Welcome to the Ballroom Episode 16 Review: Four-legged

When the title of Episode 16 of Welcome to the Ballroom was revealed to be ‘Four-Legged’, I wondered what this was about, but it is explained very well in the episode. While I have never watched Attack on Titan, the artwork in certain parts of this episode reminded me of it. In the end, it all was fun to watch and I enjoyed it. Let’s take a look at the details of the episode in this week’s review!

Japanese Title: 四本足

Heat 16. Four-legged

Without telling anybody, Tatara signed himself and Chi-chan up for a contest to be able to keep his promise with Shizuku. After arriving at the venue, he finds out that neither the Shizuku/Kiyoharu pair nor Mako/Gaju will be there, as they are having a contest in Germany. Still, there is Aki-chan and when Tatara thinks that Chi-chan will fall back into her leading habit when faced with her old partner, he gets surprised. He faces a new Chi-chan and with it a strange phenomenon. He feels as if he has four legs, saves Chi-chan from slipping and somehow his whole body feels different. While he is worrying over this strange feeling, they miss their turn and are disqualified from the contest, having to go home after their first heat. Of course, Marisa won’t let them off the hook that easily. Just that she doesn’t punish Tatara but instead tells him she can make them win the next contest. Next thing, our couple is off to a training camp, where they also meet the Gaju-pair and Kiyoharu-pair. While they should be able to train a lot and get closer, Chi-chan and Tatara face many problems and it seems they are drifting further and further apart instead of growing together, even though Tatara learns so much from his colleagues.

Episode Highlights

Attack on Ballroom

The series is becoming more and more like a fantastic sports series. With the four legs scene this time, I am completely sure that – if the series runs long enough – we will get to see even more fantasy moments, similar to attacks and shoots in other sports series. Tatara growing another pair of legs was creepy, yet a great scene. For some moments, I felt like I was watching Attack on Titan, not only with the extra legs but also the art style. It was a bit creepy at some point, which might only be me because I can’t handle scary scenes all too well in general and the pure thought of Tatara growing another pair of legs was scary. However, this was what I remembered first when thinking about this episode, because it made Tatara grow and once again showed how little he knows still.

Goodbye Ballroom

The cup just started, and within a breath or two, it was over again. It might not be a real highlight but I thought it was hilarious how they were disqualified. I was thankful that we’ll keep going through the story instead of watching another contest unfold. We also see that the couple advances, evolves and gets better with every week, since they got chosen for the next round from all the judges. If they hadn’t mess up, they might have advanced to the finals. It felt like this showed how much better the couple got and that Chi-chan seems to be at peace with following his lead.

Welcome to the Reunion

When they went to Karuizawa to start their intense training, I already thought that they would meet the other couples. And there they were, Kiyoharu and Shizuku as well as Mako and Gaju. They all will be there in one house and look at Tatara and his training. By the way, has Kiyoharu always had this extremely deep and sexy voice? He sounded so much more mature. Maybe it is part of the ‘we are all high school students and grown up’ development, but I thought he sounded more like an adult.

What really stood out here was how comfortable Tatara was with Kiyoharu and Gaju, and the way Kiyoharu and Gaju shared a couch to relax. When Tatara tells them about his strange four-legged experience, they talk about it as if it was normal while Tatara is mind-blown. It was something regular for them, because they are experienced. Which meant he was getting experienced and he is on the right way. It was such a cute scene, how he felt like he finally became a better dancer and is getting closer to them, the people who are somehow his idols.

Strange Chi-chan

Let us also talk about the girls. Chi-chan is definitely strange. First of all, she lets Tatara drag her across the country and participate in a contest that they weren’t supposed to enter. She lets him lead her and she works hard to be a good follower. All that without complaining. But then she has a mental breakdown. I wonder what makes her so sensitive right now. They did well in the contest – even Gaju told them. He showed Tatara that they had a perfect score for the first round – and everything seemed fine so far. I can’t wait to see what is bothering her and how they resolve it during this training week.

Themes and Trivia

Training Camp

I wouldn’t be able to tell you if these things are a regular thing for real Japan, but there are loads of examples in other series, where a sports club is doing a week-long intense training at a camp somewhere. They almost always have time to do other fun stuff like going to an onsen, cooking together, or if it’s a summer camp, have a scary dare… I hope I didn’t interpret too much into the house and that it really is a great camp situation. According to the preview, we will see an onsen scene, so let’s enjoy the camp!

Comments

I like the pace of this second half of the series so far. We see so much development and there are always new things to show, new things to learn, and Tatara is having a great time with his new friends. I don’t really like Marisa yet, but at least she is really trying to improve Tatara’s dancing and is earnestly helping them. I really liked this episode, because we get to see all the important parts and it doesn’t feel dragged. While I think there is a lot happening, there is little to comment on for me. This was a good episode and I had a lot of fun. I can’t wait for next week.

Hopes for the upcoming episode

I want more of the cute interactions between Tatara and the others, like when he gets advice from Gaju and Kiyoharu or when he bursts into the girls’ bedroom without knocking and gets beat up by Chi-chan. Scenes like this make me love the characters even more, so I hope there will be a lot in the next episode, along with some real development. I am pretty sure we will see some change in Chi-chan next, because it seems like she lost her way. And I also think that Tatara will be able to see the amazing side of Shizuku and Kiyoharu. That one scene in the preview, where Shizuku took a step closer to Kiyoharu to dance, just looked great and sexy and I hope we see a great scene following that cut.

Don’t forget to check my opinion on many Fall 2017 anime in our first impressions article, and you are also invited to come to our forum and discuss your favorite anime with me! I would like to hear which ones you liked most so far. We’ll meet again next week for the Episode 17 weekly anime review of Welcome to the Ballroom!

Coming Next: Heat 17, Performer (表現者)