I remember a few years back when I was discussing anime with someone in a year above mine at my school that the discussion had turned to what we believed were the worst anime of all time. We discussed the usual that everybody brings up. Mars of Destruction Boku no Pico as well as the then recently released second season of Tokyo Ghoul. As we kept discussing this topic the other person lets call him Light Novel Trash Lover as he kept telling me Infinite Stratos and SAO were the best anime ever made and he even came to school cosplaying Kirito a couple of times complete with the dual swords and everything how the hell he was let in was beyond me then brought up Ping Pong: The Animation as being one of the worst anime ever. Struck with both surprise and curiosity I asked him his reasons why for at the time I had only seen three episodes and had really liked what I had seen. Light Novel Trash Lover then told me that Ping Pong is the worst anime of all time because the animation and art style is terrible. And this little story sums up why I believe Ping Pong The Animation is so overlooked within the anime community which is a shame too since many are missing out on perhaps one of the greatest sports anime of all time and one of the best in this past decade of anime. Of course disliking an animes art style is not inherently bad but dismissing the entire show as being bad based off the art style seems pretty silly. Regardless of such Ping Pong The Animation has recently become one of my favourite anime ever Its a show less concerned about the sport and more so a character study of its cast filled to the brim with interesting and clever allegorical writing and symbolism from one of the most critically acclaimed and respected directors working today Masaaki Yusa So lets grab our ping pong bats taste some of our blood as it tastes like iron yknow and allow me to explain why I believe this show to be a masterpiece The hero comes. The hero comes. The hero comes. Chant these words in your mind and Ill surely come to you... Reciting these lines in his mind one of our protaganists nicknamed Smile fights on in each and every one of his ping pong matches along with his friend nicknamed Peco. Both boys have grown up together bonding ever more closely over their shared passion of ping pong and after growing older and reaching high school both begin to play in tournament matches. The show sees them both grow not only in their ping pong abilities and skills but also more so as people as well as they influence the players who go against them who in turn also have their own mental hang ups. Ping Pongs narrative if anything will not surprise you with any grand plot twists and is at its most fundamental level a standard sports narrative. However what makes the show shine so much is its well developed cast of characters symbolism and amazing directing. Another thing that helps to make Ping Pong so much fun to watch from an entertainment perspective alone is how well paced the entire show actually is. The narrative is always pushing forward in some way introducing new plot threads and mental dilemmas for its characters while also wrapping up several older ones at the same time keeping the anime fresh and interesting. Another thing that makes this otherwise standard story so great is the how attached we become to both Peco and Smile as characters generating intrigue from the audience and many of the ping pong matches are exciting to watch since the narrative does a good job at creating narrative stakes and tension. The best example of this is the match between Weng and Kazama where if Weng loses this match he will not be able to return to his home country of China which makes the proceeding absolute beat down of his character in the match all the more emotionally gripping. The entire show is just very tightly written with visual symbolism and motifs as well as well developed themes and ideas used in many cases in order to convey more about the characters and what theyre feeling without the use of dialogue to masterful effect which I will be getting more into in a moment. The crux of the show is certainly the relationship between Peco and Smile and how each one of them develops throughout the course of the show. Whats particularly interesting about their relationship is the juxtaposition of their personalities. Peco is rather upbeat cocky and is highly motivated to become the best in ping pong while Smile is much more quiet and is referred to as being a robot with no emotions by his peers and the people who go against him in matches. In fact his name Smile was given due to him rarely smiling which we later learn was actually given to him by Peco after seeing how much Peco enjoyed playing ping pong as a kid. Smiles character is all about learning how to enjoy the game of Ping Pong once again and break away from the robotic play style and mould he has been using for many years. The reason as to how Smile achieves this is through Pecos involvement in his life. Thus Peco is Smiles hero the salvation he needs to enjoy the sport he holds so dearly once again which results in some fantastic cathartic pay off at the end of the series. The motif of the hero as well as the idea of flight is a consistent theme in the show and is used often to convey how characters are feeling too with the depiction of a hero with wings being the representation of Peco. During the final match between Peco and Smile as Smile begins to break free from his robotic play style we see an image of a bird flying freely through the sky representative of Smiles newly gained freedom. Pecos energetic play style and massive love for ping pong ends up being the salvation of other players too in particular to Kazama who had devoted his entire life to a strict training regime in order to win at ping poing and to further his career. However his constant winning also leaves him isolated and secluded as he frequently finds comfort in hiding in bathrooms before playing a game. In the penultimate episode of the show we see visual imagery of the hero in other words Peco extend a hand to Kazama before taking it back and smiling at him. Kazama then grows wings himself and flies after the hero looking down at the bathroom he