Wandance anime adaptation officially announced for 2025 release window

Modified Aug 24, 2024 14:30 GMT

Wandance anime adaptation officially announced for 2025 release window (Image via Kodansha)

Wednesday, August 21, 2024, saw the television Wandance anime adaptation officially announced as in production, also confirming a general 2025 release window for the project. While no trailer or key visuals were revealed alongside the news, the author and illustrator of the original hip-hop dance manga did draw a celebratory illustration for the announcement.

The Wandance anime did at least confirm that Madhouse Studios and Cyclone Graphics Inc. will be in charge of the anime’s production, also confirming the involvement of others in various roles. Given the timing of this announcement and what information was made available, fans can expect the Wandance anime to premiere sometime in the Summer 2025 season or later.

Wandance anime brings mangaka Coffee’s original hip-hop dance manga to life in 2025

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As mentioned above, the initial announcement of the Wandance anime’s production confirmed the involvement of other parties in various roles beyond Madhouse studios and Cyclone Graphics Inc. dancer, choreographer, and singer RIEHATA, who has created choreographies for Japanese groups EXILE and KAT-TUN and Korean groups BTS, EXO, and Red Velvet, is the anime’s dance producer. Unfortunately, no other staff information is available at this time.

However, it’s expected that the anime’s next announcement will reveal both the central staff for the anime series and its starring cast. Major roles such as director, character designer, animation director, and others will likely be revealed as a part of the former.

As for the latter, it’s likely that only central characters Kaboku Kotani and Hikari Wanda will be announced at first, with the additional cast being revealed at a later date.

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The Wandance anime will serve as a television anime adaptation of author and illustrator Coffee’s original manga series of the same name. Coffee’s manga began serialization in Kodansha’s Monthly Afternoon magazine in 2019 and is simultaneously published in their Magazine Pocket app. Kodansha USA Publishing releases the manga in English, describing it as follows:

“A boy named Kaboku sees a girl named Wanda dance, and suddenly burns with a need to join in. With its thrilling scenes of Japanese hip-hop dance and quirky, charming characters, this is a new, inspirational manga for fans of coming-of-age stories like Blue Period and Your Lie in April. Get up and join the Wandance!"

It continues:

"Kaboku has always just gone with the flow, marching in step to the drumbeat of the expectations of those around him: parents, school, plans for the future. It feels predictable, safe, and… empty. But one night, Kaboku's at school late, and he happens on a girl alone, moving wildly, turning a blank space of concrete into a canvas."

The description concludes:

"This is Hikari Wanda, a member of the hip-hop dance club. Kaboku is immediately smitten, but the road to stepping out of his shell is a long one. The club is almost entirely girls, and they're all, well, way better than him. What's ahead is unknown, and that's terrifying, but it also means, for the first time in Kaboku's life… a taste of freedom.”