After ten episodes, I can definitely state that the whole thing with the dance sequences is clear as a bell to me. The dancers themselves – in isolation – are fine. Sometimes really good, even. It’s when we have to look at anybody else that we have a problem. As such I try to laser focus on the dancers themselves, though the shot composition sometimes makes that pretty difficult. If it could all look like the ED we’d be happy as pigs in slop, but it doesn’t. So there’s no choice but to make the best of it.
And that’s definitely something worth doing, because the rest of Wandance is totally working for me. Even the dancing, which – irrespective of the animation – was not an element of the series that much interested me going in. As so often happens with anime I’m getting drawn into the minutiae of it (as with karuta, or ballet). You can geek out over anything, and since I’m a geek at heart that appeals to me. And the fact is, as long as it’s well-written it’s fun watching young kids be wildly enthusiastic about something. Dance included.
It’s dance battle time. The dance battle inter-high, basically (and who know such a thing existed). It takes place in a club, with a DJ and three judges. One of them is Assay, who we already know of course, and Iori expresses confidence in the wisdom of all three. It’s worth remembering that Iori is the only one of the core four with real battle experience. Wanda and Kabo are rookies generally and while I’d guess On has danced a few battles, Iori has made it clear that’s not really her scene. The competitors are divided into four blocks, each of whom will form a cypher (woo-hoo, new vocab). The judges will choose four from every block to move on to the finals, which are match-play (where if neither dance wants to go first, it’s decided by “spin the bottle”).
Confession time: I’m developing a bit of a man-crush on Iori. He’s such a cool cat – great character design, for starters. He’s got an awesome laid-back warm personality, and has turned into a spectacularly good mentor for Kabo. But – and the importance of this can’t be overstated – he’s also the most interesting dancer of the bunch for me. Kabe is incredibly athletic, Kabo has a barely-controlled manic energy, Wanda is pure Vogue Femme virtuosity, On is cheeky and whimsical. But there’s just something about the way Iori moves – I’m a neophyte so I can’t articulate it well, but he’s very liquid. He flows better than anyone else in the cast. somehow.
It’s no surprise that On and Iori (and Kabe) breeze through their blocks. Wanda, too – she’s already proven these moments aren’t too big for her, newbie or no. But for Kabo things don’t go smoothly. He gets thrown when he and another dancer (Wanda will later get Kabo’s revenge for him) step into the circle at the same time. He forgets to listen to the song, and has no feel for the beat when his turn does come. His turn is pretty much a debacle, and he doesn’t get the coveted pat on the shoulder. To rub salt in the wound when Usen, the kid from a rival school who complimented him at the group dance contest, tries to strike up a conversation with Kabo he totally freezes. And doesn’t even have his phone with the “stutter card” lock screen.
Fortunately for Kabo, there’s a “comeback round” – a kind of loser’s bracket where anyone who was cut can enter a last-chance cypher with one more spot available. Iori gives Kabo some sage advice not to get caught up in the rhythm of the try-hards and just be himself, and Kabo secures the precious spot. He’s still feeling a bit overawed by how easily this seems to come for Wanda, and when her turn comes for a one-on-one he finds himself jealous of the kid (the one from his block) who gets to dance with her. And get toasted by her…
The first real headline showdown, though, is On’s battle with Usen. Usen is a bit of a goof, but his charm is contagious – he obviously enjoys the hell out of this, and that’s hard to resist. On battling is something Iori has been anticipating for a long time, and she doesn’t disappoint him. Her dance style is indeed fascinating – harder than Iori’s for me to get a grip on (no pun intended). It may be more elusive because she’s a freestyle dancer by trade, but there’s something compelling about it. She and Usen make an interesting contrast, and she seems to gain the upper hand in the first round. But Usen for all his jollity isn’t someone to be taken lightly (he’s the defending champ after all), and I expect this one to go down to the wire.
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