Reviews

Speechless.

Everything about this production was beautifully captivating. There are simply not enough words I could physically type on this review to make what I have to say about this film be fully expressed. I struggle, even typing this out, to truly put my feelings into words. The story, the acting, the styling, the music, the cinematography, the visuals, anything and everything truly hit the mark. Nothing about this film lacked. Not one thing was out of place. Purely perfection. Honestly the first film I have rated a 10. Just everything was stunning and I can never stop saying that.

Not one actor lacked the skills or ability to portray their character. Every actor knew the assignment. Studied everything to a tea. No one stood out or performed poorly. Biggest props to them for training so hard for this film. I did not hate any character, nor did I feel like one was a villain in this story.

Now, the chemistry. You have to be blind not to see and appreciate the chemistry between the two leads. The tension was there, the emotions were there, the love and heartbreak were there. They made me think they were in love, and they were. The passion on the ballroom floor was perfectly mirrored every time they were on screen together. The actors were stunning together, and I would love to see them work together again. Maybe for a sequel or something completely new. No actors have moved me like this EVER. They were fantastic.

The women were simply beautiful and stunning. The way they supported their male counterparts but also develop a sense of friendship along the way was refreshing. I adored them and their stunning wardrobe. They had their own storylines and feelings that were also seen in the film and didn't have to rely on their dance partners. The friendship between them and their male partners was something entirely new. No romantic feelings, just love and understanding of a dance genre that makes them express themselves in the rawest way. It was a treat to see all the relationships between the characters.

The MUSIC was not something I thought I would love as much as I do, but I do. Every song fit the scene and was a hit. It was so good and enjoyable to hear. Definitely something I would listen to on my own time. It was fantastic.

The styling was also something I loved. Every piece of styling fit the character wearing it. Sugiki is a perfectionist. His hair is neat; he wears a classic suit, he is polished to perfection, nothing is out of place. While Suzuki's hair is messy, it's bleached, he wears opened chest tops and has a more laid-back look. It fits their characters perfectly. The women also had stunning and flattering dresses that were just jaw dropping.

Many say the ending is opened and felt unsatisfied. They felt the story was abruptly ended but it sets itself up for a sequel. I found the ending pleasing. It not something that felt rushed or anything to that nature. An ending that fits good for the story. I can't say that I agree with feeling abandoned.

Overall, this film is perfect and it's my number one of the year. Worth the watch and will leave you wanted more.

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This drama is full of romance and heartfelt emotion. It tells the story of two people deeply in love, whose past traumas affect their relationship, yet their bond ultimately prevails. The grandmother’s role was beautifully portrayed and added a touching layer to the story. I felt genuinely emotional toward the end, experiencing their pain and sadness, but the happy ending was very satisfying.

Liu Yu Hang (ML), whom I watched here for the first time, delivered a moving performance. His quiet admiration for the FL and eventual expression of his deepest feelings was captivating. The symbolism in the story was beautiful—especially when the FL gave him the key to her home. For a girl living alone without family, giving him her home was a profound gesture of trust and love.

I could feel the FL’s sadness when everyone told her to stay away from the ML, yet she couldn’t resist her feelings. The reason for their breakup may have seemed a bit ridiculous, but I loved their breakup and reunion scenes—they were emotional and powerful. While the early stages of their romance felt a little questionable, I understood her perspective.

I also enjoyed the small details in the drama, like the jewelry—the butterfly rings—and the ML’s bird tattoo, which added charm and personality to the characters. Overall, this is a deeply touching love story about enduring and true love.

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More episodes were needed to conclude properly

This dance survival show from Mnet features dancers specialized in either Contemporary Dance, Ballet or Korean traditional Dance, all three genres rarely showcased in that kind of competitive program.

The beginning with the auditions and ranking of the participants, each showcasing specific techniques from their respective genre, was really enthralling. Even if I wish there would have been more focus on relationship and personnality, I still was able to discover enough of the participants to get some favorites dancers I rooted for during the competition and I found super interesting how the techniques were evaluated by the various judges.

Despite having a quite good cast with the dancers, the bad pacing of the various arcs of the competition, as well as the way the format evolved to reach a very anticlimactic conclusion, really undermined my enthusiasm for the series and made it difficult for me to want to finish it. The last challenges felt short compared to the beginning ones and I got almost the feeling that the show was cut short. Instead of spending so much time on survival annoucement, I wish the storytelling would have focus more on the relationships, team work and practice.

I would recommend this to people that are looking for a dance survival program featuring rarely seen genres. Despite the bad pacing, boring announcement episodes and the anticlimactic finale, there are some beautiful performances that are worth a watch.

