Manga-- Forbidden Dance

I have another ballet manga! After this, I'm planning on a Top-10 list for ballet exercises and perhaps some ballet tips I found very useful in my first couple months taking ballet. Though I understand the latter is like the blind leading the blind, I do think I have some tips that could help the basic beginner. So anyway, back on target, this is a brief look at the manga series called Forbidden Dance.

Forbidden Dance is a series with four volumes. You can read a fan scanlation online here. This series is a bit old; released in 1998.

The story is about the best dancer in her ballet school named Aya. During a competition performance of Giselle's solo, she trips and sprains her ankle. Though she recovers, she is now terrified to dance. It's not until she watches an all-male ballet troop with an impressive male dancer that she wants to try again, but she just doesn't want to dance in her ballet class, she wants to dance with the all-male troop, regardless of her own gender.

 

This impressive male dancer is named Akira. And he's sort of a douche-bag. He's tough, but he knows his dance. Despite his poor first-impression, Aya still wants to dance with him one day on stage. even though it's an all-male troop, offers her a deal. He tells her that if she can win first place in a national audition, she can join his group. 

Aya knows that it was in this very competition that she fell last year but wants to join the group so badly that she is willing to confront her fears. She practices with all she has in order to be up-to-par with the rest of the girls in the competition.

*spoilers ahead*

Of course, there are more complications than just overcoming her fear during the competitions. First, there is the highly-critical judge. Second is her high-strung rival. Lastly is the unsuspecting peer of Aya's, Nachan. The rival tosses insults and could jeopardize Aya's chance of winning first, but the friend of Aya's proves even more troublesome. Nachan actually sabotages her dance shoes so her feet get cut right before performing! Harsh. 

The judge is no easier. He is a British ballet instructor brought in for the competition. Though the crowd loved her early performances during the preliminaries, he criticized her dancing as unrefined. Now Aya must quickly learn what she needs to do to change her performance, or she'll risk a zero from this particular judge.

Ayais lucky enough to find the judge in the lobby. She asks him about what she did wrong and he tells her that she lacks the stability and attention to detail that mark the very purpose of ballet. Though she did many tricks, it needs more fine-tuning. Aya won't let this stop her, and borrows a video of a British dancer named Diana. She realizes that what she's lacking that Diana has is poise and working every inch of her body--right down to her fingertips. Though the finals are drawing near, she practices so she can perfect her solo from Giselle.


But that friend, Nachan, is back again. This time, when Nachan doesn't make the finals like Aya, she threatens to kill herself if Aya doesn't step down from the competition. Luckily, Akira, the troop leader, is able to calm the girl down so Aya can perform. Thanks to all of the work Aya put into fine-tuning her dance, she is able to win first place and is now aloud to join the dance troop.

Aya joins the troop but has to work extra hard to keep up with everyone. It seems that no matter what she does, she's always behind. Add to her insecurities a rival dancer, and you've got major problems in both the personal and business fields. Aya has started to fall for Akira at this point, and though she's confident in herself, the dancer to enter the scene is the very same British dancer she looked to for form correction, Diana. 

 

But Diana has her own problems. During a performance of Swan Lake, Aya notices that Diana's ankle is bothering her. She runs behind scenes to talk to Diana about it, but she refuses Aya to tell anyone, convinced that such a reveal would ruin her career. Aya knows she can't dance the Black Swan on her bad ankle, so offers to dance the Black Swan for her. How they could swap a 100% Japanese girl for a 100% British girl and have NO ONE backstage notice is beyond me (they do notice during the performance, but only by her dancing).




But Aya is able to hold her own and perform the moves that she knew Diana wouldn't be able to do if she wants to finish the ballet. Thanks to Aya taking over, Diana is able to finish up the last act easily.

 This helps Diana and Aya sort of make peace, but it by no means helps end all problems. Diana collapses at the end of the performance and must be taken to the doctor. They are unsure if she'll be able to dance again, which greatly upsets Diana. Akira is revealed to have gone to the same ballet school as Diana when they were younger, and apparently, were quite close. Aya learns this information and becomes jealous again of all the attention he gives to her.

Still, Aya doesn't let this interrupt her work. She continues to practice hard to be able to keep up with the senior members, but it's still not enough. When Akira tries to get a sponsor for the group, the sponsor says he'll support the troop if Aya sits out. This angers her, but she doesn't let this get her down. She's convinced that if she practices enough, she'll be let on stage.

Remember to read right to left!

The groups also practices hard, but Akira must leave for a while to help return Diana back to Britain. This puts the entire group on edge since he's the star performance, but Aya also sees an opportunity. If Akira can't dance, she will take his place. She cuts her hair to blend in more with the boys and starts practicing more than ever.

