Ping Pong the Animation

"The Hero Appears. The Hero Appears. The Hero Appears."

From the director who brought us, among others, The Tatami Galaxy and Kaiba, comes Ping Pong the Animation.

By definition, this would be a sports anime, and it is indeed centered around the lives of several ping pong players in different high schools striving to be better, but this is a pretext for much more than just youths battling each other over titles, fame, rewards or anything truly tangible- this is much more a story about coming of age than it is one of competition.

The competitive sub-plot isn't the focal point of this series and is, in fact, ... something quite ordinary and unlike other anime related to competition: there's no actual grand prize sought by many, there's no overpowered and unreachable rival who is yet to be defeated, and the main character is not an unseen talent which manages to overcome odds and out-skill its competitors without any effort.

The game itself isn't analysed too much either: it's just there as a subtext for developing the story while still not being neglected at all, or certain mechanics and set pieces left unexplained, so the viewer is never confused and does not forget what the pretext for the story is.
In other words, you can jump right into it even if you're not a fan of this discipline to begin with.
Its setup may be confusing at first, since it does seem to introduce characters that later on, from one's perspective, may become clichéd antagonists for our heroes to conquer, but this is not the case. In fact, each and every one of the characters of Ping Pong is likeable, human, and realistic. There are no 'evil' or 'good' sides, and is indeed just a collection of well developed characters measuring each other through game to see who is better at the sport they are in love with.

Indeed, this is a sports anime closer to its definition than many of its colleagues: it's a story about camaraderie, dealing with loss and celebrating victory, improving oneself and understanding others, making friends to accompany each other on the trip through adolescence, partaking in a shared hobby, having fun and creating memories. In fact, this is what the actual essence of sports is, or at least should be.

Each and every character competing against one another is well defined, equally as important, and never briefly introduced only to be forgotten just until minutes before a decisive match. Even though Peco and Smile have the majority of screen time and focus, in the end, none of the other people presented are any less important than the two of them, and you might attach yourself more to a character that wasn't meant to be the focus of the main story in the first place. The voice acting also helps a lot to deliver this result as well.

As you can imagine, characters are the strong point of this series, and it does shine quite brightly: they're all well defined, with their own weaknesses and strong points, and are more human than what your average animation cast is. They don't need colorful somatic traits to be memorable: they're skilled albeit ordinary ping pong players, every one of them strong in some way, every one with its own defects, contradictions, and hardships them alone must face and overcome.

Its uniquely gorgeous art style, along with its upbeat and fitting soundtrack, skilfully paced story and execution manage to deliver in eleven episodes what many praised series struggle to do in 26. I personally recall feeling this series to be longer than that just because of how good its storytelling was.

Would I recommend this series? Absolutely. It's one of the best series of 2014, and it will probably remain in your memory for a long time, along with its characters and its fulfilling sense of growth.

I have been watching animation, of any kind, from USA, Poland, France, Germany, to Japan for about 20 years.

I've seen the disneys, the ghiblis, the chomets.

I don't like to use scores. They're pretty meaningless, since people are different and it's hard to put artistic value to anything. And yet, I did play along sometimes and scored things in my life.

If countless animated projects I've seen in my entire life had score cards from 1 to 10, just like MyAnimeList shows, I now have to rewrite every single animated 10 I have seen in my life into a 9.

Ping Pong is the only one to deserve ... a 10. I'd be giving it a disservice by putting in anything else.

Now I can only hope I'll ever see another 10. Please watch this series and understand it. The animation, the direction, the stylistic choices, the restraint with using music and everything else you can ever think of - it has all been honed to perfection.

If the last part of the series, showing the enjoyment of doing what you love for the sake of doing it for fun, no matter the injuries, is a metaphor - it'd be one about me, enjoying animation like I never did before.

At first, I will say that I am truly sorry if I'm going to offend anyone with this score. I've met a few people that almost disowned all my anime opinions the moment I said I don't like this one, bonus points if I could say I've dropped it mid-way.

