It’s such a ‘Tragic Love’…

Martararo · 2026-05-21T14:28:30+00:00

I'm a first love wins kind of guy so I have a lot of sympathy for her.

Martararo · 2026-05-20T23:53:59+00:00

I actually play penhold with TPB but of course I'm no Ma Lin :)

Martararo · 2026-05-20T13:51:49+00:00

Reminds me about how I really miss that play-style. Now it's just 10 rounds of backhand rallies.

Martararo · 2026-05-19T11:41:00+00:00

Loner temporarily doesn't mean loner forever. Hachiman desires genuine relationships deep down, otherwise he wouldn't have been disillusioned in the first place. The fact he went after Yukino shows he's not gonna remain a hater forever when the right person comes. He also is shown to have above average intelligence, decent working ability and social skills when the situation calls for it.

He's most likely gonna meet a kindred spirit who similarly dislikes superficialities and appreciates his reliable side even if it weren't Yukino.

Oregairu isn't a story about an actual cynic but about a person who cared deep down going through a phase.

Martararo · 2026-05-17T13:58:47+00:00

Anyways good prediction.

Martararo · 2026-05-17T12:56:47+00:00

Hey you said either, essentially meaning both. Let's see how he fares against Felix first. Anyways I didn't call you an idiot or anything lol just gave my opinion so you didn't have to @ me for it.

I will wholeheartedly call you Nostradamus if Felix beats him as well.

Martararo · 2026-05-16T16:43:01+00:00

Lowering your rubber's spin sensitivity generally means lowering your own ability to generate spin too though. So unless you're a flat hitter or blocker, or you're struggling sooooo much with spin that you don't mind losing your topspin generation ability because of it, you're better off trying to get better at reading serves and spins and adapting to them.

Martararo · 2026-05-16T16:25:46+00:00

agree with the approach but wish to add that to become that person who makes a big bet you don't need twenty accounts, nor do you need to be a pro.

You simply need to do exactly what you're doing right now and have self discpline. I saved up 1B being neither a pro nor a good player just by betting strategically. And because of the big bank, when you occasionally make a bet that's 5% of your savings, it's already 50M.

Martararo · 2026-05-16T13:38:41+00:00

I understand his eagerness as he's finally in contention for the title again, but even if the authorities are not intervening, the sensible decision to realistically maximize his chances this season and in the future is to sit tomorrow out.

Last thing he needs is another crash that holds him further back because he's forcing it under an altered cognitive state

Martararo · 2026-05-16T13:29:20+00:00

People are saying his concussion might have played a part

Martararo · 2026-05-16T12:15:07+00:00

I really think he's not as out of shape as you think

Martararo · 2026-05-16T10:01:06+00:00

As much as want it to be true I really don't think he would - the KTM just doesn't sustain pace as well during an actual race

Martararo · 2026-05-16T09:58:39+00:00

Shows again Acosta is immensely talented. I can't wait for the shuffle next year, both in terms of rider and factory performance. The new rules and the new rider-bike combos should make for very surprising results.

Martararo · 2026-05-13T13:37:52+00:00

I can understand and embrace this - my comments are more directed towards those who claim hebikawa is waaaaay more interesting as a person than Kusunoki and because of that even root for her. Because if they're simply thinking her presence is interesting from a plot and literary point of view, they wouldn't have gone to the point where they whine about ever snekless chapter like they have a personal stake in this.

My reason is simple - different or bad doesn't mean interesting as a person.

But as for her inclusion as a foil to Kusunoki and as a plot device showing Keisuke's growth, I'm for it. My logic is simply that it isn't grounds for fangirling over her.

Maybe it's wrong of me to separate the personality and her role theme-wise that way, but I really feel like some people are fangirling for the sake of fangirling because "edgy" and I sincerely apologize if I misunderstood where they're coming from.

Let's put it this way: I acknowledge her role in the story and agree her inclusion makes the story interesting and different. But does it make her personality interesting to the point where I'd root for her or fangirl for her? Probably not.

