Dance Hero JP Season 3, Episode 1 Recap

In furthering my love of things from Japan, I bring to you readers Japan's own version of ABDC, DanceHeroJP!

DanceHeroJP is on it's third season, and has some key differences from ABDC. First, no crews are eliminated. They simply receive points from the judges (who are actual dancers in the Japanese dance community) over 3 weeks, as well as points from who has the most views on various social media websites. Further, they also have longer routines (about 2 minutes each), and have no challenges, or limitations regarding music. Insert debate here of whether ABDC should adopt this format.
In any case, after 2 seasons with Time Machine and Beat Buddy Boi taking the crown, the performances from the first episode of Season 3 are up on the [DANCEHEROjp] Youtube Channel, along with all the routines from the first 2 seasons.
Click here to read the reviews and watch the videos. After you've watched these routines, let us know what you think of the show. Is there space for something like this format here in the States? Could ABDC benefit from a format change? How do you think these crews would do on the ABDC stage?

Dance Hero Japan - Season 2 Episode 3

Yesterday we reviewed the episode we missed of Japan's version of ABDC, Dance@Hero Japan! Today we'll go over the most recent episode, episode 3 for this second season.


With this episode we have the final results of the season, with Beat Buddy Boi taking 1st place this season, after finishing 2nd in season 1 to Time Machine. 


-Beat Buddy Boi (430 points total) swept the compeition with winning first place each week. This performance showed their determination to win, using the trophy as a prop, similar to the ABDC3 collab between Quest and Beat Freaks, and presented in a style similar to Super Cr3w's final performance in ABDC2. However, the musical selection here was very unique, especially for a crew of their style.
-ISOPP (270 points total), while in a distant second place, had probably my favorite performance this season. They not only had excellent moves, they also incorporated live beatboxing from one of their own crew members and danced to that. Very impressive. 
-Vigorous Ladies (200 points total), while not the first impressive all female crew we saw, proved they can get BUCK and GRIMY for sure. Be sure to check them out.
-Ms. Creative (120 points total), while also an all female crew, they have a very different feel from Vigorous Ladies, more similar to the smooth Jabbawockeez than the buck Street Kingdom or Request. 
-Tokyo Beat Surf (120 points total), concludes their story with some dope choreography, and a bit of a twist, both in plot and music choice. While I think they could have danced more, it was entertaining nontheless to see this story come to its conclusion.
-Bear Knuckle (90 points total) unfortunately didn't do much better than last season, and while their routine concepts are relatively bland, they still have solid dancing, going with a full out ninja theme. 
-Aerstix (10 points total) may not be understood by all, but their contortionist bboy choreography is nothing to sneeze at. 

Dance Hero Japan - Season 2 Episode 2

While we have 21 days left until ABDC7 premeires (not that anyone's counting down...), dance goes on. Specifically for this post, in Japan! Japan's version of ABDC, called Dance@Hero Japan! features 9 crews who compete in a pretty different style than ABDC. Crews have 2 minutes of free choreography, and get points based on judges's rankings, as well as video views on social media sites. The crews with the highest cumulative score at the end of the season wins!


We covered the first episode of Season 2, but episode two seems to have slipped past us somehow. Today we'll have a quick recap of what we think were notable performances form that episode:
-Bear Knuckle's swing music routine showed a combination of story telling, swag, and crazy bboy-capoeria fighting.
-Tokyo Beat Surf has some hard hitting popping choreography while telling part 2 of their Karate Kid-inspired story.
-Beat Buddy Boi, playing off their name, dances to a mix of Queen with a bit of Team iLuminate, and showed why they continue to be one of the top contenders, since season one.
-Ms Creative shows how they are a mix of We Are Heroes, Request ,and Jabbaawockeez, and continue their recurring theme of grimy all female choreography in a dreamscape. 
-Aerstix Side demonstrated their contortionist bboy choreography to a classical music theme. 
-ISOPP were decked out in traditional Japanese garb, and danced to what appears to be Naruto music, a la Kinjaz


Check back tomorrow for a review of Round 3!

Dance Hero Japan - Season 2 Episode 1

While we wait for news on ABDC 7 auditions, the latest videos of Dance Hero Japan (Season 2, Episode 1) have been posted.  Here are the definite "must-see" performances on the [DANCEHEROjp] youtube channel.

Bear Knuckle: This returning bboy crew from last season has upped their level since last time. This military-precise routine has them drilling bboy moves in a way that's pretty fresh.

Tokyo Beat Surf: This ties another routine (below) for my favorite routine of the week. It seems that this newcomer crew focuses a lot on story telling, in this case "Karate Kid." However, they're planning on telling only a part of the story each episode, so tune in next time to see what happens next. Dance wise, they've got a good mix of styles going on, with a lot of martial arts base.

