SHAKUNETSU NO TAKKYUU MUSUME

DESCRIPTION

CAST

MANGA SportsShakunetsu no Takkyuu Musume

REVIEWS

• 

  Iverna

  70/100
  Sweaty Ping Pong Girls. That's what it's all about.

  The first thing that I want to talk about is how absolutely great the characters are. I changed my best girl a few times as I was watching it, and it took me a bit to actually settle on one. Outside of that, besides one character whom I dislike due to personal bias, everyone else is fantastic. Every single (-1, you get it) named character is a blast to have on screen at any given moment. Their interactions with one another, and just their general portrayal is great. They're far and above the strong carrying point for this series.

  Beyond that, the music choice is pretty great. While I didn't notice it as much during the calmer segments, the music during the matches really picks up. The series uses some pretty dope EDM style tracks to hype up the games, and it works. There's something strangely appealing about the mix of EDM and something I see as traditionally boring like table tennis. They killed it with that.

  However, my main gripe is how short the matches feel. While I know that it doesn't necessarily fit in with the others, I can't help but see it as a sports anime. It tries to build up the hype of each match, it tries to give you the tense, heart-stopping moments. It tries to really portray each person as a valid competitor. In a number of ways, it falls short in doing so. The matches typically play out in a fashion where there's a couple of hype moments, maybe someone unleashes their traditional sports anime "super duper awesome but actually kind of normal" technique and then...

  It's over.

  The amount of times that there's a good scene of a match, something to really get the blood pumping, and then we "fast-forward" to the final score or to the final points of the match is annoying. It's frustrating because the series tries its best to get you into the idea of it, and then just kills all that hype as it is reaching its climax. If it weren't for the characters themselves being fantastic, the constant cuts to them and their reactions would be a huge detriment to the series as a whole.

  I am, undoubtedly, a little bitter as we never get to revisit this. That whole introductory scene serves absolutely no purpose, except perhaps to introduce an endgame villain that we...never end up seeing again. I'd have understood if we get even a tiny shot of her confronting the main characters, saying something like "ha, try and make it to nationals so I can crush you too," but we don't get even that. The following scene has the girls fawning over a newspaper article where it's like "championship team loses hue hue hue" and the anime could have just as easily opened up on that scene. I prefer my teases to be tittilating, not to induce hype blue-balls.

  One small thing that I was actually largely fond of during the course of the series is...sweat. They seem to put a lot of care into showing wet spots on the characters' clothes after a practice or a match. While it doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things, I think it adds a lot of atmosphere. It shows us that the characters are actually working hard, that they're pushing themselves and their bodies, striving for something higher and better. It's easily one of the "little things" that I've noticed which I'd say I appreciate the most.

  Overall, I think there's two different people who could get into this, and there'd be two different takeaways. If you're the type of person who likes cute girls with a side dose of actual plot, I'd highly recommend this series. It's enjoyable all the way through with some positively adorable girls. If you're the type of person who likes sports anime with hype boners, I'd still say that SPPG is worth a shot; just prepare to not go into maximum overdrive with the hype, as one would with something like Haikyu or Hajime no Ippo.

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• 

  EBDiMartino

  80/100
  Sneakily great sports anime

  What the heck? How is this so good?

  Despite multiple recommendations, I honestly didn't expect much from this show going in. But Scorching Ping Pong Girls is an absolute blast. The characters are fun and lively without staying too locked into their archetypes. The direction is sharp, well-paced, and well-boarded. The writing is likewise well-paced, both on an individual episode level and over the course of the entire series. Kinema Citrus always delivers the goods when it comes to animation quality, and this is no different; the ping pong matches are visceral and exciting. Meanwhile, the writing makes sure the matches never get too bogged down by the exposition explaining different moves and play techniques, but still manages to make clear what's happening.

  Of course, the heart of the series is the relationship between the two leads, Koyomi and Agari, and if their personalities didn't mesh well the series would be a lifeless dud, exciting ping pong matches or no. But the intensity of the feelings they have for each other—first through the most absurdly erotic and barely subtextual sporting match I've ever seen in any medium, and then through getting to know each other personally as well—gives the series an electricity that makes every moment engaging and makes you want to keep watching. The same is true of the supporting characters, as well; they're all just as fun and well-developed as our main duo. And in the grand tradition of "loftier" sports series like Chihayafuru, we also get background and flashbacks on the protagonists' opponents, making them more interesting and sympathetic than just generic sneering villains for our heroes to beat.

