2024 Review for volume 1 and 2: content notes for smoking, the angst of a child prodigy, and intense school sports.

Keywords that came to mind were speed, sweat, intensity, competition and line.

Written and illustrated by Taiyo Matsumoto it has apparently been three years since I told y'all that this dude is one favourite mangaka of all time.

Writing wise, I will admit to initially being a bit surprised that Matsumoto had written a sports manga as it didn't seem to be totally in his wheelhouse based off of the rest of his work I had read up until that point. On the one hand, there's definitely very Matsumoto ways in which he approaches this sports manga, and on the other hand apparently his editor kind of forced the idea onto him. Reading the essay in the back by said editor Yasuki Hori was kind of weird. Dude could apparently not decide if it was ok that Tekkonkinkreet was good but not mainstream or not. And would apparently tell Matsumoto contradictory things in every conversation.Fun!

Overall it is a very character driven story, there's some interesting meta moments, but with enough action that I still found it a bit hard to engage with on a plot level. Although the action was really well done visually.

Much more obviously Matsumoto, the art really made the book for me. The intensity of the action, the line quality, the sweat, the dramatic page layouts - when Matsumoto pulled out the stops it was all out.

Looking at the identities and representation as we always do.

Similar to most of Matsumoto's translated work, Ping Pong is dominated by men. There's a few women and girls bouncing around, but it's all about the team and the competition which are all gender segregated apparently.

Again, the focus on bettering ones self at sports and winning didn't leave much room for sexuality either. Although the anime seemed to include more heterosexual dating.

Race and nationality are a thing that come up fairly regularly in the fact that our protagonists are Japanese and one of the big contenders is Chinese. Can't really comment on the quality of the representation. I know reading about Hikaru No Go there was some drama about the international competition at the end of the series... And I've been learning a lot this past year about the history of military aggression by Japan against Korea and China etc. But I've still got a long way to go. And my light web search did not turn up any obvious answers.

Class was much more glossed over then in some of Matsumoto's other work.

In contrast disability did come up a bit more then usual. Because when it comes to ping pong these children are serious! They have workout regimens and follow nutritional guidance. Some kids get injured and others face limitations based on their physical abilities. It's not dived into but it's there at least.

Wrapping things up, while not a complete reproduction of the books, I did find the anime a lot easier to follow and engage with. It also felt like it compliments Matsuomoto's style very well. So I would highly recommend, especially if you are having a hard time reading the book like I did.

2021 Review: Originally serialized from 1996 to 1997 in Big Comic Spirits it actually came a few years after Tekkonkinkreet and right before GoGo Monster. As far as keywords go I would say sports, self discovery, and coming of age. Although, honestly, the reason I'm not continuing the series is because I was totally unable to actually connect with what was happening. I was literally reading page after page and it was going in one ear and out the other as they say. But, as someone who has proven themselves to me (and many others) over and over again, I'm sure that's more a me issue then a Matsumoto issue. The art certainly did not disappoint! Vivid, dramatic, sweaty, and still not quite like anyone else I've read. If you, unlike myself, are a bit more into traditional sports manga you might find this easier to connect to. Can't say how it depicts or doesn't depict anything though, because I really don't know what happened or who anyone was lol.