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Jun 19, 2022 4:57 AM
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Jul 2015
82
This is my anime of the season.

Really enjoyed the whole trip. And it’s was just magic to watch. ❤️
Jun 19, 2022 6:18 AM

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Jan 2020
3409
When Luou felt like everyone turned their back to him, especially his cousin, he went back to the person who abused him to seek validation at first, but in the end, he wanted to show his grandma that he will never be his mother and that he has his own style and character. He needed someone's support and it was definitely not his grandma's. She couldn't see him as himself and that messed him up even more.

I was so nervous for Jumpei, I couldn't even enjoy his dance. Although melancholic, the ending fits perfectly this cour in my opinion. I say this cour because I have hope we'll get more. Jumpei's development is so satisfying to watch, the boy who only enjoyed doing whatever felt sparkly and satisfying grew into this guy who loves classical ballet and wants to learn everything about it, even if it meant leaving the people who recognized him behind. I'm personally happy with this conclusion and I can't wait for a 2nd season announcement. I'm glad I didn't sleep on this show.
I sometimes forget to finish my sentences.
Jun 19, 2022 8:12 AM

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Oct 2016
477
It's over. I'm finally free from this.

This was without a doubt the worst anime I've watched this season. But the very few characters I cared about and the animation managed to bring the score up to 4/10.
Jun 19, 2022 10:46 AM

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Feb 2014
2093
Man all that hard work for playboy-senpai and Junpei just beat it with talent. Really sad. Although Junpei seems to found his new role after that end to his wth relationship. Natsuki-chan seems to be a good match. That scene with her sparkling at the end of ep9 like a princess was mesmerizing.
When someone asks me why I like anime, I'd say Just Because.

Jun 19, 2022 11:10 AM
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Apr 2016
117
Since I read the manga, I already know what gonna happen at the end episode. Not gonna be happy with how it ended and the choice he pick up later. That's why I hate this Show. If you guys really wanna enjoy the ballet I suggest reading La Magnifique Grande Scène instead.I already lose hope reading dance danceur manga because of both Junpei and Luou selfishness. I feel so sorry for Miyako because of those two stupid boys!
Jun 19, 2022 3:33 PM
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May 2019
195
For a final episode, I didn't love it, unfortunately, but I definitely enjoyed it.

Luou's dancing by the beach, and eventually in the water, was amazing. The animations were spot on and it became more and more dramatic by the time he finished. I think it was a pretty good way to end the relationship Jumpei had with all of them at Godai ballet. Honestly, he was in a pretty messy situation with that family, so it's better that he got out and found his own light.

Jumpei being late to the recital and then (obviously) earning the chance to still perform was a bit annoying to me. I knew it would happen, but it's ALWAYS a plot point in sports/competition anime. Honestly, Jumpei CHOSE to go on that date with Miyako, and then CHOSE to help Luou find himself and dance with him. So, it's unfair/upsetting that the main character always manages to sneak in that chance despite their earlier choices.

That being said... I still wanted him to dance, not gonna lie LOL I mean, either he'd get the scholarship or he'd become a reserve and get it next year. Both would have been acceptable outcomes for me. I'm just glad the creators were blatant about showing everyone's reactions to Jumpei's dancing, giving viewers like me a reason to accept Jumpei's tardiness and still root for him being the SS Class Scholarship recipient.

Overall, I think the anime answered some of the more pressing concerns: giving Luou freedom, Miyako being true to herself, and Jumpei finally relinquishing himself to ballet when he at first rejected it for fear of appearing unmanly. I still feel like 11 episodes weren't enough and that some things feel unfinished, but it was still a very good and fresh anime.
Jun 19, 2022 3:49 PM
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Jan 2016
143
Im just happy Jumpei noticed he deserved better that being involved with that family

I mean Miyako was mean af and Chizuru just kicked him out of the issue

I would say Misaki deserves better but he actually gets a scholarship as well so everything is fine
Jun 19, 2022 7:54 PM

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Jul 2016
8101
Yeah! Way to go, Junpei. Let the toxic cousins be toxic while you master your own art at Oikawa. Pretty sure you will still struggle a lot there because "different styles" but given your determination and love for ballet, I'm sure you will be mostly fine.

