Ping Pong: The Animation (2014) - Review
“You’ll never cross the sea on such delicate wings.”
Ping Pong: The Animation was released in 2014 by Tatsunoko Production, and was directed by Masaaki Yuasa - a singular visionary director who has had such creative works as Mind Game, The Tatami Galaxy, Devilman Crybaby, and that one episode of Adventure Time that’s burned into your subconscious.
This experimental anime forgoes any conventional framing or on-model reasonability whatsoever, instead choosing to place emphasis on the emotionality of the scene. It does not hold your hand when it comes to the sport itself - it refuses to slow down any moment of the game to explain the technicalities of it, what’s happening during a match, or even how the game itself works, instead it poses the argument that what’s more important is how each character is feeling during those matches, even going as far as using abstract imagery to showcase how a player VIEWS their opponent, in much the same way that the production refuses to be beholden to any technical constraints.
Ping Pong is a story about a group of kids obsessed with the competitive world of Ping Pong, and the all consuming dedication it takes to succeed in the sport. It of course dives into the nature of what it means to succeed, and the fact that you absolutely have to do it for yourself otherwise you will not be all in, but it also toys with the debate of whether you can get by on raw talent, or if you can only succeed if you work yourself to the bone - or rather, is raw talent a factor at all, or is it solely the hard work that makes you “talented” to begin with? How far are you willing to go to become the best at what you do? After all, Blood Tastes Like Iron.
In addition to that, at its core, Ping Pong is the story of two boys, childhood friends, whose friendship stretches and contracts over the course of the series. It’s about how each of them come to the sport, and life as a whole, with two very different attitudes and mindsets, and how each of them find that camaraderie in one another despite those differences.
Ping Pong: The Animation is a series that places the feeling of the story and individual scenes above all else, taking priority over any form of structure, in much the same way that the characters within the story have to take their passion for the sport. Even going so far as not showing the points of the final match throughout that match - because that’s not ever what was important to the characters or the series. Instead, that final match was the culmination of all of the feelings that lead to that point. The love of the game itself, not the specifics of the game.
The driving themes behind it paired with the breathtakingly experimental animation that bends reality to its whims, exaggerating expressions and movements, while also using framing that feel like manga panels come to life on the screen all form together to make a unique, raw experience that will undoubtedly make the Top 100 Greatest Anime of All Time List.
My Current MAL Rating: 8/10
Top 100 Contender: Yes
Top 100 Ranking (Temporary): 17/100
