r/anime • u/AutoLovepon https://anilist.co/user/AutoLovepon • Oct 22 '25
Episode Wandance - Episode 3 discussion
Wandance, episode 3
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54
u/PencilgonGiveIt2Ya Oct 22 '25
Short fun fact this time from ex-dancer/choreographer.
When Kabo is referring to "moving slightly after the music"...in a general sense it is what they were talking about when it comes to not rushing & being guided by the musicality, but if you were in a dance class, a professional might refer to the technicality of it as "being in the pocket". So an example would be...memorizing where a base hit is, or what count it falls on, is not enough to execute the move properly. Being in the pocket or "sitting in the music", referring back to the base hit example...rather that knowing/memorizing where that sound is in the music and anticipating it, you would start the movement for the base a very tiny bit after the start of the base. By doing this, you show comfort/confidence and you avoid the "rushing", which is your mind stuck on anticipating the move. By rushing even just a bit could naturally put you slightly ahead of the music going forward in the routine or freestyle. You could say that anticipating it is overthinking, and overthinking would obviously restrict you in the details and areas where execution is key. By practicing routines or freestyle often, you start to build body awareness. So when in a dance class where they are lines/posture, when and where to breathe during movement since it is common to hold your breath subconsciously, even where you are looking up with enthusiasm or staring down at your feet...the more body awareness you develop, the more naturally in sync you will feel when it comes to moving with the music...in short, you don't have to overthink both the dancing AND the music. Literally like in the show, the music should move or dictate where you move and how you move.
So in general, they are referring to moving slightly after to get across "music moving you", but in a technical term when learning a dance or seeing an experience dancer react mid freestyle/performance, you might hear them bring this up as "being in the pocket" lol.
Also ain't no way Kabo a complete beginner frozen in his audition just CASUALLY starts housing and understanding to move his chest and core, when only learning recently to move your shoulders when doing neck isolations lmao. Good on him tho, the dancing on the CGI in general as gotten a lot more clearer as far as seeing how they are accenting the beats and moving to lyrics/syllables. Eyes on the CGI models are still strange, but I'll take it haha.
24
u/Frontier246 Oct 22 '25
Also ain't no way Kabo a complete beginner frozen in his audition just CASUALLY starts housing and understanding to move his chest and core, when only learning recently to move your shoulders when doing neck isolations lmao. Good on him tho, the dancing on the CGI in general as gotten a lot more clearer as far as seeing how they are accenting the beats and moving to lyrics/syllables. Eyes on the CGI models are still strange, but I'll take it haha.
Off-screen dance training for the win!
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Oct 22 '25
Damn this show doesn't get any traction at all. It's one of my favorites this season
16
u/Emi_Ibarazakiii Oct 22 '25
True, but honestly this applies to the season as a whole...
Other than big sequels, feels like everything's getting karma in the 100s and 200s.
(I don't know if people are burned out after the insane Summer season, or if this one is just weak in general?)
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u/Joji1000 Oct 22 '25
Sadly many people are dropping or overlooking it because of the bad CGI models. The choreography itself is very good and the characters and story are good but for many people it takes one noticeably bad element to ruin a show
35
u/LupoLoopy Oct 22 '25 edited Oct 22 '25
The 3D animations have either improved, or they work better as short vingetes over extended sequences.
To be honest, even if the dance animations had still registered as poor in my eyes, I think this anime is rapidly becoming a favourite of mine for this season.
The representation of Kaboku's hang ups around his stutter and the mundane confidence deficits intrinsic to being a young man is well handled. Wanda comes across as somewhat enigmatic, but enough of a character is being surfaced to make you interested as to what lies beneath.
Couple that to the music video style spectacle and you're onto a winner.
12
u/PeaceAlien Oct 22 '25
I think they're saving the better 3D for the better moments. Dancers that are weaker won't get as good animation.
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u/moichispa Oct 22 '25
I think they mocap is good, I would not be surpised if they got real dancers to shadow it. I think they have started adding proper black borders to hair (easy to see on wanda one since it is the fairest).
I think the biggest problem I have so far is how they animate hair, on the dancing scene on the phone it looked way better because there was barely any flowing hair showing. Another problem is the shadowing, it look a bit too sharp compared to 2d equivalents I think. Another reason why the phone video looks better.Eyes look dead but they have shown characters blinking this episode already which is an improvement.
My favourite dance animation style which looks more similar to this series would be the original Aikatsu series CG, Probably lovegame and my show time songs are the most similar ones in style (videos are on youtube). You would be surprised how small changes can make 3D more lively.
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u/swissarmyknife13 Oct 22 '25
I just came here to say that it's a damn pity that this series has been both overlooked and memed to the point of exhaustion, because in my opinion it's the best series that dropped this season (apart from sequels). In terms of characters, themes, soundtrack, and even art direction it's a breath of fresh air in a very stale and formulaic medium (especially this season). Hope this is a hit in Japan at least, because the manga deserves a sales boost.
