10 Dance (2025)

I was excited to finally see a manga I’ve been reading for a very long time come to Netflix as a live-action show. For background, I read The Man of Tango. I loved it so much that when I read the plot line tag for 10 Dance, I knew I needed to give it a shot. The movie was directed by award-winning Otomo Keishi and co-written with Yoshida Tomoko, both of whom are prolific and have extensive resumes.  !0 Dance appears to be their first BL. Takeuchi Ryoma, a seasoned actor, appears in his BL debut as Suzuki Shinya.  Machida Keita, a seasoned actor who appeared in BLs like Cherry Magic and LDK: 2 Loves Under 1 Roof, also stars in the popular Netflix series Alice in the Borderlands, as Sugiki Shinya.

Synopsis from the Manga 10 Dance by Inoue Satoh

Dip into your new obsession in this steamy gay ballroom romance! The beautifully detailed, lithe bodies of the two “kings of the ballroom” fly across the dance floor as rivals build a volatile bond in this red-hot romance! IT TAKES TWO Shinya Sugiki, the dashing lord of Standard Ballroom, and Shinya Suzuki, passionate king of Latin Dance: The two share more than just a first name and a love of the sport. They each want to become champion of the 10-Dance Competition, which means they’ll need to learn the other’s specialty dances, and who better to learn from than the best? But old rivalries die hard, and things get complicated even further when they realize there might be more between them than an uneasy partnership

MyDramaList Synopsis:

Japanese Latin dance champion Suzuki Shinya and Japanese standard dance champion Sugiki Shinya are both famous dancers. Although they are in different fields, their names differ by only one letter. Suzuki, who hates to lose, is irritated by being compared to the other dancer. One day, Sugiki suddenly invites Suzuki to “aim to be champion together in 10 Dances.” 10 Dances is a competitive dance event in which dancers who have mastered both Latin and standard dance compete in a total of 10 dances.  

Suzuki initially refuses Sugiki’s proposal to teach each other and aim for the top, deeming it too reckless. However, he is overwhelmed by Sugiki’s provocative and competitive attitude and accepts it in anger. The two are polar opposites in personality and everything, and they clash, but as they learn every day, they work hard together and gradually close the gap. Then, Suzuki gradually realizes that he is starting to be attracted to Sugiki.

Cast

Takeuchi Ryoma as Suzuki Shinya
Main Role

Machida Keita as Sugiki Shinya
Main Role

Doi Shiori as Tajima Aki
Support Role

Ishii Anna as Yagami Fusako
Support Role

My Thoughts

I’ll share my description of 10 Dance.  A classical ballroom dancer and a Latin dancer team up with their partners to teach each other the 10 Dance, a competition in which the pair competes across all styles, not just within their specialty. They both want to win. We have the stiff, formal Japanese man who is gay (maybe bisexual) and the man who is Japanese ethnically but raised in Cuba, who thinks he’s straight, is slightly, no, quite a bit, homophobic Latin dancer.  

I’m disappointed by a poor execution, but still find it acceptable.  Would I watch it again? Absolutely not. In fact, I pressed the fast-forward button when it moved too slowly. I understand we need to understand their dance. But did it have to be told in a way that made me yawn? Probably not. But I’m also not being fair to the manga. It moves much more slowly—a snail’s pace. But the illustrations are beautiful and the character development excellent.

Here’s what it gets right: both characters’ absolute passion for the dance. Both are conflicted and do not at all understand the other’s teaching methods. We have Sugiki as the rigid, controlled, master of the step, cold, calculating, with such precision and elegance that it looks effortless. Then, to contrast this, we have Suzuki, a passionate man, full of love, sensuality, and sheer indulgence, who believes you have to feel all aspects of hedonism to dance as if it’s part of your soul.

As the movie progresses, we see the chemistry as they teach each other the dance. Suzuki teaches Sugiki to feel the rhythm more deeply as part of passion. Sugiki goes with him to eat Cuban food, feel the music, and get the vibe that makes up the culture that gave rise to such a sensual dance. Sugiki teaches Suzuki how to refine himself, how to be a good dance leader, caring, gentle, but firm. They butt heads often, but dance so beautifully together.

In the end, they both expose each other’s fears and longings. However, in the movie version, we are missing Suzuki’s internalized homophobia and fear of not being good enough.

What we do get is this. Suzuki learns to bend, to yield, to feel what it’s like to be led in the dance. He learns to surrender to his partner. And in the process begins to fall in love. And because he’s Latino, he falls hard for Sugiki. For his part, Sugiki wants Suzuki; he’s bisexual, has been with men before, but he must remain in control. He is in charge and refuses even to entertain romance with anyone. He doesn’t want love, only to be the best in his field. He is afraid. So when he’s met by someone giving his whole heart and body, he’s of the mindset that it’s a distraction from the goal, winning. So he runs.

I think what we miss most in this two-hour movie is context, backstory, and, most of all, inner monologue. The actors try to convey the emotions, but it feels shallow, as if we are only given half the story. For that reason, I give it a low rating. The script should have given the actors more reasons and emotions, not just passion.  They could make another, but I don’t know if I would watch it.

 I’d skip this if I were you.

If you read it or watched it, I’d love to know your thoughts.

Overall Rating: 2 out of 5 stars. [See our Review Guide]