Yuri on Ice is an original anime series, yes, it is not based on anything other then itself. It is 12 episodes long and aired between October to December of 2016, and it was made by studio MAPPA.
Apart from a lot of media sources, this was recommend to me by my friend Noelle.
Characters
Katsuki Yuuri is the protagonist of the series. After losing at a tournament, he returns home to wind down. He is humble and modest and wants to compete in a championship on last time before he retires from competitive scene.
Viktor Nikiforov is pretty much the greatest figure skater in modern era, and is considering retiring from the competitive scene. Then he sees Yuuri’s video and decides to coach Yuri to win the championship. Unlike Yuuri, he is very flashy and shamelessly sexy, and he knows it.
Yuri Plisetsky aka Yurio aka the Russian Yuri is … Yuuri’s rival. Unlike the two above Yurio is wild and rough. He, like Yuuri, has been obsessed with Viktor for a long time, but Viktor choosing to teach Yuuri over him gives him new determination to win at the championship.
Story
The story starts with Yuuri losing in a championship and returning to Japan. To relieve himself of his depression and to get inspired, he performs his idol’s piece, Viktor’s piece. And without his knowledge, his friend’s kids filmed and uploaded the video, and it went viral. Viral to a point where it is seen by Viktor himself, and convinces Viktor to move to Japan to train Yuuri.
the Bad
While good, the show gets very repetitive as many of pieces are done over and over again, especially Yuuri’s “In Regards to Love: Eros” and “Yuri on Ice” routine. I don’t know anything about figure skating, but there seems to be 2 parts, Short Skate and Free Skate, and the skaters only have 2 routines as such, meaning if they appear more than once, those 2 routines they prepared will be used repeatedly. This happens with Yuuri, Yurio, the Thai skater, and the Swiss skater. I was hoping at least they have 3…. I’m sure this is how the actual sport is, but I thought more variety would’ve been nice.
While the show is bold in many ways, I thought it wasn’t bold enough in one central arc, the romance between Viktor and Yuuri. There romance is heavily built up, but nothing is set in stone. Are they a couple now? The answer is “… sure?”, and that is not enough. While so much of the show was oozing with confidence in itself, it felt to me that the creators got scared to actually make their central characters a gay couple. Even dumb show like Yosuga no Sora had full on doggy style incest sex on screen. I wanted something to come out of this relationship, be it full on anal sex, getting married, or even a romantic kiss. I don’t think there is a single serious romantic kiss in the show, and that is a damn shame.
the Good
If there is one thing Yuri on Ice has is style. Eventhing in the show is presented in its best way. Presentation, while inconsistent at times, is admirable. I say presentation because it is not just the animation, the colors, or the music, it is combination and synergy of all of them. Yuri on Ice is visually fantastic and the animation is great. The colors are always vibrant and every character is full of life.
If you’ve seen any figure skating, you may notice that music is really important part of the sport. The music in Yuri on Ice is both great and very fitting. The music used for practically everyone’s pieces are really memorable and heart pounding. All of the skaters in the show carry emotion into the rink, and this is so telling of their personalities, I liked that.
This show knows its sexy and is totally shameless about it. It’s characters are all sexy, I mean these are men in their prime in best shape of their lives doing sexy dance on ice, how could the creators not make this sexy. This is especially true of Viktor. While he is not ridiculously flamboyant, he has this prince like charm you just can’t look away from.
The side characters in this series are so freaking great. I mean just look at that ballet teacher, she is so full of expression and love. Hell she follows Yuri to China and Spain to cheer him on. The triplets and their parents are all so full of energy and passion for the sport they are beautiful to watch. Yuri’s parents are great as in they have no idea how this sports works, but support anyway. These supporting characters show that the skaters have lives outside the rink and a place to return, they create this a world that is filled with life and energy, they’re great.
Verdict
- Will I watch it again? While it was good, I don’t think there is anything for me to return to. While the figure skating pieces are cool to see, they aren’t my thing. While the romance is interesting, it’s not enough to watch again.
- Do I recommend it? Yes. This is a great show if you’ve been looking for something that is different. The animation and presentation is great, and the characters are lovable. The gayness and shameless PDA could turn some people off, but that’s their loss.
Final Thoughts
I heard a lot about the series before starting it, I’m sure if you follow anime things, you heard it at one point or another. I will talk about the elephant in the room, the show is very gay. I have no problem with gay things, but a lot of people have strong opinions on it, both for it and against it. The show is good in its own right, but the aura generated around it comes from the fact that its protagonists are gay, and not just modest gay like Tamen de Gushi, but fabulous as fck gay. That said, I don’t think think something should be considered great or terrible because of sexuality alone. Even without the gay, Yuri on Ice is still a great story of a man preparing for his swan song. If you like sports anime and like stylish things, give this one a try.
I hope you liked it!
Gihoon
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