As a critic I try to take the entirety of a show into account when Im watching it. Most anime have good and bad elements and I can appreciate the bright spots in a show I overall dislike as well as complain about the flaws in something I mostly adore. But sometimes one single element is so unusual interesting jarring or otherwise attentiongrabbing that it comes to define my entire opinion of a show. It doesnt matter what other qualities it might have that one aspect of it just makes too much of an impression for anything else to register for better or worse. Such is the case with Wandance an anime about modern dance with such a bizarre approach to its dancing animation that it becomes the sole factor in determining its quality. Sure the characters plot themes and so on exist technically but they dont really matter. The strange baffling experience of this shows animation drowns out everything else about it leaving me with only one question: how exactly did things end up like this? But okay lets at least give the story a cursory glance or two. Our protagonist Kabo lives with a stutter that puts him out of step with his classmates and peers. Its not that his disability is a source of misery by the time we meet him hes clearly gotten comfortable living with it but between a speech impediment and the usual social pressures of high school he feels incapable of expressing himself the way he wants to. That is until he stumbles across his Hikari Wanda a wunderkind dance prodigy whos basically the textbook definition of a free spirit. She doesnt have an ounce of shame in her body: she lives exactly how she wants heart on her sleeve and expresses herself with full sincerity in words and dance alike. In her Kabo sees everything he wants to be so he throws away his fear of being cringe and joins her in the schools dance club only the second boy to do so. Thus begins his journey to overcome shame social expectations and everything else that holds him back from expressing his true feelings one fumbled twostep at a time. Its a damn good setup for a characterdriven sports anime and its kind of infuriating how many parts of this could be good. Kabos character is grounded so well in his awkward adolescence and its clear the author put a lot of thought into how he navigates the world with his stutter and the various challenges it poses. The show overall has a lot to say about what its like to exist outside of societys invisible normal how isolating it can be in ways most of us take for granted. And using dance as a medium of expression for Kabo and the rest of the cast to take back ownership of their voices and selfexpression on their own terms gives the story a lot more weight than the usual sports anime goals of winning competitions for their own sake. Plus while Wanda herself is more than a little Manic Pixieish her autistic stimming IS pretty freaking adorable and the rapport she builds with Kabo makes them both more likable characters. I could absolutely see myself loving Wandance for all these qualities... if I could actually focus on them. But unfortunately none of those aspects have any staying power in my brain. Not when theyre being overwhelmed by the sheer weirdness of this shows dancing animation. Now Im not an animation expert of any sort. I cant describe exactly what techniques Wandances animators used or what they shouldve done instead so dont expect an extensive technical breakdown here. The obvious culprit to point to would be the CG models used for all the dancing sequences and yes they are janky as fuck. The characters hair and clothes are so loose and flowing that theyre constantly clipping into their bodies and the models themselves are almost comically underdetailed nothing has any texture to speak of so the overall effect is like watching a plastic mannequin bounce and gyrate around. Worse still is how inexpressive their faces are at times they almost look painted out with how little their eyes and mouths move. And to be fair I understand why going CG would be easier for the production team. As we learned with Yuri on Ice 2Danimating a full cours of intricate expressive body movements is a nightmare scenario best avoided by all but the bravest teams. But CG modeling in anime has come such a long way in recent years just look at how damn expressive and lively the latest Love Live entries are. Theres no excuse for Wandances models being this halfbaked. If Im honest though the CG itself isnt the biggest issue here. The real problem is the complete lack of cohesion between the shows 2D and CG elements. Yes the visual difference itself is painful but on top of that the shows editing feels like its going out of its way to make that disconnect as jarring possible. There are multiple moments where itll switch to 2D in the middle of a dance for a particularly slick move before switching back to the CG models and theres literally no continuity of movement between the shots at all. Just look at Kabo and Wandas big moment in episode 6 or was it 7? to see what I mean. Weve got the CG dancers doing their thing then it cuts to 2D for Kabo and Wandas move we get this big shot of Kabo being pulled to his feet... and then it cuts right back to their CG models dancing uninterrupted as if theyd been going on in the background the whole time their 2D selves were on screen. Wheres the followup? The connective tissue? The motion that takes us from 2D Kabo standing up to CG Kabo dancing in rhythm again? It feels like they straightup forgot to put the shot in there. And thats indicative of just how poorly integrated Wandances two halves are all throughout its run. Continuity errors like that episode 6 moment are a frequent occurrence. The handdrawn stuff is so stiff and barely animated that the constant camera motion and 60FPS movement of the dancing sequences feels all the more jarring. Hell sometimes the two sides straightup disagree theres a character named Usen whos portrayed as big and stocky like a football player but for some reason his dancing model is super lanky with almost none of the muscle hes normally portrayed with. There is absolutely no effort to make the shows 2D and CG elements feel like part of the same universe they might as well be separate planes of existence. Which only gets worse on the rare occasion we see both elements on screen at the same time at which point it starts to feel like a Smiling Friends gag where the complete disconnect of animation styles is part of the joke. Now to be balanced there are moments where the CG does work. Especially toward the end of the series we start getting long sequences just watching the characters dance and the intricacies of their various styles really start to pop in a way only this kind of mocapassisted animation could capture. I also kinda dig all the kooky expressionist flare the sequences get: trails of light follow their flailing limbs colored glows transform the dance space itself into a liminal void of feeling. If the show had leaned more into that kind of abstraction I think it would be easier to accept the animations awkwardness as part of this hypercharged emotional state dancing puts its characters in. But as is its too close to reality for its flaws to register as anything but immersionbreaking. I cant get invested in Kabos journey through dance when he spends so much of that journey as a lifeless model who doesnt even register as the same person. I want to see my protagonist sweating bullets under the stage lights whats this overly smooth Ken doll doing in his place? In the end Wandance is a perfect example of how bad animation is more than just an aesthetic complaint. Animation is the primary tool this medium uses to convey meaning and if that tool is busted its ability to tell its story is equally fractured. This shows bizarre approach to its visual storytelling robs all its good points of their staying power to the point you can barely remember anything it tries to communicate. So if youre at all interested in what Wandance has to offer go straight to the manga and forget this adaptation exists. Whatever greatness may exist in this story youve got no chance of appreciating it here.