Sometimes just a few seconds of lovingly made animation can expose entire productions that overused 3D. The ninth episode of Yani Neko featured a wild scene where Kansai Neko improvises a dance in a messy apartment. What seemed like a silly joke became a talking point due to the incredible fluidity and weight of its movements.

The sequence is very short, but the character’s fluidity and step rhythm captured viewers’ attention. Almost immediately, the community began comparing this comedic clip to sequences in Wandance, a series launched in 2025 focused on hip-hop and urban dance.

In Wandance, the production used 3D models to animate complex choreographies. The result was harshly criticized at the time for the stiffness of the figures, lack of facial expressions, and an annoying feeling that the dancers floated weightlessly. Seeing how an absurd comedy conveys more rhythm and fluidity with a 2D drawn cat reignited the debate on how movement should be handled in the industry.

Based on NyanNyanFactory’s work, Yani Neko is a wild comedy following anthropomorphic cats dealing with laziness, bad habits, and daily chaos. Meanwhile, Wandance adapts the story of a school club focused on street dance battles, where expressiveness and music are central to the plot.

Do you think traditional 2D animation will always be superior to 3D when capturing dance fluidity?