Yuri on Ice, an anime that is all it’s hyped up to be. A spoiler-free review by an uncertified fangirl.
Yuri on Ice has me in a stupor. How does a fangirl (noun) fangirl (verb) over an anime without unintentionally revealing spoilers?
Answer: I. DON’T. KNOW.
Let me just stick to the facts. It’s a sports anime about Men’s figure-skating. The main character is named Katsuki Yuuri, hence the title Yuri On Ice. He’s a lovable character (I LOVE HIM TOO MUCH). He interacts with other skaters from different parts of the world. His interactions with one skater from Russia, in particular, is of notable interest to fangirls AND fanboys everywhere (me very much included). The 12-episode anime premiered in October 2016 and ran through to December 22.
If you’re confused why “Yuri” and “Yuuri” are used interchangeably, let a sista break it down for you. “Yuuri” is written in the Japanese title while “Yuri” was written when the title was translated to English. Simple as that! I personally prefer “Yuuri” because it’s more authentic.
Plot Perspective
I’d only discovered it in Novemeber 2016, and I wasn’t really about the Waiting-For-The-Next-Episode-And-Therefore-Experiencing-Unique-Torture life, so i waited till it was fully aired before watching it. And let. Me. Tell. You.
In a moment, Yuri On Ice became one of the favourite anime I’d ever watched. That is to say, binge-watching definitely happened. I won’t bore you with the awards it won (and they won LOADS) but I just wanted to mention three things.
Plot! Plot!! And PLOT!!!
The director Sayo Yamamoto and writer Mitsurō Kubo did a brilliant job of telling a unique story set in the world of Men’s figure-skating never told before, and it was beautiful. I cry. Their depiction of anxiety as a mental health issue coupled with the inclusion of a main cast homosexual relationship was both refreshing and delightful!
In terms of development, his internal monologues provided valuable insight into his state of mind both during competitions and outside of it. Classic introvert! The writers are goddamn geniuses.
Yuuri as a competitor isn’t really a consistent performer, probably in part due to his anxiety that intermittently pops up even without external stressors. Some times he nails his jumps, other times he doesn’t. I was holding my breath during competition routines, because I genuinely wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to make his jumps or not. His internal monologuing during his skating are windows into his development.
Not only did Yuri on Ice portray relevant topics in a charming manner, but also, at its roots, it told a compelling story of a young man who struggled and his journey towards overcoming it.
Music
And the music, oh my goddess, was PERFECT. The skating pieces were composed by Taro Umebayashi and Taku Matsushiba, and can someone please give them a friggin Grammy or something for this soundtrack? I have of course downloaded and streamed it everyday since it came out. It gets me emotional just listening to some of the pieces.
You can listen to it on Spotify here, or any other music streaming programmes you use. Not in public though, you might cry.
Not that I did! Maybe…
To clarify, I absolutely teared up on the bus once (thrice) and got caught doing so.
Worth it?
Regardless of how good it is, it’s not technically perfect. The animation in the original version I watched wasn’t as good as the Blu-Ray version that has been released. Speculation suggests this was due to budget constraints, but personally, I found it affected little. The good story and complex characters made up for this in spades. The budget probably went to the animation of the skating, because I thought those were beautifully done.
To put it differently, I cannot think of any other fault. Yuri on Ice was PERFECT! To demonstrate my unwavering loyalty to this anime, I’ve watched it a total of six times.
Is it worth the watch? I think it’s safe to say everyone can probably anticipate what I’m going to say.
WORTH IT.
Wanna gush over the Viktuuri?? Maybe you have suggestions for what anime I should watch and review next? Lets shoot the shite in the comments!
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