When the first season of Ping Pong the Animation began, many thought that the entire animation was all about ping pong. However, this anime is more about life than a ping-pong game.
Aired in 2014, the Manga has so far attracted a large audience. Although different people have different preferences in anime, this one is unique and offers excellent life lessons. Let’s see more about this best-selling Manga.
Table of Contents
The Plot
Ping Pong the animation is an anime written by Taiyล Matsumoto. It centers on 2 high school friends, Smile and Peco whose friendship began from childhood.
They are talented in table tennis and play for Katase High School table tennis club. Peco is demoralized after being beaten by ‘China’ a Chinese student. Such an experience deters him fromย practicing.
His friend, Smile does not want to win against his friend, Peco due to his personality. However, the coach recognizes Smile’s potential and makes an effort to motivate him towards overcoming his backward personality.
The friends spend most of their time playing table tennis with so much zeal and dedication. Some of the players give up on the sport and get back to it again.
What the Anime is About
Though the characters play table tennis, Ping Pong the Animation is not all aboutย playing table tennis. It is about real life. From the characters, we can see that sometimes challenges demoralize them. At other times, they leave the game and come back again.
There are great lessons to be learned from this anime. Life has its ups and downs that make us want to withdraw. However, we overcome and get back on the right track again.
The anime is not just something to offer fun to high school students. It tells an emotional story of students attracted to a seriousย table tennis sport. Some students pursue it because they are talented.
Others become talented because they play. Others, though they have the talent, they are not dedicated. Other groups of players have to recognize that heart alone is not enough to accomplish their dreams.
Ping Pong the Animation shows that a great story can be taken from any genre. The characterization in this Manga is wonderfully done to strengthen the story. The writer is famous for his unique art style.
However, the character sketching is not something pleasing. The style of animation is unrestrained such that sometimes, the borders and lines begin to dissolve.
My View
What I love the most about this anime is the midnight competition session. And the other one is the inexplicable OP that looks like an explosion.
This anime features brightly colored, special drawing and dynamic lines. The incredible thing is that it uses a short space to portray sports life connected by talent. Although the protagonists were only high school students in the past, they are deeply touched by their precociousness.
Anime Drawing Style
Let’s take a look at the strange style of drawing. Matsumoto’s anime creations are mainly on young comics. His works have a clear visual style. This highly individual style can directly give people a sense of arrogance and detachment from all constraints.
Character style design is based on line-sketching. Although the light and dark aspects’ performance is minimal, it does not detract from the work’s quality. But instead, it gives a bright and straightforward personality with a unique visual impact. For block segmentation, it reflects various local details. The depicting of dynamic scenes is also very different and sensational.
What’s Touching Me
The most moving part of this anime is not the achievement that these players have achieved in the end. It is not the effort, or the talent will make you succeed in the game. It is the 99% practice + 1% talent = success.
The sessions touching the audiences from beginning to end are what they do for their preferences or fate. They struggle, give up, rise, cry, hurt, and practice hard. They fight hard for every game. They are committed to every swing that they make. These are more meaningful than success and winning the game.
Achievement
If you want to achieve good results in a particular field, talent (ability), diligence (effort), enthusiasm (interest) are indispensable.
Generally speaking, talent is a stepping stone to enter into a specific field. Diligence is a necessary condition for continuous improvement. Love can be both the starting point of life and the spiritual pillar that helps you survive the most challenging stage of your career. Specific to the Ping Pong The Animation, these three parts also determine each of them’ fate.
Summary
It is not a sports animation in the traditional sense. The traditional sports animation is the professional play of popular science sports. They focus on achieving victory through cooperation and tactics and then reflect on various kinds of situations and stories.
Do you see any technical terms in Ping Pong the Animation? Almost none. What is the performance of the game in the play? Nearly all the scenes are just merely going through without much emphasis on the actual table tennis skill.
Thus, I think this anime focuses more on the characters’ performance and ignores the reality of the sport.
Recommendation
You can make your table tennis playing experience a story. Also, forget about the invisible borders and lines and the unpleasant character sketches in this anime.
Ping Pong the Animation is a manga worth watching. The story has excellent lessons to learn about life. On a scale of 1 to 10, I can rate this anime 9 out of 10.
It is a manga that is exceptionally written, directed and produced. It displays competition psychology and is realistic about dreams, talent, and victory.
It perfectly focuses on drive and hard work rather than just lazy dreams. The sound is high, and the dialogue is natural. It is a must-watch anime for table tennis fans and players.
Ping Pong The Animation Videos
Warren Davies