Overall, not the best of series in terms of drama and characters but man, its production values were truly amazing. Great sense of direction and storyboarding, not to mention the flawless animation during the dance sequences as well. Not gonna lie, I'm honestly surprised MAPPA ended up putting this much care and effort into something I thought was just a "side project".

And as for the characters... yeah, I didn't particularly like any of them and though I'm not the biggest fan of Junpei's impulsive behaviour, I gotta say I found his development throughout the show incredibly satisfying. Yes, he messes up a lot but also takes responsibility when needed and that's something I really respect about him. Now I wish him all the best in the SS Class.

7,5/10 -> 8/10 - Easily, my surprise of the season alongside Paripi Koumei.
Jun 19, 2022 7:59 PM
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Mar 2015
12619
Talent is so cruel
Jun 19, 2022 11:37 PM
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May 2018
71
Now that it ended, here are a few points I want to highlight:

I like the way the characters are built. They are not stereotipically bad or good. They don't pretend to be heroes nor seek for unattainable goals. They are not charismatic in a cliche way or unreasonabily melodramatic. For me, they feel pretty real. Junpei is just a guy with a hobby who found a chance to take it to a professional level. And he took it. Misaki was terrified of losing everything to a newbie and tried to avoid that, but he wasn't a "villain". Luou (oh, poor Luou) just wanted to be recognized as someone himself by the person who (abusivily) raised him, and desperately cried for not achieving it (bc she had dementia, lol). All this kind of stories and characters feel like someone you could meet anyday. And I love it.

In regard of the so-called toxic triangle, I don't see it that way. I feel like the love between Junpei and Miyako was real, but she knew (or at least she understands it that way) that being with Junpei would break Luou completely. That doesn't mean she "loves" him now. At least not in a romantic way (not necesarily). She just need to be there for her cousin, and thats a Goddai family issue. Junpei just doesn't fit in that equation, so he left for the sake of the poor little bastard. Did Luou deserve the Oikawa schoolarship? Tecnichally, for sure. But what he needed more was his family and a new way to relate with dancing. A more emotional way. Let's call it, the Chizuru way. About Natsuki, I don't see it necesary for Junpei to have a romantic relationship with her just because they dance well together, so I hope sometime in the future, once Luou is recovered, Junpei can be with Miyako AND have Natsuki as his partner. If you guys think you can't have a female partner/colleague without having sex, you have a problem xd.

I write this just because I see a lot of people struggling with how the romance part ended or because they disagree with some decisions the characters took, but as I said, this looks more like real life than average anime, and in real life not everyone has things the way they wanted; or, people has to take hard choices, like giving up a relationship. So this somehow bittersweet ending fits perfect.

With that said, and acclaiming the direction and the use of the dance, aesthetics and music to develop the plot and the characters, this is a solid 9/10 for me.
Jun 20, 2022 12:03 AM

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Oct 2008
13637
quite an a$$ for Jumpei on stealing the Scholarship spot! well that's what you call MC plotarmourhole lololz!
5/5.
8/10.
hoping for S2


Jun 20, 2022 6:03 AM

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Feb 2019
2364
Well, there was no way to change things in 1 episode. Don't get me wrong, I don't think the story is horrible. And in no way do I think the anime is horrible.

But I dislike this development heavily. I still can't get over the Miyako x Jumpei break. It makes no sense. It completely ignores Miyako's feelings. Her feelings for Luou are chaining her too. She's not free there, she's stuck. That's not happiness. She felt happiness with Jumpei.

And Jumpei too, just leaving her like that.

There's just so much in my mind. I'm just feeling very disappointed. I really, unexpectedly loved this series. It was a candidate for Anime of the Season for me, and it definitely is still my Underrated Anime of the Season.

But this Miyako x Jumpei break just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Again, for me that was a stupid and horrible thing Jumpei did and it did no good for anyone, even Luou. Because you keep him chained, and you keep Miyako chained.

I don't know if anyone will reply, but mayhaps manga readers can enlighten me (without spoiling it for anybody else of course) about how this continues? I'm really hoping this isn't the end for Miyako x Jumpei, because it doesn't feel right at all. And I'm not a big fan of the Natsuki x Jumpei pairing.

