Ping Pong the Animation

Despite being polar opposites, Makoto "Smile" Tsukimoto and Yutaka "Peco" Hoshino have been best friends since childhood. Although the overly confident Peco strives to be the best ping-pong player in the world, he often skips practice, earning the ire of his fellow teammates on the Katase High School ping-pong team. Meanwhile, Smile—in spite of his innate talent for the sport—cannot help but hold back his full strength when playing against others. Through their mutual love for ping-pong, the two have developed a bond that is seemingly unbreakable.

When Peco hears that an ex-national team player from China is coming to Japan, he drags Smile over to rival Tsujido High School to observe them. The subsequent trip leads to a clash between Peco and Kong Wenge, who overwhelmingly defeats the former in one game. Stunned by such a comprehensive loss, Peco finds himself questioning why he plays to begin with. Seeing his potential as a player, Katase's coach begins to train Smile to overcome his hesitation, but he is reluctant to play if it is not for enjoyment.

As the two struggle to find meaning in the sport, a plethora of stronger players—each with their own internal strifes—await them at the inter-high tournament, where only the very best can persevere. But when these young athletes let their unbridled ambition go unchecked, the hardships they face paint a somber reality as they pursue glory.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Hoshino, Yutaka Main

Katayama, Fukujuurou Japanese

Tsukimoto, Makoto Main

Uchiyama, Kouki Japanese

Kong, Wenge Supporting

Bun, Yousei Japanese

Kazama, Ryuuichi Supporting

Sakuya, Shunsuke Japanese

Sakuma, Manabu Supporting

Kimura, Subaru Japanese

Egami Supporting

Tsuda, Kenjirou Japanese

Koizumi, Jou Supporting

Yara, Yuusaku Japanese

Tamura, Obaba Supporting

Nozawa, Masako Japanese

Kong's Coach Supporting

Ha, Tei Japanese

Yurie Supporting

Kawasumi, Ayako Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer

Fujio, Tsutomu Producer

Yuasa, Masaaki Director, Episode Director, Script, Storyboard, Key Animation, Series Composition

Kimura, Eriko Sound Director

Reviews

Jun 19, 2014

Volunteer

Recommended

Ping Pong The Animation is an exceptional show. This is less of a sports anime and more of a powerful emotions series. It's a beautifully crafted coming of age story and one that certainly doesn't come along often. In a word, it's unconventional. Nothing about Ping Pong feels ordinary so love it or hate it, it's hard to not recognize its artistic merit.

The story is a simple one and it chronicles the lives of two boys and their experiences with table tennis. We're introduced to Makoto Tsukimoto, aptly nicknamed "Smile", and his boastful best friend Yutaka Hoshino, or "Peco". These two are polar opposites ... and we follow them through their high school ping pong careers. Their story is told in just 11 episodes and it's nothing short of pacing perfection. Everything meshes wonderfully from start to finish and each episode provides just the right amount of information without overwhelming or confusing the viewer. Ping Pong is great at giving you important plot points piece by piece and this makes it an incredibly engaging experience. Each episode is satisfying and this makes it very tempting to marathon.

This is where things start to get shaky for the average anime viewer. The art style is simple and misshapen. There are no enormous and colorful eyes. The lines are crude and uneven so things like ping pong balls aren't perfect circles. It'd be no exaggeration to say this is some of the most unorthodox art in the industry today, but by no means is it bad. It may be out of the comfort zone, but it's fitting for what the show is trying to do and it has an inexplicable charm to it. The animation is quite weak at times and things just look sloppy. This actually works to the show's advantage by providing a unique style of its own. The art and animation stay consistent the whole way through. If this bothers you, get out while you still can.

It's hard to believe a show about ping pong has music as good as this. The sound sets the mood perfectly. From simple melodic tunes while training to the adrenaline pumping opening song, Ping Pong knows just the right track to play at every given moment. A handful of tracks feel a bit out of place, but as a whole, it feels like watching one long movie. Additionally, the music is very good at distorting one's perception of time. There are times where it goes completely silent to emphasize the strain on a character. You may even associate certain songs with certain characters and this is a very good thing because it means you're connecting with them.

Where Ping Pong really shines is its characters. The amount of development in such a short time is staggering. The interactions between characters are astoundingly genuine; every conversation feels natural. There's meaningful growth in even the most unlikely people and this is a breath of fresh air from shows where nothing seems to change.

I don't want to go into too much detail regarding individuals, but the rivalries between characters are beautifully illustrated. Their personalities bounce off of each other in a frighteningly realistic way. The harsh reality of athletics is painted not only on their faces, but also on their words. A lot of conversations later on are poignant and almost poetic. It's tragic at times and these interactions do a great job of maintaining the morbid realism that made the early episodes special.

