Dance Dance Danseur – 10 [Miyako… You Need to Be by His Side]

Hello everyone, and welcome to another week of Dance Dance Danseur! And what a week it was. This episode was just so GOOD. I was worried that Danseur might flub it’s ending, but this penultimate episodes makes me sure that won’t happen. Why is that? Well lets jump in and talk about it.

Right off the bat, and as if this comes as any surprise, Danseur’s direction this week was stellar. There were so many incredible frames that I had trouble picking my screenshots for this post. Whether it be the almost fairytale portrayal of Luou’s small door, or the beginnings of Swan Lake on the beach, Danseur hits hard when its wants to. Now sure, there were some hiccups here and there. The transition from the train to Jumpei/Miyako running on the beach was awkward, as was the composite of them running in the background. Danseur wasn’t perfect. But it was beautiful. Like in the way that flaws in a masterpiece remind you that it was made by a human, rather than a machine, is all the more perfect for it. Now maybe Danseur isn’t masterpiece. But it is without question my Anime of the Season.

And as for the story? I just… God its so good, where do I begin. How about from the top with an easy one: Luou and his Grandmother. On the surface none of this is very new, it’s another clear cut case of parental abuse. But what is new is Miyako’s role in all of it. The way she was, quite literally, Luou’s only connection to the outside world. How he didn’t go to school, never left the house, was basically barricaded into the basement. All the while Miyako is his one shining light, his princess. She’s probably the sole reason he likes ballet at all when you think about it! The idea of them dancing together getting to show off all he can do to the one person who seems to care. Its sweet! And sad.

But it doesn’t stop there, because we also saw hints that this kind of abuse runs in the family. I can’t believe it took me this long to notice, but Chizuru isn’t that great a parent either. I thought she had only started not believing in Miyako as she grew older. Yet we see here how she has been putting her daughter down since she was a child. It’s not as physically abusive as Luou’s grandmother, true. She never struck or hurt Miyako. But she did tear her down limit her dreams, much the same way Luou was forced down his grandmother’s dream of ballet. One was pushed, the other prevented. In that way, they seem like a matched set. That’s probably why it’s so believable that they care for each other the way they do. Though how much of that is youthful dependency vs love, we don’t know.

What’s really cool though is what all of this does to Jumpei. Because through Danseur’s entire story, we’ve been watching him do exactly what Miyako was doing. Banging on Luou’s little door, dragging him outside of the basement. Whether it be acknowledging him at school and trying to stoke his confidence or dragging him to Oikawa’s, Jumpei has the same kind of compassion Miyako does. Combine that with his love to dance, the very thing Miyako loves in Luou, and it makes sense that she would fall for him as well. Why they work so well together. And yet, it’s because of that same compassion that the two can’t be together. Because they are more willing to sacrifice their own happiness, their own futures, for someone else. We saw it with Jumpei trying to make Luou take the SS class, and we see it with Miyako joining the beach dance.

Now this does bring me to one slight concern I have with the episode, that being Miyako’s treatment like an object. At first the whole “He (Luou) can have you” thing felt like a handoff, it was… weird. But as the episode progressed we saw it more and more become Miyako’s choice. That Jumpei wasn’t giving her away but rather accepting that Luou needs her more. And as Miyako decided her own path, we saw something really cool happen. The girl who thought she could never play the princess steps into the role, inspiring Rothbert to break out of his shell while the monkey turned prince watches them go, a smile on his face. Climaxing in a redux of the episode 5 Swan Lake performance that was my previous episode of the season. It’s all so… tragic, in how everyone seems to lose something here.

But of course this begs the question: Will they ever get back together? If Miyako is staying with Luou for now because of his mental state, because he needs and depends on her, than what happens when he gets better? What happens when Luou has become a more adjusted human being and is able to survive on his own? Will Miyako be free to pursue Jumpei again, possibly running into Natsuki as competition? Or is it a doomed romance from now on, where if either expresses their feelings it will be at the cost of Luou’s, like a Romeo and Juliet situation. I honestly don’t know! But it’s just so freaking good I can’t help but speculate. I almost wish Danseur had another cour, but I’m glad it knows not to overstay its welcome and ruin what its got going.

So yeah, in case it wasn’t obvious, this weeks episode of Danseur was fantastic. From the storybook presentation of Luou’s house, the small door into the basement like some kind of evil stepmother setup, to beautiful relationship these three seem to share. I am invested and ready for whatever finale Danseur wants to throw at me next week. And I have the utmost confidence that Danseur cannot possibly screw this up. It would take, I’m talking like, a herculean fuckup to ruin this show. Anything short of that? It’s still going to be my favorite of the season. Thinking on it, maybe I just like shows about ballet and dancing. Cause this, Princess Tutu and Welcome to the Ballroom were all right up my alley. Maybe something to explore I suppose… Whatever the case, I’ll see you next week for Danseur’s finale!

P.S. There were plenty of other things that I wasn’t able to naturally fit into the conversation, stuff like Luou performing the women’s part of Swan Lake, or how the one person Luou needs to gain acceptance from has dementia and cannot possibly give it, etc. Or how dead Luou looks inside has he performs a dance he clearly doesn’t enjoy while being called by his mothers name.. There are so many little pieces, little details, that add to this tragedy and I absolutely love them all.