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"the scarf and the wings, you and the future, I want them all"

Beautiful, sad and awfully real from start to end. The story and connection between the two main characters were so thought-provoking. So many feelings and emotions packed in two of the best hours I've spent in a while. So many meanings to love, friendship, family and how experiences and life make them so different for everyone. It was a clear picture of societal expectations and how they differ for both boys and girls, but with two very clear examples in which neither was really happy or free. It also highlights how social class and gender expectations are still such a difficult but ever-present topic in society to this day.

The lead actors' chemistry was unbelievable, they had me grinning, heartbroken and hopeful all in the span of two hours. I loved how even as teens, they both had this maturity and at the same time innocence to them, in which we could see the kindness behind the mischief of the ML and the hopefulness behind the sadness of the FL. I loved their friendship and the quiet love they shared before life got in the way. The ending was so beautiful, and that epilogue scene was everything. The cinematography and direction were carefully thought through as well, at no point did the time-jumps between the present and the past timelines feel out of place. I loved how the two timelines were spaced out throughout the movie. Really made the story more engrossing. Some of the panoramic scenes were so stunning, I loved how the director and cinematographer focused on capturing the essence and beauty of the cities where the movie was shot.

I really love it when movies deal with real issues and actually make a beautiful but at the same time realistic love story like this. Makes me believe love like this really exists out there.

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PEAK!!!

10Dance is an amazing film, and the hype for it has been crazy, which I am always glad to see, but... I feel as if we should have had a bit more romance. From the reviews I have read, many people have said the same thing about expecting a much sexier, steamier film that incorporates love and passion through the dancing from what the trailers had shown us. Honestly, as someone who read the manga first, I was a little disappointed to see that there were little to no kisses while watching this. Of course, I'm not trying to say that it completely diminishes the story as a whole, but there's a lot more that could have been done when it comes to the romance, in my opinion. Otherwise, this movie, from its cinematography, acting, sets, and music, is perfect. I am a Machida Keita STAN, and I was so happy to see him cast in this movie alongside Takeuchi Ryoma, whom I had only recently first heard of from watching the drama "Then You Try Making It!" My final thought is that I hope they plan to give us a sequel in the near future, whether it's another movie or a series, and I will be obsessing over this for the next three months, lol.

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All dance lacking dialogue and story

A lot of work has gone into this,the dancing is superb and highly choreographed showing the training leading up to the big event.

There is chemistry between the leads however there is very minimal dialogue and quite a flat story. The dance elements are the main focus. It is a stretch to call this a romance as those elements seem quite disjointed from the choreography. There are only a couple of decent conversations between the leads and the rest is dance with some backstory.

If you came here for the BL elements you will be disappointed, if you came for the dance then you will love this.

If the focus was more on the relationship development and romance then this would have been perfect. It's a shame some areas are just hollow.

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A BL Drama That Kept Me Hooked Until the End

This is my comeback BL drama, and it has been years since I last finished watching one. I have watched countless BL dramas this year, but for one reason or another, I never managed to complete any of them. This series changed that. It was the first BL drama I watched straight through from beginning to end without losing interest.

I genuinely loved the story. The pacing kept me engaged, the characters felt emotionally grounded, and the development of their relationship was satisfying to watch. Every episode made me want to continue, which is something I had been missing in recent BL dramas. Because of that, this series stands out to me and reminded me why I enjoy the genre in the first place. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a BL drama that is worth finishing.

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This was definitely a welcome surprise

I've never written a review before but this movie made me want to do it. I felt like I needed to express how I felt about it.
I'm not new to one of the actors, obviously I've seen him in Cherry Magic, but I went into this movie thinking it would be a sexy tale about male dancers and then discovered he was in it. Yet it was not that. I mean it was erotic, but not explicit in any way. The movie is all about tension, about the drive that each of the characters has to dance. One loves to compete, the other loves to dance... one is rigid but caring, the other is carefree but selfish... it's all about how the two leads compliment each other.
Don't go into this expecting your usual bl, the production and dedication given to this movie go far beyond that. Truthfully speaking it didn't feel like bl, it wasn't about this two men's love story, but about their love for dancing and how they found in each other the drive to keep going. Is it a love story? Yes, to some extent, the tension is there and you expect them to act on their feelings. But the entire time I wanted them to enjoy dancing on all those stages, I wanted to see them thrive while dancing and that was what truly made me love the movie, seeing the leads evolve as people and as dancers.
I have only praise for this fantastic movie, from the music to the photography, the costume design, the production value, the sets, and especially the acting and chemistry. Everything was top notch. The dance sequences were never boring, it was pure spectacle, so I have nothing but praise for it.

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Love and passion through dance and music

I will share this review from the perspective of a former professional dancer and dance instructor, with no spoilers included.