Beat Buddy Boi: This is my other favorite routine of the week. The fact that a good half of the routine was done sitting down, and was still as interesting and had just as much swag (if not more) than many other dance performances I've seen is impressive. The solo by the old oji-san is great from this returning crew.  They also show their diversity by expanding from their bboy routines from last season.

Aerstix Side: We've highlighted members of Aerstix crew before (Bgirl NAO in a KoopaTV post), so it's great to see them pop up here. Their contortionist circus style of bboying is really impressive, though some may find it slow.

ISOPP: Another story telling crew, with an interesting theme and song selection, to say the least. If thinks another crew has better technique, you can't fault these guys for lacking creativity and daring to try things people think aren't possible.

Dance Hero Japane - Season 1 Results, Season 2 Crews

We've covered Season 1 of Dance Hero Japan (sort of like a Japanese ABDC, but with a different format) before on the site, but we sort of fell back on covering it. Well, better late than never. Here are the results of last season!
1st Place - 370 pts- Time Machine
2nd Place - 300 pts- Beat Buddy Boi
3rd Place - 240 pts - Twiggz Fam (aka Street Kingdom Japan)
4th Place- 170 pts - Vigorous Ladies
5th Place - 130 pts - Victoria
6th Place - 60 pts - Knuckle Bear
7th Place - 40 pts - Team Black Star
8th Place - 20 pts - Melange, Area Rock Styler,
10th Place - 0 pts - Saturday Player
You can watch all the videos at the [DANCEHEROjp] Youtube channel. I strongly recommend you do.

With the first season out of the way in November only, they're already gearing up for their second season this month! It's actually quite interesting since almost half the crews this second season will be returning from last season. The crew lineup for Season 2 of Dance Hero Japan is
-Beat Buddy Boi
-Vigorous Ladies
-Victoria
-Bear Knuckle
-Ms Creative
-Aerstix
-Tokyo Beat Surf
-ISOPP
-Majestic Dixee's
-co1401481

The first of three rounds will be recorded on January 21st! We'll post those videos here as soon as we spot them. What do you think? Could ABDC take something from Dance Hero? Talent or Format? Quick turnaround? What about the 40% old crew retention rate (and the top crews as well!)?

NAOTV Episode 2: Return of the Time Machine

Konnichiwa! You probably remember the first time you saw these guys on KoopaTV. After falling from the top spot in the last round of Dance@Hero, Time Machine definitely came back with a vengeance in the latest installment of the Japanese dance competition. Their signature robotic style definitely deserves the title of Dance Clip of the Week. Check it out for yourself:

Of course, that wasn't the only dope video from the past week. Check out the links below (or this playlist) and tell me what you think. What was your favorite video from this week?

---Other Dope Videos from This Week---

Anthony Lee-"Hold On"-So many different crews are represented in this video. Anthony Lee really captures the feel of this song beautifully in his choreography. Bonus points to anyone who can name all the ABDC alumni in this video.

Alan Truong-"Bananas"-This guy is bananas! (Sorry, couldn't resist) But seriously, Alan Truong is one of the best choreographers from Houston and he reps his city well.

Can Nguyen-"8-Bit Bounce"-What makes this piece special is the fact that Can created the music himself and then choreographed to it. I always appreciate pieces like this where all of the art comes from the choreographer.

Tony Czar n BIGZ-Back in the Studio Together Again!!!-Part of what made the Urban Empire Kidz so popular from the ABDC 6 auditions was their high energy choreography. Tony Czar's piece here shows just that as he performs it here with Lil BIGZ.

**If you have any submissions for NAOTV, please send them to my account here.**

That's it for this week's episode of NAOTV! Thanks for reading and watching! -NAO

Dance@Hero (aka Japan's Best Dance Crew): Round 2 results and videos

Ant M is following Dance@Hero (aka Japan's Best Dance Crew, and filed a report:
I gotta be honest, Dance@Hero is the next best thing to waiting on ABDC 7.They had week 2 this past Saturday, and to be honest the scores kinda went topsy-turvy, some of the powerhouse last week fell kinda hard (Mainly Twiggz Fam and Melange) and some crews came up big (Mainly Beat Buddy Boi and surprisingly Victoria.). Anyways I believe they just released the scores for Week 2 and it went sorta like this...

Week 2 Scores (and videos):
100 Points: Beat Buddy Boi
80 Points: Time Machine
60 Points: Vigorous Ladies
40 Points: Victoria
20 Points: Twiggz Fam
0 Points: Area Rock Styler, Bear Knuckle, Melange, Saturday Players (Who I still think had a way better week), and of course everyone's favorite jabronis Team Black Star.

Overall Standings:
1st: Time Machine: 180 Points
2nd: Beat Buddy Boi: 140 Points
3rd: Vigorous Ladies: 120 Points
Thanks Ant M! Readers -- you too can subscribe to get updated to each round of videos at the Youtube channel (and help your favorite crew win) at [DANCEHEROjp]