Reviews

Dancers indeed

first; the two main actors were fantastic there is never a moment when i felt that they weren't a professional dancers. their emotional scenes were captivating. and the chemistry is damn fantastic.
the choreography, the costume, the attitude of the actors themselves. I was rooting for them and was clapping like the audience in the movie like a maniac lmao.
The cinematography was beautiful & the music was totally good but i was hoping for something good at the end but it was good overall but feel like there is something missing at the ending like can you Imagine I was captivated & on cloud nine with their finale 10 dance of pure happiness and suddenly then they drop me with the end credit. I was literally stun for a minute. Was it been really already 2 hours!! i really didn't see the time passing seriously the drop was so sudden that I almost feel like rewatching lmao.
It was perfect yet seems incomplete It's really hard to tell how I really feel about it.
Overall, I don't regret watching this and enjoyed it!!!

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Great Visuals and Enticing Moments but Ultimately Left Me Wanting

10 Dance started off well then lagged a bit in the middle and finally did pull off some of the anticipated emotional moments. Ryoma Takeuchi is physically stunning and he is adept at switching from exuberant dominance to a sensitive and vulnerable man in his roles. Keita Machida’s nuanced performance which was revealed through his body language and his eyes is a marvel to behold. Shiori Doi and Anna Ishii make the most of their subordinate roles with perfect grace and honest emotions. Where this was lacking for me was in two areas. First, the slow build attraction sets up expectations for the viewer but when Sugiki turns and rushes down to the train, enters the car and kisses Suzuki, this was the moment when there should have been a leaning in to the erotica. Instead, we are treated to a chaotic “dance” scene that broke the tension. This approach and retreat I realize was used for a reason in the movie but it left me wanting. Second, we know from the dialogue that dance is love yet I only saw brief moments of the love and joy of dancing in the honor dance. The majority of it displayed attraction for a partner. Overall I enjoyed the movie but found myself comparing it to Shall We Dance (1996) with Koji Yakusho. His character is initially drawn to the dance studio by lust; however, he is soon captivated by dance itself and falls in love with the joy of dancing.

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I'm speechless... it was just too good

I was halfway through the movie when i read spoilers saying it was a sad ending. I was like "shit if i knew i wouldn't have watched" but then thank god i watched. It was beautiful. Started with a playful banter then made me cry ugly and the ending couldn't wipe the smile off my face...
Now i get others when they said it was not a happy or sad or even open ending but a perfect ending. Especially when the manga is ongoing they've not stepped in and created an ending. I do hope Shiguki wins before he retires.. cz he is the most relatable character to me cz I'm exactly like him. I'd work hard even if it'd kill me and go by the rules. I can reject the person i love if i feel I'd love him too much and there's a chance that I'd get hurt. Everything he did was soo relatable. Like how he never gets his love cz he's perfect...

As for Suzuki he was gorgeous and seemed like a real professional dancer the whole movie... i could feel his playful side and the reason both of them fell for each other..

As for the ending i guess we'll have to wait for the manga to end to know what happens... i think it'll be a happy ending manga❤️

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A Captivating Movie

Well, well, well... First of all, the two main actors were fantastic. I don't know their background but I fully believed they were professional dancers. Their emotional scenes were captivating. And the chemistry... Hard to make thing better. 10/10

The dance part. Like I said, I'm neophyte so I cannot say anything deep about it. But I can say it was a feast for the eyes. The choreography, the costume, the attitude of the actors themselves. I was rooting for them and was clapping like the audience in the movie. Again 10/10

The cinematography was beautiful & the music completely fit the theme. I was still hoping for something that would surprise me but it was somehow quite classic. 9/10

But something did bother me in the story itself. More specifically about the characters themselves. Sometime I really struggled to understand why they were reacting the way they did. Like I was missing a crucial piece. It could be the format or just me. 8/10

And then the ending... Imagine I was captivated & on cloud nine with their finale. 10 dance of pure happiness... And then they drop me with the end credit. I was literally stun for a minute. Was it been really already 2h ? I really didn't see the time passing... The drop was so sudden that I almost feel withdrawal syndrome. It was that violent. I cannot rate that ending. In one hand, I'm mad and in another, it was perfect. It's really hard to tell how I really feel about it. */10

Overall, I don't regret watching this as I completely enjoyed it. A must watch in my humble opinion. 9.5/10

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Finding One's Path

Somehow this movie gives me the feel of "When the Weather is Fine" but on a lighter note.

