Useful links here Hi there, welcome to a blog all about the BL manga 10 Dance by Inouesatoh! Posts will mostly consist of mangacaps, official tweets and information, memes, and a lot of crying over Suzuki and Sugiki. Run by @chlorine-tangerine
After a 7-month hiatus, Inoue-sensei announced that chapter 45 - "Roar" will be released on June 5th at midnight JST! Inoue's teacher wrote that this will be a mostly lesson-focused chapter as both teams prepare for the national 10 Dance with Team Suzuki and Aki as the first part of this chapter, and that this will be a shorter update than usual.
She also posted two sneak peak images on Xfolio. The first is of Suzuki stripping (we thank you for the fanservice) and the second is Suzuki and Aki in a training session with Norman.
This came out two months ago so I'm quite late on this (and I also haven't been very active), but Inoue-sensei accepted an interview for the first time with Frau magazine and had pictures taken! The articles are linked below, I highly recommend giving it a read (I read it with a translator) as it gives us a glimpse into Inoue-sensei outside the author's notes as well as insights that we've never seen before. Summary under the cut.
[part 1] [part 2]
Part 1: Upbringing and early influences
The interviewer noted that Inoue's BL feels very realistic, where men don't become "women" or more feminine once they fall in love. Inoue attributes this to her being surrounded by men as she grew up. She states that she was raised by her father and older brother (by 13 years) until the age of three, then lived in a men's company dormitory with her mother until she was eighteen years old. She spent time with men from a wide age range and was exposed to how men are authentically which was reflected in her work.
The longest non-manga job she held was working in the special effects department for TV commercials. She didn't know how to use a sewing machine, so she worked on practical props as opposed to costumes which was women-dominant. She did not look feminine at the time and got called "onii-chan" by child actors when she had a cigarette in her mouth.
On her own gender, she reflected that she heard many misogynistic insults towards the women in her family from her relatives growing up, and she started to think that she wasn't a woman. Though she also doesn't feel like a man despite understanding men's feelings. She believes that she's neither male nor female, but also simultaneously either male or female.
She spoke at length about the conflicting perspectives on BL between her and editors. the editorial department (Reijin, where she published from 2003-2015) told her to not portray men too realistically. Inoue said that she doesn't understand the idea that a man would crave another's love and devote himself entirely. Once published, she received positive feedback from readers on the realism of her characters.
Inoue started developing and drawing storyboards for 10 Dance since 2003, but her editor would go back and forth on letting her publish it or not, and this exhausted Inoue both mentally and physically. The ultimatum she gave was "if they don't let me draw 10 Dance, I will quit the BL industry". Even after serialization, she was told to focus on the romance and keep dance scenes to a minimum.
She had first hand experience with the ballroom dance world and atmosphere because her mother did ballroom dancing when she was young, and Inoue accompanied her to practices and parties around the age of 10-12. There, she observed the different mannerisms between Latin and Standard dancers and was fascinated by it. But there was a time when she resented ballroom entirely because her mother spent a lot of money on this sport and got into bad interpersonal relationships.
Inoue eventually turned it around and engaged with dancing in her own way by creating this work. At the time there were very few resources, and she couldn't understand dance magazines and the jargon used. The competition DVDs were expensive, but that was how she learned (Reminds me of Mukai!). Videos on Youtube had low resolution, so she had to imagine some of the angles of the body.
In the beginning, she showed her mother the manuscripts and got harsh feedback on anatomy from someone who understands dancing. Now that she has consulting dance teachers, she still finds surprises between how she'd thought the human body worked and what the teachers say.
Even though she started drawing 10 Dance with passion, repeated rejections from the editorial department gave her PTSD prior to the release of volume 3, and she was not able to draw manga at all. After the 1-year-and-9-month hiatus, she restarted serialization in Young Magazine where she had feared the same thing would happen, but things might be different in a general magazine.