Luckily Diana returns home safely. Her ankle is looking better and she may even be able to dance on it. The troop's show starts, but Akira barely has time to make it home in time. Aya must take the stage in his place for the time being. She dances, unbeknown to the audience and sponsor, but the crowd is getting anxious--they came to see Akira dance, but he isn't there.

 Akira arrives back just in time for the ending of the show. Aya and Akira admit their feelings for each other as Akira goes on to perform. When he steps off, he takes Aya back out with him and they dance a routine they had been practicing together. Though the sponsor isn't pleased, he admits that they worked well together. The troop will have money to keep performing and looks to have a promising future.

*end spoilers*

This was actually a really well-written, well-paced manga. Though I felt the romance was weak, I did understand a bit why she admired Akira so much. He did redeem himself in his own way, but was still kind of a douch-bag in comparison to some of the other dancers in the troop. Diana's character was a bit snoobish, but you really understood the pain she went through when she realized she might not be able to dance ever again. Aya's character was definitely the best--a strong-minded, confident woman who never gives up on her dreams and is not afraid to confront her fears. She knows what she wants and isn't afraid to work her butt off for that chance. She was a great female protagonist that I wouldn't mind having little girls look up to as a role-model.

The art was pretty good, but I'm sure you can tell from some of the scans I posted that the anatomy is bizarre. I'm not quite sure if that was creative freedom or what, but if you look, for example, at the scene where Diana injures her ankle, her hand engulfs her ankle. I doubt anyone could really do that, no matter how small your ankles. There were other bizarre mistakes, too, but it wasn't too bad overall.

Though the ballet was pretty accurate, I did notice (and this could actually be a translation error) that the acts of Swan Lake were off. The graphic novel says that the Black Swan comes out in Act 2, but she doesn't come out until Act 3. So some slight errors there, but nothing detrimental to the story.

Overall, this was a very nice story that I'm glad I read. I loved the leading lady and I loved the ballet! Very good and I highly recommend giving it a shot if you're interested.

Review-- Dance, Subaru!

Time for another ballet movie! This one is a Japanese film called Dance, Subaru! It's based off a manga by the same name. I haven't read the original manga, so I can't compare this film to its original source, but I'll do what I can! Unfortunately, since it is Japanese, I had to watch this on Youtube. You can find it up on Youtube with subtitles, but the quality is really poor. What this means is that I won't have great screencaps for you guys to enjoy this time around, sadly.

Story:

The story is about a young girl named Subaru. She and her twin brother love to dance. After sneaking a peek into a dance studio's rehearsal for Swan Lake, they promise each other to become great dancers one day. But unfortunately for her brother, that is never to happen since he develops brain cancer at a very young age. The tumor causes him to forget memories, but Subaru's dancing allows him to remember her even just for a bit.

A sad day comes when her brother doesn't survive his cancer and dies. Subaru is devastated and wanders away during the funeral. She comes across a brightly lit building that calls itself the "Palais Garnier." She enters the building and finds a small dance company. It's hardly professional and tends to specialize more in humorous ballet and stripping than classical ballet, but Subaru finds herself a niche there with the workers.

Years go by and Subaru is working at the Palais Garnier as a dancer. She dances only during select times during the day/week since she is still in high school and the owner doesn't want her working as a stripper. As she is performing, an American named Liz Park takes note of Subaru's dancing. Liz senses a rival and presses Subaru forward a bit in order to strengthen her dancing. 

Subaru and her childhood friend, Mana

Liz isn't the only one, a childhood friend of Subaru's, also a dancer, named Mana, pushes Subaru to audition for a ballet company. When Subaru is accepted into the company, new paths are open for her. She gets a part in Swan Lake and decides to enter a ballet competition. This is where her story really begins.

The story wasn't bad. There were parts where I was really confused, but it wasn't too complicated or too simple. There was enough drama to keep me interested, and overall, it was paced really nicely.

Characters:

The characters, hmmm... I'm actually not quite sure how to go about this. The characters were fine. Subaru is a bit aloof and almost mysterious. She tends to keep to herself and will only show herself to those she really trusts. Her supporting characters are also admirable in their own ways. I found Liz particularly interesting. She purposely helps Subaru improve so she could have a rival. Interesting....

It's actually the actors that I'm more interested in. These scene-stealers are definitely the actress playing little Subaru, the actor playing little Subaru's brother, and the actress who plays Liz Park.

