10Dance is a 2025 Japanese romantic drama film streaming on Netflix that has been adapted from Sato Inoue’s BL (Boys Love) manga series of the same name. The film is centered around two expert dancers from two differing styles of competitive dance, Shinya Suzuki and Shinya Siguki, who decide to work together in order to prepare for the dance world championships and gradually find themselves drawn to each other. I guess you’ll have to be a fan of either dance films or melodramas with unsatisfactory endings to really enjoy 10Dance, as it definitely lacks any elements of strong drama or even queer romance.
Spoiler Alert
What is the film about?
10Dance opens with a skilled dancer, Shinya Suzuki, watching a video of the highly esteemed and popular ballroom dancer, Shinya Siguki, from a recent competition. He admits that although Siguki has the ability to perform all steps perfectly while maintaining a flawless form, he lacks something so integral to dance that he has been falling short of being considered the best dancer in the world. Perhaps hinting at the spirit and essence of pleasure that is so crucial in dance performances, Suzuki absolutely hates Siguki for this shortcoming of his, and even treats him as a professional rival, even though they belong to two different styles of dance. Suzuki and his partner, Aki Tajima, specialize in Latin American dance, and they only perform cha-cha-cha, samba, rumba, paso doble, and jive. On the other hand, Siguki and Fusako Yagami are ballroom dancers who specialize in the waltz, tango, Viennese waltz, slow foxtrot, and quickstep.
The two dancing pairs had met for the first time at the 31st All Japanese Dance Championships, where they had won in their individual dance divisions. After the final round and the award ceremony, the two champions were asked to perform one last time on the dance floor, this time together, just to showcase their talents once again. This is when Suzuki watched Siguki dance in person for the first time and developed an immense hatred towards him, the exact reason for which remains elusive even to himself. This was also when he made up his mind to directly compete against Siguki some day and defeat him to prove his superiority. Although ballroom and Latin American dancers are usually not made to face each other, the World Cup of Dance requires performers to be experts in both styles and perform all 10 dances, which is why it is known as the 10Dance competition.
A year later, Siguki approaches Suzuki after an event, and his intentions seem to be to put aside any rivalry or enmity between the two pairs, although Siguki had never really expressed any such animosity. Since Suzuki is an expert in the Latin style and is the very best in the format in Japan, Siguki wants to receive training in the style from him. In return, he promises to train Suzuki in ballroom, so that both pairs are well prepared before the World Championship. Although Suzuki has objections to such an arrangement, mainly because of his strong dislike for Siguki, Aki convinces him otherwise, since she realizes how great this chance can be. Thus, the two sides start training together, with Suzuki and Siguki totally unprepared for the whirlwind that is to hit their lives very soon.
How do Suzuki and Siguki become close despite their differences?
As the two pairs start to train together at Shinya Siguki’s dance studio, the vast differences between the two men become apparent. Suzuki and Siguki belong to very different worlds to begin with, which has had tremendous impacts on their respective careers. Suzuki has Cuban roots, as he was born and brought up in Havana, a city that he relates to. One of his parents is Cuban, which is why he does not hesitate to accept that he has Cuban blood running in his veins, and he misses Havana from wherever in the world he finds himself. It is very obvious then that Suzuki trained in the Latin American dance style from a young age and has now become a practitioner of it. The flow and rhythm so crucial in these dance forms come very naturally to him, and moving his body to the beat is no challenge for him, especially after all these years of training.
On the other side, Siguki has had a totally different upbringing, in a sophisticated Japanese family where he was encouraged and perhaps even pushed to train in the Western classical ballroom dances. The very evident stoicism in his expressions, both during his performances and also in his personal life, stems from his lessons and experiences during childhood. He is also exceptionally skilled in moving his body to the rhythms of the music and the rigorous steps of the ballroom dance style, but just in a very different way from Suzuki. Siguki emanates the dominant confidence and aplomb required in these dances, which is why he is regarded as one of the best ballroom dancers in the world. In essence, Suzuki and Siguki embody their respective styles of dance, and their personalities are based on their art forms, which naturally make them very different from one another.
