Kaboku Kotani is an anxious high school boy who stutters, but seeing a classmate who dances like nobody's watching inspires him to try out for the school's dance team.

It's one of those stories about an earnest young teen who finds he has a natural talent that just needs to be honed. And there are some romantic possibilities.

Pulling off dance and music on the page can be a tricky thing, but this manga is managing to make it work so far. My main concern at this point is that the hero is going to level up too quickly as the series settles into a boring string of competitions, but I'm going to keep my fingers crossed and try the next volume.

FOR REFERENCE:

Contents: Chapter 1. How Wanda-san Dances -- Chapter 2. The Dance Club's Boy/Girl Ration -- Chapter 3. The Audition -- Bonus. Kotani-kun of the Dance Club Stutters -- Author's Afterword -- Translation Notes ( )

I cannot take this manga seriously. Some of the dancing shots, man. If you see it, you’ll know what I mean lol. Things look slightly off, but I think it was an effective and commendable way for the mangaka to show movement. This is one of those mangas where an anime is almost necessary to really get the ideas across.

Despite that, the characters are charming. Kaboku’s a tall, shy dude who doesn’t want to stand out due to past insecurities, but somehow dance and a cute girl keep drawing him out of his shell. Hikari is quirky and uses dance as a way to express herself. I like that Hikari’s not pushy and notices Kaboku and encourages him. Kaboku is also a decent guy. These two are wholesome.

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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. ( )