The Youth America Grand Prix preliminaries are done. Out of over 100 dancers, 20 were chosen to go to New York. The good news? Ema, Shoko, and Kanade made it in their division, along with a few others from their studio.
The bad news? Well, nothing but good news for Ema, as she got gold! Appears her commitment to dancing is starting to pay off. Kanade did medal in bronze — but her goal to attain the Royal Ballet School scholarship didn’t happen this time. This, however, brings up a new possibility for her and makes her question what kind of dancer she wants to become. Shoko, however, just ranked in the Top 12, which wouldn’t be bad except her rivals, and especially her most bitter one, Ema, ranked well ahead of her.
She’s got some reflecting to do…and her parents might help in that regard?
More on that and the parenting element in a bit. The big thing is this volume of The Magnificent Grand Scene spotlights Kanade’s reason for dancing. So far it’s been for fun! But, after Eugene, the one who did offer her a short-term scholarship to his school, asks her what type of dancer she wants to be, she begins wondering. While she admires Abigail Nichols, becoming just like her isn’t her aim. That’s why throughout this volume, from doing minor research and even asking Sakura about studying abroad (note: not surprisingly Kanade gets the usual toasty text from her about it!), she ponders this and even asks questions to inform her moving forward.
This leads her to stumble upon an embarrassing fact: despite enrolling in her class, doing the dances she’s taught, and after nine volumes of The Magnificent Grand Scene…she suddenly realizes she knows nothing of her teacher’s past. That’s right, Nobuko “Ludmila” Takimoto was a dancer in her own right! She knew that…and yet she didn’t know! For Kanade, when even her parents know what type of dancer Takimoto was, it really highlights her brain running full speed ahead but forgetting to store some cold-hard facts along the way.
But, while Kanade not knowing basic aspects of her teacher is hilarious, there are some things her teacher is keeping to herself. See, everyone knows of Takimoto as a dancer — that she’s French-Russian, danced at an early age, and accomplished enough to open up a studio. However, when trying to find any information online, there’s nothing of her dancing. That’s actually deliberate: Takimoto is trying to bury that part of her past. Whatever happened in her active years — she mentions she did suffer an injury — is missing. She thought she rid herself of everything from that period. But while looking to show Kanade a specific performance, she learns that performance is actually of her dancing. The VHS tape was possibly intentionally mislabeled as something else by her friends, and it means her past is still lurking around.
Which leads to the question of whether or not she’ll be willing to show it to Kanade. Kanade is determined to get better at dancing, and whether seeing Takimoto perform will help her in that is unknown. But it would seem helpful for Kanade to see it, if only for her to not rely on googling her teacher’s nickname and finding only pictures. But at this point, Takimoto’s past shook her enough to where she mentions while playing the VHS tape that she wouldn’t have opened her studio if she had seen it while reflecting on her career. In other words, Kanade and Takimoto will have to meet halfway on this at some point, and I’m curious to see how this manga will do it.
For a volume that doesn’t have any competitions in it, there’s still so much happening. The past few volumes have taken a secondary character, Ema, and bought her into the limelight super well. It’s done in a manner that affects Kanade and Shoko. Kanade certainly stresses out over her mistakes and competition, but still manages to compete and attempt to do well.
But as we all know, Shoko’s very frosty about Ema. Ema still can be lackadaisical with her words, but in reality, Shoko’s let that affect her enough. She ends up realizing this through an unexpected source: her father. Remember when he was vehemently against her competing in ballet, but once Shoko showed she was fully committed to dancing, he’s now thrown in his full support. This also leads him to question how she responds to seeing her rivals grow and push past her. Her answer was good! It really cuts into the classic rival but friends trope that litters shounen series and in all sports, and while her response shows support, it also shows her desire to win. The manga again highlights how important parenting plays in someone’s success, whether it’s this or Kanade’s parents wondering about funding and their girl’s future.
The Magnificent Grand Scene volume 9 manages to balance developing its cast while still introducing new ballet terms. Like the pas de deux! And how the men and women have to be well in sync (and have talent) to perform it. How Kanade and Sakura respond to this is certainly a study of talent for sure. Anyways, a lot does happen in this volume, and yet the thirst for more of it continues. Such a great series.