The live-action Wandance film is coming together with its creative team officially announced. JO, a member of the &Team boy band, will lead the cast as Kaboku Kotani, the manga's protagonist who discovers his passion for hip-hop dance after meeting the free-spirited Wanda.

Director Naoya Kusaba is helming the film, with Keiichi Kobayashi handling the screenplay. Dancer and entrepreneur Charisma Kantarō is supervising the choreography—a crucial role given that dance is central to the story. The film arrives in Japanese theaters on November 27.

The announcement came via a teaser trailer and new key visuals released Monday on the film's official website.

About Wandance

Coffee's Wandance manga follows Kaboku, a boy drifting through life following others' expectations, until he witnesses Hikari Wanda dancing alone on the school grounds late one night. Her raw, uninhibited movement ignites something in him. He joins the hip-hop dance club—where he's one of the few male members and vastly outmatched in skill—but finally discovers a sense of freedom and purpose.

The manga launched in Kodansha's Afternoon magazine in 2019 and has since spawned multiple adaptations. An anime series debuted in Japan last October, with Disney+ streaming new episodes as they aired. Kodansha USA has been releasing the English manga volumes, with volume 13 dropping in August 2025 and volume 15 published in Japan last December.

The property's appeal clearly lies in its combination of coming-of-age themes and the visual spectacle of dance. Those familiar with anime like Blue Period or Your Lie in April will recognize the DNA—stories about young people finding themselves through art and breaking free from prescribed paths.

With an experienced director, a dancer's eye overseeing the choreography, and an actor from a performance-focused group, the live-action film has the pieces in place to capture what makes Wandance resonate with audiences across mediums.