  When you look at the show's pedigree the surprising quality starts to make sense. Kinema Citrus, of course, is the studio that would go on to make Revue Starlight and Made in Abyss, and series composition for this show was done by the guy who would also go on to do series comp for Made in Abyss, and wrote the original R.O.D. novels, to boot. Meanwhile the director made Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood, a show I've yet to see but which I hear some people like.

  The only really frustrating thing about the show is that it's only 12 episodes. It doesn't try to rush and cram more story into its limited run—it lets the story unfold at a slow and natural pace (again, similar to Chihayafuru)—but it also stops just as it's getting going. Of course, one could always continue the story by reading the original manga ... if it were published in English. Which it's not. Oops. Granted, the show ends on a good stopping point for the characters and their journeys, but plot-wise it's pretty frustrating.

  Scorching Ping Pong Girls, at first glance, might seem like just another lightweight, fan-service-heavy sports series, to be watched when one doesn't want to think much, and then immediately forgotten. And I'm not trying to argue that it's a masterpiece. But it is extremely good, and even though the truncated run is a little frustrating, it's still well worth your time to see.

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• 

  iamanders

  65/100
  An Approach To Ping Pong: Dissecting vs Ping Pong the Animation (SPOILERS)

  #Scorching Ping Pong Girls I'll start off the review by noting I 100% understand it is cringe to relate this to Ping Pong the Animation as they do not tackle the same fundamental ideas in the show, but with that being said there definitely are things I can connect and relate. I will also say that I understand that this show is truly the definition of "Cute Girls Doing Cute Things" but I don't think that it gives it a pass from being critiqued or analyzed. I found watching it to be actually enjoyable and thought it was well done for a simpler show. #Story/Plot I think it's important to note what sparks the general idea behind the entire story of the show, what gives way to the character developments in the show (I will ignore the ACTUAL opening to the show as it is meaningless and is ignored throughout the rest of the show, it was probably made to be covered in a future season but that never came into fruition). The show opens by introducing Agari, who has a sort of superiority complex which was based on an early onset need for success, as explained by the show "My parents named me Agari, for 'rise', hoping that I'd rise to the top". Due to failure in everything outside of ping pong, she holds her place as #1 on her team in ping pong very strongly, and when Koyori comes in to question this idea, everything falls apart for her. The end of the second episode highlights this by showing that Agari has completely given up practicing her normal way as a result of "It doesn't result in enough winners [winning shots]". This dismissal of the idea of the fun of a sport simply to be replaced by the need to rise to the top is exactly what the show focuses on, Agari has dismissed her own way of playing the port, the way that she had grown to love the sport, in order to just have a competitive edge (that wasn't working). The show itself is pretty straight forward as far as team play sports goes, it doesn't push boundaries too hard but it has a key focus. This key idea of focus on the creation of your own brand of ping pong and enjoying what you do is the main point of focus in this entire show. Koyori is the perfect example of this, as she is introduced as an incredibly strong ping pong player who only plays the game for the joy of feeling her opponents heart race (aka the enjoyment of the game in itself). This show really throws this idea onto you and is really bashed in as the only real focal point I would say as far as general theming in the show. The show doesn't try to be too deep and that's completely fine, it is a short show that highlights competitiveness and the need for people to truly enjoy what they are competing in, in order to have a clear head. Focusing on yourself and improvement can come at the same time as enjoying the game, which Koyori shows in the show. This is where I will relate this show to Ping Pong the Animation (where I will be reusing wording from my comment on the show I already wrote). The relationship between Agari and Koyori reminds me a bit of Peco and Smile, the reason being that Koyori reopens Agari's eyes to the joys of ping pong as a sport, not just for the idea of winning in itself. This is in contrast to the idea of Peco being the hero for Smile, Smile only played Ping Pong because of his idolization of Peco, and because of this he was able to enjoy his own time and really grow with Ping Pong. You see this relation with Agari and her lack of joy in Ping Pong when Smile realizes Peco doesn't try anymore, the hero that he once idolized had gone missing, and he no longer saw a point in playing the game besides to "kill time". While Agari did not play to "kill time" and instead played just solely to win without enjoying any of the basic fundamentals of the game, the push from Koyori, who's entire being and character is portrayed around the idea of the enjoyment of the game itself, which, like in the article I will link below, connects with the return of the hero, "Finally, Peco remembers that key bit of wisdom from his childhood. It’s not about being the best, the strongest, the hero. It’s so much more pure than that! It turns out… ping pong is fun!" When Peco realizes