While the two and their respective dance partners learn about these minute details about each other, they also realize the kinds of obstacles that they each have to face because of their identities. But it must be noted that the characters hardly ever acknowledge these difficulties when it comes to their rivals, and these moments in the film serve mostly as exposition for us. Because of his Cuban origin, Suzuki is often not taken seriously in the somber world of Western classical dance, and Siguki himself once addresses him as a mere Cuban, clearly looking down upon him. It is as if a dancer from Havana is expected to only be able to dance Latin American styles, and will be absolutely incapable in the ballroom style. Similarly, Siguki is often considered dispassionate and boring because of his stoic and serious attitude. It is Suzuki who, more than anyone else, treats Siguki with disdain because he feels that the latter dances without any passion for the art.
Their differences naturally spill over to the domain of dance as well, and both struggle to learn the other’s dance moves and replicate the intense vigor and the confident leadership that the styles require. Suzuki and Siguki both grow impatient and become more stern during their training sessions, and this is also when they start to get closer to each other in an unprecedented manner. During one of their sessions, Siguki makes Suzuki play out the role of the female partner in the dance steps, and he exerts the dominating force that the male dancer is usually required to hold in such steps. Unlike what he had expected, Suzuki thoroughly enjoys the experience of being dominated by a man he supposedly hates so much, and secretly yearns to be in such a position once again. While showing the perfect way to bring out the rhythm required in Latin American dance, Suzuki goes shirtless and moves his body passionately, and Siguki cannot help but be drawn by the act.
It gradually becomes evident that the inexplicable dislike that Suzuki had for Siguki and the contempt that Siguki had for Suzuki were both possibly rooted in the mutual romantic and sexual attraction that they’d always felt for each other but had had to keep suppressed for a very long time. But once they come clean to themselves about their feelings, they do not really care much about social perception and the homophobic persecution that they might have to face because of their choice. Their romance comes to a point of magical fruition when Siguki decides to give in to his feelings and runs back to the subway station to catch Suzuki on the train and pull him in for a kiss. He announces that Suzuki can immediately stop him if he is against what is about to happen, but Suzuki instead pulls Siguki towards himself dramatically, and the two passionately kiss for the first time.
Why does Fusako lie about the video?
Midway through 10Dance, there seems to be a confusion with regards to Siguki’s dance partner, Fusako Yagami, when she tells Suzuki and his partner, Aki Tajima, that she was not the one seen in the famous video of Siguki’s performance from a few years back. The matter is a bit suspicious to Suzuki, as Siguki is not known to have had too many dance partners in his career, and so he confronts the man about it right away. What Siguki reveals goes on to provide even more reason behind him being the kind of man that he is, as he himself seems to be appalled and disgusted by the toxic masculine traits he has developed over the years. Once again, his past is crucial in having made him this way, as he learned to be a certain kind of man in order to succeed in the field of ballroom dancing.
From quite a young age, Siguki used to live in the house of a famous ballroom dancer in the UK, Martha Milton, as he had started receiving training from her, and although his mother was also a resident of the same house, Siguki admits that he felt equally connected to Martha, looking up to her as a mother. One day, Martha took him to Blackpool Tower, where he saw an exquisite photograph of Martha and her dance partner during one of their iconic dance steps. The man in the photo was evidently very stoic, very dour, as Siguki still remembers, and Martha taught him that only a man like this, extremely strict, stubborn, and uptight, to put it simply, has the makings of a gentleman who will succeed as a ballroom dancer.
