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ワンダンス [Wondance] #4
ワンダンス 4
「お前はバトル向きだと思うよ」一凛高校ダンス部唯一の男子の先輩・伊折からダンスバトルの才能を見い出されたカボは、バトルの深みへと魅了されていた。そんな時、B-BOYダンサー・壁谷楽に出会う。伊折との確執、生まれもった体格差、ダンス部への価値観。数々の苦悩を背負った壁谷のパワープレイは、あらゆるフロアを一瞬にして支配する――。そして舞台は最強ダンサー・壁谷が立ちはだかるダンス部対抗バトル大会へ！
178 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 23, 2020
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36 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 15, 2023
If this were an ordinary "learn the arts" or battle-type shonen manga, what happened in this volume could well have taken three times as long. I like how "Coffee" distills things like tryouts into a few pages, so they can more closely emphasize moments that have the most impact on Kaboku.
Wanda still looks like a weird doll, and I didn't like the brief scene where one of the b-boys puts his hand on her without her consent. But I like the delicate relationship between her and Kaboku. Both of them fumble at dancing, in different contexts, so neither of them is a perfect prodigy at everything they try in every situation. At one point, Kaboku wonders if he wants to be a dancing jack-of-all-trades as people warm to him and invite him into their circles, or whether he might be spreading himself too thin. I'll be interested in seeing what style of dancing suits him best, and what might happen if that ends up being different from Wanda's.
Another thing I appreciate is how Kaboku's stammer is presented. There are two occasions in the book where it causes a problem: first, he has trouble dealing with the Japanese version of the DMV as he stalls out on giving the answers to a simple colorblindness test; and later he can't speak at all when one of the judges at the inter-high dance competition approaches him in casual conversation. But his peers are always very understanding with him--unsurprisingly, he has few issues communicating when he is with people he feels comfortable with. (The "information card" he has on his phone to inform people about his disability might have been more convenient for him if it was a physical card in his wallet or money clip, but what do I know...)
As with every volume thus far, I listened to all of the songs mentioned in the story, creating a kind of multimedia experience. These teens dance to some stuff that I wouldn't consider appropriate for a high school setting, sometimes... (sweat)
Wandance is starting to pass Skip-Beat! by as the manga I'm following concurrently to its U.S. release and most look forward to reading. Maybe it's just novelty, since we're almost to 50 volumes of SB, and only four of this one. :)
Wanda still looks like a weird doll, and I didn't like the brief scene where one of the b-boys puts his hand on her without her consent. But I like the delicate relationship between her and Kaboku. Both of them fumble at dancing, in different contexts, so neither of them is a perfect prodigy at everything they try in every situation. At one point, Kaboku wonders if he wants to be a dancing jack-of-all-trades as people warm to him and invite him into their circles, or whether he might be spreading himself too thin. I'll be interested in seeing what style of dancing suits him best, and what might happen if that ends up being different from Wanda's.
Another thing I appreciate is how Kaboku's stammer is presented. There are two occasions in the book where it causes a problem: first, he has trouble dealing with the Japanese version of the DMV as he stalls out on giving the answers to a simple colorblindness test; and later he can't speak at all when one of the judges at the inter-high dance competition approaches him in casual conversation. But his peers are always very understanding with him--unsurprisingly, he has few issues communicating when he is with people he feels comfortable with. (The "information card" he has on his phone to inform people about his disability might have been more convenient for him if it was a physical card in his wallet or money clip, but what do I know...)
As with every volume thus far, I listened to all of the songs mentioned in the story, creating a kind of multimedia experience. These teens dance to some stuff that I wouldn't consider appropriate for a high school setting, sometimes... (sweat)
Wandance is starting to pass Skip-Beat! by as the manga I'm following concurrently to its U.S. release and most look forward to reading. Maybe it's just novelty, since we're almost to 50 volumes of SB, and only four of this one. :)
February 6, 2023
Kabo and Wanda hit the park after the school bans practice outside of club time. Kabo is lured to the world of breakdancing by the enigmatic Kabeya, who has history with Iori. But Iori is facing his own crisis, as his disdain for club is up against On’s notion that he’s the best choice to take it over.
A good, but not great, volume for this exploration of dance hall days (Wang Chung is still cool, right?). The pieces are almost all there, but something keeps it from cohering into the dynamite package we’ve been gifted with in all the previous volumes.
