Ping Pong

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MAY HAVE SPOLIERS , BE AWARED !

Passion is something that can either change ur life for the great and good or lead u down into the destruction of life , a dead-end , a scary world that even worse than hell , a "homonuclus".

Nuture vs nature , a debate which has been delivered throughout this manga , that in the end , there is still not a clear answer . But there is one thing u know , that is "hard-working" because , if u don't practice , u don't learn , ur talent , ur passion will just die... that is why in the ... professional world , the players always have to trained all the time , otherwise , their skill will just... disappear.

This is of course , not ur ordinary slice of life , sport manga , this is not some kinds of cute stories about love , NO .

This is a journey of hardworking swordmanship , a trip where each characters exploring themselves from the past through the future , from having fun while doing passion to sacrificing for it , being serious about it but it the end... u need to really have fun in order to continue .

I feel happy when they are talking happily while training , i feel excited about every matches , i feel depressed when someone has to give up on their passion bc of the "limit" they have reached , because of harsh the world is to treating these players , they were once innocent kids , it is sad , it is haunted... especially when I read the last match , I'm hit... "yes , fly high" , after all , u play ping pong not because of ur TALENT , not because of ur PASSION but because FUN , U NEED TO HAVE FUN . I shed a tear reading that....

Deep-diving inrto the ocean of thoughts , feel lost in while a time is what our mc has tried... he has talent , yea , for sure , but he suddenly feel lost , and sad... because of his friend , because of the sport , he suddenly sees everyone becomes serious and no longer having fun on ping pong... they play just to "waste time" , they play just for "titles" , they play just for "money" , to "prove themselves" without having fun , they are killing their emotion , they are becoming "robots"... Throughout 55 chapters of the manga , u will see the mc is always trying to be happy because he surely plays ping pong because he finds FUN in it... and when he feels that , he just "lost" , grow hairs , smoking... and even trying to sucide... but when he gets rescued... he suddenly starts to notice... and he comes back the sport he has abandoned months ago.... he will teach every other players how to have FUN in sport through his gifted talent.

The art of this manga is realism , to use this art type , u really have to focus alot in developing story and characters , and ofc , they nail it by miles... this art reminds me of cubism , an abstract art type that was used frequently by Pablo Picasso , this art requires u need to dig deep in the objects that u are drawing , not only on the surface but also the materials while also expressing ur thought in it. This art surely so real that it captures the emotion of characters so good... it is so real that i feel like it is happening in my real life , it is so real that i feel hurt when the mc is "lost" in the "ocean of thought" ( in both meanings ), It feels so real that it is so fake... it makes right and wrong swapping each places all the time.. a vortex... a hurricane... a storm. Many predicts i have put while reading this manga are wrong and wrong again the longer the story goes.

This manga is either making people who loves will really love it and people hates it will hate it alot and mainly because of the art style which i find it silly , if u rate a manga just because of the art didn't fit ur taste , then sorry , u and I aren't in the same level and please avoiding me right away , people just really love "fake beautiful" art than "ugly truth" words , it is also the reason why art is considered as money laundering these days... Anyway , i'm in the "really love" it side because it cuts deep in humans , it cuts into Philosophy of different characters about what they are thinking while participating this so-called "passion".

In the end , every single great mangas are written base on human , every single things that humans are doing , behaving , expressing . Their emotions , their thinking ,their true nature... And if u forget that base , ur work is souless and deserve be thrown to an exhibition for alien , not humans . U will notice that once u read alot of works... it is all about humans , all about ourselves... I'm rating mangas mostly because of their story and characters , and humans are my base of rating , that is why , I adore this manga .

Anyway , I just want to say... I really , really , really suggest u guys who are interested in sport and slice of life gives it a try , u won't forget it , this experience may either becoming an unforgettable one or just a dust fly though ur face without u noticing it , It all depends in ur feeling so plz don't take my review too serious , take it as the small review at the last page of the novel.

Thx u for reading.

Honestly what put me off first is the art like it isn't personally that great BUT I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN AND WHEN OPPONENTS WERE FACING OFF EACH OTHER, THE SCENES WERE LIT AF MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ahem anyways I was very surprised that I thought this was a very moving manga since I'm not really a "Ping Pong " fan and the art was rather off (no offense to the artist). I really liked how we get to know each characters (Smile, Dragon, Peko, Granny, Wenga, and the old dude who I can't remember his name lol) like the character development in this was very good. I ... do wish it was expanded out more than 55 chapters so we get to know each character more on their backstories as to why they ended up doing Ping Pong in the first place. However it gave a nice touching ending so can't necessarily complain that it was too rushed tbh!

Just read this guys, wtf are you waiting for??!!!!!!!!!

Ping Pong is a philosophical exploration of what motivates people to undertake, well, anything. Some do it to kill time, some for the camaraderie, some chase after an aesthetic ideal, and some do it because they cannot bear failure, and so on. It starts off brilliantly, laying out the characters that exemplify this or that facet of competition, what they look like if mapped onto a motivational spider chart, how they interact with each other, reconcile contradictions, and mature.

However, as competitors drop out of the race and we approach the final reckoning, the manga also gradually becomes a slide show of flashbacks, action shots, symbolism, ... romantic one-liners, repeated mantras, and uh, believing in the heart of the cards. It does a better job than the animated version of build up and establishing the training timeline- a year's worth of blood, sweat and yada yada, but the payoff still feels unconvincing. After all, there's only so much resolution and meaning that can be packed into a one-day regional qualifier tournament. The manga ends immediately afterwards. The mise en place is painstakingly prepared, but then gets all tossed together and submerged in shounen spirit dressing.

Even with multiple reads and me trying to be charitable, I can't see the art in such an ending. The entire time we are left wondering what the protagonist, Smile, is chasing after, and what it will take to resolve his adolescent angst, and the reveal, or lack thereof, makes you wonder if his story was really worth telling. If done better, Ping Pong would have been a far more iconic sports manga classic.