Wandance is about dance, but finally something else than ballet and whatnot. This series is about hip-hop dance and this is seinen too, so I'm quite thrilled! Kaboku Kotani is a guy that stutters and plays basketball. He's quite shy and ends up seeing a girl named Wanda dance and he's mesmerized. The boy too wants to dance and soon he enters the dance club with Wanda, who's already quite famous for her dancing. So, mostly the series is these two learning moves, dancing and wanting to take part in a competition. This first part is truly setting the story and hardly anything else and well, quite fast in it too.

Dance is always a hard subject drawings-wise and here too it's impossible to capture the movement on pages. Coffee does quite well though as the series looks great and unique. The line art bends with rhythm almost, but still it lacks the needed movement. This eats some of the enjoyment, since it's the core of the series and it's hard to see the dance in itself. Still finally something else! I'm glad we have more variety in dance manga.

[Thanks to Netgalley and Kodansha for an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.]

Kaboku has made it to high school and he just wants to fit in, which isn’t the easiest thing in the world for him, due to his stutter. When he spots Wanda, his classmate, dancing on her own, it awakens both a possibility and a past trauma that he’s not sure how to deal with. But his response is to join the dance club along with Wanda, where he’s the only guy amongst a gaggle of girls. Can just one beat (or several) lead to communication?

This one creeps up on you pretty casually. It starts good, not great, gets better, gets better, and then by the ending it was impossible for me to not to be all in for watching Kabo and Wanda.

Partly this works because our leads learn (and the story expertly gets across) that they can be so expressive through dance, with none of the hang-ups they have normally. Wanda’s got far fewer issues with this, though she’s definitely a little more withdrawn from anybody who isn’t Kabo and isn’t the best verbal communicator.

Kabo has to deal with his stutter and the way that makes him stand out more from everybody else, even with practice, has dealt a sharp blow to his confidence. And, on top of that, while he’s captivated by the freedom Wanda encompasses while she dances, he had a very bad experience when he was in middle school that makes him even more self-conscious than he already is when dancing himself.

That’s a great way to layer problem upon problem and it’s a perfect way to lead into Kabo trying to work himself up to be the person he wants to be. Kabo has a strong friend group of dopey high school bros at the start, they take a video of poor Wanda dancing that has a flash of upskirt, which one of them distributes to cement their icky cred, but Kabo’s definitely adjacent to the group.

So, seeing him fall out of basketball, which he’s not bad at, and back into dancing, which he turns out to have a surprising knack for if he can get out of his own head, is a delight of a journey. And though it’s his own story, I think there’s a universal quality to a person trying to find how they can best express themselves.

And this book nails the dancing. Nails it. It doesn’t hurt that a lot of western music is used and it’s easy enough to hit YouTube to find a relevant video to get the gist of matching movements. It feels pretty spot-on, even if my own sense of rhythm struggles to quite link the two together.

They give a lot of time to instruction, courtesy of the third-year captain, Miyao, who’s a really great character in her own right, encouraging but realistic, and the dance club happily supplies a dollop of fan service, though it’s barely that, but it’s believable and realistic in a way almost no manga ever is with its costuming. I’m calling more attention to it than the book does just by mentioning it.

It knows when to go big and, appropriately for a hip-hop dance manga, it knows when to showboat itself. There’s a multi-page spread of every single member of the dance club, all unique, which is a mic drop from the artist the likes of which I haven’t seen since <I>Negima</I>. Toss in a snobby rival to Wanda in the making, plus the many dance competitions out there to attend, and you’ve got a club that has narrative potential for days.

And make no mistake, this is a story that knows what it means to be passionate about something and I genuinely don’t think it’s overestimating to say that Kabo and Wanda generate more heat just dancing together than most couples do in an entire shojo series. That scene with them at the auditions is electric.

Finally, huge props to the translation notes at the back. These are some of the most robust that I’ve seen in a while and they cover some basic ground like the shoe lockers, but also some much more important stuff as well.

This is like a version of <i>Fame</i> (I’m showing my age again, aren’t I?) with better music and two leads who are great together and look set to explode into further greatness. That much passion is not easy to convey and it speaks to the writing and how important this is to the mangaka.

Yeah, it’s your standard competitions-are-coming and we gotta overcome the things and be better, but the writing elevates this way, way up. It starts at a very solid place and it’s just killing it by the finale. Our leads are absolutely perfect together and the more time they spend dancing the better it gets.

5 stars - more now. Seriously, I want this released weekly until we’ve caught up. It’s this wonderful love letter to expressing yourself and dance and it deserves a huge audience and I’m already crossing fingers it gets an anime (those music rights are gonna sting though).

This manga has a really cool and different style and I enjoyed looking at all the dance scenes, I just couldn't really connect to any of the characters. All in all it's a very good start into an interesting series, that's definitely special and many people will enjoy.

This was fine. It's about a guy who has a stutter who decides to follow his passion for dance, and that's it. If you're not interested in technical stuff or inspirational stuff (I suppose) about dance, then it might be a bit boring. Also I couldn't help laughing at many of the dancing poses because they just looked.. funny.

Dude this is so good! It’s about a highschooler who at first doubted that he would dance again until he meets FL dancing out of nowhere. The two get to know each other and he basically joins the dance club with him being the only guy participating. I really like the fact the author added in modern music that most people would know so that we are able to play the songs in our heads without waiting for an anime adaptation to do it for us later on. I mean my god, the art involving our main characters is just so detailed and pretty slick if you ask me! I even tried doing it while in secondary school and lemme tell ya, I would put Kabu and Hikari both in first place xD

Yeah I definitely liked this dance style manga, it’s very cute and it does make you wanna actually jam to the songs included in the manga!

Firstly, I would like to start with a thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book as an eARC.

This is a very intreasting manga and not somthing i have read before, the concept was such a great idea as well as it was pulled off very well showing a whole new love for dance which made me want to try and get back into dance again. I liked the way being comfortable in your body and life is such at the forfrount of this manga it worked really well and kept me engaged. Love the main female lead shes strong and feminine but also encouraging and i liked the connection between the male lead and her. The male lead did go through a character arc in realising somthing about dance and overcoming it in his own way which was such a great thing to observe in the manga, i would totally read on forever and i could also talk about this manga forever and ever but i dont want to make this review too long so i will end it here.

Thank you so much for the ARC... I am really in love with this.

The best thing in this manga is how Kabo is the only first year male student in the dance club' but, the other members didn't do any stereotype things to him. At first, I hate Kaboku's friend, the one who took video of Wanda and started commenting about her body and then just shared the video because he felt annoyed. But, I like him a little bit, when he started to accept Kaboku and support Kaboku in dance club.

I hope Indonesian publisher Will translated this manga, cause I want this manga to be read by Indonesian manga reader

Ok, so I like the idea of a manga all about dance since I come from a big dance background. However, I could barely get through it with all the inappropriate sexual comments and discrimination against those with disabilities. At first, I loved the main girl character, but then the guys made some very inappropriate comments about her body that really weren't criticized at all. I also really loved at first how the main character has a stutter and it's not his whole personality trait. However, to see him get discriminated against by his peers so easily without getting any comments on why they are wrong is so annoying. I mean yes I know the manga is trying to emphasize that they are both being treated poorly by their peers, but I wish it would just focus more on the dancing instead of how sucky their life is.

Kaboku is a shy high schooler who avoids being in the limelight because of an incident that happened to him in middle school, but when he watches a fellow classmate Wanda dance, he finds himself pulled toward dance and joins the school's dance club. I thought this first volume did everything right. We have a good intro to our MC, Kaboku, and the dance club is threatening but exciting, and also not too too heavy on the explanations. It ends at the perfect spot too, which makes me so compelled to read the next one! The art style reminds me a little of Asuka Konishi.

This was cute. It had the tendency of this sort of manga to get a but overly descriptive of dance moves and such, but there was enough character interaction that I enjoyed it. I was especially happy that Wanda was more approachable than many of the female leads I have read lately, being neither spasticly bombastic or mysterious to the point of blandness. She was down to earth and personable.

I did really enjoy this. As a trained dancer, it was very cute, a little simplistic, but the main characters are beginners, so that's fine. I hope that as this progresses it gets into more technical things in dance, but I think how it's written currently will appeal to readers without a dance background.

The characters are cute, and it's nice to see a disability in the main character and have it be very present. The art style is nice. I wish it was an anime instead of a manga, because I think the dance scenes would look super cool, but for the most part I think how it's drawn and written conveys what's happening well enough.

This is one that I think would make a fantastic anime. Personally, I struggle with manga that involves a lot of movement - like Puella Magi Madoka Magica (battles/combat) or Harukana Receive (sports) - because while the flowing lines and the dynamic art style are really visually appealing, I often can’t figure out what they’re meant to represent. I love that the mangaka tags what songs are being played (I probably should have gone and listened to the songs during those sections to get the full experience).

I really like that Kobu is so enraptured by dancing despite his propensity for embarrassment. I’m a little torn by just how long it took for me to figure out that he has a stutter, though, because I feel like it came up almost like a “twist” later in the story rather than just as a fact of his life. But most of all I really like the way that Kobu and Wanda see each other - Wanda sees Kobu as someone who wants something desperately but who keeps stopping himself from reaching for it, and Kobu sees Wanda as someone who is simply free.

I’m definitely interested in continuing this series once the next volume is released!

There is always a special place in my heart for stories about taking one brave step to something you've always wanted to do, and finding out that you've fallen in love and having fun with it along the way. Wandance is exactly that type of story and kicks off a great start towards Kaboku navigating his newfound passion in dance.

I was hooked from the story right from the get-go: we get 1st year Kaboku, who for most of his life up until now has only decided to go with the flow, sticking to his comfort zone and not stepping out of his predictable routine, content to let the others take the limelight. That is until one day, he encounters fellow freshman Hikari Wanda, dancing her heart out like nobody is watching. He yearns for the freedom that she experiences in dancing, and decides to finally sign up for the dance club, determined to finally taking a giant leap out of his comfort zone and doing something that nakes him feel free.

From the synopsis and upon finishing this first volume, I was immediately sold. I really love reading mangas about dance, like Welcome to the Ballroom (tackling ballroom dance) and Danse Danse Danseur (tackling ballet), Wandance shone a light on hiphop and the art style translates the movements of the fundamentals of this particular genre,

Kaboku is also a very endearing MC, and watching him overcome his struggles step by step and finally gaining that confidence to step into the light by doing one thing he's always wanted to do made me root for him. Wanda was also very refreshing and you can tell that she really takes dance seriousl.y and her passion for it is brimming off the pages. I loved the chemistry and dynamics of these two and I can't wait to read more about these two in future volumes.

All in all, I really enjoyed this series and I am definitely on the lookout for its next volumes! If you loved Blue Period or Welcome to the Ballroom, then please give Wandance a read.

Thank you to Kodansha and NetGalley for approving me for this eARC. All views and opinions are my own.

Wandance is a love letter to dance and following your passions even if you have anxiety. Inspired by his new friend Wanda, Kaboku sets out to conquer his fear of being noticed by anyone ever to join the school dance club and chase his newfound love for hip-hop dance. Dance allows Kaboku a chance to express himself without his stutter causing trouble, and it slowly brings out his confidence. Will he be ready in time to score a spot in the upcoming dance contest?

Wanda and Kaboku are both awkward, cute, and devoted to practicing the things they love. They are sweet characters I’m happy to root for. Kaboku also has friends that support his new dream and I like seeing positive friendships represented. I also adored the scenes of dance in motion. This is a hard thing to accomplish in a still medium, but Coffee does a great job showing movement through the panels. Can’t wait for the next volume to be translated!

A fantastic first volume that will already have readers invested in the characters. A vibrant and stirring start to the series!

I enjoyed this manga, especially because of the storyline. I’m not a dancer myself but I have always felt like I can express myself the best through movement, so it was nice to see the characters, mainly Kaboku, develop that relationship with dance.

I was a bit worried at the start about the pictures of Wanda one of the boys took without her consent, so I was pleasantly surprised when the others openly stated it’s not okay. I hope this plot won’t be mentioned in the next volumes and that the pictures( or video, I’m sorry I forgot) were actually deleted by the boy.

I will definitely read the next volumes!

Thank you Net Galley for giving me an opportunity to read this arc.

Wandance is the story of Kaboku, a shy freshman in high school, with a go with the flow, don’t stand out attitude because of his stutter, but also because of one incident in the lower grades that left him unable to even look at people dance without feeling the burning shame of remembrance.

But high schools in Japan have added dance to the list of physical activity programs, and after catching his classmate dancing with abandon at a secluded place at school, he can’t get dancing — and her out of his mind.

His curiosity about her dancing, and the feelings it inspires in him, leads him to join the school’s dance club and learning all sorts of hip/hop styles from scratch.

I really enjoyed this one, the MC is a really sweet guy and seeing him dig deep and slowly become more confident in dancing and sharing his opinions with the world is the best part!

It’s a bit like Blue a period, in that whole amateur tries something new and get completely obsessed with it way, it as of volume one, a little less intense.

I will definitely be following this story! And Kodansha seems to be publishing four volumes (in print!!! And digitally this year alone!)

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Kodansha for providing an ARC in exchange for a honest review!

I actually liked this way more than expected. I’d recommend it to fans of haikyuu though it’s not nearly as intense, but it still has lovable and interesting characters. You don’t need to have any prior knowledge of dancing to read it, I know virtually nothing about dancing and still enjoyed it.