“WANDANCE” – Rhythm Is A Dancer*

* Song by SNAP! (1992)

Wandance is centered on the two main characters, Kabo and Wanda. The story is one part slow-burn romance and one part dance obsession. We see Kabo and Wanda’s relationship blossom, professionally and perhaps also romantically. At its core, their fervent passion for dancing—especially street dance—seems to outweigh the budding romantic feelings. Styles and techniques abound, and you’ll get a taste of it all. While the young performers’ acrobatic moves will leave you speechless in amazement, you’ll feel the powerful sounds from the booming speakers thrumming against your fingertips. Even though the story can’t shake street dance’s ‘bad boy’ image entirely, it added extra dimensions to it: the innocent and the sexy.

When you say nothing at all*

Wandance‘s protagonist is Kotani Kaboku, a lanky first-year high schooler with a speech impediment. But, since his eyes are constantly on Wanda Hikari, his classmate and dance partner, the focus also shifts toward her. Kabo, as his friends call him, had a traumatic experience in middle school that completely turned him off dancing. However, destiny repeatedly threw him into the path of the dance-obsessed Wanda, a wisp of a girl, all boundless energy, charming smiles, and impossibly large, sparkly eyes. We’ll talk about this adorable sweetie in more detail a little later; for now, let’s take a closer look at Kabo.

Kabo’s life motto was to blend in, swim with the current, and act as ‘normal’ as possible. However, with words not coming easily because of his stutter, he had a hard time communicating with others, making it difficult not to appear ‘different.’ Luckily, his friend Hotohara always had his back. When Hotohara introduced him to a couple of girls, Kabo stumbled in reply to the girls’ compliment, “Tha… tha… tha… thanks.” As a good friend should, Hotohara jumped to his rescue. “Don’t” worry,” he soothed the girls laughing apologetically, “that’s just how he talks. He’s not weird or anything.” At first, I was a little stunned by this remark. Later, however, Hotohara revealed that he was an advocate of the proverb ‘speech is silver, silence is golden’ and that he actually held Kabo’s silence in high regard: “You’re getting something out of this, you know. When you’re silent, people will just think of you in a good way.” For Kabo, unfortunately, stuttering wasn’t something he profited from.

Under the sea*

The bonus chapter at the end of volume one introduces a new female character who is so irrelevant that we aren’t even given her name. Besides being Kabo’s classmate, she’s also his very own groupie. The girl’s task is to let us know, once more, that Kabo is an amazing dancer. Naturally, as a dedicated Kabo enthusiast, she also explored his condition, thus fulfilling her second role in the manga: educating us readers on the basics of stuttering. Yet, knowing about stuttering isn’t the same as dealing with it yourself. Through Kabo, we get a glimpse into the challenges a person who stutters faces, from meeting new people, talking to friends, or thinking about future job opportunities. It’s only natural that such difficulties can also affect someone’s mental health.

Since the focus of Wandance is on dancing and not on creating awareness of stuttering, there’s no deep dive into Kabo’s mental condition. But, here and there, he does let us in on what it feels like when you cannot communicate your thoughts at will. “I’m often asked what it feels like to stutter,” he thinks to himself, “for me, it’s like trying to talk while drowning. It’s like missing the right timing to breathe.” Maybe this ‘underwater life’ explains his love for seahorses and his wish to be able to live underwater like them. Fortunately, there was no need to become a sea creature—all thanks to Wanda and dancing. She gave him the courage and also a reason to stay upon land.

Dancing Queen*

Wanda, like the other Wandance girls, embodies the baby schema quite nicely, with her relatively large head, slender neck, big bright eyes, full cheeks, and small mouth. All female dancers in this manga possess Twiggy-like body shapes with almost infinitely long skinny legs, slender arms, and wasp waists. Unique to Wanda are her eyes, though. Her pupils shimmer and gleam constantly with a myriad of shades and shapes—stars, hearts, or crowns. With her childlike body, her oversized, captivating eyes, and her alluring moves while dancing, Wanda is the embodiment of sexy innocence.

