Anime Column] 100 Anime to Watch by Keyword! 100 Anime to Watch No.19 "Welcome to the Ballroom" and more!

The new program for July 2017, " Welcome to the Ballroom," is an anime adaptation of the manga of the same name. The work is about ballroom dancing, and it is rare to see an anime with ballroom dancing as its subject matter.

Fujita Tadara is an ordinary junior high school student who is worried about his future. When he is bullied by a delinquent, he is rescued by a professional dancer, Kaname Sengoku, who introduces him to the world of ballroom dancing.

When Tadara enters a dance studio, he finds that his classmate Shizuku Hanaoka is also a student there. She thought Tadara was having the same trouble with his future as she was, but in fact, she was the number one ranked amateur dancer and was aiming to become a professional dancer. Then, after watching a DVD she borrowed, Tadara was introduced to the allure of ballroom dancing. Tadara's heart is ignited and she starts taking dance lessons under Senseki.

The highlight of the first episode is the scene where Senseki shows Tadara the steps in front of her. Senseki's long legs swing out like a pendulum, and his upper body moves as if pulled by the pendulum. The dynamic and dynamic movement of Sengoku's body, depicted with a PAN, is so comfortable that viewers who are not familiar with dance can feel the coolness of the dance at a glance.

It is not only the moving shots that are appealing. The still shots are also drawn with impressive silhouettes that make the most of the characters' long arms and legs, and the gorgeous atmosphere is beautifully expressed. The characters' long necks also contribute to the sharp impression of the overall silhouette. The animated version of the dance, with its colors, movements, and music, conveys the coolness of ballroom dancing even more.

Thus, the keyword for this issue is "dance. There are many animations featuring idols, and many of them have dancing in the opening and ending scenes, but this time we have selected a dance work that is a little outside of the "dance might appear" framework.

Tribe Kurukuru " is a work about hip-hop dance. The reason for this is that the revised Courses of Study for 2012 made dance a required subject for children, requiring them to take one of folk dance, creative dance, or hip-hop dance as a class subject. Another reason is that hip-hop dance has become popular as a children's dance class.

The main character, Haneru Haneru, is a first-year junior high school student who loves to dance. The petite Haneru meets a tall girl named Kanon Otonzaki, and the two team up for a dance battle with the popular dance team Tribal Soul. Eventually, Haneru and Kanon team up with the members of Tribal Soul. The dance team thus born is the "TRIBE COOL CREW.
The film is characterized by its down-to-earth stance on hip-hop dance with a modicum of a sense of humor, without adding too many supernatural elements, even though it is a kids' show. The program included a live-action section in which an actual dance team appeared and performed hip-hop dances, and in this respect, the film clearly aimed to familiarize viewers with hip-hop dancing in a down-to-earth manner.

What "Welcome to the Ballroom" and "Tribe Crucle" have in common is the competition in dancing. In this sense, both works are variations on the "sports" theme.
However, I believe that the essence of dance is not how well you dance, but how you have fun and somehow get your body moving.

The " Song of Rue Dawnbreaker " made me think about this. The film won the Grand Prix Crystal Award at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival just the other day.
Rue, the mermaid in this film, loves music. When music created by a junior high school boy named Kai is played, Roo's tail fin becomes two legs and she begins to step in a spectacular manner. The humans who watch her also start to move their legs and bodies, even though their heads are calm. Set in a provincial port town, the encounter between Lou and Kai leads to unexpected events.

Dancing is a release of one's emotions, and letting oneself go into it is what dancing is all about. This film makes us realize that dancing is about releasing one's emotions and letting go of them.

Lastly, I would like to introduce " Poppin' Q ".
The main character, Izumi Kominato, and five other junior high school students, each with their own regrets, appear in this film. When they pick up a "piece of time," they find themselves lost in the Valley of Time. In order to save the Valley of Time, they learn a dance to save the world under the guidance of the Poppins. Not only do the main characters dance with cute and charming costumes and choreography, but the small and round Poppins also dance with their tiny arms and legs, and their appearance is also very attractive.
As Ijun and his friends gradually grow closer to their strangers, they face their regrets. Here, too, dance is deeply connected not only to saving the world, but also to liberating the heart.


(Text by Ryota Fujitsu)