Welcome to the Ballroom (Japanese: ボールルームへようこそ, Hepburn: Bōrurūmu e Yōkoso) is a Japanese manga series created by Tomo Takeuchi. The story follows a young Japanese man named Tatara Fujita, who, after a random meeting, enters the world of competitive dancing. An anime version of the series, produced by Production I.G, aired from July to December 2017. In North America, the manga has been made available in English by Kodansha Comics.
Plot
Third-year middle school student Tatara Fujita does not have clear plans for his future or specific dreams, but he is trying to find something he can dedicate his life to. He is being bullied and extorted, and he is saved from delinquents by a man named Kaname Sengoku, who is a motorcycle-riding dance instructor. Tatara is enrolled in the Ogasawara Dance Studio, where he is taught the basics of dancesport.
Media
"Welcome to the Ballroom" is a manga written and illustrated by Tomo Takeuchi. The series first appeared in Kodansha's Monthly Shōnen Magazine in the December 2011 issue, which was published on November 5, 2011. The manga was not published for a time in February 2016 because the author had health problems, but it returned in the February 2017 issue. It was not published again for two months in December 2017 due to the author's health, but it did not return as expected. It was planned to return in April 2018, but the author's health issues continued, and the manga remained on hold until more information was available. On May 13, 2019, it was announced that Takeuchi would resume working on the manga. Later, in the July 2019 issue of Monthly Shōnen Magazine, it was confirmed that the series would return on July 5, 2019. In the February 2020 issue of the magazine, published on January 6, 2020, it was announced that the series would be on an indefinite break because the author's health continued to worsen. The manga later returned in the August 2020 issue of the magazine, published in July 2020, but took a one-month break in the November 2020 issue, published in October 2020, due to the setup of a new system and the replacement of assistants.
In March 2016, Kodansha Comics announced the English-language release of the manga.
In the February 2017 issue of Monthly Shōnen Magazine, it was announced that the series would be adapted into an anime television series. The anime is directed by Yoshimi Itazu and written by Kenichi Suemitsu. Production I.G created the animation, Takahiro Kishida designed the characters, and Yuki Hayashi composed the music. Tetsuya Kinoshita produced the anime. The series had its first showing at the 2017 Anime Expo on July 2, 2017, and later premiered on MBS and other channels on July 8, 2017. For episodes 1–11, the opening theme song was "10% Roll, 10% Romance" by Unison Square Garden (originally "Chandelier Waltz"), and the ending theme song was "Maybe the Next Waltz" by Mikako Komatsu. From episode 12 onward, the opening theme song was "Invisible Sensation" by Unison Square Garden, and the ending theme song was "Swing Heart Direction" by Mikako Komatsu. Amazon began streaming the anime series on their Anime Strike service in the United States and on Amazon Video worldwide one day before the first episode aired in Japan. Each new episode was made available as soon as it aired in Japan. The series included 24 episodes. Anime Limited announced that they had acquired the rights to release the series in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Reception
Welcome to the Ballroom was nominated for the 6th Manga Taishō. The series was placed ninth in the 2013 Kono Manga ga Sugoi! Top 20 Manga for Male Readers survey. It was ranked seventh in the Zenkoku Shotenin ga Eranda Osusume Comic 2013, a 2013 list of the top 15 manga recommended by Japanese bookstores. The series was also nominated for the 8th Manga Taishō. Volume 4 sold 53,892 copies during the week of April 14 to 20, 2013.