5. WHY DO BIRDS SUDDENLY APPEAR? (A REVIEW OF PING-PONG)

 WHY DO BIRDS SUDDENLY APPEAR? (A REVIEW OF PING PONG)

Ping-Pong is a manga about so much more than Ping-Pong. It’s about friendship, love, passion, heroism, what it means to be a human… but it’s also about ping pong. I read this recently and am just brimming with thoughts. There is a lot to tackle here, so let’s start with some of the more tangible elements of this manga.

LAYER 1 : LET’S PLAY PING PONG

Ping-Pong follows two main characters, Smile and Peko and shows their ever-changing relationship to ping pong and to the people around them. I promise you it’s interesting, more than interesting. The ping-pong matches are intense, and it’s drawn in a loose and fluid art style which is effective in creating both relaxed or intense scenes, it all depends on what needs to be conveyed. When you start reading, the dialogue can seem a bit corny, but the more you read, the more meaningful it becomes, and you start to notice how each character’s voice blossoms from their speech bubbles. This is not a manga that you should judge too quickly, give it the time of day, see it through.

LAYER 2 : OUR STAR PLAYERS

Let’s talk about Smile and Peko, our main characters. They’re best friends but couldn’t be more different from one another. Smile is an amazing player, he has a real knack for ping-pong, and that was before he even started taking it seriously. However, his attitude towards ping-pong (and in general) is cold. At first, he doesn’t care much for it despite his talent. He is often called a robot because of his indifference towards those around him, and it only gets worse when he starts actively trying to improve his ping-pong skills. He comes off as even more robotic because no human can beat him. His nickname, smile, is meant to be ironic because he never smiles or laughs. 

Then, there’s Peko, the hero as he’s often called by Smile, overflowing with life. He is a stark contrast to smile, and he’s also regarded as the worse player between the two of them. So, why is Peko the hero? I see Peko as more of a washed-up hero. He was once great at ping-pong, better than Smile even, but he never tried to improve and eventually he reached the limitation of his talents. Rather early on, his confidence in his ability is shattered when he attempts to play against a Chinese player called Wenga. After playing Wenga, he hangs up his paddle and tries to find a new passion but of course, the hero must make his return eventually. Peko has some of my favourite symbolism in the manga. He’s not a character one takes very seriously so often, I found myself disregarding some of the things he says as “Peko being Peko” but in reality there’s a lot of weight behind his words.

LAYER 3 : IT’S SYMBOLIC

Something I picked up on about Peko is his habit of snacking, that’s where his nickname comes from. Peko is usually eating a snack or drinking soda, and that is usually accompanied by complaints about how the taste was much better when he was younger. This is an obvious metaphor for his ping-pong abilities. Over time, he’s gotten rusty, he’s not as good as he once was, and he expresses the dissatisfaction with his own skills through complaining about his snacks.

There’s one line that Peko is always repeating throughout the manga and as much as I wanted to pass it off, it’s too difficult to ignore: “my blood tastes like iron” which actually has a world of depth. It’s something he never wants Smile to forget. No matter how many times people call Smile a robot, he has to remember that his blood tastes like iron. Smile is human because he has blood pumping through his veins, it only tastes like iron. Smile can be as cold as he wants to, but that doesn’t make him any less of a human. His blood tastes like iron.

The main symbol in Ping-Pong requires a little more of an explanation. Peko is always jumping into the ocean, thinking he can fly, and he always emerges eventually. During his lowest moment, he walks into the ocean, and he doesn’t resurface. He lets the sea take him to a faraway land where he can start over again. He is fished out by someone who used to admire him but had become a better player. That’s the moment when Peko returns to ping-pong, that is when he starts to fly… 

LAYER 4 : ENTER THE HERO

I’m sure you can see what I’m getting at; if his lowest moment is in the ocean, then his highest moment is in the sky, flying high. That’s how Peko feels when he’s playing ping-pong. He’s free, in a state of bliss, he’s flying with the birds, he’s high above the rest. That’s also what makes him the hero. I don’t think I ever explained why Peko is the hero. Peko is the hero because he shows others how to fly, he shows them that ping-pong can be fun. That’s why he’s Smile’s hero, why Smile called upon him when he needed him most. That final match is one of the most beautiful chapters in manga. The score doesn’t matter, nor does the victor, all that matters is that they’re both having fun. It reminds me of the song by Carpenters: Close To You. Not just because the song mentions birds, but because it’s a love song and Ping-Pong is a love story, a story about falling in love with ping-pong.

EPILOGUE:

I missed last week, I’m sorry. I was exhausted, and it won’t happen again, or maybe it will, I need a healthier work ethic. It feels good to write again, though. I missed this. Grammarly was down today, though, so that was a problem. I spent so much time trying to get it to work, but it’s an external issue. I hope all my readers are staying safe! Love to you all in these trying times. That’s about all I have to say. Until next week.