Ah, I'm just so disappointed. It really broke my heart.

I don't know how to score this yet. Enjoyed episodes 1-9 extremely. The animation was amazing throughout. The drama, dialogue, characterisation, everything was perfect. It's just that development...

Yeah, I really don't know. I kind of regret not stopping at episode 10 especially since I knew where this was probably headed.

In fact, I kind of wished we'd ended at 9, or heck maybe even 8.

But a great anime that was nonetheless.
Jun 20, 2022 10:30 AM
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Jan 2016
143
matias067 said:
quite an a$$ for Jumpei on stealing the Scholarship spot! well that's what you call MC plotarmourhole lololz!
5/5.
8/10.
hoping for S2


Misaki got one too there is a pic of him in Oikawa at the end of the episode
Jun 20, 2022 11:14 AM

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Mar 2007
1296
I was so moved by this episode I cried twice. And then felt compelled to write a review which I rarely do.

Once at Luou's dance, which was powerful and then the demented Grandma still didn't recognize him when all he wanted was to be SEEN.

A second time in the middle of Junpei's performance when the other guy said "talent is cruel" which hit hard because it's true in so many ways. I wrote in my review the best career is when skill (hard work), talent and passion intersect but most of us end up settling for something else.

Skill can be taught and learned. Talent is inborn. Passion cannot be faked.

Hoping for a 2nd season as I'd like to see the journey continue and where Junpei and Luou end up.
Jun 21, 2022 11:10 PM

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May 2021
3513
I didnt really mind the conclusion of the anime after all, Luou as a character closed pretty well the traumatic experience and confronted his past while Junpei decided to fully embrace classic by adopting Oikawa's discipline.
I think that Luou scene was too intense for me, useful for transmitting the emotions but I think that I would have liked an execution that didnt extrapolate that much the compositions, like less tryhard in that regard. The ballet scene of Junpei was a torture, I liked the visual debate between Junpei and Misaki, it would have been cleaner to just keep both of them imo, but it is alright. Somehow at the end I felt bad for Misaki haha



Jun 22, 2022 6:24 AM
Former AMQ God

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Sep 2014
5503
That was one of the best final episodes i've ever seen.
Jun 22, 2022 10:18 PM
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Dec 2020
33
Mappa always delivers!!! What a beautiful story with raw emotions and amazing animation. So glad that he went for the scholarship and I'm excited to see the new dynamics between the triangle + 1.
Jun 22, 2022 10:19 PM
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Dec 2020
33
R77Prodigy said:
Amazing. def a hidden gem this season.

literally so true !!
Jun 24, 2022 12:10 AM

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Dec 2020
3854
cousin incest kinda ruined that first half for me lmao but the dances were still really cool. still kinda 💀 with miyako n luou but whatever ill just pretend they never existed for my own sake😊😊

"everything that cant be obtained through hard work, he has them. talent can be really cruel huh" 🙁🙁🙁🙁 man that line really stung for me. i dont relate to it or anything it was just.. damn.

junpei chooses oikawa !!! super excited on whats more to come after this
Jun 29, 2022 8:57 PM

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May 2017
1036
Man oh man.. I did not think that this anime would reach such heights.

I've only seen bits and pieces of the trailer before I went into this anime, I never read the source material. And besides watching movies like Black Swan, I never really gotten too close with ballet. But the trailer intrigued me, the art style looked very good, and I just really love sports anime in general. I still went into this show with somewhat low expectations. I've watched a lot of generic anime in the past couple of years. Sometimes I wondered if it were just me that had lost a bit of interest in anime over the recent times, or if most anime were really just that generic. These thoughts wandered my mind even more after I've been disappointed with recent popular anime like SpyFamily and the recent Kaguya season. Every single person in the anime community seemed to absolutely love those shows, I mean kaguya is currently sitting a rank1 of myanimelist. Not saying these shows were bad by any means. Quite the contrary, I can see why they're so loved, but I just couldn't enjoy it as much as I hoped I would be. So with these thoughts in the back of my mind, I kept my expectations to the minimum and went in. It's like a certain someone would say, "Keep your expectations low, and you will never be disappointed". Man was I happy to be proven wrong!

