10DANCE Review
Director: Keishi Otomo
Date Created: 2025-12-18 22:35
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10DANCE Review: Directed by Keishi Otomo and adapted from Inoe Sato’s popular BL manga, this movie テンダンス hits Netflix as a polished yet cautious Japanese dance drama that mingles rivalries, artistry, and romantic tensions. Its main cast features Ryoma Takeuchi as Shinya Suzuki and Keita Machida as Shinya Sugiki, two master professional dancers who dance in the top echelons of competitive ballroom and Latin dancing. The supporting characters involve Shiori Doi, Anna Ishii, Shinya Hamada, and Oshiro Maeda, while from the technical authenticity perspective, international dance professionals Nadiya Bychkova and Pasquale La Rocca are also part of the film. The total length of the film is about 2 hours and 8 minutes.
10DANCE Review
Netflix’s 10DANCE is the presentation of two worlds that have the same ground of foundation but are based on totally different philosophies. For one, Shinya Sugiki is a professionally trained ballroom dancer who has conquered the major competitions thanks to his coolness, discipline, and robotic-like perfection. On the other hand, Shinya Suzuki is the king of Latin dance, covering himself in glamour, emotionality, and instinct-based movement. Even though both names are famous in different competitions, they know each other without communicating. Then, forced to work together to be the masters of both worlds of dancing, the movie would gradually turn from professional rivalry to an intimate relationship. It still does so in a very careful and sometimes hesitant manner.
The film’s devotion to the realism of the dance world is one of its major strengths. Usually employing quick cuts or other cinematic effects Japanese BL movie 10DANCE lets the whole choreography be seen, believing that the moment will be carried by the dancers’ having of the time. To the untrained eye, it might be hard to tell that both Takeuchi and Machida are not dancers, but still, they are very expressive, and their performances never seem to be artifice.
Every movement expresses the character’s personality: the sharpness of Sugiki is a bit like his emotional restraint, while the softness of Suzuki speaks of an openness that words might not convey. This dance movie successfully immerses the audience in the hard work, discipline, and sacrifice that come with competing in this art form.
The film is very modern and stylish visually; its cinematography, in a similar manner, seeks clean compositions and controlled lighting that move from the rehearsal studios to the competition floors, thereby providing a stronger basis for the characters’ existence in that structured world. The music plays a big role in supporting this aspect of the film as it rises to the climax, but does not drown out the dancers. The movie’s sense of refinement complements its theme perfectly, so that viewers continued to find the 10DANCE film to be engaging even when the story’s pace slowed down.
Where the film falters is in its emotional payoff. Though the chemistry between these two leads is undeniable, the story often feels more invested in explaining dance techniques and competitive hierarchies than in fully exploring the emotional stakes of the relationship at its centre. The long, careful build toward intimacy, the eventual progression of their bond, lacks the catharsis one would expect after such extended tension; moments that should feel transformative instead arrive quietly, almost timidly, as if the film were held back from fully committing to its own romantic premise.
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This restraint is not inherently a failure, but it does make the movie unbalanced. Japanese movie 10DANCE gestures toward ideas of identity, desire, and vulnerability within rigid artistic traditions, but for the most part, it barely presses these ideas any further than a surface insinuation. What the movie does is hint at how queer couples break tradition in ballroom culture, mainly in terms of specific gendered expectations, but ultimately stops short of an overarching stance on the matter. For this reason, the story feels safe–carefully composed yet emotionally guarded.
This is further exacerbated by the runtime; at a shade over two hours, the narrative pacing feels stretched at times, especially in its middle section. There are scenes that linger when insight has already been provided, while character development unfolds at a patience-testing pace. While the film eventually does arrive where it intends to go, the journey sometimes feels longer than it needs to be, diluting the impact of the conclusion.
For all its shortcomings, the movie 10DANCE is far from a disappointment. Its ambition, technical excellence, and respectful attitudes toward professional dance elevate it above many genre counterparts. The central performances are sincere and compelling, while the quiet moments of connection, their intermittent best, are genuinely affecting.
Netflix 10DANCE Review: Summing Up
In the end, 10DANCE succeeds in craftsmanship and performance but fails in emotional boldness: a visually striking, well-acted film that captures with impressive authenticity the beauty and rigour of dance. Still, its reluctance to fully embrace the depth of the romance that it tells keeps it from reaching its full potential. Worth seeing for those viewers interested in either dance-driven cinema or low-key BL storytelling.
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