Forbidden Dance

    (Tokyopop, 2003-2004)
™ and © 1998 HInako Ashihara
Graphic novel; Reads right to left; B&W

Fortunately, this has nothing to do with the lambada. It concerns a young dancer named Aya who regains her joy of dance by attempting to join an all-male dance troupe while facing all sorts of challenges and heartbreaks on the way to making her dream come true — and possibly win the heart of a certain troupe member.

If this sounds like a Disney Channel Original Movie, well, it’s because it does, though it’s clearly a step or two up from the old fashioned hearts-and-flowers romance manga. (There’s nary a doily-sized eye in sight.) Aya clearly has her priorities in order: personal expression first, boys second. Although somewhat exaggerated (it must be a cultural difference, but Aya accepts a level of abuse as a matter of course that most Americans would consider unacceptable), it remains real, never falling into the category of overheated melodrama.

— S.A. Bennett
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