The kids playing the younger versions of Subaru and her brother are amazing. The amount of emotion the little girl can portray is really good for someone as young as her. Her little cat dance for the brother is also adorable. Their performance left me amazed.

Liz Park and Subaru Miyamoto

Liz Park's actress is also amazing. Why? For one, she's speaking Japanese and it's not her native language; she's Korean. Not only that, but her accent isn't too bad! Second, she learned ballet for this role. Granted, it's not amazing, but it's not bad either. Third, she's a model, not an actress. The fact that she can play a somewhat selfish, genius dancer is pretty amazing to me. I'm impressed and slightly gobsmacked because I can't learn Japanese as well as her in such a short amount of time. She worked really hard for this role, good for her!

Sets/Costumes:

Hmm, not much to say. The setting is in Japan, mostly in the Palais Garnier building. Then there's the dance studios and competition. The settings they pick work for the story. 

The costumes I can't really comment on either. They are either street clothes or their performance clothes. The tutus they wore for Swan Lake looked like your traditional tutus so there's not much to really say here.

Music:

Hmmm, music. I didn't really notice anything that amazed me, to be honest. Some classical music was used, like the Little Swans' song from Swan Lake and "Bolero." The other music didn't wow me.

Camera:

The camera was, actually, really good. There were some really nice shots that I wish I could show you guys, but the quality is so bad it ruins it. For instance, in the Palais Garnier, the owner was speaking in her office. A window opening to the stage below showed the dancers performing as the director spoke with an employee. I loved how they did that since it add depth to the scene.

Also, the editing for the dancing was really good. They did a nice job of matching up the scenes with previously performed moves; as well as transitioning from dancer to dancer during the competition scenes. Also, since the actors weren't professionals, the edits between the actors and their body doubles were really nicely shot. The seemingly effortless shots really made this worth watching.

Ballet Presence:

This entire movie is full of ballet. Though there is other drama, it centers itself around Subaru's dancing. Sadly, the dancer playing Subaru isn't a really good dancer, so her dancing scenes are limited, and those we do get you wish you didn't get. 

For instance, there's this scene where Liz and Subaru's pseudo-boyfriend take her to a hip-hop club to loosen up and learn how to dance with a group of people. The result is...painful. Instead of hip-hop, you get this. No joke.

So though ballet was present, it was mainly only passable with the lead. Everyone else did a really nice job otherwise.

Overall Enjoyment:

This movie was actually really well made. I do wish that there was more dancing and that the lead dancer could be a little better of a dancer, but the director clearly knows what he's doing and is incredibly talented. He knows how to get just the right shot and it pays off during the dance sequences. Despite all this, after seeing it once, I feel as if I've seen it all, really, so I probably wouldn't be willing to watch it a second time. 

Manga-- Mai Oriru Hana

More ballet manga! This time, it's a much better paced one-shot (sort of like the graphic novel equivalent of a short story). Again, this isn't serialized in the US, so you can read it for free here. The translators translated "Mai Oriru Hana" as "Glittering Steps Toward Tomorrow," but I think it's more like "The Dancing Flower Blooms" or something like that.

Anyway, the plot is really short, sweet, and to the point. It's about a girl named Yuuka who goes to a school cultural festival and sees a beautiful upperclassman dancing ballet. The upperclassman is named Misaki, and Yuuka is determined to become as good as her. Yuuka starts taking ballet classes and applies to the same high school as Misaki in order to become closer to her and attend the same ballet after-school club. Later in the year, the club announces they will be performing at the cultural festival and they will be holding auditions for Misaki's dance partner. Yuuka is determined to get the part and works very hard, despite her freshman status, in order to become Misaki's duet partner.

*spoilers ahead*

Yuuka auditions even though she is only a first year and there are many other dancers in the club better than her. Since she dances with passion, she is given the role. Together, her and Misaki practice for the festival. Misaki is hard on Yuuka in order to help her improve.Yuuka doesn't mind since she understands that though Misaki may seem icy on the outside, she dances with passion and prefers to hide her emotions.

When the festival begins, Yuuka gets nervous, but Misaki tells her that everyone gets a little nervous and helps her feel better before they perform. They take the stage together and perform beautifully, and Yuuka finally achieves her dream of dancing alongside Misaki at a cultural festival.

The art looks really similar to the artist who drew Full Moon o Sagashite. And the eyes are HUGE. And since this is a manga, that's saying something, but I loved the ballet scenes. Luckily there were many.  

This story has a much stronger focus on ballet than Le Masque.  The story, though very short, makes you admire the protagonist's determination and does a really nice job of having an interesting story. I almost wish this were longer, but since it's only a one-shot, I guess I can say I'm satisfied.

