Dance Dance Danseur

What does it mean to be a man? This is the question that Dance Dance Danseur attempts to explore and, for the most part, is successful.

Dance Dance Danseur (moving forward will be referred to as DDD) focuses on middle school student Junpei Murao and the beginning of his journey in the ballet world. DDD’s themes of toxic masculinity are made apparent in the first episode. Upon seeing a male ballet dancer at his sister’s ballet performance he becomes enamored with no regards as to whether it adhered to dominant gender roles. While initially hesitant, his father, a stunt coordinator and Junpei’s vision of what masculinity represents, accepts his son’s new interest. However, after Junpei’s father dies shortly after Junpei puts his dreams of being a ballet dancer aside in order to conform to society’s expectations of masculinity. Namely, taking part in traditionally masculine activities including soccer and Jeet Kune Do with the intention of eventually become a student coordinator like his father. This trajectory is disrupted my Miyako, a fellow student, who sees Junpei’s potential as a ballet dancer and his ballet journey commences.

As one can see, the show is initially concerned with exploring how society categorizes ‘masculine’ vs. ‘feminine’ activities which is a topic I have seen rarely addressed in anime so far, particularly for a seinen series. In addition, the show takes Junpei’s struggle to deconstruct masculinity seriously as opposed to being treated as a comedic bit. We see his difficulty with fully committing to doing ballet as he weighs the gendered expectations he perceives his family and friends have of him. However, with the introduction of Luou, Miyako’s cousin and fellow ballet dancer, Junpei’s seemingly polar opposite, Junpei begins to see how 'being a man' is a lot more fluid than what society has consistently promoted.

One of my favorite aspects of DDD is the dynamic between the two male characters. Both struggle with figuring out their own individual passions and pursuits under the shadow of a parental figure. Luou serves as a nice contrast to Junpei. When Luou begins to be bullied by Junpei’s friends he cowers and is passive as opposed to Junpei who is brash and openly antagonistic when faced with conflict. Perhaps it is Junpei’s ideas of masculinity that plays into why he does not understand Luou’s passive and quiet personality. However when the bullying reaches its boiling point Luou combats it by performing ballet in front of the students, earning the admiration of Junpei and allowing him to come to the conclusion that “being a man” is about sticking to his beliefs and passions rather than adhering to societal standards.

However, Luou also pulls a lot from Junpei’s personality. For instance, Luou learns to be more aggressive in pursuing his passion of doing ballet in Russia and pursuing his own dreams rather than letting people just see him as an extension of his mother as he becomes friends with Junpei. In this sense, DDD is not necessarily criminalizing the more aggressive aspects of traditional masculinity (which often occurs in debates regarding toxic masculinity). Rather, the show portrays how there are various ways people can embody a masculine identity.

If I did have a critique about the main cast of characters it would be directed towards how the show handles Miyako. When we first meet Miyako she is portrayed as a powerful force that takes Junpei out of his par for the course life and reignites his passion. However, over the course of the show her role seemingly diminishes from promising ballet partner to strictly a love interest for Junpei and Luou. It’s not like Miyako does not have a enticing backstory of her own which we see in episode 10. However, even in this episode much of the backstory we receive for Miyako remains grounded in her relationship with Luou. For a show that is interested in breaking down traditional gender roles it is a bit ironic that they wouldn’t attempt to do this with their main female character and grant her more autonomy. This could very well change with some of the later manga material but as a first season her character was noticeably given the short end of the stick in comparison to the other leads.

Given it’s a performing arts anime, one would expect the dance scenes to deliver and for the most part MAPPA does a great job with the animation. There are sparing uses of CG and the dance scenes are fluid with excellent color composition to emphasize the tone of each performance. If there was a minor complaint it’s that the character designs are a bit divisive. Unfortunately, in ballet a singular body type tends to dominant - long and skinny. The show does not deviate from this standard and through a seeming attempt to emphasize the body movements opt for, at times, longer than normal legs, arms, and necks. I was personally not bothered by it at but it can be a turn off for people who do not care for these type of over exaggerated body designs. Similarly, it continues to reinforce the dominant ballet body type without any sort of challenge to this standard.

With its attempt to tackle the very pertinent but often overlooked topic of toxic masculinity, DDD provides a new avenue for audiences to critique their own perceptions of gender expectations and roles. It makes this difficult subject a lot easier to process with its excellent animation and great character dynamics, albeit primarily among the male cast.