Passive Assassin
Member
Episode 8
AOTS for sure.
AOTS for sure.
PING PONG THE ANIMATION |OT| ( `´)°(ò_ó )/
- Thread starter Dresden
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Really hope he gets a happy ending, doubles champ or something.CornBurrito
Member
Do we know if/when the OST will be released?
hosannainexcelsis
Member
CornBurrito
Member
In the BD box set.... that's going to be extremely expensive. Wow.
Thanks for the info though.
striferser
Huge Nickleback Fan
Ep. 8
All that feels for Kong....you're the man Kong Wenge.
All that feels for Kong....you're the man Kong Wenge.
Ping Pong The Animation Episode 9:
This episode sadly is a step down from the excellence we have been experiencing as the Sanada-Tsukimoto encounter was lacking in drive and tension as Smile is really becoming a Boring Invincible Hero as well as looking flat and one note next to, well, everybody really but especially the Kaio Academy members who in spite of their domination and prowess actually come across as human and three dimensional with actual goals, hope and dreams and thus far more interesting then the blank slate that is Tsukimoto.
This episode sadly is a step down from the excellence we have been experiencing as the Sanada-Tsukimoto encounter was lacking in drive and tension as Smile is really becoming a Boring Invincible Hero as well as looking flat and one note next to, well, everybody really but especially the Kaio Academy members who in spite of their domination and prowess actually come across as human and three dimensional with actual goals, hope and dreams and thus far more interesting then the blank slate that is Tsukimoto.
The Return of
Banned
I love this show
Ooooooh man, I just realized the significance of all the motifs.
THE HERO SLAYS THE DRAGON.
Princess Carl
Member
I love this show.
PSYCHOHYZACK
Member
I kind of agree with you, although I really liked this ep overall for its focus on the Kiao team, who I agree is much more interesting than smile, or even peko. I'd say since about ep 5 excluding the outburst of running away smile has been the least interesting character in the series. And since peko became serious about training, he's began to bore me as well, though not as much as smile. This is weird given in the beginning of the show they were both really interesting and compelling probably because of the ambiguous and confused places they were in their life. Once both of them "clicked" and got their act together, I've really lost interest in both of them and just feel like I'm patiently waiting for them to inevitably meet in the finals. They reached their zen states a bit prematurely imo.
Also, looking back, I start to realize that there was never an actual match, besides peko and akuma's that wasn't a one sided massacre. Every real battle has been one character putting a beat down on another. Even smile vs china was one sided until smile decided to lose on purpose. I mean how many times have we seen someone ask if they were going to watch only to say "No, I'm positive [blank's] gonna win." Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, its just that I end up appreciating the match more for its style than for anything else. Hopefully the kazuma vs peko (although its seems obvious peko will win) and the peko vs smile match will have real tension to it that other matches in this series haven't had.
Its still the best show of the season and the year so far but I'm slightly let down that since this tournament has begun I've felt like I've know exactly how everything would unfold regarding smile and peko. Like I said I really hope that their match up is interesting, but with the issue of peko's knee its seems like the show is doing a butterfly Joe remix, which makes since thematically but it feels like low hanging fruit for a show this good.
Werewolf Jones
Member
Tsukimoto is waiting for Peco. Greatness awaits.
Jex
Member
Man, that conversation between Sakuma and Kazama in the bathroom, just a great way to show where both characters stand with only a handful of words spoken. The number of characters that the story encompasses and actually develops over time is really impressive.
They really get a lot out of a little.
They really get a lot out of a little.
Episode 10
Man even after reading the tweet by the episode director Eunyoung Choi about not having time to work, I still had some faith, but yeah, it's obvious they were strapped for time. Sorta got flashbacks to episode 4. Oh well, I still liked the pretty hyped game, but it's a shame Dragon never got a well animated match.