It’s not bad and I’m not mad at it, but there’s a lot of prep work here before the next competition and it doesn’t necessarily use that time in the most effective ways, to my mind. There’s a way to fill that time and it only works well at certain times here.
Some of the storytelling just gets a bit wonky. Kabeya gets a very cool intro and he clearly knows his stuff, but his past with Iori could be better explained. Things are shown and things are said, but they don’t quite link together in my head in a way I would call logical. I get the gist, but I want the nuances.
Kabo struggles with his stutter still and I loved the addition of a simple aid that helps him to communicate just a little bit better. It becomes a plot point later, but I wish it had had a little more time before that happened since it’s kind of a great idea that I wasn’t aware existed.
The dancing is still good, that remains the bedrock that we’re building on. Wanda stays a little more enigmatic than I would necessarily love - she does veer a little close to manic pixie dream girl sometimes. It was nice to see that she and Kabo share the exact same anxiety about one another though.
I thought the start of this dance competition was really going for something surprising, but instead decides to pull the reset lever as quick as it can. It’s not atypical of the usual manga hero journey, but I really thought Kabo could have used more time to learn the lesson about dancing for yourself.
Of course, that does lead into next volume proper since it is pretty obvious that the person Kabo might be dancing for isn’t necessarily himself and, when Wanda disappears, his confidence seems to vacate him as well.
The MVP of this volume is actually On, who is like the uber-senpai of senpais and deserves an award for making her explanations actually interesting. This series is one of the best for explaining how anything works because it does it so kinetically.
I mean, the art doesn’t hurt. They make popping look like a seismic event that should register on the Richter scale and that exaggeration is why the dance scenes continue to impress still. It has fanservice that doesn’t feel egregious and seems like a means of expression and aiding the dancing and doesn’t linger. That’s a really nice touch.
There’s certainly a lot to like here - Iori coming into his own and realizing that he can lead a dance club while not fundamentally changing his nature is a great pivot for him and, like most of these characters, he just needs some confidence.
Like I said at the start, the ingredients are all here, but there’s a spice or a binding agent or something from that metaphor that just keeps it back a bit. It’s doing good, but I want great from a series that’s been this stunning in the past.
4 stars - good dancing searching for a bit more in terms of the plotting. Ironically, I think the rush to get to the next dance battle, the thing it truly excels at, might have damaged it more than just giving these plots a little more time to breathe.
A good, but not great, volume for this exploration of dance hall days (Wang Chung is still cool, right?). The pieces are almost all there, but something keeps it from cohering into the dynamite package we’ve been gifted with in all the previous volumes.
It’s not bad and I’m not mad at it, but there’s a lot of prep work here before the next competition and it doesn’t necessarily use that time in the most effective ways, to my mind. There’s a way to fill that time and it only works well at certain times here.
Some of the storytelling just gets a bit wonky. Kabeya gets a very cool intro and he clearly knows his stuff, but his past with Iori could be better explained. Things are shown and things are said, but they don’t quite link together in my head in a way I would call logical. I get the gist, but I want the nuances.
Kabo struggles with his stutter still and I loved the addition of a simple aid that helps him to communicate just a little bit better. It becomes a plot point later, but I wish it had had a little more time before that happened since it’s kind of a great idea that I wasn’t aware existed.
The dancing is still good, that remains the bedrock that we’re building on. Wanda stays a little more enigmatic than I would necessarily love - she does veer a little close to manic pixie dream girl sometimes. It was nice to see that she and Kabo share the exact same anxiety about one another though.
I thought the start of this dance competition was really going for something surprising, but instead decides to pull the reset lever as quick as it can. It’s not atypical of the usual manga hero journey, but I really thought Kabo could have used more time to learn the lesson about dancing for yourself.
Of course, that does lead into next volume proper since it is pretty obvious that the person Kabo might be dancing for isn’t necessarily himself and, when Wanda disappears, his confidence seems to vacate him as well.
The MVP of this volume is actually On, who is like the uber-senpai of senpais and deserves an award for making her explanations actually interesting. This series is one of the best for explaining how anything works because it does it so kinetically.
I mean, the art doesn’t hurt. They make popping look like a seismic event that should register on the Richter scale and that exaggeration is why the dance scenes continue to impress still. It has fanservice that doesn’t feel egregious and seems like a means of expression and aiding the dancing and doesn’t linger. That’s a really nice touch.
