Hello! Welcome to my first post for OWLS! In case you want a quick glance on what OWLS is, you can click here. This month’s blog tour theme is “Mirrors”.

OWLS July Theme – Mirrors

“Magic mirror, on the wall—who is the fairest one of all?”

When we look in the mirror, what do we see? Do we see ourselves or someone we don’t want to be? For this month’s theme, we will be exploring some of our favourite anime and other pop culture mediums that redefine individual beauty—inside and out. Some topics we may explore are physical appearances, social expectations on gender, and the importance of self-confidence.

 

There is a young Japanese teenager who is troubled by his life choices. He is not a remarkable student nor someone who stands out in any sport so far in his life. He is just a normal average person who is confused. We all had that feeling at some point in our life, where we felt lost and didn’t know what to do with our life. Maybe you are still searching for an answer, a passionate feeling that can guide you towards a goal. Or maybe you already fulfilled the goal you set at the beginning and you are looking for a new horizon to tackle. As for this young Japanese lad, he is no exception. He only wants to find something that he can truly like, something that can make him brim with confidence and pride.

In the beginning, he was a short person with spiky hair like a brush. He had this slouchy posture which gave off the vibe of someone that can be ordered around and be bullied. Not far from it, he actually gets bullied. During his meeting with his counselor that was telling him off for being so indecisive with his life, his eyes met the gaze of a young lady who was also having trouble with her life career choices. Sadly, he was flustered and ran away.

Through a special meeting event, a special someone called Sengoku teaches him how to stand with the back straight up with relaxed shoulders, correcting his posture. When the young lad saw the changes in his posture, he saw a new perspective different from how he was used to see. Even though he was still lost and confused, he knew at that point that something was different. His appearance brimmed with confidence. He was starting to change.

Coincidentally, Sengoku manages a dance studio and invites the young lad to partake on a trial dance lesson. The young lad happily obliges and soon meets again the young lady he ran away from. The name of the lady is Shizuku. Knowing that Shizuku is not actually lost in her life and is pursuing a career wholeheartedly that does not meet common social standards towards success, he ran away again, embarrassed that he had compared his situation with hers.

Captura Blog

When he got home, he saw that the pretty sister from the dance studio left a CD in his bag with some dance recordings for him to watch. Curious about the CD, he took a quick glimpse of it. In the end, he watched the entire recordings and got hooked on competitive dancing.

The next day, he asked Sengoku to teach him how to dance. The young lad wanted to change and he wanted to become like Sengoku! He wanted to shine as bright as a diamond. He wants to go pro. From this moment onward, Sengoku became the mentor of the young lad, couching him and guiding him.

The young lad embraced the dance lessons, enjoying it. There were some difficult times where the learning curve was null due to learning technique, but everything worked out in the end.

tatara smiling

Through some mishaps, he got an opportunity to stand on stage unofficially. He was very nervous. Dancing in front of so many people is not an easy task. Thanks to the help of Shizuku and the effort he put on during practice, he overcame his predicament. Thinking back on how he was, who would have thought that he would become someone like this. Someone who can make things done when it counts.

At the end of this experience, he wished to stand on stage once again. He showed a somewhat average performance. The young lad knows that if he wants to fully enjoy the dance floor, he needs to embrace dancing and be passionate about it, so that one day he can stand again on stage and have fun.

tatara mirror
“Magic mirror, on the wall—who is the fairest one of all?”

Truthfully, real life is not that easy. It’s not everyday that we are presented with special meeting event that can change our life and be able to meet a good mentor. What we can do is live out the present and take in our hands every opportunity that comes our way and not let go of them.

Little changes to our life can make a difference. We can begin with our posture. Confidence can be born from it and grow with our actions. Be honest and sincere with your feelings so that you may have a confident spirit. Try everything in life and find that thing that can make you feel truly passionate about it, regardless of social standards. If you are passionate about it and have goodwill, life will reward you.

The young lad is living his life by dancing, and I truly am jealous of him. Now the young lad has to polish his skills so that he can stand in the same stage as his rivals, in the same stage like his mentor Sengoku, in the same stage as Shizuku.

I hope you view him as a role model to follow like how I do towards him.

tatara dancing

So, did the young lad change from how he was in the beginning? yes… but he is still short in height.

What’s the name of this Japanese teenager?

His name is Fujita Tatara and he once said: “I have to change!” and he is from “Ballroom e Youkoso” or “Welcome to the Ballroom”.

I hope you enjoyed my first OWLS blog post! If you missed the blog tour post before this one, which is Kat’s post, you can click here to check it out! Next month’s theme is going to be Bloodlines where we will be discussing on the importance of family relationship in anime and pop culture. Click here to see schedule for August blog tour. Please look forward to it.

Thanks for reading!