01x09 - The Style Wall

[bunniefuu]

The open-style Endless Battle,

the main event, is about to begin!

-Whoa, Kadoma's next opponent is a B-Boy!

-[Kabe] Huh?

B-Boys have such sloppy musicality.

They kinda suck.

Yeah, it's all about throwing out

loads of flashy moves.

Okay, we're ready to go.

Both dancers come to center stage, please.

Huh? Is that the B-Boy?

Oh, crap…

-It's Kadoma vs B-Boy Kabe. Let's go!

-["SE4 2SH" playing]

[audience member] Go for it, Kadoma!

[audience member 2] Show 'em

what you've got, Kadoma!

[audience cheering]

[audience cheers]

[MC] Nice feeling!

Next on the battle stage is B-Boy,

Kabe! Let's go!

[Kabe] So B-Boy

can't win an open-style battle?

B-Boy

sucks because of sloppy musicality?

If that's what you all think,

how about I show you a dance

that blows your minds?

[cheers]

If all you do is follow the beat,

you'll still be second-rate.

I'm going to control the beat instead.

WANDANCE

["Samurai 2022 ver." playing]

The way Iori dances house…

Man, it's so cool.

When I danced just the way On wanted,

I won.

When I danced following Iori's suggestion,

I lost.

But the one that made me feel the best…

[stutters] It's like the pieces…

are all jumbled…

[Iori] Oh, you mean

from one step to the next?

Link them like a word game chain.

[stutters] A word game?

Like, try repeating only the final step

of the Charleston

then link it to another step

that starts with that move.

Got it…

Put simply,

your hands and feet

are the body's endpoints

and the energy only really reaches

those points in the last moment.

The first thing that moves is the trunk.

The neck, chest, hips…

Everything begins with the trunk, and

the hands and feet follow slightly behind.

It's the flow of these movements

in sequence that creates a dance.

I feel like dancing back and forth

to the same beat

is a better way to connect

with someone than using words.

That's how I started dancing with Iori

every day during lunch.

-I-Iori.

-Mmm?

I want to dance house.

Oh. You're an unusual guy.

People say house is a dance

that you only start to get how fun it is

after you've danced for a while.

To be honest,

I had zero interest in it at first.

I got into it through breaking.

B-Breaking.

[Iori] To be honest, at the B-Boy

training place I occasionally hit up,

most of them are okay dancers, I guess.

But there's this one guy who's insane.

This guy's reached a level

that regular power movers can't touch.

He really gets dance… I think.

So, you… you guys vibe.

Nah.

I'm not sure about that.

[sighs]

I went up against Kabe

in a breaking battle

back in my second year, and he beat me.

After that, I gave up on breaking

and switched to house.

It must have clicked with me,

because I started flourishing

around my third year.

When I run into him at practice spots

or events, on the surface we get along,

but I heard a rumor that he says stuff

behind people's backs.

[Kabe] Anyone who does toprock is

just someone who bailed on breaking.

A judge who gives someone like that

any credit is finished.

Still, the stuff he says

isn't entirely wrong, either.

He'll be participating, by the way.

At the next event,

the Inter-High Dance Battle.

So that's why Iori wanted to compete

as part of the dance club.

Oh. Kabo.

Oh.

I probably shouldn't have

left her waiting all by herself…

Oh…

[stutters] Yo.

Yo!

So, no more dance practice

outside the club, huh?

Yeah.

I-Iori told me about

a B-Boy practice spot…

[Wanda] I'm nervous.

[hip-hop music playing]

Nice, Chun.

-Huh?

-Huh?

[grunts]

-Oh? Iori's not here. [grunts]

-[phone buzzes]

IORI

SORRY, I'LL BE LATE.

START DANCING WITHOUT ME.

[gasps]

I guess we have no choice.

Kabo, let's go say hello.

Oh. Iori's friends?

You're Hikari Wanda

from Ichirin High School. I've seen you.

That thing that was trending?

-She's famous?

-She was in the video…

[whispering] That girl. So, I guess those

two… Is that what's going on? Go ask them.

On the way home from school…

alone together…

[Kabo] Oh… Oh…

-Is she your girlfriend?

-Huh?

[grunts] No…

-[all grunt]

-[music starts playing]

Whoa!

Huh? Those guys seem

way more enthusiastic than usual.

They really are all B-Boys.

They're all working on their own stuff.

Iori told me to start without him,

but what do I do?

[hip-hop music playing through speaker]

Wow.

That's hitting.

So Wanda's a popper.

["DOGS WILL BE DOGS" playing]

He's doing house.

He can dance like that

when making it up on the spot?

Cool, right?

[Kabo] Wanda is incredible.

There's something only I know.

She's aiming to be

the best dancer in the world.

I'll do my own dance.

Not often you see Kabe super absorbed

in something like that, huh?

Yeah, seriously.

I thought he was just another guy

who does flashy moves.

Just some wannabe

who turned up at this spot to hang out…

Turns out I was wrong.

I like it.

Oh.

This guy must be Kabe…

Yo.

Sorry I'm late. Let's do this?

These two are my elite dancers.

Yeah?

You guys can actually dance.

You should join the cypher.

Cypher?

A "cypher" is a circle of dancers.

One person dances at a time in the middle.

We usually end our sessions here

with a cypher.

With breaking, right?

These two don't have much experience.

Well, they've got an hour

to figure it out.

-Wha…

-Since they're elite.

[gasps]

Huh? I gotta teach these two?

Well then,

shall I teach mushroom boy over there?

[grunts]

So we'll see who can pull off

the best move after an hour, or something?

Love it.