There’s certainly a lot to like here - Iori coming into his own and realizing that he can lead a dance club while not fundamentally changing his nature is a great pivot for him and, like most of these characters, he just needs some confidence.
Like I said at the start, the ingredients are all here, but there’s a spice or a binding agent or something from that metaphor that just keeps it back a bit. It’s doing good, but I want great from a series that’s been this stunning in the past.
4 stars - good dancing searching for a bit more in terms of the plotting. Ironically, I think the rush to get to the next dance battle, the thing it truly excels at, might have damaged it more than just giving these plots a little more time to breathe.
January 1, 2026
even if all odds are against me, I'm still gonna hold onto hope that yaoi will come and save us all 人(￣ω￣;)
September 28, 2023
Qu’est-ce que ça transpire dans cette série et ce n’est pas prêt de s’arrêter ! Tome très intense, les passions de chacun explosent mais les nouveaux lieux et personnages viennent un peu tout compliquer.
Je me suis parfois sentie un peu submerger dans ce tome par les multiples styles de danse évoqués que je ne maîtrise absolument pas et que je ne visualise pas forcément, ce qui a freiné ma compréhension et ma visualisation de l’histoire. Ça me chagrine. L’impact des danses est pourtant toujours là, de même que le message de ce sport comme vecteur de parole pour un héros à qui elle fait souvent défaut du fait qu’il est bègue. Ça reste le top du top !
C’est aussi très intéressant de commencer à voir les héros évoluer en dehors du cercle de l’école. Leur rencontre avec Iori est le point de bascule. Ce garçon, futur président de leur groupe, passé par le breakdance et faisant désormais de la house, leur ouvre plein de nouveaux horizon, surtout à Kabo, car Wanda est un peu plus en retrait dans ce tome. J’ai beaucoup aimé suivre l’apprentissage de celui-ci, le voir tout tester, se passionner pour tout, se faire remarquer par tous aussi bien dans ses moments de réussite que d’échec. Tout le monde a compris qu’il a le petit truc en plus, ce qui Coffee rend à merveille dans ses dessins d’une rare intensité où chaque mouvement est marqué et où le feu des danseurs les habitent et transpercent les pages.
Ce fut donc plaisant d’aller avec lui à la rencontre d’Iori, qui devient un peu son nouveau mentor, mais également à la rencontre de Kabeya, un breakdancer de génie qui challenge sans cesse Iori. Les rivalités commencent ainsi à naître et ajoutent du piment à l’intrigue en plus de cette volonté de se dépasser et d’apprendre le max de choses. Je regrette juste un peu de voir Wanda sur le carreau dans ce tome, répétant de son côté, ayant moins d’interactions avec Kanda, alors qu’il serait demandeur. Leur duo m’a manqué.
Les explications sur les danses eux restent assez laborieux pour qui ne pratique pas et c’est vraiment le gros point noir, car sinon tout y est : dessin, intensité, rivalité, relations, mise en scène, duels et j’en passe. Alors j’irai sûrement voir sur le net des vidéos pour me rendre compte des mouvements des danses évoquées, mais certaines sont clairement très obscures pour moi comme le popping, l’uprock, le hit et j’en passe. J’ai tendance à totalement oublier d’un tome à l’autre ^^!
Titre fascinant qui met en scène comme aucun autre les arts de la rue et notamment les danses urbaines, Wandance est un cri du coeur pour rendre ses lettres de noblesses à toutes les danses et bien faire comprendre à tous son pouvoir d’expression quand la parole nous est si difficile parfois. Je me suis un peu perdue dans les mouvements de ce tome mais j’ai adoré voir l’horizon des héros s’ouvrir encore même si leur duo n’est pas assez présent à mon goût. Hâte de poursuivre le voyage.
Avis complet : https://lesblablasdetachan.wordpress....
Je me suis parfois sentie un peu submerger dans ce tome par les multiples styles de danse évoqués que je ne maîtrise absolument pas et que je ne visualise pas forcément, ce qui a freiné ma compréhension et ma visualisation de l’histoire. Ça me chagrine. L’impact des danses est pourtant toujours là, de même que le message de ce sport comme vecteur de parole pour un héros à qui elle fait souvent défaut du fait qu’il est bègue. Ça reste le top du top !