The only thing I don't have any problems with is the story, I would totally watch if done by different people. Otherwise, I found it extremely hard to watch, I strongly dislike the art and animation style (and don't give me the usual stick that different doesn't equal bad, I know that, bad equals bad, it ... doesn't bother me that it's different) and I also find most characters very unlikeable. The animation bothered me so much that it gave me headaches two episodes in, or in my experience, 3-4 hours in the second episode. Oh, yeah, I also found it boring. Overall it doesn't sound like a pleasant experience, does it?

But I can still see why people would like it and I respect studio to go with this unorthodox art style. At the same time, I can clearly see why some people would hate this one and as you can see, I'm not going with the usual stick, I guess I'm somewhere in the middle, I will fully admit that I don't like this anime and I don't care how innovative and creative it is. And to many fans, stop being so pretentious, a majority of watchers rated this anime high, you are not a special snowflake if you enjoy it too and it doesn't make your exquisite taste above everyone else's.

Excuse me my grammar may be horrid.

I originally just play games everyday, yet i noticed on youtube that Funimation posted a promo for this anime. This was unnatural to me because Funimation usually post more moe/ecchi anime. After watching the promo I decided to check out the anime and slowly got hooked into to the greatness that is this anime.

The story follows two main characters, Peco and Smile, and follows them on their journey of playing table tennis. Other major support characters are met(Akuma, Kong, and Kazama) during this journey, there are other minor support characters but these five characters are the main focus around ... the series. Each character has their own motives for playing ping pong, some being for the pure enjoyment of the sport, others for seeking fame and so forth. Some of these characters can start out as people you would hate or despise yet as the series progresses you understand the background of these characters and why they truly play the sport. Also as the story moves on the characters mature being more respectable to each other and likeable to the audience. Overall the development for these characters, and even minor characters, is amazing and is an element that makes this series enjoyable. The story is also good yet if it wasn't for this group of characters and possible replace with a more generic bunch then it would be less enjoyable.

The art for this anime is amazing. The unique art style caught my eye and made me want to watch this anime. The art style pays respect to it's source material and does it well, the animation can at some times be funky yet when the anime needs to be good, it looks great.

The music for this series is probably one of the most enjoyable soundtracks i have heard since watching other animes such as Deathnote or Cowboy Bebop. The music captures each scene greatly and at no point I have complained about it.

Overall this anime is probally one of the best animes of the spring season and an extremely enjoyable anime I have watched in a long time. I would be happy to re-watch this anime, it still feels incredible to watch after the 5th viewing.

Often times I give out scores of 10 to shows i just really enjoy, they have some flaws, but i overlook them because of the sheer joy they bring me.

This is not one of those flippant scores.

Why should you watch this? Ping Pong is short series that has so much depth you can drown in it, and yet is so engaging that you can wallow in the shallow enjoyment. What you take out of this is up to you.

The animation at first glance looks pretty terrible. And then somewhere along in the first episode you realize that it's absolutely brilliant. ... The flow of the lines, the emotions that are drawn and emphasized with those squiggly black lines convey more meaning than words often can. Looking at this was simply enjoyable, outside of the content. The art is a paradox; on one hand its chaos, the other its ordered better than clean lines because of the superior perspective it gives.

I could go on...for a long time about the grandiosity of the art.

The story is really the bread and butter, so i'm not going to belabor this review with an in depth synopsis. I will say that for every person that sees this, i believe there will be a different idea born about what exactly this show is about. Sure it's a show about ping pong. It's also a "coming-of-age" show about boys on the fringe of society. It is about the connection of friendship, hardship and leadership and a willingness to achieve things through hard work and the points at which talent supersedes all desire. More importantly, this is a about what you take from it. I do believe it will affect you emotionally and even spiritually. There are many parallels I drew from this personally, so I identified with it more so than many of my favorite shows.

I hope I got you mildly interested and made a case for my rating; its not an objective view of the content of this media, but a personal expression of my appreciation and enjoyment of it.

