| Dragon Dance | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Akira Jotaro (aka Justice0) |
| Writer(s) | Akira Jotaro |
| Director(s) | Akira Jotaro |
| No. of episodes | 24 |
| Run time | 20-22 minutes |
Dragon Dance is an anime that was written, directed, and created by Akira Jotaro who also created the anime Swinging!, Strongest Under Heaven, and Sengoku High School.
The setting takes place in a city named Tatakyo, also known as, the City of Fights. The story is about a young girl who learns martial arts to join the city's annual fighting tournaments in order to make her family restaurant famous.
Plot[]
Ryuuko Odori is a young 14 year-old girl who loves martial arts and ramen, this is because of her father, Karyuu, who was a participant of the Tatakyo Fighting Tournament and a ramen shop owner. One day as Ryuuko was walking home from school with her friends, Ayaka and Hitomi, they notice strange men walking out of her family's ramen shop who then taped a sign to the window that said "To be closed by Jindai Co". When the strange men left, Ryuuko's father tore up the sign as Ryuuko and her friends got to the shop and then found out that the Odori Ramen Shop was going to be shut down by the Jindai Company, a company that is known for closing down many small family owned businesses to make room for more of their company businesses. The next day, Karyuu and Ryuuko both went to the Jindai Company HQ to meet with the President of Jindai Co, Hayato Jindai, to negotiate about the closing of the Odori Ramen Shop, but they could not settle upon anb agreement until Ryuuko pointed out the Tatakyo Fighting Tournament, where the winner would get to take the ramen shop. When the next day came, Ryuuko told her father to prepare for the tournament but then learns that he can't because of his injured leg, and she later left in disappointment only to later bump into a boy named, Yatora Sentou, who told her about a dojo that he was going to. Once they were at the dojo, Ryuuko was amazed at it and immidiately wanted to become a student, which she did due to the lack of students. As Ryuuko begins her training for the Tatakyo Fighting Tournament at the dojo known as the Shinra Dojo, she is taught four different martial arts, she grows a closer bond to Yatora, and they then later both join in the Tatakyo Fighting Tournament to fight for the ramen shop.
Characters[]
Main Protagonists[]
Ryuuko Odori[]
- A 14 year-old martial arts fanatic who loves ramen enough to fight for it. She is an energetic girl who usually tries to stay positive, but she gets dramatic whenever she is sad and rages when she is angry. She joined the Shinra Dojo to learn martial arts in place of her father for the Tatakyo Fighting Tournament and masters all three of their styles during the tournament; she is taught Judo, Jeet Kune Do, Tae Kwon Do, and Muay Thai. During the tournament, she was nicknamed "Twin Tail Dragon". Her name means "Dancing Dragon Kid" in English. She is voiced by Yui Horie.
Yatora Sentou[]
- A 15 year-old martial arts practitioner who is very skilled in fighting. He is the best of the few disciples of the Shinra Dojo and he is also the nephew of the Dojo Master. He is often times an airhead despite his skills and discipline and would sometimes spaceout or forget what he is doing when he isn't training or fighting. His name means "Fighting Wild Tiger" in English. He is voiced by Satoshi Hino.
Main Antagonists[]
Hayato Jindai[]
- The 48 year-old President of Jindai Co and a fan of the Tatakyo Fighting Tournament. He is a short but, high standing man who is very arrogant and very dependant on his hired help to do most of his work. He has little to no combat skills but, ironically, he sponsors a famous karate dojo which he sometimes shows off his "karate skills" in. He is voiced by Unsho Ishizuka.
Greg Dockings[]
- A 32 year-old hired martial artist from England who works for Jindai. He is a professional kickboxer and an international karate champion who loves a good fight and will always go all out whenever he fights. He speaks perfect Japanese because he was born and raised in Japan even though he is British. He is voiced by Kazuya Nakai.
Others[]
Shinra Dojo[]
- Kamimaru Shinra - The head master of the Shinra Dojo and uncle of Yatora. Despite being 39 years-old, he looks as if he's still in his mid-20s, which was one of the reasons why his wife married him. He is a master at judo, medicine, art, and acupuncture; he also founded the Shinra Dojo after he defeated the first Dojo Master when he was 18 years-old. He is a calm and easygoing man who is very positive, but he is very skillful when training or fighting. He is voiced by Jurota Kojugi.
- Tenko Shinra - The 26 year-old wife of Kamimaru and Yatora's father's younger sister. She is very attractive but somewhat dimwitted, not knowing much that happens but assumes that they are positive things, this is what many people love but also hate about her. She never suspects her husband of cheating even when he did once, but due to her innocence, Kamimaru went back to her a day after he cheated on her. She is voiced by Rie Tanaka.
- Sou Rokutetsu - A 28 year-old Chinese Jeet Kune Do master who was rumored to be the former student of Brett Wei (a Bruce Lee parody), a famous Hong Kong action movie star, who had surpassed his master's skills. He is the second master of the Shinra Dojo and the Jeet Kune Do teacher. According to Kamimaru, they met each other when he was lost somewhere in Japan and had stayed at Kamimaru's dojo eversince. He does not know how to speak a lot of Japanese but, when he does, he speaks with an Kansai dialect for reasons unknown. He is voiced by Shin-ichiro Miki.
- Kazuko Satake - The 22 year-old Tae Kwon Do master of the Shinra Dojo. Though she is Japanese, she had studied various martial arts but only managed to master the Korean fighting style of Tae Kwon Do. She is a young woman with expressionless eyes who doesn't understand jokes and sarcasm but laughs whenever she sees something she finds funny. She had joined the Shinra Dojo as a master because she wanted to repay a debt to Kamimaru, which was giving her extra money when she was low on cash, but since she has no money, she lives off Kamimaru's hospitality. She appears to have a lolicon fetish and sees girls ages 14 and younger, including Ryuuko, as lolitas. She is voiced by Minori Chihara.
- Aroon Chanarong - A foreigner from Thailand who lives in the Shinra Dojo for unknown reasons. His age is unknown, but it is speculated that he may be in his early 20s because of his behavior. He is a Muay Thai master and a teacher of the Shinra Dojo who is extremely skilled in fighting. He is a tall and muscular man who knows how to control his muscles, being able to shrink or grow them as he wills it; he mainly stays in a slim but muscular shape. Despite his tough looks and powerful skills, he is actually very childish. He is voiced by Mitsuki Saiga.
Trivia[]
- Ryuuko Odori makes an appearance in the game Strongest Under Heaven 5 as an official character; in the game, she is 18 years old
- Dragon Dance is set in the same setting and world as the Strongest Under Heaven series