Ping Pong is not a light watch. This is something that can be enjoyed by anyone who wants a good story. You don't have to like or even understand table tennis, it's first and foremost a tale about growing up. It's undoubtedly a memorable experience and something very much worth your time if you keep an open mind.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Jun 28, 2014

sjwho2

Mixed Feelings

Ping Pong the Animation.

It's one of those series that is either going to get over-the-top praise or disdain from it's watchers, for me it was simple disappointment.

Story: 5
-Well like most sports anime the story is not too heavy. However Ping Pong's biggest problem is that the story and how it plays out has been done before, several times in fact. You can see the ending from the start and every "twist" isn't all that surprising once you get to the end. I was not entertained when it came to the story and it's presentation.
NOTE: I do not take away points for it being a ... sports anime and having a sports-themed story. I take away points for unoriginal and poor presentation.

Art: 7
-I'd say the art is mediocre. Not because "it's not HD so it sucks" but because funimation purposefully made the anime this way, but still re-used animation within the first few episodes. I actually like this type of animation if it's done right, but way too many times in this series is it not. Funimation clearly had the budget for this anime, but chose to make several scenes look out of place and terrible because they didn't know what they were doing or didn't care.
NOTE: The art style fits well with the theme.

Sound: 4
-It's there and not much else. Nothing outside of your generic background music and nothing you'll even remember in T-minus 5 minutes.(already forgot).

Characters: 7
-Now the characters in this show are pretty well done. I'd like to say they are "deep" but they really weren't. Only Hoshino and Tsukimoto really stood out, as everyone else became X, Y, or Z stereotype. That being said, Hoshino and Tsukimoto were deep in accordance to the story but not as characters themselves. "One track mind" would describe the entire youth of this cast. However there interactions are at least midly entertaining.

Enjoyment: 6
I can't say I enjoyed my time watching this series more than the general mediocre anime. It's not exactly entertaining per episode, I've seen the entire story/characters done before in other series(ala prince of tennis), and to be honest the ending/starting episodes were the only parts I think were worth the watch.


Overall: 5

Ping Pong the Animation is a series that presents a rather mediocre product to an already saturated genre. The art style differentiates it, but does not make it shine.

I'd recommend it to people who have not watched other sports series.


Note: this is all my opinion, but I stand by that opinion 100%.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Feb 17, 2016

Midg3tLuv

Not Recommended

THIS IS THE GREATEST...................................DISAPPOINTMENT!!!!!!

This show is ass and not the good kind.

I am going to compare it to Van Gogh's 1888 "The Night Café" throughout this review. When anyone looks at "The Night Café", they see a subpar painting. They are standing there confused as to why everyone is proclaiming this to be a fine piece. You need to know that the light green bar is representative of the green fairy. You need to know that the clock is just past twelve so it isn't tactful to be drinking during either time. You have to know that the warm walls with the white tables will ... cause the tables to seemingly walk away from the walls if heavily intoxicated. Then you must be aware that the yellow room in the back is inviting and is everything that isn't the room you are currently in. I can go on about this piece for about ten minutes and I feel like I am pretending to be every zealot who loves "Ping Pong The Animation".

Just like "The Night Café", people go out of their way to polish a turd. People make it sound like it is the only "coming of age tale" when there are indeed tons of them. "Coming of age" may as well be it's own genre. They recycle the exact same scenes when showing character development. Let's watch Peco get slapped again. Let's see if Ping Pong Man becomes anything significant. I have played sports and I was good at some and not so good in others. Big deal! I personally lived the best part of this anime with little to no effort. I like abstract representational art. I appreciate the use of symbolism and scale to convey points. This show borderline took the piss with it's art. No one could have actually been touched by the guy on the beach. He was wandering around like an emo kid and it kept reoccurring without anyone caring about him.

The art-style is awful. I understand wanting to stay true to the source material, but alterations would have been seriously advised. Let's take something everyone loves; Steins;Gate. The art in the anime was similar to the VN, but someone with common sense realized that it would be a feat to keep that style up for an entire anime. They took some polish off and kept the same feeling. This is an adaption done correctly. I have seen cars hit by trains that had smoother lines than what this animation has given us. People fail to realize failure when they love something and overlooking flaws is a virtue. The quality of an abstract non-representational piece of "art" done by a 5 year old that has been given three colors will be of the same caliber.

I want to touch on the music quickly. There is one good song called "Dragon" and it goes "Hoo-Ha PING PONG" and then repeats. There is also one song that is so bad they didn't even put it on the OST. Listen for the humming song in the show if you want to go into an audio induced coma.

The show was not enjoyable and I cannot believe that this is rated so highly. This show demonstrates how strong the troll community is by jokingly rating this show a 10. Most people that love this show have an average of less than 6 because they are the wannabe anime critics/hardasses and they all need a joke like "Cory in the House" to keep in their own circle.

Avoid the show at all costs. Not worth your time.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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