|
Yeah. OP owns. The vague animated shapes at the beginning are pretty cool.
|
# ? Apr 24, 2014 23:38 |
|
|
# ? Jun 3, 2024 21:50 |
|
Now that it actually aired, I'll post again that the OP is the brainchild of Shinya Ohira. He directed, storyboarded, animation directed, and also contributed KA to it (current animation-nerd-guess is that he did the B&W stuff right at the start). This is only the second time he's done an OP, the other being Sci-Fi Harry, which you can watch here if you want to see some more nutso stuff.
|
# ? Apr 24, 2014 23:53 |
|
The cut at the end to the third year at the beach is loving devastating, holy poo poo.
|
# ? Apr 25, 2014 00:14 |
|
That OP is balls the walls amazing. E: the ep was also incredible, I love the intermixing of the writing and imagery. Yuasa is the best, hail Yuasa. Zorak fucked around with this message at 03:47 on Apr 25, 2014 |
# ? Apr 25, 2014 02:55 |
|
This episode is awesome and overall really Ohira-ish, but loving drat is that OP good. Totally rivals his amazing OP animation for the otherwise mediocre Sci-Fi Harry. Edit: as usual Aers beat me to it. Edit edit: My guess is Arakawa attempted in some way to 'follow' the new opening. On second watch it's more the composition than the animation itself that looks Ohira in this episode. laplace fucked around with this message at 03:35 on Apr 25, 2014 |
# ? Apr 25, 2014 03:20 |
|
Man, everything about this is great. The OP, the directing, the acting. Everything about it has been awesome. Like, actual worthy of awe. It's this kind of poo poo that makes me want to animate myself. The Black and White OP in particular is something like the SZS OPs in that I could just watch them on their own and be happy. I know Peco has to take centre stage soon but I hope we don't lose too much focus on Smile. I also like how in typical sports manga/anime style it's one of the opponents that has the biggest reason to win (so far at least) with Wenge. It's like Ippo vs Jason but with the added risk of Jason being deported if he loses. Wenge is cool. EDIT Wait, Ohira also did the Keys for the anime segment of Kill Bill? And Redline? Good gravy, the talent behind this show is absurd. Popo fucked around with this message at 10:52 on Apr 25, 2014 |
# ? Apr 25, 2014 10:47 |
|
God drat I love the sound engineering, the delivery of all the lines, and the sounds. Loved the rhythm behind the bouncing balls. Also, just why did Tsukimoto go and let Kong win? Sympathy for Kong's career? Is the guy basically out of the running?
|
# ? Apr 25, 2014 13:45 |
|
Phobophilia posted:God drat I love the sound engineering, the delivery of all the lines, and the sounds. Loved the rhythm behind the bouncing balls. smile hates it when people pressure him to do something, he hates the people who have based their whole life around a game and he knows kong has done this. so when he sees kong's coach screaming at kong he begins to feel bad so he lets him win.
|
# ? Apr 25, 2014 13:53 |
|
Smile doesn't care as much about winning, since he doesn't really seem to have any real goal at all. He has a certain level of pride, but it doesn't express itself in the same way as the arrogance of Wenge and Peko. So while it was a sacrifice to blow the game, it wasn't something as altruistic sacrifice because of the lack of value Smile holds for the stakes at play. Also I'm pretty sure he understands some Chinese, and knows from the coach's yelling that Wenge is likely going to have his life ruined or at least he'd be crushed in such a way that he could never stand up again. I view Smile's decision in reference to his comments at the beginning of Wenge's first match of the tournament.
|
# ? Apr 25, 2014 14:27 |
|
Yeah, Smile and did exactly what he said he wouldn't do: throw the game for the sake of his opponent. God drat it dude.
|
# ? Apr 25, 2014 14:42 |
|
To be fair, ruining someone's life over a game of Ping Pong you don't really care about would be pretty drat ruthless. Not that his opponents deliberately letting him win solves anything for Wenge, though... I guess the fact that they present him with questions like this is exactly why Smile hates people who take the game too seriously.
