This is a charade, all right. Maybe not the way Luou meant, but just the same. The critical question is going to be what the mangaka meant by it. The next episode is going to tell an awful lot about the lasting impression Dance Dance Danseur leaves as an anime. Endings again – damn, they make or break shows so often. I want to hope for the best but maybe there’s just something in the DNA of classical performing arts manga that makes them predisposed to have a fucked-up perspective on the world?
From a technical and storytelling standpoint, this was another stellar episode – no drop-off there whatsoever. It did a great job setting the mood, the cast was as usual stellar, and the dance sequence at the end was gorgeous. In the exact disturbing way it was supposed to be gorgeous. In fact the whole episode was creepy and disturbing and unsettling – as it intended to be. It’s a great piece of filmmaking in that sense, which is exactly what we’ve come to expect. But that’s where things start to get dodgy for me.
It’s not like I didn’t see this coming. My words of last week were “I confess, the preview has me a bit worried about where all this is headed”, and it headed exactly where I feared it would. To qualify that, Luou is absolutely a victim in all this as far as I’m concerned. His mother abandoned him. His grandmother abused him both physically and emotionally. And if she has her dementia as an excuse (I think the issue goes beyond that, personally) society – and Chizuru, frankly – have no excuse for letting that go on as long as it did.
But that’s not really my issue. To be clear, I have no problem with 14 year-old kids making bad decisions. 14 year-old kids make bad decisions all the time – they basically fall out of bad making them and keep making them until they fall asleep at 2 A.M.. A series showing us that – and the consequences – is to be applauded (if it’s as brilliant as this one is, especially). But the problem comes when the writer endorses those bad decisions. The ultimate example of that is that music series with the month in the title that shall not be named. Dance Dance Danseur is not that, clearly. That’s on a whole different order of magnitude.
But – and it’s still an open question – if DDD goes where it seemed to be headed here, that’s a huge fumble for me. A cycle of abuse is a sadly common thing in life, and that’s what’s happening here – Luou was emotionally abused, and now he’s emotionally abusing Miyako (which started when he threatened suicide, the ultimate emotional blackmail). So did Chizuru to an extent, constantly hammering home how mediocre she considered her to be. I think Chizuru thought she was doing Miyako a favor, but that’s not how it played out. As Junpei is screaming at Luou to forget his Obaa-san and “go where he can be recognized for himself”, the irony is that Miyako seems to be doing the opposite. She’s her own person, not Luou’s emotional crutch. Why does she have to be defined as such because the world has been so unfair to him?
This is a whopper of an issue here, if indeed this is the viewpoint that DDD espouses in the end. The matter of whether Junpei should accept the SS scholarship is a separate issue, and there’s a very strong argument to be made that he should. Maybe he needs to expand his world beyond the Oikawa in order to grasp what his true potential is. But if he and Miyako have feelings for each other, they should not be cast aside because she “needs to be by Luou’s side”. She needs to be her own person, so does Luou. He needs professional help, frankly – pretty desperately and urgently if you ask me. He doesn’t need a co-dependent relationship with Miyako to replace the one he has with his grandmother, however much more benign it seems.
So in the end, yes, “this is a charade” – which really should have been the episode title. Luou dancing the ballerina’s part in Swan Lake for his grandmother, calling him Mazaru – the praise he so desperately seeks not even being meant for him. Junpei making a sacrifice he shouldn’t be making, Miyako letting herself be shackled to a destiny that’s not her own. It’s all rather pathetic, and not in a bad way – in a dramatically powerful way. But it’s what the series does with that which really matters. And we’ll know the answer to that next week, though based on this episode I can’t say I’m feeling entirely optimistic.
Alonom
June 11, 2022 at 6:42 pmIt’s pretty fascinating how a creator’s intentions/views on his own story and events can completely change the way us viewrs percieve it.
Reminds me of all the developments that occured in the second half of Dororo.
Guardian Enzo
June 11, 2022 at 7:05 pmThat’s a very good comparison, actually. Another more recent one would obviously be Ousama Ranking.
Marty
June 11, 2022 at 7:51 pmNot gonna lie, it’s still bothers me how many people think “Your Deception in the 4th Month” still think is a narrative masterpiece despite the plethora of issues the story and characters have.
leongsh
June 11, 2022 at 9:04 pmBeen careful not to post any time just yet. What I will mention is that the Swan Lake performance at the end of this episode continues in the next episode.
Abs
June 12, 2022 at 8:09 pmHi Guardian, you have an interesting take and I respect but it I disagree with you. I feel like you are assessing the show based on your moral compass (you believe the show is potentially endorsing a bad decision) rather than assessing the show on how well it executes the story it is trying to tell.
