25 [Similar Anime] Like Welcome to the Ballroom

After witnessing remarkable performances of their respective role models both Tatara and Hinata take up hobbies they are inexperienced in and struggle to find their footing in a world of talented professionals and prodigies. Both series feature a lineup of loveable rivals as well as main characters blessed with a certain raw and natural talent on journies to become the best at their respective sports.

These two have very similar premises: Competing in a sport in which you are watched and judged based on your performance. Aesthetics, difficulty of moves, etc are all taken into account. They are both fun to watch, and unfortunately both sometimes suffer from too much of the same thing in the performances. Luckily, it's not too much of a hindrance, and if you enjoy one you will probably enjoy the other. Unless you only watched Yuri!! on Ice for the weird teacher x student "romance". You won't find that in Ballroom.

The two plots are about an underdog in his final year of high school who still doesn't know what to peruse after finishing. That is before he comes a cross a sports discipline he's gifted at.
While Hajime no Ippo focuses on boxing and the tone is more serious, Ballroom e Youkoso is about dancing and is more light hearted. With that said, both stories deliver a compelling story about a boy slowly finding his identity and excelling in what he's good at

If you like anime where someone who knows nothing and gets introduced to a new concept which is interesting to watch, give these shows a try.

Both have a musical sport as its basis and delve into relationships (though Ballroom has an overall lighter and grounded tone.) They have a light dreamy palette and amazing art styles. Both also have a reputation of being put-off by general viewership due to its perceived subject matter (one about being a pianist and one about being a dancer.)

These are two sports anime about fairly different sports but done in a somewhat similar way. They both lead up to a big event, and spend most of their time building up characters that have never done the sport before. In both of them, the protagonists (Run With the Wind is basically all protagonists) have never really done the sport before, and so we see them starting from zero and working their way up. Both are very motivating and fun to watch. I will say Run With the Wind is much better if you want to just watch people getting better at something, but Ballroom is better if you are looking for more drama.

The stories themselves aren't extremely similar, but the execution and emotions you feel are very similar in my opinion.

Both share the stylistic attributes of sports anime with competitions and battles on the floor/stage. Maya and Fujita start off not really knowing where their future is headed and then they discover something which they both throw themselves into wholeheartedly, pushing themselves to the limit. Fujita and Maya have both done crazy things and push themselves, and have been described as scary/different but intriguing by onlookers and having an instinct for their craft but lacking technical abilities.
The rival dynamic is also similar with Hyoudo/Ayumi being way above Fujita/May but they fight and gain the other's respect.
The interpersonal relationships in BeY is fantastic as well with the cast being fleshed out with backstorys that work to accentuate rather than detract from the dance plot.
Also, Masumi Hayami and Sengoku have the same Voice Actor :)

This shows focuses on being aspiring professionals on the realistic aspect of different industries and both protagonists starts from zero to hero and shows the progress and their determination on how they achieve their goals in the end

Similarities:
- MCs are newb to the sport and start out weak, but works hard to achieve goals
- Both MC's weakness can also be their strength, and share other similar talents

While the stories in these are quite different, they both give me a similar vibe. Very stylish and fun. Good character drama and progression, though I would say Kids on the Slope handles some of it's drama-focused plot points a bit better. They both put lots of detail into what the characters are performing (jazz or ballroom dancing).

The two sport stories are similar in plot, where the main character finds a passion and dedicates himself to change. Additionally, the main characters in each story are inspired to take up their respective sports by a girl at first, but begin to truly love what they do near the end. Ironically, the top rival is named Hyoudou in both anime.

You can feel similar vibes when they dance or play basketball. Their aura changes, they get into their zone or dancing highs and their performance increases big time. And both have some "bad ass" characters.

If you were a fan of DIVE!!, try out Welcome to the Ballroom, both have the basic appeal of a sports anime, but while DIVE!! stays at those basics, Welcome to the Ballroom goes above and beyond. In short, Welcome to the Ballroom is the better version of DIVE!! (in the season they both aired in).

Two sports anime focused on characters competing in events that use small teams (4 person relays and 2 person dance pairs). They focus heavily on that group dynamic, and how all members of these small teams need to be in their best condition for the team to do well. Good character drama and well animated sporting action.

Series exploring a professional career with details. The characters are faced with obstacles that they have to overcome.

Well, we are all aware that Tatara or any other character in Ballroom e Youkoso does not have a harem. However, the similiraties in the anime is that the two protagonist find something in which they get suddenly appasionate even though they do not nothing

The protagonist goes through a life changing experience comes through a rare chance.

Series exploring a professional career with details. The characters are faced with obstacles that they have to overcome.

Each anime starts with the MC trying to get better at something they love to do. All of the characters in both the animes are sort of similar in some way, like in competitiveness. Each one deals with a competitive sport/ thing: volleyball and ballroom dancing, and both MCs have someone to look up to, in Haikyuu, it's the Little Giant, and in Ballroom e Youkoso, it's Sengoku. Overall, there're really a lot of similarities, despite the huge difference in the topics of the two anime.

The protagonist are professional and want to win. Also, they are shounen and comedy

They are both excellent coming of age slice of life.
Ballroom has an MC who starts off not knowing how to do ballroom and Tsuritama has an MC who starts off not knowing how to fish.
At certain instances, both have intense moments e.g. Ballroom during competitions and Tsuritama during fishing and especially towards the latter episodes.
They are not exactly the same but the underlying theme surrounding these two animes are closely similar. Both are fun to watch and can be cute (depending on the type of person watching).
Last but not least, THE COMEDY is BRILLIANT.
*cough cough* Sengoku *cough* *cough* DUCK

Both Tatara and Eijun Sawamura are guys with natural talent but they are also hard workers. Also both of them don't know their full potential and they will be living in the dark if they don't meet people that will later help develop and bring full potential of Tatara and Eijun to life.

Both anime have great animation and catchy story. I find most similarities where characters are competing with each other to get their wanted partner. Some guys are annoying goofs, while others are quite kind and care for the girl.

Kaleido Star has a similar theme at base to Ballroom e Youkoso, and that's dance, passion, strength, and performance.