[HEROES EXIST]
[HUMANS ALSO CAN FLY]
At the beginning when I started this series I thought it's awful but when I saw it take the prize of best anime series in 2014 I insisted to finish it and yeah... it was very interesting and the change of characters was amazing

Story (With No Spoilers): For the first view we will see it as traditional sport story but if we take a close look we will see that it's very well written and also the happy end of each character impress me
Art: It is the main problem of this anime, and I'm sure that if the art was good ... it will be masterpiece but the studio prove that the art isn't everything at all
Sound: The sound is gorgeous and it will take U into another world when U hear the sound of hitting the ball in the table
Character: The Most Thing I love it in the anime is the development of characters and every character change its goal and change its way of thinking and no one fall in this anime without rise up again even the one-Episode character and everyone in the end know the place of Ping Pong in his heart

I recommend it for every Ping Pong player no matter he is Pro or amateur and for every Sport Anime Lover watch it, U will like it... The Art is disgusting in the first but with time U will get used to it and the story will take your attention away from the art

Ping Pong lacks many things that make an Anime great, still its one of the Best anime. This Paradox created by Masaaki Yuasa (Director of Ping Pong the Animation) and Matsumoto Taiyou (Ping Pong mangaka) is an alibi for their talent and greatness and also an ardent reminder that all you need is great story, passion and guts to challenge the norm, to create a masterpiece.

Ping Pong is "not" for everyone. Its not your typical Anime and the animation style and character design takes time to get used to.Ping Pong is "not" a sports Anime, actually you can replace the Table tennis game with any ... sports of your choice and it will not affect the show one bit.Once you have crossed these initial huddles, sit tight, relax and just enjoy the masterpiece.

Ping Pong rides only on its story and its uniqueness, just like life.
So, if you want to try and experience something different,
Ping Pong is THE Anime.

Just can say WOW for this title.

Nowaday we can't see anime like this.not because graphic ( watch this make me back to 90-00 ),
but the storyline.

From Peco i can learn that human feel pain when lose something,but if you can made the pain change to be passion,you can achieve what you want.
From Smile,i can learn we need to be stronger by self.From zero to be something.from no one to be something.
many character have different problem for what i see,but they have way to deal with it.what special ? it was human today problem,made me thinking everytime i watch this.made me can take some life advice ... from here.

After all,i really really recomended you to watch this.

PS : Really love OP and EP because unique !

Story: 7
Art: 6
Sound: 10
Character: 8
Enjoyment: 6
Overall: 7

This is the most awkward anime I have ever had the most vacillating feelings for. PP the Animation is a very pleasant experience for the 11 episode you get out of it, and the character development is quite...unique as well, but when it comes down to asking "what the fuck am I supposed to do with this?", there is hardly an answer that can be settled upon.

First off, the soundtrack is amazing. That is indisputably the best part of this anime, which wouldn't have gotten the ratings it did on MAL without it. But, I've been watching anime for ... a long time people, and I can tell when something is good with or without the soundtrack, and this averages low 7s range without its music.

And the art! How am I supposed to judge that?! At times it was really gorgeous, and at others, really ugly, and every now and then it was ugly in a pretty way. So range for that is anywhere between 6-8. I can definitely say the last frame where Hoshino is blowing bubble gum in the opening is the most disturbing video motion on a screen I've seen in anime to date. One that makes me want to wreck my television screen with his face on it.

Like I said earlier, the most unique aspect is the character development. It's not bad, but I can't say it's necessarily great either. It's completely exotic from what we typically see. It's not too deep, and the atmosphere does literally just enough that we understand our characters without having to know a whole lot about them. We get the "I feel you, bro" vibe from the anime, and it truly unlocks our sixth sense of reading atmosphere like no other show has been able to get us to do before. In doing so, it's one of the most unconventional works in anime on the planet to date.

However, I think it's just sooo across the spectrum that I can't give it anything more than anywhere between 7-8/10 but I don't think it's an 8.7 like the average dictates. I just don't think it's that phenomenal that it deserves to be called a masterpiece or excellent. I think it's really good, and that's all there is too it. I definitely appreciate it though. It's a game changer.

