Show of the Year: Ping Pong
2014 has been an interesting year because there were fewer dominant shows that left a lasting impression on everyone’s minds, unlike last year’s 800-pound gorilla, Attack on Titan, or the critics’ darling Kyosougiga. Certainly, there were plenty of high profile shows, from those based on (inexplicably) popular light novel series such as Sword Art Online and The Irregular at Magic High School, and chart-topping manga like The Seven Deadly Sins, Nisekoi, and Haikyuu!! There were also several high profile continuations of franchises that did not originate in manga or light novels, such as the new Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works adaptation/sequel and the second season of the multimedia idol franchise Love Live! School Idol Project. So, it was not a year of obscure or unknown quantities.
But none of these impressed our review team enough. There were several contenders. Comedies got strong attention from some of our staff as there was quite a bit of support for Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun (my personal choice for top show of the year) and Barakamon. Three shows managed to get two first-place votes: the cerebral fantasy adventure/trapped in an online world show Log Horizon; the aforementioned Nozaki-kun; and the show that got the most points in our voting system: Masaaki Yuasa’s visually inventive adaptation of Taiyou Matsumoto’s manga Ping Pong, streamed here by FUNimation.
Our reviewers Kory Cerjak and Thomas Zoth raved over it earlier for the site (see their review here) and Kory restated his feelings in our end of the year discussion: “I don’t think there’s an argument that I can convincingly come up with that doesn’t put Ping Pong at the top of the list. …Ping Pong, (is) one of the best shows I’ve ever seen… Ink hath been spilt in regards to Ping Pong and it won’t get any better by me screwing it up more.”
Congrats winners!