Welcome to the Ballroom 1×02 Review: Kiyoharu Hyodo

This week on Welcome to the Ballroom, we got to see a competition (sort of), learned Tatara’s sports anime specific skill, and met the infamous Hyodo Kiyoharu.

Hyodo Kiyoharu is one of my favorite characters in the manga, so I was really excited to meet him in the anime. I was not disappointed. Something about his angry yawning really speaks to me, plus I love his voice actor (Okamoto Nobuhiko, aka Nishinoya on Haikyuu). Okamoto did a fantatsic job of conveying disinterest, yet Hyodo is obviously a very passionate dancer. It’s such a great contrast.

The scene between Hyodo and Tatara at the end was exceptional. I was a little upset that they cut the dancing in the competition so short – skipping the tango sequence completely and leaving the dancing to a few still panels instead of animation – but they made up for it with Hyodo’s shadow dancing at the end. If subsequent competitions are this well done, I imagine I’ll not have any complaints. On the other hand, I think they cut away too soon to show that Tatara’s declaration that he would also do his best lights some sort of competitive spirit in Hyodo. Either way, their dynamic is one of my favorites, and I think it was quite well done in this episode.

Speaking of, in this episode we learn Tatara’s sports-anime-special-skill, and in this case he’s a very visual learner. Sengoku quickly realized that having someone shout the instructions at him wasn’t doing him any favors, but he’s able to mimic the movements if he simply watches someone doing them. He does a fine job of copying Hyodo until he completely wipes out.

Honestly, I could have done without Banba’s gratuitous boob jiggle and the completely unnecessary changing room scene, and I can’t wait until the other ladies get introduced, but this was a fairly solid second episode after a pretty decent premiere, so overall I’m pleased with this adaptation so far.

Are you guys watching Welcome to the Ballroom? What did you think of this week’s episode?

Author: Jamie Sugah

Jamie has a BA in English with a focus in creative writing from The Ohio State University. She self-published her first novel, The Perils of Long Hair on a Windy Day, which is available through Amazon. She is currently an archivist and lives in New York City with her demon ninja vampire cat. She covers television, books, movies, anime, and conventions in the NYC area.

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