by The second episode of the fall anime series “One Dance,” “The Gender Ratio in the Dance Club,” will begin airing on October 15, 2025, at 11:45 pm.
“One Dance” is a street dance and romance manga serialized by Coffee in the monthly comic magazine “Afternoon.” It tells the coming-of-age story of high school student Kaboku Kotani (nicknamed “Kabo”), who stutters and struggles to speak in front of others. He becomes captivated by his classmate Hikari Wanda, who dances with exceptional talent, and challenges himself to express himself through “freestyle” dance, which requires no words. Kato Michiya is the director, scriptwriter, and VFX specialist, with Madhouse and Cyclone Graphics handling the animation. Uchiyama Kouki plays the protagonist, Kabo, also known as Kaboku Kotani, and Hitsujimiya Hina plays Wanda, also known as Hikari Wanda.
The dance parts were motion captured by dancer KAITA for Kabo and dancer KANATA for Wanda. Due to the nature of this theme, the following text contains spoilers for those who have not yet seen the series. Please be careful when reading—episode 2. Having decided to join the dance club, Kabo heads to the club’s practice location.
With dance now a required subject in junior high, there are over 2,000 junior and senior high school dance clubs, comprising a total membership of more than 60,000. However… (The male-to-female ratio is an astonishing 5:95.) Thinking this, Kabo opens the door. As expected, it’s full of girls. Since it’s a trial membership period, he watches from a corner of the room with his classmate, Wanda Hikari (hereafter Wanda).
The dance club at Ichirin High School, Kabo’s school, consists of 10 third-year girls and 14 second-year girls. (Wait, there are no boys!) Kabo thinks. Akari, a member of the five-member dance and vocal group ELSEE, who sings the ending theme “Wondrous,” also posted on social media, “Kabo’s courage inspires me too.”
The seniors, led by club president Miyao On (nicknamed “On-chan”), began with stretching exercises and then proceeded to isolation exercises. Isolation exercises involve moving only certain parts of the body, such as the neck, waist, or chest. “If you can dance, go ahead and dance,” said Club President Miyao, and Kabo joined Wanda and the others in practice. Kabo was relieved when Club President Miyao noted, “There’s another second-year boy,” but then added, “He hardly ever comes to club activities, though.”
Rhythm training began, but Kabo felt anxious about the difference between himself and the girls (“I’m the only one who’s so bad…”) and froze up when Club President Miyao looked at him. Later, Kabo confessed to Wanda that he wanted to participate in a high school dance competition. Kabo struggles to speak in front of others due to his stutter, but he’s finally found a way to express himself without speaking: dance. He wants to dance with Wanda. He practices isolation at home. ELSEE’s Karin is currently offering a one-point isolation lesson.
After school, Kabo asks Wanda to help him practice. However, he can’t move his body as if he’s being watched. When Wanda advises him to “just focus on the music,” he naturally begins to get into the rhythm. Online, people are expressing their sense of change: “Kabo is a quick learner!” “Kabo has a good ear! You can really feel the moment he gets hooked on the music,” and “Kabo has a talent for dance, so I bet he’ll really transform…” One day during practice, Captain Miyao announces that auditions will be held for the dance contest in June.
The judging method will be “free,” meaning an improvised dance without any choreography, which is sure to cause a stir among the club members. During practice after school, Wanda praises Kabo, saying, “Kabo, your way of taking notes has become more and more natural recently.” Still, at the same time, he compares himself to Wanda (who doesn’t pay any attention to anyone’s expressions when dancing). Wanda says something to Kabo, who seems intimidated… After the broadcast, many comments about Kabo were posted online.
“The portrayal of Kabo becoming addicted to dance is fun,” “I tried the isolation dance with him,” “When Kabo was trying to stretch, his knees were cracking loudly, which made me feel closer to him,” “It was really cool to see Kabo interpret the rhythm in his own way and get deeper and deeper into the world of dance!” “Kabo is working hard on his own, but Wanda’s presence and dance are changing him. “It really conveyed how Kabo was captivated by Wanda’s free-flowing dance and how he became fascinated by her worldview!” “It’s getting interesting to see Kabo becoming more and more addicted to dance!!” Hina Hitsujimiya, who plays Wanda, also posted comments saying, “On’s cheerfulness and the sharpness she sometimes shows were very cute and cool. Wanda is so cute you can’t take your eyes off her, but it’s not just that she loves to dance; it’s also because she dances with such determination that I think she has the charm to draw viewers in.” They also performed a sharp dance to the opening theme, “Stare In Wonder,” sung by a seven-member dance and vocal group.
The music video for the ending theme “Wondrous” has also been released, along with comments from choreographers KAITA and KANATA. The highly challenging choreography is a must-see! “One Dance” will be broadcast every Wednesday from 111:45 p.m. on TV Asahi’s nationwide “IMAnimation W” slot and other channels. All episodes will be available for unlimited streaming (exclusively) on Disney+ every Thursday from 11:15 pm and will begin streaming on other streaming sites from 11:00 am on October 10. TV anime “One Dance”
Staff Original work: Coffee (serialized in Kodansha’s “Afternoon”) Director, scriptwriter, VFX: Michiya Kato Chief animation director/character design: Satoshi Tazaki (the character for “崎” is pronounced “tatsusaki”), Daiki Imamura 3DCG director: Yuki Akiyama, Tomohisa Shitara Motion capture supervisor: Rei Sugimoto Art director: Yoichi Watanabe Art design: Hideki Sato, Color design: Manami Sasa Visual direction: Kana Iida Director of photography: Daichi Iseki Editing: Yoshiko Kimura Sound director: Hata Shoji Sound Effects: Izumo Noriko Accompaniment Music: Chiba “naotyu” Naoki Music Producer: Senda Kohei, Kaneno Sayaka Dance Producer: RIEHATA Animation Production: Madhouse x Cyclone Graphics
Cast Kotani Hanaki: Uchiyama Kouki Wanta Hikari: Hitsujimiya Hina Miyao On: Suwa Ayaka Itsukushima Iori: Masuda Toshiki Kabeya Raku: Uchida Yuma Takumi Uchi: Hayashi Isamu Kotani Hanaki: KAITA Wanta Hikari: KANATA Miyao On: ReiNa Itsukushima Iori: YOUTEE Kabeya Raku: YU-KI Opening Theme: “Stare In Wonder” BE: FIRST (B-ME) Ending Theme: “Wondrous” ELSEE (Epic Records Japan) In alphabetical order Aramaki Yuji/Alisa/Black Boboi/Daigo Sakuragi/FUNI/GZO/Hidetake Takayama/Jazztronik/JiN, Seann Bowe/Jua/Kaztake Takeuchi/Marcello Jonno/Michael Yano aka ARK/MONJOE/RIEHATA/RIKKI/Sahnya/Scatman John/Shinichi Osawa/Shinichiro Murayama/Toru Ishikawa/URU/Weauxmaque/Wez Atlas/Yaffle (C) Coffee/Kodansha/One Dance Production Committee