|
# ? Apr 25, 2014 14:49 |
|
Neeksy posted:Also I'm pretty sure he understands some Chinese, and knows from the coach's yelling that Wenge is likely going to have his life ruined or at least he'd be crushed in such a way that he could never stand up again. I view Smile's decision in reference to his comments at the beginning of Wenge's first match of the tournament. I think the idea is more that since Smile and Wenge have a "connection" as ping pong players they can understand each others' ~true kokoro feelings~ as implied when Wenge first meets him in the first episode, but I also had the same thought earlier today about Smile having taken a Chinese class or something. It's not uncommon here in Japan, obviously. Not to get into too tumblr headcanon garbage territory but it definitely isn't out of Smile's character to have done something like that. The point in the end is just that Wenge and Smile can communicate -- whether that be through words, actions, or ping pong. That's a big theme for the whole show so far, honestly. People communicating with each other in more than just words but intentions and actions.
|
# ? Apr 25, 2014 15:52 |
|
Mygna posted:To be fair, ruining someone's life over a game of Ping Pong you don't really care about would be pretty drat ruthless. Not that his opponents deliberately letting him win solves anything for Wenge, though... He has no head game, no mental fortitude, and he has no respect for his opponents. As soon as he started losing, he crumbled. Kong is doomed to failure unless he gets over his significant weaknesses, and Smilie did no favors by giving him more chances to ruin his own Ping Pong career. The idea that Smilie somehow allowed him a chance to get his career back is an illusion. Kong was kicked off the team for a reason, and he simply can't handle why he wasn't good enough. Basically, the most effective way for Smilie to "ruin" Kong's life was to let him win. Good job, Hero.
|
# ? Apr 25, 2014 22:39 |
|
You're overthinking it. The coach's ranting broke Smile's robotic concentration and made him realize that he would would be ruining Kong's life. It doesn't matter to him that Kong was destined for failure because of his haughty attitude. It only mattered that Kong had staked his life on ping pong, which is something he hates and can't be arsed to deal with.
|
# ? Apr 26, 2014 00:02 |
|
I ended up here by accidentally clicking on a banner ad and have no loving idea what is going on. Still, I'm upset that nobody posted this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKt8Ct6oBmE
|
# ? Apr 26, 2014 00:48 |
|
Is it just me, or does Peco remind anyone else of a less malicious Ozu? He's kinda similar in appearance, voice, and cockiness. The main difference is that Peco is a good friend.
|
# ? Apr 26, 2014 00:55 |
|
KillHour posted:accidentally clicking on a banner ad
|
# ? Apr 26, 2014 01:02 |
|
Mecca-Benghazi posted:I just looked through the banner ads; animewise, there's one each for Ping Pong, Jojo, Mushi-shi, and DBZ. That DBZ ad is gold.
|
# ? Apr 26, 2014 02:32 |
|
How much you wanna bet ozu cries just like peco when he loses (cept he probably does it in a closet or something)? Also I love ozu's theme and character so far.
|
# ? Apr 26, 2014 14:26 |
|
I really liked how detailed they showed what a difference pips out can make in a game. Edit: I think Smile let Kong win because of a mixture of pity and disgust. Lucy Heartfilia fucked around with this message at 09:35 on Apr 27, 2014 |
# ? Apr 27, 2014 09:29 |
|
Lucy Heartfilia posted:I really liked how detailed they showed what a difference pips out can make in a game. He straight up said he found people who make ping pong their life revolting, haha. Smile owns.
|
# ? Apr 27, 2014 18:45 |
|
It's kinda refreshing to see a sports series with a main character that just goes "You're all loving stupid, it's just a dumb game."
|
# ? Apr 27, 2014 19:42 |
|
Waffleman_ posted:It's kinda refreshing to see a sports series with a main character that just goes "You're all loving stupid, it's just a dumb game." Yeah, I appreciate that aspect of it. Like Smile has said, Ping Pong is just a way to kill time for him, something to enjoy for the heck of it. The sport was conceived in the first place for that reason, and making it into a competition just ruins that aspect for him. The imagery we get frequently of him playing his video game is an interesting reflection of that mindset; it's also just another thing he does to kill time because he enjoys it. It has no great impact on the world or great impact on his person. Presumably he enjoys it. But it's just a game, no different from the 'sport' he's been thrust into. I wonder if we're going to see him come around and realize that Ping Pong is something more to him due to the people he meets, or if he's going to get a taste of the enjoyment and thrill of competition.
|
# ? Apr 28, 2014 07:46 |
|
This show owns pretty hard.
