Synopsis
Ballroom e Yokoso is about an ordinary high school student named Tatara Fujita who wanted to be good at something – anything. Unfortunately, he is about as average as a slouchy teen can be. The local bullies know this, and make it a habit to hit him up for cash, but all of that changed when the debonair Kaname Sengoku sent them packing. Sengoku is not the neighborhood watch, though. He is a professional ballroom dancer. And once Tatara Fujita got pulled into the world of the ballroom, his life will never be the same.
Comments
As one of the anticipated title this summer, the manga readers (including me) must be curious about how Production I.G translates it from the source into animation; how to make the characters move according to the choreography and follow the music that accompanies it? How to show burning expressions during a competition? But alas we must be patient first, because unfortunately this pilot episode has not shown much of the dances as intense as promised in the promotional video and opening song. It’s more about introducing the characters, the struggles they encountered and build the moment when Tatara “triggered” to become a professional dancer.
Although slightly different from the manga version, this 24 minutes 10 seconds episode has neatly presented the first half of the first volume of the manga. No wonder the visual is quite nice because in addition to the Production I.G, there are at least 20 other studios (pierot, Damdelionm Ufotable, Dogakobo, etc.) who contribute to work on this anime ranging from 3D CGI, inter animation, to the final production so that it gives the impression that this project is done seriously.
The best part of the animation is when Sengoku demonstrates the step-box movement to Tatara that looks so fluid. The spirit and determination as Tatara imitate that step-box movement emphasize the theme of this anime, which is “to follow passion”.
I’m putting hope for the next episodes, and to see if it will become a “HIT” anime just like some anime of the same genre such as Yuri!!! On Ice or Haikyuu!!?, or is it just a big hype for a promotional gimmick? For those who are fond of sports genre, especially dance, who need encouragement and motivation, feel free to bookmark Ballroom e yokoso into your watch list this season for the next 23 episodes.
Facts and Figures
| Alternate Title | ボールルームへようこそ～Welcome to the Ballroom～ |
| Source Material | Manga dari Ballroom e Yokoso by Tomo Takeuchi |
| Casts | Aya Saitō as baseball playerC (ep 1) Ayane Sakura as Shizuku Hanaoka Junji Tachibana as hooligan B (ep 1) Kenji Fukuda as Tetsuo Fujita (ep 1) Kentarō Tomita as Gaju Akagi Mamiko Noto as Tamaki Tsuburaya Mutsuki Iwanaka as hooligan C (ep 1) Natsumi Fujiwara as baseball player A (ep 1) Nobuhiko Okamoto as Kiyoharu Hyodo shimba Tsuchiya as Tatara Fujita Sumire Morohoshi as Mako Akagi Takamasa Mogi as hooligan A (ep 1) Toshiyuki Morikawa as Kaname Sengoku Yasumichi Kushida as male teacher(ep 1) Yuka Maruyama as baseball playerB (ep 1) |
| Director | Yoshimi Itazu (Den-noh Coil, Miss Hokusai ) |
| Scenario | Kenichi Suemitsu |
| Character Design | Takahiro Kishida (Aquarion Evol , Btooom!,Durarara!!) |
| Opening Theme | “10% roll, 10% romance” by UNISON SQUARE GARDEN |
| Closing Theme | ” Maybe the next Waltz” oleh Mikako Komatsu |
| Studio | Production I.G |
| Official Website | http://ballroom-official.jp/ |
| @ballroom_anime | |
| Broadcast date | 8 Juli 2017 (1300 GMT / 2000 WIB / 2200 JST) |
Screenshots and Trailers
The Indonesian Anime Times | by Vincent C Bintang
