Episode 3 – “What Does It Mean to Be Manly” – April 23, 2022
Episode Summary
Jumpei Murano cannot believe the reclusive Luou Mori has come to school. But to his even greater astonishment, Jumpei sees that Luou is forcing himself to attend despite clearly being miserable. Almost immediately, Luou becomes the target of bullying, and the perpetrators are Jumpei’s supposed friends.
Remembering the confidence when he saw his dancing, Jumpei can’t understand why Luou would put up such unrelenting harassment. But though he hates to see it, Jumpei turns a blind eye whenever a group corners Luou.
Jumpei tries to ask Miyako Kodai to convince Luou to stand up for himself. However, there is nothing Miyako can do since “Luou only has ballet.”
Eventually, the bullying reaches a peak when Luou is forced on stage in female clothing. But being on stage, Luou begins to dance, and Jumpei cannot help but be moved by his performance.
Not able to stand it anymore, Jumpei decides that he can no longer hide his love of ballet. He reveals his intentions to continue dancing to his friends, who turn their backs on him.
Episode Impressions
My god, seeing Luou struggle in class as he did, struck a chord.
Little known fact, I worked as an English teacher in Japan, and I can’t tell you how many students I have come across that have given me answers like that. It was unnerving, which, by the way, helped make this episode of Dance Dance Danseur the best so far.
Actually, there were many elements to this episode that allowed it to stand out. I defiantly would call how things turned out happy. On the contrary, this conclusion was rather bleak.
I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect this series to go down this route. Color me surprised in the best way possible.
