I simply adored this book, it was so lovely. Kanade is such a sweet kid with a big heart and a big passion, I want to protect her till the end of the time. I love how she starts dancing because she was idolizing her neighbor, Risa, but they ended up helping each other, girls supporting each other, this is what I'm here for. The art was so soft to look at it really went so good with the story. I can't wait to read the rest of this story and know what'll happen next.

(Can you believe this book made me wanna dance ballet again, and i absolutely hated my classes?)

Kanade is a young girl when she sees her neighbor, Risa, dancing in the ballet, and begs her parents for ballet lessons. Kanade quickly learns that learns ballet means hard work, determination, and sometimes disappointment. With Risa's help, Kanade is encouraged to stay dedicated to ballet, and she uses her intense observation skills to learn from the dancers around her.
Later with two years of dancing experience, she longs to be allowed to wear pointe shoes, but is told she is still too young. Despite the drama surrounding the other students, Kanade finds her own inspiration and her own center as she prepares for her big recital.

I LOVED the beautiful artwork in this manga! The graceful dance poses, and lovely costumes make this a pleasure to read, and I found myself pausing on several pages just to enjoy the gorgeous illustrations.

The story is wonderful; all about finding your inspiration in your art, learning to deal with disappointment, reaching out to others and encouraging them, even if it means they might surpass you and claim that coveted solo part.

Kanade is a delightful character who goes through a lot of change and development through this first volume. She is spunky and funny and fierce. She is a perfectionist, and can get discouraged easily at times, but her friends encourage her to keep working hard to perfect her dancing, and she develops the skills she needs to be a great dancer. Through it all, she finds JOY in dancing, and it's infectious! She inspires other dancers with her pure love of movement, and captures the hearts of her audience. Just like this manga captures the hearts of its readers!

Disclaimer: I received an ecopy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts and are not influenced by anyone.

The story begins with Kanade watching her neighbour Risa’s enchanting performance on stage. Soon after she kicks up a fuss by pleading her parents to let her attend ballet classes. Two months in, she is frustrated and has a breakdown of sorts. Her class teacher decides to let her watch the advance class where Risa is in.

This book feels like it doesn’t take detours. all about the ups and downs in the world of ballet and it’s as good as it gets. Does bear some similarities to the long-time classic ‘Glass Mask’ in this aspect. What a refreshing read!

I knew nothing about ballet when I started reading so it was confusing. It took some effort to make sense of what was going on by looking at the panels more carefully. One particular downside is that the ballet vocab in French isn’t italicised.