Ping Pong 1
This was as good as everyone said it was.
In the final faceoff with China, the ball's animated really well. It's easy to tell just how Peco is getting outplayed without the characters having to tell you exactly what's going on before your eyes.
I feel somewhat obligated to start with the art style here. As one of the commentaries here pointed out, this is an adaptation of a manga, and the anime's art is a close match to the source's style. There's lots of flat shading, and distant objects lack any kind of detail. That doesn't always make for the most pleasing screenshots, but where this less-defined style really stands out is in the ping pong scenes. The exaggerated stretch and squash, along with the way the camera bounces back and forth across the table, make these scenes absolutely riveting. Everything animates beautifully.
Within the art style, I really like the character designs, too. Everyone's clearly not cut from the same mold. Peco's small, round face reads impish innocence, while China's face and hair use sharp, aggressive lines, showing his competitive drive. He actually reminds me a little of Rin in Free. You can tell a lot just from everyone's silhouette. It's top-notch work.
Smile and Peco are defined for us nearly as soon as they appear onscreen. The way the
ping pong coach asks the club captain about everyone suggests that he's a pretty absent figure, and it brings us up to speed in terms of everything we don't know.
For everything directly stated, something else is implied. Peco can't make friends because he's a hothead; Smile can't make friends because he's utterly humorless. Peco plays ping pong because he's good at it, and likes the feeling of superiority he gets from winning (hence the love of hustling fresh faces at his local club). It's less clear why Smile plays, but from their dynamic it's easy to understand why he holds back against his friend.
More importantly, this episode lays out a clear theme for us.
This Engish quote fits nicely coming from their slightly eccentric coach.
The protagonists are slackers of different kinds, coasting on their talent. But with the arrival of China, that will no longer be enough. How do they respond? Where will that lead them? Basically, we already know what the show's about, which is more than I can say for a sprawling mess like Black Bullet.
The all-white cut to the sky that confused DTL serves to rise us up from the practice match going on and take us to the roof of the school, separating us from the gym in both time and space. I like how we only really "see" what the two listeners are hearing; closeups of footsteps or the ball hitting table and paddle.
Have I mentioned how awesome it is that the characters speak Chinese? That's so awesome.
I can't wait for more.