The different seasons reflect the different thoughts of Hye Won's life.
Winter ... when almost everything is freezing, or hibernating ... and her life seem to be frozen also in time, not knowing what to do but returns to a life she once escaped from.
Spring ... when new sprouts come alive and gives hope ... shaking the blues of winter
Summer ... when planting and reaping is at its peak ... it is also a time of seeing the fruit of her labor ... and what she is trying to understand, her mom, even her future, what she really wants in life becomes clearer.
Fall - when the dried persimmons are ready to be kept for wintertime ... ready to face where she left off ...
She did leave without saying goodbye to her friends ...
Then returned ... now on a happier feeling as someone came back before her.

All along these seasons, she remembers her mom, coupled with what she cooks that suits the season. She learned them from her mom. As she plants, it shows patience and expectation of her harvest. This gives me a deeper appreciation of planting as it cultivates a character of patience, hope, and love. There is so much introspection in this movie. The alone time, the quiet planting and harvesting are times of reflection.

Somehow, the seasons represented also her own season of maturity - of finding clarity, of contentment, and of hope.
I have dreamed of living in a countryside, slower pace of life, with fresh air, no smoke or traffic. Many people think that life is better in the city and the movie tells me, it is a matter of seeing the beauty of where we are planted. It does not matter if it is the city or the country, what matters is - is it home?

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Engaging production of love and dance

This lived up to the expectation of two polar opposites falling in love in the world of dance. One fiery, bold and full of passion on and off the dance floor. The other elegant, polished and a perfectionist. Visually and tempermentally contrasting, they fought to find the balance. What one lacked the other supplied in movement style and execution. They sharpened each other whilst falling in love. Sugiki and Suzuki were well matched but never equals.

They commanded the screen. Every frame held my attention from the moment it began to the end. The storyline was as expected and then it wasn't. They both admired each other for their technique and style. Being drawn to one another reached a head on the train. That scene was artistically and beautifully done. Previous hesitations, gave way to honesty. It is within this honesty, that Suzuki pushes and prods to get more of him. Sugiki opens the doors for him to reach to greater heights. Their love is apparent in every action. Their love language - dance. The final scene was as I hoped it would be. Previously, Sugiki rejected a night with Suzuki acknowledging they could never be one. In the final scene, in front of the entire Japanese Dance competition, Sugiki proved his love. He chose Suzuki as his dance partner. Unwilling to face the hurt of seeing Sugiki dance with his partner, Suzuki's back was turned. Then he heard him. Shocked, hesitating for a brief moment, he reaches for the outstretched hand and follows. At the end, uncontrolled, Suzuki kisses him. He responds. His parting words give Suzuki the clarity he needs. He smiles.

I loved the entire production. Machida and Takeuchi filled it admirably. My only drawbacks were that even in the heated part of their relationship, it still felt a bit clinical. Reserved. The kiss on the train did not up the pace in their interractions at it still felt restrained. There was no hunger from Sugiki. If this was a parallel love, where was Suzuki's voice? I'm hoping there is another part that would place them head to head and equals. Also, the backdrop for the Cuban style community was admirably done but it lacked a bit of credibility.

Final take, this was worth the wait and the watch.

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10 DANCE: When Rivalry Becomes Romance

I came to this film as a manga reader, and honestly, I was nervous. The source material is one of those rare BL stories that takes both the sport and the romance seriously: two professional dancers at the peak of their careers, forced to master each other’s specialties to survive the brutal 10 Dance format. The tension between Suzuki and Sugiki works because they are genuine equals, clashing on and off the floor. Translating that to live action felt like a huge risk, especially for the dancing, which is the backbone of the story.

I went in as a Keita Machida fan and came out obsessed with Ryoma Takeuchi too. Machida’s Sugiki is all control and precision, the Standard champion who keeps everything ruthlessly locked down. Takeuchi’s Suzuki has the swagger and physicality you expect from a Latin dancer, but there is real emotional fragility underneath the bravado. What sells it is how fully committed they both are to the actual dancing. This is not actors faking it with doubles; you can see the work in their bodies in every movement.

