Welcome to the Ballroom

Episode 18

I'm really starting to feel bad for Chinatsu – it's increasingly clear that she's not comfortable or happy dancing the female part. That comes across plainly at the end of this week's episode, when Tatara begins to truly lead her for the first time during their tango. As she feels what she describes as his dance rushing into her, she's afraid. That's not a good thing when you think about it; although it's important for the two of them to be in sync, Chinatsu shouldn't be afraid to follow her partner to such a degree. She lacks the trust in Tatara that she needs to have in order to make this moment more than just a fluke, and she's even actively afraid to invest that trust in him.

While the show plays this off as the moment that Tatara truly asserts himself as the lead (sorry Hyodo, but you look like the twisted, scary one here), it really just underlines the fact that Tatara and Chinatsu aren't suited for each other. They are showing major improvement, and they passed the first round with flying colors, but the fact that they got into a shouting match the minute that they were done, which ended in Chinatsu deliberately undermining Tatara's confidence, speaks volumes. The conflation of “coward” and “nervous” is also an issue when discussing Tatara's personality, but the real issue is that Chinatsu sees nothing wrong with saying cruel things to her partner moments before they're due back on the floor. While it's feasible that she was simply taking out her frustration/discomfort with Akira, she still ought to have the maturity or good sense not to lash out at Tatara right then.

As this show has gone on, it somehow managed to put its own protagonist's personality in the background, while the problems with the rest of the cast have stood out more. That may be what Chinatsu is referring to when she calls Tatara a coward, but he seems less like a “coward” and more like someone who's uncomfortable speaking up, which is an entirely different thing. What's been keeping him going is his love of dance, which is what Hyodo appears to have noticed from the start. That may be what finally allows him to force Chinatsu to follow his lead, but it's not a good fit with the “break the horse” metaphor the show seems to love. Tatara's too nice to “break” anyone, and some characters appear to see this as a weakness or character flaw. While this episode doesn't do much beyond rehash the metaphor, and Chinatsu isn't too keen on actually discussing issues with her partner, it still doesn't feel like a good fit even when he does manage to get Chi-chan to go along with his lead. The end result is that more difficult characters stand out while the nicer ones fall into the background or become sponges for blame, Tatara included.

But hey, at least the dancing looks good! In part this is helped by the animation of Chinatsu's gown, which is really quite something. Inappropriate for her age? Probably, but it's absolutely striking, and the wider scarves on her arms are used to good effect this week, even when one of them accidentally covers her face. It's also in marked contrast to the other women's dresses, most notably Akira's, which appears to rely more on its full ruffled skirt. Since the stakes are higher in this competition, the animation appears to have stepped up its game, and we get more prolonged dance sequences than we've had in most of the series thus far, which feels like a major step in the right direction. We also get to hear what the judges are thinking for the first time; even if their thoughts aren't hugely helpful to an audience without much dancesport knowledge, they still help us to understand what each specific judge is looking for, with the woman who wants to advance younger couples being particularly interesting.

The competition continues into next week, but it looks as if we'll be spending more time in Akira and Chinatsu's shared past than on the dance floor. That may be crucial to both characters, especially if Chinatsu and Tatara are going to make things work between them – and if we're going to be able to understand where these girls are coming from as both dancers and people.

Rating: B-

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