(L+CR) Ping Pong (NoitaminA)

[musouka]

Originally Posted by kuromitsu

By the way, it seems that the guy who voices China is not a pro voice actor either, although he's done some voiceovers and some acting. At the official site he says this is his first voice acting job.

Wow, really? That's impressive. He doesn't sound raw to me at all, though, admittedly, I don't know Chinese so it might just be totally escaping my attention.

[ditn]

Originally Posted by kuromitsu

By the way, it seems that the guy who voices China is not a pro voice actor either, although he's done some voiceovers and some acting. At the official site he says this is his first voice acting job.

To me that smile is accepting the fact that you lost from a better player and you know it and you take youre hat of for his skills..
I had this experience a couple of times in taekwondo as well,sometimes someone simply played better than you and you can live with it

at least i think its that

[cleo]

Oh nice, Yuasa is on Pixiv:
http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?id=189135

Spoiler for images:

[kuromitsu]

^That's not Yuasa, it's this girl (guy?): http://www.mpcx.biz/ (Iwamoto Eiri, aspiring mangaka and illustrator)

I don't think Yuasa is on pixiv (he is on twitter, though).

[cleo]

Oh heck, that's what you get when you can't read japanese
Still very impressive how well (s)he captures the style.

[MeoTwister5]

Smile is developing a just as keikaku face.

[sikvod00]

Wow. I'm impressed. The visuals were even more ugly than usual. At least they matched the ugly truth that Smile coldly verbalized near the end of the episode: sometimes success favors the talented, not the hardworking or diligent. It's a reality many athletes have to face, and it's certainly a tough pill to swallow. Is it fair? Absolutely not. It's an especially disheartening truth in a culture that almost fetishes working like a dog. My favorite scene was Wenge thinking about his mother while examining his package of sweets. It reminded me of when my mom used to ship a big box full of snacks to me while I was away at university. So touching...

It wouldn't surprise me if Smile ends up being an unbeatable monster, who easily defeats every opponent he faces, including Kazama. This is clearly not the story of some wide-eyed youth aspiring to become a great table tennis player, using a mix of perseverance, motivation, and some minor innate traits. Smile could already be on the top if he wanted to; he is the epitome of natural talent. All the coach did was help to release his "limiter". Nope, they're trying to hell a different story here...

[kuromitsu]

Originally Posted by sikvod00

It wouldn't surprise me if Smile ends up being an unbeatable monster, who easily defeats every opponent he faces, including Kazama.

I sure hope this won't happen because that wouldn't make for a very interesting story. Besides, we already have a monster here (Dragon - oh Dragon, you need to take that stick out of your ass, seriously, your poor team).

What I see developing here is a bunch of different attitudes that are not necessarily wrong per se, but they do seem to make the characters who have them unhappy and so have to change. Smile is now driven by the brief taste of almost-victory (had he not lost on purpose he could've perhaps ended up facing and defeating Dragon) and he's getting out of Peko's shadow, which is a good thing, but he still needs to losen up and break out of his shell. Peko, who seems to have taken Akuma's words ("the only way not to lose is not to fight") to heart and stopped fighting to wallow in self-pity, needs to grow up and realize that in life sometimes you lose and sometimes there are people who are better than you, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you should just give up. China is still desperate to succeed and, apparently, to continue supporting his family (the scene with him finding his mom's hair broke my heart), even though he should realize already that there's more to life than this and that he really needs to have things in his life to fall back onto. Akuma has learned that spite and the burning need to compensate for his astigmatism will only get you so far, that sometimes life is just unfair, and that he needs to find his own way instead of following Dragon.

And Dragon should just remove that stick, realize that playing, even professionally, is supposed to be fun, that he seriously lacks team spirit, and that he shouldn't care so much about the school's fame and tradition. Seriously, Kazama, there's a pretty girl next to you, you could at least smile at her or something.

ETA:
Forgot to mention, I like where they're taking the friendship between Smile and Peko. Smile is slowly breaking away from being dependant on Peko and constantly appeasing him, and Peko has had to realize that Smile had been just holding back all this time for his sake - and that those days are over. In a way, him quitting ping pong is also a way of getting away from Smile who doesn't seem to "need" him anymore, anyway. I don't think they'll stay at this stage, though.

[HandofFate]

Good 05 episode.
I like the development of Peco quitting table tennis, very realistic development.

Small time leap it seems, no idea why Smile suddenly got a fire under his butt to play seriously.

