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Ping Pong the animation is an 'oddity'. Rarely we come across animes which are animated so differently. And this difference
is what made it so enjoyable and refreshing.

Story
The story is about Peco(Hoshino) and Smile(makoto);two childhood friends who are always together. Both of them play
Ping Pong and are really good at it.

Peco dreams of becoming the world champ but he has a swollen head and skips practice believing he is invincible.
On the other hand Smile just plays Ping Pong just for killing time. Both are a stark contrast to each other. Peco has
a happy go lucky attitude while Smile is a silent boy who ... is often depicted as a robot withno emotions. He is called
'Smile' because he never smiles(Well its not the real reason;but i don't intend to spoil anything.Smile used to be
bullied as child and it was Peco who always used to save him. The story focuses on their development both as a player
and a human being.

Characters
There are a lot of interesting characters like Kazama, the coach(who speaks English every now and then),The old lady
at the ping pong shop who taught Peco to play Ping Pong, Sakuma(thier childhood friend),Wong(The Chinese player) and
even though its a small series all of them are given short backstories which makes us feel for them and connect with them.
The character development feels a bit paced but it is completely understandable considering it has only 11 episodes

Animation
Now this is the talking point of this anime. This anime's art is ; in plain words 'Awesome'. It is unique to Ping Pong!
The characters , the background are animated in stark contrast to present adaptations. At first it threw me off and I almost
decided to quit watching the series but I am glad I didn't do so because once you start watching the series you understand
the beauty and uniqueness it possess. I loved the how the characters as well as the background was animated. There are no
big eyed girls or the usual coloured hair characters!! They are animated much more realistically.

Sound
Well the opening seemed okay to me but it was the ending that commanded my complete attention! Its really good.
Every matches have different background music which fits perfectly with the mood and the characters. Overall the sound
was good.

Enjoyment
To be honest I thoroughly enjoyed this series. I never expected it to be so good. And I can understand if people stay
away from this series due to its art but those people will regret not having watched such a great anime! I am sure grateful
I gave it a try. So folks don't hesitate just watch this!!

I came across Barakamon while browsing through the Anime list in MAL. Initally decided not to watch it as the premise didn't excite me. But gave it a try after some time and it simply ended up being the best slice of life anime for me!

Now to get into the review-

Story-8

As i mentioned earlier, the story in itself is not that captivating. The protogonist, Handa a caligrapher, is sent to an island by his father for mending his ways and discovering his own caligraphy ... style.( the synopsis explains it really well so I'm not going into details). Caligraphy is all he has done in his entire life.
(a result of being brought up in such an environment by his father,who is also a caligrapher). He has no friends and has a hard time socialising with people(or rather hates it!). And the rest of the story is how Handa gradually begins to open up his heart, have fun with the people in the island and matures both as a person and a caligrapher.


Art-10

The animation is outstanding! The characters(especially Naru), the island are all animated really well. It is definitely one of the best!


Sound-10

The opening and the ending songs capture the feel of the anime perfectly.
Usually i skip the opening after watching 1 or 2 episodes but i couldn't do so with Barakamon! I just had to hear it before starting the episode!


Character-10

It's hard to find words to describe the characters! All of the characters are heart warming and just give off a vibe of positivity The main characters are Naru- A six year old kid and Handa who get most of the screentime. Naru can be mistaken for a bothersome child at the begining, but boy she breathes life into the anime. Handa even though being an adult learns a lot from her as to how to have fun in life without worrying too much about the future. Humour is top notch in this anime. The predicament in which Handa is always put into by the cheekiness of Naru,Miwa and Tama are hilarious!
And the childish actions of Handa is a joy to watch. Its not only these characters, the side characters are also given appropriate screen time despite this being a short anime. It would not be wrong to say that characters make the anime what it is!! Anyways, I don"t want to dwell into the rest of the characters and make it a really long review!


There was not even a single episode that couldn't make me laugh. But at the same time it was not just about the jokes but also the feelings this anime stimulates that makes it so good and enjoyable. I would say its a must watch for all anime lovers!!

This was my first review and if there were any shortcoming please highlight them. I would be more than happy to correct them next time!