Since Siguki already dreamt of becoming a professional ballroom dancer, he started looking up to this image of a ‘true gentleman’ and started to build himself to be of similar character. This eventually had a terrible effect on his dance partner, Fusako Yagami, just a few months after she had started performing with him. Fusako was a young dancer who was thrilled to partner with the famous Shinya Siguki, but she was soon introduced to a monstrous side of him. During one of their performances at a competition, Siguki grew furious at Fusako’s inability to perform certain steps and hold her form correctly, and he physically abused her in the most vile manner, all to teach her discipline and make her perform better. He then also forced her to wear a specific dress and perform in the finals in such a shocked state, despite knowing that similar experiences with her ex-partner had left her with PTSD. To make matters even worse, Siguki now admits that he also felt sexually attracted to the nervous and shaking Fusako in this situation, after asserting his dominance over the young woman, and even coerced her into making love to him, if not simply having forced himself upon her. Fusako was naturally even more shocked after this incident, as her PTSD was triggered and worsened, which is why she has completely wiped it from her memory and claims to have never danced in a black dress with Siguki, even though there’s literally photographic evidence of it.
Why do the two lovers part ways?
Although Suzuki and Siguki keep their romance a secret from the world, they nurture their relationship in the most passionate manner, but it all goes wrong at the 73rd Dance World Championship, where Siguki and Fusako finish 2nd, after their longtime rivals, Giulio Moretti and Liana Javalanka. As it so happens, Liana used to be Siguki’s partner in the past, both on the dance floor and also romantically. It is common knowledge in the industry that Siguki loved Liana tremendously and wanted to always be with her, but it was Liana who had left him to partner with Giulio, with whom she believed her career would flourish. Now, the announcer requests a cross-partner dance as a special performance after the award ceremony, asking Siguki to dance with Liana. Despite having been left aggrieved by her earlier, Siguki happily agrees to the dance and clearly enjoys himself thoroughly while performing with the love of his life again. This seemingly upsets Suzuki, who grows jealous of his lover’s intimate acts with his ex-lover. Moreover, Suzuki also seems upset that Siguki so civilly agrees to the performance despite knowing well that the judges had given the first prize to Giulio only because of Siguki’s Japanese origin, which is again considered inferior by the Europeans. At the same time, Suzuki puts up a fight with some of the members of the judging committee, all for his beloved Siguki, who easily accepts defeat and even agrees to dance with the woman who had literally left him for the same bias that the judges have against him. Therefore, Suzuki confronts Siguki when they meet after the event, and he is shocked to hear that his beloved is actually breaking up with him.
Despite initially giving in to his feelings, Siguki is definitely someone to put up a façade in front of society, and so he seemingly refuses to be with Suzuki anymore because he feels that this relationship will only hurt his career even more. It is also possible that spending a few minutes so close to Liana once again makes him remember the passion and the heartbreak from the relationship, and so he chooses to break up with Suzuki. At this point in the film, it also seems likely that Siguki had only feigned his interest in the other dancer in order to learn the Latin American dances better, and now that this purpose is served, he leaves the man, who is absolutely stunned by the breakup.
Do Suzuki and Siguki reunite?
The dancers meet each other once again at the 2026 Dance Asian Cup tournament, which takes place a few months later. Siguki does not participate in the event, but is still a special guest invited by the federation. Despite his brilliant performance, Suzuki does not win the Latin American division, seemingly because the international dance federation does not want to support him anymore and so has brought many superior international dancers to the event just to have him defeated. At the end of the competition, Siguki arranges for a special performance, and although everyone expects him to dance with Fusako, he actually asks Suzuki to perform with him.
In 10Dance’s ending, the two lovers enjoy themselves during the performance, and Suzuki tries to kiss his beloved, clearly wanting to get back together with him once again. But in the final scene, Siguki gives the most mixed signal, which easily makes him one of the most toxic lovers in all of cinema this entire year, as he indulges in a few soft kisses and yet challengingly tells Suzuki that they will soon be meeting at the 10Dance competition. Perhaps the film remains true to the original piece of work from which it has been adapted, and so the lovers can be expected to be seen competing against each other in the competition in a sequel film, despite their toxic love affair still being a possibility.
