Dance Dance Danseur – 11 [Oh, I Think I Love Classical Ballet]

This is it everyone, welcome to the finale of Dance Dance Danseur! This is a pretty eventful week all things considered. Someone gets the girl while another gets a scholarship, all the while a dementia ridden grandmother laughs along at the drama. So the question is: Is it any good? Let’s jump in and find out.

First up lets talk about the visuals. If you ask me, these are a bit of mixed bag. The first half was absolutely gorgeous. Like legitimately beautiful, I don’t think anyone can dispute that. The lighting, Luou’s movements, how it was all framed and storyboarded. Great stuff. However the second half leaves much to be desired, both in animation and storyboarding. Part of this no doubt comes down to the location. There’s no way a static classroom provides the same kind of scenery and options that a beach at sunset does. Beyond that, we also need to recognize that MAPPA problem: Melt. MAPPA has a history of productions falling apart in the second half, it’s just a fact. And we saw a bit of that as if you check the credits, this episode has 13 different studios working on it. I’m amazed it came out as good as it did.

Getting into the story, emotionally, I was all in on this episode. The first half hit especially hard. Luou dancing for himself, finally standing up and taking what he wants, going full contemporary as everyone watched on. Screaming out into the world “HERE I AM”. Fighting for that individuality that Oikawa and his Grandmother both spurn. It was all so wonderfully expressive. Only then for his Grandmother to still fail to see him, calling him by his mothers name. It was both elating and crushing. And having Miyako and Chizuru there to accept him, to recognize him, in her stead was great. It really feels like he can finally move on and start to discover his own love for dance rather than having it thrust upon him.

My only wish is that we got a bit more from Jumpei and Miyako. I understand this was his moment, and Jumpei has the second half so he’s sort of covered. But they still felt rather secondary and pushed aside in the first half. I’d have loved a peek inside their heads at what they thought of the situation. Of Jumpei choosing Ballet, his career and his dancing, over Miyako. Making it a conscious choice. Or perhaps a look into the tragedy of Miyako giving up her love to help another, knowing Luou can’t handle being on his own just yet. Miyako especially felt like she got the short-straw in this finale, as she has like… one speaking line in the entire episode. Danseur is meant to evoke and follow Swan Lake, I get that. But it still feels like a missed opportunity for her character.

As for the second half, this really only suffered because of the production issues. Narratively I think it was nice and did it’s job. Danseur made it very clear that Jumpei wasn’t chosen because of his current skill, but rather for his potential. His willingness, nay his desire, to be molded into exactly what Oikawa wants. Unlike so many of the other dancers who already knew themselves, who had established habits and training, Jumpei has only a few months. He’s a blank canvas on which Oikawa can paint whatever she wants. And beyond that, he has physicality and charisma no one else does, things that can’t be trained. So as far as justifying him getting the scholarship, why the pianist went above and beyond for him, why everyone was captivated, I think Danseur did it well.

Sadly even with that I can’t help but feel like something is missing. Maybe it’s the lack of a conscious decision, of actively choosing Oikawa over Miyako. Or it could be how little of Natsuki we see in Jumpei’s half of the finale. Maybe it’s even Misaki, and how much time he took up in the second half! It’s also possible that it’s simply just the production letting it down. I don’t know. But I can’t shake the feeling that Jumpei’s half is lacking the magic of Luou’s. Whatever the case, I still think it was a fantastic finale. Danseur is without question my Anime of the Season, and my current Anime of the Year. Just mean’s that there’s a bit more room for something to pass it later I guess.

So yeah, that’s a wrap on Danseur. Pretty good show. I’ll be getting the review out in about a week once I start writing it. A bit of a shorter post this week so I can save a lot of my closing thoughts for the final review, I’m sure you understand. In the mean time you can look forward to some of our pre-season coverage that we’ve started working on. Thanks for sticking around and I’ll see you next week! Or tomorrow for SpyXFamily I guess. Or Friday got Welcome to the NHK. Got a few things going.