes e tornam as relações entre os personagens mais orgânicas, diálogos não são forçados nem expositivos e, em grande parte, tem realmente algo a dizer. webm(https://files.catbox.moe/o4hb9n.webm) __Ritmo__ É inacreditável o quão "amarrada" esta obra é, o conceito de "filler" não existe aqui nem por um segundo, tire seus olhos da tela e certamente terá perdido um detalhe da narrativa. Mesmo assim ele não é rushado, Yuasa usa perfeitamente a direção para que cada momento tenha seu tempo necessário. webm(https://files.catbox.moe/hlo3dg.webm) __Design/Animação__ >Animação: técnica de produzir a ilusão de movimento a partir de imagens fixas, vistas em rápida sequência Seu design atípico certamente afasta grande parte do público de assistir esse anime, se você acha "feio" e por isso se priva de assisti-lo o único prejudicado é você. Pois a transposição de movimento nessa obra é de tirar o fôlego, literalmente. A sensação de movimento causada pelas mudanças do traço e da perspectiva são quase que únicas pelo que eu já assisti na mídia, a liberdade gerada pela "inconsistência" do traço catapulta a possibilidade de ser criativo e inventivo, representando os sentimentos de forma magnífica, tornando episódios como o décimo um dos meus favoritos. webm(https://files.catbox.moe/tvx5ia.webm) __Trilha Sonora__ Possui uma identidade singular e é utilizada de modo muito preciso, além de ser marcante e muito variada, o ritmo se molda junto com a trama, potencializando os sentimentos dos personagens. (sou meio leigo sobre o assunto então ficará curto mesmo) webm(https://files.catbox.moe/47fa68.webm) __Temas__ >Sua tarefa é descobrir o seu trabalho e, então, com todo o coração, dedicar-se a ele Escapismo, encontrar seu lugar, amar algo tanto que todo o esforço e dor do mundo sejam até mesmo prazerosos. _Esforço x Talento_ Esses são apenas alguns dos temas abordados em Ping Pong, como eu já disse, meu intuito não é dissecar a obra, então assista e interprete como quiser as mensagens passadas pelo anime, mas eu garanto que elas são abundantes e muito pertinentes. Certamente você verá suas dificuldades e superações em alguns dos personagens, _pois somos, afinal, todos humanos._ webm(https://files.catbox.moe/siiw0s.webm) __Em suma__ Yuasa, em seu ápice, nos trouxe um anime verdadeiramente singular, com seus poucos 11 episódios conseguiu apresentar diversos temas e personagens interessantíssimos, com uma direção _FENOMENAL_ e uma identidade visual extremamente eficiente em transpor sentimentos. Se eu fosse escrever sobre cada detalhe nessa obra eu desgastaria meu teclado, coisas simples como o _simbolismo da estrela e da Lua_ já renderiam bons parágrafos. Como esse anime é pouco expositivo, é verdadeiramente difícil compreende-lo "por completo", ainda acho que tenho muito a aprender com essa obra, apesar das toneladas de lições e emoções que recebi assistindo ela. webm(https://files.catbox.moe/u7zv5n.webm) _I love ya, Peco._- Obaba
****review contains no spoilers**** "The hero comes. The hero comes. The hero comes. Chant these words in your mind, and I'll surely come to you..." ~~~img(https://image.myanimelist.net/ui/SkEODz_Ak09qGjd1TFVNDNIvbIOHipfd2TliAieivpxxyaYP8yKztHql18_OHRsrCAo4cWgroiDFZRW3EdN6YihHb3DXYvhkedW33bT5ckp_46romQ8ypiXk8ijzJLVB)~~~ Ping Pong The Animation made it to the spot in my top 20, the directing,animation and writing is great with a good cast of characters. its not much of a sports anime but more heavily focused on the characters, mainly peco, ryuichi and kong seeing them grow not only in their ping pong playing skills but also their attitude and personality through the struggles they went through outside of the sport The artstyle may be seem pretty weird but there were some scenes that fit the mood for it. Animation, background, visuals and ost plays a big part in this anime and were exceptionally well done. masaaki yuasa is a genius at every work hes ever done such as devilman crybaby, tatami galaxy, keep your hands of eizouken,samurai champloo etc. you dont need to know how to play table tennis since the driving force of this series is the characters and their development within just a mere 11 episodes. smile has a lot of talent for ping pong since he was a child but has no motivation to play. smile has great chemistry with peco considering they were childhood friends. he is also been called robot for the emotionless expressions he has everytime. "Smile" Makoto and Hoshino, "Peco" Yutaka. Despite being polar opposites, these two characters mesh with each other with ease. Smile is the quiet,introverted and passive character versus Peco energetic and loud They act as yin and yang in the series. While the main story is about these two they also give some spotlight for the supporting characters Kong is a character who seeks redemption, as well as being an obstacle to the development of Peko and Smile he goes through a journey to understand what humility is within the sport. Sanada is Peko's rival, he is extremely important in leveraging Peko's motivation, as well as questioning why dedicating himself to the sport with Kazama who is the hardest working on the job. It's fascinating to watch, and the stories that develop, means that even when a character loses at a match, it doesn't mean they've lost at life. This sports show is about the players, the play is just its metaphor. Ping Pong is not really about ping pong. Rather, it focuses on the growth of the players themselves outside of the sport. Their personal lives, their passions, their backstories, their motivations. It is raw and real, while the narrative itself is very artistic, impressionistic, and experimental. The anime follows four ping pong players intertwined by fate and confront each other in national tournaments. the action scenes are astonishing. ping pong conveys human emotion and inner thoughts while playing a great way. theres always something happening in the screen like splitting screen in different directions and enhance the dynamic in still shots. ~~~img(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/fc/1a/c8/fc1ac888f9556f5781c9385f40030d24.gif)~~~ different people choose to live different ways. And it's not uncommon for some to stay in the closet, for some to chase fame, for some to be pretentious, and for some to compete. Ping Pong is a blend and blessing of all kinds of personalities who are tied by a single thread: need for victory. Ping Pong contained messages about life, passion and loneliness that applied to us all
As of writing this review, I have completed this anime only mere minutes ago. Going into this series all I had really heard about it was that it was "Pretty good" with a number of outspoken people saying it was among their favourites, and in my lifetime my opinion has only been spoiled by someone else's exactly one time (please forward all complaints to @nushcringe). This review is not really a review but more an unkempt stream of consciousness, that you probably shouldn't read if you want a coherent take on the series. I'm going to start off with that I have never seen a more dense anime than this one, and that's probably hyperbolic in a sense, but it really is shocking with this series. Nearly every element of it contributes to something greater, whether that be in the moment or to an overall cohesive theme, imagery doesn't exist for the sake of existing, it is always tied into the characters, the themes, the narrative, even something as simple as how a character's name looks is important to the overall understanding, which allows this anime to get down to my burnt out shounen monkey brain level, while also having so much more to look into. I write this review fully knowledgeable of the fact that I lack knowledge, that I probably missed a LOT, that if I rewatched this series I'd see at least 20 new things lurking beyond to further meld my understanding. Throughout we see ideas of butterflies, birds, boxing oneself in, being a hero, and all of these ideas among others are wrenched out like you're squeezing a freshly soaked sponge. There's a satisfaction to noticing that Kazama's name is not just written like all the characters in it are boxed in, but seeing he himself lurks in enclosed spaces, and then in the penultimate episode seeing him literally break down a barrier that boxes in his match with Peco. His time spent in the washroom, criticized for spending most of his time in the bath, with only a statue of The Thinker to keep him company, these elements continually pile up to give you new understandings for his character with every episode he is present in. To go to Peco, mentioned in the prior paragraph, his idea of wanting to fly is not just something that propels himself but also those around him. Throughout the show he constantly propels the other characters to new heights, initially being the one igniting many of their passions for the sport, and then coming back to reignite it in the final episodes, breaking down the box Kazama put himself in, stripping away the robotic shell Tsukimoto sees himself as. Ultimately, one can see Peco as the true protagonist of the series, the man who pursued his dreams right to the world stage, overcoming his setbacks (he literally has a lowest point that Demon pulls him out of, it's great). I could go on but I'd really need to rewatch to be sure of anything I say past this point. Wenge and Tsukimoto have interesting journeys as well, but I can't in full confidence publish something a bunch of 12 year olds will read if I'm not entirely sure I want the contents to be my definitive thoughts on it. Perhaps a future rewatch will be cause for me to update this review. What I can say is that I haven't even scratched the surface of this anime, I'm not even sure I've cracked the surface level, and I haven't even mentioned everything. Peco in his lowest point bearing similarities to the player who desired to go to the beach (only to realize his true passion would always be ping pong), the relationship of Kazama and his team, Wenge's slow acceptance of his current place, hell, you could even write a whole review comparing this to Hideaki Anno's Evangelion if you really felt like it thanks to how imagery in episode 11 correlates with Tsukimoto's character. That's about all I had to say. Hope you didn't expect this review to be enlightening or anything.
