The blu-ray boxset for Yuasa Masaaki’s ( KickHeart ) highly acclaimed Ping Pong animated series is looking super sumptuous. This extravagance is in keeping with his equally jawdropping boxset for Mind Game.
Here’s the breakdown of the box’s contents ( release date August 28th 2013 ) :
– Discs – 3 BR ( 11 episodes + supplementary materials ) + 2 audio CDs
– Matsumoto Taiyo + Masaaki Yuasa illustrated box
– Masaaki Yuasa Production Notes Booklet
– Animation “Making Of” Booklet ( both booklets totaling about 270 pages in all )
– Original Ping Pong T-Shirt
Supplementary material contents :
– Storyboard Gallery – storyboards by Masaaki Yuasa for the 11 episodes
– “Raw” opening and ending sequences free of rolling credits
– Promotional videos, CM
Audio CD contents
– Original Soundtrack CD
– Audio Commentaries
Note : The top image is showing both the front and back designs for all the materials included.
(below) A very good look at the actual box and contents.
(above) A closer look at the T-shirt design and Masaaki Yuasa illustration on the booklet. (below) Some of the contents in consideration for inclusion in the “making of” booklet.
And now for the bad news – the specs listed on Amazon Japan mentions no English subtitles for the series, which would probably be a deal-breaker for those who don’t speak the language.
Giving the popularity of the series in the States however, I’m guessing there will be a US blu-ray release for the series ? Can anyone confirm this ?
Update May 2015 – A much affordable English subtitled version is now available.
I’ve not seen a lot of anime series recently but Ping Pong is so extraordinary I really recommend every to see it.
Also be sure to check out the Switch magazine Ping Pong special.
You might also be interested in these items :
Pics of the blu-ray box are courtesy of the Ping Ping Anime twitter stream.
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Ping Pong The Animation : Complete Series Blu-ray (ENG)
Ping Pong The Animation – Switch Magazine Special Book Review
Ping Pong Anime Complete Artworks Book Review
Freedom Blu-Ray DVD boxset – First look
Den-noh Coil : Complete Collection Blu-ray
July 6th, 2014 at 2:51 am
That Ping Pong box set sure looks extravagant.
Do you know where to find the japanese Mind Game one at a reasonable price? Reasonable, meaning no more than 60€. I only found it for 180€ :\
July 6th, 2014 at 5:14 pm
Kamikaze – Unfortunately this box set has been released for quite a while and is no longer been reproduced, so prices will remain high I think. :[
July 7th, 2014 at 9:46 am
I imagined so.
Thank you anyway.
July 7th, 2014 at 8:22 pm
Somehow Taiyo Matsumoto has managed to avoid the perils of people adapting his work into films. Practically everything he releases as an artist is unquestionable in it’s quality, and maybe he has more say in where his work goes after it’s done, but it’s really a pretty incredible thing, if you think about it.
He’s one of the few artists (Japanese or otherwise) that I am emphatically excited about whenever there is anything new released of his, and based on the quality and success of Tekkonkinkreet, the live action Blue Spring and Ping Pong films, and now this series, there isn’t any reason to be trepidations about how his media will fare; his original material is too strong to be ruined by an errant filmmaker.
This is the kind of stuff anime has been needing, sorely, for at least the past decade: less by-committee, fan-servicy, 26 episodes of swill and more artist-based, auteur-driven projects that will stand on their own merit. This boxset, and the wild popularity the series has garnered worldwide (thanks to the fan-translation communities all over the globe) proves how profitable the latter can be for production companies. This is a very good example of when voting with your dollar counts; even though the price of this is pretty outrageous, there are other releases of it, and one can’t stress enough how important it is to support projects like this, if you enjoy them. The more distributors and production companies see that art can be profitable, the more we’ll start to see them take chances with newer kinds of materiel, and hopefully the less we’ll see of bullshit series with bullshit names about a pretty girl with big boobs who has to save her highschool from some bullshit disaster from 200 years ago.
July 7th, 2014 at 10:44 pm
Zack – I think it is also fortunate that his work was adapted by someone who understands it really well, Masaaki Yuasa. His characters from Ping Pong seem almost perfect for realization in the anime style of Masaaki.
Sadly the fan servicy anime that you described will persist, if only because the demand for it will remain high I think.
I’m just so happy that rare productions like Ping Pong comes along to reinvigorate the art form and inspire me all over again. :]
July 8th, 2014 at 2:26 am
Absolutely! Talk about “Enter The Hero!” This who project came in like a breath of fresh air, shaking the cobwebs, inspiring me to do more work in everything. If you really love something, try to be the best you can be!
July 9th, 2014 at 12:06 am
Ping pong is obviously the anime of the year. At least for me. The soundtrack combines really well with the atmosphere of the serieｓ. I always skips the opening but not with ping pong. It must have been a real pain in the ass to make that opening. So hard was, that they didn’t made it for the first and second episodes i suppose.
I hope that more Taiyou’s work could be adapted after this. Specially Takemitsu Zamurai.
愛してるぜペコ！！！
July 9th, 2014 at 12:56 am
whitezero – Absolutely love the soundtrack, and the songs used for the opening and ending credits. They really grew on me as the episodes progressed.
December 23rd, 2014 at 2:02 pm
In case you did not know, the Ping Pong anime will be getting a dub this coming summer!