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The 20 Most Amazing Anime Dances of All Time
Anime is filled to the brim with incredible scenes. There are a countless number of shows with tense action sequences or beautifully-crafted scenes that tug at the heart. Every now and then, though, we fans get treated to some complex dance sequences.
And boy, are they a delight! Choreography and creativity collide to captivate an audience, to the point where fans wonder: “How did they even draw that?”
To celebrate the beauty of dance, we’ve put together a list of the 20 best anime dance sequences out there. Looking for a good routine to strut your stuff at the next anime convention? We’ve got you covered.
A reverse harem where a girl finds herself surrounded by 13 handsome brothers is surely something to behold. But you know what isn’t done often? Getting all of these handsome guys to also dance and sing. You don’t have to be a fan to appreciate all of the neat touches that go into this dance. A definite standout with plenty of easy moves to learn for those looking to impress on the dance floor.
Before Fate/Grand Order made the Fate series into the behemoth that it now is, developer Type-Moon used to work on many different visual novels. Carnival Phantasm was a show that gathered characters from all of its franchises, thrusting them into wacky situations for the sake of comedy. And what better way to showcase this than with a cute dance that even has the great King Arthur join in on the fun?
The second season of Chuunibyou treated us with plenty more hilarity in a series about teens who can’t seem to grow out of thinking they have hidden superpowers. And with all that strange role-play, so too comes this dance. The choreography is a little weird, which is expected of the show, but this short bit with Kumin can be quite hypnotic.
You may have heard of Fate/kaleid and its magical girl take on the world of Fate/stay night. Regardless of whether you’re into this small spin-off for its comedy or for… other reasons entirely, the show did feature a cool little dance segment in its OVA.
Though simply a performance for their school festival, these girls pulled out all the stops to impress their audience.
It’s business as usual in the Rabbit House café. This cute slice of life is a simple and laid-back show about girls who work as waitresses, and was popular enough to earn itself a second season. Good thing too, because now we get to enjoy this cute dance sequence of the girls mimicking a hopping rabbit.
Not only were fans worldwide treated to weekly dose of well-defined abs in Free!, they also got to top everything off with these boys showing off their sick dance moves in the ending credits. The anime may be about a swim club and all the drama surrounding it, but who says these boys can’t step out to have a little fun out of the water?
Despite the alarming name, The ‘Hentai’ Prince and the Stony Cat is really your usual romantic comedy. It follows a boy who loses his ability to tell a lie and a girl who, similarly, can’t show her emotions.
This scene from the ending depicts her plight by having both her cheerful and apathetic selves perform a dance routine together. A creative dance that also ties into story elements? Yes, please.
Fans of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure were ecstatic when they learned that the iconic torture dance from Part 5 would be adapted in the anime. But they also got quite a bit more than that. The short single-page interpretation from the manga is now a minute-long romp, danced to a little tune called, “Canzoni Preferite”. Paired with some psychedelic visuals, this is an easy classic that will surely get fans coming back for more.
The ending sequence from Kill Me Baby is very much strange as it is charming. But then again, what else would you expect from a comedy about going to the same high school as an assassin? The dance moves may look absurd, but that only makes them so much easier to remember!
Can we really call it a list of the best anime dances if we didn’t include at least one idol series? The second season of Love Live! Sunshine!! saw the Aqours girls, clad in yukata, perform a song called, “MY Mai☆TONIGHT,” on the big stage. The best part about this dance is how the camera pans for a close up of all the girls almost seamlessly.
An iconic dance that many may remember is the opening sequence from Lucky Star. Full of vibrant energy and just random overall, this dance pretty much encapsulates what this slice of life comedy is all about. It’s also another one of the rare dances to have a complete choreographed sequence for fans to learn.
Want a dance that will also have the audience chuckling? We urge you to try this out.
Dancing isn’t just about jumping or gliding along the dance floor. If you aren’t a fan of drowning in sweat, have a look at Tsukihi’s dance from Nisemonogatari. The hand gestures here may look simple, but they can be tricky to learn the first time.
This was one of the more memorable openings in the series for a good reason!
Speaking of cool hand gestures, another anime that does this really well is Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku. Though this may seem like your average slice of life show, it follows adult office workers who also happen to have an interest in anime and games. Watching the characters wave their hands to the beat is a great way to relax, especially when the show itself can be so relatable to the older audiences.
Unlike many of the other examples here, this particular anime IS actually about dancing! The girls in this show form their own ‘yosakoi’ club, which is a type of dance that combines traditional Japanese moves with modern music. The best way to see this in action is, in fact, from the show’s opening sequence. The beautiful transitioning backdrops as these girls perform to the music are certainly worth remembering.
In Beyond the Boundary, special spirit warriors hunt down supernatural entities called youmu. But there’s one youmu in the show that’s so powerful that even our heroes can’t face it head-on. So how do you get a powerful enemy to lower their guard? Obviously, you go for the tried and true distraction technique – a perfectly-executed idol dance.
That title sure is a mouthful. Still, the dance from the ending of this anime is one of the cutest you’ll fine. At first we see a chibi version of Black Rabbit performing an adorable dance, but then it escalates as the characters around her also start doing their own thing. It’s a cutesy, self-contained chaos that will definitely have you wanting to check the show out.
Next up is a scene from the second season of Rage of Bahamut. Although this is set in a fantasy world with gods and demons roaming the land, it’s nice to see the anime take a step back to appreciate some of the smaller human details. A disguised Prince Charioce invites Nina to a dance-off in the town square. It’s a beautiful and fluid section that quickly establishes the blossoming love story between the two.
A high school harem anime about a boy who encounters seven witches whose powers he can steal with a kiss. And yet, the OVA for this show showcased an upbeat idol concert that you wouldn’t have guessed was from that story premise. The mix of audience reactions and the catchy tune of, “Ding! Ging! Dong!” makes this an overall fun dance to watch.
If you’ve never heard of this one and call yourself an anime fan, you’re either too young, or you’ve been living under a rock.
Really, this is the most iconic dance in all of anime, and with good reason. The song is catchy, each of the dance moves are wholly unique, and Haruhi herself carries the performance with the intense charisma befitting of her character. It’s no wonder that this dance alone spawned countless covers from fans during the height of its popularity.
If there’s a dance that’s going to give Hare Hare Yukai a run for its money, then the show you’re looking for is, surprisingly, very recent. Episode 3 of Kaguya-sama: Love is War had a special ending that boasted an adorable dance sequence by the cutesy Chika. What you witness will probably be the smoothest dance segment you’ll see in anime. The best part is that it’s just one fluid take that goes on for the entire credits segment, uninterrupted.
Think you can do a dance cover that does this one justice? We’re sure many are going to try.
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apkMOND
March 8, 2024 at 1:49 pm
Wow, this list is AMAZING! I’m definitely going to binge-watch some of these anime just for the music videos. The Macross Dynamite soundtrack is one of my all-time favs, and I had no idea it was from an anime. Can’t wait to see what other hidden gems are on this list!