The Anime Ping Pong Changed my Life

A review on how an obscure anime from 2014 changed me

The repetitive side-to-side feeling of the slamming soundtrack, the motion and flow of the story, the incredible use of simplistic animation that gave fluidity to the scenes. I know I’m like ten years too late to this one, nevertheless, watching it for the first time in 2024 – it completely changed my life.

I know that sounds like a great exaggeration and it kinda is, but there are very few shows I have the patience for personally. Growing old and weary of the new blockbusters, and tired of watching sh*t that looks as though it was slapped together by a marketing company in order to sell me items in the film.

I’m pretty sure I know within the first five minutes whether something will speak to me personally, and that’s because I’ve spent my whole life watching films, TV shows, and cartoons. 

I had the time and yearn to watch the Ping Pong anime twice, which being only 11 episodes wasn’t that hard to do to be honest. I’ve been getting interested in anime again after a long interlude and I’ve watched very few, and all the ones I’ve watched have meant something to me. But Ping Pong hits different.

So here are my thoughts on one of the most impactfully simple, subtly inspirational stories of the 21st century – if you didn’t already know of it.

The story is as the name suggests, about table tennis… but boy is it so much more than that.

You follow the story of the Ping Pong players, expressly the main characters Smile and Peco. Two friends since childhood, who work their way with the aims of competing in ping pong competitions. Along the way you come across a whole host of other characters – all with the same goals but each of them with different reasons for wanting to reach the top and different methods of motivation.

Including the awesome coaches who share a similar road towards their own successes and challenges as young table tennis players. Who are equally as fascinating as the main characters themselves, exhaling at the youth they’re training, while sharing in their thrill for the sport.

What I love about it without giving it away, is the beauty in the way the story is carved. Much like the racket ‘chopping’ the characters do with the ball on the table – director Masaaki Yuasa outlines how these peoples’ lives quickly interconnect, weaving in the game itself, ideas around competition, and what it takes to become the best. Each character has their own motivation, hopes, and dreams – and all of those collide in the most thrilling anime portrayal of the sport.

Each quick cut added to the screen had me edging closer to the edge of my seat. Every ping hit with a pong, mixed into the soundtrack, and ever closely followed by the bead of sweat off the characters brow.

But why did a cartoon change your life Jac?

Simple, if you haven’t watched the anime yet, I’d say stop reading now for fear of spoilers. Seriously, turn away and come back to this after you’ve watched it. Okay… now that they’re gone…

It’s the interplay between Smile and Peco, two characters I felt closely connected to personally, the way they thought are inherent in who I am. My two sides. The quiet reserved nature of Smile, and the infectious drive of Peco. I loved the idea of the hero and how it shows up at the end of the show, finding out the big reveal was something I genuinely didn’t see coming.

I love that the belief in the out of the ordinary hero that arises is what helped the boys rise. But more than that, it was in their ability to have fun with what they were doing. They clearly both loved the sport, playing together, and that is what mattered in the end. 

There was almost a cyclical nature to their relationship, noting he only truly smiles when they play together. That Peco needs to rise to meet Smile despite having taught him the ropes. Then there was Peco’s infectious arrogant enthusiasm and self belief — mixed in with a huge heart. He challenges his competitors to fly with him. Cried when he lost, and soars when he wins.

It’s a human story told with an animation style that is so unique, you can tell it was lovingly put together, and the abstract style that seems ever changing from one shot to the next — helps make it timeless, makes the characters tangible and seeks to find purpose in every frame and every line of dialogue.

I think in my own life I can draw parallels to the shows themes, even so I’ve not played ping pong since I was a teenager, and never competed in sports at all. I can draw parallels to my career as a writer, starting from nowhere, going up against conglomerate companies (the bald dudes in the show) to strive to get to the top, for the love of writing rather than the glory (or the use of AI which the characters literally combat robot ping pong players haha).

Working your way up and striving to be an individual, yourself, more unique than the bald dudes (conglomerates). Despite not having much financial backing at all as the two mains don’t. The animation gave me the reminder I needed in life:

Have fun. 

No matter what you’re doing in this life, what goals, what mission. Just have more frickin’ fun. I had been taking myself way too seriously, man. I still am in many ways. That’s when I started thinking, how can I start to have more fun in my life and learn to let go of censoring myself more? How can I be more actually authentic rather than the buzzword version? 

I’d seen anime from Yuasa before and they always fascinated me; the janky yet realistic art styles, the sometimes deja-vu plot lines or that feeling of fate he gives me, that makes me feel like I’ve seen his anime before in another life. Not to mention his weird characters that appeal to my inner outsider. 

But Ping Pong I’d not seen before, I’d also not come to realise its lessons on my own. And for the manga that came before and for the anime series, I will be forever grateful for the inspiration to let go.

How’re you letting go? You might ask.

Nah, I'm not signing up for ping pong lessons haha. But instead I think I’ll be doing more video editing — my first love that I chucked away. I know everyone and their mother has a YouTube channel at this point. And it’s something I’m nervous about putting out there, but at the same time I get this giddy feeling inside. Like when you hear a song that sparks joy, or an anime that propels motion, or a creation that makes you laugh.

I’ve edited a few videos to see where I want to go with it. And it’s been so much fun. I ping pong between sharing them and leaving them on my laptop. Back and forth, side to side. I fantasize about how well they might do, and analyse how they might be terrifically disliked, or go unnoticed like a tree amidst a forest of them.

Almost enjoying the hesitation and deliberation more than actually doing it, likely. Wondering what I might learn if I were to put my big girl pants on, and just do it.

The show is about each character, all of them as one person, endeavoring to perfect a craft. To gain self understanding. Repetitively showing up, growing in self mastery. To have fun with it. Be present. Be honest. That’s what Ping Pong is about to me, and…

I too wish to fly. 

So all there is left to say is, hero kenzan! Hero kenzan! Hero kenzan!

All images and information are based on the amazing Ping Pong: The Animation © 2014 Taiyou Matsumoto, Shogakukan / PingPong The Animation Committee