|
# ? Apr 28, 2014 15:46 |
|
If you wanna see some cool stuff check this twitter: https://twitter.com/bahijd He worked on episode 3 but due to unmentioned reasons (probably deadline/schedule related) none of his cuts made it into the episode. He was still in the credits though. He's posting a ton of his production materials. Holy crap he was doing basically the entire climax and it didn't make it in. drat. Another cool thing http://sorenblr.tumblr.com/post/82569610345/christ-i-hope-someone-hasnt-already-done-this aers fucked around with this message at 01:17 on Apr 29, 2014 |
# ? Apr 28, 2014 23:42 |
|
God, those split screen cuts are so good. I hope we see dozens of shows try to imitate that over the next two years. I want to get sick of clever split screen cuts.
|
# ? Apr 29, 2014 01:40 |
|
Waffleman_ posted:Is it just me, or does Peco remind anyone else of a less malicious Ozu? He's kinda similar in appearance, voice, and cockiness. The main difference is that Peco is a good friend. Ozu is a good friend too.
|
# ? Apr 29, 2014 04:17 |
|
Butt Frosted Cake posted:Ozu is a good friend too. He has eyes like a youkai, though.
|
# ? Apr 29, 2014 04:19 |
|
Waffleman_ posted:He has eyes like a youkai, though. Only in Watashi's delusions. He looks normal in the last scene.
|
# ? Apr 29, 2014 05:59 |
|
Waffleman_ posted:He has eyes like a youkai, though. So does Watashi.
|
# ? Apr 29, 2014 18:05 |
|
http://imgur.com/a/oDLt0
|
# ? Apr 30, 2014 02:46 |
|
pandaK posted:Only in Watashi's delusions. He looks normal in the last scene. I'm bein' a doof, jeez.
|
# ? Apr 30, 2014 02:48 |
|
Waffleman_ posted:I'm bein' a doof, jeez.
|
# ? Apr 30, 2014 06:30 |
|
Man is that where all the animation went in this episode? This is the guy who got his stuff all cut right? It actually kinda bothered me how little animation there was this last episode, way too much of it just felt like static pictures with flapping mouths and it bugged the hell out of me, the art in this show looks so fantastic when it's animated.
|
# ? Apr 30, 2014 07:16 |
|
Three episodes in and I've just now learned that "skunk" is a legit ping pong term. All this time, I thought Peco was using his personal vocabulary to say that he got wrecked by China and that weirdass terminology rubbed off on Smile. But why a skunk?
|
# ? Apr 30, 2014 07:26 |
|
Level Slide posted:Three episodes in and I've just now learned that "skunk" is a legit ping pong term. All this time, I thought Peco was using his personal vocabulary to say that he got wrecked by China and that weirdass terminology rubbed off on Smile. Cuz the reputation of playing like poo poo sticks to you like a skunk's smell. That's my guess.
|
# ? Apr 30, 2014 07:41 |
|
ninjewtsu posted:Man is that where all the animation went in this episode? This is the guy who got his stuff all cut right? It actually kinda bothered me how little animation there was this last episode, way too much of it just felt like static pictures with flapping mouths and it bugged the hell out of me, the art in this show looks so fantastic when it's animated. Yeah that's all Bahi's stuff, based on the cut #s and matching the roughs to what we got, he was animating the majority of the climax of the episode. Its pretty obvious what we got is still using the exact same storyboards from Yuasa, but it was done in a hurry to fill for this stuff not making it. Ping Pong's production is extremely tight even for anime. Yuasa started storyboarding it in the middle of January and has been running at a pace of one episode/10 days. He is currently (maybe finished by now) working on the storyboard for episode 11, the last one. Since storyboards are necessary before any animation can be done, the animation for this show wouldn't have started until around February at the earliest. On a lighter note, here's a shot of Ohira's storyboard for the OP https://twitter.com/pingpong_anime/status/460677923771404288 aers fucked around with this message at 08:01 on Apr 30, 2014 |
# ? Apr 30, 2014 07:58 |
|
I bet those will be in the BD version.
|
# ? Apr 30, 2014 08:04 |
|
We asked Bahi about that and he said he has no idea if they'll make it in. We can hope!
|
# ? Apr 30, 2014 08:14 |
|
|
# ? Jun 3, 2024 21:50 |
|
This is the only anime I'm watching this season with any regularity, being a Yuasa fanboy. Like everyone else I think the OP and ED are great, especially for the uplifting lyrics. I actually didn't realize Smile threw the game before reading this thread, so thanks for that. It does seem like an animated manga at parts, which makes me think it must be very faithful to the original. Anyway, I'm impressed Yuasa managed to get me interested in a ping pong show. It's very different from his prior stuff, but I'm coming around.
|
# ? Apr 30, 2014 11:14 |