Welcome to the Ballroom Episode 23 Review: History and Evolution

Episode 23 of Welcome to the Ballroom shows us why I love the series so much and wouldn’t stop watching it. Next week will be the last episode, so of course, we get a taste of how the story will end as it went on a roller coaster ride with the viewers’ emotions.

Japanese Title: 伝統と進化

Heat 23. History and Evolution

A flashback starts, with Tatara and Chinatsu remembering a song they both like… Which ends up being one of the last songs of the semi-final. They somehow manage to advance into the finals, since some judges are impressed by their evolved dance style. Others, however, are more into the Kugimiya-pair, who show a great and very classic dance that follows all the historic lines. While the judges think about what they prefer, History or Evolution, Tatara is saved by a call from Sengoku, who pretends to be watching him even though he is training overseas. Tatara takes a lot of energy from this simple call and with the start of the next dance, the viewers get to take a trip down Idogawa’s past, to see where she came from with all this dancing and how she met Kugimiya, because her partner is facing difficulties with cramps and is being distracted by Tatara and Chinatsu’s dance…

Highlights

Sengoku on the phone

This was only one of the many scenes that made me go all emotional and teary-eyed. My reaction was pretty much the same as Tatara’s, I was just so happy to hear Sengoku. Even though I knew sooner than Tatara that he wouldn’t actually be there, I still was touched that he went to the trouble to call Tatara during this tournament. Of course, I was also touched by Gaju, who put in the effort to write Sengoku about Tatara’s struggles, but it was really Sengoku who made me jump around in happiness. The scene showed perfectly well how important Sengoku is to Tatara as a teacher. Tatara, who doesn’t tell his own family that he is dancing and has nobody come cheer him on aside from his fellow dancers, is so happy to have Sengoku cheer him on and watch him. I think it also tells a lot about Marisa-sensei. She is just a teacher and necessary for Tatara to grow. But it will be Sengoku who makes Tatara happy. He didn’t care if Marisa was watching. So yeah, definitely a highlight.

Idogawa is badass

She didn’t really get much screen-time so far, so there was nothing much I thought about her. She is the partner Kugimiya needs and that’s it. In this episode, she totally changed my opinion. It was wonderful to see how well she works with Kugimiya and how made for each other they are – in a friendly way, not in a romantic way. They found ea other, because they share similar values and give off a similar dark vibe. What most touched me is how they reacted to each other. When he didn’t concentrate well and cramped, she supported him. That was what made him wake up and realize that she was not only dancing for fun. Just like that, he was ready to dance again because he was not dancing alone. They are doing this together because there are two people who need to dance. I loved this about the pair. A unit instead of storms crashing into each other.

Another flower blooms

Tatara did it, once again a girl bloomed. This time, it was a bit more extreme, more touching and… stranger? I will never get used to the Attack on Titan four-legged dance anyway, but this flower was a bit concerning. At first I felt reminded of Sailor Moon. Everything went sparkling and there was this flower blooming from Tatara’s chest. When it turned into Chi-chan coming out of Tatara’s flower, I thought it looked beautiful and was so touched and then Tatara had to open his mouth… He was all surprised, called her name and I thought that it took away from the supernatural feeling. As if she literally just grew out of his flower-chest. The art, though, was beautiful and I loved the scene anyway! It showed me why I stick to this show and love it so much. Ballroom is fun to watch because of scenes like this!

Comments

This episode was beautiful! I enjoyed every bit of it, from the flashback in the beginning to Idogawa’s story and the way they ‘battle’ each other. This is serious competition and that’s what I am here for! It’s not only about Tatara growing legs and Chi-chan and him struggling to understand each other. There are a bunch of other couples that challenge them and finally, we are somewhere! This episode might not have been fully worth all the previous ones that were a bit slower, but there is still the last episode to wait for, and if it goes out with a bang, then I will be a happy fan. I just like how they give all the characters so much time and introduce their background story. There is so much love you can grow for them from that, and it is easier to understand why they are how they are. Especially for Kugimiya, it took away a lot of my dislike for him. Before he was just that gloomy guy, but now we know of his hardships… Need to keep remembering things like that even outside of the anime world. Everybody has their problems to deal with, beloved anime characters as well as real people. Be nice to the people around you, everybody!

Hopes for the last episode

I hope… Well, I hope that the cup will finish early and then we get to see a bright and nice ending that hints at the upcoming story. Whether I hope that Tatara and Chi-chan win, I can’t really say. Of course, I want them to stay together, but they could as well stay together after losing because they finally know how to dance with each other and there is nobody else who would make team-work as fun as they make it… Sooo, in the end, I think they are somehow going to win. It might be because Kugimiya messes up or it might be because it is tensai Tatara we are talking about. Who knows.

In any case, we already know what we are going to request. A second season. It better be coming at some point because Ballroom is awesome.