Thank you…

So I guess…

For now, how about toprock?

[music playing]

This kind of thing.

Got it? How to explain?

Just try doing what I did.

I thought she'd get it. She's grasped that

bouncy, driving feel of the breakbeats.

Thank goodness.

Okay! Let's leave toprock there for a bit.

[Wanda] Huh…

[Iori] Let's go straight into footwork.

The movement's gotta flow

so you end up on the floor like this.

[grunting, gasps]

[chuckles] It's hard, right?

-[Wanda] Yeah.

-Really? Iori goes to the dance club too?

Seriously?

Do you like the dance club?

What is that?

Iori first and now this guy…

When they hear about the dance club,

it's like they look down on it.

Winning contests and all that is amazing,

but does Ichirin High School

ever enter battles?

[Kabo] We're going to.

I want to win.

-I like it.

-Huh?

I like it, I like it.

Um…

[audience cheering]

[Kabe] All the more reason

to practice the cypher.

The next battle is in a circle format too.

Well, I won't make you look bad.

["Break Down" playing]

[Iori] The basic flow of breaking

starts with toprock. This is toprock.

Then floor moves.

Footwork and power moves

performed on the floor, and so on.

Then finally, you finish it off

with a freeze.

That's the gist of it.

[B-Boy 1] The way she got down

on the floor was awesome.

Huh?

Nicely done, nicely done.

I bet On would be really good

at teaching this.

[B-Boys exclaim, laugh]

I never thought someone trying breaking

for the first time

would bust out uprock like that.

UPROCK… ON 1, 2,

HIT 'EM WITH ATTACK MOVES,

THEN DROP DOWN ON 3 & 4

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[chuckling]

Go, Kabe!

Whoo!

Iori, I still haven't forgotten.

Yeah! Yeah!

[B-Boy 2] That was insane.

-Nice.

-So good. Sick. Cool, man.

You're breaking out in a cold sweat.

Are you okay?

Now I think about it,

I guess there's a chance

I'll run into Kabe in a battle setting

sometime in the future.

-Yo.

-Oh. Hey.

Seriously, if I lose my daytime

practice spot, I'll have nowhere to go.

M… Me too.

Kabo.

Kabe made you drop a set yesterday, right?

A… A set?

Your dance looked totally choreographed

from beginning to end.

[grunts] I kind of had a feeling…

It's fine. I'll prepare a routine,

so all you have to do is dance it.

I was relieved, but at the same time,

I felt like I was doing something wrong.

But I couldn't find the right words.

You know those toys?

The ones that wiggle

when you make a sound?

What we're doing is likely just like that.

The competition is basically

who can wiggle the most stylishly.

Things like performing synchronized

choreography with a large group,

or creating set routines

for a solo performance

are the total opposite to street dance.

[Kabo] That's why up until now…

You remember the other day

when I had a battle with On

in the club room, don't you?

Before that, we, like, had

a small clash or something… [sighs]

Iori, I think you're wrong.

You have no idea what kind of practice

the dance club is doing right now

or what kind of ideas everyone has.

[gasps]

I know, if I beat you at a battle,

you have to join the club again.

You wanna do a battle, right?

Are you serious?

So I ended up coming to the club,

and then I understood.

It's different to when I was a first year,

because On is the president.

She's amazing.

She gets everyone to naturally start

with the core parts of street dance.

It forces you to get better,

whether you like it or not.

A dance club like that is good.

[Kabo sighs]

Huh?

I MAY NOT SPEAK SMOOTHLY,

BUT I WILL SPEAK SLOWLY

"Stutter card?"

I'm making this my phone background

so next time I can't say what I want to,

I can just whip it out.

Yeah? Yeah.

Wh… What I'm saying is that if you're open

with On about changing your opinion,

I think she would be really happy.

Oh, really? You think so?

[chuckling]

I GOT THE SOUND EQUIPMEN

I'VE BEEN WANTING!

-["Body Language" playing]

-The new sound system is seriously good.

Yeah.

Wanda can do those hits

in sync with On perfectly now.

Wanda's pushing herself

to get further and further ahead.

I've gotta catch up quickly.

-[phone buzzes]

-Oh…

Even so,

since that practice the other day,

I've been getting invitations from Kabe

over and over.

…YOU WON'T LEARN PROPERLY.

IT'S BETTER TO FOCUS ON BREAKING

I guess, I'm happy he seems to have

taken a liking to my dancing.

I THINK YOU'LL BE

GOOD AT BREAKING

[On] Everyone who wants to enter

the solo division

of the upcoming Inter-High Dance Battle,

gather over here!

[chuckles]

[chuckles]

-Oh.

-Ah…

Well, nice group, huh?

I think so too!

[feet scuffing]

[grunting]

Were you watching?

I want to dance with you again,

and I thought I might fall behind you

if I don't work at my breaking.

Ah…What?

She's just the same as me.

[B-Boy 3] Seriously? Ichirin High School

is entering the battle too?

[B-Boy 4] The kids from Ichirin High

School who came to the park the other day

were pretty good at dancing,

especially the guy.

[B-Boy 2] That's Kabo.

Even though he's a beginner…

[B-Boy 3] When someone with

a physique like that does it,

even something simple

like uprock hits differently.

KABOKU

WHEN ARE YOU COMING NEXT?

SORRY! MY PRACTICE SESSIONS

FOR THE BATTLE INCREASED,

SO I MIGHT NOT BE ABLE

TO COME FOR A WHILE…

THANK YOU FOR THE INVITATION!!

Huh? Kabe, you're going home already?

Oh, have you got work?

Yeah. Anyway,

let's show 'em what we've got.