Hot and Cold - An Analysis of Shinya Suzuki's Two Leather Jackets in 10DANCE
On my first watch, I jokingly noted that it seemed like Suzuki had two of the same jacket (one in green and one in brown/maroon). After watching the movie a couple more times (it's just so good 😭) I began to notice something interesting about when Suzuki wears the different jackets. Which spurred another couple of watches focused on gathering screenshots to track the jackets. Which has led to this very long meta post 😅
Word Count: 1,996
In short:
The green/cool-toned jacket = Suzuki's cool and casual persona, admittedly even when Suzuki is running "cold" he's running hot, but this the personality he puts forward to protect himself from caring too much, he says he likes being a big fish in a small pond, but underneath the flippant attitude there is a vulnerable heart, Suzuki is a passionate dancer and a passionate person, but I think he is unwilling (at the start) to open himself up to the risk of potential failure or heartbreak
The brown/maroon/warm-toned jacket = Suzuki is ready to care deeply and openly, he is vulnerable, he has recognized his feelings of love and desire and is ready to act on them
Sugiki cracks Suzuki open, he breaks through the cool exterior, he can see the depth of Suzuki's passion from the start. Suzuki cares deeply about Sugiki, but it takes time for him to recognize these feelings.
In long, with screenshots:
1. The Proposal and the First Appearance of the Cool-Toned Jacket
"Like I give a damn." - Suzuki
The first time we see Suzuki in his green/cool-toned jacket is immediately following Sugiki's proposal for them to train for the 10Dance together. There is animosity between the two Shinyas in these scenes. Suzuki gives an icy response to Sugiki's offer. He is nonchalant and flippant when dismissing Sugiki. It is only when Sugiki continues to bait him that Suzuki agrees. (An intentional move on Sugiki's part, I think, to take advantage of Suzuki's passion, temper, and pride.)
Does Suzuki see them as rivals at this point? I think Sugiki does (and is hoping that feeling is reciprocated), but I don't think Suzuki sees Sugiki as a rival just yet. Suzuki claims that he doesn't give a damn about Sugiki (which we know is false, he's been watching Sugiki dance and definitely feels A Way about him). Later he'll also claim he doesn't give a damn about being a world champion.
I think the Suzuki we meet at the beginning of the movie is afraid of taking the risk of feeling those emotions and having those dreams. He doesn't want to fail, so he pretends that he's happy where he is, that he doesn't care about going further. I don't think he fully understands exactly what he wants either. Does he want to be a world class dancer? To be like Sugiki? Or, maybe, does he want something else? <.<
2. First Practice Together - Off to a Rocky Start?
Suzuki is also wearing the green jacket when he goes to their first practice session, which... doesn't go so smoothly. To dance with Sugiki is to apply himself earnestly in the pursuit of the 10Dance championship. And, to dance with Sugiki is to make himself vulnerable to another man, to open himself to feelings he didn't know he could have (or at least didn't want to acknowledge he could have). Suzuki isn't ready to let go of his persona of an unbothered, free-spirited maverick.
The green jacket is also visible on screen after Sugiki says that Suzuki doesn't try. When asked to explain, Sugiki says that Suzuki already knows the answer. Sugiki can see through Suzuki's persona. He knows that Suzuki actually cares very deeply and does have desires to go further. Suzuki just needs a little push...
3. The Cool-Toned Jacket Fades Away
"It was like a rousing wind. Brushing my cheek, stirring my soul..." - Suzuki
As we watch Suzuki dance alone, he starts off wearing his green jacket. The shots fade in and out, and the green jacket disappears. I think this marks the start of a turning point for Suzuki. Training with Sugiki is lighting the fire in Suzuki to pursue becoming a world champion. He's slowly shucking off the casual exterior and is beginning to try. He's getting serious. He meets Sugiki's challenges. And there is a connection forming between the two of them, whether he knows it or not.
4. The First Appearance of the Warm-Toned Jacket
"How was it? Do you feel like a princess?" - Sugiki
As far as I can tell, the first time we see the brown/maroon/warm-toned jacket is at the practice session that, shall we say, awakened something in Suzuki. He is used to being in charge, of being in the lead. To fully give control of his body over to Sugiki is a new experience for him. And I think he likes it. And also that he doesn't quite know what to do with this information.
Suzuki's warm-toned jacket is visible at the start of this session, and afterward it rests on the chair behind him as he recovers from Sugiki literally and figuratively sweeping him off his feet. Perhaps this is the moment where Suzuki's budding feelings for Sugiki are beginning to make themselves known?
Things heat up and then they cool down. As Suzuki sits and processes, the lighting changes. Suzuki and the warm-toned jacket are now both washed in cool lighting (making the jacket look green), before Sugiki invites him out to dinner. At this dinner, a bit of Suzuki's uncaring facade makes a reappearance (perhaps defensively after feeling so vulnerable with Sugiki just before). Suzuki says he doesn't see a point in Sugiki's lessons in table manners, but if Suzuki were serious about becoming a world champion, he should care about this stuff. Perhaps in this moment he is falling back on familiar patterns after a world-shaking moment of self-discovery.
