Studio MAPPA is known for its action-packed shounen series such as Attack on Titan and Vinland Saga. But the studio switches and adapts George Asakura’s manga Dance Dance Danseur – a slice of life story that follows a ballet dancer and his struggle between the sport he loves and society’s expectations of how men should act.

Part of the spring 2022 anime season, Dance Dance Danseur may be one of life’s many sports and series, but what sets it apart from others is the protagonist’s internal struggle with masculinity—something that typically not covered openly or in non-shounen ai stories.

Leaving the trailer, the anime will closely follow the manga, but it’s clear what changes – if any – can be made. However, those excited about the release can enter to win a signed script! From March 14 to 21, fans can follow the official Dance Dance Danseur Twitter and retweet this post to enter to win!

What is the plot of Dance Dance Danseur?

Following Murao Junpei from an early age, Dance Dance Danseur manages to show how societal pressures often dictate what goals are acceptable for people – especially young men – to pursue. Junpei is fascinated with ballet after seeing a male performer, and despite his family’s subtle suggestions to choose a “more masculine” hobby, he is determined to improve his craft.

With the innate talent and dedication typical of sports anime heroes, Junpei excels at dance. However, he is confronted with what his ballet teacher warns, which is why boys usually quit ballet. No matter how much he stands up for himself, in front of his peers, he is a ‘dude in tights’.

Junpei is able to shake off the dissenters for some time. But after the death of his father, a martial arts enthusiast, he re-evaluates what a man means to him – even if it means shedding the things he loves.

But once in high school, everything changes when a crush on the beautiful Godai Miyako leads him back to the sport he thought he had left behind. A ballet dancer herself, Miyako is convinced Junpei has what it takes to join her family’s dance studio and perform a duet with her in an upcoming recital. Will Junpei be able to bridge the gap between what he wants and what he thinks is expected of him? Find out on April 9th!

How did director Munehisa Sakai use motion capture in the production of Dance Dance Danseur?

Dance Dance Danseur not only has a phenomenal voice cast with Daiki Yamashita (Izuku Midoriya), Kaede Hondo (Minamoto Sakura) and Kouki Uchiyama (Inumaki Toge) playing Junpei, Miyako and Mori Ruou respectively, but the ease character has a movement counterpart capturing of the Tokyo Ballet†

By using motion capture, the MAPPA animation team has done justice to the sport. As ballet soloist Shuntaro Ifuku, motion-capture actor of Junpei Murao, has said, dancers and few fans can be invested in the high-energy performance segments.

Dedicated to bringing ballet scenes and manga artist George Asakura’s shoujo-inspired art to life, Studio MAPPA was the perfect choice for this edit. And given previous projects the studio has worked on, Dance Dance Danseur is definitely in the running for one of the best spring 2022 anime.