Of course, there’s more to Wanda than her physical appearance. She’s also the saint of the series, untainted by the evils of social media and eager to help and support everyone with their dancing by letting them in on the secrets of her success. She seemed to have no sense of rivalry or competitive jealousy. On the contrary, her honey-sweet personality is dripping with sympathy, compassion, and unbound support for those in need of advice or encouragement. At some point, this sweetness overload became unbearable, and I had to drink some strong, bitter tea to prevent a sugar rush.

How about her dancing? Even though she hasn’t had formal dancing lessons yet, she was already labeled as an amazing dancer by the club’s president On Miyao, On-chan to everyone. It’s clear that Wanda was a natural, her body always moving with an innate rhythm, arching effortlessly to the beat. No wonder Kabo was so mesmerized by her dancing. He constantly looked to her for guidance and reference. To him, she was the ultimate dancer, a dancing queen.

Kabo’s biased perspective also colors our view of Wanda. Given his infatuation with the delicate girl from their first encounter, it’s not surprising that we, like him, find her enchanting. But are these dance-related feelings enough for romance to blossom? Does Wanda regard Kabo in a romantic light, or will he be stuck in the friend zone for life?

Just A Friend*

*Mario / Nickelodeon Video Version (2002)

It would be wrong to say that Kabo’s admiration for her was one-sided. To Kabo, everything Wanda did, be it dancing, mumbling to herself, or even her petite physique, put a smile on his lips or a blush on his cheeks. But Wanda, too, was in constant awe of Kabo’s ‘everything.’ Whatever he said or meant to say made her eyes sparkle and filled them with hearts or stars. Additionally, Wanda watched him closely, making sure she’d be ready to come to his aid if need be—be it with dancing or otherwise. They spend their free time practicing or hanging out talking about dance-related stuff. Consequently, the two formed a close bond and were practically joined at the hip. These two were a match made in heaven, or so it seemed.

And yet, I was increasingly irritated by the inability to put a clear label on their relationship. Physical contact was accompanied by slightly blushing cheeks and momentarily averted eyes but was otherwise treated rather casually. Even when they shared an indirect kiss (that is, drinking from the same water bottle) the “kyaaa!!” I wanted to let out got stuck in my throat. The couple (to-be?) didn’t react at all to this momentous incident but just kept practicing. Was I the only one making a big deal out of this?

I missed the lovey-dovey vibes, the doki-doki-moments, hearts floating through the air, or roses enveloping Kabo’s face when Wanda gazed at him. In the end, the stop-and-go nature of their interactions left me puzzled. Until, finally, Kabo deliberately offered Wanda his hand.

After Kabo panicked at Hotohara’s question if the two of them were dating, blushed at the unintentional holding of hands, and failed to notice the (also unintentional) indirect kiss, it was finally time to get serious. And what better way to show Wanda his commitment than to ask her to pair up: “If I dance well at the contest, how about pairing up as a team?”

Freestyler*

Thanks to Wanda’s unwavering support and his newfound love for dancing, Kabo blossomed from a shy and reserved boy to a young daredevil. He found the courage to speak up against those he disagreed with; he braved his dance-senpai, Iori, in a one-on-one dance battle at school. He even craved being on stage to show off his moves. And by the end of volume two, Kabo seemed to have found his calling: to be in perfect sync with Wanda on the dance floor. The group competition that the dance club participated in offered the perfect setting to demonstrate their harmonious interactions on the dance floor.

However, after the contest and merely a day after confessing to Wanda his wish to be professional dance partners, Kabo’s aspirations changed. Even though he did very well at the contest, he wasn’t satisfied at all. And Iori knew why: “I think you are the battling type. You’re probably like me, the type who’s alive and much freer when improvising rather than following a set choreography created by someone else.” In denial at first, Kabo’s eyes lit up once Iori told him that in battling, he’d probably even surpass Wanda. Well, well, well, I’m sensing a little jealousy here. Will Kabo’s competitive spirit burden the fledgling partnership?

