Wandance

The Rhythm of What We Can't Say

There is a specific sort of exhaustion that comes from rehearsing every sentence before you speak it. For Kaboku "Kabo" Kotani, the protagonist of the 12-episode anime adaptation of Wandance, talking is not a natural reflex. It is a minefield. He stutters, and the physical tension of trying to push words through an uncooperative mouth is animated with agonizing precision. You can see the stiffness in his shoulders, the slight downward tilt of his chin as he tries to shrink into his own uniform. I have watched plenty of coming-of-age stories about shy teenagers, but they usually treat social anxiety as an adorable quirk. Wandance treats it as a genuine barrier. When Kabo finally finds a way to speak without words—through the aggressive, full-body release of hip-hop dance—the relief on his face feels earned.



The catalyst for this shift is Hikari Wanda, a first-year student who treats the school's empty spaces as her personal stage. Koki Uchiyama voices Kabo, which is a fascinating casting choice. Uchiyama has spent years perfecting the icy, detached cool of various anime antiheroes, so hearing his voice crackle with sudden, desperate fragility here is jarring. It works, though. It strips away the usual anime gloss. Across from him, Hina Youmiya gives Wanda a breezy, unbothered warmth. (It probably helps that Youmiya herself has a background in dance, recently posting videos of herself nailing the show's actual choreography). Wanda is not dancing to show off. She just literally does not care who is watching. And in a high school environment where everyone is hyper-aware of being perceived, that sort of freedom is magnetic. Kabo wants it. I completely understood why.