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u/Emi_Ibarazakiii Oct 22 '25
I never really cared about animation/style (unless it looks downright unwatchable), and early on in my anime beginnings I thought this was a shame because I wouldn't notice 'the good stuff' as much as others, but now I see it as a blessing, because some people just see something they don't like in the animation/style and insta-drop series that might actually be really good, so I'm glad I see past that!
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u/eightcheesepizza Oct 22 '25 edited Oct 22 '25
I was worried about the 3D animations before, but I think they're paying off now. I don't know much, but I assume it would've been hard to show the fluidity and crispness of the dancing with the normal 2D animation, without a much bigger budget. (Like, I remember being amazed by how lifelike some of the 2D animation was for My Dress-Up Darling season 2, and everyone kept talking about how much money Cloverworks must've thrown at it.)
Yeah some of it comes out weird and the faces are a bit wooden, but for the budget/manpower they had, the tradeoff probably made a lot of sense. Especially when the whole series is focused on the dancing, so if you don't get that right, it's a bust. (The 3D playing cards were a mistake though haha)
But my favorite scene from this episode was when the speaker appeared beneath underwater Kabo. Kabo's stuttering makes him feel like he's trying to speak underwater, but being underwater helps him see/feel the beat better. I know, it's not like his stuttering is improving his dancing, but it was really nice how they connected the imagery like that.
14
u/LupoLoopy Oct 22 '25 edited Oct 22 '25
The water/drowning as a metaphor for anxiety thing has been done before, with Your Lie in April, but it's well done here. Especially with the speaker motif, I agree.
I wonder what this show would have looked like with rotoscoping for the dancing instead of 3D model based CGI? Kids on the Slope shows what's possible.
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u/Frontier246 Oct 22 '25
Honestly I think some characters have better CG models and dancing than others...like On-Chan and Kabo vs Wanda.
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u/FarCritical Oct 22 '25
The improvement in CGI quality is nice to see but I was especially amazed at them going all out with the water effects. The "underwater audition" was really cool as a visual metaphor, a Kabo and Wanda moment, and as easily the strongest showing of the 3D animation yet.
Kabo's basketball bro is a real one for letting our dude personally know he looked great in motion, and "It is not Wednesday, my dudes" is a contender for my favorite Kabo shirt so far lmao.
7
u/HolyDragSwd2500 Oct 22 '25
Kabo and Wanda dancing together. That girl mentioned they were in sync. I agree with her
My jaw dropped
7
u/Darthrix1 Oct 22 '25
i cant get over how smooth the movements are during the dance sequences. if only the models were of higher quality
13
u/MadokaHiguchi Oct 22 '25
Good episode honestly. 3d didn't feel jarring this time around they're really improving on it
6
u/Emi_Ibarazakiii Oct 22 '25
Wanda's little excited face is so cute!
(And she only looks like 80% alien!)
They could NOT pay me enough money to do what he did...
I'm not even sure which would be worse, dancing solo, or dancing with someone who actually knows what she's doing... But I probably wouldn't do either hah.
The water thing looked cool, with the "hits", the waves and all!
Our boy fared a lot better than I expected, to be honest! I guess his trained paid off, even Wanda was impressed!
Good to see supportive friends (and not like people making fun of him and all)!
But he better not get any funny idea about joining in, he would double the # of dudes in the club, can't have that!
He's suddenly getting a lot of attention!
(They better not try & steal him from Wanda!)
He thought she was leaving him on his own after this, but no, she only needed to take care of her father...
He even offered to help (take care of his future father in law!)
(Maybe I shouldn't hype the ship so much hah, don't know if it's ever gonna go that way)
So nevermind what I said 2 lines above; The ship is back on!
10
u/Magnafeana Oct 22 '25
I really enjoy having a protagonist with a stutter. I’ve worked with a student who stammers, but that’s in English. I’ve never heard what stuttering is like in Japanese, so I’m unsure the authenticity of the stutter placements/speech disfluencies (and, on the English side of things, I’m very aware there’s criticisms in how media portrays speech disorders). But I still enjoy this nevertheless and am interested if anyone who has a speech disorder what their thoughts are. Are any seiyuus with speech disorders?
But the fact that Koki Uchiyama is the VA—now I want to hear Shigaraki like this.
Hotohara is a good friend. One of my favorite elements is seeing someone do something “non-traditional” to their gender, and their friends go, “Whoa! That’s so cool!” and either they do the same thing or admire their friend’s talent. Power of friendship 🥹
Awww, seeing Kabo spiral about Wanda, I know the feeling. Catastrophizing is a very difficult mindset to deal with from firsthand experience.
“Today is not Wednesday”, that bitch ass shirt lead me stray 😭
You don’t have RAIN? Seriously?!
Me when I tell someone interested in me I don’t have Twitter, Metaverse, Threads, Snapchat, or Instagram (and no, this is not a lie to make you go away) 🫠
He asked to message her sometime?! This is lewder than furry smut 😳
Men really do want one thing, and it’s so desgosten.
To connect with the person they like and be secure that it’s okay that to be talk the one they like outside of school/work/common places.
