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The anime is already feeling like it's dragging on with disrupted flow. I care not about whether this is because we're in "filler" mode or because the manga too is like this.
Remember that episode where Hyoudo said the Tatara-pair can stuff around as much as they want? Then they showed the "One moment of unison, a second moment of harmony" (or something) and the judge dropped his pen? The very next episode after that should have been about how the two are getting better with each moment, how after Tatara starts to show his dancing after admitting to being a coward.
That was... 3 episodes ago? We're still waffling around about how poor their teamwork is, and now Hyoudo is experimenting some more. Now we're starting again as if none of that mattered, instead talking about Chinatsu following for once.
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IRL, progress is non linear and you regress a lot too at times...
I talk from experience, crossfit and golf I started in April...
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This is actually about Chinatsu's growth and finally being able to understand Tatara because she was put in his shoes. It dragged on, sure, but it's a different type of breakthrough. Finally, Chinatsu is contributing to the dance instead of just being a part of it. By being able to adjust, she will allow Tatara to finally show his true colors on the floor.
I think this entire competition could've been condensed into like 4 episodes though.
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Episode 22
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With that explanation, I now understand more.
-or so one would have expected, but no, I don't really.
It's something about Tatara leading, Chinatsu following with her interpretation of that lead, then Tatara readjusting his actions to match what Chinatsu is outputting - which is just regular following right? I don't know exactly what "clicked" within Tatara. If the heaviness was Chinatsu dancing differently to him, and now all he has to do is dance faster to accommodate that, he should have had this down already.
They made his initial issue being his "lead not coming through", but this has nothing to do with it.
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No, the problem was in both of them. Chinatsu realized how hard Tatara was working and how talented he was when she was forced to accommodate Tatara's loose joints. This led to her finally allowing herself to properly follow Tatara's lead, something she has actually never done before. She just sorta pretended to do it without being sincerely into it. She underestimated him, and you only do that to people you don't respect. And you don't follow people you don't respect (unless you are paid to - employment).
With that out of the way, Tatara could finally realize that Chinatsu was a talent bomb waiting to be lit. It just so happens she is more experienced than him, so she tends to adhere to the forms and aesthetics in her head. That is where Tatara's adjustment ability comes into play. He felt the weight and instead of force-lifting it, he used momentum and balance to handle it. That, however, does not change that he is taking the reins from her. He is leading her now by showing her the way without stifling her experience and potential.
As for the final part, the above is not something the weak-willed Tatara would normally do. He usually just lets the girl do all the work and fades into the background. This time, he realizes the gem he has and is working shit hard to make use of it. Only badasses like Sengoku do that, which leads us to Creepy Kid's final comment. Tatara changed into a bold and daring leader to be able to adjust to Chinatsu, who required one.
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Shizuku and Mako also realized their rival isn't one of the men, like Shizuku mentioned at the halfway point of the series, trying to shine brighter than they do. It's Chinatsu and dancers like her (Chizuru!).
Mako mentioned she needed to bring her energy level up (at least in Standard, she and Gaju are pretty unrivaled in Latin) because Tatara gets better depending on the "power" his partner feeds back into him, and Shizuku noticed that Chinatsu has the potential to blow right past her.
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Episode 23
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Finally a very strong episode again.
I really like the Kugimiya-pair and compared to Aki-san story, this one is actually really interesting. Just got to love it that he keeps calling her Banshee.
If all 4 of them keep kicking ass like that, it's going to be an awesome last dance.
Tatara being happy about Sengoku calling was kinda cute too. That was way beyond the level of appreaciating the call.
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Episode 24
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Well it's over. The last segment of the show felt weaker than the rest, especially with it focusing on the more abstract aspects of dance compared to the technical parts. I remember sharing similar feelings about Kaleido Star actually.
The highlight was definitely Chinatsu giving Tatara a peck on the cheek.
I can't place this as one of my top sports anime, but it's strong enough to recommend I guess. The last bits wouldn't take as long if someone marathonned them.
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Last episode was pretty good too.
A good point to end it. Though I'd love to see more, Tatara's past is still "black" (mother left?) and his father still doesn't know about him dancing.
I have no clue how you'd make future episodes as interesting as this season though.
I mean, the Chinatsu and Tatara pair is established now, it felt like they were dancing at their current peak in the finals and I can only assume that it would be rather difficult to "show" progress in skill, since the dance - whenever no obvious mistakes were made - always looked like it was "perfect".
I have no idea why Tatara even won tbh. That's how poorly established the dances are and how hard it is to compare them for the viewer.
You'd basically have to listen to the reporter or some bystander to judge how good/bad a pair was/is or at least if you wanted to compare two pairs that didn't do any obvious mistakes.
So basically, they'd have to crush Tatara's dancing skills once more (which would make Kugimiya look like a fool) and establish all the quirks and ircks on top of the fine adjustments needed for each and every dance and how Tatara doesn't have that one down yet.
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The judging is almost entirely subjective. They've been clear about this several times over the course of the series.
And it all boils down to look at me.
It's the view that Tatara finally achieved after having mostly the opposite desire before. And it is why they won.
His old attitude helped them earlier in this competition. They were making mistakes and were overlooked because the Kugumiya pair were taking all the attention. But they'd never be able to win unless Tatara changed his attitude.
The Quickstep is Tatara and Chinatsu's strongest dance, and thankfully for them, it was also the final one. It's modern, energetic, flashy, and fast. Kugumiya and Idogawa specialize in the slower, more formal dances, like the Waltz. But the Viennese Waltz went to Tatara and Chinatsu because it fits Chinatsu extremely well.
The judges wanted to focus on Kugumiya and Idogawa, but Tatara and Chinatsu kept stealing away the attention. That's exactly why they won.
And it is what all the other characters have been saying the whole time. Get attention, dominate the floor, dominate the judge's focus. And don't make mistakes when you have it.
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Nothing left to say to what it's already been said. Enjoyed this series quite a bit, 2nd half dragged quite a bit in particular in this final competition... but I thought it had a better ending that what I was hoping for with 1 episode to go last week.
Has there been any mention of a continuation down the road?
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The manga isn't even up to here yet. But no, they haven't announced anything going forward.
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Jolly ending that left me fulfilled. I can't put my finger on it, but this was suprisingly satisfying, for me not having understood most of what happened for the last quarter of the series. Possibly because the music and detailed facial line work made every episodes climax feel more compelling than they truely were.
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Waki was awesome. Worth watching just for that.