On the broader issue of endorsing the bad decision, for me it’s not a black or white issue and is very much subjective to the person/people in the situation. I think it’s fundamentally wrong to force a moral viewpoint in a very complicated situation (as many situations pertaining mental health are). For example someone very close to me has mental health issues and as a result I haven’t been able to live or do all the things I’ve wanted to in life. For me I would be happier being there for someone I love than fulfilling all my own desires. Similarly, maybe Miyako has come to a similar conclusion in regards to Lou. I don’t think there is a right answer to this situation and I think it’s wrong for me to enforce my point of view on the author (or how I would act in that situation) and equally it would be wrong for someone to enforce their view on the author.
sonicsenryaku
June 13, 2022 at 12:56 amI agree you with to an extent; that extent being that I don’t think it’s wrong to assess a show based on its and your moral viewpoint if you approach that assessment with a nuanced touch and consider all facets of the situation. Some works should be criticized for pushing an unhealthy viewpoint if that’s what it’s doing, though often times I notice that people conflate the difference between exploring an unhealthy viewpoint vs endorsing it. I agree that a work should be scrutinized for the storytelling rather than projecting your own moral compass on to every single aspect of it, but there’s a line that should be drawn at some point too, right? At the end of the day, a person’s investment in a story comes down to how much they’re enjoying what they’re watching, and if what they’re watching is pushing a mindset that deem as nefarious or deleterious, it’s going to affect your enjoyment of said work. I think this common conflation of exploring vs endorsing unhealthy viewpoints can typically solved by improving your analytical lens and being able to read through the lines more efficiently when criticizing works; being able to properly decipher a story’s direction and the author’s intent as a whole; knowing how to keep your feelings in check vs when to apply them to your analysis. Some people can and some people can’t, but then again some people are good critics and some people could use a bit more polishing of their craft.
Abs
June 13, 2022 at 9:37 amInteresting and all good points. Yep there certainly is a line at some point and I have often drawn that with shows like Madmen and Fleabag and many people do to Game of Thrones, however the conclusion from that analysis is that it’s not for me rather than its a bad show.
I guess I like the broader discussion of if the viewpoints being pushed by this particular show are ‘nefarious’. I certainly don’t believe so as I honestly don’t know what I would do in Miyako’s situation. That’s one of the reasons this show really resonates with me, life is complicated and decisions we have to make sure really black and white. This also typified by Junpei struggling to embrace ballet due to both the fear of letting down his father and potentially losing his social standing. I don’t have all the right answers but love the fact these are issues that can spark genuine conversation.
sonicsenryaku
June 13, 2022 at 11:06 amYea, it’s always interesting to see a show explore things that might come off as questionable. My issue when it comes to works that delve into questionable morality is either every character seems to be in line with the questionable behavior, or that the writing has characters acting in ways they wouldn’t have before because of the story is heading in a morally questionable direction. That’s the kind of shit that grind my gears, but mostly because it completely disrupts the balance of what was once a coherent and powerfully told narrative
Guardian Enzo
June 13, 2022 at 12:20 pmI just want to reiterate a couple of things here.
“Nefarious” is not a word I ever used in connection with this show (and never would)
I made it clear in the post (contrary to what the original comment accuses me of) that on the execution side, the episode was excellent. Drew a very clear distinction between that and the issues I had with the content.
Also, I made it unmistakably clear that my ultimate view on this situation would be determined by how it’s handled in the finale, and not how it was handled this week. Again, in contrast to what was posted in the comment.
In the final analysis, criticism is comprised largely of personal opinion. People seem to have a serious problem with nuance in anime fandom these days – if a critic expresses positivity towards a series some fans take great offense if they deign to criticize any element of it later. It’s something I’ve seen over and over in recent years and it seems to be getting worse.
sonicsenryaku
June 13, 2022 at 3:00 pmTo be fair to the original commenter, I don’t think they meant any ill will towards your write-up by saying they disagreed with your personal feelings on this episode’s drama. You’re right in that anime fandom (any fandom in general I’ve found) seem to be pretty adverse to the smallest of negative criticism when coming from a person who on the whole, has had an overwhelmingly positive opinion of the work in question up until that point. That being said, it doesn’t feel to me like Abs was trying to be pejorative in their response towards you, at least in the way that the certain anime fans you describe act towards others when they deign utter the smallest bit of negative criticism within their overall positive outlook towards the work
I myself was just emphasizing that I think it’s cool to be dissatisfied with something if it morally rubs you the wrong way, but that at the very least, such feelings should be scrutinized against what the work is actually doing
Abs
June 15, 2022 at 3:33 pmThank you Sonic, my post was not meant to be taken as an attack of Guardian as a blogger and I didn’t intend for my post to be an attack or accusation but rather a disagreement. And in fact my disagreement is more to do with your ultimate view being shaped by what happens in the show and how it handles the curent moral dilimma, hence I believed you were assessing the show based on what you felt was the correct moral standpoint.
This disagreement was to do with me not believing the decisions facing these characters are black or white as I personally don’t believe there is a right decision. I don’t think either sacraficing your desires or following your desires are wrong and it is very subjective to the individual and context as to the best course of action in my opinion.
I think your viewpoint that the decision for Miyako to sacrafice her love for Junpei to make Luou happy is not right, is a perfectly justifiable opinion – I just don’t think the show would be any less good if it moves in the direction of her sacraficing her love for Junpei for Luou’s happiness. I think this situation (or something similar) is faced by millions of people and I think the reality only the individuals in those situations can determine what is the right decision.
Again – this is not meant to be a personal attack – I love coming on to your blog and reading your opinon – but that being said I like it beacuse I don’t always agree with everything you write. It’s the difference in opinion that makes the blog worth reading as it challenges me to question my own beliefs. I hope you don’t mind if I do disagree with you and comment on it – but if you do mind let me know and I will no longer comment on your posts as I am not intending to attack you.
Guardian Enzo
June 15, 2022 at 7:47 pmNot at all, it’s fine – I appreciate the post and the thought that went into it. That said, when I feel a point isn’t accurate, I’ve never hesitated to point that out. To me there was a conversation happening around something I’d supposedly said which I don’t think I actually had, so I just wanted to make it perfectly clear that I disagreed with the assumption.