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Ping Pong’s art comprises of breathtaking, detailed backgrounds, and minimalist character designs; a combination that allows for great flexibility of expression and creative freedom. Think of Kaiba, Tatami Galaxy, and Tekkon Kinkreet blended together; a combination of the talented Yuasa Masaaki and the unsung auteur of manga Taiyou Matsumoto. The animation is very fluid, stylish, and surreal at times. The jaw-dropping details of the environment, and the complexity of character expression is quite impressive. The art/animation is very different, but not (in my opinion) an acquired taste.

A notable aspect of the show relating to animation, sound and overall direction is the frequent bursts of ‘magical realism’ expressed through images which bring out the emotions and motivations of the characters during action sequences in a comic and fantastical way. For example, Kong Wenge’s desire to return to China is symbolized by a commercial plane in various sequences, Tsukimoto ‘smile’ desire to be saved by a hero manifesting during his early childhood experience of being bullied in school is personified by a hero figure, and so on.These sequences perfectly blend with the overall style of the anime and enhance the experience.

Honestly, 10 seconds into the anime, I was shocked. The animation is so different from the norm. It is scruffy and ragged and feels runny and edgy at the same time.
And the character design seems to have been made to look ugly. In fact, before I got used to it, they reminded me of certain titans of a certain show.

However, after the first 10-15 minutes, I got used to it and I think most viewers will do too. It is clearly evident that the creators were not going for a "realistic" look which is the usual alternative to the normal art style. Instead, they chose this unique, artistic look. On retrospect, if the art style wasn't like this, the unorthodox feel of the show would have been almost completely lost. So, kudos to them.

Sometimes, the screen is divided into panels in a manga-like manner (especially around match-times) for extra dramatic effect and it achieves that goal as well.
Also worth mentioning is the surrealistic art that is employed from time to time which feel very -for a lack of better term- "artistic". Abstract art is also used to depict the tide of the match instead of doing so through the gameplay. For eg: The size of an imposing player may be bloated out of proportions to establish the atmosphere of dominance. Or the art may convey the emotions of the players instead.
All in all, it's a perfect fit for this show.
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