This review is about the show Ping Pong the Animation! --- __Story (2/10):__ Show 's like this are really weird. they set up the main character instantly to be some sort of super strong character which is cool and then give him the worst character trait, of not caring about his cool skill. smile has such a cool ability to be a great character and they ruin it to push up his best friend, peco. this is where my biggest issue with the show comes into question, everyone says that this show is so cool with its messaging and how there is such a great impact and meaning behind everyone and how it relates to sports in general, but there is so much bullshit when it comes to so many of these characters its so easy to assume that people are overanalyzing what the directors really wanted. there 's probably no way that each character was set up in some funny way to cover every base of peoples view of sports and i can tell u based on how they write the characters this is true. the characters are so bad and so annoying that it just makes the story so bad, why have badass characters that just lose to weaklings with weak mentalities? this show talks about how genetics play a role in things and how its not just personal development and i think that 's stupid and toxic for a show like this to do as it makes people uninterested in the sport in general. the ending was really cringe, smile loses to peco and then the conclusion just rushed. really weak ending they should rewrite with better animation and stories. --- __Characters (3/10):__ Is it that hard to make a super interesting character or two?? all of the characters have some sort of problem that make them a bit uninteresting to watch or care for to be honest, i go into each match without wanting a specific character to win or root for, and they do such a weird job of changing how people work in the show. i will do a small breakdown of a few individual characters. >smile: this guy is uninteresting and a bit edgy, not really seeing a purpose in him playing when it is something he should enjoy because he has so many people around him in it that care for him. no motivation at all and teaches viewers to be lazy and not care about what u are good at. >peco: post watching the show, peco is my favourite character, he has a lot of passion and although he is down sometimes he really puts in the effort to be a good guy and fight to win. >china: is this what they meant to do? the character is really weird, they introduce him as a bad guy but for some reason try to make him seem good for no reason when he clearly has a lot of pent up aggression. >kazama: bullshit. thats the best way i can describe this guy. his physical build is bullshit for this sport and he should never have had as much screentime as he did as his character is annoying and ignores the people who care for him. how is he so strong and then loses to weaklings? he has the physical build to own this sport --- __Animation (2/10):__ A lot of shows nowadays try to take this weird approach where they have a unique art style on purpose, but imo this isn 't one o them, it doesn 't take a genius to see that they didn 't put any effort into the animation in this show. they probably had little budget and you can tell by how they work around everything, with only very few shots having a lot of effort put into it, and the rest being done in a bit of a rush. the characters move around really weirdly during some scenes which makes the movements seem unclear and weirdly done. The examples below >no effort: img420(http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-schAhg6joOk/U27Kdt1MfAI/AAAAAAAAVq8/_T1oXM6hPFw/s1600/ping3.png) >lots of effort: img420(https://shibirerudarou.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/horriblesubs-ping-pong-the-animation-02-720p-mkv_snapshot_16-19_2014-04-18_14-19-14.jpg) --- __Sound Design (8/10):__ Real talk, this show has really good sound design, the elements of the actual sport are called into question a lot and you do hear a lot of what you would expect from a show that has sports, although that is to be expected and a very low bar to set. there is a general idea that they did put a lot of time into this though, and everything sounds great together. the voice acting is great and the music is alright, but i would say that is the weakest part, the music is ok but it is a bit repetitive with whatever ideas are in the show... --- Masterpiece 's are hard to come by, and while a lot of people may see this as one, i think people overrate what the director was going for in terms of messaging and are instead hyperinflating the value of this show. the animation is underwhelming, the characters are at most decent, and the direction of the show is stupid. hope u enjoyed my review :D
~~~__SPOILERS THROUGHOUT__~~~~~~I have not read the manga so I can only talk about the anime.~~~ Ping Pong the Animation may not be my personal favorite, but I believe it is the objectively best show (out of the ones I've seen ofc) and I'll attempt to justify it. --- __~~~What does it mean for a show to be the objectively best?~~~__Anime is an art form like any other type of fictional story medium. Art is subjective by nature but can be judged by its objective qualities. Critics of different mediums put a lot of effort into understanding the objective qualities of different artforms and breaking down what makes a given work good or bad and why. Applied to anime, it's about being able to watch a show or movie and understand all the pieces that contribute to the quality of the story and storytelling; from the title to the ED and everything in-between. That being said, what makes an anime good? Everyone has their own preference, and I have a large bias towards story, themes, directing, art direction, and worldbuilding/atmosphere. For PPtA, I want to talk about the story and its themes, how the characters support the story, the art & soundtrack, and the directing. --- __~~~STORY & THEMES~~~__Ping Pong the Animation has a various simple stories that are told elegantly through different characters which provide an opportunity for almost anyone to connect with at least one of the characters' stories. PPtA is about ping pong in its plot, but really, the sport is only the vehicle for the larger story, which is an area where I feel like other well-regarded sports anime fall flat. Haikyuu for example, fails to be about more than volleyball in my opinion whereas PPtA has a much broader reach in its themes. I think the easiest way to summarize the story of the show is that PPtA showcases passion, and how many different people can have many different relationships with a passion of theirs. - Tsukimoto's story is about him realizing his full potential in a natural talent of his, learning to appreciate the competition for competition's sake, and learning to enjoy this whole process. - Peco's story is about learning to overcome failure and striving to be the best you can be. - Kong Wenge's story is about accepting failure and learning to enjoy a passion beyond just the competition. - Kazama's story is about the challenge of living up to others and even your own expectations of yourself, and the freedom of finally being set free from them. - Sakuma's story is about realizing the sheer challenge it takes to go pro, and the acceptance that most people are not cut out for it. - We also see an engagement with ping pong purely "for fun" through characters like Ota and Egami. Taken all together, this show shows the viewer various different healthy approaches to a passion or hobby, and allows the viewer to connect to whichever story impacts them. The show presents all of these characters' experiences as valid, despite the varying levels of success they have found. What matters is that all the characters have found satisfaction and fulfillment in different ways. The fact that all of the roles of the characters in the story are all tied to ping pong also plays into a sense of nostalgia most viewers who have ever been a part of any kind of team can attest to. This show really shows the beauty in any hobby or passion (not just ping pong) through all the ways the sport has impacted the characters. - Smile, Peco, Kazama, and Kong all found enjoyment in playing the game at the top level, with Peco and Kong pursuing pro. - Sakuma, Ota, and Egami all are very relatable examples of how normal people can appreciate the fun and camaradarie of something like ping pong without needing to have a crazy amount of skill or talent. - I personally really like that even Koizumi, Tamura, and Ryuu Kazama (the owner of Kaio) found camaraderie much later in their life through their shared experience and memories of the sport, and through their current engagement in their respective ways. --- __~~~CHARACTERS~~~__I want to highlight some character work that I particularly enjoyed. I like that during Christmas Eve, Kong Wenge is the only character who had reached the end of his development, and is also, the only major character who has friends and a good time that night (despite singing to the contrary). I like the optimism in many of the characters. Peco refinds his passion for the game and its competition. Sakuma realizes that he isn't cut out for pro (which most athletes will need to do at some point) and shows up to the final tournament with a clearer mind and greater maturity. I like the tension at Kaio. I think the struggle between Kazama's ruthless pursuit of success and his coach's admission: >"We're weaker than we were in our glory days, but I love those guys. I wish Ryuuichi felt the same way." Without judging either perspective, the show validates the beliefs of Kazama in trying to strive for success (largely through Peco) but also provides the competing perspective through characters like his coach or teammates and on the extreme end, Ota and Egami. I would think anyone could connect with at least a handful of the characters in this show. I personally really connected with Smile, Peco, and Sakuma in various ways. --- __~~~ART~~~__The art is definitely a major turnoff for many. It's unconventional, looks like it could have been drawn by a child, and often has very little attention to character detail or realism. I believe the art style is unique in a way that adds to the show in 2 ways: 1. The simplicity of the art style emphasizes the writing, and forces the viewer to engage with the story and character work rather than the art or animation. 2. The lack of adherence to pure realism allows the show to exaggerate certain elements. img1920(https://planetbanatt.net/images/ppta/scarydragon.png) I think my first point is pretty self-explanatory. Demon Slayer art and animation wouldn't work here, this just isn't that kind of story. For my 2nd point, I think this art and animation style is uniquely able to seamlessly create shots like the one above. This shot is both able to exaggerate the formidability of Kazama and it does so without needing to worry about how to transition from realistic proportions to this. All that said, the art is very different and odd. I could understand someone reading this and just not clicking with the art or even disliking shots like the one below. Art is subjective and analyzing it objectively is beyond most of us. I'd only hope that it wouldn't get in the way of them enjoying the story. img1024(https://blog.funimation.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/1301053_Japanese_KeyArt-OfficialVideoImage_e86df795-3d8b-e611-80c5-0017a4776c06-1024x576.jpg) --- __~~~SOUNDTRACK~~~__This OST is a masterclass work by Kensuke Ushio, and the OP & ED perfectly fit the show. There's not much to say about the OP & ED. The OP speaks to some of the themes in the show well and I think it sounds nice though it is a little odd. The ED is beautiful and I regularly listen to it. It perfectly continues the tone of the show and is a good background song to reflect on the episode you just watched. As for the OST, many songs perfectly set the mood and complement the themes of the characters or scene with many songs being genuinely enjoyable as standalone songs. The emotions in the show work because of this OST. I can't pretend to know enough to really analyze a soundtrack, but there are plenty of nice touches in this OST, such as the use of ping pong balls in tracks like Ping Pong Phase 1 & 2 and different musical styles for the different emotions. This OST is very well-rounded. This show also blessed us with "All alone on Christmas Eve" by Kong Wenge and I am forever grateful. --- __~~~DIRECTION~~~__As I have just talked about, this show is top-tier in every way. Getting this amount of depth in only 11 episodes speaks to the quality of the writing and direction. Since I haven't read the manga, I can only speak to the directing of the show itself, which is phenomenal. Masaaki Yuasa is easily my favorite anime director. I tend to view directing work through this question: ~~~"How well do all the parts of this work combine together?"~~~In that respect, I think this show completely succeeds. The story is compelling and does not waste time. There is a large cast of developed characters who serve as vessels for the themes of the show. The art and soundtrack complement the work the writers are doing with the story, and the philosophy presented in the show is meaningful and relevant to the central story. >“The winners write history, and the losers are history’… I’ve seen that mentality wreck a lot of people.” – Tamura --- __~~~NEGATIVES~~~__All other sports anime are harder to watch now since none (yet) have reached this bar. --- __~~~CONCLUSION~~~__Watching this show made me appreciate the simple games I play with friends, and made me feel a sense of satisfaction from not only playing them but also in the pursuit of mastery and improvement. It wouldn't be accurate to say this show changed my life in any major way, but it iterated on my mindset surrounding passion and led me to a healthier mindset. I hope it can do the same for others too. If you're reading this and have seen the show, hopefully, I've convinced you at least to some degree that the technical quality of this show is rare, and hopefully you can appreciate it as much as I do.