The story started out with some interesting ideas, which I haven't seen in other sports anime so far. This time the sport was ballet. The dynamic of Jumpei's character, where he struggled to commit to ballet because of the expectations that were thrown onto him with the martial arts and the "struggle" of not being ashamed of doing ballet was really interesting to watch. Besides that dynamic, the approach was more typical of a sports anime. The usual starting, the training, main character shows a lot of talent for the said sport. I do think the pacing was quite fast in the beginning, it didn't take a lot of episodes for the first big performance. None of the characters really felt clichee or over the top. Luou felt that way in the beginning, he felt a bit one-dimensional, always saying the same, always doing the same things. But later episodes when we got to witness his origin story, and why he became the way he did, really managed to sell his character. In general, I thought that most characters felt more or less grounded. The dynamic between the main trio was also quite interesting to watch. I really enjoy the mix of romance and sports.

The anime truly picked up when the first big performance arrived. Earlier episodes relied quite a bit on cg in dancing sequences which is fine and was of course expected. I mean a sport anime always requires a lot of movement, but an anime about ballet seemed to be much more difficult to handle. The dancing has to be very detailed and intricate, so a lot of precise movement is required. That is handled much much easier with the help of CG of course. The production can be compared to the anime "ballroom" both are dancing anime and both require a flip ton of movement. That show also had some very well-animated scenes, but relied much more on CG and unfortunately wasn't handled as well as Danseur in terms of directing. I mean the anime was also twice as long as Danseur which probably took part in the killing of the production. The rothbard performance was breathtaking, even when a lot of the sequences were CG. The CG was definitely good looking, but cannot be compared to the hand drawn parts. What really made this performance shine was the directorial vision of the director Sakai Munehisa. It cannot be understated how well this anime was directed, especially in later episodes.

The last few episodes had been absolute top notch. Less and less cg was being used and so many highlight sequences were being presented. But oh man the final episode crushed it all. That beach sequence was absolutely magnificent. Seriously one of the most gripping anime moments I've seen in recent years. It was a breathtaking reminder of why I love anime. So much personality, so much love poured into it. The drawing count of the last episode was unfathomable, and not just that but the quality in the art was truly mindblowing. I don't know how mappa has done it. They've got so many prolific anime in production and they somehow manage to squeeze a more lowkey adaptation like danseur with exceptional quality out. Sakai Munehisa had a clear vision of how to handle this source material. The anime industry is a mess, and mappa is very much a part of it.. Animators are being paid far too little and also being overworked a crap ton. But you still have to give credit where credit is due. Huge probs for the team involved in this project. Thank you.

the soundtrack felt very fitting. Not too many standout tracks that absolutely captivated me, but the music did a perfect job of capturing the feel of each and every performance.


All in all I'm very surprised at how much I enjoyed this show. I would love a second season, but I do think that is extremely unlikely.

https://myanimelist.net/reviews.php?id=450178
shayed__Jun 29, 2022 9:08 PM
Jun 30, 2022 8:39 AM

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Oct 2019
1152
Quite the obvious choice now after what happened last ep. Him choosing the studio. Lot of people reading into the Swan Lake story which i couldnt do as i just did not have much knowledge about it or investment in the story to make more parallels.
I was not expecting to watch this show whatsoever. The art kinda put me off so i didnt go into it. Things happened and i went into the anime.
MAPPA truly had some great animation to the ballet and several scenes were done very beautifully. The one thing that kinda irked me but not in a serious way to give this show like a 5/10 was that the character designs had that white arch on their eyes. I found that to be distracting.
Music did its job to set the tone i guess. I really did like the OP tho, quite nice. ED was ok.
THe show really felt like a shounen sports anime to me. Especially with themes of like natural talent vs hard work even if this does not adhere to shounen or sports, thats where i see it much of the time. I liked seeing it as well as the emotional Junpei vs the locked up Luou.
Show had some impressive moments such as the struggle of masculinity and what is cool as well as that bullying scene was done well to evoke rage from me. It did not feel like it was played for laughs, it was very serious.
My only issue was this whole love triangle stuff. obviously, Luou has been through shit and his family is shitty but it did not give me reason to like this aspect. Especially using this to solve Junpeis dilemma of staying at Godai studio or accepting that internship. He was mainly doing Godai for Miyuko but having lost her, he now aims for the scholarship. I think the same outcome could have happened if you just shot and killed Miyuko. None of this weird love triangle stuff. Im kidding....kinda.
At the end of it all, I did like some of the characters and their growth, some of the scenes were visually impressing and music was good. I just think the last part was unnecessary. My score is a 7/10
"Perfection is perception. For me, humanity's imperfections is what makes it perfect"