[SinsI]

So they have upgraded Kazama from being winner of All-Japan he was in the manga to the winner of Youth Olimpics. Very questionable change - Japan was supposed to be much weaker than Kong's original team that got rid of him since he was inferior to them...

[kuromitsu]

Originally Posted by SinsI

So they have upgraded Kazama from being winner of All-Japan he was in the manga to the winner of Youth Olimpics. Very questionable change - Japan was supposed to be much weaker than Kong's original team that got rid of him since he was inferior to them...

I don't know about the manga but here Kazama won in singles, not in team. Presumably some other country's team won (or got the most points or however this works with ping pong), since the first thing he does when he gets back home is declaring his disappointment that they didn't do well enough in team events (and then complain about Kaiou).

[Flower]

Originally Posted by sikvod00

Wow. I'm impressed. The visuals were even more ugly than usual. At least they matched the ugly truth that Smile coldly verbalized near the end of the episode: sometimes success favors the talented, not the hardworking or diligent. It's a reality many athletes have to face, and it's certainly a tough pill to swallow. Is it fair? Absolutely not. It's an especially disheartening truth in a culture that almost fetishes working like a dog. My favorite scene was Wenge thinking about his mother while examining his package of sweets. It reminded me of when my mom used to ship a big box full of snacks to me while I was away at university. So touching....

A good overall summary matching many of my own impressions too. Especially the visual ugliness juxtaposed with the ugliness of the reality Akuma had to face in the ep at the hands of Smile.

I am hopeful that Peco returns after "finding himself" somehow as well.

Was nice to see that Wenge is not going to "vanish into thin air" and will still be around, too.

Originally Posted by HandofFate

Good 05 episode.

I like the development of Peco quitting table tennis, very realistic development.

Small time leap it seems, no idea why Smile suddenly got a fire under his butt to play seriously.

I was also wondering what it was that "clicked" in Smile to start taking things seriously and to so ruthlessly thrash his opponents now. Was surprised to see both his accepting of the training menu and also willingness to annihilate Akuma completely and utterly.

[cleo]

So everyone had a reality-check and drew their conclusions - none of those making them happier though. (Not even that guy who went to the sea after losing ) And I agree with kuromitsu in thinking that having fun playing is the goal here. Smile breaking free from his dependency on Peco certainly is a good thing. But he's not free yet from the idea that it's either being competitive or having fun. I think Peco is the closest in grasping that idea, with calling that paddle his friend. He took a hard blow and quit, but I can't see that last for long. (And am I the only one who didn't realise it was Peco until he read that text on his phone?) China's staying was a good choice. Him going home feeling all ashamed would probably break him. But that trainscene made me all misty-eyed.
I really like how they handled the talent vs hard work. Very unlike other anime, where 'do your best and you can make everything happen' rules, and very realistic as well.

Originally Posted by Flower

I was also wondering what it was that "clicked" in Smile to start taking things seriously and to so ruthlessly thrash his opponents now. Was surprised to see both his accepting of the training menu and also willingness to annihilate Akuma completely and utterly.

I think he realized he was partly to blame for Peco's depression after losing by not giving real competion. Also he let Wenge win, figuring winning meant much more for Wenge than for himself, probably feeling sorry for the guy as well. Next match Wenge got utterly defeated anyway by someone else. So I guess he realized that his consideration didn't make any difference, that there'll be always stronger opponents beating weaker ones. So having lost his restraints, might as well going for being the strongest.

[Jazzrat]

Ep 5 is pretty super for me in terms of character development and direction although character art consistency took a dive for the worst in a few scene. Most surprising to hear Ayako Kawasumi as Yurie and the return of ocean dude (soon to be mountain dude next?).

China's scene where he found his mother's graying stray hair and him crying on the train is one of the best i've seen in awhile. It's incredible how well and quickly they manage to convey so much without any monologue or narration

I'm looking forward to see how Akuma and Peco come back from their slump. Akuma self destruct spectacularly this episode and Peco's wounded pride seemed to have gotten worse without any sign of a comeback yet. Both of them got served by reality pretty badly by Smile.

Originally Posted by cleo1

I think he realized he was partly to blame for Peco's depression after losing by not giving real competion.

Personally, i think it might be him seeing Kazama's performance might have push him over to train seriously for once since last episode, even himself was pretty shocked by Kazama's performance. Eventhough he took care not to wound his opponent's pride in matches back then, he doesn't seem like the type of guy that blames himself for what others do. He didn't even try to stop Peco when Peco wanted to quit ping pong in tantrum after getting dominated by Kong.

