English Dub Review: Wandance “Dance Battle”

Overview:

Wandance returns with the eighth episode, “Dance Battle,” which sees two of the club’s powerhouses hitting the floor to battle each other.

Our Take:

Wandance so far has set up Iori and On as being some of the best dancers in the club. But they are perfect foils to each other. On is the dutiful leader, kindly guiding the other dancers to shine, even while they dance to their own beat. Iori dances for himself and keeps away from the club. Taking things to the natural level, viewers get to see the two battle in a dance-off against each other.

Of course, they’re foils, not rivals, at least of what we’ve seen so far. Iori could be convincing On to get the team to compete in a house battle. On might be trying to get Iori to return to the club. Of course, there might even be something romantic going on between the two. The viewers have certainly been wondering these things and might find solace in realizing the characters also agree.

During the battle, animation-wise, Iori has a slight advantage. If anything, his baggy clothes help. It probably also works in his favor that he doesn’t have On’s long hair, with hair being notoriously hard to animate in 3D. On the other hand, it’s very telling that the 3D dance animation isn’t the best when it looks nicer when the animation cuts to 2D still shots.

Ultimately, the team is asked to vote for a winner. It’s implied that the club members find the situation too awkward to make a real vote, except for Wanda, who genuinely preferred Iori. It turns out that the club members, and presumably a few fans, were right about their guesses. Iori has to return. On doesn’t have to take them to a dance battle, and they probably aren’t going on a date anytime soon. Of course, the real twist is that they want someone to dance the winner…

Overall, it’s a fun, if simple, little episode. The episode also brings back one of the show’s highlights: music. Snippets of jazz and even calypso music can be heard throughout. When characters admit they really want to join in on the latest song, viewers can easily understand where they are coming from. Of course, the real big moment of the episode is introducing Gaku Kabeya, who seems to take an interest in one of the club’s dancers in particular.