Part 2: The movie, eroticism, and artistic influences
Since the movie involves many new people, from actors to directors, she thinks of it as "another 10 Dance". To not change it into a completely different story, she gave them three conditions:
1. The two characters must come together through romantic feelings.
2. There must be dance scenes in the movie.
3. There must be a sensual atmosphere.
She met Machida and Takeuchi a few times, and noted that Machida is stoic like Sugiki, while Takeuchi is a very lovable mood setter, and that he's even more like Suzuki off-camera. (What I thought as well :'))
The interviewer asked Inoue if she had a similar experience to the Shinyas where they encounter art so beautiful that they could unleash their own potential. Inoue answered with the time she saw the Mona Lisa in person more than 25 years ago. She was moved to tears and couldn't move as she felt life and mysterious charm in the painting. She was backpacking in Europe at the time, and the lives of the rural local people became the basis in her works.
When asked about how she is able to depict such raw eroticism in her art, she said that she delves into her inner self and immerses herself. She asks whether each line or dot she places down is erotic or not, and wants to depict the "humidity on the character's skin". She uses intuition and some outside inspiration to finish her artwork and often feels like an empty shell after completing it.
She talks more about the classic films and older movies that have influenced the eroticism of 10 Dance somewhat unknowingly, such as Casablanca or Purple Noon. This, she says, can be traced back to her parents who loved beautiful classics, so she grew up watching those movies and listening to jazz, blues, and mood music instead of anime or children's music until she was three years old; the first CD she ever bought was from Billie Holiday. The choice to name each chapter after a song is also due to her parents.
They close the interview with a comment about how the Shinyas will be moving closer to the competition, 15 years after the series' beginning. She promises drama and romance along the way, but ensures that they will be able to serve the "main course" and "dessert" soon.
A new pop-up shop with 10 Dance merch, along with a new illustration of the Shinyas in gorgeous outfits, has been announced by Medicos! From March 19th to April 5th, these items will be available for purchase at the Medicos Shinjuku location. There will also be life-sized cardboard cutouts at the store!
After that, the items will also be available to order for a short time on the online Medicos shop, from noon of April 6th to April 20th.
Inoue-sensei quoted the announcement with a comment about creating these illustrations, saying that Medicos had many "clothing specifications" and that she tried to "capture a sense of extraordinary luxury that the two characters wouldn't normally wear". I personally am living for this brand new look of the Shinyas, even if Inoue wasn't used to drawing them like this!
Products sold: acrylic stands, pins, pouch, and tote bag! Illustrated cards, mini folders, and acrylic blocks are randomly packed but you can also buy the full set. For those who spend more than 1000 yen, a random illustration card will be included (pic 3), and those who spend over 3000 yen in person receive the special card with both Shinyas. I'm so excited to see them!
Reminder that Medicos is taking online orders from now until April 20th at noon JST! Pre-order your merch now with this link while you still have the chance!
hello!!! i hope this isn’t a bother, but I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit about how aki and suzuki met in the manga? i’m a fan from the movie and while i understand that the canons are very different, i’d love a bit more insight to aki :) thank you!!
Hello, glad that you came here after the movie!
I've loved Aki for years now and I'm so happy that people love her too. In my opinion, her personality was kept the most consistent from the manga out of the main four. Aki and Suzuki both grew up in Cuba, and they have been dancing together since she was 5 and Shinya was 7 years old. In the manga Suzuki said that they dated for about 8 months when they were teens, but decided that it didn't work. Since then, Suzuki has thought of her as one of his own sisters (he has 9 canonically!). They've also been described as comrades aiming for the same goal.
(some more baby Aki and Shinya pictures because why not)
It's very interesting to compare because it's implied that Aki is actually older than Suzuki in the movie, and they seem to have a reverse dynamic where Aki acts more like the older sister. I liked both dynamics as both feel familial and we know that they have a certain closeness that only comes from being dance partners for so long. Their spats and banter are always so fun. I think Doi Shiori did a fantastic job keeping Aki's liveliness and occasional loudness intact (although none of them smoke in the manga, haha).
