01x01 - Wanda-san no Dansu

[bunniefuu]

[opening credits song plays]

WANDANCE

ICHIRIN HIGH SCHOOL

CLUB ACTIVITIES INTRODUCTION

ICHIRIN

[MC]

…and that's everything from the swim club.

Next we have a performance

from the dance club.

[students chattering, chuckling]

[music playing]

TOYO BASKETBALL 14

SHUNPEI - HOW'S IT GOING?

HOTO - THE DANCE CLUB IS

DOING THEIR INTRO NOW

THEY'RE LOOKING REAL GOOD

SEIYA - SO THEY'RE GOOD DANCERS?

HOTO - NAH, I MEAN THEIR FACES

I'VE GOT NO IDEA

IF THEY CAN DANCE OR NO

SHUNPEI - I GET YOU

BOB - THE ONE IN THE MIDDLE

IS MY TYPE

HOTO - YOU'RE INTO HER, YEAH?

WHAT 'BOUT YOU, KABO?

WHO'S YOUR TYPE?

I'M TOO SLEEPY TO WATCH

[Kabo] I can't bear to watch dancing.

-[music continuing over speakers]

-[crowd cheering]

It reminds me of something

that happened at junior high school.

[music stops]

Having class after this is such a drag.

[laughs]

What clubs are you guys gonna join?

If you wanna get girls,

the band club's a solid option.

Dumbass, we gotta stick to basketball.

We've been playing it

since our Toyo Junior High days.

Right, Kabo?

[chuckles]

[Kabo] Don't stand out too much

and don't go against what's cool.

Just keep it normal, or you're screwed.

Seriously, there are way

too many cute girls around here.

-You're totally drooling over them.

-[Hoto] Oh, man.

Oh, let's grab flyers

for the basketball club.

Does it say where they practice and stuff?

Us Toyo guys should be able

to smash this, right?

EXPERIENCED DANCERS

AND COMPLETE BEGINNERS WELCOME!

Yeah, let's hit 'em hard

right from the get-go!

We'll totally be starters, no problem.

[Seiya]

Nah, it's not that easy in high school.

[Hoto] Huh? Don't be a downer. You gotta

hype it up, like, "We're gonna crush it!"

Huh.

[grumbling]

[breathes deeply]

Why was she… pulling a face like that?

[Hoto] Kabo? What you doing?

SINCE DANCE BECAME

COMPULSORY IN 2012,

JAPAN'S DANCE SCENE HAS

CHANGED DRAMATICALLY,

WITH THE NUMBER OF STREET DANCERS

EXCEEDING 6 MILLION.

NOW RECRUITING NEW MEMBERS!

DANCE CLUB

Hey, Kabo. Why are you looking

at the dance club flyer?

No way. Aren't you joining basketball?

No, it's just…

There sure are a lot of cute girls.

[Seiya, Hoto] Totally.

Hmm?

It's that girl. So she can dance.

She must have done dancing before.

Why's she dancing there by herself?

She's pretty cute.

No, she's actually decent.

Huh? I…

No way. Look, look! Kabo! Seiya!

What's the deal?

I took a really good video.

For some reason, there was a girl dancing

in front of the glass

in her uniform just now.

-Check this out.

-Huh? Whoa.

[Kabo] He took a secret video?

[Hoto] I was sneaking around

waiting for the money shot.

I think you can see it!

What do you reckon?

-Wow. Pretty sexy.

-For real.

-Yeah, this is the real thing all right.

-Yeah. Wait, I can't see.

-Don't just pause it like that!

-[stammering] Um…

Would you quit it?

-Huh?

-Huh?

What's wrong?

Have you lost interest in girls

now that you're in high school, or what?

ICHIRIN

[bell tolls]

MODERN JAPANESE

JOINT CLASS TEST - 10:45

All right, that's time.

Let's check the answers.

Swap papers with the person next to you.

Here you go.

NAME HIKARI WANDA

WORLDLY DESIRES

[Kabo] Hikari Wanda from class 3.

She has such nice handwriting.

PEACEFUL

The letters are all jaggedy. So cool.

WORLDLY DESIRES

BASED ON EXPERIENCE

[moans]

[breathing heavily]

I'm sorry, Wanda.

Actually, when he showed me…

I looked for a second.

[Wanda] Done.

Thanks.

-Here.

-Thank you.

-[stammers] Wanda…

-Hmm?

Do you like dancing?

Mmm.

Yeah. How did you know?

[stuttering]

My friend said he saw you dancing.

Ah, so someone was watching?

[stuttering] Wanda…

I… The reason I'm speaking like this…

It's not because I'm nervous or anything.

Don't worry about it.

Got it. I don't mind.

0.0 Kg OFF ON

[straining]

STRENGTH ENDURANCE TES

-Here, Wanda.

-Thank you.

Fifteen kilos.

You're not as strong as I thought.

[wails]

-She literally wailed!

-Kinda cute though.

-[Wanda] Thank you for helping me.

-Sure.

[stuttering]

You're not very strong, are you?

No.

It may not look like it,

but I actually used to do karate.

-[imitates punches]

-Oh, right.

Don't you need to be strong to dance?

Hmm. Yeah, maybe?

Are you into dancing?

[stuttering] Not really.

When I was in junior high,

we had to dance in gym class.

I can't dance in front of people.

[normally] When we all watched the video

the teacher took,

it was hard to believe how

embarrassingly uncool my moves were.