This will be my first and possibly only review, as I feel this anime truly deserves it, if I'm going to review one anime, I want it to be this one. This anime is a masterpiece. I'll start out the story. I can't really explain the story as it would give away the fun of watching it unfold, but I will say this, it's a coming of age story about two friends. The art is sadly what will turn many people away from it, as it already has unfortunately. The art did not bother me a single second, I found it worked well and showed ... everything perfect and it's actually very close to the manga itself (which I have no read, I have just seen pictures). It's a shame the art has turned so many people off without a second glance, but I think everyone should give this a watch. I'm not telling a lie when I say it truly is a masterpiece. Passing over from the art, I think the sound is outstanding. The entire soundtrack, including the opening and ending are amazing, and everything sounds great. The characters are all outstanding and great as well, as not a single one is really unlikable. They are all interesting, and very realistic. I enjoyed this anime a ton, and finished it in two days. I watched the first two episodes the first day, and the rest the second day. Overall I would give this anime a ten out of ten. And I think anyone who has eyes and is able to see should watch this. Maybe even blind people should give it a chance. It's a masterpiece, and I know I have already said that, but I'll say it again. There is truly no anime like this one. Another thing I would like to add to end this off is I was crying during the final episode. Almost nothing makes me cry, so I was extremely surprised, yet happy. At the end of the final episode I was content.

"Hero has no weakness" -- Smile
"Ping Pong is freaking blast" -- Pico

This is the one of the (very)few sports anime that shows the reality of how life works.

Lets review each of the main topics constituting this anime.

story: 9/10
This Story is when Talent X Hardwork X Expectations cross paths with each other .

Story mainly follows Tsukimoto Makoto ("Smile") and his friend hyperactive Hosino Yukata ( "Pico") through the two years of their highschool life at their table tennis club.Story is quite fast paced as you expect from a 11 episode anime but very few anime achieve what this anime achieved.And that is development ... of all the characters it introduces in smooth manner without forcing them in that direction.

This is one show where there are no antagonists or protagonists.Everybody is doing their own thing and there are no super powers to main characters (as there are in certain sports shows) and no special moves to any characters and as stated early this show shows contrast between talent, hardwork and expectations

--Spoilers--
Smile is Talented and Hard working but does not feel anything for the game whether he wins or losses . Where as Pico is Talented and Enjoyes the game some where losses his path due to various reasons and get defeated by China, and Akuma. But he rediscovers his love for the game, train's hard and finally wins the tournament. This shows that talent is not sufficient to succeed but you also needed hard work and love for the job you do to succeed in life. And it also Shows that how hard you may work, if somebody is talented than you and work hard less than you they will succeed and surpass you.
--SpoilersEnd--

This is true in real life. If you are talented and works hard at a thing and you enjoyes doing it then you are sure to succeed and if you lack any one of these then there will be less chance of success.


Art: 10/10

I am the first one to admit that the art style threw me off the first time i watched this anime. I even dropped this anime because of that. But after picking it again and just after 1st episode art style grew on me and i cannot imaging this anime with any other art style. I am even glad to see once a sports anime without all handsome/beautiful looking characters. Character designs are quite original and crude just as the anime intend them to be. Characters may be crude but backgrounds are quite beautiful

And i am giving it a 10 because i judged it wrong the first time.


Sound: 8/10

OP is quite good and it goes well with the theme of the anime and some of the sound tracks are really beautiful to hear and the song by 'china' is easily the top's the list of best Christmas song :p . Ending song is ok. Background music fits perfectly for this anime.

Characters: 9/10

This show mainly focuses on the five characters who represents different types of people present around you.

Tsukimoto Makoto: Nicknamed "Smile" by his peers is quite talented and good at Ping Pong but cannot go all out against his best friend pico. He shows very little emotion and does not have any feelings whether it is winning or losing. He just plays for the sake of playing.

Hosino Yukata: Nicknamed "Pico" have quite opposite personality of his friend Smile and he is always active, Talented in Ping Pong. He shows emotion quite often crying when he lose and happy when he won. He loves Ping Pong and enjoy's playing the sport.

