Forum - View topicDance Dance Danseur (TV).
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Stark700
 Posts: 11762 Location: Earth |
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Dance Dance Danseur (TV) Genre: drama Theme: dancing, performing arts Plot Summary: Junpei Murao was fascinated with ballet as a child, but in his second year of middle school, his father passed away and he decided he needed to become more "masculine," and he gave up on his aspirations. While still having an attachment to ballet, he takes up the martial art of Jeet Kune Do, and becomes popular in his class. Then one day, a new transfer student named Miyako Godai arrives in Junpei's class, and her mother runs a ballet studio. Miyako realizes that Junpei is interested in ballet, and invites him to do ballet together. Apr. 8, 2022 (Fridays; Crunchyroll) |
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ACｘS
 Posts: 961 |
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1:
Well, I'll be damned. First things first: I thought this show would be interesting not because it's ballet. It's because MAPPA produced this show. Yes, I pick shows based on the production studio; if it's by one of my favorite studios, such as MAPPA or Madhouse, then chances are I'll have a go at it. And this one's a winner. The premise is clear-cut: Junpei fell in love with ballet, but gets molded by gender norms and familial expectations, and picks up Jeet Kune Do instead. But he knows he loves ballet, and he's been kidding himself, until the day someone talent-spotted him and gets the opportunity of his lifetime. Basically that's it. A few things stand out for me about the show. Junpei is likable. Not angsty. Juvenile. Gets hooked back into ballet because of a girl he likes, which is actually realistic: ever noticed how often you hear about boys picking up random hobbies or doing something unusual just for a girl? Gets demoralized from picking up ballet because kids are awful and gender norms are still a thing (expected, but I'm very thankful the show doesn't press on the issues too much). Instead, he picks up Jeet Kune Do because it's "manly". You might think it's arbitrary: why JKD? It's clearly not: JKD incorporates many tenets of ballet dancing: grace, discipline, flexibility, etc. Comparing to other hard martial arts like karate and boxing, JKD's soft philosophy is a big carry-over to ballet. It's no accident that JKD is picked here... maybe down the road, it would be revealed that Junpei's late father's love for JKD may even be related to ballet. Gets a hard-assed but supportive teacher (man, I like her too). Junpei rejects it at first, but not really. Wants to do it, but not really. Kids, you know: they can be tsundere at times. But he's not angsty, and I love it. Eventually caves in and embraces the fact that he really loves it. And he has a rival, right in the first episode! Because nothing spurs a boy more than a rival who's a possible threat in two fields: ballet and Miyako's attention. COMPETITION! It's utterly charming. Adorably upbeat with likable characters, and I can tell that this show loves ballet inside out. I sense a lot of heart through and through. MAPPA has a sleeper hit this season; man, this show's winning me over already. |
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ACｘS
Posts: 961 |
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2:
It's incredible to see just how much detail and attention are given to the ballet dance sequences. It's enchanting to watch. Personally I love the emotional turmoil that Junpei is going through right now. Miyako is his main hook for (re)joining ballet, but he also loves ballet and feeling being wanted. When he discovers that she wants him to befriend Luou and perhaps even has a thing for him, Junpei gets disillusioned and opts for other things like JKD and music. Does he love them? Perhaps, but definitely not as much as ballet, and more importantly, he joins them because of acceptance, the very opposite of what he feels towards ballet: rejection. Call his feelings juvenile if you will, but that's exactly how I expect a boy with raging hormone to act. So what's the next thing that naturally happens? The rival enters his class, and reminds Junpei that he's running away. Tantalizing! The other intriguing thing is the presentation. They are playing Swan Lake, but they are reflective of the characters in the play itself. We see that Junpei is set to play Siegfried, Miyako as Odette, and Luou as Rothbart (the real "demon" is actually Miyako's mom for making a proposition... I love her). Luou playing the demon even when he's portrayed as a (misunderstood) antagonist is a reference that's too perfect. I only have to ask: is there someone playing Odile? I don't know the play at all, so I have no idea how it goes. This show just keeps getting better. |
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ACｘS
Posts: 961 |
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3:
That was incredible. It was hinted from the onset that ballet is seen as feminine, but it's in this episode where we get to see the viscerality behind the gender norm, especially with the discrimination and the bullying that goes hand-in-hand with it. When you see someone being bullied, you tend to have a visceral feeling. Emotionally agitated. It goes against your moral view, and it makes you uncomfortable. Top it off with gender stereotyping, and you get an emotional reckoning. Junpei's conflicted response to Luou's treatment is completely expected, but his mental contention has several reasons. Reluctant because he doesn't want anybody to know his affiliation with ballet (which is ironic, because he hadn't realized that he wanted no part with it anymore then). Reluctant because Luou is his rival and the reason for his (self-perceived) rejection from ballet. Reluctant because, perhaps most importantly, because of gender stereotyping: he was struggling with the concept of "manliness". I know there's something much more to Luou's story especially in relation to his mother. It's anyone's guess what the story is, but you can already tell that something's definitely off i.e. why is Luou staying with the Godai household? Luou's unusual name = racial discrimination? Luou's mom revealing to be a celebrity doesn't mean anything (like, "so?"), and that makes me even more suspicious. I can confirm now, this show is the dark horse of the season. Gender stereotyping and bullying are perhaps the two of the most prominent hot-button societal topics in Japan, and this show is dealing it with such mastery in this one episode. I'm in love with this show. |
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DuskyPredator
 Posts: 15576 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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To be open, the bullying in episode 3 is making really reconsider watching any more of this. And Junpei's part in that bullying, kind of starting it off by egging his friend on by saying that Luou is weird, and then doing nothing to stop it, I think even getting angry at him for not standing up to the bullying like he would. It makes me have a lot of dislike Junpei, and if those bullies return in sympathetic roles, then I do think that I will be out. As far as I am concerned, Junpei being friends with them makes him an ass that I don't want to root for.
