Meari21

“Dance is love”. That pretty much sums up this movie. The dancing and the palpable chemistry between the two male leads take center stage, and their story is told through the waltz, the cha cha, and the tango as they lead each other on a journey of self-discovery, strife, and love. Yes, there is love, though not the tangible kind that some people might expect from a BL movie such as this. This is a tale about two rivals that despise and obsess about each other for years until the moment they hold hands and decide to dance together. These same two men who have never really opened their hearts to another nor probably even considered being with another man, suddenly find themselves gravitating towards each other in a maddening and feverish attraction they cannot explain, but only becomes fathomable when they dance together. It's like poetry, there are underlying meanings to every word spoken, every gesture, every glance.

I didn't read the manga so I had no pre-existing expectations or biases going into this. I just knew that this was adapted by Yoshida Tomoko (My Tomorrow, Your Yesterday) from a popular BL manga, directed by Otomo Keishi (Rurouni Kenshin), and led by two of the brightest stars in Japan right now, so I kinda knew that this was going to be a poignant tale of love and woe as Yoshida is known for that type of writing. While I agree that the writing could've used a bit more work, especially that ambiguous ending, I think this was the best they could do within the limitations of a two-hour run time. This would've worked better as a mini series, to be honest. It would've afforded them more time to flesh out these characters more and give certain plot points room to breathe. An extra 30 minutes could've given the narrative a better flow with more scenes to iron out the kinks in the script. I don't think this was lazy writing, though. I believe the writers were just hindered by the time constraints. If only there was director cut somewhere and that they'd be willing to release it.

But everything else from the production value to the acting was marvelous. Machida Keita and Takeuchi Ryoma certainly delivered and are even dead ringers for their manga counterparts. They slaved for months to perfect their dancing skills for this, and for that, I thank them. I truly enjoyed the dancing parts in this. Their chemistry is undeniable that I could practically taste the sexual tension in the air between them. Their titillating scenes, though few and far between, are executed well. Suffice to say, I bought their growing attraction and fondness for each other. I felt their longing and pain. Sugiki tearing up as he watched Suzuki dance, proud and happy for the latter's accomplishments and also realizing they cannot be together encapsulates his complicated feelings for him.

In a nutshell, this was a great watch. I loved every minute of it and this will probably be even better on a second watch. Is it perfect? No, of course not. It needs a sequel and that is the only reason why I won't give it a rating higher than 9. I hope this does well enough to warrant a sequel.