Manabu Sakuma: Nicknamed "Demon"(Akuma) is childhood friend of Smile and Pico but not as Talented in Ping Pong. Though he compensates his lack of talent with hardwork and he tries to defeat Pico and by that showing hardwork can trump over Talent.

Ryuuichi Kazama: Nicknamed "Dragon" is one year senior of Akuma and his teams captain. He believes that winning is the sole purpose of life and strives to take his club to its former glory.

Wenge Kong: Nicknamed "China" is Chinese player who arrives to Japan to defeat all the top Japanese to show the Chinese that they are wrong and there by regaining his place in China national team.

And there are many other side characters who are unique, original and real.

Enjoyment:9/10

I quite enjoyed this show and will recommend to anyone even those who do not watch sports anime but some may get off because of art style. And it has great rewatch value.

Overall: 9/10

This is the one of the most underrated and best anime 2014 and you may think me of as some fanboy since i did not write anything bad about this anime. But Seriously i tried to find bad things about this anime but just cannot find them.

This is my first review.. and i appreciate all the feedback.

I give this anime 10/10 for everything. I like ping pong, so I went in thinking "it might be interesting". I had no idea the emotional rollercoaster that I was strapping myself into. I couldn't wait to finish the series because it's just so good.

Story
Excellent plot development, background stories/flashbacks, and the series ends with an excellent wrap up of what the main character's lives look like when they're all grown up.

Art
At first I was thinking it was weird, but that was only due to the fact that wasn't used to its uniqueness. It is different, but the more I went through ... the series the more I came to like and eventually love it.

Sound
Normal I guess. I really liked the voices in this series.

Character
All characters are unique and have their own flashbacks and stories behind why they do what they do. Some characters I grew to dislike, like the main antagonist, but by the end of the series I just couldn't pick a favorite.

Enjoyment
IT'S A BLAST

Overall
I recommend this to anyone who enjoys anime. On the surface it looks like just another sports anime but in reality it's a deeply emotional and really fun anime to watch. Definitely going to rewatch this anime in the not too distant future.

Ping Pong The Animation tries its best, I’ll say that much, someone put a lot of effort and deliberation into making this good, and not just another formulaic sports anime with no motive other than money, and so thanks for trying, but the fact of the matter is, despite its best efforts, it’s not especially enjoyable.
For starters, the animation, which I’m going to go on record saying is quite genuinely awful, though I’m sure plenty would disagree with me on the matter, and will instead tell me that it’s instead experimental or unconventional, but to me it’s just plain bad. The characters are genuinely ... ugly, they move like cheaply made puppets, and a lot of times you can really see where they were cutting corners. Take one instance, in which someone was crying, but you would have no idea based upon their face, and their whole body remained complete static, and even within that static image of them, there was no hint of sadness within their face, if not the tears you would not begin to guess this character was feeling anything at all. Or another, in which a full 30 second shot consisted entirely of the same second of animation, while I’m sure many will agree to disagree, and all things considered you’ll just have to look at it yourself and make up your own mind, but to me at least, the animation was downright repulsive, which hampered my experience, to put it mildly.

