TITLE: Welcome to the Ballroom vol. 1
YEAR: September 2016 (US Release)
COMPANY: Kodansha Comics
STORY AND ART BY: Tomo Takeuchi
From Tomo Takeuchi comes her manga series “Borurume e Yokoso” (Welcome to the Ballroom).
Created in 2011, a total of nine volumes have been released in Japan and the series has been released in the U.S. courtesy of Kodansha Comics.
Released by Kodansha Comics, the manga received a 24-episode anime adaptation courtesy of Production I.G. in July 2017 and was streamed worldwide via Amazon Video.
The series revolves around Tatara Fujita, a high school freshman who is not sure what he wants to do in the future. Receiving pressure from his father, he is not sure what he wants and he sees another student, a girl named Shizuku receiving the same lecture.
One day he was bullied by a group of thugs who wanted his money and when he didn’t have money, he received a headbutt. Fortunately, a guy in a motorcycle was able to get Fujita out of his predicament.
The motorcyclist happens to be Sengoku Kaname, a champion ballroom dancer. And he also is not aware that Fujita was not intentionally looking at a flyer for the Ogasawara Dance Studio, the thugs made him look towards that direction.
So, now Fujita is brought to the dance school and gets to take advantage of a free lesson. Even surprising for Tatara is seeing Shizuku arrive to the dance school and to his surprise, she is a dancer and looks very different as a dancer than at school. And for his first lesson, he had the opportunity to dance with Shizuku but as much as he enjoyed his time, he’s not sure if he could afford the expensive lessons.
When he gets home, he received a DVD placed in his bag and it’s of Sengoku Kaname dancing and Tatara loved it so much that he wants to continue dancing but also to prove to himself that he can be a better person.
But while Sengoku Kaname doesn’t think much about Tatara being a dancer, when he observes him, he sees how Tatara is able to quickly to watch people dance and literally copy the moves and practice to the point that he nails it. This is a rare talent, but can Tatara prove that he can be a ballroom dancer and will Sengoku give him a chance?
And what is Tatara’s other drive of wanting to become a dancer? Does it have to do with Shizuku?
Reading “Welcome to the Ballroom”, at first glance, it may seem like a banal storyline that we have read before. Awkward guy who gets an opportunity to participate in something and suddenly excels.
We have seen it in series such as “Eyeshield 21”, “Yowamushi Pedal”, “Slam Dunk”, etc. It’s a classic storyline that you often read in sports manga but in this case, “Welcome to the Ballroom” explores ballroom dancing. Something you never read about in a manga series but it’s something that writer Tomo Takeuchi explores.
From her beautiful artwork, to how she is able to create dreamlike illustrations involving the dancers and creating suspense, drama, a little violence and keep it all together, was really interesting.
In fact, I was absolutely captivated by the manga series, the storyline and its characters that now I can’t wait to read more!
Once in a while I come upon a series that really makes me want to buy every volume and “Welcome to the Ballroom” has peaked my interested to the point that I want to read more!
If you love underdog storylines, especially manga series that are uplifting and fun, will want to check out Tomo Takeuchi’s “Welcome to the Ballroom”! I highly recommend it!