Review of Ping Pong the Animation

Ping Pong is about ping pong. Sets up three ping pong players to follow through the show: Peco, Smile and China. Peco is ass; his friend Smile is way better, catching the eye of the school’s ping pong coach Butterfly Joe, who sees something of himself in Smile, and wants to bring out the best in him. Various intersecting character motivations run into one another as a result, all culminating in essentially one question: “Why do I play ping pong?” China plays ping pong to get back to China, Dragon plays ping pong to not lose. Smile isn’t sure. The story’s journey is essentially everyonerealizing that at the end of the day, they play for fun, something that the seemingly stupidest character in the show, Peco, does already, which is why he’s the hero. Yuasa’s best animated work for sure. Manga’s better.