Shall we not talk about the face grab though?
Let’s talk about the face grab.
Because on so many occasions in anime, the face grab is used in a sensual/sexual context.
Hell, we’ve even seen it used in a sensual context in this particular anime
See the difference though? The thing is that in the scene with Yuuri, it’s gentle and careful and romantic.
And most importantly: it’s not meant to be.
Because, believe it or not, Victor is angry.
He doesn’t show it the way Yuuri or Yurio would, but he’s pretty pissed.
We know this through a few things, first of all, the fact that he replies to Yurio’s taunt, something which he, the mature adult, wouldn’t usually do.
You can even see it in his stance. He’s literally and metaphorically stooping to Yurio’s level. He’s lowering his back, leaning close with those half-lidded eyes and that sarcastic smile. In a way, he is mocking, belittling Yurio. And it’s something we’ve never seen him purposefully do with the intention of hurting someone.
And, well, he doesn’t intend to hurt Yurio. It’s his defense mechanism. More than anything, it’s a sign of how upset he is.
The face grab is the culmination of this
I think we all know how rarely Victor touches other people without their permission.
Which means he must be absolutely livid here.
Yurio may be just a kid but he’s tired of his shit.
It’s a way to remind him of his standing.
It’s a way of saying “Know your place, brat.”
“You don’t know the first thing about me. Who gave you the right to speak?”
And I’m not sure whether this is a thing in Russian, but in my language (Polish, which has Slavic origins, just like Russian), we have a phrase 'Nie pyskuj’ which translates as ‘don’t talk back’, but literally means something like ‘don’t muzzle off’. Essentially, ‘don’t run your mouth’.
So, in a way, you could interpret this as Victor literally closing and holding his mouth so that he stops yapping.
And if you think about it, this is the most violent behavior we’ve seen from Victor. He’s literally never acted like that. He’s never been that affected by anything to act like that.
But now, he’s pissed, and he can hardly control himself. And you could interpret the source of his anger as multiple things, but I’ll personally stick with the idea that he hates how Yurio is insulting Yuuri. I doubt that Victor cares how Yurio bad-mouths him personally, he can deal with being insulted himself. But the kid doesn’t get to talk that way about his fiance.
And the next we see of him is this smile
And I’m sure some people would like to consider it ‘flirty’ (especially when taken out of context), but more than anything, it’s a challenging smile. It’s sarcastic. He’s still mocking Yurio, and doing so just with his expression. He’s sneering at him. He’s showing that in every single way he’s above him and his petty insults (even though it’s clear that he’s also falling for them).
It’s interesting to see how Victor handles his anger because we’ve never seen him like that before. He’s never truly been angry.
This is a glimpse into the Victor we don’t know and it’s a curious one.
What’s even more curious is how quickly he gets over it and thinks this:
He quickly finds something positive about the situation. Because not even Yurio and his stupid insults can keep him down for long, not when he’s reminiscing about Hasetsu, feeling the ring on his finger and thinking of Yuuri.
Because ultimately Victor doesn’t hold grudges the way Yurio does. He lets things go easily.
But Yuuri is the one thing he doesn’t want to let go of anytime soon.
It’s on his behalf that he gets angry in the first place, but it’s Victor’s own nature to shrug and forget the conflict in the end.
And I think that says a lot.
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