the fun in the sport again, Smile's leitmotif of the idea of the Hero plays again, seeing the return of the hero and the return of the enjoyment of Ping Pong. Koyori's character is basically like Peco's without the slump or depression arc where she quits the game. She opens the eyes of everyone around her to the enjoyment of ping pong itself, like Peco did with Smile, like Peco did with Kazama, like Peco did with Sakuma. Peco is an the positive being in the show that needed to refind his potential and who he is, why he plays the game, and Koyori is the person who helps others realize why they play the game. The creation of the path to which others realize why they play the game is the key focus at the very end of the show. They play the game to enjoy it and they play the game to connect with those around them, as it is a team sport. The show is concluded in a weird way in my opinion as it is set up to be a sort of training arc for the main arc of the show, which would be the tournament arc, but it is ended early (as I believe the show was not given another season due to popularity or something of the sort). With that being said, I actually did enjoy the conclusion to this show. I think it did a great job of highlighting the idea that you do not NEED to win to enjoy the sport you are playing, everyone plays the sport their own way and the connections you make, the way you play the game, and the enjoyment for the game itself is what truly matters. The end of the show stresses that fact and concludes these general ideas in a good way, setting up for a tournament in what would've been the next season and also creating good connections between characters. #Characters The show has a lot of issues as far as characters go as every character is pretty one dimensional and there is fundamentally no character growth beyond people learning to enjoy the game more. Agari is one of two characters that has this sort of switch and Agari's character development is done very early on. All of the main characters have a lot of screen time and are "fun" characters that are cute and that's all they're meant to be, there is not too much seriousness or anything to the show and that's fine. There definitely is some more serious parts of the show though; Hokuto was someone who was forced into isolation after she had no time to hang out with friends as she worked in her families store, but Hanabi was there to fill that void and become her friend, enjoying ping pong alognside her. The asme goes for Kururi, who is the other character which I would say has any sort of character development that actually happens in the plotline of the show. Kururi comes from a prestigious ping pong team and as a result, her skill above everyone else and forcing everyone else to try to improve to her level leaves her also isolated and alone, except for Zakuro who sticks around and actually loves the fundamental style of ping pong that Kururi plays. This leads her to feel as if she is indebt to Zakuro and has to win in order to keep her respect, which is proven wrong after she loses her match against Koyori, as Zakuro comforts her and she realizes she does not have to pay a price to have friends, she can just be herself and everything is fine. Beyond these few ideas, there isn't really much going on as far as relative importance of characters, as every character is pretty one dimensional. This is fine as it is just a CGDCT show where the idea is you feel good about the relationship the characters have with each other, and that's okay! #Sound Design The sound design in the show is perfectly fine imo, it's not over the top and has the fundamentals down as far as ping pong goes. The voice acting is fine and meant to just have cute characters, the soundtrack is fast paced and suprisingly distorted at times, which I actually do think is a benefit to the show itself (as in more unique). I was questioning the connection of this more distorted electronic style of music with ping pong, as PPtA does the same thing, but I believe it's simply part of ping pong being a very fast paced sport in general. There isn't too much to complain about as there isn't really anything too standout in the sound department. #Animation When it comes to animation, I always tend to look at things from a few angles; uniqueness, effort vs era, and fluidity. To be completely honest I don't think this show really stands out in any of these few specific factors besides maybe fluidity, there is not real uniqueness to the animation quality, the animation as far as the era it's in is pretty bland (which is fine, it's a cutesy show and it highlights the cute factors), and the fluidity fluctuates quite a bit. I would say in general as a sports show, it does a good job of having fluidity in shots during the actual gameplay and sometimes it actually looks rotoscoped (which I think is an interesting touch). #Final Analysis At the end of the day, this show depicts cute girls playing ping pong with eachother, and in being a cute show it highlights the fun and enjoyment of sports. There is no deep fundamental question about why do we play, but instead sort of pushes an idea onto you of just enjoying what you do, no deeper meaning is needed. The show ends highlighting this factor and while I feel it makes the very start of the show useless, I'm sure it was meant to be expanded upon. This show was cute and does it's job as a sports show well, so I can't hate too much. I'm feeling a light 6.5/10 on this one. Transition, have you given this show your vision? Did you love it, did you hate it, what would you rate it? You're the best, you're the best. What should I review next?
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