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Ping Pong is a story of two high school freshmen, Peco and Smile. Peco is a ping pong genius, able to beat anyone he has ever come across with seemingly no effort at all. Smile, his best friend, on the other hand, while good, is sitting in Peco's shadow as his number two. Yet, after their first inter-school tournament, it is Smile who everyone seems interested in and Peco is left on the sidelines.

At first it might look like Ping Pong is just another sports anime, but that's far from truth. It's not a story about ping pong, but a story of growing up, overcoming fears and self-doubt.


There are four main characters in Ping Pong: Peco, Smile, Ryuichi, and Kong. All four of them face various struggles inside and outside ping pong sport.

Peco has always been the best player out there. Since we always wins, ping pong is great fun to him. But when he moves on to high school, he is forced to face stronger and more experienced players. And after his first loss, he gives up ping pong completely. After losing a goal in life, Peco starts searching for new meaning.
As you can guess, Peco is a nickname (he loves sweets so much that this nickname comes from the mascot of the Fujiya confectionery stores). His real name is Hoshino Yutaka.
His name reflects his personality perfectly. He shines like a star (Hoshi in his name means "star"), especially we can see it when he is playing ping pong. I found it interesting that when he went to the beach and got a tan, one of the characters mentioned how "dark" he is, and it was exactly when he gave up on ping pong. I think it may have been a hint - he lost his "light", did not "shine" without ping pong.

Smile, on the other hand, while having real talent bolstered by hard work, has no desire for fame or fortune. He is happy to let his friend Peco bask in the glory. However, he finds himself thrust into the spotlight when he wins against some of the country’s strongest, even as Peco loses. Without Peco to hold him back, Smile could become the best in Japan...Only if he cared about the sport or his talent.
Smile's real name is Tsukimoto Makoto. He has Moon (Tsuki) in his name that also reflects his personality, he is okay to stay in the darkness, shadows. Here we can see the difference between Peco and Smile - bright light of stars (Hoshino) and dim, cold light of the moon (Tsukimoto)

We also have Ryuichi, the man at the top: the Japanese and world champion. He is the heir to both a ping pong dynasty and a sports supply corporation. He is the captain of the best ping pong team in the country and that's not just that...He also locks himself in the bathroom before each match, suffering from panic attacks. The stress upon him is immense since his team and corporation is a heavy burden for him.

Last, but not the least is Kong, trained nearly from birth to be a world class ping pong player, he was a member of the Chinese youth national team - until he was cut from the team. His only hope to return home and reclaim his spot on the team is to win the Japanese national championships. But if he fails, he will be left without a purpose in life, left exiled in a country where he doesn't even speak the language.
Kong is arrogant at first, looking with disgust at his new team mates. Why would not he? He is superior to these weaklings after all, at lest that's what he believes at first.
His character developed the most to my mind. At first he hates Japan and people around him, but with time he acknowledges that there can be opponents stronger than him, strength is not "everything". One insert song shows us that change in him. He goes to a karaoke bar with his fellow team mates and sings a song. He sings in Japanese (meaning he made the effort to actually learn the language), plus he is surrounded by new friends who look at him without envy or hate in the eyes.

I could go on and on about the characters, since this was the most fascinating part of the show for me, but I will leave it at that for now.


Unlike the clean or super popular moe art style/animation of most anime, Ping Pong looks exactly like manga. The art style is at times rough and at others grotesque.
But for some reason it just added more charm to the show, also thanks to this quick, sharp animation we could feel the fast pace of ping pong. Yuasa's animation moves the characters with real dynamism and diversity, especially it is noticeable when they play ping pong.
The frequent use of panelled shots (I really liked this bit) saves budget and adds to the dynamism of the matches
Also Yuasa is not afraid to use an abstract animation style to reflect the players’ state of mind when playing ping pong

Most people find this animation to be cheap or turning off, but for me it just added to the overall score.


I really loved both OP and ED, I found it fitting the show and hard to skip without listening.
OST was also well-done. Especially I liked where in some scenes instead of instrumental track they used Tsukimoto's humming, it was a great thing to do without a doubt.
Another thing to mention is an insert song I talked about in the character's section. Lyrics were a spot on, plus a good execution by Kong's seyuu.
Talking about seyuu, I was taken aback by Peco's seyuu - Katayama Fukujurou. It was his only role in the anime (for now at least) and it was amazing. He delivered every emotion with precision.
Uchiyama Kouki (funny enough, he had a really similar role of Tsukishima in Haikyuu!!) voiced Smile and succeeded in showing Smile's personality properly.


Simply put, Ping Pong the Animation is an amazing show.
The problems that the main characters face throughout the series are both real and relatable; and seeing how they grow into their own through ping pong is an excellent use of a sports setting.
Story had a well-executed conclusion to it - everything felt "right" and "satisfying".
The only minus I can really mention is art, since some people are turned off by it (as I previously stated). But if you can look past this unique animation - you will find something special.