The dance sequences are where everything clicks. There is an early rehearsal where Suzuki teaches Sugiki a rumba walk, and you catch every tiny adjustment in posture, every weight shift, every moment where Sugiki’s stiffness starts to melt. The camera stays close enough that you see the hand placements, the tension in their frames, and the way their bodies have to negotiate through touch. Later, when Sugiki has to follow instead of lead in the Viennese waltz, the frustration in his face and body says everything about his terror of surrender. By the final performance, they are pulling together everything they have taken from each other: Suzuki’s fire braided with Standard discipline, Sugiki’s control flooded with Latin heat. It is technically impressive, but it hits hardest because these two people who have been orbiting each other finally move as one.

What grounds all of this is the specific reality of competitive ballroom. This world is rigid and hierarchical, built on traditional gender roles, fixed lead and follow dynamics, and heteronormative partnerships. When two men dance together as equals, swapping lead and follow and treating each other as true partners instead of rivals, that is not just romantic. It is disruptive. Choosing connection in a space designed around comparison and ranking reads as its own quiet act of defiance.

The chemistry between Takeuchi and Machida is ridiculous. Every charged look, every lingering touch during practice, every moment where competition blurs into something else feels inevitable but never cheap. The restraint makes it sharper. You are leaning forward, waiting for them to close the distance, and when they finally dance together in that last sequence, the intimacy lands like a confession even though the film stays relatively chaste. That is how you do slow burn in BL: the choreography carries the confession the script never verbalizes.

And yes, this should have been a series. The ending is both satisfying and maddening. You get emotional payoff, but it is very clearly only a midpoint in their story. There is so much more to explore, professionally, romantically, and psychologically, that you can practically feel the missing episodes. It plays less like closure and more like a pilot still waiting for its next season.
I have read the critics calling it too cautious, joking that it needed a chastity coordinator, and faulting it for not fully committing as a queer romance. As an exercise in pure film criticism, you can argue the caution. But as a BL viewer who knows what this genre usually delivers on screen, this is still the standout BL film of the year. The bar for BL cinema is often pretty, tropey, and thin, especially on the big screen. 10 DANCE aims higher, even if it does not swing for the fences in every area.

Most BL gives you surface romance with minimal character work and sports as aesthetic wallpaper. This gives you complicated adults with real ambitions and vulnerabilities, a romance built on mutual respect and earned connection, and dance sequences that actually move the story forward. The restraint reads as maturity, not timidity. The slow burn feels compelling rather than withholding because the film trusts you to read the subtext: to understand what a lingering touch means, to catch the shifts in frame and footwork, and to feel the weight of what never gets said out loud. That is sophisticated storytelling, and it is exactly what this genre needs more of.

If you loved the manga, this respects the core while making smart, medium specific adaptation choices. If you are new to 10 DANCE, it is a gorgeous entry point. And if you care about BL that is ambitious, technically crafted, and emotionally literate, this is essential viewing. Just be ready for that final stretch to leave you desperate for a sequel, and probably already drafting your comment to Netflix asking for one.

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So you think you can just make a dance movie and call it BL?! HAH!

