(CR) Syakunetsu no Takkyuu Musume (Scorching Ping Pong Girl)

[Stark700]

Probably my favorite match so far out of the series this week:

Spoiler:

[Random Wanderer]

Those underclassmen are so ludicrously fickle in their fangirlishness I can't stand them.

If you've only got one move, Agari, she's going to see through it.

And yep, right around that point she shifts the momentum and takes things back. An interesting trick.

And in the end it played out predictably. In a good way. Agari has finally found someone she can really play against, and it's revived her love of the game itself.

[Yamada II]

Episode 3

Pretty disappointing match. Too much still frames and not enough animation. And then they skipped all of Agari's deadly forehand smashes. I was waiting for her to switch to her forehand and they just skipped it all. Hokuto vs Koyori was the best so far because of all that focus her style got and because it had less still frames than this one.

What I did like was that Agari's reason for playing has changed from wanting praises to because she loves the game. She was mediocre at almost everything else even though her mother told her to be the best. And she found table tennis to be the only thing she's good at. She didn't like it that the only top spot she has is being taken away from her. But, just like with everyone else, Agari starts having fun with Koyori despite losing and wants to play with her again to get that feeling.

I liked what they did with the opening sequence: they had Agari saying that she'll defeat Koyori and retain her spot in the middle of the OP. And now Munemune's possible onee-chan is going to come after her foot has healed after an injury. And she's the team captain which means that she's obviously better than Agari. And it's her final year so they'll be like "let's win for our graduating senpai" or something. Now to see how Koyori fares against her. I hope this possible match doesn't disappoint with too many still shots.

[Master_Yoma]

Agari vs Koyori but she really used that backhand smash way to much

So Hokuto know the color to all the girls panties

[Eisdrache]

This show is so incredibly gay and I am loving it.

Maybe this one will actually finish nationals.

[frivolity]

The show really took it too far with the close-ups, to the point that it's hard to see what's going on in between rallies. For example, it's difficult to get an idea of how far away Koyori was from the table when she switched to a defensive style. A few sequences from the top view would help a lot.

Aside from that, I didn't like how Koyori's defensive style still primarily involved topspin strokes. With Agari already using looping attacks, it would be a far better contrast for Koyori to utilise a series of counteracting chops with the ball dipping below the table before returning.

This show isn't about that though. I wonder whether there will be doubles matches further down the series.

[grecefar]

I loved the photo of agari smiling is good that she started to love the game again, but from this chapter onwards I'm going to dislike koyori.

Let's see if the captain destroy koyori streak.

[HandofFate]

episode 3 was definitely scourching.

hated akari's character as a person, so its good she's growing off her desire to just be praised quick

[Stark700]

Episode 4

Best episode so far yet imo. The captain really is no joke with her talent.

I find it amusing that she imposes "penalties" on the losers. So many cat girls. Agari is probably the only legit threat against the captain imo.

[Random Wanderer]

Hmm... can't say I'm fond of the president's attitude.

Anyone who knows ping pong care to guess what it is that Koyori is missing that's allowed Agari to beat her three times in a row now?

Preview looks like it spoils who wins the Agari/president fight, since we see Koyori up against her, and Agari not wearing nekomimi while watching.

[Flower]

Ep 04

I don't know if it is related to ping pong itself, but I would guess what Koyori is missing would be a goal. Agari is an extremely goal driven person, but was lacking in the realm of enjoyment of the game "in the moment" ... i.e. the "tanoshii factor".

Spoiler for Comparisons and speculations between Scorching Ping Pong Girls and Saki franchises:

Koyori reminds me a little bit of Saki from the Saki franchise (only a little, mind you).

After Saki was able to re-capture/remember her buried love of the game in playing with someone who was skilled and challenging (something Koyori already has, although thus far she does not appear to be the inherent absolute monster Saki is).

It was only when Saki was presented the possibility of going to the Nationals to meet up with and trying to patch things up with her older sister, that is, when she was given a very specific "goal" that she began to really play more seriously, or it allowed her to level up a bit. I think Koyori needs something similar to catalyst her game to the next step.

[Random Wanderer]

So she's good, and enjoys playing, but doesn't have a reason to push herself to improve because her only reason for playing is just to keep playing some more?

[Yamada II]

Episode 4

This was a rather less exciting episode since there wasn't much table tennis action. The comedy fell flat consistently here. But I never had much hopes for the comedy part anyway.

Agari is improving and is probably starting to do things other than her loop drive backhand smash thing because I think that's the only way to counter Koyori i.e do something else. The captain shows up and she's got skills. She and Agari were always switching between the first and second spots. And her style employs the backspin. Backspin isn't really as dangerous as they're making it out to be especially since you can see it coming easily because the chopping action is so obvious. Just look at that racket and you can tell a backspin's coming your way and adjust accordingly. Her deadliness is probably because of the amount of backspin. Just like how Agari's is due to her immense topspin. And topspin counters backspin easily so she's going to win against the captain. And since Koyori specializes in countering everything, she's going to win too. I just hope there aren't many still frames next week.

Koyori is probably missing a goal as she's only in the game for fun. Agari is full blown determined to be the best so she's doing extra practice unlike Koyori who isn't, so Agari might eventually get better but it wouldn't matter much to Koyori since she'll still be having fun even if she loses. She'll get better eventually though, but not at the same speed as Agari. Technique-wise, Koyori's perfect I guess since she can counter any style, defensive or offensive. She doesn't have a set style which is the best in this game I guess.

[Flower]

Originally Posted by Random Wanderer

So she's good, and enjoys playing, but doesn't have a reason to push herself to improve because her only reason for playing is just to keep playing some more?

I think so, yes ... my guess is at the moment she loves the experience itself of the game and competition against players, whoever they are - she primarily loves the "rush". But extending (a natural extension for many?) that into official competitions ... I don't think it has "clicked" in her the same way it has, say, with Agari.

Maybe (big maybe) an analogy might be this - she is not yet a crunch player who would improve her competition in a team match and be motivated to move herself beyond her "normal" levels of skills for the sake of the dreams of the whole team. My feeling at the moment is that she is something like a person who is very "innocently and sweet naturedly self-centered" in her reasons for playing?

Just guessing here, of course....

[grecefar]

I like how things are with agari and koyori fighting for the first place every day, I was getting scare of koyori being the best just like that and for what it seems agari have the advantage becasue koyori is losing more now.

Agari didn't have cat ears in the preview so is safe to asume she won the point, maybe when it was 4-0 but it won and captain is playing against koyori to amuse herself.

[Master_Yoma]

So thats the captain she wacky boob pillow and making everyone wearing cat ears

[frivolity]

Finally a defensive player shows up, about time! I would rather that she play full defensive mode though, with return chops when the ball is under the table so the opponent can't see the spin, perhaps even playing from a few metres behind the table against aggressive players.

[videoman190]

Random images.

Images

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

[EroKing]

[Stark700]

Episode 5

Lol, those cat ears are priceless. They should just keep them in the show from now on.

This was actually my favorite episode so far from the series (even more from the previous one). The captain taking on Agari and Koyori really showed their potential. Of course, I don't think the captain used her full strength but it still shows that Agari and Koyori has talent in ping pong. There may be a chance for them to take the Nationals if they work hard enough together.

I wonder if this show will include character theme songs soon for the more prominent competitors though. The music made the match more fun to watch.