With a sprained ankle, Kanade can only watch as Shoko and Ema perform on stage. However, thanks to Risa she discovers that even while hurt, there’s still much she can learn. But while Kanade’s enthusiasm begins to rise again because of that, Shoko’s abruptly comes down — not even days after the show, she doesn’t show up to practice. What is going on, and can Kanade somehow help?
This volume of The Magnificent Grand Scene again circles back to an athlete’s mentality, but this time it’s injury-wise. Kanade suffered a mild sprain, so healing isn’t an issue — but mentally bouncing back from it is. And in her case, this ends up knocking her out of a show. So for Kanade, recovering from being unable to practice, missing the show, and watching her friends/rivals instead is her newest challenge. How do you deal with that? By still training!
Of course, it’s not just training physically — but in other areas. You’ll find plenty of stories of athletes having mentors and picking the brains of others to improve their skills. One particular skill Kanade ends up gaining is learning history, and she gets that from Risa. Understanding a particular dance, where it came from, all of that can help gain an edge. For Kanade, it’s not something she thought too much of until now, and with her injury, she found a way to get better even when not actually dancing. You never actually wish injury can help you become better at your craft, though for some that’s likely true. Instead, slowing down and understanding aspects beyond just moving your body can also make you better at what you do.
While Kanade studying history is a plot point, one subplot in volume 4 is front and center now: Shoko’s schedule. On top of her lessons she’s expected to maintain consistently high scores in school — while also taking English classes. This comes to a head where she slips in her grades. The grades are actually reasonable, but for father that’s not enough, and he forbids her from attending lessons. How does Shoko respond? By not going to school either! What’s the story between these two?
There’s a lot to like about The Magnificent Grand Scene, and consistency is one of them. Parenting has always been a major thing in this manga — in volume 2 we saw how Kanade’s parents met her halfway in support of her doing ballet; we also saw in that volume and volume 3 Sakura and how her mom’s rigorous lessons impacted her growth. For this one, Shoko has to convince someone that was essentially her — a former athlete (weightlifter) who understands the type of commitment and sacrifice needed to be at a world-class level — that’s she serious about ballet. It does take two to tango though, as each have their own biases and flaws that impact how they can resolve where Shoko can go next. Though an assist from her mom might prove to be the key.
The other theme is the general one — you can’t do everything alone. And The Magnificent Grande Scene volume 5 basically beats you over the head with it. No seriously, both Shoko and Kanade have to do a routine together! But as always, everything flows terrifically. Unfortunately, Ema’s backstory and issue was resolved fairly quickly. I did want to see more of her on the stage since she still has some questionable habits, but she’ll likely be back in future volumes. For now, just seeing how Kanade and Shoko react to what happens at the end of this volume is worth looking forward to.