Ballroom e Youkoso

Tatara did a pretty poor job even before his stamina went out. Everyone kept saying how he was doing only basic movements and how he was disappearing all the time. The first part is due to his inexperience. The second part is because he intentionally made Mako shine. The judges didn't realize that he was doing that on purpose. Most of them didn't even realize he was doing it at all. They merely said that they didn't see/remember how he danced. They were victims of a skill a noob has, which sort of makes them less admirable as dance judges.

As for the mom, she even criticized Sengoku for his teaching methods, as well as Tatara's dancing style in a previous episode. That's because she is oblivious about Tatara's motives in dancing as he did, which makes her lack of insight quite understandable. In the end, however, all of them got trolled by Tatara's frame because Mako won. None of them knew that was Tatara's goal, and he achieved it, despite everyone bashing him as unskilled or whatnot.

TLDR: Tatara is a monster (in the making) and none of the judges realized that.

Don't care to get too much into it, ready for the next one, but that was quite a satisfactory episode for me. Only regret is that we didn't get a real Mako/Tatara scene when they parted.

How is using the basic bad.

He made the hall applause and stunned the judges with his performance. Or rather, he made Mako stun them.
Hyodo's mom even said it was all thanks to Tatara's lead and that it is a pretty rare feat and actually amazing that he is able to do what he did (improvised routine etc.)

Tatara has good posture and can dance very well and carefully precise for as long as he can remain focused (otherwise I wouldn't understand why his teacher could easily imagine a ghost in form of a dance partner in his hands when he trained). That's basically his special feat and the reason why he doesn't look like a bloody scrub.

On the other hand, who even knows how good the judges are in that competition. It's a really unimportant one after all - so unimportant that the other 2 didn't even want to participate at first.

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Originally Posted by KrayZ33

On the other hand, who even knows how good the judges are in that competition. It's a really unimportant one after all - so unimportant that the other 2 didn't even want to participate at first.

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This is what I meant. The judges probably aren't the cream of the crop, because even the cream of the crop (Hyodo's mom) failed to see through just how much talent Tatara has or exactly how new to dancing he is.

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Originally Posted by shinta|hikari

This is what I meant. The judges probably aren't the cream of the crop, because even the cream of the crop (Hyodo's mom) failed to see through just how much talent Tatara has or exactly how new to dancing he is.

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I don't agree. Someone who is massively talented can easily pass as being more experienced than they are. That's just part and parcel of being talented.

If you're talented but obviously a noob then you're not that talented. It doesn't make the judges any less admirable.

Wouldn't highly skilled judges be able to see through his skill just like Hyodo and Sengoku did? Granted they have the advantage of knowing him in practice.

And none of the judges thought that he was massively experienced. They all knew he was still a beginner. What no one saw through was that he intentionally danced as Mako's frame and disappeared intentionally, and that he was actually a first timer with less than a year of dancing under his belt, which they should've known seeing how he lost stamina so quickly.

Understanding both these things will lead the judge to conclude that they have a monstrously talented lad in front of them, not a "strange" dancer or whatever they kept calling him.

I have no idea what you mean when you say that no one saw that he intentonally danced as Mako's frame.

Because that is not what has happened imho.

The Main Judge saw it, Hyodo's mom saw it (and both pointed it out too). The other Judge with the glasses noticed in his own way but couldn't quite grasp how it was possible for Tatara to disappear like that..

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and that he was actually a first timer with less than a year of dancing under his belt, which they should've known seeing how he lost stamina so quickly.

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It just means he's not a professional. People have different amounts of stamina - he could've danced for 5 years and still not last till the end. Maybe he never made it to the finals before? All of a sudden, he has to dance 4-6 more times - something like that would show sooner or later. On top of that, how much experience could a child like him have - he's what... 16 or something, at most?

Just take a look at professional football for example.

These guys train every other day, several hours a day. 90m on the field is still really hard for them. Overtime will pretty much result in minor injuries for many of them.

I don't quite understand how Tatara's feats and talents relate to how bad the judges are.
Tatara is not a bad dancer and thus, he doesn't look like a beginner. This is what this show is all about after all.

He's a diamond in the rough, and that is not something that is easy to spot for everyone. Talent might be mistaken for experience, especially at his age.

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Originally Posted by KrayZ33

He's a diamond in the rough, and that is not something that is easy to spot for everyone. Talent might be mistaken for experience, especially at his age.

