There are very, very few series that are almost unanimously considered to be great. Ping Pong the Animation is one of them. It is set around the game of Table Tennis and follows five people whose entire lives revolve around this one game. Sports anime usually follow a very black/white mortality scheme with some cocky guy doing bad things until the MC comes around and defeats him after weeks of practice. Ping Pong deviates from this formula so much that I find it hard to call it a sports anime. It is so much more than what that implies. There is a very gray morality scheme and I couldn't really say that one guy deserved to win over the other or vice versa. All characters have a reason that drives them forward - forward to victory, but in a cut-throat game such as ping pong, there can only be one winner, and the rest are discarded as trash.

Artwork and Animation (6/10)

One of the very first things you will probably notice about Ping Pong is its rather unorthodox artwork. It is still a matter of debate whether it was on purpose, or if it was just incompetence. While some may argue that it is one and the same, its not. Lazy and shit artwork are one thing, a unique artwork is quite another. Its kind of like the difference between, say SHAFT and TNK. One is out-of-place on purpose, the other is terrible while trying to look good. Ping Pong's main artwork is done by a certain Tatsunoko Productions. While they have a lot of anime under their belt, I have -embarrassingly enough- not seen even one of them. The only one I can think of is Gatchaman Crowds, which had an fairly average -if a bit heavily detailed- artwork. The same holds true for Ping Pong, except that Ping Pong's artwork is pretty irregular. It makes the entire series look uglier than it should have. I have no qualms with unique art, but I really don't like praising something based on uniqueness alone. The irregular and choppy artwork is a major annoyance early in the show, and some things are just downright disgusting (read: peco eating chewing gum). The irregularity also makes characters look all kinds of weird from different angles.On top of that, the artwork is very inconsistent, this is the case with most of the side characters.

That said, I won't call Ping Pong's artwork bad. I was actually quite tilted against it, but the last episode changed my mind. The sheer force of the game was stunning to be honest. The animation conveyed the energy of the game in almost a surreal manner and it then stuck me that bad artwork can't possibly achieve such an amazing experience - and even so, it went black and white. I hate to say it, but I have no idea why I liked the artwork at times. Its clearly terrible, but I just....liked it.

To summarize, the artwork in Ping Pong is terrible from my viewpoint, but a lot of people can handle it, and even enjoy it.

Besides, the plot and its immersion more than makes up for the bad artwork, with the artwork becomes steadily more comfortable as you progress further into Ping Pong. But that of course, holds true for almost any artwork.

Sound and Music (9/10)

The sound of shoes screeching on the floor, the sound of the ball hitting the table, the cry of cheer from the crowd and even the movement of a cycle are all done almost to perfection. Watching the game, it reminded me of back when I used to play, and I...you know, felt it. That love for the game, that passion. The biggest provider for that is -without a doubt- the sound. Its so lifelike that I don't really think I can praise it with mere words. Perhaps this is a little biased, but I'll call this perfection.

The voice acting is -once again- brilliant. But hold on, take a look at the VAs. Other than Tsukimoto, most of the others are pretty inexperienced. In fact, Peco and Wenge have this anime as their debuts. But, during the entire course, I figured the VAs were some high class dudes with a lot of anime under their belt. I was surprised to see that didn't hold true at all. Not often do you see new VAs give a performance as awesome as they did in Ping Pong. God-tier will probably be too low for this. I don't know if it was the content of their words or their voices, but I connected pretty well to the characters thanks to this. Listen to Wenge telling his story, or when he sings. You can literally feel the pain and the responsibility that rests on his shoulders - even though he acts so indifferent to his story. After all, someone who has lived through stuff doesn't get re-emotional over that, he has probably accepted the fact and moved on. Despite that, it felt like an old friend was talking about how his life has gone, and he had just accepted his conditions and was preparing to change them. That's one part that really hit home. Another thing about Wenge is that his VA is a native japanese, but any chinese guy would swear that the guy is chinese due to his control over the language. Of course, Peco also has stellar voice acting, especially when he is brimming with confidence.

The music is, once again, excellent. It just grips you with its power. Look at OP01, that is top quality stuff right there. While it goes a bit stale approaching the middle, it picks up again and just becomes god-tier.

The ED is comparatively low-beat, but it did seem a bit....off-track. In episodes that end with a cliffhanger or maybe after a power play, it just seems weird that a calming voice comes out after such a trilling end. Kinda reminded me of Clannad and its utterly depressing thing happens DANGO MOTHERFUCKING DANGO

Story and Characters (26/30) and (28/30)

The story for the most part is about Peco and Smile (ironic). Smile is better than Peco but let's him win because they are friends. Then some douchebag coach going MISSSTERR TSUKIMOTO turns up and wants to coach his talent so he can unleash it in the interhigh tournaments. Even so, Smile lacks any motivation to do so.

While the premise might sound boring, or perhaps rather uninspiring, its execution is nothing short of brilliant. It takes on a borderline tragedy face during the tournaments and the drama is rather unmatched. The story is extra serious and the plot progression is fair enough. The pacing is surprisingly very good despite being only 11 episodes. Most of the focus is on Smile and Peco's history and while that counts as great development at first, it starts getting boring fast. Even though sports is the major genre here, a one on one game is usually not shown, and even then its kept short, it was a bit disappointing, but to be perfectly honest, I think that was the best way to do it. The story spends an awful long time creating the characters and setting the pace. After that, a game is played. Despite it not showing individual points, the focus is on the two players, It shows as the completely outmatched player of the two realizes his doom, and notices how its all over for him, asking himself, questioning if Table Tennis is really what he should do with his life - with a wave of resignation hitting him. This development is what makes ping pong so ruthlessly excellent in its execution. Looking at it from a purely fact based view, its just one guy you never saw before losing and going "oh crap" but from the viewer's human view, its so much more than just that.

That said, all is not well with the story. Yurie seemed rather side lined and pointless and her inclusion somehow soured the story. Even then, Ping Pong just...lost its touch at ep8. It revealed a bit too much too fast and ended up giving a painfully obvious prediction away.

Thankfully, I didn't predict too much and was still allowed to get a great ending. Speaking of endings, I believe that support characters (outside of Kazama and Wenge) didn't quite get the ending they deserved. A lot of support characters don't get any development, but considering how its only 11 episodes, I believe this was just fine. Ping Pong's Lifelike characters and stunning realism is pretty much what drives it forward with a little push from its storyline. The coming of age and the bitter rivalries between characters is portrayed beautifully. For such a short anime, its almost surprising to get this.

Yet another thing that comes to mind is the script writing. Or to be more specific - dialogues. Throughout the series the interaction between characters was realistic and often left the viewer with some kind of an impression.

Clearly though, Ping Pong is not something to watch on the train. You have to really sit down and lose yourself in it to really appreciate it. Its plot is serious and dedicated, which in turn gives off a good watch.

Enjoyment (17/20)
Do I have to say it? I loved every second of Ping Pong. While of course, it does have its faults, I believe that Ping Pong does do an extremely good job in achieving what others fail at - giving an unforgettable experience. I really really wish that I could call it a masterpiece, but that little artwork section is really holding it back. Despite that though, I enjoyed my experience - something that hasn't happened in quite a while now. To be honest, I would recommend it to everyone, be they sports fans or just in for some romance. Who I won't recommend it to would be 14 year old kids who most of the anime industry service day and night. I just hope that the positive feedback that Ping Pong has received drives the industry in a better direction and perhaps even to more dedicated storytelling. Then -just like it did this season- I'll be able to say "Ping Pong was the bastion that saved anime"