used to hide himself in signalling that his character has indeed grown and he is now able to enjoy ping pong once again reflected in his changed attitude in the game he is playing. More evidence that Peco is indeed Smiles hero comes from the line Iron tastes like blood which I referenced a little earlier in this review. The idea is that iron and blood are two juxtaposing elements both representative of the contrast in personalities between the two characters. Blood is something that is alive something that is moving representing life thereby linking into the idea that Peco is a hero and plays ping pong because he loves it while the iron which is associated as being cold and metallic is representative of Smiles character and play style. The idea that Peco tells Smile that Iron tastes like blood could be seen that Peco is trying to make Smile see that he is more human than Smile and everyone else believes. Another piece of symbolism used to contrast their characters are the use of the star and the moon both typically found on each respective persons item of clothing or on their ping pong bats. The star is used to represent Peco always full of life and shining brilliantly illuminating everyone around him fitting into the hero motif while the moon is used to represent Smile an object that has two sides to it: the dark side and the light side representing the change that is going to take place in his character. Some clever visual imagery is used in regards to Pecos character when he throws his bat into a river which has the star symbol on it signifying that Pecos light and ambition is now no more. And there are plenty of these visual motifs in this show all of which are used to showcase or add onto characterisation making for some of the most interesting characters Ive seen before in any show most of which are rather relatable which drives the emotional weight of the characters even more. Each theme and motif in ping pong is integrated into the narrative in order for us to learn more about the characters. Take for example the motif of the butterfly in regards to Smiles coach Koizumi or the theme hard work being crushed under natural talent in the case of Sakuma in his match against Smile. Ping Pong also has one of my all time favourite soundtracks with each track fitting the theme and personality of a character perfectly. The opening is damn great and never fails to get me pumped up while at the same time sprinkling in some lyrics relating to the motif of flying in the show. Pecos theme is fast paced frantic and fun mirroring his character and the motif of a hero and is used to fantastic effect during his match with Kazama. In contrast Kazamas theme is foreboding and powerful representing Kazamas strength which is used amazingly during his match with Weng that I briefly touched upon before. Id also like to use this match as an example of how great and imaginative the animation can be at times too. As previously mentioned this match has a lot of narrative stakes since it is the final chance for Weng to get back into China after being kicked off the Chinese team so as an audience we sympathise more so with him and want him to succeed. However what follows is an utterly hopeless beat down and the entire match feels helpless. Just as much as Weng is feeling desperate so do we an audience member and the anime conveys this feeling of helplessness with fantastic visuals of Kazama towering over Weng signifying their difference in skills and talent as the ping pong table itself stretches out emphasising this idea. Not only that but every time Kazama hits the ball a streak of purple lighting is used to convey the power and lighting fast reflexes Kazama retains. In addition we also see him depicted as being a giant again referencing his raw strength but also the colour used is important as well: purple. In Ping Pong the colour purple is used to represent those respected in the world of ping pong as both teachers of Peco and Smile frequently wear shirts with some shade of purple and the highly influential academy Kazama attends is also largely purple. Taking this idea of purple and applying it to this situation makes for an interesting idea when we see Kazama transform into a giant purple dragon. Dragons are typically associated with Chinese culture the place where Weng is trying to get back to and having Kazama transform into a dragon is symbolic of his team who turned their back on them and the idea that he will never reach them ever again. The use of the purple signifies that theyre respected in the world of ping pong and the lack of any purple on Weng represents the idea that he will never get there again. The entire show is loaded with this much visual imagery and creative metaphors and is so insanely dense that it would be impossible to talk about it all which is what makes the show so insanely well crafted and interesting to watch for anyone who loves creative animation. The animation as a whole is incredibly fluid and at times rather bouncy and energetic. I also love the art style too albeit if it can sometimes look jarring or wonky at times it was never enough to pull me out of the overall experience however. When it comes down to it Ping Pong is a hard series to summarise and talk about because of how dense and how well constructed everything is. I could go on forever about what I personally think the show is trying to say and what each element represents but I believe part of the fun of this show is trying to piece and make sense of everything for yourself and if there is anything of what I said you think is misinterpreted or just flat out wrong please feel free to tell me. After all all the analysis is just from my mind. Ping Pong The Animation is a marvel. A great example of what can be accomplished in animation and a true testament that a simple idea can become a wonderful show. Its characters are very well developed and the allegorical meaning behind what each represents are interesting the music is fantastic and overall this is one of the best experiences Ive had with a show ever. With that all said and done thank you for taking the time to read my review and Ill leave you with my favourite quote from the show: Were alive and thats why were happy...