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yuna49
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I've had a hard time finding much to root for in Junpei's personality and character. That, and the eyes, are the two things most driving me away from this series.
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ACｘS
Posts: 961 |
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4:
It's official: I love this show. It's revealed—at least partially—that Luou has a traumatic past. In short, he's a trope: the Traumatized Rival. To be more specific, one who doesn't only love ballet (in a positive way), but desperately has to be good at it (in a negative way). Compare that to Junpei's more carefree approach to ballet: joining only because he wants to, no judgment or harsh treatment. Different circumstances that explain their personalities. It's no other Luou hates Junpei but it's not the demeanor he hates; it's how Junpei has had it so easy compared to him (see "envy"). Junpei, on the other hand, is a raw diamond. Talented but unpolished. Petulant and stubborn. Predictably angtsy. Sure, he came off as unlikable at first but as an audience, I understand where he's coming from as a character. The show knows that too, and is self-aware not to dig too much in it and focus on his development as someone determined to make it big on the stage. He annoyed me at first too, but I'm starting to see some change in him. And to be fair, characters like are a dime a dozen in shounen anime (and I'll be honest: most of the ones in shounen anime are way worse than Junpei. They're annoying for the sake of being annoying). Do you know who Junpei, Luou and Miyako essentially are? Sakuragi, Rukawa and Haruko from Slam Dunk, in that order. They are spitting images of each other, only with a different theme (so yes, I can consider Dance Dance Danseur a sports anime). Junpei is the "wild monkey" (can he be any more similar to Sakuragi? Maybe if he starts yelling of being a "genius"), Rukawa is the brooding and arrogant rival (that's basically Rukawa) and Miyako is the common love interest that binds them together (Sakuragi likes Haruko who is infatuated Rukawa, remember?). This show inadvertently brings back memories in a way, because I love Slam Dunk back in the day. Did I mention how I love this show? |
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ACｘS
Posts: 961 |
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5:
Good god, the show pulled out all the stops with the performance. One of the best choreographies I've seen in an anime in a long time. The show's progressing faster than I thought. Not bad per se, but I didn't expect that. |
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MaritLage
 Posts: 140 |
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it makes sense to me that they would use #Ht·s character model for the teacher
the greatest works of human ingenuity get passed down through stories those stories get turned into theatre and eventually the agency that once came from years and years of hard work will be portable and transmissable to essentially anyone in the world as Pop increases over T there is a phase in between the dawn of human consciousness and time current where it is necessary to ascribe one·s feats in order to attain immortality and there is a phase where ascribing one·s feats will result in the information transmission of exclusive life events Watch your step. |
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MaritLage
Posts: 140 |
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It·s so nice seeing Nagisa and Honoka·s grandmother alive and well . My , she doesn·t look a day over 72 .
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ACｘS
Posts: 961 |
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6:
I knew it would eventually come to this. Sooner or later, a piano performance comes into play because it should come into play. A ballet performance is no different from a piano recital because they share the same core fundamentals: basics and precision. Basics are a no-brainer but precision is more of what I was interested in. Remember 'Your Lie in April'? Some of the core themes in that show was reflected here as well, especially the theme of Free Expression versus Objective Precision. Kaori (in that show) and Junpei loves expressing themselves freely without regard to the conventions of classical ballet (keyword is classical). To be honest, Junpei embodies the tenets of interpretive dancing more than classical ballet, but of course that's not the theme of the show. That's exactly what Oikawa was getting at back at the stage performance (and I also think she's accepted Junpei and Luou not just because she recognizes them; she wants to tear them down in a vindictive way...I may be wrong; it's just a hunch). Naturally, Junpei lacks self-awareness to what he does but has been making up for it with sheer raw talent. Luou, on the other hand, has trained a lot and his hard work pays off. He just has some intimidation issues (inferiority complex?) but is making up for it with his competitive streak. There's still a lot about him we don't know about, and I hope the show reveals it sooner or later. On a side note, the show has 11 episodes altogether which makes me uneasy. noitaminA had a number of shows that had an incredible start but fizzled out towards the end, and they all had 11 episodes too. I just hope this show doesn't end that way. |
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Beltane70
 Posts: 3972 |
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At only 11 episodes, it's fairly clear that they aren't covering the entire story since the original manga is currently 23 volumes long and still going.