Manga-- Le Masque

I was fiddling around on the internet one day, trying to find ballet movies, when I came across a Japanese dance movie. The movie was Dance, Subaru! and was based on a Japanese manga (similar to a comic). When I was in junior high, I read lots of manga. When I think ballet manga, I think Princess Tutu or even a bit of Tokyo Mew Mew. So that got me wondering what other ballet manga was out there. So I looked it up and found quite a few series featuring ballet, but the one I first chose to read was one called Le Masque.

The series is not available/licensed in the United States. It only has two volumes with only a couple chapters each, so it's pretty short. This particular manga was released in 1994. As you can sort of guess from the title, this is a spin-off of The Phantom of the Opera. It's also mostly based on Andrew Lloyd Webber's stage version, not the original novel by Gaston Leroux.

The story (as in many manga I've read, unfortunately) feels like the writer just made it up as they went along. I've had better story games with my friends (you know the game, say three words and the next person continues the story by adding their three words). Seriously, it's so disjointed and convoluted. I'll do my best to summarize it, but I will say that I'll be less than complimentary.

*spoilers ahead*

A girl named Rina moves to a prestigious, art and drama school so that she can pursue a career in dancing. She moves in with her childhood friends, Ren and Yurij. The school is rumored to have a phantom that grants wishes, and it is also said that this phantom granted the wish of a singer, named Christine Daae, and made her a star.

The three friends are curious and go sneaking about to look for this ghost. Rina--if she does happen to find a wish-granting ghost--wants to ask the ghost to make her a ballet star. At first they find nothing, but Rina notices that her ribbon is missing. We see a cut of the Phantom tasting the "lost" ribbon or some bull like that.

Anyway, Rina wakes up and talks to some friends we won't ever see again after the first volume. They gossip about the Phantom. There's an attempt at character building with the friends. One's a non-conformist (she doesn't wear proper uniform! le gasp!), but seriously, what's the point. I'm not kidding when I say they magically disappear. After practice they gossip more about the Phantom and then hit the sack.

"This is no dream! This is really happening!"

Rina has this Roman Polanski dream sequence. I'm really confused. The Phantom summons her? There are lines blatantly stolen from ALW's POTO. The Phantom promises to teach her how to dance. But then she's in the mirror? Or her reflection starts moving on its own and it's confusing. Rina's confused. I'm confused. We're all confused. The Phantom pretty much kisses her the whole time and then......leaves.

The next day, her friends are worried about her since she's really tired. Why? Don't ask. All they did was kiss. Rina ponders if that really was the Phantom or just some strange dream. Meanwhile, we are introduced to the antagonist, Michel. Michel is a girl who is a wonderful dancer with blond hair. She's introduced early, but we don't see her for a long time. Hell, we don't even get her name yet, but here you go.

Rina is awake now? She goes to the mirror. The Phantom grabs her. They dance. They kiss. Then she's suddenly underground. The Phantom tells her his story, which has something to do with him slitting his wrists to gain the mask? He does this to seek revenge against somebody trying to take over the castle, the same one that the boarding school is now. He tells her his name is Lord Andrew. I'm saying this now because it gets damn right confusing later with the names and different Phantoms and.... something. IDK.

Why are their feet not on the same level?

Anyway, in return for making her a star, he demands blood. The mask he wears demands it. When she fights back, he tries to drag her into the mirror, but she is saved by her guy friend, Ren. The mirror shatters and Rina is safe again.

Meanwhile, the school goes on a break. Ren and Yurij say behind since Rina stays behind. Ren and Yurij have a penis envy fight and have some gay moments despite the fact they've been established as straight men. Well... for the most part. The penis envy battle goes too far when Ren threatens to break Yurij's fingers so he can't play the piano anymore. Rina intrudes and stops him, but then a nun comes and then everything is just magically all better. The nun also drops a hint that a door in the basement has been broken and warns them to be careful. For some reason, Yurij immediately connects this broken door to Rina and starts worrying about her safety.

Remember to read right to left. Click any picture for a larger image.

Suddenly we learn about this red moon mumbo-jumbo. Ren gets his period... I mean...turns into a werewolf... I mean... turns into a total ass apparently when it's his time of the month. Yurij and Ren still hit on each other and worry about each others' safety even though one just threatened to smash the other's fingers. Yurij also notices that Ren will slip out in the night and not come back until late. Gee... I wonder.