[all laughing]

[gasps]

Seeing everyone laughing

while they were watching it

somehow made it feel

like they were laughing right at me.

Somehow, even watching other people

dance makes me embarrassed.

I get it. I get it.

It takes a lot of guts

to dance in front of other people.

But that's just how it is.

Then she just came in,

going like, "It's my turn."

Everyone was

desperately trying not to laugh.

And then another funny thing…

-Okay, let's go!

-Hey!

Okay, nail it!

Pass it this way, Kabo!

Everyone's eyes are on me

because I've got the ball.

I'll send the ball somewhere else.

Yes!

-Nice goal! Yeah! I know, I'm a genius!

-Yeah! Whoa! Yes!

-Whoo-hoo! Whoo-hoo!

-Nice!

Whoo-hoo! [chuckles]

-That was amazing.

-Yeah…

[both chuckling, gasping]

-He's so cool.

-Nice one.

-No way.

-Seriously?

Hey, Kabo. Come here. Come here.

Huh?

This guy's from Toyo basketball too!

He's massive, right?

Yo.

Kaboku Kotani? Cool name!

KABOKU KOTANI

Yeah. The kanji for "flower"

and the kanji for "wood." Pretty awesome.

[stuttering] Thank…

You can't get your words out.

Oh. What…

[laughs]

It's cool. It's cool.

He just talks like that,

but he's not a weirdo!

See? Unless you're just nervous?

No, I'm not.

-You're not?

-Is he for real?

Are you jumbling up

the words in your head?

[stuttering] No way.

[Hoto] You totally are! [laughs]

-Kaboku, you're so good at basketball.

-Eh.

How come?

How come?

Your passes are good,

your assists are good…

I can tell you're paying attention

to everything that goes on around you.

I just started playing

'cause my friends said to.

The only reason I look at everyone

is to try and keep up with them all.

I like playing,

but sometimes it feels suffocating.

You must get that too,

if you joined a dance club?

You have to dance in sync

with other people, right?

Yup. But I haven't danced

with other people yet.

I wanted to know what it would be like.

Why… Why dancing?

Eh?

Why?

Why do you want to dance?

[groans]

I love it. That's why.

Oh.

But now you mention it,

I wonder why that is.

The music is…

Or it's like you don't need props? No.

Hmm.

Oh.

But not having to speak is really nice.

I'm also not the best

at saying what I want to with words.

STUTTERING CLASSROOM

HOW TO CURE STUTTERING

HOW TO DEAL WITH STUTTERING

A BOOK TO UNDERSTAND STUTTERING

VOICE TECHNIQUES

FOR OVERCOMING STUTTERING

"A, E, I, U…"

"E, O, A, O…"

[chuckles]

She's right.

You don't need to speak when you dance.

[scatting]

[Kabo] The singer Scatman John.

He didn't give up on expressing himself,

even though he had a stutter.

"Scatman" became a worldwide hit.

Apparently, all the performers

in this music video had stutters too.

["Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop)"

continues playing]

[Scatman]

Where's the Scatman? ♪

I'm the Scatman… ♪

[Kabo] I want to see Wanda's dancing.

[phone buzzing]

[gasps]

TOYO BASKETBALL 14

HOTO - ADMIRE ICHIRIN'S HOTTEST GIRL

SHUNPEI - SHE'S CUTE RIGHT?

HATE GIRLS WHO ACT c*ck

JUST 'CAUSE THEY DANCE

HOTO - SHE LET ME TAKE I

-[phone continues buzzing]

-[breathes shakily]

[Hoto] Kabo? What the hell?

What?

You're the only one who didn't reply.

You just left me on read.

Why did you post that video?

Actually, the other day I happened

to see her and we chatted a bit.

You know who I mean?

Hikari Wanda in class 3.

She was so frosty, just giving me

one-word answers, like "Yeah" and "Okay".

For a dancer, her vibe is way dull.

-[Seiya chuckles]

-[laughs]

You shoulda been there.

-It would've been fun--

-You should delete that video.

Huh?

Are you still going on about that?

It was just a little joke.

[Kabo] You're the one whose vibe is off.

In a place like this

in the middle of nowhere,

with nothing but rice fields,

a supermarket and a pachinko parlor,

where trends arrive

five years late from Tokyo,

a place that's just generally uncool,

who's really cringey or lame?

Aren't we the most pathetic, for caring

about status in a place like this?

Now you're talking smoothly?

[stuttering] Don't change the subject!

Kabo, what's going on? You're being weird.

[Kabo normally]

Every time I laugh at someone,

it always comes back around,

and I end up feeling down.

If I have to try so hard to stay normal,

I'd rather do what I want

and be labeled a weirdo.

-Kabo!

-Kabo!

What's with him?

Let's just get rid of the video.

What?

[Kabo panting]

The reason I was so taken aback by her…

was surely…

[Kabo] …because I can feel

what she wants to say, even without words.

Somehow, it feels so

freeing.

[Wanda grunts]

[stuttering] Wanda.

I want to join the dance club, but…

this is all I've got.

[grunting, panting]

I think it's called the running man?

This is all I remember.

What do you think?

I can't really tell without any music.

But looking at your form,

maybe you could widen the elbows a bit.

-And lift your face up.

-[grunts]

I thought you'd laugh at me more.

I'm a beginner, and that dance move

looks better than it is.

I think it's good.

When you really wanna do something

is probably when you improve the most.

I figured out a reason why I dance.

What is it?

Somehow

it feels as though I can be free.

[end credits song plays]