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ACｘS
Posts: 961 |
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7:
A series of screenshots spanning less than a minute proved to be more revealing than the last 6-7 episodes of this show. So let's see: Luou's mom was raised to be a ballerina (at least that's what her mom intended), but dropped off and joined an idol group, then left for the US and had a shotgun marriage, and then had an illegitimate son, who is yours truly Luou. On top of that, we know now that Ayako's dad was Russian too. So let's see: Ayako's mom wanted her to become a ballerina, enrolling her in Oikawa (it's destiny!) and having a Russian husband and all (two bucks: Ayako's mom wanted to be a ballerina herself, and her Russian husband was into ballet himself). But Ayako crushed her mom's dreams and did every idol-related scandal in the book (two bucks: it was some form of retaliation). So now, Ayako's mom, bitter from what her own daughter has done, took out all her hatred on and lived through Luou, the personification of her shame and unfulfilled dreams... and who also resembles Ayako and has Russian blood for the icing on the cake. Tragically familiar story. I feel uneasy about Misaki. What's his agenda? He sleuthed out Luou and kept it to himself (for now). Does he want to sabotage Luou's chances, or does he empathize with what Luou had been through? I honestly can't tell, and that worries me. |
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 24165 |
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It seems like a romance element might finally start unspooling. And no I don't mean between Junpei and Luou ... sorry all you fujoshi out there.
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ACｘS
Posts: 961 |
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8-10:
It really sucks that I had to marathon the last three episodes because of work, when they are the most loaded episodes so far. At first I was confused at why Miyako speaks of Luou's grandmother as if she's her own, until it's revealed that they're one and the same person. From there, everything just fell into place: Chizuru and Mazuru are half-siblings, and so are Miyako and Luou. The only reason why it never occurred to me that "Grandmother" (Luou's grandmother) is also Chizuru's mother is because of Chizuru's different surname, which of course isn't her maiden name (the old Japanese convention of taking after the husband's surname). It's clear from the onset that Grandmother is incredibly messed up, seeing as how only Russian blood can become the best ballet dancer in a "Russian sport", but it's tragic to see how one's messed-up-ness can trickle down to everyone (the only one who doesn't seem to be affected by it is Chizuru; I have to admire her strength as a character after all this). So Mazuru ended up become Grandmother's failed daughter, so Luou ended up having to live her ideals (even if Luou has been acknowledged by Grandmother as his mother, who abandoned him in the first place... see how messed up things are getting?). Now all this explains why Luou is in such a mental turmoil right now. You would think: why would Luou want to return to an abusive home with his grandmother? Well, what alternative does he have? His mother left him, and that abusive home is the only place he can call home. Even if his grandmother doesn't recognize him as Luou, it's still some form of recognition (this is why parental neglect is destructive for a child's emotional development). He loves ballet personally, but also because of the twisted perception that it would make his grandmother happy (acknowledgement/recognition, once again). Now it raises the question: why did Mazuru leave her own child Luou? Probably this will be revealed in the second season or something (there's only one episode left now). In another news: Junpei's choice between Godai and Oikawa. It doesn't surprise anyone that Junpei didn't really understand the chasm between Godai and Oikawa. They have different school of thoughts, and they cannot co-exist. Junpei didn't get that; he just went what he felt like, whether it's becoming better at ballet or following which girl captures his heart. He just tries to please everyone, in a situation where clearly he has to choose one or the other. If he chooses Godai, he can continue his path to become a top dancer in Russia (impossible dream), learn under Chizuru, and be close to Miyako and Luou. If he chooses Godai, he can become the best Japanese ballet dancer, get a scholarship as a SS dancer, and get whatever support he needs to achieve that dream. Now here's the complication: Junpei and Miyako were an item until now, but after learning about Luou's story, Junpei can't live with the idea of going out with Miyako and essentially dumped her. This brings to the one thing I was wondering from the start: Misaki's intentions. Misaki was the mastermind behind Junpei and Miyako's relationship blossoming in the first place. He also tried to agitate Luou about this relationship that he triggered in the first place. Why? He wanted to push the three out of the way and towards the Godai direction, since he wanted to get his chance at the SS dance scholarship that Junpei got in the first place. Imagine how Misaki felt when Junpei suddenly said he wanted the scholarship, despite saying that he wasn't aiming for it in the first place. The one thing that pisses off a person bent on getting something, is another person who's just straddling over an opportunity of a lifetime. And here's the last complication: Natsuki. Junpei likes Miyako clearly, but he just dumped her because of Luou's story. Whether or not he realizes it, but Junpei is also enamored by Natsuki (at least as a dancer). Junpei's romance with Miyako may be over, so does that offer a leeway for a relationship with Natsuki instead? You gotta admit that he's something between him and her now, and it complicates thing further when Natsuki is Oikawa's daughter. Okay, I'm going on for too long. Let's see how the season will wrap up in the next and final episode. |
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