Manga Review | Wandance Volume 1

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, Vol. 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 of the panels are absolutely jawdropping.

Overall, this is an endearing series about learning how to embracing yourself and (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.

Thank you, NetGalley and Kodansha, for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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