The next day, Rina meets Yurij in his piano practice room and confesses that she likes him. Ren overhears from outside the door and gets SUPER JEALOUS. But of who, I don't know. I totally thought him and Yurij were going to hook up at this point, but nope. Ren is jealous of Yurij because Ren likes Rina. They have another penis-envy battle and then the plot quickly moves along.

We learn from a random character that Ren has been going underground to meet with the Phantom, and that's where he's been going at night. Why? I don't know. But finally after learning Rina likes Yurij, he goes down there (again???) and wishes that he become Rina's Phantom and teach her how to dance....because he clearly has much more experience than her... So the Phantom, even though he expressed some interest in Rina earlier, thinks that's just fine and dandy and possesses Ren's body.

Hahaha, then, get this, Rina just gets kidnapped by some student at the school. Out of nowhere. The student brings her underground so the Phantom can sacrifice her. In return the student will get a wish granted, I guess. Unfortunately, Ren has just replaced the Phantom and doesn't exactly care to see Rina kidnapped and thrown on the cold floor. Ren slashes the guy's legs and permanently makes it so the student will never be able to dance again.

The next day, Rina awakes in her bed and cannot remember anything about the last night, but does remember that the Phantom gave her a black rose. The black rose can be used to summon him whenever she needs him.

HEY! Remember those friends from earlier? Yeah, they're still not here. Don't act surprised. Anyway, Michel makes the scene. She's pretty much just thrown on us and speaks to Rina like they are acquaintances. Michel is suspicious of Rina since she saw the kidnapper/student just before he was gruesomely injured. He told Michel that he was about to go on a date with Rina, and immediately afterward, he was injured. Michel, understandably, connects Rina to this...but then she brings up some legend about a Black-Haired Princess or something. Dear god this is when it gets really confusing.

So there are these two paintings the school has, but they've been hidden from the public as to not start an uproar or scare the students. One of the subjects is a woman with black hair, and the other is of the Phantom. Supposedly, black hair is rare in this area, and since Rina is half-Japanese, Michel jumps the gun and assumes she and this Black-Haired Princess are related. Whatever.

Rina gets upset from this encounter with Michel. Runs outside...blahblahblah. Wishes her Phantom would appear, using her black rose. They dance. Yay.

On the side, Michel does some digging and finds the paintings. She also finds the Phantom.... another one. This one has a black mask, which is, like, totally different!!!!!!!!! She makes a deal to find this new Phantom a body plus find the Black-Haired Princess. In return, she'll be turned into a boy since her father always wanted one and she wishes to please him. As Michel digs around for information, we find out that the Black-Haired Princess was apparently some sister of the Phantom (incest?) and was locked away. She's was also the twin of a blond-haired princess. Something about using her as sacrifice. Why lock her up though if you're just taking over the estate? Why is a sacrifice needed?

Somewhere in La-La Land, Ren/Phantom and Rina have a moment. It leads nowhere.

Then Michel starts telling Yurij that he is the Black Masked Phantom or something. Ends up he is, even though I feel like this black phantom just came out of nowhere. Nowhere...that's a word I've been using a lot, hasn't it? We also learn that the Black Phantom is related to the White Phantom in some way? I'm so confused; I'm not going to even bother anymore. There are two phantoms even though their personalities have changed and they now possess two boys.... oh god this is complicated.

I'm getting sick of this so let's wrap this up. If you've read this far, kudos to you. So Yurij ends up being this Black-Masked Phantom. Why? I DON'T KNOW. He's got the girl, so he shouldn't have to wish for her!!! Anyway, he and Ren/White Phantom duel. They stop fighting for a bit and agree to meet the next night to finish the fight.

Rina learns she's an incarnation of this princess?????? I don't know! She was supposed to be used as a sacrifice, but I think she was spared because she was pure of heart or something.

Next day, they duel. Rina is taken underground and used as a sacrifice. They stab her. Her blood becomes a sword. They start dueling again. The room starts to crumble. Ren brings Rina to safety, but the two phantoms die in the collapse.

The story ends with Rina forgetting everything that happened. She even forgets her friends and only has fragments of her memories with them. She decides to return to the castle to continue her career as a professional ballet dancer.

So... yeah. This wasn't bad. Oh who am I kidding... this was terrible. It was confusing and had a crap storyline. Ballet had little to nothing to do with it. I think it was only there so people wouldn't call it a retelling of POTO or something. Why did all the boys have to turn into Phantoms? What happened to the first one? If the first one liked Rina, then why did he let Ren have her? What's with this Black-Haired Princess deal? It doesn't even need to be in there! It's complex enough already!




If I haven't scared you off and you're still interested in this manga, you can't buy a translated version since this isn't serialized in the United States. Instead, you can download a fan translated version here.