English Dub Review: Wandance Episode One “Wanda’s Dance”

Overview:

The series released its English dub on Hulu on November 12, 2025. Kieran Regan and Merit Leighton play the two leads, Kaboku Kotani and Hikari Wanda, with Jonathon Ha playing Seiya. The series gives viewers a new installment in the slowly growing dance anime genre, with a hesitant boy befriending one of his classmates as he joins the world of dance.

Our Take:

Things start out with a performance at the school, with a big performance from the school’s dance club. Kaboku Kotani, one of the show’s protagonists, is in the auditorium, texting on his phone. He admits he likes the performance, but admits it brings up that it reminds him of something from his past.

Things cut to Kaboku and his friends as they talk about joining some clubs. Kaboku, however, notices a girl grimacing at one of the dance club’s flyers. Later, he sees her dancing by herself. One of his friends later records her on his phone.

Kaboku soon encounters Wanda in class and strikes up a conversation. At this point, he admits he struggles with stuttering, with Wanda assuring him that this doesn’t bother her. The seeds are soon planted of Kaboku joining the school’s own dance club. Soon, however, a story about an embarrassing elementary school dance class, and the perils of dancing in front of an audience, comes to light.

After a game of basketball with his friends, Kaboku starts to realize he has more in common with Wanda than appearances suggest. Meanwhile, things might take a turn between him and his friends. This ultimately helps him make a decision about joining the dance club.

Kaboku’s stutter isn’t used as a simple quirk or plot device, but is handled with a lot of thought. Viewers get to see him work on his speech at home. He also gets to learn about an idol who also faced similar issues when they were younger, giving him needed inspiration.

One quirk that might catch viewers off guard is that there’s a something of a shift in animation when it comes to some of the dance sequences, taking on a more three-dimensional appearance at times. This can be off-putting and jarring at times, but viewers can imagine it represents the characters giving their all when it comes to showing off their moves, even breaking dimensions. Overall, he is a likeable and relatable protagonist and viewers will likely enjoy seeing his interactions with Wanda help him open up.

Naturally, when it comes to dance anime, fans are going to expect some good music. The first episode already features a few impressive numbers, even from the real world. One song that might give viewers a happy surprise is Scatman John’s “Scatman.” It also helps the show mimic the feel of a real-life school dance troupe, which likely would make use of classic pop songs during performances.

Some viewers might be put off by the animation for the dance sequences, especially when dancing is the main focus of the series. However, even at the start, it seems like a lot of thought was put into developing the anime. After all, the anime is just getting started, and fans will simply have to keep watching to see how things go.