Ping Pong is a philosophical exploration of what motivates people to undertake, well, anything. Some do it to kill time, some for the camaraderie, some chase after an aesthetic ideal, and some do it because they cannot bear failure, and so on. It starts off brilliantly, laying out the characters that exemplify this or that facet of competition, what they look like if mapped onto a motivational spider chart, how they interact with each other, reconcile contradictions, and mature. However, as competitors drop out of the race and we approach the final reckoning, the manga also gradually becomes a slide show of flashbacks, action shots, symbolism,romantic one-liners, repeated mantras, and uh, believing in the heart of the cards. It does a better job than the animated version of build up and establishing the training timeline- a year's worth of blood, sweat and yada yada, but the payoff still feels unconvincing. After all, there's only so much resolution and meaning that can be packed into a one-day regional qualifier tournament. The manga ends immediately afterwards. The mise en place is painstakingly prepared, but then gets all tossed together and submerged in shounen spirit dressing.

Even with multiple reads and me trying to be charitable, I can't see the art in such an ending. The entire time we are left wondering what the protagonist, Smile, is chasing after, and what it will take to resolve his adolescent angst, and the reveal, or lack thereof, makes you wonder if his story was really worth telling. If done better, Ping Pong would have been a far more iconic sports manga classic.