Review of Ping Pong the Animation

Ping Pong The Animation is not the masterpiece most people claim to be. I have quite the opposite perspective, since I believe it doesn't even come close into being a masterpiece. Starting with the production quality, which is not very good at all, PPTA presents us with a unique artstyle, that might look stunning in more static scenes, but as soon as the animation turns more dynamic and exciting, the viewer is left with a mess that could be found at any low budget indie animation festival. The soundtrack is not buch better; a solid hype opening, but a completely terrible ending; a very artificialsoundtrack, which is mostly defined by a lot of passable tracks that are saved by a handful of better compositions like Butterfly Joe or Ping Pong Phase 1 and 2.

Despite its fragile foundation, PPTA presents us with a very interesting cast of characters, with a story set on Ping Pong utopia - don't let anyone convince you that this is the "asian reality of Ping Pong". This anime is barely about ping pong or reality. PPTA is mostly about people and their daily struggle to overcome their inner demons. The first 6 episodes or so are the better ones, but considering PPTA only has 11 episodes there are some of these episodes that are unremarkable and end up only pushing the same button that was already exposed from before. What's worst even, is that PPTA falls from it's glory and unexpectedly turns into the typical shounen/sports anime towards its second half. Everything becomes extremely predictable and the fun and intrigue from the first episodes fades away.
Nonetheless, PPTA is filled with good morality and allows you to reflect through the point of view of many fully fleshed out characters, who are full of life. Some of them end up fading away or becoming useless in regards to the central point of the story - like Wenge or Egami - but these are all very interesting characters when inserted in the main dimension of PPTA.

Personally, I didn't end up liking the whole "hero" ordeal - it's just a way of glorifying the boring and overrecycled tropes of every anime ever. Why must it be so important to find a hero? Why is it more valid than to fight against your pain and struggle? Why is it more important than to overcome your lack of natural talent? At some moments I felt like there was an urge to shove Peco down our throats, even though most of the other characters had motives as strong as Peco's. I believe PPTA would have been much better with a little bit more openness regarding the several ideals exposed. This is especially true, as people don't seem to able to understand PPTA to the fullest - this is a major flaw from the anime, as it always undermines many of its more meaningful messages to feed the main idea of heroes, talent and hardwork. There is not enough conviction in showing that people can become the best version of themselves at any given point and space if the time and the context is appropriate. In a non-utopic world you can climb by the top through several means. Hard work is the primary one. Hard work is not about running 10 km everyday. Your progress will become stale if you don't know where to improve. Recognising your weaknesses and where you can improve is fundamental to success. In a real context, your opposition won't be looking at you head-to-head like in PPTA. You can always find a way to climb to the top without relying too much on your talent. Look at all the musicians from nowadays. Look at all the pro athletes. On a given context, you can be very successful even if you are #100, even if you are #1000, even if you are #10000. You'll be set for life you work hard enough with the tools you are given. That is reality. What is also reality is that hardworking means that you are working and making an effort that is clearly above average. For me this is the biggest lesson that you can take away from Smile and Peco. A character like Sakuma would probably reach some level of success in reality, but sometimes it is true that you need to realise that there is a clearer path to success.

PPTA was a fun ride and a good anime about self-growth, overcoming yourself and finding success within your context, but its flaws and limitations are not be overlooked. There have been many movies, books, series and anime telling us this story, some of them in a more meaningful fashion, but PPTA strong suit is its characters and uniqueness. If you look past that you'll clearly see that there was more to be achieved.

Soundtrack - 7
Animation - 6.5
Story - 7
Characters - 8.5
Enjoyment - 8