Back at school, Kabo got a chance to battle On-chan in a dance-off. On-chan started, swirling her arms in wild motions to the beats of Billie Eilish’s song “bad guy.” Taking over, Kabo threw his body into unbelievably grotesque postures, earning awes and cheers from the watching club members. When it was On-chan’s turn again, her body, multiplied and blurred by the stroboscopic effect, moved across the page in sync with the thrumming music. Thereafter, Kabo’s erratic moves, his body covered by speed lines, captured the techno energy of Dax Rider’s “You Are The Sunshine Of My Life.” Twisting and turning in a frenzy to the rhythm, Kabo was completely lost in the pulsating music. Cheeks flushed with elation, a smile on his face, he now realized why Iori preferred battles to choreography.

Stickwitu*

Now, this is interesting, I thought. When Kabo’s performance at the club’s dance battle confirmed Iori’s prediction, I felt friction in the air. Clouds of foreboding were rolling onto the stage and throwing deep shadows upon the harmonious future of the newly paired dancers. Would the couple survive the challenge of possibly having to walk different professional paths? The bumpy ride I thought lay ahead for the perfectly attuned dancers piqued my interest.

However! Coffee-sensei, Wandance’s creator, wasn’t ready to put the teenagers’ partnership to the test (at least not yet). Therefore, he gave Wanda and Kabo shared interests so that they could tackle all obstacles and repel all interferences to their newly formed bond. As a result, rather than feeling anxious about his choice to dance solo, Wanda was awestruck by his performance. While watching Kabo outdoing himself during the battle with On-chan, Wanda was overcome with emotions and tears flowed freely down her blushing cheeks.

After the dance-off; Wanda and Kabo left together and exchanged thoughts about the battle. During their conversation, Wanda took the chance to reveal her utmost respect for him and let her partner know she was even more captivated by him after witnessing his skills on the dance floor. She turned to him—all sexy innocence—her eyes glistening and confessed how much he meant to her: “I think that with you by my side, I could go anywhere.” Hach, what an annoyingly ambiguous confession. As heartfelt as it was, it didn’t do much to clarify their relationship status. Nonetheless, the heavy clouds of potential friction evaporated into thin air. So, whether intended professionally or romantically, the first relationship crisis was dealt with successfully, concluding in a happy ending.

Luckily, this was not the end, because there’s more to Wandance than two teenagers being caught up in an undefinable relationship.

Maniac*

* Michael Sembello / from the movie Flashdance (1983) / Official Video

One valuable lesson I took from reading Wandance was that dancing isn’t just about randomly grooving to a beat. First, On-chan introduced us and the newcomers to some basics like isolation and rhythm training until it finally was time to take on the first step—the crab step. Coffee-sensei drew a small tutorial depicting On-chan swinging her legs and feet fervently. Even though I could manage the step sequence, I wasn’t able to copy the hefty movement of On-chan’s upper body, which swayed heavily to-and-fro and from side to side. Well… there’s only so much a body can accomplish.

We encounter a range of dancing styles in the story, like house, hip hop, or breakdancing, and some styles whose names I’ve never heard before, like popping, waacking, or locking. When Iori and On-chan battled at the end of volume three, they made use of the full range of styles to get the upper hand and win favor with the judging audience. If you, just like me, don’t know what movements are typical of these styles, check out a couple of videos of dance competitions. Only after learning how these styles are performed could I appreciate Coffee-sensei’s portrayal and was amazed by how well the dancers presented the different moves.

Abracadabra*

The competitive dancing shown in the manga can be summed up in two words: unfathomably awesome. The dancers move at such a rapid pace that Coffee-sensei obviously had a hard time catching their motions and putting the whole thing on paper. Once the tunes started to blast across the room, the dancers shook and twisted their bodies wildly, arms and legs flailing through the air in unrecognizable patterns. With increasing tension, the dancers picked up the pace until they suddenly vanished from view. Assuming that they didn’t have Sauron’s Ring of Power, I could only conclude that the naked eye wasn’t able to follow them anymore. Luckily, they left remnants behind, like shirts and shoes, which now seemed to have a life of their own, moving to the beat without their owners.