I'd still wholeheartedly recommend the manga if you want to see more of Aki! She also has a bond with Sugiki that is different from other dynamics in this core four.
A new pop-up shop with 10 Dance merch, along with a new illustration of the Shinyas in gorgeous outfits, has been announced by Medicos! From March 19th to April 5th, these items will be available for purchase at the Medicos Shinjuku location. There will also be life-sized cardboard cutouts at the store!
After that, the items will also be available to order for a short time on the online Medicos shop, from noon of April 6th to April 20th.
Inoue-sensei quoted the announcement with a comment about creating these illustrations, saying that Medicos had many "clothing specifications" and that she tried to "capture a sense of extraordinary luxury that the two characters wouldn't normally wear". I personally am living for this brand new look of the Shinyas, even if Inoue wasn't used to drawing them like this!
Products sold: acrylic stands, pins, pouch, and tote bag! Illustrated cards, mini folders, and acrylic blocks are randomly packed but you can also buy the full set. For those who spend more than 1000 yen, a random illustration card will be included (pic 3), and those who spend over 3000 yen in person receive the special card with both Shinyas. I'm so excited to see them!
Inoue blessed us with a new illustration of the Shinyas in celebration of Valentine's Day! It's the Shinyas being lovey dovey, Suzuki is trying to cover Sugiki with his shirt, and Sugiki is holding a bottle of alcohol. This could be a reference to the bottle of tequila Takeuchi Ryoma gifted Machida Keita during the 10 Dance day trip (available to watch on YouTube), and it's adorable!
Inoue-sensei is slowly moving her pictures from Twitter to Xfolio as an anti-piracy and anti-AI precaution. I couldn't download the original file, but here is a screenshot from Xfolio.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Rating: N/A
Tags: Romance, Valentine's Day, Ficlet, short and sweet
Summary: Suzuki interrogates Sugiki on where he got this fancy box of chocolate. In other words: Sugiki is being ridiculous again.
Word count: 503
I wrote something new for the Shinyas! It's been 84 years! This sounds a bit vain but I realized the next day (aka today) was Valentine's Day and that reminded me of the old comic that I drew in 2022 where the Shinyas were being tsunderes but still buying chocolates for each other. This is slightly different, but thematically the same. It's a very short scene from their domestic life together, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. They're so sweet that they're rotting my teeth off, hence the title.
If you don't want to leave tumblr, you can also read it under the cut:
“... You're sure you got this from the supermarket?”
“Yes.”
“And you’re not fucking with me?” Suzuki cocks an eyebrow.
“Yes.”
Suzuki inspects the box of chocolates again after Sugiki confirms it twice. He doesn’t recognize the brand (not that he buys chocolate often unless Sugiki asks him to), but it definitely doesn’t look like a cheap box of sweets you could find in any store. After a few Valentine’s together, he found that the best gift was just to spend a relaxing evening at home with his man, complete with a fancy dinner, some TV, and… other activities. For a couple weeks now, he stressed to Sugiki to not do anything too extravagant this year. And yet, Suzuki cannot lay his suspicions to rest…
Sugiki insists that it was a generic brand and that it was actually on sale when he found it, and the price tag is conveniently not found because he had already peeled the sticker off of the present.
“Mi amor, chocolates only go on sale after Valentine's day…” Sugiki realizes too late that he should not have said anything extra, and now he has dug himself into a hole. He purses his lips, “Well, maybe it's a new marketing strategy they're trying, you never know.” He tries his best to look neutral, as if this statement isn’t already ridiculous and gives everything away. He doesn’t want Suzuki to nag at him for buying “fancy” things, even if it’s just chocolate and they can afford it at any time, but he should have come up with a better idea than lying.