__What is it about sports that makes billions of people throughout history appreciate it?__ Whether you’re on the field or in the crowd, it’s ultimately the same thing; a game. Maybe it’s the friendship between not only the players but the fans. The fans suffer with the player or team for every loss. Ping Pong is no different. Where it differs from volleyball or basketball, however, is its focus on the individual. The player's choices affect the player alone. Much like many fighting games, audiences appreciate the idea of an individual being responsible for their own decisions. With the lack of teammates, what is there to worry about? It becomes a battle of wit, will power and talent. Every sport requires hard work but it doesn’t necessarily guarantee the results you’d want. The sections where talent and raw will power overlap is where progress is found. By realizing your talents and sharpening them, success is only a step away; or so it may seem. So we’re given two characters. Peco and Smile. Smile and Peco. Duos can often be an enlightening thing to have in a series. They encourage each other through their struggles and hardships, but where this series differs is in the development the characters experience by themselves. Of course they have their respective mentors and influences but the personal journey that they take is a choice that they need to make on their own. Peco and Smile have a somewhat odd relationship as you can describe their bond as more of acquaintances rather than friends. From an early age, Smile constantly looked up to Peco as someone that he aspired to be. When juxtaposed to his current self, it becomes evident that this is the fuel for their rivalry. From the beginning the line “the hero appears the hero appears,” is immediately displayed on the screen. Thematically, it’s the cornerstone of the anime. A true hero is someone that can not only rise above evil but bring others above with them. In Peco’s case, it was his struggles that led him to believe that he was capable of becoming a hero in his own way. When Kong arrives in Japan, Peco immediately becomes discouraged at their differences inability. This is even more evident in his match against Sakuma. The gimmicks that Sakuma was employing in their match brought him down. As a result of his loss against him, he quit ping pong. In addition to picking up smoking, he lost sight of what initially was the world to him. In comparison to Smile’s apathetic attitude towards the sport, Peco saw this as a complete validation that he was incompetent to ever be good at table tennis. It was only upon being trained by Obaba that he truly began learning the fundamentals of the sport. However, it’s important to see who saved him from the depths of the deep waters he was in. Sakuma, being the one who defeated him, managed to show him that table tennis was still something that he could be good at. In stark contrast to Peco, Smile is well recognized for his abundant supply of talent, however, he lacks the drive and charisma that Peco possesses. The irony is that his name alone exemplifies what separates them. The only point in which he finds his inner smile is when he faces Peco in episode eleven. Similar to Peco's experiences with Sakuma, Smile had various points that changed him for the better. His teacher and mentor Jo exposes his weaknesses with no remorse with the simple line “People who don’t know themselves are always the ones who struggle hard to win because they want to prove something.” We can begin to truly see how Jo was trying to impact Smile. Apathy is a key part of understanding Smile with an almost inhumane demeanor of playing; he is quite robotic and automated. Lacking emotion or drive, he plays the sport with no real motivation. Jo, however, exposes this as he is well acquainted with losing. When it’s revealed in Jo’s match with Ryuu, it becomes increasingly clear that Jo found that there were some lines that he simply would not cross. When given the opportunity to win, Jo found that he could either take advantage of Ryuu’s condition with his damaged knee or let him win. He chooses the latter, a decision that forever left a mark on him. Jo had the wings and attempted to fly, but did he make it? Did he cross the ocean? Upon Smile being mentored by Jo, Smile continued to show that he could effortlessly play well with strong perseverance. Jo wanted to show him the love and passion that one can have for the sport. Similar to Peco, Jo found love in the mere fact of being able to play such a beautiful sport. Smile mercilessly takes down anyone that happens to step in his path. In his match against Jo, he shows that when an opponent challenges him aggressively he fearfully retreats. Engaging in Smiles mind games, Jo completely deconstructs his methods. He knows how Smile will hit the ball when it has been served. Ultimately, he knows that Smile has no perseverance. Smile doesn’t want to escape his comfort zone because he knows there will be pain and anger. Anguish and despair. Nihilism and ruin. The only way Smile started to return Jo’s serves was by accepting his own robotic nature. By having calculated moves that lacked any hint of spontaneity. This of course worked, resulting in Jo falling over in complete faith that Smile can return the ball. This is because he is aware that Tsukimoto now understands that the ball chases him, and not the other way around. A key theme of Ping Pong is how one responds to failure. Many of the players in the anime react to it differently and that’s mainly because failure hurts. It’s painful to know that you’re currently not good enough to achieve the dreams that you want. In Kong's case, it was coming to Japan with the idea that he could effortlessly defeat everyone in his way. With this confidence it did serve him well in the beginning, however, in his match against Kazama, he begins to see how frail this confidence is. In a competitive environment, it’s almost impossible to succeed without having that competitive spirit. However, he does not remain static. During Christmas eve, he does karaoke and discovers the power of friendship with his team. Similar to the recurring symbol of planes arriving and leaving, he is constantly worried about his arrival at this fictional place of success but once he encounters defeat he realizes that success may just be where he currently is. During this Christmas scene, you truly begin to see the varying effects of loss. With Kong enjoying the holiday, Peco drunk on a beach by himself and Smile also being in isolation, it’s interesting to see just how many ways one can change because of failure. Similar to Yuasa’s other acclaimed anime Tatami Galaxy, the main character Watashi can’t change the past and that hurts like hell. While the Tatami Galaxy addressed college life and the transition into adulthood, ping pong addresses adolescence and the doubts that come with it. With Masaaki Yuasa being one of the most prolific and experimental directors in the anime industry, it’s interesting that he can consistently be inconsistent. Each series has a different aesthetic with different mediums and styles utilized. In ping pong, however, he is faithful to the style of Taiyou Matsumoto. Perhaps seeing that Tekkon Kinkreet could adapt his style into a film, Yuasa was inspired to take his hand at developing his manga into an eleven episode series. With rugged and unrefined character designs, he utilizes framing to create a realistic view of a match of table tennis. Along with the fluid motion, it captures the energy and life of the sport. Having remorse and resentment towards the decisions you made in the past will only strengthen the likelihood of never finding happiness. Upon Smile being trained by Obaba. Peco found that it wasn’t ever about losing. It was about playing your heart and guts out with every ounce of love that you have in your body. When you’re enjoying what you’re doing, the results aren’t the concern. Upon Peco defeating both Kong and Kazama, the dragon was finally slain. Even with a busted knee, Peco was able to hone in on his skills while having fun. In his match against Kazama, the hero really returns. Until this point, Kazama saw the point in him playing as a need. Similar to Kong, there was an end goal and that was simply winning. In his match, the dragon does fly. Smile's familiar tune that he hums truly brings the show full circle. It’s a motif that helps Peco in his most trying moment. In one of the most climactic scenes I’ve ever seen, Peco erupts with the track Peco blaring out, the melody following the hum that Smile created. It’s the theme of the hero. Peco helps Kazama enjoy the sport and as a result of this, Kazama truly and genuinely smiles. Ultimately everyone does gain wings however some can only take them so far. Out of the full love that he has for the sport and out of the sheer respect it has for kazama, he can’t help but express his enlightenment. In Peco's final match against Smile, it’s again shown that Smile is on his third game with a messed up knee. Unlike Jo with his match against Ryuu, Smile sees no problem with using that to his advantage. After all, a hero has no weaknesses. Perhaps Smile felt that blood tasted like iron because he truly had no limits when fighting Peco. He let out his inner nature which was automated and robotic but free and spontaneous at the same time. Even with this, Peco still doesn’t see failure as an option because regardless of the outcome, he will be happy that he tried his hardest and poured his sweat and tears into what he loved. __ So time skip__. Hoshino and kong are playing in the Olympics. Tsukimoto becomes a teacher, Kazama follows his dad's footsteps. Akuma becomes a proud father. They all took different routes but they were still satisfied, arguably because of their encounters with peco. They accept where they are but also where they will go. If this anime has taught me one thing, it’s the power of a genuine and sincere smile. Pouring your love and heart into the things that you do will always bare great results. With the simple premise of high schoolers playing table tennis, this anime goes through hell and high water to not only show the technicalities of the sport but more importantly how this game impacts the characters on a deeper psychological level. It’s a sport that you have to sweat bullets to be excellent at but that’s the challenge that Peco smiles and the other players rise up to. That is why this anime has and will remain one of my all time favorites. I watched this anime at a point in my life where I was beginning college and didn’t quite know what direction I wanted to go in. There’s so many choices and so much competition in every field that it’s easy to simply throw in the towel and stay static. However, competition doesn’t have to be about winning. That’s what this anime taught me. If you’re enjoying what you’re doing and are putting every ounce of love and effort into what you do, the action of simply doing and moving will eliminate any doubts about the results.
___Contains out of context spoilers___ ~~~img400(https://blog.mpaulweeks.com/images/ping-pong/e10_kazama_fly_no.png)~~~ Over the years since its release, Ping Pong the Animation has managed to acquire a cult following, often eulogized as one of the pinnacles of the sports genre, and this is not without its merits. Harboring one of the most unique and grounded outlooks on the genre and its tropes, Ping Pong the Animation is a pure character drama among a bunch of people with different personalities, outlooks and circumstances; a showcase of how they all come to influence each other, with the sport of ping pong being the catalyst in this case. Completely blanketed in a veil of realism, while simultaneously being surrealistic in nature, Ping Pong presents itself as a genuine reflection of life itself. Right from the onset of the series, the characters find themselves subject to harsh realities. The talented find themselves at rock bottom due to their overconfidence, the elitists find their ego and confidence completely shattered while the hard workers see their efforts go in vain. All the while the imperilled awaits saving from their “hero”. With the recurring occurrence of failure, the anime establishes the concept as one of the core themes of the series. All the characters, at some point, fail to do what they set out to, but eventually find themselves get back up from the setback by receiving help from others in the most unexpected ways. At the beginning of the cycle, the hero saves the robot with ping pong. But along the way he loses sight of himself, slowly succumbing to the clutches of overconfidence and devastating defeat. In the meanwhile, the robot focuses on self-improvement in order to prepare for his final battle with the revived hero and in the process absolutely crushes the hard working. Initially taking it in a hard way, the hard working finally accepts their lack of talent, thereby realising the true value of talent. This realisation in turn aids the hero in grasping the value of what he has, thus managing to revive himself. And during this journey to achieve complete revival does our hero, along the way, manage to save the other talented, hard-working, down trodden from the shackles of victory and defeat, isolation, self-imposed burdens, and ultimately saves the robot once again. This entire cycle of salvation alone harbours valuable life lessons told via three of the core themes of the series; failure, acceptance and the entire concept of hard work vs talent. But this is all just a part of the bigger picture, life is more than just heroism. The characters drift in the waves of existence, unable to grasp their lives despite searching for meaning and purpose in them throughout the entire series. In essence, they seek out the proper way to live. However, as the anime demonstrates, there is no such solution; you must simply conduct your life according to what you deem right to the fullest. After all we aren’t robots; even the robot himself realises his blood tastes like iron. We can fly, leaving our worries, pressures, shackle of fame and pride behind and thinking of what’s ahead of us. Every character accepts the hand dealt to them by life, and in doing so, learns to live life to the fullest. They were all amateurs throughout the show, not just in ping pong, but in life itself. And following their journey we finally see them learn to do life. While the characters are all demons of intricacy; all well-written in their own rights, what makes it all so special is the interwovenness of the entirety of the cast. Each one with their own unique and individual take on life and impressions of their own selves manage to influence and flesh out each other, aiding in their developments. The entirety of the cast is a multi-layered amalgamation of well-crafted, albeit simple, relationships. This is achieved with top notch character interaction, which manages to feel natural and consistent with a touch of intricacy sprinkled throughout. Several of these simple character interactions inevitably form a complex web, yet it all feels so easy to follow. Such is the masterful handling of the colourful cast of ping pong. This masterful portrayal of life and its dynamic players is only possible due to genius of Masaaki Yuasa. Everything from the art-style, animation, colour usage to the use of soundtracks, audio mixing and directing has this peculiar, amateurish sense and style to it, which in actuality is a reflection of the cast that itself is trying to find its feet in the world. In a way, Yuasa’s directing lacks professionalism, and he uses that to his advantage to depict the nature of the anime through its presentation, and is reason why it all feels so genuine. The storytelling is endowed with simple yet profound symbolisms throughout. Wings and flight are one of the most prevalent motifs found in the series, signifying freedom and success, with the utilisation of different types of wings signifying different levels of freedom and success. Another interesting metaphor in the series is the regular use of the colour purple to depict a sense of earned respect, and also the constant association of Peco and Smile with stars and moons respectively. All these subtle touches and attention to detail, albeit somewhat esoteric at first glance, add an entire layer of nuance and scope for further enjoyment in the series. And just from a superficial point of view itself, the ping pong matches themselves are extremely well executed, having adequate attention to detail and being as close as possible to real ping pong matches, all the while functioning as a platform for the characters to grow. At its crux, Ping Pong the Animation is an exploration of life; a tale of failure, victory, happiness, depression, hope, belief, dream, struggle, salvation and eventual acceptance and growth. It is a profound work of art brought to life through Yuasa’s tasty style. A powerful and thought-provoking show, with a unique, raw and often times juxtaposed portrayal of emotions, a show to feel and think about, a masterful balance of style and substance. ~~~img400(https://finewhiningandbreathing.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/horriblesubs-ping-pong-the-animation-10-720p-mkv_snapshot_21-31_2014-07-01_23-25-54.jpg)~~~
Sports Hurt. Putting in a lot of effort hurts. Failing nevertheless hurts. Succeeding hurts. Losing time hurts. Not putting in enough effort hurts. Putting in no effort hurts. Sports are painful. No matter how talented you are, how much effort you put in, there’s always pain in there; pain in not doing well enough, in self-blame, in talent; pain in working hard itself and in what you lose for doing it. I could go on and on. No matter who you are, it hurts. img220(https://i.imgur.com/kVya1cz.png) >“The winners write history, and the losers are history’… I’ve seen that mentality wreck a lot of people”. However, we sometimes forget that sports can also be fun. All those times it sucks, that’s true, but we can forget the times when it doesn’t, and forget it doesn’t always have to be. You can decide how much effort you want to put in, and life decides how much that means, but none of that makes things any less painful or fun at the end of the day in and of itself, it’s ultimately about you. You can still love the sport; pain, failure, it doesn't stop that. Keep playing, to whatever degree you want. >~!"I'll be damned. I actually like table tennis. I left you and wandered the world, but I was looking for you this whole time."!~ >~!“And it’s not like it matters who wins this one”.!~ ~!It really doesn’t. It really doesn’t. It does, yet also doesn’t.!~ I’ve had my own specific dealings with high-ish level sports, and they are still ongoing, so this hits particularly hard for me. However, at the same time, it very much all applies to life in general. Ping Pong The Animation makes sure to stress this idea beyond the sports. This whole ethos of no matter where you end up and what you put in, and no matter how much life has or has not gifted you in circumstances to be able to do things, that life is painful, yet it can also be fun, and you should ultimately focus on that. Life is complicated, sports are complicated. So much plays into them, but they’re almost simple in a way. Pain will always happen, no matter how you look at it, you might have to say “gonna cry a bit” and then go and do that, but it doesn’t change that you can have fun and be you. You should be yourself. Keep living. >~!"We are all alive”.!~ Red blood flows through our hands, and it tastes like iron. >~!"It’s glorious. That’s right. We can fly. People can fly”.!~ ~!The hero is above us all. Where does that leave us? Is it a bad place? Not necessarily. No. Is it a coincidence that the hero loves Kazuma, or that Obaba loves the hero? No.!~ img220(https://img1.ak.crunchyroll.com/i/spire1/4bb4587c397f50822279338d4f68b45a1480310922_full.jpg) >“The hero appears! The hero appears! The hero appears!” Ping Pong The Animation has a hero, but does the real world? Do we? Who knows. Whatever the case, Ping Pong The Animation has a hero, so that we don’t have to. Fly.
__A quick review of Ping Pong: The Animation__ It is already pretty much known how good this show is, so my opinion is not much different. I'll just talk about what I thought was really special about this show. First of all, this show is like a perfect combination. It's directed by the goat Masaki Yuasa who has also directed one of my favorites, Devilman Crybaby, the music composer for both shows is also the same, the goat Kensuke Ushio, heck even the main character is voiced by the same seiyuu! so I had high expectations from Ping Pong and it didn't disappoint me, I mean, duh. So these are some things which personally I think stood out for me. __1. Animation:__ When I'm watching a show, I couldn't care less about the animation, if the story is good, I'll watch it even if the animation is just watchable and understandable. But animation plays an important role in Ping Pong. It gives the show a unique personality but I think it also compliments the artstyle of manga really well. I checked out some manga panels of Ping Pong and I think anime does a pretty good job of adapting the manga. I've seen people calling the animation weird and all. I can understand where they're coming from but I think it's unique and different just like Devilman Crybaby. __2. Ping pong games:__ Even if the name of the show is Ping Pong, table tennis is not really the main focus of the show, but still the games are so satisfying to watch, the sounds of balls tapping on the table, it's like a table tennis ASMR. The character movements, camera angles, they just give more fluidity to the games. There are some scenes where the camera is stable and the characters move to hit the ball, those scenes look so good. I don't have much knowledge of table tennis but I actually used to play table tennis a long time ago, so the games felt refreshing and nostalgic for me lol. __3. Characters:__ There are SO MANY great characters in this show. Every side character has potential to be the main character. But my favorite ones are probably, Hoshino/Peko and Kazama. The struggles both of them go through were not just well written but relatable too. We get introduced to Hoshino as a pro table tennis player but he loses to Kong Wenge, another great character, in the first episode, that's where his downfall starts, and there's also his breaking point where he reaches the lowest point of his life. Basically, Hoshino used to play with his outdated techniques and was also over confident about his play, thus his downfall was unavoidable. But then there's a reboot of his character where he starts from zero and reaches his highest point. That whole journey is some of the best character development I've watched in any show. Along with Hoshino, there's Kazama, who also goes through a downfall, not because of his ego and over confidence but because of how he used to look at table tennis. Table tennis was a tool for staying number one at something for him. And when the realisation hits him about what he's doing wrong, he is not enjoying the game, instead he's just thinking about how to stay at the top of it, that whole realisation was so emotional to watch, that whole episode was so strong and full of emotions. There are also other characters which are really well written, like Tsukimoto, Wenge, Sakuma, Egami. Egami specifically a character who has really less screentime yet his whole story of finding a place where he belongs and what the purpose of his life is, it's just so good. __4. Music:__ How can I not talk about Kenuske Ushio lol. Devilman Crybaby is still Kensuke Ushio's best work for me but the soundtracks in Ping Pong are also great. Even if Ping Pong is a character driven show, a sports anime always has some hype moments and Ping Pong is no exception. It's a plus point of Ping Pong that even if it's a character driven show, the games are so exciting and the music plays an important role in making them exciting. Wenge's theme [China](https://open.spotify.com/track/4S2lsYK64KkIYNME2Zhn5u?si=GV5WM5ivTDml82UfdnhFBw&utm_source=copy-link), just builds hype for his character to show how good he is at ping pong. There's also a theme named [Hero appears](https://open.spotify.com/track/7MA3kHKYNQei8jXJOuC1dB?si=3wn78UogTM2UNf3BI-Mznw&utm_source=copy-link) with which the show starts, the whole concept of Hoshino being Tsukimoto's hero, then Hoshino's whole downfall and then the comeback of hero. I think this OST compliments to the whole concept of it very well. There are many good OSTs other than these two. __5. The whole concept of the show:__ img400(https://i.postimg.cc/hvKTS2Sc/horriblesubs-ping-pong-the-animation-02-720p-mkv-snapshot-16-19-2014-04-18-14-19-14.jpg) Ping Pong does not revolve around some specific topics. It's about life. There are many stages in our life where it's not possible for us to take decisions for ourselves. Or even if we take decisions, there's always fear of regretting them later. Sometimes we have wings to fly but we don't know __how__ (lack of skills), __where__ (lack of destination), __why__ (lack of cause/purpose) to fly. Ping Pong just teaches to enjoy your life, even if you're not living the best life there is, even if you're not able to fulfill other's or even your own expectations, it's always ok to be what you actually are. You don't have to be someone else just to prove yourself in something. In fact, there's no need of proving yourself if you've already proven yourself in your own eyes. The themes of Ping Pong hit me really hard because of some similar things happening in my life right now. When Ping Pong talks about something, I've noticed that it doesn't try to tell answers or draw conclusions about how to solve that life problem, instead it lets things flow how they're flowing with the themes of the story and reaches to a natural conclusion and that's one of the reasons I liked the ending of this show so much. I don't have much to say, if you've not watched this show, you must watch it, this show is actually once in a lifetime experience. It's like a piece of art which belongs to museum. It's so well crafted and executed. If I have to nitpick something, there was a slight, a little problem with its pacing in the middle episodes and sometimes the character interactions felt a little too generic and typical (I don't know how to explain that point very well 😅), but these are really hard nitpicks, totally negligible. Don't forget to enjoy your life because if you're not, you're no different from a living corpse! Thanks for reading!
[EN] The things we’re passionate about, do they genuinely take form in a natural and inescapable way or are we allowed to choose what to love and how to love it? Through sports, Masaaki Yuasa's _Ping Pong the Animation_ takes its characters on a journey on how much dreams can shape decisions and how those decisions may inevitably mold former dreams and blur the line between "success" and "failure". Childhood friends Yutaka "Peco" Hoshino and Makoto "Smile" Tsukimoto share an undeniable talent for table tennis. Hoshino is the star (_hoshi_) that illuminates the moon (_tsuki_) that Tsukimoto encloses. If Hoshino feeds on the thought of being the best, Tsukimoto rejects that others hold him in high regard. Framed in the same shot, Hoshino absorbs all the available space, while Tsukimoto tries to be invisible. When Hoshino gives up on playing after a defeat against Manabu "Demon" Sakuma, a third childhood companion naturally unfit for table tennis, Tsukimoto loses the person everyone considered to be better than him, the hero that kept him away from the curse of having to be the best. Abandoned by a hero who may never return, Tsukimoto is trapped by the choice of trying to become what others expect him to be: the robot that wins but never smiles or, as his coach perceives him, the caterpillar that will grow wings and fly. Hoshino and Tsukimoto assume positions they never wished for and sorrow is gracefully portrayed in a scene where the extreme close-up of Hoshino's crying eyes gives way to a wide shot that leaves him lonely, tiny and awkwardly positioned at the bottom of the screen. Are we the best at something because it’s our passion or is it that our true passion is being the best? Should passion be gauged by how much we want to be the best? From a first glimpse, where the same light that elevates his silhouette forgets others in the shadow, to the shot of his controlling eyes, Ryuuichi "Dragon" Kazama, Japan's best player, is essentially presented as a villain. Whenever Kazama plays, darkness takes over the scene. Only the lightning originating from his attacks lights the way to conquest. Lightning becomes dragon. The dragon reshapes into Kazama himself. Dragons, in Asian culture, are closer to snakes with legs than to flying dinosaurs of the past, and contemporary flying dragons, although prepared to glide long distances, are, in fact, unable to fly. In both cases, the idea of Kazama as a dragon (_ryuu_) is solely a façade raised to sustain the misfortune of being number one (_ichi_). Can there be failure in being the best? Not good enough to play in China, apparently too good to play in Japan, Wenge "China" Kong compares his Japanese teammates' training session to an inefficient choreography. The static shots and the monotony conveyed by the sound of the ball hitting the table are only shaken the moment Kong notices Hoshino and Tsukimoto playing. The camera starts to move freely as if carried by a wind that also brings along that same sound founded by the ball hitting the table, now, in the form of a hopeful and liberating melody. With Kong's win over Tsukimoto proving to be a mere act of mercy from the latter and his subsequent defeat against Kazama uncovering the abyss that separates them, Kong's constant feeling of longing to leave for China, without ever feeling worthy of a return, is repeatedly enhanced by the image of airplanes taking flight. Kong relies on the wings of an airplane to fly, wings that aren’t his own, wings he can’t control. In the face of despair, Kong learns from his coach that everything has just begun... life, not table tennis. Is there honor in changing dreams? Unable to rediscover the passion that others once admired, Hoshino is ironically saved by someone seemingly predestined for failure. After an allegorical rescue in “shallow waters”, Sakuma assures Hoshino that his salvation lies in going back to table tennis and learning how to fly before presuming he will be able to do so. Sakuma, forced to abandon the sport, incarnates a still distant consciousness for Hoshino, whose free renunciation perpetuates a proximity that prevents the conception of the truth. The sequence ends with Sakuma referring to Hoshino as the hero, however, it's in the way he learns to devote all his efforts to his natural talent, making true love blossom, that he becomes worthy of saving Kong, Kazama and, once again, Tsukimoto... After one year in Japan, Kong has found something he wasn't looking for, he has learned to focus his attention on others and not just himself. In contrast to the past, now, Kong completes the scene alongside his teammates, distance is small and physical separation non-existent, but it's in the match against Hoshino that he ultimately frees himself from any guilt he could still have for not being enough. _Tsukimoto: Welcome back, hero._ As the game approaches its final moments, the soundtrack becomes frantic. Often drawn with strong thick strokes, Hoshino holds all the single shots, while Kong is forced to share his. The arrival of the match point for Hoshino is announced by a split-screen shot. An airplane flies from left to right without getting further away from Kong. His companions lean in the same direction to cheer him on. Kong is going to lose, but for the first time, defeat will be progress. Hit by Kong, the ball turns into an airplane and meets the net. An airplane takes off, but Kong is finally at peace with that feeling. He's home now, he’ll no longer need to fly. Unlike Kong, Kazama remained the same. Hiding in the restroom, where the "man" symbol is a constant reminder that his duty is to keep going while shouldering all the pain in silence, pressure still crushes him. The game against Hoshino takes place in his realm with slow and tense camera movements, a bleak soundtrack and Hoshino, the hero, being devoured by darkness, and Kazama, the villain, embodying darkness itself. In one scene, Kazama masterfully moves the ball around his racket before letting it fall onto his hand. The entire camera movement is hypnotically guided by the trajectory of the ball. At the end, a close-up of Kazama's face and his hand holding the ball cuts to Hoshino pressed between darkness, table and net. The first two sets are easily won by Kazama. _Hoshino: What’s that? Tsukimoto: Is it weird? Hoshino: Yeah, a little. Tsukimoto: It’s the hero’s song. I wrote it._ Hoshino returns to the song Tsukimoto wrote for his hero. The hero's song permeates the soundtrack, shadow turns to light, the editing is guided by quick cuts and the animation is more fluid than ever. Hoshino invites Kazama to fly when they enter his domain. The freeze frames in which Hoshino hits the ball in the air, with his competition number fluttering like a hero's cape, are proof of his flight before conquering the third and fourth sets. In a nightmare turned to dream, the hero rises before Kazama, he gains wings and they both fly away. As they enter the last set, Kazama smiles and plays as if he’s going to win because he’s sure he’s going to lose. He’s no longer portrayed as the villain. In fact, he’s more of a hero now. The camera stays on his side of the table and his shots feel stronger than Hoshino’s, bursting with intense strokes and movement lines. It’s his points that are shown, it’s his thoughts that are heard. There’s no anxiety nor fear left in him. In a slow motion, the ball hits Kazama’s racket and goes up in the air. He feels glorious. He can fly. He has lost! Defeat, granted by a hero he never believed in, brings him freedom to be more than number one. Before the final match against Hoshino, Tsukimoto leaves behind his handheld game console. All this time, he’s been waiting for Hoshino to appear and obliterate everything that’s been trapping him inside the robotic body others put him in. _Hoshino: Know what, Smile? Blood tastes like iron. Tsukimoto: Say what? I don’t get it. Hoshino: Look! It looks red because the blood’s showing through your hands. Try it, Smile! Give it a go! Look, Smile! There’s blood flowing inside you too. Bright red blood._ The same iron used in robots can be found in the red blood cells that flow through blood vessels. Hoshino is the light that shines through Tsukimoto and declares that, despite the iron, he's still human. During the game, Tsukimoto runs to reach a seemingly impossible ball, his robotic parts fall to pieces and all that's left is his silhouette flooded with blood vessels. The animation becomes wilder than ever. Both characters, drawn with pronounced movement lines, advance at a speed that exceeds the humanly possible. Their bodies distort beyond reason. _Tsukimoto: My blood tastes like iron._ A photograph in the future will tell the story of a tournament won by Hoshino. Now, Tsukimoto feels alive. Winning or losing never meant anything, he was saved the instant the hero arrived. Time moves forward in a scene where the camera stays in the middle of the table and flips 180 degrees with all the characters growing up with each ball returned to the opposite side. The bridges created through time spent playing table tennis are the foundation for the growth witnessed five years later... Hoshino stands at a position where he risks never being the best, but the path that lies ahead is a familiar one. Kong, as a Japanese citizen, has just qualified for the Olympics. Kazama, dismissed from the Japanese national team, shares with Tsukimoto that he sometimes wonders if he'll ever be more than a mediocre player. Tsukimoto, a children's coach, confesses his admiration for mediocre players. _Ping Pong the Animation_ tells a story of salvation through defeat to an audience of generations raised on success through victory. In a world infatuated with the barren dream of being the best, only failure may bring the freedom to restart, renounce or refuse. Dreams are ours to mold. Passions are ours to live. And if that isn't success, regardless of the outcome, then nothing else will be. My feelings on _Ping Pong the Animation_ were the first thing I ever wrote for _Through a Glass Darkly_. During the more than two years it took me to finish a text for a project I had wanted to start for more than a decade, I realized heroes are like ghosts, they only exist for those who believe in them. [PT] Aquilo que nos apaixona, ganha vida de forma genuinamente natural e inescapável ou é-nos permitido escolher o que amar e como amá-lo? Através do desporto, _Ping Pong the Animation_, de Masaaki Yuasa, leva as suas personagens numa jornada sobre quanto os sonhos podem definir decisões e como essas decisões poderão inevitavelmente moldar sonhos passados e diluir a linha entre "sucesso" e "fracasso". Amigos de infância, Yutaka "Peco" Hoshino e Makoto "Smile" Tsukimoto partilham um talento inegável para o ténis de mesa. Hoshino é a estrela (_hoshi_) que ilumina a lua (_tsuki_) que Tsukimoto encerra. Se Hoshino se alimenta da ideia de ser o melhor, Tsukimoto rejeita que os outros o tenham em elevada consideração. Enquadrados no mesmo plano, Hoshino absorve todo o espaço disponível, enquanto Tsukimoto tenta ser invisível. Quando Hoshino desiste de jogar após uma derrota contra Manabu "Demon" Sakuma, um terceiro companheiro de infância naturalmente inapto para o ténis de mesa, Tsukimoto perde a pessoa que todos consideravam melhor que ele, o herói que o mantinha afastado da maldição de ter de ser o melhor. Abandonado por um herói que poderá nunca mais voltar, Tsukimoto é encurralado pela opção de tentar ser aquilo que os outros esperam que seja: o robot que ganha mas nunca sorri ou, como o seu treinador o perceciona, a lagarta que irá ganhar asas e voar. Hoshino e Tsukimoto assumem posições que nunca desejaram e a tristeza é graciosamente retratada numa cena em que o plano detalhe dos olhos chorosos de Hoshino dá lugar a um plano geral que o deixa só, minúsculo e estranhamente posicionado na parte inferior da tela. Somos os melhores em algo porque essa é a nossa paixão ou será que a nossa verdadeira paixão é sermos os melhores? Deverá a paixão ser aferida por quanto queremos ser os melhores? Desde um primeiro vislumbre, em que a mesma luz que eleva a sua silhueta esquece os demais na sombra, até ao plano dos seus olhos controladores, Ryuuichi "Dragon" Kazama, o melhor jogador do Japão, é essencialmente apresentado como um vilão. Sempre que Kazama joga, a escuridão apodera-se da cena. Somente o raio originado pelos seus ataques ilumina o caminho para a conquista. O raio torna-se dragão. O dragão reconfigura-se no próprio Kazama. Os dragões, na cultura asiática, estão mais próximos de serpentes com patas que de dinossauros voadores do passado, e os dragões voadores contemporâneos, embora preparados para planar longas distâncias, são, na verdade, incapazes de voar. Em ambos os casos, a ideia de Kazama como dragão (_ryuu_) é unicamente uma fachada erguida para sustentar o infortúnio de ser número um (_ichi_). Poderá existir fracasso em ser o melhor? Pouco capaz para jogar na China, aparentemente demasiado bom para jogar no Japão, Wenge "China" Kong compara a sessão de treino dos seus colegas de equipa japoneses a uma ineficiente coreografia. Os planos fixos e a monotonia expressa pelo som da bola a bater na mesa apenas são abalados no momento em que Kong se apercebe de Hoshino e Tsukimoto a jogar. A câmara passa a mover-se livremente como se carregada por um vento que traz ainda o tal som fundado pelo bater da bola na mesa, agora, sob a forma de uma melodia esperançosa e libertadora. Com a vitória de Kong sobre Tsukimoto a revelar-se um mero ato de misericórdia deste último e a sua subsequente derrota contra Kazama a descobrir o abismo que os separa, o constante sentimento de Kong de ansiar partir para a China, sem que nunca se sinta digno de um regresso, é repetidamente reforçado pela imagem de aviões a levantar voo. Kong depende das asas de um avião para voar, asas essas que não lhe pertencem, asas que não pode controlar. Perante o desespero, Kong aprende do seu treinador que tudo acaba de começar… a vida, não o ténis de mesa. Existirá dignidade em mudar de sonhos? Incapaz de reencontrar a paixão que outros outrora admiravam, Hoshino é ironicamente salvo por alguém aparentemente predestinado ao fracasso. Após um resgate alegórico em “águas pouco profundas”, Sakuma assegura a Hoshino que a sua salvação reside em voltar ao ténis de mesa e aprender a voar antes de presumir que conseguirá fazê-lo. Sakuma, forçado a abandonar o desporto, encarna uma consciência ainda longínqua para Hoshino, cuja livre renúncia perpetua uma proximidade que impede a conceção da verdade. A sequência termina com Sakuma a referir-se a Hoshino como o herói, porém, é na forma como este aprende a dedicar todos os seus esforços ao seu talento natural, fazendo florescer um verdadeiro amor, que se torna digno de salvar Kong, Kazama e, uma vez mais, Tsukimoto... Ao fim de um ano no Japão, Kong descobriu algo que não procurava, aprendeu a centrar a sua atenção nos outros e não apenas em si. Contrariamente ao passado, agora, Kong completa a cena ao lado dos seus colegas de equipa, a distância é diminuta e a separação física inexistente, mas é no jogo contra Hoshino que se liberta, por fim, de qualquer culpa que ainda pudesse ter por não ser suficiente. _Tsukimoto: Bem-vindo, herói._ Com o jogo a aproximar-se dos seus momentos finais, a banda sonora torna-se frenética. Inúmeras vezes desenhado com traços fortes e grossos, Hoshino é detentor de todos os planos individuais, enquanto Kong é forçado a partilhar os seus. A chegada do _match point_ para Hoshino é anunciada por um plano de tela dividida. Um avião voa da esquerda para a direita sem se afastar de Kong. Os seus companheiros inclinam-se na mesma direção para torcer por ele. Kong irá perder, mas pela primeira vez, a derrota será progresso. Rebatida por Kong, a bola converte-se num avião e atinge a rede. Um avião levanta voo, mas Kong está finalmente em paz com esse sentimento. Agora, está em casa, não precisará mais voar. Ao contrário de Kong, Kazama permaneceu o mesmo. Escondido na casa de banho, onde o símbolo de "homem" é um constante recordatório de que o seu dever é prosseguir enquanto sustém a dor em silêncio, a pressão ainda o destrói. O jogo contra Hoshino tem lugar no seu reino com movimentos de câmara lentos e tensos, uma banda sonora sombria e Hoshino, o herói, a ser devorado pela escuridão, e Kazama, o vilão, a incorporar a própria escuridão. Numa cena, Kazama move a bola com mestria em torno da raquete antes de a deixar cair na mão. Todo o movimento da câmara é hipnoticamente guiado pela trajetória da bola. No final, um grande plano do rosto de Kazama e da sua mão a segurar a bola corta para Hoshino pressionado entre a escuridão, a mesa e a rede. Os dois primeiros _sets_ são facilmente ganhos por Kazama. _Hoshino: O que é isso? Tsukimoto: Achas estranho? Hoshino: Sim, um pouco. Tsukimoto: É a canção do herói. Fui eu que escrevi._ Hoshino regressa à canção que Tsukimoto escreveu para o seu herói. A canção do herói invade a banda sonora, a sombra torna-se luz, a montagem é guiada por cortes rápidos e a animação é mais fluida que nunca. Hoshino convida Kazama a voar quando entram no seu domínio. As imagens congeladas em que Hoshino atinge a bola no ar, com o número de competição a ondular como a capa de um herói, são prova do seu voo antes de conquistar o terceiro e quarto _sets_. Num pesadelo tornado sonho, o herói surge perante Kazama, este ganha asas e os dois voam. Quando entram no último _set_, Kazama sorri e joga como se fosse ganhar porque está certo de que irá perder. Não é mais retratado como o vilão. Na verdade, agora, é sobretudo um herói. A câmara mantém-se no seu lado da mesa e os seus planos parecem ter mais força que os de Hoshino, repletos de intensos traços e linhas de movimento. São os seus pontos que são mostrados, são os seus pensamentos que são ouvidos. Não lhe resta ansiedade nem medo. Em câmara lenta, a bola bate na raquete de Kazama e sobe no ar. Sente-se magnífico. Consegue voar. Perdeu! A derrota, concedida por um herói no qual nunca acreditou, traz-lhe liberdade para ser mais que o número um. Antes do jogo final contra Hoshino, Tsukimoto deixa para trás a sua consola de jogos portátil. Todo este tempo, tem estado à espera que Hoshino apareça e elimine tudo aquilo que o tem aprisionado dentro do corpo robótico em que outros o colocaram. _Hoshino: Sabes, Smile? Sangue tem sabor a ferro. Tsukimoto: Como assim? Não entendo. Hoshino: Olha! A mão fica vermelha por causa do sangue. Anda, Smile! Tenta tu! Olha, Smile! Há sangue a correr nas tuas veias. Sangue bem vermelho._ O mesmo ferro utilizado nos robots pode ser encontrado nos glóbulos vermelhos que fluem através dos vasos sanguíneos. Hoshino é a luz que brilha através de Tsukimoto e declara que, apesar do ferro, este continua a ser humano. Durante o jogo, Tsukimoto corre para alcançar uma bola aparentemente impossível, as suas partes robóticas despedaçam-se e tudo o que fica é a sua silhueta inundada de vasos sanguíneos. A animação revela-se mais alucinante que nunca. Ambas as personagens, desenhadas com pronunciadas linhas de movimento, deslocam-se a uma velocidade que ultrapassa o humanamente possível. Os seus corpos distorcem-se para além da razão. _Tsukimoto: O meu sangue tem sabor a ferro._ Uma fotografia no futuro contará a história de um torneio ganho por Hoshino. Agora, Tsukimoto sente-se vivo. Ganhar ou perder nunca significou nada, foi salvo no instante em que o herói chegou. O tempo avança numa cena em que a câmara permanece no meio da mesa e gira 180 graus com todas as personagens a crescerem a cada bola devolvida para o lado oposto. As pontes criadas pelo tempo vivido a jogar ténis de mesa são a fundação para o crescimento testemunhado cinco anos mais tarde... Hoshino encontra-se num patamar em que arrisca nunca vir a ser o melhor, mas o caminho a percorrer é-lhe familiar. Kong, como cidadão japonês, acaba de qualificar-se para os Jogos Olímpicos. Kazama, dispensado da seleção japonesa, partilha com Tsukimoto que, por vezes, questiona se conseguirá ser mais que um jogador medíocre. Tsukimoto, treinador de crianças, confessa a sua admiração por jogadores medíocres. _Ping Pong the Animation_ conta uma história de salvação através da derrota a um público de gerações educadas pelo sucesso através da vitória. Num mundo apaixonado pelo sonho estéril de ser o melhor, só o fracasso poderá trazer a liberdade para recomeçar, renunciar ou recusar. Os sonhos são nossos para moldar. As paixões são nossas para viver. E se isso não for sucesso, independentemente do resultado, então nada mais o será. Os meus sentimentos em relação a _Ping Pong the Animation_ foram a primeira coisa que alguma vez escrevi para _Through a Glass Darkly_. Durante os mais de dois anos que levei para terminar um texto para um projeto que queria começar há mais de uma década, percebi que os heróis são como os fantasmas, só existem para quem acredita neles.
