Ping Pong The Animation Episode 10

As the match starts between Peco and Kazama the scene begins with the camera panning up from Peco's hand getting ready to serve to a view of Kazama being swallowed by darkness. It then cuts to a panning close up shot of Kazama. The black uniform, the dark background, and the shadowing on Kazama's intense face brings a presence of an imposing and joyless force. Next we see Peco surrounded by a wavering white light, the color of the hero. But he's overwhelmed by Kazama's presence as evident by the faintness of the light and the darkness slowly swallowing it. The panning extreme close up shot of Peco and his hero mask show that despite Kazama's overwhelming presence he's committed to playing for fun and with his childhood hero persona.

The scene then ends with a really cool shot of Peco that starts at a high angle, pushes into an extreme close up of his eye (with Kazama's reflection) and then pulls back to a low angle. Everything about this camera work exudes the willingness of a hero to accept such a huge challenge

This whole scene also lays the thematic ground work for the rest of the match. Light vs. dark, playing for fun vs. the cold drive for victory and hero vs. anti-hero. I also love the use of the vertical panning shots for constant thematic transitions.

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As the match continues Kazama's dark aura proved to be too overwhelming for Peco. Kazama viewed his father as a hero, losing him and hearing his grandfather belittle him shook this core belief. With that pillar of strength gone, he relied solely on his ability to play Ping Pong as a form of strength. This led to his play to be strongly driven by the pressure to win, to fulfill his grandfather's lofty expectations, and the painful fear of defeat. These rather negative reasons for playing has taken the joy out of the sport and led to emotional isolation. This grim and painful approach has made him a brutal and domineering player which is reflected by the darkness that surrounds him and that eventually engulfs Peco.

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As Peco further gets dominated by Kazama he starts losing confidence. In the background he hears Smile's humming. Peco imagines Smile telling him to find the fun out of playing such a tough opponent which improves Peco's play. As Peco gains momentum the background becomes white, the overall setting seems brighter, and the darkness surrounding Kazama slowly dissipates. The play has a more jubilant vibe and atmosphere. 

 Kazama's background is now light blue, reinforcing that Peco's more positive aura is dominating the match

Notice the competition number on Peco's back acting as a cape. There are multiple full shots like this one in this part of the match that demonstrates Peco's childlike hero persona.
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The use of imagery to represent the characters' personality and their development is very much present in this episode and excellently so. The reoccurring image is flight, which symbolizes freedom. Peco's hero persona has adopted this image and it's reinforced by his unrestricted and flighty play-style. Kazama's style while strong and imposing is also restricted and burdened. This is reflected by the imagery of constantly struggling to climb a cliff with the fear of falling into the dark abyss below him.

 An extreme close up of Kazama's eye seeing the image of Peco taking flight.

 The imagery of Kazama's constant struggle but now looking to break out of it.

 As Peco makes Kazama realize the joy of Ping Pong the pressure and burden are unloaded. He's now free to just enjoy the sport and fly away from isolation. 

 Peco and Kazama taking flight together as they put on a fun match.

Another extreme close up of Kazama's eye, this time seeing Peco flying away where he can't reach him, a realization that Peco will win the match.

One Week Friends Episode 10

Lighting and shadow in this episode were used really well to set up the mood of the scene and to accentuate the feelings of the characters.

 After Hase realized that the significance of the number "18" was truly lost in Kaori, he then walks away upset. The next scene starts with a shot of the sun shining through the window. It then cuts to a long shot of Hase. Despite all the light going through the window he remains in the shadows. This expresses that even though he tries to appear bright and happy, deep inside he's in pain. This also establishes a melancholic feeling that effectively sets up the flashback scene and the emotional moment when Hase cries.

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When Kaori started talking about Hajime the scene cuts to a long shot of the two being enveloped by the cloud's shadow. The scene uses the shadows to emote Kaori's dark and painful memories of Hajime that she has long-repressed.

 Hase tries to comfort Kaori and the conversation moves on to a more joyful topic of going out for crêpes. To reflect this change in mood, the cloud covers move to let the Sun shine on both of them.

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Unfortunately for Hase things couldn't quite remain bright and sunny. In this long shot of the last scene, the street light flickers off above him, perhaps indicating a dark foreshadowing.

Mushishi Zoku Shou Episode 8

This episode uses color schemes to express contrasting moods and emotional states of the character.

 A full shot of the ship. The ship sailing the open sea and the mushi birds flying in the bright blue sky are images that symbolizes freedom and adventure.

 The blue sky, the white birds and clouds are colors that give a sense of optimism. The young man looks up with hope for a bright future. The low angle imitates the young sailor's view and communicates this positive mood to the audience.

An eye candy scene. The low framing emphasizes the animation of the waves and the mushi birds diving down from the sky.

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After the ship sunk the young sailor have fallen into depression.

 A long shot of the young sailor. The barren tree and the dark blue sky present an oppressive and dark mood. A young man once optimistic and free is now chained down to his unloving parents.

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The bleak looking house of his unloving parents and the dark mushi worms are images and colors that exude pessimism and restriction. The video above of the mushi birds blowing through his parents' house and consuming the worms symbolize the young sailor breaking out of this restriction and depression to follow his dream to sail freely in the open sea.