As for the actual story, as one may infer from the title, it is about a group of blokes playing ping pong for their school team, which is apparently a really big deal, in my high school experience, the only team that anyone gave the slightest fucketh about was the football team, but it seems in Japan being on the ping pong team in your high school is hardly a step down from playing in the Olympics, they fly to international tournaments, they’ve got all sorts of coaches and these people really give it their all, the Chinese fella in particular, he acted like if he lost he’d get sent to the gulag, but, point aside, they play ping pong, and it’s a main part of the show, there is no shortage of pinging of the pongs, and I suppose they do a reasonably good job of keeping it interesting, and showing that there’s a lot more strategy in a game as basic as ping pong is than you’d perhaps expect, but this focus is not exclusive, and the personal lives and emotions of the characters are shown as well. And, somehow, they managed to give the characters actual nuance, rather than making them completely melodramatic, because people still like soap operas, for some alien reason. So, the characters are reasonably interesting, but truth be told, I’d rather they just went with one route or the other, character or sport, we’re shown these somewhat interesting characters, though it would be nice if at least one of them wasn’t a complete asshole, but, we’ve got them, yet not a huge amount is done with them on account of the fact that they have to spend a large proportion of their time playing ping pong, which isn’t bad necessarily, the ping pong matches weren’t boring, but I was more interested in the characters than the game, the game holds metaphorical importance and such, fair enough, but I would’ve given priority to the characters, because they are the more interesting lot, despite the depth of ping pong, there is rather little to continue to keep it fresh when the game is so static, there are less variables than a game like football or mahjong, but it’s still fine, and really, if there’s one word to describe Ping Pong, it’s fine. Taking the animation out of the equation, it doesn’t have anything egregiously bad, but it’s not got anything that good either, it has no major strengths, but no major weaknesses either, them playing ping pong is fine, the characters themselves are fine, but neither of them have anything to majorly interest the viewer, this isn’t to say it’s a bad watch, just a very average one – it is exceptionally unexceptional.

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.

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.

There are really few anime that can truly be called a "masterpiece." A masterpiece, a work so unique and interesting that you can watch it a few years later, a few times over and still feel satisfied. These works don't necessarily need to be original but whatever you see, you feel like you're seeing it for the first time and feel this exquisite experience, this throbbing pain and appreciation for its existence. And I strongly believe, Ping Pong The Animation is a work that approaches such caliber.

The first thing anyone will notice about the anime is its artwork. This ugly, rough, and messy style ... with minimal shading. It's unconventional and definitely not from this era but it carries so much emotion. The shifts of angles, the swing of the pedal, the motion of the muscles, this art show them gracefully. I'm certainly not an art expert,but there's a reason why people value Picasso's weird characters over images of handsomely drawn humans. It's emotion and messages are what really what sets apart Ping Pong The Animation from other works. The art is not weird for the sake of being unique but it is weird because it has to fit and project the unique plot it was drawn for.

Ping pong is really not the main focus of the anime, even though the title might suggest otherwise. The focus of this show is on its characters and what they consider important. And coincidentally, what all of these characters have in common is their passion for ping pong. Think from the perspective of an average person. Why do they play sports? To pass time, to establish image, to stay fit or because they love the sport. Most sports anime will shred this view and shrink it to 15 characters who ALL love the sports, whether it is tennis, baseball, or swimming. But Ping Pong sticks to reality and shows the varying motives of players: their little reasons for living, their daily lives, and the source of their inspiration to play ping pong.

The biggest reason for me to praise this show is its desire to stick to its characters than its plot. People forget what athletes are: humans. Take away their skills, and an athlete is just another average person. There's life before a game and there's a life after the game. There's a beginning and there's an ending. And this true portrayal of sports is what makes the plot so satisfying. You can watch this show few times and you may still wonder who the real protagonist is because how closely this show develop its characters. It shows the rise and fall of monsters, the dazzling beginning and disappointing ending of stars, and it shows the true difference between talent and hard work.

I am not going to insult the characters by describing them. It's an experience that needs to be seen first-hand. But I can say comfortably that 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.

"OH YEAH" is how the opening starts. The music is satisfying. Turn up the beats, and watch the matches, and you'll enjoy the scenes. It's a great experience. The best instance where the music shines is when Mr.Tsukimoto hums this annoying tune. It's so off and tone deaf humming, it's annoying. But you don't understand its true meaning until the last two episodes, where the real instrumental is played in background and you're watching the most intense duel of the masters. Simply, what I am saying is that the music builds up, slowly, like the voice acting and the art..it becomes perfect.

Ping Pong The Animation is a combination. It's an unique combination of simple art, music, plot, and characters. But it builds from there. The last episode is a crucial part of the series, a valid conclusion that is satisfying if you have sat through the dramatic events of the series. The show has no set say in its protagonist(s) and it certainly doesn't point to a single theme. It brings many things from many other things and it shows how they all fall in a singular place. And portraying such ideas in such unconventional, gradual way with a touch of realism and maturity is what makes this show exquisite. Ping Pong The Animation approaches what can be considered a "masterpiece" or perhaps what they call a "magnum opus" of the creators. It's perfect in so many ways and I believe a score of 9 is better than giving it a 10.

