3.5/5 stars (rounded up to 4)

I received an ARC of this book, and I am voluntarily leaving a review.

Kaboku doesn't like to stand out. He's very self-conscious, especially about his stutter, and he tries his best to blend in. But after watching a girl named Wanda dance, he finds himself longing to give it a try. He decides to join the dance club. Alongside Wanda, Kaboku hopes to dance as freely as she does.

One of my favorite things about this book was how it almost felt like you could see the characters dancing! I loved how the dance scenes were drawn, and it was awesome that the mangaka included the names of the songs they were dancing to! I thought that was a nice touch.

I also liked the friendship between the two main characters. Kaboku is shy and self-conscious while Wanda doesn't card what people think about her. I like how they both encourage each other.

While this was an interesting read, it didn't really stand out. It was cool to see Kaboku face his fears, and I am curious to see where he will go from here. However, I'm not sure I'll continue this series.

I will add that one of Kaboku's friends takes a video of Wanda dancing and brags that he got a panty shot. It was very unnecessary, and it didn't contribute anything to the plot.

If you like sports/slice of life series, you might enjoy this one!

Content: boy records video of a girl dancing and gets a panty shot but it's not actually shown, some language

I ended up really liking this first volume! Our main character has a stutter, so it's hard for him to express himself verbally sometimes. He develops an interest in dance after watching his classmate bust some moves, what follows is a story full of encouragement, and there's a clear love of both dance and music (you could easily make a playlist to listen to as you read.) The. characters that are easy to root for. The art is fluid, and dynamic and helps sell the movement on the pages. Keep an eye out for this one!

"You don't have to move. Just let the music move you."

Wandance is such a cute read! The story is able to transport you into the pages and live the moments with the characters. My favorite part of this book was it made the reader understand the magic of dance.

Kaboku and Wanda form a friendship as they join a dance club and tap into their creativity. Kaboku is more hesitant about his dancing abilities and that is where Wanda is the encouragement he needs. Wanda is a natural when it comes to dancing and lets the music move her.

The only thing that I did not care for while reading was the uncomfortable shots of Wanda throughout. They felt weird and seemed to be used as either fillers or unnecessary plot points. Let her dance without objectifying her body and using her for the male gaze.

Thank you to Kodansha Comics (Kodansha) and NetGalley for providing me with an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I've never read a manga that had any type of dancing as a main theme. When requesting this ARC I was mostly curious how that would carry over in a 2D art format and I was pleasantly surprised.

Overall I think this first volume was really enjoyable, the characters are introduced in a way that you really get a great feel for who they are at this point in their lives and It will be interesting to see where it goes from here in future installments.

When a big, shy guy with stutteriig problems meets a girl who devoted her to the hip hop dance. A coup de coeur as we say here. It was a real blast, the drawing is just stumming and dynamic, as the relation between the protagonist. I especially like Wanda, the girl, because even if she knows her business, she's not the classic know-it-all. She treats the hero kindly and he can open himself with the dance, thanks to I doesn't need to talk. I really like this reading !

the manga is really very interesting, being the first volume introduces the story and the various characters well. I will definitely continue to read the next volumes, it intrigued me a lot!

**ARC provided by NetGalley & Kodansha for honest review**

Wandance by Coffee is a promising first volume to the continuing series. The protagonist is Kaboku Kotani, who doesn't like being different from his peers due to his speech impediment and desperately tries to fit in. All of a sudden he comes across Hikari Wanda dancing in the hallway. In awe, Kotani joins the dancing club and finally begins to understand the freedom that comes with dancing hip-hop.

The title was very interesting and I thought this book was going to be about ballet or ballroom dancing as I've seen that type before so I was surprised to find out it was hip-hop. The introductions of Kotani and Wanda were great as the two contrast each other, Kotani being the shy guy and Wanda is the bold, carefree type.

I also really enjoyed the introduction into hip-hop. Coffee did a good job at expressing how this type of dance is more about feeling than techquie which is why hip-hop is so unique. Not to mention the art was amazing to look at and I can only hope this manga gets an anime as I would love to see some of the dancing scenes animated, especially Wanda's introduction scene.

Overall, this was a great first volume for the manga series and I can't wait to see what comes next.

Final Rating: 5/5

I was expecting a manga about already good dancers so I was pleasantly surprised when Kaboku was totally new to dance. One day he sees his classmate Wanda dancing and her joy and intensity seem to unlock something inside of him. He wants to stay under the radar in school and not stand out in any way. I like that Kaboku has his own issues he is working through and is finding a way to break through his past memories of dance.