Taking in the scenes before me, I thought to myself, “I have absolutely NO IDEA what’s going on here… but it’s AWESOME.” The dancers are captivating, so much so that even now, while I’m writing this, I’m skipping through the pages of volume three, marveling at their breathtaking movements.

Most of the time, though, Coffee-sensei still managed to catch the essentials, showing us blurred bodies covered by a myriad of speed lines or enveloped in swirls of light or smoke. At times, the twisted bodies seemed unearthly, but apart from that, I wouldn’t mind seeing more of those dance scenes in the other volumes.

Shape Of You*

* Ed Sheeran / Official Video (2017)

Even though the dance scenes are fascinating, the portrayal of the high school girls feels clichéd. Regardless of age, they all look more or less like sweet and innocent elementary school girls. Except that there’s an abundance of exposed bellies with ridiculously slim waists and endlessly long naked legs. The latter were frequently displayed in low-angle shots showing off the workings of the girls’ inner thighs. In general, the ‘sexy’ and the ‘innocent’ aspects were evenly matched. However, once the girls started swinging their hips and shaking their booties, the balance shifted dangerously toward the ‘sexy’ side.

We can’t blame the pubescent boys at school for finding the looks of these girls “on a whole other level” …to borrow the words of a guy who watched the dance club’s introductory performance. Sadly, we readers didn’t get to see the performance, so we just have to take his word for it. We did, however, see Wanda dancing in what appeared to be an unused section of the school. Hotohara secretly videotaped her and showed the video to Kabo, “sexy, isn’t she?”

To be fair, Kabo also took off his shirt, exposing his naked back to the readers’ gaze in a single panel. It’s a shame, though, Coffee-sensei sure was stingy when it came to showing us unblemished, bare male bodies.

If it’s sexy or not might depend on the eyes of the beholder. In any case, the girls were responsible for the ‘attractive’ side of dancing. But what about the boys? Well, the rough and tough male counterpart was in charge of the ‘bad boy’ image of street dance.

Bad*

* Michael Jackson / Shortened Version (1987)

Could it be that alluring female dancers are enough for the image of street dance and that there’s no need for bad boys anymore? Could that be the reason why On-chan, dressed in breezy hot pants, her back facing us, warns the club members not to dance outside of the gym or wear headphones, lest they be called attention seekers or troublemakers? Interestingly, Kabo and Wanda always practiced on what I assumed was school grounds. And sure enough, they also use headphones to listen to music so as not to trouble others. Likewise, Iori’s large headphones were practically glued to his ears whenever he walked around at school.

There were even more misdemeanors! The fateful battle between Kabo and Iori took place in an empty classroom—without earphones this time, but with a speaker. Students from other classes (the troubled others?) were excitedly watching their dance-off and even posting clips about it on social media. Considering what I saw despite On-chan’s warning, I’d say the mission to rectify the image of street dancers failed big time. They were, in fact, very noticeable and loud.

After this disastrous hit to the dancers’ reputation, Coffee-sensei made a second attempt to correct the way we perceive the boys and girls. During the competition, one of the participating groups was heavily criticized by the (grown-up) judges for choosing a song with swearwords and not dressing properly. Hence, proper language and attire seem to be required for street dancers. Assay, one of the judges, explained that back in the day, every street dancer was a ‘bad boy.’ But nowadays dancing has become a sport, practiced by top students at schools with high academic ratings. It seems that street dance has achieved upward mobility and has become a sport for the elites.

Boom Boom Pow*

Primarily, Wandance illustrates Kabo’s personal growth and the flowering of his relationship with Wanda. Apart from that, the manga is about dancing, which requires music. Music is, naturally so, something that you hear (unless you can read notes, then you can also ‘see’ it). A song conveys emotions through text and sound. It can be upbeat, soft, erratic, or alienating; its lyrics might be straightforward or imply other meanings. How can you express all this on black and white paper without adding musical notes or including the lyrics? How do you depict sound?

