Wandance Premiere Review: Beautiful Art, Flawed Dancing
Wandance was one of the more anticipated debuts of the fall, and I went in hoping to love it. It is based on Coffee’s manga and follows a tale of self expression through dance, which sounded like a recipe for something special.
The setup is lovely. Kaboku has spent his life quietly following everyone else’s expectations until it all feels empty, until one night he stumbles on a girl named Hikari Wanda dancing alone, turning a plain concrete space into something alive. Smitten and a little terrified, he steps toward the largely female dance club and the freedom it represents.
There was real promise behind the scenes too. The project comes from the respected studio Madhouse, and the plan to give each character their own dance actor, so they would each move with a distinct physicality, sounded perfect for a story like this.
When it works, it is gorgeous. The traditional 2D animation is clearly made by people who understand the craft, with bodies that feel weighty and real as they move through light and space.
The trouble is the dancing itself, where the computer animation can feel weightless and at odds with that beauty, undercutting the very thing the show is about. That tension is reflected in a fairly cool early reception, with a community score around 2.8.
My take: It is frustrating to see such a heartfelt premise held back by uneven animation in its most important moments. I am still rooting for Wandance, but the dance scenes will need to find their footing for it to truly soar.
