Ping Pong Review

Ping Pong tells the story of best friends, ‘Peco’ Hoshino, and ‘Smile’ Tsukimoto. Their friendship grew around a mutual appreciation of table tennis, and both of them have a heap load of natural talent. In a school that revolves around table tennis and the annual inter-high school tournaments, that is a big deal. But their personalities couldn’t be more different. Peco is brash, cocky and reckless, eschewing practice and hard work for hustling his way up the ranks at Grandma Tamura’s table tennis dojo, confident in the belief that his natural talent alone is enough to make him world champion. He’s not the perfect player for coach “Butterfly” Joe Koizumi, who works with the school table tennis club, and who sees Smile as his ideal player, more amenable to training and discipline. But Smile is sullen, withdrawn and apathetic (he got the nickname Smile because it’s something he never does), and he lacks motivation, despite his considerable talent. Peco looks forward to the next tournament as his way onto the national team, while Smile couldn’t care less.

Taiyo Matsumoto’s 1996 manga gotan anime adaptation from Masaaki Yuasa in 2014, and it was a strong adaptation, even if unconventional in animation style and production. But before the anime, Fumihiko Sori debuted with a live action adaptation in 2002. He would subsequently go on to direct Vexille and TO, and he also produced the first AppleseedCGI movie. I first saw the film on TV and fell in love with it. I then spent five years looking for a decent DVD release, shunning a barebones, hard-subbed UK disc for the eventual 2-disc Region 1 release from VIZ Media. And of course, once I got a Blu-ray player I was looking for the film in HD, suggesting the title to boutique labels when they were fishing for potential titles, and even when they weren’t. It’s taken until 2026, but we finally have Ping Pong on a decent disc in the UK, as 88 Films have released Ping Pong on Blu-ray.

I love Fumihiko Sori’s Ping Pong; it’s one of my favourite films, and it’s really stood the test of time since I first watched it. Part of it might be down to just what I watched first, but I do prefer it to Masaaki Yuasa’s anime. If I try to be objective, I have to admit that the anime does work better when it comes to character development, as it has more room for the story to breathe over its 11 episodes. But for me, the Flash animation style was a sticking point, and comparing the movie to the anime, it feels that the film is just as effective in capturing the feel of the original story. Ping Pong is a rare film that blends a manga style with the visual dynamism and subtle performances of live action.

You can learn in the extras how director Fumihiko Sori became interested in CGI when working as a character animator on James Cameron’s Titanic. He wanted to bring that then-nascent technology to Japanese cinema, and it was Ping Pong that first afforded the opportunity. There’s not a single real ping pong ball used in any of the competitive matches in the film, which allows the actors to look as expert at the sport as the story needs them to be. I really appreciate subtle and understated uses of CGI to serve a story like this.

The film establishes the relationship between the outgoing Peco (Yôsuke Kubozuka) and the introverted Smile (Arata Iura) right at the beginning with a flashback to their first meeting, with Peco rescuing Smile from a gang of bullies, befriending him, and introducing him to the sport of table tennis. That sets the co-dependent relationship right at the start, and in the film, the story becomes more about their different philosophies, their approaches to the game. With Smile, it’s hard work and talent ahead of ambition, and with Peco it’s talent and ambition ahead of hard work, and quite naturally they are missing aspects of their respective games to keep them from succeeding. Both actors have no problem with the larger than life performances that you’d expect from a manga adaptation, Peco is punkishly boisterous, while Smile’s sullen demeanour borders on cliché. But both actors can be subtle too, such as Peco’s quiet smile when his abilities are finally acknowledged, and the way Smile’s relationship with his coach, Joe develops into something more personal.

Of course they have to face various opponents, and overcome them to progress, and there are entertaining story and character arcs to hold the attention in, China, Dragon and Demon. Demon is Smile and Peco’s childhood friend who went to a rival school. He too loves table tennis, but he’s the third side of the triangle. He’s got ambition, and he puts in the hard work, but natural talent eludes him. The captain of the table tennis club at his school is Dragon, who’s basically a ping pong machine, and who drills his team as hard as he plays. If effort and rage alone could make someone world champion, he would be a dead cert, but when you see his pre-match warm up routine, it’s clear he seeks something more too. Then there is China, a ringer brought in to a third school from the powerhouse table tennis nation. He couldn’t quite cut the mustard back home, so he’s hoping the Japanese school system will be his way into the top flight of the game.

I’ve described this film as the Zen of ping pong before, and I still believe that. The storytelling and the editing really help in that regard, but so does the music soundtrack, with the song choice really working to emphasise the story beats. I guess I’d categorise it as punk trance, especially with the themes for the film from Supercar, ‘Free Your Soul’ with its driving beat, and the end credits theme, ‘Yumegiwa Last Boy’. Balance this with the mellow electronic sounds of ‘Eden’ by Dub Squad and ‘Rise’ by Sugar Plant, and you can see how the film appeals to the spiritual side as well as the vicarious champion in us all. This is one release where you wish there was a special edition with the soundtrack CD.

88 Films release Ping Pong on Region A/B Blu-ray. You get one disc in a BD Amaray style case with a reversible sleeve (if you prefer the original artwork) and a numbered Obi strip (limited to 4000). Also in the case is a 12-page booklet with writing on the film from Jonathan Clements. The disc boots to a static menu, and the film gets a 1.78:1 widescreen 1080p transfer with the choice between DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround and 2.0 Stereo Japanese with optional translated white English subtitles. You also get burnt-in Japanese subtitles for the Cantonese dialogue. I was happy with the audio, nice and immersive, putting you in the middle of the games, and making the most of the music while keeping the dialogue clear. The subtitles are accurately timed and free of typos. I think Ping Pongwas an early digitally shot film, but other than some blown whites, and shimmer on the finest detail, it looks good with solid contrast, consistent colours and strong detail. On disc you’ll also find a commentary from Zack Davisson, An Artist’s Take: Michael Arias on Taiyo Matsumoto (21:30), A Different Class: A Video Essay from Jasper Sharp (13:43), and the Trailer (1:35). If you have the VIZ DVD release, you might want to keep hold of it for the extras disc, extras which are completely different. The images in this review are taken from that DVD.

I still love Ping Pong; it’s a sports movie that transcends sport. It’s hard to be objective about one of my favourite films, but even I can accept that the anime tells a more effective story with the cast of characters. The film by its nature has to focus more on Peco and Smile, but with a great cast of characters and excellent performances, it’s one of my go-to feel-good films. I can’t recommend Ping Pongenough.

Just Passing Through

There was this apocryphal story some years ago about a man crushed to death by his own magazine collection. That’s going to be me and physical media. I’ve been collecting since VHS was a thing, and writing about what I’ve watched, including anime, since my first DVD player. Now that I’m writing for Anime UK News, I still have a 2.77 meter pile of unwatched anime that I have yet write about. Please don’t fall on me, anime pile…

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