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This. Better judges would've spotted a diamond in the rough (counter example: glasses judge who didn't quite make it to the end). Maybe I'm just expecting too much from the judges of this specific competition, though. It is rather small after all. I'd imagine world level judges would easily see through Tatara's situation.

And about experience, don't forget Shizuku, Hyodo, Gaju, and Mako are all around his age, yet they have been dancing for far longer. Dancing for 5 years versus dancing for 5 months is a completely different thing. People have different levels of stamina, which is why they train for a long time to improve it. He simply didn't have the time to do that.

My hangup so far (nothing to do with judges or judging) is that I'm completely lost whenever they mention specific dance moves or other technical aspects that I can't perceive. I just have to take everybody's word for everything because I have no knowledge of dancing. Typically, shounen sports stories have a segment breaking the sport down for the truely clueless, with sprinkled META commentary to keep the audience up to speed.

Ballroom doesn't really do that, and I'm split in opinion. On one hand, I'm glad it is respecting the audience's intelligence by not breaking down the entirety of how one dances in competition, allowing the animation and commentary to clue us in on the participants' faring. On the other hand, I'm afraid I'm too stupid to grasp the proceedings without that firm foundation most shows spoon feed me. For example, once they didn't get first place, I had no idea his dancing was bad enough to put them in last place until (his) hindsight filled in the gaps that he is still a weak dancer. I just don't have enough information to form solid conclusions about the state of these competitions. Time will tell if that is going to bother me down the road.

Yeah, I criticised the same thing.

They don't really show the moves, they stopped doing that right after they introduced the training-box routine.
A shame, really.

I think it would've been best if they showed us some more training, maybe pick up on how he keeps doing X a lot better now than he did before and how it's difficult to do Y right after Z and why.

And then, during the tournament, slightly guide the viewer but mostly just hint at mistakes via animation etc.

I can see that criticism, but on the other hand, I rewatched Akagi 3-4 times and I still have no idea how Mahjong works and it was fun nonetheless. So no big deal for me.

Maybe ballroom dancing is simply too boring to break down? Better just focus on the performance.

Episode 12

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And here I was all depressed thinking every show was ending this season. Instant morale boost.

1) New OP/ED is refreshing and sets the new mood well. Tatara's on his way up.

2) The new girl is only about as tall as Tatara - which isn't tall at all. She's probably barely half a head taller than Mako.

3) She's also pretty hot, but it's hard to beat Shizuku. I reckon it's a tie. Shizuku's asscrack though, just steals all attention. She would not be able to bend in public with that comp dress.

4) Chizuru's a pretty awesome as well. Treating him like a dog was hilarious. Since they deliberately hid the new girl's name, I wonder if Chizuru's her mum. I wouldn't go quite so far as to think Sengoku's her dad, but the level of affection suggested this episode (and in the preview) wouldn't exclude that (even if the genetics does).

I dont like the new girl at all:

- red hair
- huge forehead
- small, spikey boobs

She's everything I dislike in women :>

Otherwise good episode. Loved how Sengoku´s partner was luring Tatara like he´s a dog, rofl.

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Originally Posted by Buffalobiian

2) The new girl is only about as tall as Tatara - which isn't tall at all. She's probably barely half a head taller than Mako.

3) She's also pretty hot, but it's hard to beat Shizuku. I reckon it's a tie. Shizuku's asscrack though, just steals all attention. She would not be able to bend in public with that comp dress.

4) Chizuru's a pretty awesome as well. Treating him like a dog was hilarious. Since they deliberately hid the new girl's name, I wonder if Chizuru's her mum. I wouldn't go quite so far as to think Sengoku's her dad, but the level of affection suggested this episode (and in the preview) wouldn't exclude that (even if the genetics does).

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Her name is Hiyama Chinatsu, and amusingly enough, she's voiced by Akasaki Chinatsu. I was wondering if she was related to Hyoudou somehow, but it looks like she's just a Sengoku fangirl. I'm very interested in why she called Tatara lame when her hobbies were "listening to music."

Chizuru is the best. I loved that everyone keeps wondering when the two are going to stop being partners because they fight all the time, but the reality seems to be that the two of them love fighting with each other. So glad she'll be joining the studio to teach, or so it seems in the OP.

