Coffee

Another volume of the dancing series about very earnest dancers who dance a lot and talk about dancing even more.

It's nice, and I like it as I'm reading it. But then I see the series is up to twelve volumes and counting and that seems like maybe a bit too much for these characters at this pace.

Hmm. I'll probably come back to this in a little while. Maybe.

FOR REFERENCE:

Contents: Chapter 4. Afterbeat -- Chapter 5. The Routine -- Chapter 6. Feeling (Pt. 1) -- Chapter 7. Feeling (Pt. 2) -- Chapter 8. The World -- Author's Afterword -- Translation Notes… (más)

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… (más)

I can't get over how technical this makes hip-hop dances, but for someone first learning how to dance to it I guess this is as step-by-step as a beginner would need. I like that one of the characters acknowledged it's not all about how well you can copy another dancer (outside of choreographed dances), it's also about your own style and flow, y'know.

Commendable on the author for trying their best to draw movement and 8-counts. This is one manga that seriously requires animation to show it to its full potential. Yes, everyone still looks goofy.

But the story and the main character are earnest. Wholesome, even.

Volume 1 review: here

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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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