C’est aussi très intéressant de commencer à voir les héros évoluer en dehors du cercle de l’école. Leur rencontre avec Iori est le point de bascule. Ce garçon, futur président de leur groupe, passé par le breakdance et faisant désormais de la house, leur ouvre plein de nouveaux horizon, surtout à Kabo, car Wanda est un peu plus en retrait dans ce tome. J’ai beaucoup aimé suivre l’apprentissage de celui-ci, le voir tout tester, se passionner pour tout, se faire remarquer par tous aussi bien dans ses moments de réussite que d’échec. Tout le monde a compris qu’il a le petit truc en plus, ce qui Coffee rend à merveille dans ses dessins d’une rare intensité où chaque mouvement est marqué et où le feu des danseurs les habitent et transpercent les pages.
Ce fut donc plaisant d’aller avec lui à la rencontre d’Iori, qui devient un peu son nouveau mentor, mais également à la rencontre de Kabeya, un breakdancer de génie qui challenge sans cesse Iori. Les rivalités commencent ainsi à naître et ajoutent du piment à l’intrigue en plus de cette volonté de se dépasser et d’apprendre le max de choses. Je regrette juste un peu de voir Wanda sur le carreau dans ce tome, répétant de son côté, ayant moins d’interactions avec Kanda, alors qu’il serait demandeur. Leur duo m’a manqué.
Les explications sur les danses eux restent assez laborieux pour qui ne pratique pas et c’est vraiment le gros point noir, car sinon tout y est : dessin, intensité, rivalité, relations, mise en scène, duels et j’en passe. Alors j’irai sûrement voir sur le net des vidéos pour me rendre compte des mouvements des danses évoquées, mais certaines sont clairement très obscures pour moi comme le popping, l’uprock, le hit et j’en passe. J’ai tendance à totalement oublier d’un tome à l’autre ^^!
Titre fascinant qui met en scène comme aucun autre les arts de la rue et notamment les danses urbaines, Wandance est un cri du coeur pour rendre ses lettres de noblesses à toutes les danses et bien faire comprendre à tous son pouvoir d’expression quand la parole nous est si difficile parfois. Je me suis un peu perdue dans les mouvements de ce tome mais j’ai adoré voir l’horizon des héros s’ouvrir encore même si leur duo n’est pas assez présent à mon goût. Hâte de poursuivre le voyage.
Avis complet : https://lesblablasdetachan.wordpress....
March 19, 2023
Continues to be great. Sometimes the narrative feels a little rushed but like, this runs in a monthly publication. Making anything vaguely cohesive and smooth on that kind of schedule seems like a headache, so I'm not gonna knock it too hard for that.
The music selection is always funny as a US reader. The characters will dance to respectable stuff like A Tribe Called Quest and Kraftwerk, but also Limp Bizkit's N 2 Gether Now.
The music selection is always funny as a US reader. The characters will dance to respectable stuff like A Tribe Called Quest and Kraftwerk, but also Limp Bizkit's N 2 Gether Now.
December 14, 2023
This series continues to kill it. I enjoy every character and seeing their interactions play out is a joy. The dance sequences are fantastic and the pacing while being really quick, keeps things moving along. This volume was really heavy on the dance battles but still found ways to weave in character moments. Kabo and Wanda are so awesome and I can't get enough of them.
March 30, 2024
This continues to be a good series, with exploration of different styles of dance, self confidence and friendships. I also love the fact that the songs they dance to are noted at the beginning of a scene.
Check out my YouTube channel for bookish videos and monthly wrap ups!
Check out my YouTube channel for bookish videos and monthly wrap ups!
January 31, 2025
I would have given it five stars, but it randomly switches to third POV halfway through the story, and it was hard to tell who’s POV I was in—then just as suddenly switched back to first person POV. I don’t know if it was a translation error, or an artistic choice of the manaka’s, but either way it was really jarring.
August 12, 2023
Kind of a transition volume. Kabo and Wanda are starting to drift apart and figure out their own styles. Kabo is heading into House and Break dancing, whilst Wanda is learning Popping. It's sad to see them drift away but it's good character development for both of them.
September 15, 2024
I lovvvvvved this volume!! I really see the story expanding and so much dance. Love, love, love.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews