![\"\"](\"https:\/\/lostinanime.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Wandance-10-01.jpg\")
<\/a>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 \u2013 in isolation \u2013 are fine. Sometimes really good, even. It\u2019s 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\u2019d be happy as pigs in slop, but it doesn\u2019t. So there\u2019s no choice but to make the best of it.<\/p>\n<\/a>And that\u2019s definitely something worth doing, because the rest of Wandance<\/em> is totally working for me. Even the dancing, which \u2013 irrespective of the animation \u2013 was not an element of the series that much interested me going in. As so often happens with anime I\u2019m getting drawn into the minutiae of it (as with karuta, or ballet). You can geek out over anything, and since I\u2019m a geek at heart that appeals to me. And the fact is, as long as it\u2019s well-written it\u2019s fun watching young kids be wildly enthusiastic about something. Dance included.<\/p>\n<\/a>It\u2019s 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<\/a>, who we already know of course, and Iori expresses confidence in the wisdom of all three. It\u2019s 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\u2019d guess On has danced a few battles, Iori has made it clear that\u2019s 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\u2019s decided by \u201cspin the bottle\u201d).<\/p>\n<\/a>Confession time: I\u2019m developing a bit of a man-crush on Iori. He\u2019s such a cool cat \u2013 great character design, for starters. He\u2019s got an awesome laid-back warm personality, and has turned into a spectacularly good mentor for Kabo. But \u2013 and the importance of this can\u2019t be overstated \u2013 he\u2019s 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<\/em> virtuosity, On is cheeky and whimsical. But there\u2019s just something about the way Iori moves \u2013 I\u2019m a neophyte so I can\u2019t articulate it well, but he\u2019s very liquid<\/em>. He flows better than anyone else in the cast. somehow.<\/p>\n<\/a>It\u2019s no surprise that On and Iori (and Kabe) breeze through their blocks. Wanda, too \u2013 she\u2019s already proven these moments aren\u2019t too big for her, newbie or no. But for Kabo things don\u2019t go smoothly. He gets thrown when he and another dancer (Wanda will later get Kabo\u2019s 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\u2019t get the coveted pat on the shoulder<\/a>. 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\u2019t even have his phone with the \u201cstutter card\u201d lock screen.<\/p>\n<\/a>Fortunately for Kabo, there\u2019s a \u201ccomeback round\u201d \u2013 a kind of loser\u2019s 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<\/a>. He\u2019s 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<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n<\/a>The first real headline showdown, though, is On\u2019s battle with Usen<\/a>. Usen is a bit of a goof, but his charm is contagious \u2013 he obviously enjoys the hell out of this, and that\u2019s hard to resist. On battling<\/a> is something Iori has been anticipating for a long time<\/a>, and she doesn\u2019t disappoint him. Her dance style is indeed fascinating \u2013 harder than Iori\u2019s for me to get a grip on (no pun intended). It may be more elusive because she\u2019s a freestyle dancer by trade, but there\u2019s 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\u2019t someone to be taken lightly (he\u2019s the defending champ after all), and I expect this one to go down to the wire.<\/p>\n