For an anime that’s entire focus is dancing, I’m a little disappointed in some of the dance scenes I found in Welcome to the Ballroom. Why, you may ask? Well, if I had to sum up my issues with the show, I’d probably blame them on the show’s budget. Of course, it wasn’t all bad as I thoroughly enjoyed the characters that I met in this 2 cour anime, and the drama and comedy kept me watching for more, but I just couldn’t shake the problems I kept picking up on.
First of all, let’s start with the good points. The characters are all lovely and most of them get their own special moment in the spotlight. We either watch them dance their hearts out or peer into their backstories that are filled with all the hardships that they endured to become the athletes they are today. Their interactions with each other are also hilarious, as dancers competing in their pairs are forced to try and somewhat get along, allowing some funny or gripping moments between the cast.
Each of their differing personalities clashes with each other, from an enthusiastic newbie that learns differently from others, the professionals that practice endlessly to maintain their status and a female dancer that would rather act as the male lead role in the couple. The more you progress into the show, the more you learn about a certain someone as they continue to grow in experience and skill. Add in rivals and silly facial reactions and it becomes a joy to watch their antics as they either try to teach the new kid to dance the basics or look away when one of them is being subjected to some painful joint stretches. You can’t help but have fun watching the cast training to perfect their dance routines or enjoying their lives as school students.
Of course, these same elements are used to create drama as well, with a sibling couple separating cause they can’t seem to reach their full potential together or an old-fashioned dancer trying to make a comeback after being out of the game for awhile. You can’t be the best in anything if you don’t overcome obstacles, and the show knows how to create situations for our characters so they can rise up to the challenge. The mix of laughter and tears accumulate into a story that just draws you into their world of professional ballroom dancing as they enter tournament after tournament to show off their style to everyone around them.
Now the main issue I have with the show, the actual dancing. Due to it being an animated show locked under money constraints, it’s forced to use way too many stills and transitions to try and make it’s dancing scenes barely “passable”. If may work for other anime to do something like this, but for a sport that solely relies on body movement to entertain its audience, a lot of the time there is not enough actual movement.
What’s even worse is all the dialogue that should just be going on in the background becomes the focus as the camera is forced from the characters dancing to someone in the audience commenting on what’s happening. Instead of being an anime about dancing, it seems to turn into an anime about people talking about dancing a few too many times.
The music for some tournaments also needs to be improved, as there are a quite a few scenes where the songs in the first half don’t exactly match the dancing. Dancing and music go hand in hand, so to mess up something as important as this, along with every other issue mentioned, it’s gonna lower the enjoyment of the show quite significantly. It might be better to just read the manga where it’s already still/quiet so you won't have to sit through the anime's problems or wait for a movie that has more time and cash to actually put in the effort needed to make the show look good.
Even with the frequently lacklustre dance animation, Welcome to the Ballroom was still a joy to watch each week. The characters and story kept me from hating the show, keeping my score and view of the show decently high. Of course, there may be people that can’t forgive an anime for being unable to properly portray its main focus, so some might see the manga as best option if you still wanna try the series. If I had to choose between calling this show a good or bad experience, I would have to say it was pretty good, so at least try it out for yourself. Anime or manga, whichever one you decide, just let yourself get dragged into their story.