Wanda is very much a cool girl, but the type that doesn’t know it and she herself has things she is going through. Both of them in their own way have problems verbally expressing themselves, so in dance they start to feel free. They are sweet to each other and It’s sweet to see the two of them believing and learning from the other. We get to see a little of his friends in school and one who watches him discover his love of dance. We also get to see a lot of the dance club and its members. As the reader we also get to learn more about movement and rhythm.

The art is very flowing and goes with the style of dancing. You can feel the hip-hop beats on the page when they dance. This story is compelling and already off to a great start. I can’t wait to read more. I highly recommend it.

Special thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha for sharing this ARC with me in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me this ARC.

Entertaining and experimental new manga. I haven't seen before a manga that tries to portray this much movement, as the story revolves around dancing, and I have quite mixed feelings about it. Aesthetically, the drawings look so pretty, however I feel like in many moments, if you don't know beforehand the movements that the author is trying to show...you'll have no idea what's happening.

Not only that, I had a very big problem with some drawing that were done from weird angles that made me very uncomfortable. I believe these could have been avoided or replaced and drawn from other angles.

The connection between the characters is pretty cute, and I really liked many of the moments they had together. Both of them have problems and they help each other getting through them. I'm excited to see how their feelings and friendship starts to develop.

Not my favorite of the year, but it was a really quick and fresh read and I enjoyed it.

An enjoyable manga in the vein of many sports titles, with a unique art style to boot. I only wish it did more to stand out from the swath of titles like it narratively. I feels like a lot of what I’ve read before- and it’s not bad, but not fresh. I also have a small issue with how the story introduces characters, which could be better. I had a hard time remembering some characters names or who they were, I feel like the manga is missing the introduction the reader needs to each of these names and faces.
If you’ve already read a few sports manga or watched some anime you won’t get a lot out of this. But someone newer to the genre would really enjoy this.

It was one of the titles that could catch your eye, its name is Wandance. Written and Illustrated by Coffee, it started with a boy named Kaboku, who always went with the flow with a steadfast rhythm of the drumbeat of the expectations of those around him. Whether it was his parents, school, or his plans for the future, it felt predictable, safe, and empty. But after one night when he had to stay late at school, that was when he came across her, who moved wildly and turned a blank space of concrete into a canvas!

Her name was Hiraki Wanda. She was a member of the Hip-Hop Dance Club. It was then that Kaboku was immediately smitten, but the road of stepping out of his shell would be a long one. The club she was in was mostly all girls, and they were in a league of their own. What lay ahead for him was unknown, and it was terrifying, but what that meant to Kaboku was that for the first time, it was a taste of freedom.

To be fair, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I first saw this book. Sure, it had a weird title, but Wandance has something that other titles don’t have, and that’s Courage. Yes, there are popular manga titles out there that ooze “Strength and Courage,” but we aren’t talking about killing demons or fighting giant creatures, this is about finding what was needed to gain personal freedom.

Wandance is a heartfelt story that is about finding yourself and how dancing helps someone gain courage and pursue the chance for freedom of self-expression. Kaboku nearly joined the Basketball Club because his friends wanted him to, but luckily that was where fate came dancing in, Hiraki. He knew right then and there to try his luck by joining the Dancing Club and followed his gut for a change.

The next thing I would like to discuss is Coffee’s style of art and illustration. Their work is one of the best I’ve ever seen, the kinetic energy of Hip Hop accompanied by how well the dancing was choreographed in each panel. We get a real feel for the earthier aspects of the dancing and the speed of the movements. What also worked well for this story was how well it was written, Coffee gave readers a certain kinship when it came to the lives of teenagers in high school, especially when it came to struggling with disabilities or anxiety. When it came right down to it, it focused on three things, Kaboku’s journey, the dual relationship between Wanda and dancing, and finally, how supportive she is. With her support, he is beginning to blossom as a person and a dancer.

3.5 stars rounded up. This book had the soul and ambition to be a great story but fell a bit short.

The art was the first thing I noticed. The dancing panels were slightly awkward, and the way characters bent while dancing was somewhat unnatural. I know it is meant to be exaggerated, but it felt off. It may be because movement is hard to convey in still pictures. I can see this being translated well into an awesome anime. The artist also made the girls in the story beautiful, and I loved the style, but the boys, including the main character, were slightly ugly and did not match the girls at all. It felt like they drew a lot of girls and not so many guys.

The story itself has a lot of potential. I think it has more depth than similar manga I have read, especially the relationship between the main character and his friends. I think that him standing up to their misogyny can be a plot point that makes this manga stand out. Also, his stutter will be an interesting point to learn more about.

Overall this manga has the beginning of a great story, just with some hiccups that can hopefully improve over time.

