The story focuses on two Ping Pong players who are both not in top form. Tsukimoto is having a spell of teen angst and isn't living up to his potential in the game. He is bored by the game and is waiting for his hero to rise. Meanwhile the personable braggart Peco (whom Tsukimoto sees as the hero) falls apart once he is defeated in a tournament. Together the two friends try to improve their game in order to face each other in the final tournament, which would then give both players the peace of mind they have been searching for.

The well-rounded characters are the sole reason "Ping Pong" works so well. Instead of merely giving attention to Peco and Tsukimoto, the story also gives a lengthy amount of screen time to other important characters like Butterfly Joe- the ex-ping pong playing champion turned coach of Tsukimoto, Peco's wise Granny, and Peco/Tsukimoto's jealous friend Demon. The real star, however, is Yosuke Kubozuka who plays the multi-layered Peco. Peco starts off as a cocky, junk food eating, hyperactive ping pong player who enjoys showing off in front of the audience. While he maintains a few of these traits even as the film nears the conclusion, he truly begins to change as a person as he realizes not only his capabilities, but the importance of friendship.

The one character that I felt was inconsistent was the other star of the film, Tsukimoto. He starts out as a whiney, stubborn, shy, independent loner, but quickly becomes a determined, confident and strong character halfway through. Unlike Peco, his character transformation felt forced and unconvincing, and was used as more of a device to move the story along.

The film also does fumble at times. The direction by Sori in the first half of the film is overloaded with frantic over-editing and quick flashbacks. It all winds up being too much to take in, but luckily the film manages to slow down mid-way. Also, I could have done without the blatantly obvious symbolism in the film. I think everyone can understand the symbolic meanings of birds and a Rubik's cube the very first second they appeared on screen.

The DVD

Video:
The patchy 16:9 Anamorphic Widescreen suffers from fuzzy picture quality during darkly lit scenes and off-and-on glaring colors, but neither issue interferes with the viewing experience.

Sound: What's behind door number 1 and 2? Stereo 2.0 and Dolby 5.1 audio tracks of course! Naturally, I chose the 5.1 track which balanced the music, dialogue, and ping pong action sound f/x quite well.

Extras: Disk 1:

1. A text director and cast history.

2. Previews for "Train-Man," "Linda Linda Linda," "The Taste Of Tea," and "Kamikaze Girls."

3. English subtitles on or off.

Disk 2:

1. Tv spots and a theatrical trailer for "Ping Pong."

2. A 16 minute "How To Play Ping Pong" short film. The short basically gives the viewer a rundown of the sport. We learn the instructions of the game, the equipment used, and certain helpful techniques. Informative to those who know nothing about the game.

3. Trailers for "Train-Man" and "Linda Linda Linda."

4. A 15 minute short parody film titled "Ting Pong" which centers around the nerdy character Mr. Ota (who has a crush on a girl that likes Tsukimoto). As Ota is nothing more than a minor weak comedic relief character, an entire short based on his character is not my idea of a fun time.

5. A 54 minute featurette titled "Making Of Ping Pong"- The mini-doc gives us a thorough examination of each of the characters. In addition, we learn that story is based on a comic book series and that the actors were never filmed with real ping pong balls (they were all CG). I have to say, I had a hard time telling the ping pong balls were CG most of the time. Had the CG been very noticeable, the film would have certainly lost authenticity.

Final Thoughts:
"Ping Pong" has its fair share of flaws, but the strong cast and characters make the film worth a look.

Film and television enthusiast Nick Lyons recently had his first book published titled "Attack of the Sci-Fi Trivia." It is available on Amazon.com.