Art: When I first saw the cover art for this show, I was repulsed by the animation style the studio used. This show uses sloppy hand drawn animation (don't know what kind of style it is)--which are often used when a studio wants to depict realistic faces. There are a lot of awkward faces and postures but as I watched several episodes, it kind of grew on me. After looking past the faults, I have the impression that it was used to make everything look more alive.

Story, Character, and Enjoyment: The series uses the same formula as most shounen sports anime wherein the overarching ... story is to enter the tournament and become champions, nothing special at first. The great thing about this series though are the characters and how they interact and change as the series progresses. Everyone, including the supporting characters, are a treat to watch. It certainly feels like all them are living, breathing human beings.

Another great thing about the series is how it all ends. Each character has their own circumstances and the viewers gets to see how the characters cope and eventually find what it is that they have to do. No loose ends, just a very solid ending where the viewers are left satisfied.

Every fan of the genre should at least take a look at this series before dismissing it because of its art style. They might find a hidden gem if they did.


Score: 8.8/10 Has a couple of flaws but a great character driven sports show that everyone should watch.

Ping Pong: The Animation is a show that delves into the game of Table Tennis. It explores the subtle techniques of the game, as well as the strategies of the game. However, it tends to separate itself from other sports anime by also delving into the trials and tribulations of it's characters. Throughout the show, we frequently get a peak into each of the characters' everyday lives, and for most of them, things are less than perfect. This provides a nice contrast to the Ping Pong action that happens on the courts.

It's this blend of storytelling that kept me interested until the end... however, it's ... not simply the fact that they blended them together that makes it work so well. The situations brought up in the story feel incredibly natural, and feel like something that could occur in real life. It grounds the characters and makes them all feel like real people instead of anime characters.

Perhaps part of that has to do with the art style, which has a very distinct look to it. Characters still have some specific design traits to differentiate them from each other, but they all still look like real people, instead of super-characterized anime characters. Some may not appreciate the intentionally rough-looking linework that the show has, but I feel this really adds something to the animation, which is fantastic. The way characters move tends to look very realistic, and this looks especially impressive during an intense ping pong match. The show also frequently shows cut-away panels that focus on different parts of the action, making some scenes appear more manga-like, or like the TV show "24". While this is an interesting, distinct, little visual flourish, I also think it's a bit overused.

The characters are well-rounded, and the story really tends to flesh them out. The two main characters, Makoto Tsukimoto and Yutaka Hoshino, show a lot of growth over the course of the show, and it's interesting to follow them on their journey. Not only when it comes to Ping Pong, but also just their journey through life. There's also the main characters' coaches, that both come off as fun, with their own unique charms and personalities. I thought all of the characters were pretty good, and I like how grounded in reality they felt. However, something about many of them just seems very forgettable. Aside from the two main characters and their coaches, I'm not sure I'll actually remember any of the other characters when I think back on the show. Perhaps that just means that the show knew where to focus on, but it also means that the characters end up feeling like the weakest part, despite them all still being well-written.

Finally, I'll just say a few things about the audio. The voice acting is great, and really fits with the tone the show is going for, as well as the characters the actors are portraying. The sound effects are well-used, and during ping pong matches, they're exciting and add a lot to the scene. The music is a well-made, but mostly forgettable score that works well for setting things up and creating tension where it has to... aside from the Opening and Closing themes, that is. The Opening is great, super catchy, easy to sing along to, and it really gets you pumped up for some intense Ping Pong action! The closing is a somber, mellow song, accompanied by images of walking down a sidewalk. They contrast with each other, and tend to perfectly represent the amount of contrast in the show's own storytelling, which I really appreciated.

Overall, the show is well produced. It has a unique art style that looks great and tends to benefit the storyline, and, despite some of them being somewhat unmemorable, it has some interesting characters that remain interesting to the end. The whole thing ends up being incredibly enjoyable, and I would recommend it to just about anybody. It works for people who are just looking for a good sports anime, but also for people who are looking for a well-made coming of age story.

Okay so this is my first anime review ever so please bear with me. At first glance this series may seem like a strange find, and due to its art style many find it unappealing at first, but this series certainly proves that art isn't everything to an anime.

Art: The art style is unique in a word. Many think if the art bad so is the series, but the art style certainly goes well with the story and does catch the watcher's attention.

Music: The Music for this series was just perfect. Each song went well the tense or funny or sad scene. The song ... I enjoyed the most would have to be the ending song. After seeing such a good episode leaving us on a cliffhanger or tense scene hearing the ending song would just leave me in awe and give me a hunger for more.

Character: The characters were so well done. All of the characters have a unique personalities that suited their characters very nicely, but the 2 that certainly stand out are Smile and Peco's. Their relationship as hero and robot really made this anime as great as it is.

Overall I found this anime very enjoyable. Many underestimate this anime at first glance due to the art style. But for those who take the chance to watch it and stick to it, you wont regret it.

UNEXPECTED GREATNESS. Those are the 2 words to sum up the show.
You know how the majority of anime fans have their top 10 anime list all sorted out...well Ping Pong is the anime that will unconventionally just plot itself in your top 10 ranking.

It's the hidden gem of the year. A lot of the people are pushed away by the artwork (which IMO is gorgeous).
It's a sports anime, that is essentially not really focused on the "sport" of the anime. For instance, many sports anime focus on winning the big Cup or trying to be the best player, but no!
Taiyo Matusmoty uses phenomenal story ... telling and characterization to make such an eloquent story.

The 2 main characters Smile and Peco are best friends from childhood who do not act like the typical best of friends.
The sport of Ping Pong is what brought them together, and by the end of the show is what keeps them together.
The OST was brilliant and you can't forget about that amazing ending song!

In the end, if you want a unique new style of fresh anime, this is the show for you. This deserves much more appreciation and novelty of greatness.

I have to say, when my brother told me to watch this, I always knew it was going to be good. No, I'm not going to say it was the most mind-blowing thing I have ever seen, but I felt sincerely touched watching this show and I had truly enjoyed it. Even the art style had it's own uniqueness that you get accustomed to and end up loving in an odd way. The story all had promising and good characters that you all end up loving one way or another. Everything's realistic enough, which is honestly why I think they switched up the art style. ... If this had the same classic "bright" anime style like most romcoms for example, I don't think I would be able to take this show as seriously as I did. I felt as though this show had put a lot of effort into its characters and their stories.

This is 2nd to last paragraph I'm going to add to this review because I honestly cannot say anything better than what any other reviewer says about this review. I don't feel like tarnishing its name and would rather have good reviewers speak their mind about this show. In case you haven't realized it yet, please watch this show, I had enjoyed it very much. Watch this show if you're in for something not as energetic but rather thoughtful... I guess, in it's own way. Honestly you can watch this whenever and it'd be enjoyable. But especially when you're sick of the generic romcom and you want something new and unique.

Story: This will officially be my last paragraph for this review. I had felt as though the story had a meaningful purpose in it, no I don't mean that it had an overall message that would change everybody's lives. I mean the stories in this anime has earnestly gotten you touched. They call the show "Ping Pong: The Animation," but even so, ping pong is simply the canvas for which to paint the stories of these characters onto it. They all have a drive and a purpose, the stories come together and has a very nice touch to it in the end. Every moment of it has purpose and reason. It felt as though the scenes were realistic enough to where you feel sincerely touched. They weren't overtly dramatic like the screaming characters in the casual animes. Yes, I'm talking about Sunohara for one. You can feel sincere emotions and appreciate the realism coming from the show. It's truly a well written show that brings many aspect and elements into it that will truly make you enjoy it. That is the earnest reason why I had enjoyed this show, please, watch it.