I wasn't entirely sure what to expect going into this one as I don't really do slice of life type manga but the dance aspect drew me in and I ended up really enjoying it!

The art was brilliant! Not only are the characters well drawn and expressive, but the way the dance moves and scenes are drawn are amazing! I love the focus on the moves and the way they're illustrated to really stand out as well as the technical descriptions of them. As a dancer myself I found all the dance talk really interesting and it helped to visualise the moves as well as bring it to life and add some heart to it to get readers invested.

Our MC has a stutter which I thought was brilliantly depicted and he almost seems to shrink in on himself despite how tall he is, except for when he's dancing when he seems to really come out of his shell and is seemingly able to express himself. I thought this contrast was wonderfully displayed through the art alone, as well as the narrative and found it so easy to empathise with him and root for him.

This did have slice of life vibes which I don't always vibe with but I found this to be such a chill read and I was really intrigued throughout. I enjoyed the dance aspect and Kabu's character development as well as the more heartwarming moments, because I'm not going to lie, I wasn't sure if his friend was going to be more of a frenemy so I was pleasantly surprised by their interactions towards the end!

All in all, this was an enjoyable first volume with a great pace and interesting characters, I can't wait to see where this goes next!

Kaboku is a strait-laced student who tries to avoid going against the grain or doing anything that’ll draw unnecessary attention to himself because he suffers from social anxiety and has a stutter that gets worse under pressure.

However, one day, he sees his fellow schoolmate, Wanda, hip hop dancing. He’s captivated by her performance and decides to audition for his school’s hip hop team, but he soon learns that he has a lot of hard work ahead of him.

Wandance, Volume 1 by Coffee is a heartfelt coming-of-age manga about finding yourself and how dance allows for freedom of self-expression.

For me, this is a story that hit really close to home since I myself grew up with a speech impediment and found refuge in dance, so I found Kaboku a relatable character and it was neat seeing him gradually come out of his shell.

On top of that, Coffee manages to wonderfully capture the raw, kinetic energy of hip hop. I mean, some panels are absolutely jawdropping.

Overall, this is an endearing series about embracing yourself and learning how to (quite literally) dance to the beat of your own drum, so if you like artistic manga along the lines of Blue Period and Boys Run the Riot, I think you’ll fall in love with this one as well.

Rating: 3.63 leaves out of 5
-Characters: 3.5/5
-Cover: 3/5
-Story: 3/5
-Writing: 5/5
Genre: Sports
Type: Manga
Worth?: Yeah

First want to thank Netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this in exchange for an honest review. The are was def not my cup of tea and I found it hard to concentrate some of the time. The main characters were kind of adorable but I totally get the fright of doing something when your group of friends think it is dumb.

Kaboku Kotani is starting high school, and he plans to do what he’s always done: go along with his friends, keep quiet, and not to draw too much attention to himself. As his friends convince him to join the basketball club, he witnesses Hikari Wanda, a first-year girl, dancing like she doesn’t care who sees her. In the teenage boy something awakens, as he wonders if he can reach the same freedom. Deciding to try his luck, he joins the dance club with Hikari.

Wandance is a very interesting story focusing on the difficulty for certain teenagers on being themselves, specially boys. Kaboku follows his guts, ignoring what other classmates expect from him and discovers something he actually enjoys doing, dancing.

The aesthetic of the manga is really amazing. The various dance movements are described through the story, which make this title perfect for dance fans. The storyline explores coming-of-age themes and develops an unexpected friendship between two very different teenagers linked by dance. Coffee created something quite unique and unexpected worth the discovery.

Wandance drew me in because of the art. Coffee uses a particularly gorgeous style that captivated me! I was also intrigued because of the style of dance- not ballet, but contemporary dance using a shy protagonist, Kaboku. While his development is expected and geared towards confidence and comfortability, his friend Wanda remains a bit of a mystery. I hope she doesn't become one-note and we learn more about her too as a person, but I do like their budding friendship.

This first volume goes at a quick pace as we watch Kaboku learn. I can see this series growing on me and will be checking out the next volume. Thank you to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for the ARC.

A very enjoyable first volume! It’s nice to see the main character with flaws that are relatable and watching him try and live through them is endearing.

**ARC provided by NetGalley for honest review**

Wandance 1 by Coffee was such a fun manga volume! It made me want to get up and dance too. This story follows a young high school boy with a stutter that gets interested in his school dance club by coming across a fellow student dancing outside school. He had an embarrassing dance memory in middle school, so he struggles with dancing when people look at him, but he really enjoys it. This is a heartwarming story with wonderful art. Highly recommend!

Loved this! Sure to a be a huge hit with k-pop/j-pop fans or dance fans in general. Well-written and beautifully drawn. Great pop culture references too.