PING PONG The Animation: Episode 10 FULL LENGTH Reaction!
Added 2025-03-13 13:00:08 +0000 UTC*PENULTIMATE HEADPHONE WARNINGS*
This episode was INCREDIBLE, but what's new? Let's take a drink every time there's a bird metaphor, every time Peco smiles, and every time Kazama has a revelation or flashback! This match, this duo, this penultimate episode was SO GOOD!
I'm not ready for this series to end, but I can't wait to talk with you all about this episode!
LINK TO REACTION: https://share.vidyard.com/watch/CQfYdw9suwZG5dAdZjQfp2?
Thank you for watching with me and for all the support!
Comments
This episode is just SO. DARN. GOOD. I agree that the Kazama family is probably just against vulnerability in general, we just REALLY see it with the men in the family. But I love that Yurie is willing to get out of the cycle and go be her own person! Go Girl! Peco singing the Hero song was so beautiful, I agree! I love the idea of Smile becoming a hero! <3 That is so true that he helped Peco be able to take onto Kazama! Their relationship just melts my heart! That’s the thing about sports anime - they have gotten me into so many sports that I did not throw a second glance at until watching these series! I just felt heartbroken for Kazama - there was a comment below yours where I answered the same way, but yes, I agree that Kazama lost the sense of heroes being real because his own hero (his father) died. 🙁 I’m glad he had Peco teach him that they still exist, and that people can indeed FLY. Thank you for the comment and kind words! I’m SO excited for this final episode but I don’t want it to end! This series is just SO GOOD!
Romaniablack
2025-03-18 02:51:05 +0000 UTCIt's so sad that Kazama's answer as to "why" he plays is really just whatever people ask of him, but he has no joy for himself! :( I wondered when his dad died if that was the case - that his dad was his hero, and then once he died, he lost that and thus believed that "heroes" didn't exist anymore - I'm glad you mentioned that here as well! Thank you for the comment!
Romaniablack
2025-03-18 02:30:37 +0000 UTCYessss, Kazama is just wanting to appeal to people with his answer, but I LOVE that tie to Kiriyamia Rei because I so see it, too! It is really survival with him! Thank you so much for the comment and kind words! I cannot believe we're at the finale this coming week - I really don't want this show to endddd! Tally ho, though!
Romaniablack
2025-03-18 01:32:16 +0000 UTCThis is such a strong penultimate episode. You know, I'll play devil's advocate for once XD But, to be somewhat fair to the Kazama family, I don't think they are only against masculine vulnerability, I think they are against vulnerability in general. Like, I have no proof for this other than the fact that they had Kazama working in the commercials for the company, and everything else, just the same that they had Yurie working on them; both doing what they could do, equally. I just don't think we see that pronouncily with Yurie because she was not a Ping Pong player. Good on Yurie just doing as she said that she would, and leaving for London. I hope she'll be happy there, and I think she will, considering that she is already doing something to achieve it. Peco singing the Hero's song makes me tear up. Such a beautiful moment. And finding out that Smile wrote the song for Peco? Ugh, my heart can't take it. I think, to me, Smile DID become Peco's hero in this episode. If it wasn't for the memory of him, Peco would have probably lost to Kazama. And, even more, if it wasn't for Smile, Peco would have never have gotten back into Ping Pong. So, I think, Smile already is Peco's hero by being his inspiration to get better and go back to the sport. What you say about getting to only really appreciate Ping Pong because of this anime, I resonate with that so much because I was the same. It seemed to me like a very simple, recreational game but not a sport... color me so surprised at seeing all the thought and training that can go into it. Something that I've been thinking about for the last little while, is how Kazama saying that "there are no heroes" reads to me like such a heartbroken statement. From the little flashbacks that we have of him and his dad, the way he talks about him as well, it seems to me that Kazama's hero was his dad; and then he started struggling with his business, and died, and Kazama lost his hero - this is made even more heartbreaking and poignant if Kazama's dad did kill himself. And that not only left Kazama lost in his grandfather's expectations to restore his father's good name (after all he is defending the honor of his branch of the family) but also bitter and angry at having being "left behind"; and that colors his percception of heroes, sours it, and makes him think there are none, because his died, so there surely aren't any for anyone else. It's something I've been thinking for a little while, and this episode sort of confirm it for me. If we have a Peco/Smile game as the finals... well, that'll be so incredibly exciting. I am really hyped.
Alexandra Q
2025-03-14 03:19:06 +0000 UTCI was going to comment last episode that Kazuma gives 2 different answers to the question of who he plays for. So 1 of those has to be a lie. But I waited until this episode because that is not really true. The reality is that he had forgotten why he played, so he doesn't really have an answer to that question. Also I don't think that Kazuma didn't have a hero, he did and it was his dad. With the death of his dad he lost both his hero and the reason why he played.
William Pina
2025-03-14 03:04:44 +0000 UTCSomething I wanted to add to the discussion on why Kazuma plays table tennis is that I think when people ask Kazuma "who you play table tennis for?", he just gives people the answer they want. I think Kazuma plays for the same reason Kiriyama Rei plays Shogi. Survival. Such a wonderful reaction! Only one to go! I wanted to add the comment above last week but I didn't want to accidently lead you in any direction but so cool to see that you made the connection too haha. So excited to see what you think of the finale next week!
Muz
2025-03-13 21:38:19 +0000 UTCYessss, that's such a good way of describing it - embracing the negative side of sport devotion and having the characters actively confronting it! And yes, Kazama and Sakuma thinking that ping pong is going to revolutionize their lives, but if they're not enjoying the game alongside it...is it really helping?! And yeah, with year in between the start to now, Peco really has made the biggest shift for me as a character - from what seemed to a support to a protagonist! I just love it! Thank you for the comment!
Romaniablack
2025-03-13 18:54:32 +0000 UTCKazuma is such a good character. A key thematic difference between Ping Pong and most sports manga is its embrace of the possible negative sides of a devotion to sports. In a lot of series, the sport is the answer to life's questions. In Ping Pong, the sport is just part of life. It won't give you the answers. Characters like Sakuma and Kazuma really illustrate that. They are devoted to Ping Pong, but that devotion alone won't really get them where they need to go. I really like how Peco comes into his own as the capital P protagonist towards the back half. He even starts getting drawn a bit taller and older.
Generation Wumbo
2025-03-13 14:53:03 +0000 UTC
