The anime adaptation for Tomo Takeuchi's "Ballroom e Youkoso" ("Welcome to the Ballroom") is revealed to premiere in summer. The series also revealed its main cast as well as another trailer streaming on March 22.
According to Anime News Network, the main cast was announced in the April issue of Kodansha's Monthly Shōnen Magazine. This includes Shimba Tsuchiya as Tatara Fujita, Toshiyuki Morikawa as Kaname Sengoku, Nobuhiko Okamoto as Kiyoharu Hyodo and Ayane Sakura as Shizuku Hanaoka.
"Welcome to the Ballroom" follows the story of Tatara Fujita. Tatara is an ordinary student who wants to find something he can be good at. One day, he is saved from bullies by a mysterious man Kaname Sengoku, who thought he was looking at a ballroom poster. Sengoku drags him to a ballroom studio to encourage him to join however, Sengoku isn't an average dance instructor. He is a pro at dancesport and holds several titles. Tatara gets pulled into the world of ballroom and starts dreaming of being a pro.
At the studio, he meets Shizuku Hanaoka, an amateur dancer who goes to the same school at him. Shizuku's partner was injured and he became her temporary partner. Entering high school, he meets a genius dancer, Kiyoharu Hyodo, who then becomes his partner. Together, they are about to change the history of dancesport.
The anime series is produced by Production I.G. Yoshimi Itazu ("Paranoia Agent," "Miss Hokusai") is the director and Kenichi Suemitsu ("K," "Tōken Ranbu") is in charge of the script. Meanwhile, Takahiro Kishida ("Haikyuu!!," "Puella Magi Madoka Magica") is doing the character design and Yuuki Hayashi ("My Hero Academia," "Robotics; Notes") is composing the music.
"Welcome to the Ballroom" started serialization in Monthly Shonen Magazine in 2011. The manga is currently in its ninth volume. Its eighth compiled volume was published in Kodansha in October 2015. The manga was ranked on Comic Natalie's and the Kono Manga ga Sugoi! guidebook's lists of best manga in 2013. It has also been nominated for 6th and 8th in Manga Taisho Awards.