Jul 1, 2022 4:23 PM
Shalltear

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Apr 2018
33569
So in the end he took a very different part leaving all of that and dancing to enter Oikawa, which he did, definitely going to look forward to seeing how the story develops later, if we ever get a 2nd season in the next years xD but well, despite not liking ballet they really managed to make me captivated and to appreciate the story (especially thanks to the animation and artistic direction of course)
Jul 4, 2022 9:51 PM
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Jul 2016
22
what's the problem with them being a trisal???? it looks like there will be a romance between those two more even so aaaaaaaa
Jul 10, 2022 2:08 PM

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Nov 2018
338
Sublime, really great stuff, the best this year so far.
Aug 8, 2022 1:26 PM
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Dec 2020
176
Wow, this was an amazing show. I wish it got more praise! Ignoring the weird almost-incest relationship with Miyako and Luou, this show might become one of my favorites. Please make a season 2, MAPPA!!
Oct 7, 2022 11:43 AM
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Jan 2022
251
Good finale expected
Nov 10, 2022 3:14 PM
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Jul 2022
7
i have not taste like this this type of anime but this aninnise good for thre dance fance and inspreation for dance and it was good anime.
i hape so 2 season come soon.

Nov 30, 2022 4:15 PM
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Sep 2020
1
it was a really cool chapppter

Dec 24, 2022 12:01 AM
🥊 CHAMPION 🥊

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Apr 2016
21649
great anime series!!!

Familiar problems?! It was a nice solution and the way for Junpei advance in the story!!!

I wait for a second season, a new stage!

8/10 kekeke
Feb 1, 2023 6:43 AM
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Apr 2022
1
sooooo elegant :)))
Feb 2, 2023 10:13 AM

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Feb 2019
196
The way things turn out in this final episode made me jump with joy. I'm glad Junpei won the scholarship and got trough with that toxic Godai family. Bleh! They just gave me frustrations. They don't deserved Junpei and the boy has all the rights to look forward to his/the future. And hopefully Natsuki will be there with him, side by side helping each other realize their potentials and grow as ballet dancers. Seriously, she's best girl.


Apr 28, 2023 8:30 AM

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May 2012
846
Just gonna give my overall thoughts cause I watched this in a day. I was absolutely enthralled with the series, it did so many things right. I don't have experience in ballet beyond some basic concepts that the average person picks up on over the years, so I can't say how realistic or "story-fied" the ballet was, but I was really impressed with it all. It felt really fun to watch, and the biggest kudos is the anime's ability to portray the characters' emotions through facial expressions which helped accent the ballet scenes.

I was enjoying the anime at the beginning, but it certainly caught me off guard with how the first few episodes went. Then the Swan Lake performance happened, and that got me HOOKED. I was woefully unprepared for the drama to ramp itself up like that! I couldn't really predict where the story would go, at least not anymore. It was like watching A Silent Voice mixed with Princess Tutu, both series I love a lot.

My only real complaint is I'm worried that the direction Jumpei is taking is not the correct one. Like, it's explained very well and the decision is justified, but will Luou and Miyako still have a relevant role going forwards, or are we going to see more of Natsuki? I definitely want to see more of a relationship with Jumpei and Natsuki, they show amazing synergy with each other like during the dance practice and there seems to be *something* going on judging by the way he viewed her on the balcony. If anything, I just want to see her have a bigger role because she's an interesting character.

Also my other complaint is that this is definitely an anime that I would never be able to convince someone in my friend group to watch lmao. It's so good, though!

Mappa did a great job with this overall, now give me season 2! (Doubt it'll happen, but I can dream)
Jun 30, 2023 8:12 AM

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May 2018
922
Never would I have thought that I will enjoy this that much, but after watching it I can truly say it is one of the interesting shows that I've watch. Totally love how the story progressed, would love to see another season.

