Review of Ping Pong the Animation
Ping Pong the Animation, a sports anime, strives to be something it shouldn’t be… and it succeeds in every way. With an anime as short as the game itself Director Masaaki Yuasa wastes no time exploring the lives of 5 truly unique players as they search for meaning through the medium of Ping Pong. Each character’s background and problems are so grounded it would be hard to not identify as one of them, Mr Yuasa invites us to come along for the ride as he asks us only one question at the end of it all… “Who do you play ping pong for?” Ping Pong the Animationis an extraordinary anime that gives so much more than you ask, accompanied by its bizarre art style and its emotional soundtrack, the anime allows you to pick YOUR character, a character you identify with, and watch their personal transformation across the ping pong season. It’s a coming of age story that dives deep into a search for identity, friendship and success, and it is all done in 11 episodes without skipping a beat. And once you’re done watching it all and the screen goes black, you’ll realise the person on the screen is just a reflection of yourself.
Plot 10/10
PPTA starts with the introduction of two players Smile, who is quiet and reserved and has little care for table tennis, and his drastically different best – friend Peco, who is cocky and carefree aiming to be the best player in the world. The plot of PPTA follows these two players as they enter the inter – high table tennis competition and train intensely as only the very best persevere.
A fairly simple story that allows the anime to dive deep into each character in such short time, at the start of an episode you won’t know who a character is and by the end you discover their motives, reasons and dreams, and PPTA does it all without boring the viewer. As more and more characters are introduced and the plot thickens, PPTA doesn’t slow down as every line and stroke has been placed so perfectly from start to finish, allowing Mr Yuasa to uncover the bigger themes of identity and success all within a 3 set match… and you’d be quite surprised by how much a match can change a person.
Characters 10/10
The characters literally make PPTA, each one carries their own playstyle, attitude, background, goals with incredible depth. By describing each character like this it allows the viewer to understand who each character is and carry great empathy for each and every one of them. This is what makes PPTA so real, they are so relatable as we realise that we have the same struggles as them.
Art and Sound 10/10
Ping Pong’s art style is probably the most decisive feature of the entire anime, some people hate it and some people love it. If you couldn’t tell… I am a huge fan of it. Mr Yuasa’s team have ripped pages out of the manga and animated them in such a chaotic way that it matches the sport perfectly. There are so many different ways to animate a match of ping pong, but none of them would be nearly as interesting to watch as the way it was animated, so I beg of you, don’t drop this anime because it dares to be different.
For an 11 episode anime, Ping Pong packs over 1 hour of music that adds so much depth to an already rich anime. From the Ping Pong melody to the climactic Hero’s theme, PPTA knows how to take us through a match of ping pong as if we were playing the match. Payoff in film is commonly used to offer additional depth and meaning to a story that creates a more satisfying and complete viewing experience. Mr Yuasa and his team should be praised as music that is teased so early on in the anime shines like a star when finally put into the spotlight, leading to a feeling of sensation and realisation that Mr Yuasa has essentially re – defined cinematic payoff.
Final Remarks
“It’s nonsense to stake your life on table tennis.”
As I said at the beginning, Ping Pong the Animation strives to be something it shouldn’t, that something is a metaphor for the journey that is life. People put their lives on the line just to prove to themselves that they are the best, all players are different, but they all want to win. PPTA doesn’t ask the viewer if they would drop everything to be successful, it asks the viewer if what their fighting for is what they truly desire. This anime isn’t life – changing, but it is thought provoking, a beautiful, heartfelt story that addresses the core desires of man and what it means to succeed. I seriously cannot use words to explain how spectacular this anime is, but numbers can… 10/10.