Welcome to the Ballroom, Vol. 6 continues where the previous tankōbon left off and contains the next five chapters (22–26) of the on-going manga series.
This first half of the tankōbon covers the back story of Chinatsu Hiyama, a strong headed individual with a cold and reserved demeanor, who once loved dancing. With few male practitioners in the sport of competitive dancing, it is not uncommon that two women team up to dance as partners, which is the case for Hiyama, who generally took the lead in couple dances. Her partnership with Akira Koumoto was broken up, because she found a new male lead, but Hiyama couldn’t and quit the world of competitive dancing, until Tatara Fujita came into her life.
Tatara Fujita managed to get Chinatsu Hiyama to try to be partners, but they were ill-suited for each other. Fujita is a timid person and feels uncomfortable being too forceful on his partner to lead properly and Hiyama is a forceful person who is used to taking the lead, who hates to be lead around. Despite their incompatibilities, they partner up for the Novice Competition and came in second right behind Masami Kugimiya and Tamie Idogawa, and promoted to D Rank.
This tankōbon is written and illustrated by Tomo Takeuchi. Chinatsu Hiyama is developed more as a character with a believable back story to match her demeanor. Her partnership with Tatara Fujita is an interesting one with an equally intriguing twist from the traditional male lead. The tankōbon closes with the promise of Tatara Fujita to become a more forceful lead and presents the challenge of Chinatsu Hiyama to be lead around.
All in all, Welcome to the Ballroom, Vol. 6 is a wonderful continuation to a series that seems intriguing and I cannot wait to read more.
دونستن داستان چیناتسو و رابطه نه چندان سالمش با پارتنر قبلیش، رفتارش تو جلد پیش رو خیلی منطقیتر میکنه و از قالب تسوندره رو مخ درش میاره. از اون طرف باعث میشه با تاتارا واقعا جفت فاجعهباری بسازه. دوتا آدمی که با نقشهای به شدت جنسیتیشون توی رقص نمیسازن و باید تغییر کنن تا بتونن به جایی که میخوان برسن. برام جالبه نگاهی که مانگا از طریق تاتارا به این نقشها میکنه؛ اینکه نمیتونه بپذیره توی یه رقابت تیمی دونفره تنها کسی باشه که در مرکز توجهه و مسئولیت کامل به عهدهاشه هر چند در نهایت مجبور تغییر کنه اما واقعا انتظار دارم راه حل بهتری پیدا کنه. واقعا این بچه خیلی عاقل و شیرینه. ( ̄︶ ̄)
A jornada competitiva de Tatara atinge um novo patamar de tensão. Apesar de finalmente ter encontrado uma parceira, a verdade que é que ele e Chinatsu não são capazes de encontrar um ponto de equilíbrio entre os dois, transformando a sua parceria numa batalha de egos, expondo ainda mais a inexperiência de Tatara enquanto bailarino.
Como referi na resenha do volume anterior, este novo arco marca o verdadeiro início de Tatara enquanto bailarino. A sua parceria com Chinatsu coloca em evidência a sua inexperiência não só como bailarino num todo, mas como o líder do par - aspecto ainda mais preocupante quando falamos de danças de salão. Enquanto pessoa, Tatara é demasiado tímido, tendendo a esconder-se - defeito que ele transporta para a dança, que lhe pede (ou melhor, que lhe exige) que seja o completo oposto. Assim, Tatara busca a ajuda de Marisa e de Kyoharo por forma a compreender as suas falhas e encontrar uma forma de as colmatar.
Chinatsu não é esquecida da equação. Os primeiros capítulos do volume focam-se na personagem e na sua história e percurso na dança. Acontece que Chinatsu começou a sua jornada na dança fazendo par com uma outra rapariga, devido à escassez de homens no mundo da dança competitiva. Destarte, Chinatsu assume uma personalidade bastante forte e abrasiva, buscando parceiros que acatem as suas diretrizes - características de um verdadeiro líder. Naturalmente, com personalidades tão distintas, Tatara e Chinatsu acabam por chocar muito neste volume. Por milagre, conseguem classificar-se para participar nos demais torneios, no entanto ambos percebem que ou mudam de dinâmica ou podem dizer adeus aos palcos e aos holofotes.
Portanto, interpõe-se a seguinte questão: será que eles serão capazes?
This volume sees Fujika finally have to go into the world of competitive dancing the proper way. He gets a partner who is more experienced, but less patient. And now he is finally grasping the hints folks were laying down for him in earlier volumes. He does not have as many triumphal moments here as in earlier volumes, but he gains more substantial wisdom and really re-dedicates himself to being a competitive dancer.
This is the first volume in the series I’ve really enjoyed! I like the various subplots and new characters intro. Can’t wait to see where the story takes me next.
I've said this before but the art gets better and better. I just love how it shows the drama of dancing. It's hard for manga to compete with anime, but the art holds it's own here. Plus we are getting into my favorite part of the series!