Dance Dance Danseur

Junpei Murao's love affair with ballet began at a young age during his sister's ballet recital, when a male ballet dancer roused his interest with a gripping performance. But for Junpei, nothing could be worse than his peers finding out about his secret passion for ballet and perceiving him as effeminate. That is why he is in the soccer club, trains Jeet Kune Do, and is intent on following in his father's footsteps of becoming a stunt coordinator: all very "manly" activities.

When Junpei's classmate Miyako Godai spots him demonstrating an impressive kick that combines skills from ballet and Jeet Kune Do to his friends, she suddenly recruits him to join her mother's ballet studio. He resists at first, and although he has abandoned his dreams of formally pursuing ballet, nothing quite captures the euphoria that ballet elicits. After suppressing his desire to pursue ballet for so long, it is not so easy to shake off his hesitation and break free of the shackles of masculinity. Junpei has to be willing to make certain sacrifices and fully commit to ballet, all while risking losing some friends.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Murao, Junpei Main

Yamashita, Daiki Japanese

Mori, Ruou Main

Uchiyama, Kouki Japanese

Godai, Miyako Main

Hondo, Kaede Japanese

Oikawa, Natsuki Supporting

Fukuen, Misato Japanese

Godai, Chizuru Supporting

Asano, Mayumi Japanese

Murao, Nanako Supporting

Aoyama, Yoshino Japanese

Nakamura Supporting

Koyasu, Takehito Japanese

Murao, Ippeita Supporting

Fujimoto, Takahiro Japanese

Mioka Supporting

Kazuki, Hiroto Japanese

Sagura, Hyouta Supporting

Kaiden, Michiko Japanese

Kamei, Hiroshi Producer

Ogawa, Takahiro Producer

Okada, Akihiko Producer

Hiraki, Ryouko Assistant Producer

Reviews

Jan 4, 2024

LuxuriousHeart

Recommended

Dance Dance Danseur is an anime that challenges toxic masculinity getting in the way of pursuing dreams. Junpei is a kid that watched his sister's ballet recital, and fell in love with it when a particularly talented dancer came out. Sparks went off for Junpei, and he fell in love. Unfortunately, ballet isn't considered very masculine, so Junpei feels pressured into taking Jeet Kune Do (martial arts) as a way to show off his masculinity. Eventually, he decides that the most masculine thing that a man can do is not give a flying F about what other think, and to follow ... his dreams.

As I said before, it really puts a light on toxic masculinity and how it affects others. Junpei saw his friends laughing at ballet, and so he decided to follow the pack and join the soccer club and take Jeet Kune Do. Even his dad says, "ballet? but don't you want to do something more manly? Especially since your long hair makes others think you're a girl." His uncle even tells Junpei that he's the man of the house, when Junpei's father dies. All of that beats the image of masculinity into boys, and they feel like they have to outwardly portray their masculinity. The fear of liking anything that isn't traditionally masculine, or else they'll be ostracized. It even prevents him from stopping a kid from being bullied. The fear of stepping in and going against the pack. Peer pressure.

Dance Dance Danseur also explores talent vs hard work and charisma vs technique. For the untrained eye, the main character is a great dancer because he's charismatic and expressive. For the trained eye, they just see the mistakes he's making. DDD also explores the dedication to the craft, and the history of the craft. It explores the subtle racism in ballet, and how it can be exclusive. Characters killing themselves to make it far in this craft, and the expectations that parents place on their kids. It also shows how parents ruin the self esteem of their kids by placing goals on them, and the inevitable breakdown when they're unable to reach those goals and/or make their parents happy.

I'd highly recommend Dance Dance Danseur because there's something that's appealing to everyone. If you're a guy that doesn't like traditionally masculine things, then you can relate to the main character. If you're someone who has been hurt by parents, simply because you don't meet their expectations, then you can relate to the characters. If you're someone who has to deal with racism in your hobby, then you can relate to this. If you're someone who has a dedication to anything, then you can relate to this.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Jul 5, 2022

GimmeAnime

Mixed Feelings

This series is a solid 9 up until episode 10, but good god, that ending is an incredibly frustrating, disappointing, and depressing 2, so I will grudgingly, GRUDGINGLY give this a 5 overall.

No lie, the characters are very good, with solid development for the MC, but I wouldn't have minded more than the last-minute exposition for the 2 main side characters. The overall story is great; it certainly pulled me in and got me invested.

The music is fantastic, especially if you enjoy classical. And the ending, man, the ending ruined the entire thing for me completely. Felt like getting emotionally beaten with a nail bat. ... I'd call the overall feel of the ending maybe something between "bittersweet" and "what the f* is this?".

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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Oct 30, 2023

just8lank

Not Recommended

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Predictable, mess up romance, following horrible shounen trends. Genre is okay, but why they alway have trash romance set up, create main female lead, seduce male lead, then pair her with some side character. Its alway first impression, if you want to make her a main character, put her in first episode, give her all the screen time, give the big influence on the main male lead, dont sway people with crap like that, i swear, i already saw 3-4 anime/mange with the same setup, the romance alway mess up what supposed to be good anime, its alway the male lead has admiration toward ... the female lead, bla bla bla. If you want to mess up romance part, dont put it the story in the first place. Its really ruin the experience for some of the people who watch it, you give they hope they backstabbing them later on. Event the main cover of the anime/manga also give wrong impression, its like you scamming the people to watch it only to backstabbing them later on. This is my honest opinion, whether you accept it or not, i dont care.

Reviewer’s Rating: 1

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