Review of Ping Pong the Animation
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 was 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 oftimes, 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 on 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 protagonists, 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 for 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 beatdown 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 quieter 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 characters 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 end 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 pong 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 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. Its 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..."