something something sugiki’s love and devotion to an art form that will never love him back, only pay him dust because of his ethnicity and nationality. he finds his inspiration and motivation to keep dancing in a fiery newbie and when it comes time to work with another dancer it Must be him. it Has to be him. he throws a fit about how it must be suzuki, the dancer that lit the fire in him to not give up on his dreams and his love of dance. only for suzuki to have the same resolve that he’ll never be number one because “it’s rigged against asians” but sugiki cuts him off. because how could the light of his career give up so easily. how could his own inspiration and the person that reignited his fight not have the same fight of his own?
suzuki hears one of the italian men saying “the only person here who thinks he has a chance of winning is probably shinya himself,” and he does Not like that. suzuki believes in him perhaps even more than sugiki does himself. and he’s angry that these people supposedly see what he sees but they refuse to do anything about it, when he would move heaven and earth to give sugiki his well deserved flowers. he sees sugiki grin and bear it through a duet that’s just to please the crowd. the best reaction to a performance all night, yet the judges still pay him dust. and then sugiki, dejected again, lies to suzuki’s face about being happy about second place. a lie suzuki immediately sees right through, because he knows that’s not his nature. he knows sugiki would kill himself to be recognized. and maybe there’s some truth to him saying the audience’s reaction is all he needs. to at least have the love of the onlookers. but is that really enough for him? suzuki is angry for him, but he’s even angrier sugiki won’t be honest with him or himself; which leads to him breaking down at the end of the night as sugiki denies every aspect of how he truly feels, whether it’s his placement in the competition or whatever their relationship to each other has become. “be honest,” he says near tears.
(this is probably why he has such a strong reaction to aki voicing her feelings about improving. finally someone is being honest with him and with themself about what they want)
even the consistent visitors know that even in the asian cup, because of money and other factors the foreign dancers will probably win over sugiki. and they’re right.
throughout the movie suzuki tries to shake him of this doubt and get his fight back; and sugiki in turn inspires and encourages suzuki to keep fighting and make it to the 10 dance. together. and neither would have it any other way.