But let's talk about Shizuku, and why she's amazing. Shizuru sees Tatara as a rival since the Tenpei cup. She's not a passive romantic interest. She's a goal to reach. She respects Tatara now, even with his lackluster skills, because he is capable of making his partner shine above all others. Shizuku is still Hyoudou's partner, but Tatara has earned her respect. For now. It wasn't granted just because protagonist power (his observational skills), it was earned. He's weak, he knows his weaknesses from watching Sengoku, and he knows why he wouldn't be capable of the same. I love that. Shizuku demands that he maintain her respect, or she'll dismiss him. I love how different that is for a relationship.

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Originally Posted by MFauli

small, spikey boobs

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Uhh...all the breasts in this series are shaped that way, if they have them. Upward pointing.

First of all, the new intro is awesome,
But at the same time, the way they placed it in this episode was awful.

They shoud've left it out, at least for this episode.... it spoiled pretty much everything in an instant.

I like the new girl. She looks awesome in the opening and she is on fire and exactly what Tatara needs counter his wimpiness.
That's super attractive. Extra points for ponytail btw.

The day when Tatara is able to tame conquer that girl is the day I'm looking forward to.

Lol @ Tatara having to immitate the partner in the next epsiode.

I like Shizuku, but I'm not really interested in Tatara and her getting together. This new character has my interest, we'll see.

LOVED Sengoku's partner, she's awesome.

Episode - 13

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Originally Posted by Buff

Tatara is leading without applying his own intentions, which is why they're commenting that he's not really leading at all.

Compare this to Sengoku and his manager's lead when he showed them a dance. He lead her to do what he wanted while keeping her ability in mind. That's leading.

Leading is directing. Tatara's lead is like figuring out where a dog wants to go, then placing carpet in front of it as it walks to enable it. (I can't think of a prettier analogy, apologies to Mako)

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Originally Posted by Tatara

If this "feeling of being controlled"is what leading is then what have I been doing all this time?

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Exactly. Tatara is holding the leading position while letting his partner do whatever they want (and making sure he's in a position to facilitate that). It's not leading. Sure, he can make his partner look great if they know what they're doing, but as a pair and as a dancer he fails at his job.

He's planning the floor position, but that's it. He has no input in directing the dance at all.

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How refreshing it is to have Chinatsu be a Hongo fan than a Sengoku fan. Now she doesn't have to compare poor Tatara to Sengoku endlessly.

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Judging from Sengoku's words, Chinatsu hasn't been much of a docile follow either. She too has ideas about how dances should be performed (ie not at the "lowly Japanese level"). That explains why:

1) she only admires Chizuru and her national-level partner,
2) Thinks dancing in Japan overall is lame,
3) Quit dancing because no partner has ever been up to par, or been able to cope with her.

I don't think it's limited to just ideas
Sengoku's words made it sound like she did actually lead in the past.

Maybe she danced in a female/female couple with her sister or something and since samesex couples are probably not allowed (?) when they grow older she couldn't really keep dancing since she had basically no experience as a "partner"... or because she starts acting like she did in this episode (due to her leading all the time) and no lead wants to have that kind of partner.

I was really sad when this week's epsisode ended... I'm already curious how Tatara will bring his lead-game up some more levels.
And in the preview for next week, they are already in a new competition?

Can't wait to see Chinatsu dance in a dress. The Opening still gets me - I hope they can get the dances a bit more fluent in the episode themselves too at some point. So far they are pretty much only using stills and interrupt the flow.

The moment when they are face to face, roughly 2 inch apart is awesome.

Episode 14

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1) Well, Aki might actually be the hottest of them all. Too bad she's an ass.

2) Chinatsu's at fault here. She's ruining the dance even if she's the better dancer. They say she won't follow males who are worse than her, but it sounds like she just doesn't know how to follow period. She tries following Tatara but simply failed in the previous episode. It doesn't really have to do with "better" or not. When she thinks a move is appropriate, she performs it - regardless of whether you "hinted" it or not. She does not follow.

And until she does, she's a fail of a follow/female adult dancer.

3) On the subject of feeling pissed off - Hyodo's mum's comment lit me on fire.
Sure, from an outside perspective it looks like Tatara's deliberately "following" the female, but he's not doing any less work, and she knows it.
It also paints him as a slacker, but that's as far from the truth as it can be. He's working his ass off because his partner can't follow for shits.

Honestly when he saw Chinatsu's pelvic thrust earlier, I thought he'd use it against her (as if he realised that to lead means to force your partner into the desired figure). That's how pissed off I felt.

Chinatsu, start following, or go home and keep shadowing. That's all you're doing.

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edit: extra discussion

https://i.imgur.com/f7PTwZc.jpg