Review of Ping Pong the Animation

For those put off by the art style, please give this one a shot. The style was initially offputting to me, but, after a few episodes, it really stuck and even enhanced my experience by the end. The story focuses on characters on the spectrums of talent, hard work, and love of a game, and how characters in different places of these spectrums can be silently suffering and find relief. Overall, the themes explored here really reminded me of Good Will Hunting, but, for me, Ping Pong lands at a much more balanced and cathartic conclusion to the questions of "what does it mean tohave talent?" and "who do you play table tennis for?".