Suzuki’s eyebrow is raised again, this time with a smirk as he tries to not laugh at the situation, “I've never seen this type of marketing done in any store, ever.” He sets the box aside and rests his hands comfortably on Sugiki’s waist. “You’re so silly…” he chuckled, playfully headbutting Sugiki, “you've gotten really bad at lying.”
Sugiki frowns at his unsuccessful attempt at deceiving his partner, “I was making a joke.”
“Yeah, ‘cause it was so funny.”
“It got you laughing, didn't it?”
“Mm, but I prefer to snack on these instead,” Suzuki turns on his flirty mode (even more than usual) and gives Sugiki a quick peck on the lips. If this were anyone else, they would be swooning, but Sugiki is still a tough one even after a few years together.
“Tsk, you're so corny,” Sugiki turns his head away, seemingly rejecting Suzuki’s advances, but leaves his neck exposed and allows Suzuki to kiss there instead. Like a cat stretching for its owner to pet it more, Sugiki doesn’t ask for things directly, but they are long past the need for unnecessary words, anyway. Suzuki smiles into the crook of his neck and mumbles, “You know you like it.” He only gets a silent nod in return. Sugiki could feel his ears getting warmer. How this man still manages to do that so effortlessly, he will never know.
If I had a penny for every time Takeuchi Ryoma played a deuteragonist that shares a first name with the other character AND is also the more emotional one out of the two, I'd have two pennies. Which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice
A while ago Kodansha USA announced that the English edition of volume 8 of 10 Dance will be released on both paper and digital on the 3rd of March, 2026! Amazon does not have the correct listing for Kindle yet, so I'm adding the link from Barnes and Noble. We are also currently doing a reread of the entire series in the Discord server leading up to this release date, so join in and refresh your memory before this cute volume comes out!
The tradition continues! Volume 8 is scheduled to release in English on March 3rd, so as we've done previously for vol. 6 and 7, our Discord community is going to host a re-read of all the currently released volumes. We'll discuss one chapter per day, sometimes with shorter bonus pages lumped together. If you're interested and haven't joined yet, click here! (let me know if the link expires and I'll generate a new one). Below is the schedule, which will start at midnight US Eastern time each day.
Hello! Hope you’re well :) I recently watched the movie and I read the manga right after (both masterpieces) but after both I’m kind of confused about the reason why they decided to end things and not see each other at all? I was wondering if you could clear this up😭
Hello! Glad you enjoyed both the movie and manga! The question of their break up and then cutting contact is two separate questions.
Suzuki felt that Sugiki was in love with a "perfect, idealized version" of him (ch. 38) and assuming that Suzuki would willfully be the bottom/submissive in their relationship. (I know these two words are not interchangeable, but for these two idiots, they kind of are.)
Chapter 28 (although I still have many problems with the execution) was Suzuki trying to make him see that and telling Sugiki that it will never work between them if Sugiki doesn't see him for who he truly is: not a god, but a man who has the same dominant tendencies as Sugiki. My interpretation is that that was why he tackled Sugiki onto the floor, to try to prove to Sugiki that he can't fathom the thought of being submissive if they were really going to start a relationship, no matter how much Suzuki loves him.
As for why they decided to not see each other at all, that was decided after the break up by Sugiki because they will be rivals soon, and I don't think it's as tied to their break up as much. He's still a stubborn little bitch to do that, but I think Sugiki had planned that whether or not the break up came. They still broke that agreement though, thankfully.
And the girls never planned to follow Sugiki's self-imposed rule, anyway, haha.
hi!! it's me again 😅 first of all, thank you so much for answering my other question!! so, are you interested or have you thought about doing a review of the movie, like you do with manga chapters? currently i'm interested in online discussions, but i wanted to know what manga fans thought about the movie. i've seen a lot of good reviews, but i also wanted to know the negative points. do you think it was a good choice to not include certain characters in the movie? since i'm still reading the manga, i don't know if cutting those characters might affect anything if the movie is continued. and do you have any positive points about the movie that were better than the manga? (it's okay to give your opinion, even if it's not the general opinion.)