Oct 8, 2023 11:26 PM

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Apr 2022
4964
i really liked the first 5 episodes, i thought the mc was funny and i liked miyako as well. the latter episodes were a 7, weren't as good as the start but still good.
but the last episode was straight up fucking garbage, she left him for her cousin bruv wtaf that was such an unsatisfying ending, i'm actually pissed. the ballet stuff was great, but the love triangle sub-plot was so bad. mappa killed it with the adaptation though, great animation but the shitty ending which left a bad taste in my mouth will drag this down from an 8 to a 6/10. will check out the manga to see if there's still any saving it.
Jan 4, 10:39 PM

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Apr 2017
488
Whew! This was a hot mess, but I'm excited for Natsuki x Junpei. It's time for some real romance now! I'm about to read the manga, and also start another anime. This is real romance with real sparks and real charisma! None of that boring sweet and cute girl is a reward for the male lead. Real romance! Real chemistry!

But uh... Luou seriously needs therapy...
Jan 4, 10:40 PM

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Apr 2017
488
Reply to PurpleMario
Now that it ended, here are a few points I want to highlight:

I like the way the characters are built. They are not stereotipically bad or good. They don't pretend to be heroes nor seek for unattainable goals. They are not charismatic in a cliche way or unreasonabily melodramatic. For me, they feel pretty real. Junpei is just a guy with a hobby who found a chance to take it to a professional level. And he took it. Misaki was terrified of losing everything to a newbie and tried to avoid that, but he wasn't a "villain". Luou (oh, poor Luou) just wanted to be recognized as someone himself by the person who (abusivily) raised him, and desperately cried for not achieving it (bc she had dementia, lol). All this kind of stories and characters feel like someone you could meet anyday. And I love it.

In regard of the so-called toxic triangle, I don't see it that way. I feel like the love between Junpei and Miyako was real, but she knew (or at least she understands it that way) that being with Junpei would break Luou completely. That doesn't mean she "loves" him now. At least not in a romantic way (not necesarily). She just need to be there for her cousin, and thats a Goddai family issue. Junpei just doesn't fit in that equation, so he left for the sake of the poor little bastard. Did Luou deserve the Oikawa schoolarship? Tecnichally, for sure. But what he needed more was his family and a new way to relate with dancing. A more emotional way. Let's call it, the Chizuru way. About Natsuki, I don't see it necesary for Junpei to have a romantic relationship with her just because they dance well together, so I hope sometime in the future, once Luou is recovered, Junpei can be with Miyako AND have Natsuki as his partner. If you guys think you can't have a female partner/colleague without having sex, you have a problem xd.

I write this just because I see a lot of people struggling with how the romance part ended or because they disagree with some decisions the characters took, but as I said, this looks more like real life than average anime, and in real life not everyone has things the way they wanted; or, people has to take hard choices, like giving up a relationship. So this somehow bittersweet ending fits perfect.

With that said, and acclaiming the direction and the use of the dance, aesthetics and music to develop the plot and the characters, this is a solid 9/10 for me.
@PurpleMario They're literally setting Junpei up with Natsuki, and it's obvious.
Jan 4, 10:41 PM

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Apr 2017
488
Reply to Shikkakku
Well, there was no way to change things in 1 episode. Don't get me wrong, I don't think the story is horrible. And in no way do I think the anime is horrible.

But I dislike this development heavily. I still can't get over the Miyako x Jumpei break. It makes no sense. It completely ignores Miyako's feelings. Her feelings for Luou are chaining her too. She's not free there, she's stuck. That's not happiness. She felt happiness with Jumpei.

And Jumpei too, just leaving her like that.

There's just so much in my mind. I'm just feeling very disappointed. I really, unexpectedly loved this series. It was a candidate for Anime of the Season for me, and it definitely is still my Underrated Anime of the Season.

But this Miyako x Jumpei break just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Again, for me that was a stupid and horrible thing Jumpei did and it did no good for anyone, even Luou. Because you keep him chained, and you keep Miyako chained.

I don't know if anyone will reply, but mayhaps manga readers can enlighten me (without spoiling it for anybody else of course) about how this continues? I'm really hoping this isn't the end for Miyako x Jumpei, because it doesn't feel right at all. And I'm not a big fan of the Natsuki x Jumpei pairing.

