Review: WELCOME TO THE BALLROOM

Now that we can get actual sports manga over here, publishers feel more confident about picking sports manga with less-conventional sports as their subject.  We've already covered most of the big ones: basketball, volleyball, tennis, etc.  So why shouldn't someone try to turn competitive dance into a sport?

WELCOME TO THE BALLROOM (Ballroom o Yokoso), by Tomo Takeuchi.  First published in 2011 and first published in North America in 2016.

PLOT:

Tataru Fujita has no real goals...or ambitions...or skills...or anything of note, really.  That all changes the day he's strongarmed into a local ballroom dance studio.  There, his eyes are open to the thrill and power of both the dancing and the dancers, and in particular to a cute classmate who happens to be one of the best dancers there.  Tataru is slow to learn, but his newfound skills are put to the test when his studio's best dancer goes AWOL during a competition.