Hello again! Happy to know you want to know what I think of the movie, haha. I did start a draft for an in-depth review which I'm still not sure will really cover all of my thoughts on it. But that's gonna be largely subjective, so I'll post it on my personal blog @/chlorine-tangerine. I will still post my thoughts about the manga chapters on here just to keep track of things, and also because our fandom was quite small before the movie. When it comes to the movie, though, I don't want to make my opinion THE definitive opinion, so I'll reserve this blog for stuff like information and memes focusing on the manga (it's also why I didn't post every little update about the movie).
But to give a condensed review here, there are a lot of things I liked about the movie. There were also aspects that I enjoyed in both versions because they give different perspectives (e.g. emphasis on Suzuki's immigrant status). Unfortunately there were also many missed opportunities and reduced characterizations that were done for no good reason (I found an old draft about quotes I wanted to see adapted, and funnily enough, neither quotes were adapted!). I understand a lot of the changes are due to time constraints and Otomo wanting to focus on the drama of their love story, though. Doesn't mean I won't nitpick, because that's all I do when it comes to 10 Dance, lol. I am planning a comparison post for this blog about the logistical and timeline differences, but I'm not sure if people would be interested in that.
It was quite clear to me that they weren't planning for a sequel if they wrote Norman completely out, because he's too important for the second half of the story, for better or for worse. Even if Netflix requested a sequel, it would probably have to wait until the manga is finished, and I would expect a lot more divergence from the source material just because of the way it was written in the movie.
could you help me, please? i recently started reading the manga after seeing the movie, but i'm still confused about the competitions. which competitions does sugiki come in 2nd place? what's the difference between the competitions that happen throughout the story and the 10dance? is winning the 10dance more important than the other competitions?
Hi! There are quite a few competitions over the course of the manga so far. Sugiki's second place status refers to his overall ranking in the world, which is determined by your placement in many competitions, so there isn't one definitive competition for world rankings.
(Taken from the translator's notes from volume 3)
We know that when Giulio isn't competing (such as the UK Open in volume 1, Asian Open in volume 3, and more recently, the Japan Int'l Dance Championships in volume 7), Sugiki always comes first. But because Giulio does still participate in some competitions that DO determine ranking, he's still 1st place in name. I don't know the actual complexities that go into the rankings...
Competitions for dancers at Sugiki and Suzuki's level are mostly for money, as Urashima explained in chapter 23 that they go on an "Asian Tour" for many different competitions around East Asia. The Ten Dance is a special type of competition that only around 3.3% of ballroom dancers attempt (source). The WDSF World Ten Dance Championships does contribute to your world ranking, though.
I would say that realistically, the Ten Dance is not more important than other major competitions as so few dancers attempt it, but narratively it is the most important event. Hope this answers your question, the world of ballroom dance can be confusing!
Have you had a chance to watch the movie yet? What did you think about it? Here are some reviews around the internet that talk about both the good and less-good parts of the movie!
Japan Gay Guide - 10Dance Review: The New Japanese Gay Netflix Movie (Shoutout to Tobias for reaching out to me!)
But Why Tho? - REVIEW: ’10Dance’ Is All About The Yearning
Q+ Magazine - 10DANCE Review: When Rivalry Becomes Rhythm and Love Takes the Lead
Fangirlish - 10 Dance Review: The BL Was Good, the Stereotypes Were Not
K-Waves and Beyond - 10DANCE Review: Visually Striking Dance Drama with Sensual Tension but Lacking in Romantic Payoff
DigitallyDownloaded.net - 10 Dance is one hell of a steamy LGBTQ+ film… And also really good Dancesport (this review goes deep into commentary about the dancing if you're interested!)