[SinsI]

Originally Posted by kuromitsu

I don't know about the manga but here Kazama won in singles, not in team. Presumably some other country's team won (or got the most points or however this works with ping pong), since the first thing he does when he gets back home is declaring his disappointment that they didn't do well enough in team events (and then complain about Kaiou).

It still makes it far less believable. Surely Kong knows all the best world players - and if he knew that the strongest player was from Japan he wouldn't belittle Japanese ping pong the way he did.

[kuromitsu]

Originally Posted by Jazzrat

Personally, i think it might be him seeing Kazama's performance might have push him over to train seriously for once since last episode, even himself was pretty shocked by Kazama's performance. Eventhough he took care not to wound his opponent's pride in matches back then, he doesn't seem like the type of guy that blames himself for what others do. He didn't even try to stop Peco when Peco wanted to quit ping pong in tantrum after getting dominated by Kong.

Yes, I also think this is the case. Remember him watching the China vs Dragon match, and then Dragon being all "hey Tsukimoto, your school sucks, come to us and you'll play better!" From how I see it, Smile thought "Dude, what. I could defeat you."

Basically, he's started breaking out of his shell. He gained some competitive spirit, got a taste of "blood", and whether he's aware of this or not, he's started growing some pride and taking control of his own life.

Originally Posted by SinsI

It still makes it far less believable. Surely Kong knows all the best world players - and if he knew that the strongest player was from Japan he wouldn't belittle Japanese ping pong the way he did.

Maybe, but this makes things more dramatic, so.

FYI, according to the official site all changes were made after consulting with Matsumoto Taiyou, based on ideas that Matsumoto had while writing the manga, but he never got around adding them to the story. This includes Dragon who will apparently have a larger role in the anime.

[musouka]

Originally Posted by kuromitsu

Basically, he's started breaking out of his shell. He gained some competitive spirit, got a taste of "blood", and whether he's aware of this or not, he's started growing some pride and taking control of his own life.

I don't know about that. Smile seems as firmly within his own shell as before. He certainly doesn't seem to derive any outward sign of pleasure from his new training regimen. To be honest, it seems more to me like he's retreating into himself and moving away from people, mowing them down just like the robot in his video game because "that's how you're 'supposed' to play."

Koizumi's building a perfect robot, even if that isn't his goal.

[kuromitsu]

Originally Posted by musouka

I don't know about that. Smile seems as firmly within his own shell as before. He certainly doesn't seem to derive any outward sign of pleasure from his new training regimen. To be honest, it seems more to me like he's retreating into himself and moving away from people, mowing them down just like the robot in his video game because "that's how you're 'supposed' to play."

Kazama's building a perfect robot, even if that isn't his goal.

To me it's not the pleasure, it's him breaking away from Peko. Finally he's not holding back out of consideration for Peko. Perhaps for the first time in his life Smile just wants to win and is willing to push forward without worrying about Peko's (or anyone else's, for that matter) feelings, in fact he's perfectly willing to let Peko go and feel sorry for himself alone. I think for Smile this is a huge step forward.

I think that for every character having fun is tied to a whole bunch of other issues that they need to work out in order to "free" themselves and allow themselves to have fun with the game. For Smile it's becoming his own person and doing what he wants. For Peko it's developing discipline and a healthier, more mature attitude to competition and winning/losing. For China it's having something else in his life that can make him feel "secure" (for lack of a better word). For Dragon, it's just... loosening up in general and not carrying the burden of feeling responsible for his school's team (also, developing team spirit, because man, wow). For Akuma it's getting over his inferiority complex and letting go of his spite. And for Peko and Smile in particular, it's taking their friendship into a healthier direction instead of a codependence that stifles Smile and feeds Peko's ego.

[SinsI]

Originally Posted by kuromitsu

FYI, according to the official site all changes were made after consulting with Matsumoto Taiyou, based on ideas that Matsumoto had while writing the manga, but he never got around adding them to the story. This includes Dragon who will apparently have a larger role in the anime.

It means they are doing a bad job - if you say "A", you must also say "B", completely revamping Kong's motivations, words and actions.
This change is also very stupid since it destroys continuity - they were taking part in a regional tournament but what he suddenly won is Olympics, a completely unrelated event.
And Kong's words "I lost to him, but he has at least managed to win the World Championship, it would've been a complete disaster if he couldn't even do something as easy to do as that" sound completely ridiculous, as the World is a priory something of highest possible difficulty. Manga's "but at least he has managed to take first place in this (third rate nation's) national tournament" is far more logical.

[kuromitsu]

Damn, you're right. This show sucks, I'll just go and read the manga instead.