Ping Pong The Animation Episode 9

This Kazama flash back sequence beautifully used cinematography to portray the purity and innocence of a kid's admiration of his father.

 A close up of Kazama in the bathroom stall. Deep in thought and has a look of a person revisiting a cherished memory. 

 A shot of lilies with the child version of Kazama in the background admiring it.

 A close up of the lilies. These shots of the lilies show that Kazama loved flowers the same way his father (a florist) did. This suggest he strongly viewed his father as a role model.

 A low angle long shot of Kazama's father. This shot gives an impression of a person looking up to someone in admiration.

 A medium shot of Kazama's father to further drive the point that he's a man that deeply influenced him. The man he plays ping pong for, his hero.

The sequence also has great storyboarding. There were shots of Kazama's father struggling with the flower business. The sequence intertwine Kazama's heroic view of his father and the troubled man behind the hero.

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Another sequence that builds up a hero.

 A medium-long shot of Peco. Without the head in view the audience's eyes focus on the injured knee. An injured Peco asking for his racket really plays up his hero persona. 

 A close up of the racket being handed to Peco. A hero accepting the challenge despite an injury.

Another use of a low angle shot to give a heroic depiction of a person. The light shining on Peco really complement that depiction.

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I thought this was a really nice use of a push in shot to give an illusion of Peco's words from a childhood flashback reaching Smile.

Zankyu no Terror / 残響のテロル? Hmmmm

Okay the only reason I am intrigued by this show is because the director is one of my favourite, Shinchiro Watanabe (Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo). And....Yoko Kanno is doing the score. Hmmmm

Despite his orgy of self masturbation in Space Dandy, I still have faith that he can deliver a good show. Airing on Noitama slot which means either 11 or 22 episodes, next month the world shall see the debut of this show.

The synopsis:

"In an alternate version of the present, Tokyo has been decimated by a shocking terrorist attack, and the only hint to the identity of the culprit is a bizarre video uploaded to the internet. The police, baffled by this cryptic clue, are powerless to stop the paranoia spreading across the population.

While the world searches for a criminal mastermind to blame for this tragedy, two mysterious children—children who shouldn't even exist—masterfully carry out their heinous plan. Cursed to walk through this world with the names Nine and Twelve, the two combine to form "Sphinx," a clandestine entity determine to wake the people from their slumber—and pull the trigger on this world."

Here is the trailer.

Mushishi Zoku Shou Episode 6

As Ginko first appears in this episode it also introduces the prevalent theme of cherry blossoms.

 A long shot of Ginko next to a blossoming cherry tree establishes the setting.

 A high angle deep focus shot with the cherry blossom in the foreground and Ginko looking in awe in the background. This closer look on both suggests that cherry blossoms would play a role in Ginko's travel.

A close up look of the cherry blossoms. These increasing closer looks on cherry blossoms build the thematic ground work for this episode.

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The doctor reveals that Saho's health is directly related to the nearby cherry tree that shelters mushi. The following images establishes that parallel.

Whenever Saho is healthy the mushi cherry tree blossoms. In this flashback shot the camera pans down as the petals falls on Saho. This gives the image of blossoms symbolizing life, and giving life to Saho.

 Now back to present. This medium shot of the barren cherry tree signifies that Saho is in bad health.

A long shot of the tree along with the doctor and Ginko. These dark images of the barren tree gives off a feeling of bleakness. As the blossoms signify life the lack thereof signifies death.

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These images are from scenes after the doctor failed to prolong Saho's life.

As the mushi (which looks like blossom petals) leaves Saho's body the camera pans up to emphasize the imagery of her life dissipating. This is a direct contrast to the shot where the camera pans down as the petals fall on a livelier Saho.

A long shot of the cherry tree and the mushi floating away. This further drives the parallel between the tree and Saho's life and death.

Haikyuu!! Episode 9

There were some really nice subtle touches in this episode in which the character's actions and feelings were mainly expressed through cinematography.

 A long shot of Asahi contemplating. The school and the crows in the background are the visual representation of what's on his mind, which is whether or not he should go back to the team.

 A shallow focus on the crow taking flight in the background, further emphasizes the symbolism. 

 The shallow focus then switches on Asahi as he leaves, emphasizing the decision he has made. Just like the crow in the background he's taking flight again and rejoining the team. In this scene there was no dialogue from Asahi, the visuals were used to speak for the character

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This sequence is Asahi's return. Again very little dialogue.

 His entrance scene starts with the camera slowly panning to the entrance. This expresses Asahi's feeling of anxiety and apprehensiveness. Then only his hand comes into view, the camera focuses on it to show how he feels too ashamed to fully present himself

 The scene further builds on this feeling of anxiety by slowly panning up until finally Asahi's face comes into view.

 The shallow focus on Asahi with Nishinoya in the foreground conveys that his return was most important to Nishinoya.

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The sequence in which Asahi came to a realization that he has teammates that support him switches from medium-long shot to a long shot. This switch that made him look more diminutive signifies that he's seeing the bigger picture, that the team is bigger than him and he shouldn't shoulder all the blame.  

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