5. Sugiki's Trip to the UK
"Come back soon, okay?" - Suzuki
Suzuki and Aki discuss his feelings about Sugiki. Aki says that he sounds like someone in love, which Suzuki dismisses outright. (Aki and Fusako both 100% know that the Shinyas are down bad for each other, they have the patience of saints dealing with these two idiot lovebirds.) When Sugiki calls from the UK, a leather jacket is briefly visible on the chair in Suzuki's studio. The color of the jacket is unclear, but I don't think it's the green jacket, the color looks too muted. Instead I think it's the warm-toned jacket tinted by the cool green lighting of the scene. Either way, the ambiguity works. Suzuki's feelings are in flux. He hasn't figured it out yet.
When Sugiki returns from the UK, Suzuki wears the warm-toned jacket to Sugiki's studio, where things are heating up. The warm-toned jacket is visible in the background a few times, including while they discuss their pasts. They dance together and it feels charged, intimate. ("How blue is the Cuban sky? So blue.")
Then something changes and the spell is broken. Sugiki is barking orders at Suzuki while they dance and they eventually break apart.
6. Suzuki in the Bar - Questioning
Oh, the lighting in the bar scene!
Despite wearing the warm-toned jacket, the jacket looks almost green when Suzuki first enters the bar. (Emotional fallout from the previous practice session?) Once he sits and starts discussing how he feels about Sugiki with the bartender, the jacket now has rim lighting in both green and red. From the back, the jacket looks undeniably red, but as we watch Suzuki at the bar, the jacket continues to be lit in the two opposing colors - indicative of Suzuki's inner turmoil. Sometimes what is obvious to those around us, is the least obvious to ourselves.
Will Suzuki finally recognize that he cares about Sugiki? That he wants something more than to be dance partners and rivals with him?
7. Suzuki Finds Sugiki Dancing Outside
To me, in this scene, Suzuki's warm-toned jacket looks deeply maroon, almost purple. In contrast to its chameleon performance in previous scenes, it has definitively settled into its warm-toned hue. The lighting of the scene leaves no ambiguity about which jacket he's wearing. I think this may be the moment where Suzuki's feelings for Sugiki coalesce into something identifiable to Suzuki himself (feelings of love, lust, longing, and desire).
Now we queue up Sugiki's Grim Reaper confession, Suzuki's disappointment in learning of Sugiki's struggle to accept his Grim Reaper persona (Sugiki!! Suzuki wants to match your freak!), and of course, The Train Scene - with Suzuki in the warm-toned jacket all the while.
Suzuki wants Sugiki.
Sugiki may chase him down and make the first move, but Suzuki is the one who lunges forward to seal the deal with a kiss.
Suzuki is ready to admit that he cares, his heart is open. He wants.
8. An Aside - Angel Wings
"I'll be the angel who defeats the Grim Reaper of Blackpool." - Suzuki
I simply had to include this with my jacket analysis even though this is less to do with the color of the jacket and more to do with the pattern. After Suzuki declares that he'll be the angel to Sugiki's devil (grim reaper), we see very clear shots of the back of Suzuki's jacket. And the pattern on the back of his jacket, well, it puts me in mind of wings...
9. Blackpool
There is a jacket on the chair in Suzuki's room in Blackpool when Sugiki comes over after the competition. It is briefly visible and it's honestly hard to tell if it's one of the leather jackets or a different jacket entirely. If it is one of the leather jackets, I would say it's the warm-toned one. But, this all may be wishful thinking on my part, to have the warm-toned jacket appear in this scene in the moments before Suzuki makes a move on Sugiki. Suzuki is ready for the two of them to become one.
10. Post-Blackpool - The Jacket Swap
"We can never become one." - Sugiki
I missed some of this until my most recent rewatch and I am so glad I caught it. After "We can never become one" and before "Will you dance with me?," the green jacket makes a couple of appearances.
Aki finds Suzuki sprawled in the back of his car and asks him why he's giving up. She thinks they can try harder and go further together as dancers. Suzuki hugs her and there's a determination in his eyes. He tells her "let's go," and as he walks away, he grabs the warm-toned jacket.
However! The warm-toned jacket isn't visible when they arrive at their destination. I believe this is meant to be the same day, it looks like Aki's outfit and Suzuki's blue shirt are the same as in the previous scene. There is then a montage of them picking out dance outfits, getting styled, etc. and by the end of it, lo and behold, Suzuki is wearing the green jacket again! The first definite appearance of the green jacket since before Suzuki felt like a princess in Sugiki's arms.
Suzuki is back in his green jacket. He's closing himself off again. Protecting himself from Sugiki's rejection at Blackpool. Pretending he isn't hurt and trying to put on a stoic, confident front. Trying to regain his cool, uncaring persona.
11. 2026 Asian Cup Dance Championship
"We're just rivals now." - Suzuki
And the green jacket is visible one more time, amidst Suzuki's belongings as he and Aki prepare for their performance at the Asian Cup. Suzuki says that he and Sugiki are only rivals now. Again, he doesn't want to acknowledge the pain he feels at being rejected by Sugiki, or to admit that he still does care deeply about Sugiki.
But in the end, all it takes is for Sugiki to extend his hand and ask.
