Maybe if you chant three times, the Ping Pong thread will appear.

[BT]

Created by Taiyou Matsumoto (Tekkon Kinkreet) and directed by Masaaka Yuasa (The Tatami Galaxy, Kaiba, Mind Game), Ping Pong The Animation is that one sports anime with the weird art style and not a lot of attention. Except it's a clear exception from the sports anime norm, the art style grows on you and it should really be more popular than it is. With a captivating story and cast and tons of character development, it got me hooked since around the third episode and hasn't once been boring. Aside from that, if you know Yuasa, you know what to expect.

If you've been watching, discuss how hype you are about what's left of this show. If you haven't, go catch up.

Spoiler:

Yesterday's episode, episode 9, had me chanting "yes" over and over for the last minute there. Tsukimoto looked up to Peco and his ping pong skill, then Peco started to fade away and Tsukimoto got lost and didn't know what to do with his life. Now Peco's back and risking his ping pong career to act as Tsukimoto's hero one more time.

I keep forgetting what Kazama's problem is. Is he doing all he's doing (retaining Kaio's glory, dedicating his existence to the sport) because of his... grandfather? I'm hazy on the details. He's the one who rose to glory because Butterfly Joe let him win, right? But Obaba's the one whose career got ruined because of the knee injury. Someone help me out here? Another detail I'm not sure of is Yurie's relationship with Kazama. I thought they were cousins at one point.

Anyway, next episode has Peco up against Kazama. Shit's gonna be amazing no matter who wins.

(Wenge continues to be the best character. Or tied with all the other great characters. I don't know, man.)

[Oh]

Why is

Spoiler:

Wenge

such a best character?

[hyorinryu]

I saw the first few episodes. I like the coach the best.

[BT]

Throat sore. Too pumped. RIP.

One more episode why. I want more of this drug.

[Lepetit89]

There was a thread? Didn't see it at all!

Probably my favourite anime this season. I thought it couldn't get better than last week's episode, but then this week's came. Just amazing.

I agree as far as Wenge is concerned, though all characters have pleasantly surprised me with the amount of depth they have displayed.

[BT]

Ahhh, and we're done. What a great show this was. This episode wasn't as blood-pumping as the last one, but it did a good job wrapping things up.

Spoiler:

Happy to see Wenge return to glory, super well deserved. I'm also surprised to see that history repeated itself, but it was great, really. In the end, I still don't fully understand Kazama's story - was he adopted? What about Obaba? What was her deal? I'll probably watch this again in a month or two anyway.