Welcome to the Ballroom

Episode 17

Fanservice, getcher fanservice here! No matter which gender of character you're looking to see get naked, episode seventeen of Welcome to the Ballroom has you covered – although this balance is tilted more toward the male department. This content isn't entirely gratuitous, because there are some gender-split conversations that need to be happening at this point, mostly in terms of Chinatsu learning that Mako once paired with Tatara and found him to be a good lead. While Hyodo and Gajū are slightly aghast to hear that Tatara never told Chinatsu about this, for Chi-chan it's a revelation that she badly needed to have. Because Mako, a dancer she greatly admires, enjoyed dancing with Tatara, it forces her to admit that part of the problem is Chinatsu herself. Not that she didn't know this before; it's more that she wasn't willing to acknowledge her own faults to others before. Given that her partnership with Akira was so emotionally brutal (remember that Akira never allowed her to dance the woman's part), it makes sense that she'd hide her hurt behind her unpleasant behavior. But if this is going to work out, she needs to accept her full share of the responsibility.

It's both important and interesting that she reveals to Mako later that the inherent sexism of (this show's version of) ballroom really gets to her. She feels belittled by the notion that men are more important, and Akira's treatment of her only further exacerbated this, when it ultimately led to her being unable to officially compete as a child dancer. Thus when she's told to relax and let Tatara be in charge, her insecurities and anger come rushing back. It's as if she's subconsciously sabotaging her relationship with Tatara to avoid the sort of partnership she had with Akira – if she doesn't let him manipulate her, he can't sideline her later. It's only when Mako tells her that Tatara helped her grow and understand herself as a dancer that Chinatsu begins to see that she's being unfair to him.

This doesn't take away from their naturally clashing personalities, of course. Chinatsu's insecurities are totally different from Tatara's, and they can't be overcome with the simple trust exercise that Hyodo tries to make them do. (It's no surprise that this fails spectacularly.) While Tatara does share some of the blame for their rapidly failing partnership, as Hyodo doesn't hesitate to point out, he's still infinitely more sympathetic than Chinatsu at this point, which is something the show really needs to work on if we're going to root for them in the competition that begins next week. Of course, it has succeeded in making Akira so horribly unlikable that it the show might be able to glide by on having them beat her.

On the upside, both Mako and Shizuku finally get lines to themselves this week. Shizuku's return to being an actual character is perhaps the most laudable thing the series has done in a while, and for the first time in months, we see her acting like a concerned friend to Tatara rather than a doormat apologizing for others' actions. We also get a strangely beautiful scene of Chinatsu and Mako walking, which makes up for the general lack of dancing in this episode. That gap does make sense given that the content this week is more psychological than physical, as everyone tries to figure out how to help Tatara and Chinatsu become better partners. While I can't say that the episode truly succeeds in that, they do appear to come to an understanding, largely bolstered by Chinatsu's admission to Tatara that she's been difficult, with the private acknowledgment that she needs to make this pairing work.

Can this get them through the competition next week? Maybe. If nothing else, at least it looks like they may have a better chance of becoming an actual partnership.

Rating: B-

Welcome to the Ballroom is currently streaming on Amazon's Anime Strike.