Well, let’s not kid ourselves. A full dance-battle episode is a huge honking risk for Wandance at this stage. There’s no hiding here – every flaw is going to be revealed in all it’s ingloriousness. But this is a dance series – you can’t run away from it. As lovely as the character stuff is – and it is – ultimately Wandance is going to have to be able to pull off an episode like this if it’s going to succeed. Not in terms of pleasing manga readers – that ship has sailed. But as an artistic entity in its own right.
I’d previously resolved to try and avoid dwelling on this topic, but that’s basically impossible. The verdict for me is somewhat mixed. One thing I’ve noticed is that the Cyclone Graphics CGI works better when it’s hard-targeted on the dance moves themselves. Any reaction shots – woof. As always, CGI struggles with facial animation. And the slow movements of the combatant watching the other work are pretty bad too. But the actual moves are improving. I think it’s possible to see when the dancer is really killing it, and to get the gist of what they’re trying to communicate. Also, unsurprisingly but a bit tragicomically, the dance sequences look better on a character’s smartphone…
This whole battle thing (can I just say, I love that On wore a cap that says “off”) takes me into another area about which I know very little. “Hit”, “popping” – these are terms I’ve never heard in a dance context before (I know what break is, at least). But even I can see that this is a different art form and skillset from the show dancing stuff. Iori and On having a battle is fun, though I have to wonder why Iori thought he’d ever have a chance when the judges are a roomful of On fangirls. Not that On can’t do this style too – she’s been doing it longer than the stuff they normally do in the club. But battles are Iori’s specialty.
It’s certainly notable that two of the people who did vote for Iori were Wanda and On herself – and they’d probably know as well as anybody. Kabo chickened out at the last second and peer-pressure voted for On. On winning theoretically meant no dance battle entries for the club, and that Iori has to return to it (and stand for president after On graduates). And that he doesn’t get to date her. Was any of that really on the line? I have no idea but again, I suspect Iori knew he’d never win. Which implies that maybe be wanted to come back to the club anyway – and if so, Kabo is clearly the reason. And as such, Iori nominating Kabo to take on On (On on?) next makes perfect sense.
Iori’s only advice to Kabo? You can win if you believe you love dancing more than she does. Well, no – again, these “judges” worship On and she was always winning. But Kabo gives more than a good account of himself, not least when you consider he’s only been seriously dancing for three months as opposed to her ten years. Forgetting the audience is the key for him – stop trying to impress anybody and just feel the music. He gets so into it he doesn’t even notice who Wanda votes for. Or that she starts crying, so moved is she by what she’s seeing. Which to her eyes is the evolution of the dance partner she can reach any heights with.
Aside from that, another character from the OP finally makes an appearance. We first meet Kabe (Uchida Yuuma) – Kabo and Kabe, are we really going there? – being told off by an annoying customer at a supermarket where he works. We don’t learn much about Kabe here, but the fact that he knows Iori suggests he’s a regular on the battle circuit. And when he gets a look at Kabo on the aforementioned phone video, Kabe is juiced up at the idea of battling someone “so talented”. Those with trained eyes see something in Kabo, and have from the start. What’s really important is that he’s finally starting to see it in himself.
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