With a 40-year dance career behind me, I have experienced many things, gone through numerous challenges, and sought to understand a completely different world. Being part of the dance community and growing up in that environment requires immense dedication. Excelling as a dancer isn’t solely about technique. When I was competing, all dance instructors emphasized proper form if you wanted to be number one. However, from a young age, I realized that only about 10% of success is talent—the remaining 90% is pure passion. Watching this film took me back to those times when I was searching for myself on the dance floor. I always felt something was missing—a small spark that would give meaning to the dance and make the purpose of being there truly special.

It’s an incredible movie, and my kudos go to the choreographer. A special applause also to the cast, who learned very challenging routines and performed with the professionalism of seasoned dancers. I’m especially pleased to see a Japanese production, knowing how many talented Japanese dancers are out there but often lack opportunities to showcase their abilities on the international stage.

Additionally, same-sex dancing is very popular in Europe, with many competitions featuring "regular" categories. I’ve tried it myself, and it was an amazing experience. As part of the LGBTQ+ community, I can say that men understand what pleases men—and that authenticity truly shines through.

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Yes, please!

I am so utterly satisfied with this movie, i’m genuinely in awe still even after finishing it.

I’ve been excited for it since I saw the movie’s trailer… And my god, the movie was worth the wait.

The dancing, the chemistry, the acting, the outfits, everything! I thought it might turn out to be boring since it was about professional dancing, but my god I was proven wrong!! Every dancing sequence or scene was utterly mesmerising. It felt like I was hypnotised- to the point where I wanted to get up myself and start dancing.

The chemistry between the two main actors was butterfly-inducing. Their chemistry is definitely there and you could sense the tension, longing, yearning, acceptance, defeat, realisation all at once. It wasn’t explicit, yet it also wasn’t shy. Their love story grew subtly yet visibly, their fondness of each other was vivid and wonderful to witness.

The last few moments of the movie had me worried it might end up being sad but I was happily proved wrong. It was wonderful to watch their story unfold, even though I’m the type who usually enjoys more intimate scenes when it comes to movies like these, I can say that I was satisfied with what I was given. Once again, the chemistry was definitely there. I enjoyed every moment of this movie.

A really good watch!

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Seemingly simple but touches on a lot of topics

I watched this movie a few times over the years. At the heart of this movie are our two leads play by Narita Ryo and Kiyohara Kaya. They are perfectly cast with quick banter and fun conversations. Ryo's character, Yasuomi is a robotic-like cram school teacher, and Kaya's character is his student, Kasumi. While this does have a teacher and student trope, it's a lot more than just that. Both are characters that personally feel "not normal". Yasuomi is a boring smart man who can't seem to date normally. Kasumi wants to stick to her gossip filled girl group but thinks they are quite fake, and would rather look at a future thinking, tech company CEO who she believes is bringing us to a better future.

The dynamic relationship built between the characters and how things develop is done very well. The mix of old vs new school, female vs male views, adult vs teen, straight/stoic vs dynamic, experience vs inexperience, and probably more that I can't think of are all shown. I really enjoyed the acts as we progress through the story, and there is a fair bit of comedy in each section. The synopsis does say how Kasumi helps Yasuomi to be normal (with women), and this is absolutely what makes this movie a gem. To boot, it's filmed very well with some long cuts with tons of realistic and fun banter.

Personally, this made me a huge fan of Kiyohara Kaya and is still memorable to this day.

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Had potential, but died quickly

This show had potential with the storyline, but it died quickly. The storyline was good in the first half, but the script turned out so bad afterwards. Dialogue was dumb. I like the two lead actors in other shows, but this script was so bad that even they couldn't save it. He was consistently in love with her, but she kept pushing him away and then got upset when she thought he was going to marry his assistant. Her abrupt and constant flip-flop personality was annoying.

This was a typical light K-drama (and I use this term loosely since there wasn't any drama in this show) where everyone gets paired up at the end and former bullies apologize for their past actions. Oh, if life was really that easy [sigh]!!!

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Late to the Party.. why didn't I watch this before?!!

3+ years later and I'm finally getting to finish this.
The leads are quite attractive, and as vain as that sounds I find that to be an important factor when watching romance dramas.
Story-wise, it was interesting enough to keep me watching til the end. The dynamic between the leads is probably most intriguing, because I didn't know how things would play out after their altercation in the beginning. Their steady growth was executed pretty well, and it was really cute to see the typically mean ML grow softer as his feelings for her intensified.
Unfortunately this didn't really have a second couple to root for alongside our mains, but nonetheless there wasn't any crazy misunderstanding or super serious villain, which can honestly be such a turn off for a drama imo.
8/10!

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