Review of Scorching Ping Pong Girls

One of the most underrated sports anime When I was scrolling through the Crunchyroll catalog, Scorching Ping-Pong Girl’s caught my eye, and I'm still glad I started it. Premise of the show: Suzumegaha Middle School has a mediocre table tennis team where no player has ever made it past the quarterfinals of the city tournament. One day, a new student named Koyori shows up who loves table tennis and will change the club. On her journey she finds new friends with whom she can play table tennis, but also makes enemies. Characters: Koyori Tsumujikaze is the new shy transfer student who joins Suzumegahara Middle School's table tennis club. She loves tabletennis and was a prefectural semifinalist at her previous school. Because of her shyness, she has a hard time making new friends, but she is well-received in the Club as she messes up the rankings in the club internally.

Agari Kamiya was the ace of the team prior to Koyori joining the club. Koyori and her become rivals, but as they find out that they are well suited to each other, they play together. She is proud of her achievements and sometimes seems a bit aloof, but after watching more and more episodes you realize that she actually loves her team and enjoys the sport to its fullest.

Hanabi Tenki is an energetic girl with spiky hair who loves to mess with the other players of her team, she is the best friend of Hokuto. You will see her with Hokuto most of the time since they have known each other since their childhoods. Ever since she was a child, she has helped Hokuto in her parents' ping pong store. She possesses an offensive playstyle which involves fast returns.

Hokuto Itsumo is a rather untalkative girl that always covers her mouth. Her cleverness is seen in her calculative playing style that allows her to manipulate her opponents. Another trait of her is that she can also guess the type and color of underwear someone is wearing by touching their paddle. Because her parents own a shop, she knows how to handle money what leads to her greediness.

Mune Oomune is a third year high school student and the vice-captain of the club, due to her large breast her nickname is munemune (ムネムネ). She plays aggressively, but due to her breast she runs out of stamina fast. She’s a rather minor character who doesn’t get as much screen time as the others. You often see her being teased by Kiruka Ushirode.

Kiruka Ushirode is another third-year high school student and the captain of the team. She plays fast which often leads to confusion for the opponents. When she isn’t playing Table Tennis, she is teasing her teammates. She likes imposing penalties on her teammates, such as wearing cat ears.

Kururi Futamaru She is the main antagonist this season, she is obsessed with her captain and wants to be praised by her all the time. During her match with Koyori she has great character development which you don't see this often in "cute girls do cute things" shows. Her playing style is quite unique as she spins the balls. character development which you don't see this often in "cute girls do cute things" shows. Her playing style is quite unique as she spins the balls. Overall she's a great antagonist.

There is a constant Yuri bait throughout this anime, you can see it as bad or good. In my opinion it helps this anime a lot to get the characters across. It also adds a certain spiciness that is very desirable.

Art/Animation:
The character designs are beautiful and look super cute, every character has their own traits, and they don't look forgettable rather unique. The animations are great you sense the power in the hits and feel the effort involved in the match. You can still how much physical effort is involved in a game of table tennis because they are literally drenched in sweat. The anime also uses a lot of symbolism while showing the different traits of the characters and how they play.

Sound:
The opening is catchy, with a great climax. The animations look well, while showcasing each character's strengths. One of my favorite things about this anime are the soundtracks. They are well-chosen EDM tracks that just bang. They lift the mood enormously, but don't overdramatize it either. You feel how hard each girl tries while hitting the balls
Overall:
Shakunetsu no Takkyuu Musume is a cute series with many interesting characters and a solid story for a moe series. I recommend this anime to anyone who enjoys the sports or slice of life genre

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