Before my usual analysis, its worth giving a brief personal review: Ping Pong is an exhilerating show to watch, effortlessly piecing together paralleling characters with abstraction and music that instantly communicates a character's perspective and presence. It comes to me at a point in my life where I've recently felt the lowest I ever have, feeling like things had spiralled utterly out of my control and facing opponents from the most hurtful places. A veil was lifted from my eyes in this, and the realisation that you _have _ to get back up after a fall was an unprecedently positive shift. Ping Pong communicates this feeling from several angles, inspiring in its idea and execution in every regard, and is legitimately peerless in my eyes. This experience is something I could easily see becoming a regular feature of my media viewing in a year. But now some thoughts on how the show works. Ping Pong's cast presents multiple colourful and differing perspectives, but all eventually revealed to be fairly similar, and coming to the same conclusions. We see characters in an abstract view during matches, a dragon coming to destroy the opponent, or a hulking figure looming murderously over the whole table. The music accompanying characters approaching the table, or playing an uneven matchup shows us what flows outward from this individual, a brash song introducing Sakuma or the grand percussion and shouts of the "dragon" Kazama. These presentational details show a moment in time, where an opponent sees this absurd threat in their foe, facing impossible odds and about to lose everything. A character like Wenge is terrified of even facing the prospect of failure, but when it actually happens this all seems to fade. He was sloppy, of course he would lose this one. Kazama is fierce but still human, and more hurt than any of his opponents could possibly realise. When Wenge does fall, he is changed, and joyfully so. As a stranger in a scene he previously looked down on, feeling exiled from his previous perch, Wenge seems to be carrying the entirety of China on his back, even called that name by his opponents in Japan. Failing to meet these expectations is an inevitability, and one that allows him to see into the joy of his past, see his mother again, and finally live for something new. As said here, there are some views you can only see from the top of the mountain, but Wenge shows us that sometimes there are views you can only see when walking the other way. Several of these players with similar lofty goals to Wenge seem to experience the lowest point in their lives in this narrative. That point, however, is a short stop from a great emotional high, with Smile and Kazama learning to enjoy life again, Wenge rediscovering family connections and pride, and Sakuma and others simply finding a restored identity after their failure. Ripping off the bandage is essential for growth, and everyone here who went through true failure, and accepted it, has something impactful to say, given the chance to speak some of the most memorable quotes of the show, regardless of who they are. Self-actualisation comes through chasing a dream, and missing it the first time. Peco is set up for a fall at the very beginning, full of pride and lacking in any direction or self-control. His downfall, however, is being too afraid of that fall to even account for it. His loss destroys him, but a new identity takes its place, driven by a promise from years ago. To be a hero, to be the one that pulls Smile out of his usual slump, Peco cannot be afraid of his flaws, as, after all, a hero doesn't have flaws. By truly overcoming this fear, nothing can stop him, as his opponents' failures become something that is no longer cause for despair, but joy at playing someone without that desperate need to succeed. When you despair, look to something far greater, a hero that can pick himself up off the floor and keep moving forward, and follow that example.
# Lo spokon come allegoria e sperimentazione ~~~img220(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZspVaNH6Wo86ASXlr2IhcAhA0kY1an0takTyuE0ZOmH6fTHA6uRcVCucezevbIWSCVQ6WQaL9NmKe6UD_BGo13WjE3FpsoNBbakcDBbTrULc_lFxB8tp4eg_d5KQDPh6rpEL8sKiaqsEYJg582AcmjG7einYuiV6JDNmWlEmxAD43eka20Db0TQsVlmI/s320/Ping%20Pong%20the%20Animation.jpg) ~~~ Nella storia delle narrazioni, sia in letteratura che nel fumetto che nella settima arte, si è sempre cercato di valorizzare quello che in gergo tecnico viene chiamato “high concept”: spunti di trama che sono in grado di sollecitare la fantasia del fruitore, incuriosendolo e spingendolo a guardare il film o leggere il libro della situazione, come se fosse necessario partire da un biglietto da visita originale per fruire di un'opera, anche se questa non si rivelerà altrettanto originale e soddisfacente man mano che la storia si dipana nel racconto. È quindi inevitabile che non tutte le grandi opere abbiano le stesse possibilità di essere prima di tutto iniziate se il biglietto da visita sembra banale o poco stimolante, perché significherebbe un salto nel vuoto per tutti… a meno che non avessimo a disposizione informazioni di altro genere. Ebbene, “__Ping Pong The Animation__”, uscito nel 2014 per lo studio __Tatsunoko Production__, è uno di quei casi in cui c’è bisogno, a mio parere, di informazioni “laterali”, perché la sinossi è molto ordinaria e non invoglia (specie per quelli come me che non sono interessati allo sport), ma l’anime trae la sua forza in uno svolgimento straordinario di quel biglietto da visita. Dato il titolo: “Ping Pong The Animation”, si può facilmente immaginare che si tratti di uno spokon: il genere di anime dedicato ai vari sport: dal calcio alla pallavolo, fino al baseball e altri. E da lì viene anche da chiedersi: per guardare uno spokon, è necessario apprezzare quel tipo di sport? La risposta breve è: no ma, se vogliamo essere più articolati, il bello dell’animazione come medium per lo sport è che -non solo- si parte dagli strumenti contenutistici e registici a disposizione in film in carne ed ossa come __Rocky__ o __Tokyo Fist__, ma ha anche i mezzi per “epicizzare” lo sport attraverso l’aggiunta di scene extradiegetiche che danno alle partite uno sfondo onirico o sovrannaturale, con fulmini che accompagnano la palla in movimento per rappresentare una velocità estrema, oppure le trasformazioni dei giocatori. Dal contesto, lo spettatore capisce che scene del genere non avvengono realmente nella storia, ma sono nella mente del giocatore o in come vengono immaginate dai registi. Si tratta insomma di un virtuosismo stilistico se vogliamo, difficile da ricreare in un’opera live-action senza che si tratti di un blockbuster ad altissimo budget e che sicuramente attira i giovani che hanno l’occasione di concepire uno spokon come un surrogato degli anime di combattimento con superpoteri, ma che può anche essere uno strumento narrativo interessante, in grado di comunicare qualcosa a livello espressivo e veicolare sottotesti. Ping Pong The Animation parte da una scelta dello sport in questione non banale se vista con un occhio imparziale, ma che può non essere considerata proprio perché ad un italiano potrebbe sembrare addirittura ilare e pretenziosa, vista la nostra visione tipica di questo sport come qualcosa di sempliciotto, da praticare come passatempo. Eppure, quest’opera con soli 11 episodi (una durata molto sotto la norma per una serie d’animazione in generale) funziona anche come strumento di divulgazione sullo sport stesso, perché ne dà un’immagine più o meno verosimile, dove ci vengono mostrate mosse usate in un reale contesto professionistico/olimpionica e descritte con gli altrettanto reali termini tecnici e ci viene data l’immagine di uno sport più dinamico e riflessivo, nelle mosse che a volte sembrano quasi acrobatiche e richiedono un allontanamento dal tavolo di gioco, ma anche nei ragionamenti che i giocatori fanno durante le partite, che vediamo nei loro pensieri o da quelli degli spettatori sugli spalti. Ma, parlando di strumenti contenutistici come menzionavo qualche paragrafo sopra, cosa viene narrato in questa serie? Si parla di rapporti, amichevoli e maestro-allievo, di ciò che si cerca nello sport e ogni partita è uno strumento di osservazione psicologica, anche di lotta e competizione tra esigenze differenti dei giocatori. Parte tutto dalla scalata competitiva di due giovani amici del primo anno di liceo: __Makoto Tsukimoto__ e __Yutaka Hoshino__, detti “__Smile__” e “__Peco__”: il primo incarna molto il classico nerd sulle sue, che vede lo sport non come scalata a tutti i costi ma come divertimento nel suo senso più puro e privo di pretese, mentre il secondo è invece una figura in apparenza più superficiale e frivola, che parte come un provocatore estroverso che vuole scalare pensando di riuscirvi solo attraverso il talento. Entrambi nel corso della serie acquisiscono sempre di più una crescita psicologica che li porta a rivedere i propri atteggiamenti e a seguire i loro sogni. Si tratta di una serie per certi aspetti spregiudicata, perché offre la visione dello sport non come un completo “se vuoi puoi”, ma una serie in cui contano sia il talento che il duro lavoro e dove non è possibile arrivare lontano senza che manchi uno dei due e che può quindi scoraggiare equamente chi non ha voglia di sforzarsi, ma anche chi pensa di poter compensare la mancanza di talento innato con il puro allenamento. E, se Ping Pong The Animation riflette su questa amara verità, ci offre anche la visione dei rapporti umani tipicamente all’orientale, dove si ricorre anche a maniere più dure rispetto alle classiche dolci parole motivazionali per spingere il giovane a dare il suo meglio e che è, per alcuni aspetti, oggetto di critica, ma che rimane comunque austero rispetto all’ Immaginario occidentale e che colpisce ancora di più se applicato ad uno sport come questo, di cui vengono mostrati allenamenti aerobici e simili a quelli che si fanno per sport più blasonati. Un po’ tutti i personaggi vengono esplorati nelle motivazioni e praticamente nessuno, anche gli avversari dei protagonisti vengono mostrati come persone realmente cattive, se non in apparenza, ma un po’ tutti vengono mostrati come personaggi grigi, persino i protagonisti: Smile che agisce spesso come un robot che arriva a compiere mosse spietate per arrivare ai traguardi, oppure lo sprezzante Peco con i suoi comportamenti presuntuosi. Insomma, due amici molto diversi tra di loro, si cui amicizia viene mostrata in una maniera tutt’altro che banale e che riesce