REVIEW: ‘Dance Dance Danseur,’ Episode 4 “I Can Do Ballet Now”

Dance Dance Danseur is a seinen anime produced by MAPPA. Having publicly admitted that he wants to do ballet over sports, Murao fully embraces his desire to dance. But the young man has a long way to go if he wants to live his dreams. And he’s not the only one that has his work cut out for him in Dance Dance Danseur Episode 4.

With Murao fully committing to dance, we get a couple of moments within this episode that feel a bit too familiar. As Murao returns to the school to learn his new passion, he has also returned to lashing out at his teacher over the fact that he has a lot of work to do. Not on choreography or timing, but rather, the most boring element of any pursuit, the fundamentals.

While I appreciated how an earlier episode approached Murao’s realization that dancing wasn’t something he would effortlessly excel at, Dance Dance Danseur Episode 4‘s retreading of this discovery feels far too overwrought. While many of life’s challenges require multiple encounters before we can truly accept them, Murao feels like he is hearing about these obstacles for the first time all over again. This makes it harder to feel sympathy for the character in these moments.

But despite his overdone initial reaction, Dance Dance Danseur Episode 4 sees him dive into training in a way that is probably not great for him. The expectations of his teacher coupled with his dreams of greatness push him to train to an extent that is undoubtedly harmful to his still-developing body. If the series continues to have its lead push himself to the degree that he is I hope there is some acknowledgment of the repercussions of these choices.

Murao’s long hours at the studio come to serve a secondary purpose as well. His near-constant presence at the studio places him once more in the way of Luou. The two continue to struggle with their place in each other’s worlds, even though Murao is determined to win Luou over. To flesh out Luou’s side of the story, Dance Dance Danseur Episode 4 gives us our first glimpses of the young man’s life before he came to live with his aunt and cousin. These moments help explain a lot about the character and his often aloof demeanor.

When it comes to the visuals in Dance Dance Danseur Episode 4, the delivery of the dancing segments continues to be the shining star of the show. MAPPA captures all the elegance and nuance of its subjects as they gracefully flow through their motions.

When all is said and done, Dance Dance Danseur Episode 4 largely delivers a strong episode. As long as the story can get Murao past the point of throwing fits every time his teacher tells him something isn’t good enough, this series should have a strong run ahead of it.

Dance Dance Danseur Episode 4 is streaming now on Crunchyroll.