Man even after reading the tweet by the episode director Eunyoung Choi about not having time to work, I still had some faith, but yeah, it's obvious they were strapped for time. Sorta got flashbacks to episode 4. Oh well, I still liked the pretty hyped game, but it's a shame Dragon never got a well animated match.
Ping Pong The Animation Episode 10:
Damn you E3, you have left me with little energy to commentate on this today, but this was probably the best episode of this wonderful series though sadly also confirms to me that Smile is the worst of the main characters as the match today had drama, stakes and emotion from both Peco and Dragon. Yes, this was magnificent.
Damn you E3, you have left me with little energy to commentate on this today, but this was probably the best episode of this wonderful series though sadly also confirms to me that Smile is the worst of the main characters as the match today had drama, stakes and emotion from both Peco and Dragon. Yes, this was magnificent.
Princess Carl
Member
Ping Pong 10
Damn, what a wonderful episode. Such feels. Definitely becoming one of my favorite animes.
Damn, what a wonderful episode. Such feels. Definitely becoming one of my favorite animes.
The Return of
Banned
Yeah, I have been trying to get my friend to watch this show whenever he clears his plate with what he is watching already and the only thing I have been telling him is how impressed I am by the interaction between the characters
Ultimadrago
Member
What I hate about Ping-Pong is that it's almost too good.
Really though, 10 was an awesome episode. I feel it's safe to say at this point that the anime is great. Is it only one-cour?
Such a strong showing. I don't believe I've seen a better Yuasa work.
Really though, 10 was an awesome episode. I feel it's safe to say at this point that the anime is great. Is it only one-cour?
Such a strong showing. I don't believe I've seen a better Yuasa work.
Yes, just 11 episodes. There is only around 4 manga chapters left to adapt, the whole thing is only 5 volumes long.
Ultimadrago
Member
Man, such a bittersweet. I'm glad it's ending on a qualitative high note, but the ride's about finished.
I think you're stretching it!
*Kappa*
If I'm going to speak about a taste of nuance, the story of Ryuichi is a place to start. The quick cuts really illustrate the hardships of forgetting or never knowing what it means to love "the game" among other themes better than a number of other shows that go with the "Dedicated episode" approach. (#Notalldedicatedepisodes, etc.) Not that its particular type couldn't be directed well here, but the motifs and abruptly broken branches of dialogue do the job much better than I could imagine.
I haven't read the manga, therefore, I'm unsure whether the product of displaying pasts and mentalities like that is "rushing" the original material. It works to Ping-Pong's favor in any case.
I agree with survivor's comment saying parts of the episode 10 match weren't well animated, with even mouths not moving at times where they should have. (Episode 10) It was somewhat fitting for
the final exchange
Eh, there's a lot more animation to the actual match than what we had in the episodes leading to this one. Sure there's a lot less motifs, but it was nice to see how they actually play the match for once.
The episode delivered, I had goosebumps. Can't help but smile when the sped up theme kicked in.
The episode delivered, I had goosebumps. Can't help but smile when the sped up theme kicked in.
If you are talking about how the anime does these quick flashback cuts with some lines of dialogues then Matsumoto does that in the manga. Yuasa however has added a lot to them and expanded some of them like Dragon's past with his mother and father's death, I don't recall that in the manga. The other thing the anime did in this episode which I loved was the mountain climbing and the flying scene with the hero, all anime original scenes which were pretty great.
Yeah you are right, rewatching the episode again, there were more than usual scenes of actual continuos playing rather than just short shots of them hitting the ball which is pretty neat, just wish there was time for more polish especially for the earlier parts.
Passive Assassin
Member
aoty.
Moral Panic
Member
Didn't realise there was a dedicated OT. Really wanted Kazama to win, I don't really like the way the show puts emphasis on talent rather than hard work and practice. Losing 2 sets and 5-0 down on the third with a bad knee only to come back to win 3 sets in a row didn't feel earned especially since he was struggling in the previous match.
Still though, this is the best Anime I have seen in years. If it wasn't for this show I probably would've stopped watching anime completely.