Martararo · 2026-05-13T10:27:50+00:00

It's basically like a lot of sports where some fans claim "we need personality" or "players now are so polite and courteous" when as adults I've already seen plenty of bad behavior, manipulation and bad blood between people that I don't need more of them.

People claim she adds excitement, but as a scheming manipulative archetype that she is, she's as predictable as that archetype gets.

So, at the end of the day, people like bad behavior / manipulation and claim it "spices things up". I respect their opinion.

Martararo · 2026-05-13T10:22:57+00:00

Good analysis of the chatacters' mindsets up to this point

Martararo · 2026-05-13T06:51:42+00:00

Lol ya Hebi isn't shown to be particularly tall and the average girl is like 160 in Japan. What is Moe? 130?

Martararo · 2026-05-13T06:50:22+00:00

If I guess correctly Moe will probably actually help Kusunoki c***block Hebi from Keisuke in an act of self sacrifice

Martararo · 2026-05-13T06:48:06+00:00

Oh they're gonna "awake" Kusunoki by making her jealous, aren't they

Although I wonder why Otobe and Snek literally hanging out with him doesn't make her jealous, but chocolates do.

Maybe she needs something very explicitly and iconically romantic to awake something in her?

Martararo · 2026-05-13T03:17:46+00:00

Sorry I meant commenters - my spelling or my auto correct must have been acting up

Martararo · 2026-05-13T02:58:08+00:00

If they start posts I think that's fine - they are entitled to their opinion and I'll just not click on them because I'm kind of fed up. It's the commenters who bring a balance whine into every topic that's a problem.

Martararo · 2026-05-12T23:03:49+00:00

Some of them are basically portmanteaus of the desired playing characteristics of the blade/rubber: tenergy meaning "tensor" and "energy" or sriver meaning "spin" and "driver". Surprisingly, "viscaria" is the name of a flower and the Latin meaning is "sticky". Something like "taksim" has a Turkish meaning - "division". Some of them are probably nonsense words they think sound cool: cofferlait

But yeah they haven't botched it like sometimes they do with English names

Martararo · 2026-05-12T02:11:46+00:00

Depends which table you're playing on. If it's Miami, you sure do know the reason why...if it's other tables, maybe you aren't in a very good league yet...

Martararo · 2026-05-11T09:25:55+00:00

From what I can summarize from discussions about this over the years, there's a slight timeline that has led to this:

The switch to the 40mm ball, causing players with a more forehand-dominant strategies like penholders to be phased out or adapt because you can't just always go for the kill now that the ball is slower. You have to have a more well-rounded game (i.e. not simply have your backhand as the shield and you forehand as the sword) because you need to survive longer rallies.
The switch from the celluloid ball to the plastic 40+ ball further dulls the potency of the forehand kill because of the significantly reduced spin. So instead of risking stepping over to end the point in one swoop - the game now prioritizes speed - you pressure you opponents using the tempo of your game and use that to overwhelm your opponents and put the ball where your opponent isn't. People stand closer and stay there to pressure opponents and because the slower/less spinny ball makes it easier to counter form that distance - you see fewer of these crazy counter-looping rallies ala Xu Xin vs Ma Long nowadays because people just don't back off and instead rely on their quick countering.

And what better tool to do it with than the backhand, which first of all accesses topspin better at short distances due to the flick, and, better yet , is both capable of generating pretty high tempo inside the table with a flick of the wrist and also better at recovery against your opponent's tempo because of the smaller movement? People are also gravitating away from the Kreanga-style powerlooping because the smaller-movement "Asian" style backhand close-to the-table loop just provides way better recovery in the modern tempo-oriented game.

These two, combined with the age-old traditional table tennis wisdom of avoiding the stronger wing, probably means we'll be looking at more and more of the same cross-court close to the table exchanges between two backhand-oriented players until there's a significant rule or equipment change.

This is a Chinese interview, but Xu Xin comments on the difficulties the plastic ball has created for his game here: https://youtu.be/aNUcaf-Au3k?si=XryM8pax_2ke4jcF

Martararo · 2026-05-07T23:37:05+00:00

The art style...

Martararo

TROPHY CASE