Before this came out, people were hopeful that a prestige BL movie had finally been made. Hoping that this could give the genre a boost in the market and provide better quality BL with better investment and high-profile actors attached to them. This is not a prestige BL movie, I'm sorry. This is a prestige dance movie, which is great, but it was not gay enough for that label to be its selling point. There are two steamy scenes and very little active romance in between, and all that was already spoiled in the trailer. Yeah, what you already saw was literally it.
They just wasted all that passion, desire, and built-up tension and it all went nowhere. Or it went somewhere but it was like a volcano erupted into a teacup! The potential was forced into a form that was smaller than its force...you know?!
I was expecting them to really dig their nails into the flesh of this and give us something raw, hot, and passionate. Don't get me wrong, there is sexual tension. There is chemistry, there is romance...but they didn't commit to the bit. They chickened out, I feel. Or maybe not chickened out per se, they just put most of their attention on a different part of the plot, instead.
If we talk about the dance, though, they committed 150%. The actors did such a great job with the dance; they all worked so hard, and the main plot does the dance justice. My knowledge of dance is limited to SYTYCD, okay? So I'm not an expert but to my unprofessional eyes, they looked good! They even pulled faces like real ballroom dancers do and there was so much detail to the dance parts that were executed so well. There is even a blink and you'll miss it nod to the racism that Asian dancers have to bear and I loved that they acknowledged it, although subtly.
But for the romance part...
So this movie is mainly dedicated to the dichotomy of these two dancers who do not simply dance different dance styles but also live by completely contrasting philosophies. It's like a clash of class, culture, philosophy, body, and mind. And yes, the passion and push and pull they maintain throughout their interactions is all there, both in the dance and as a catalyst for the romance. However, I feel like there was a bit of a disconnect between the establishment of these differences (and conveying the seduction that exists by playing with these dichotomies) and actually textualising that with a romantic or sexual relationship coming to fruition. It's two hours of slowly shoving you to the edge and then no payoff. It was like the notes of a chord left unfinished. And I'm not referring to the "open" ending. What I mean is that as they give in to the temptations of each other, the plot pulls all the way back, and the final third of the film just doesn't deliver the sort of conclusion that was set up in the beginning.
Overall, it was a nice movie to watch but I had expected a lot more romance and passion and I felt like this was more a technical dance movie and less about using the dance as a way to show these characters interact and fall for each other. It was like the means became the end. I had expected the dance to be a tool for the romance but it seems like this was "a dance for dance and romance for dance too", sort of stroy.
I also felt some elements, like the journalists and other dancers to be a bit awkwardly developed.
I did, however, love the female partners. They were so sweet and I was rooting for the girls.
Takeuchi Ryoma's acting was a standout, too. He embodies this free-spirited, violently passionate dancer so well. I didn't hate Machida Keita's acting either but it was slightly stiff. He had amazing moments of micro-acting but some moments felt too dettached. And I thought the two had such a sizzling chemistry; they did so much with just their eyes. The film sort of wasted their potential. The actors gave them so much ammunition but the movie itself didn't kindle the fire.
Still, this is a stylized movie with great acting and an engaging plot so I think it's definitely worth a watch.

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Twisted family, twisted relationships

This short movie managed to do a lot over the course of 21 minutes. The story in itself was intriguing with the "eleventh" brother of a really dysfonctional family. I think there is enough content in this interesting premise to make a full fleshed series or movie about it. There is for sure definitely a part of me that wish it would have been longer, even if I like the grey area and the flow of thoughts the ending left me with.

Casting was alright, nothing outstanding if I'm honest but nothing too detrimental to the story itself as well. The production felt of course super indie and the music did not leave me a strong lasting impression as it was pretty much absent from the movie.

I would recommend this to people that enjoy short movie and psychological titles. Far from being a classic BL romance, it is more about mystery and dysfunctional family and worth 21 minutes of time despite its flaws.

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You’re Seriously Missing out if you don't watch this movie

It was an amazing movie—hands down one of the best films I’ve watched this year. From start to finish, it completely pulled me in. The acting felt natural and believable, and the chemistry between the leads was strong and emotional.

What truly stood out, though, was the dance. The way they move is absolutely beautiful—smooth, powerful, and full of feeling. Every performance felt intentional and expressive, not just choreography but storytelling through movement.

The movie blends romance, passion, and art in a way that feels genuine and inspiring. If you love dance movies or stories that focus on connection, growth, and emotion, this is definitely worth watching. Highly recommended.

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Worth the wait

I was waiting for quite some time and it was so worth it. The passion, the chemistry, the longing... it was perfection.

There wasn't really a boring moment in the entire movie, which is rare nowadays. The way they played with time was good, they didn't use needless flashbacks. I especially loved that he refound his spark after watching the latin dance. It wasn't just a dance it was his life, his very will to continue. That being said, the actors really moved me with their portrayal, it felt real, you could feel every emotion that they were trying to evoke.

I was also amazed by the dances itself, it looked flawless - I do have to admit that I'm not a dancer.

Overall, a good movie with a solid plot. It is definitely worth your time.

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