Still though, this is the best Anime I have seen in years. If it wasn't for this show I probably would've stopped watching anime completely.
Episode 9-10
I'm soooooooooo glad I didn't ahve to wait a week between the episodes since I fell behind. The characterization and psychology in this show is so good, and the visual depiction of it is so powerful, it's really hard not to just stare in awe of how it all comes together. I can't ever remember watching a sports story written like this. Every character's journey here is tragic in their own ways, but as the series progressed, it increasingly felt like losing is not the end, but also that losing can be a way of understanding who a person truly is.
The extra visual flair showered on the Peco/Kazama match was really cool too. It adds an extra layer of enjoyment to what is already a very engaging experience. Kazama's raw willpower and skill matched against Peco's natural instincts and carefree invincibility. One clearly deserved to win over the other, and in the narrative rules which Ping Pong set up for itself, there should be no "magic" ability or shounen tropes which would allow a hero to triumph. Yet, the show subverts -itself- at the end to drive home the point that Peco -is- the hero, and that was what Smile saw in him all along, and what Smile has been waiting to play against all this time.
It's a huge accomplishment to be able to pull off something like this without it feeling cheap or random, but the thematic elements they're been building from the start for both Smile and Peco's psychological profiles makes everything fall into place. It just makes sense as the only possible way this show can end. It's.... really breathtaking.
----
It's doesn't put emphasis on talent -rather- than hard work and practice though. That's completely false. The show puts a huge emphasis that to be the best requires both talent and hard work. In the beginning of the series, both Peco and Smile are far from outstanding players overall because Smile doesn't really care, and Peco was getting demotivated because he knew it was rusty and he didn't want to train to make up for it. Those with less talent but put in extra work and practice could beat them. Smile has always been practicing even when Peco wasn't, but when he started training even more, he became invincible. Peco was never this good at the sport either until he finally dragged himself out of his hole and started training seriously. So it's not really a case where he doesn't work hard at all and beats people who work much harder. In the end, regardless of how much practice and training you have, someone who is naturally more talent will be able to beat you if they put in enough effort to polish that talent into ability. That's the message the show has, and I think it's true to life.
As for Peco's amazing come back, yes, it's completely unrealistic, and it's the one moment in the show where it goes against its own rules, but like I mentioned above, I think that in itself is the point for this climax.
I'm soooooooooo glad I didn't ahve to wait a week between the episodes since I fell behind. The characterization and psychology in this show is so good, and the visual depiction of it is so powerful, it's really hard not to just stare in awe of how it all comes together. I can't ever remember watching a sports story written like this. Every character's journey here is tragic in their own ways, but as the series progressed, it increasingly felt like losing is not the end, but also that losing can be a way of understanding who a person truly is.
The extra visual flair showered on the Peco/Kazama match was really cool too. It adds an extra layer of enjoyment to what is already a very engaging experience. Kazama's raw willpower and skill matched against Peco's natural instincts and carefree invincibility. One clearly deserved to win over the other, and in the narrative rules which Ping Pong set up for itself, there should be no "magic" ability or shounen tropes which would allow a hero to triumph. Yet, the show subverts -itself- at the end to drive home the point that Peco -is- the hero, and that was what Smile saw in him all along, and what Smile has been waiting to play against all this time.
It's a huge accomplishment to be able to pull off something like this without it feeling cheap or random, but the thematic elements they're been building from the start for both Smile and Peco's psychological profiles makes everything fall into place. It just makes sense as the only possible way this show can end. It's.... really breathtaking.
----
It's doesn't put emphasis on talent -rather- than hard work and practice though. That's completely false. The show puts a huge emphasis that to be the best requires both talent and hard work. In the beginning of the series, both Peco and Smile are far from outstanding players overall because Smile doesn't really care, and Peco was getting demotivated because he knew it was rusty and he didn't want to train to make up for it. Those with less talent but put in extra work and practice could beat them. Smile has always been practicing even when Peco wasn't, but when he started training even more, he became invincible. Peco was never this good at the sport either until he finally dragged himself out of his hole and started training seriously. So it's not really a case where he doesn't work hard at all and beats people who work much harder. In the end, regardless of how much practice and training you have, someone who is naturally more talent will be able to beat you if they put in enough effort to polish that talent into ability. That's the message the show has, and I think it's true to life.