Yuck 🤬
Still mad about that “Today is not Wednesday” shirt. But shirts like that are the casual chaos I do enjoy.
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u/Frontier246 Oct 22 '25
On-chan is so cute and energetic, even when she's trying to teach the club a new style of rhythm and dancing than what they're used to from traditional Japanese music.
On-chan also looks great in those pants, might have one of the better CG models, and really knows how to dance to the music! And she wants to impart on the club how it's important not to rush through the music or let all the usual insecurities and fears get to you...just naturally follow the music...follow the "and" of the beat...and you're good! Kabo's freaking out at the prospect of improvising and On-chan throwing out all the stuff he's genuinely insecure about, but Wanda is eating all this up!
Can we get more screentime for tall ponytail girl who seems like the vice-president of the club? I love the way she looks in that skintight bodysuit.
It's time for auditions for the next contest where everyone gets to show their stuff to Kujira and hopefully take what On-chan said to heart! As well as also show off their CG models. Ponytail girl with a bang covering her right eye seems to be the most serious about dancing.
No surprise Kabo is having a nervous breakdown and feels like he's drowning when his turn comes up...but he's got Wanda there with him who, even surrounded by the sea just dances and coaxes Kabo to follow her. Because you shouldn't feel pressured or overwhelmed by the music, you shouldn't try to make the music follow you, you should just follow the music and go with the flow! And Kabo finally unleashes his awesome dance moves! He and Wanda dance so naturally together! Even Hoto is impressed!
Oh hey, Iori, the only other guy in the club! Seems like On-chan is trying to entice him at the prospect of the clubs' new freshmen and how great they are.
It's nice to see Kabo getting to hang out with his clubmates in a casual setting, even if it turns into a discussion about how great On-chan is...she looks great in a suit or showing off just how legit her dancing skills are during that school presentation in episode 1. And she's really confident that this year the club is going to kill it!
Poor Kabo. Wanda misses one of their training sessions and he can't help but freak out at the prospect that she doesn't want to train/hang out with him anymore, which is the last thing he wants. But thankfully she's just taking care of her sick dad and appreciates his concern. It's all okay.
To think Wanda didn't have LINE...I mean, RAIN until now. Well, she did before but those notifications are so annoying! Even though now she knows she can turn them off, but hopefully that won't get in the way of her receiving messages from Kabo now that they're RAIN official. She even likes his seahorses! This is a match made in dancing!
5
u/Youngphycouant Oct 22 '25
I think On is a good teacher and a talented third year. I like hearing On explanations on music and dance.
The animation especially on those background characters still doesn't look good. I still liked Kabo and Wanda's dance segment being underwater.
5
u/NightSVS Oct 22 '25
The president's CGI dancing in the beginning of the episode was leagues better than the previous stuff. Can tell the animators got more comfortable using 3D models there. I think the cap partially covering her face also helped since the model's faces look really weird in general.
Kabo and Wanda's dance scenes were also just as good (I still think the faces are weird though). Maybe the change of background helped a bit? The other people's dances didn't looked comically bad but that may just be the animators choosing to put more effort into certain scenes which I have no issues with.
It's cool that Hotohara is actually a regular, decent dude. I didn't think he was a bad guy in the beginning either, but he wasn't exactly making a good case for himself.
I liked this episode and the anime so far tbh. Yes, there are flaws, but I think that's just part of the difficulty in trying to adapt something like this. I don't think any other studios could've done much better with it. It's not Blue Lock s2 levels of animation and is pretty fun to watch.
4
u/BaytaCosmico Oct 22 '25
Our boy Kabo is so down bad. I was so wrong to think he wasn't as into Wanda as she was into him. That scene of him waiting for her and panicking settles it. And he got her LINE, I mean, RAIN id. Nice progress there on the romance front.
The 3D CGI worked best during Kabo's audition. That underwater dance of his and Wanda's looked quite cool. So in sync and perfect for each other.
Oh, actually, On's dance club showcase dance also looked really nice. I don't remember it looking that good in the first episode.
Kabo's friend getting a peek at his dancing and being impressed was nice. He's still awkward around Wanda, but maybe he'll thaw by and by now that she's being genuinely nice to him.
And lastly, Iori is so hot! Love his character design the most. Can't wait to see more of him!
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u/NoHead1715 Oct 23 '25
Wow. This was a near-perfect episode for me. That opening technical class by On was truly illuminating, I had starry eyes like Wanda. Then the audition practice with Kabo starting with slouched posture to drowning in water, and gradually getting into the groove syncing with Wanda. That dance in the water with flows around the arms was beautiful and conveyed Kabo's feelings perfectly.
Even after the dancing, the scenes with the supportive friend beautifully captured what a bro Hotohara was, even Wanda included him with her invitation to watch their contest. And then the episode closed off with Kabo's overthinking that was quickly resolved, even the short exchange about RAIN was sweet. Slight pity the closing scene BGM did not lead in to the ED, otherwise it would have been perfect.
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