Ah, I'm just so disappointed. It really broke my heart.

I don't know how to score this yet. Enjoyed episodes 1-9 extremely. The animation was amazing throughout. The drama, dialogue, characterisation, everything was perfect. It's just that development...

Yeah, I really don't know. I kind of regret not stopping at episode 10 especially since I knew where this was probably headed.

In fact, I kind of wished we'd ended at 9, or heck maybe even 8.

But a great anime that was nonetheless.
@Shikkakku Why would you like Miyako x Junpei over Natsuki x Junpei. Natsuki x Junpei have way more chemistry, and they bring out the best in each other.
Jan 4, 11:25 PM
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May 2018
71
Reply to LuxuriousHeart
@PurpleMario They're literally setting Junpei up with Natsuki, and it's obvious.
@LuxuriousHeart I mean, they could end in a romantic relationship, and that wouldn't be bad, I just said that it wasn't necessarily to be that way. Everyone who thinks that just because they're really good partners then they HAVE to be lovers, well, you guys need to touch some grass lol. You can be a man and actually have a female friend. As well as you can make a very good partnership with someone you despise, because working and being friends are two things not related at all. So if you say that Junpei and Natsuki WILL end as lovers, as long as the script manages to make that occur naturally, I don't care, but that is not written in stone just because they dance well together.
Apr 21, 7:19 AM

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May 2014
61
Although this final episode is pretty bittersweet, but on the overall I really like this series. The art style, the personalities, the smooth dance animations were all very impressive. I agree with most of the commenters here that how the abrupt shift from Miyako x Junpei to Miyako x Luou really felt like someone suddenly throwing a bucket of cold water on you from nowhere. I was like wait this isn't what I signed up for, doesn't Miyako get a say in this? But after calming down and analysing the situation a bit, I think it's not just a messed up teenage love triangle. It might actually show the growth in Junpei's maturity as a character. So let me explain. At the beginning, Junpei hated and envied Luou, he also couldn't understand him or his behaviour and hence said "he is the type that I can't be friends with". Later on as the series progresses and he gets to know Luou better bit by bit, despite his inferiority complex towards Luou, he still encouraged Luou by appealing to his competitive streak in his own way. At the end of the series, after hearing about Luou's past from Miyako and really understanding the situation Luou was in (i.e. abused entire life, no friends, no social skills, no education) He knows that even if he starts a relationship with Miyako, the issue about Luou will always be lurking in the background because Luou is Miyako's family, and Luou only has her as a trusted person left. Can they really be happy in such a relationship in that case? Or would their happiness always be lined with guilt and obligation. He decided that the right thing was to love his enemy instead, initially he thought that meant giving up the scholarship for someone he deemed more deserving, but later he saw that giving up Miyako was more needful for Luou who was unapproved and unloved by the only other family that he had loved and known. Yes, Miyako being his cousin is cringe, but I think it's actually a legal thing in Japan and not that taboo there. But then again, it's not a given that Miyako and Luou would be married or anything, Luou just needs her for now to find himself again. Miyako also chose the path of self-sacrifice, she always has this nagging concern / worry for her cousin, inside her I think she knows that she will probably not be able to just leave him and go dating another guy carefreely until she finds closure with her cousin's case. So in the end, did they make the right choice? As a viewer, I would have loved to see Miyako and Junpei together, but I can also see why they chose to do what they did. I'm just glad that Junpei didn't lose everything and got the scholarship so that he has a path to take. This series does explore some themes such as parenting (e.g. when Miyako questioned if her grandma's methods were right). Because of grandma's strict training/abuse (depending on how one sees it, though I think it really is abuse), Luou really did turn out to be an exceptional dancer. But at what expense though, and was it worth it in the end? Grandma only saw her runaway daughter in her grandson, and grandson was nver acknowledged and was left with nothing but ballet. Parents want their children to succeed, but for whose benefit really, and at what cost? I think that's one big message in this series as well. If only everyone was like Junpei's Mom, to be open-minded and allow their child to pursue whatever they want rather than force them into the "family business". Food for thought (:
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It’s time to ditch the text file.
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