Coffee-sensei slowly introduced us to sound representation in the same way as he gradually increased the difficulty of the dancing lessons we participated in. So, I soon understood that white-and-gray-colored pom-poms of various sizes floating through the room signaled that the music was playing. These white fluffs accompanied every song exclusively until volume three. Then, it got really interesting. At the contest and the dance battle, the pom-poms became shooting stars and zigzagged or swirled across the pages in sync with the dancers. When the room was filled with bouncing basketballs, flocks of birds or crown splashes, I felt that, now, here were some serious tunes. Although at times, I found it hard to tell if the swirly lines pictured the music’s rhythm or the dancers’ movements. Nonetheless, looking at the pages, I could feel the sounds’ vibrations on my fingertips and was blown away by the thundering pulses of the speakers, roaring with the song’s acoustics. The boisterous sounds made me scream at the top of my lungs: “This is AWESOME!”

Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now*

* Starship / Official Music Video [HD] (1986)

So far, Kodansha has released 13 volumes of Wandance (in Japanese). This year, the story should be aired as an anime. Apart from being able to hear the music, which of course will be great, I’m curious about how the dancing and, in particular, the competitions and dance battles will be designed. Will the entire range of movements be depicted so that contrary to the manga, we’ll get to see the full sequences of motions? Will the anime stay faithful to the source and allow the performers to vanish mid-dance? But most importantly, I wonder if the anime can fulfill (or maybe even exceed) my expectations of the level of awesomeness the manga promises.

Links:

A. Links to websites

B. Links to the song titles mentioned with the images:

David Bowie / Official Video (1983) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbD_kBJc_gI)
Annett Louisan / ℗ 2020 Ariola, a division of Sony Music Entertainment Germany GmbH (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQe-wXCQQME)
Blue October / © 2006 Universal Records a division of UMG Recordings Inc. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZES3nJQYJok)
Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper / ℗ 2018 Interscope Records (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePFwJk_RNR4)
Jason Mraz (feat. Colbie Caillat) / Official Video [HD Remaster] (2009) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acvIVA9-FMQ)
Usher / ℗ 2004 RCA/JIVE Label Group, a unit of Sony Music Entertainment (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ye_NHAbOuHQ)
RUN DMC, Jason Nevins / Official HD Video (1983) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLGWQfK-6DY)
Cyndi Lauper / Official HD Video (1986) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPn0KFlbqX8)
Missy Elliott / Official Music Video (2002) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjIvu7e6Wq8)
Inner Circle (Theme from Cops) / ℗ 2012 Sound Bwoy Ent/DubShot Records (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Q3dGZPguSM)
Madonna / Official Video (2000) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sdz2oW0NMFk)

C. Links to the song titles mentioned in the headings:

Rhythm Is A Dancer/ SNAP! / Official Music Video (1992) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYIaWeVL1JM)
When you say nothing at all / Ronan Keating / © 1999 Polydor Ltd. (UK) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IobNcpiwpSc)
Under the sea / from the movie The Little Mermaid (1989) / Music video by Samuel E. Wright / © 2013 Walt Disney Records (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC_mV1IpjWA)
Dancing Queen / ABBA / © 1974 Polar Music International AB / Official Music Video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFrGuyw1V8s)
Just A Friend / Mario / Nickelodeon Video Version (2002) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4BTLoHSGMk)
Freestyler / Bomfunk MC’s / © 1999 Sony Music Entertainment (Finland) Oy / Video Original Version (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymNFyxvIdaM)
Stickwitu / The Pussycat Dolls ft. Avant / © 2005 Pussycat Dolls, LLC / Official Music (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1uNjmxJQUo)
Maniac / Michael Sembello / from the movie Flashdance (1983) / Official Video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=324it5DKoXU)
Abracadabra / Lady Gaga / © 2025 Interscope Records / Official Music Video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBynw9Isr28)
Shape Of You / Ed Sheeran / Official Video (2017) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGwWNGJdvx8)
Bad / Michael Jackson / Shortened Version (1987) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsUXAEzaC3Q)
Boom Boom Pow / The Black Eyed Peas / © 2009 Interscope Records / Official Music Video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m48GqaOz90)
Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now / Starship / Official Music Video [HD] (1986) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wxyN3z9PL4)

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