a colpire per come riesca ad essere compresa senza bisogno di plateali manifestazioni d’affetto e stucchevoli momenti toccanti. Lo spettatore riesce a percepire il loro affetto reciproco e la profondità di intenzioni e le decisioni, in una maniera molto giapponese di esprimersi ma che avviene tranquillamente anche nelle nostre amicizie reali da italiani, specialmente nei tipici comportamenti maschili. Ogni partita è prima di tutto una battaglia psicologica, dove si mettono in discussione ciò che ognuno cerca nello sport, sia tra i giocatori che tra gli spettatori. Su questo aspetto, ne è forse l’esempio più eclatante Kong Wenge, giocatore cinese in cerca di riscatto in Giappone e orgoglioso di appartenere ad una nazione che è la più forte al mondo per questo sport e che, anche per questo, viene nutrito di molte aspettative (anche subendole) che hanno un impatto sulla sua personalità a tratti arrogante e piena di pregiudizi. L’utilizzo di sequenze extradiegetiche è, in quest’anime, non un mero strumento di intrattenimento, in grado di eccitare con gli effetti speciali ma un mezzo per dare varietà alle partite, che traduce in forma l’indole dei personaggi come l’immaginario robotico di Smile, che rappresenta il suo desiderio di spegnere sul campo la tranquillità e l'interferenza dei sentimenti a favore di una trance da macchina da guerra, da “eroe” spregiudicato. Ma l’altro aspetto profondo di questa serie è la regia, ragionata ai livelli di un film in carne ed ossa e straordinaria anche se volessimo estendere il paragone con un po’ tutti i contesti della settima arte, con una narrazione frammentata e postmoderna, piena di velocizzazione e rallenty, di flashback e improvvise velocizzazioni, ma soprattutto di un utilizzo ritmico degli strumenti tipici del fumetto: cioè le diverse vignette in una singola pagina che qui vengono tradotte in cosiddetti split screen: cioè inquadrature parallele unite in un’unica inquadratura con anche più di due-tre esemplari, che oltretutto si alternano continuamente in un senso movimentato e a volte imprevedibile, riuscendo comunque ad arrivare a strutture perfettamente ordinate e mai confusionarie, sfruttando per descrivere contrapposizioni nei primi piani dei personaggi, tra i diversi sentimenti dei personaggi, ma oltretutto beneficiano della quarta dimensione del tempo che naturalmente un fumetto, dalle immagini statiche non può avere. Questi split screen permettono infatti di seguire la pallina e i movimenti dei protagonisti (a volte anche in contemporanea alle osservazioni degli spettatori) con una prontezza e una fedeltà allucinanti, con un senso della misura pulito e che potenzia il senso di dinamismo dello sport, ti ci immerge ancora di più in un senso di sperimentazione mai troppo invadente e che ad un certo punto sembra naturale allo spettatore nonostante la sua eccentricità, man mano che entri nel meccanismo. A questo si unisce un tratto stilizzato (simile a quello di Mind Game e Devilman Crybaby, che infatti sono diretti da Masaaki Yuasa, dal tratto inconfondibile), che aumenta il senso di trovarsi all’ interno di un fumetto portato nella settima arte, attraverso un’operazione che, probabilmente, avrebbe destato ammirazione persino nei futuristi. Degne di nota sono anche le musiche energiche e la sigla di altissimo livello, dal suono punk che ricorda a tratti band come i Dead Kennedys e i Ramones, con un cantato simile a quello di Joe Strummer, un vero gioiellino in un capolavoro. Tutte queste sfumature hanno permesso a Ping Pong The Animation di essere una serie matura e profonda (aldilà di piccole sbavature come lo spam un po' naïf dell'inglese in molte scene o, come in tutti gli anime, alcuni episodi leggermente sottotono), pieno di "contemporaneamente": in grado sia di avere uno spirito inter-artistico che di ampliare gli orizzonti e le prerogative inimitabili del proprio medium di serie tv, è una pietra miliare sia spontanea, calda che cerebrale e sperimentale, che va oltre il proprio genere rimanendo comunque fedele ai suoi stilemi e ai suoi principi, in grado di far diventare lo sport un’allegoria delle passioni in generale e del bisogno di prenderle sul serio, di lasciare un’impronta nella pratica di esse. È anche per questo che io, alieno a tutti gli sport fisici, sono riuscito ad amarlo fino in fondo.
~~~img220(https://i.imgur.com/yymr8kP.png) Life-changing. Ping Pong, a sport where two to four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a net on a table using small solid rackets. That’s the definition according to wikipedia at least. But this series begs to differ by transcending that definition. Not only for ping pong, but for sports as a whole. No series has ever kept me as emotionally entranced as Ping Pong. I’ve yet to come across a series that can swoon me over with its dynamic characters, dilemmas, growth and presentation as this one. You don’t need me to tell you that, I’m sure you can read hundreds of other takes on this series. Takes that praise and describe every aortic detail. But that’s not my aim here. My intention with these write ups is to preserve the experience for you to have. My only goal is to inform you about the magnitude of how good or bad this voyage is. So with that in mind, how does Ping Pong manage to fill me with pure exuberance each time I’ve embarked on its journey? Ping Pong follows the life and growth of Tsukimoto “Smile”, Hoshino “Peco” and their relationship with Ping Pong. That’s about as brief as a summary I can provide with such a dynamic series. Though I’ll say that they are far from the only characters you’ll be following. As the entire cast of characters are just as multifaceted. There is not a single character that’s portrayed as an “antagonist” as every character is represented as a normal, imperfect human being. Yet each character has a discernible personality that makes them unique and “inhuman” to some degree. The show marvelously orchestrates this sense of childlike interpretation of a character’s actions, or personality traits. Whether that’s imagining this character as a hero, a robot, or beast, the way the show portrays the mental gymnastics of its characters is second to none. You can’t have a perfectly woven tale of two friends with just an assortment of great characters though. Unsurprisingly, its characters are not the only aspects that weren’t taken for granted. As this show possesses a feat most anime have never even fathomed. And that’s not to treat the audience like idiots. By that, I do not mean that the story itself is interpretational. But the series doesn’t solely rely on dialogue or character expressions to convey the mood of a scene or to progress the narrative. The show utilizes extraordinary (and initially confusing) visuals, phrases, actions between characters, foreshadowing, call backs and melodies to give each scene greater emotional depth. Despite the “out of this world” vibe it may sound like the series has, this show has its foot firmly rooted in fantasy just as it does in realism. The obstacles characters are forced to face are presented as larger than life and are often exaggerated. Yet it approaches each situation with a sense of composure and optimism. As if the show is saying, "This too will pass, and from it you will grow". And it’s in that growth that the beauty of this anime and its characters shine. Because even if you’ve been let down, misguided, gone off your path, or you’re in a rough patch, there’s still another day worth living for. This motif is often used in anime, however the way it’s portrayed in this series is unique to this series and this series alone. As I have yet to see a show convey the beauty of overcoming a colossal obstacle that we imagine as this epic force to be reckoned with, to be conquered by simple and honest solutions that are often overlooked as answers. img220(https://i.imgur.com/IL4hQj2.gif) With the sense of the show’s atmosphere set out of the way, in what ways does the show present itself that makes it so intriguing to watch? As aforementioned, this is an adaptation of a manga series by Taiyo Matsumoto. I say this as someone who loves reading the book, but this anime goes above and beyond what it means to be an adaptation. Managing to improve and add onto the source material by taking cues from the manga’s genius paneling and unique character design to make each scene exhilarating to watch. Simply put, as someone who knows nothing about ping pong, this anime perfectly managed to convey a sport I’ve known nothing about in a way that makes me feel just as invigorated as the players involved or as a spectator in the crowd. The animation and dynamic visuals are not the only aspect that elevates this experience to a whole other level. The audio is just as crucial to making this voyage feel paramount. The music was composed by Kensuke Ushio, also composer of the superfluous space dandy ost, who demolishes the emotional barrier between the scene and the viewer. It's a fast paced synth-edm masterpiece with piano and orchestral-esque interludes. This anime OST’s is not far behind my personal favorite, which is Samurai Champloo, but I digress. The songs are largely uplifting, lush, energetic, rhythmic, and mechanical. For example, the songs “Ping Pong Phase 1 and 2” utilizes the actual sound of ping pongs hitting the table that gradually develops into a fun catchy rhythm. And the track Peco embodies his character to a tee. Upon listening to it I feel like an impish miscreant not letting a moment of his youth fly by. Every track feels very rich and provides great sensory pleasure. Speaking of Peco, both Seiyuu for Peco and Tsukimoto provide phenomenal performances that give their characters so much life that I could die. I’ve yet to come across a series that can swoon me over with its multifaceted characters, dilemmas, growth and presentation as Ping-Pong. How does Ping Pong manage to fill me with pure exuberance each time I’ve embarked on its journey? Because it manages to take Ping Pong, a sport I barely remembered existing before watching this series, and utilized it as a perfect backdrop for a story about evolving, becoming your best self, and expressing that in order to fully bask in life’s pleasures one must overcome the obstacles in their path. I didn’t mean to get too metaphorical, but that’s the effect watching such a philosophical masterpiece will do to you. So I implore you please, embark on this journey because from it, you may develop your own wings. img220(https://i.imgur.com/j8yDHrZ.jpg)~~~