As for Peco's amazing come back, yes, it's completely unrealistic, and it's the one moment in the show where it goes against its own rules, but like I mentioned above, I think that in itself is the point for this climax.
Mauricio_Magus
Banned
How did I never see this thread, this is the best anime of the season. Episode 10 was just perfect, I can't wait for the last episode.
Manga is a finished work so there will be no season 2 barring some extremely contrived circumstances and demand for a sequel (hint: there won't be any).
John Kowalski
Banned
I'm so glad that everyone is getting a happy ending. Kazama being freed from the burden of
, Wenge coming to terms with himself and with life, Peco and Smile finding themselves again, etc. etc., such an uplifting an life affirming show.
lol, this is a yuasa show friend
there won't be a second season
his father's death? suicide is heavily implied
lol, this is a yuasa show friend
there won't be a second season
CornBurrito
Member
Unless I misunderstood the scenes, I dont think his mother died. Isn't "Auntie Emiko" Ryuichi's mother?
Also do we know how his father died? Was it suicide? I think that was implied a bit by the flashbacks.
Also what was the significance of the bathroom scene with Ryu and Sakuma? Sakuma realizes Ryu isn't playing table tennis for his own sake. But why does Sakuma care exactly? He can't know the real reason Ryu plays, or at least there's no indication that Sakuma knows about Ryu's family drama. And why does Ryu answer "for myself" to Sakuma but "for my team" to Sanada?
Oh and did I misread this scene in episode 10? Ryu asks Peco if he will "take me to this place again." Peco doesn't respond and Ryuichi says "I see." I sensed a tinge of sadness. Is the implication here that Peco is sacrificing his knee in order to play Smile as the Hero and take Ryuichi down this one time?
No you are right, I just worded my sentence badly. I meant that all the scenes showing the mother, and Ryuichi and his dad together are anime only added to expand on his backstory.
I'm probably guessing suicide as well given the scenes showing his frustration and the negative reception towards the family after.
Werewolf Jones
Member
All I saw is World Cup hype on my Facebook and Twitter but this finale is going to be the real sports event.
Kept forgetting to post int the pong thread.
Ping Pong 9
The comic style shots in the beginning of the match between Smile, and Sanada made me feel sick. I don't know why motion sickness maybe? Kong still remains my favorite character in the show, I like how the Kiao players are supposed to be hardcore, but really show their true feelings.
can't wait to see that. Digging the pompadour Sakuma is rocking. This show has my vote for AOTS.
Ping Pong 9
The comic style shots in the beginning of the match between Smile, and Sanada made me feel sick. I don't know why motion sickness maybe? Kong still remains my favorite character in the show, I like how the Kiao players are supposed to be hardcore, but really show their true feelings.
Smile has become flat, but seeing him as a kid makes me think he will smile if Peco wins.
Dedication Through Light
Member
No one watched yet?
11 (end)
Alright conclusion to the series, the kid versions of everyone was probably the best part as well as the song so that was a really good for it. Also for the plot
One of the better sports anime around due to the characters and some of the unique animation stuff, if somethings could be touched up around, it might be worth rewatching when funi get its and does its bd.
11 (end)
Alright conclusion to the series, the kid versions of everyone was probably the best part as well as the song so that was a really good for it. Also for the plot
Love Wenge's outcome, so glad he could go from having it all to the bottom, then turn a new leaf and rise back up, so good.
One of the better sports anime around due to the characters and some of the unique animation stuff, if somethings could be touched up around, it might be worth rewatching when funi get its and does its bd.
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