Honestly, I’m baffled that some people still have the nerve to say that Yuri on Ice “wasn’t gay enough”?
Or that it wasn’t “explicit enough”?
And see, I somewhat understand what you mean, and I will expand on that later, but for now let me take the example of the rings from episode 10 in order to present why I think that the statement that “it wasn’t gay enough” is BS.
I think just watching the scene of the ring exchange will give you the effect I’m thinking of but allow me to use this screenshot for the sake of this post
Let’s all take a moment to remember and think about this scene. It is set in front of a cathedral, to the tune of a choir and the moment Yuuri gently slips the ring onto Victor’s finger, the bells ring.
Which to me sounds like… the perfect setting or an engagement? Here, people usually argue that they didn’t say the things people usually say while getting engaged etc etc but 90% of reactions that I’ve seen to this scene (including reactions of straight cis males) was “oh my gOD they’re actually getting engaged!”
You know why? Because this anime shows and doesn’t tell. Honestly, this scene was the best illustration of this principle - everyone understood the meaning behind it even if they didn’t say “will you marry me” or anything like that.
It’s only when people started overthinking it that the “uh, they didn’t *actually* get engaged, those rings are just ___” comments started appearing. Because in that scene, at that moment, it didn’t matter how Yuuri justified those rings to himself - they were presented like engagement rings, and we all understood that they were engagement rings, no more words were needed.
But just in case you did need words, they did come:
And this was literally the most explicit confirmation we could hope for and it’s right there, sitting there in all its canon glory. The only way this could be more explicit is if they said that they were going to get married- oh wait, that also happened!
And many people took it for what it was, rightfully, in my opinion, because we got both an engagement scene and a direct mention and confirmation of it in the span of just a few minutes.
But of course some people did appear saying that “Oh, Victor was just joking, you know how he acts.”
Which is a ridiculous justification, but it shows us one thing: No matter what the anime does, there will be people out there ready to deny it.
Sure, their arguments get more and more ridiculous as the anime goes further and further in its presentation of Victor and Yuuri’s relationship, but those people don’t disappear. The truth is:
People will deny it if it’s not explicit.
People will deny it if it IS explicit.
So while I suppose I can understand the sentiment of wanting to see Victor and Yuuri explicitly kiss just to “shut people up”, the truth is is that it wouldn’t shut anyone up at all because those people will find a way to deny the canon and annoy us anyway. If someone really wants to deny something or hate on something then they will.
But the truth is also that the anime doesn’t need to be explicit in order to convey the necessary feelings.
Because, as such, those things are clear to anyone who isn’t actively trying to deny it anyway. Remember what I said about Show, Don’t Tell? That’s exactly what I mean. Victor and Yuuri’s love is shown on practically every step so much so that they don’t need an “I love you” to validate them. We all know that they love each other. A confession like that could even be considered superfluous.
Would I like to see Victor and Yuuri openly saying “I love you”? Of course I would. But can I live without it? Of course I can, because their love is visible and clear even without it.
Then, I suppose, comes the discussion of an “uncensored” kiss, or basically just an overt, explicit kiss. “Show, don’t tell, right?” you scoff “What better way to show than through a kiss?”. And yeah, I get your point - I would have liked a kiss myself. Not a wet French kiss (which perhaps people fantasize about but which would also be just… too much for this anime), but a simple peck on the lips - a simple, non-offensive but poignant statement on Victor and Yuuri’s relationship. Because exchanging pecks is definitely a thing a couple like them would do.
But at the end of the day, I think we could say that a kiss as such was unnecessary to the presentation of their relationship which was clear even without that. Of course I would have liked an open kiss and of course I think that it would work in favor of showing their relationship but I’m willing to be happy just with the non-explicit kiss because it was great on its own. Not to mention that relationships aren’t based on checklists you can’t just go and tick everything that you see off and then by the end say “nope, they’re not canon, they still haven’t done this, this and this.” Victor and Yuuri’s relationship is clear to most viewers, the same way a straight relationship in anime (also without a confession or a kiss) would be. And isn’t that part of the point? Normalizing the relationship?
And perhaps most importantly let me say that I am wiling to be extra understanding of the anime studio here, especially considering how much they’ve already shown us. Because, and I know this may be a terrifyingly realistic point but hear me out for a moment, maybe the creators were afraid? Because one fact is that they’ve already pushed borders - tons of them, the engagement being the most prominent one. But let’s also consider how risky of a project it was for them? I wrote a post about it recently and the take away point is that they were afraid that this anime would be terribly niche (they completely didn’t expect the popularity) because the subject topic is niche in itself, because when people think “sports anime” they think “soccer” and “baseball” and probably even “volleyball” but definitely not “figure skating”. Add to it the amount they clearly invested into it and yeah, it’s understandable why they’d be afraid - it was a huge risk from the very start. And how are they supposed to know “How far is too far?” (Or how far is not far enough, for that matter.)
Believe it or not but Yuri on Ice is a pioneer in the world of anime - a sports anime which normalizes gay relationships and discuses many other important topics. Yes, this is where angry No. 6 fans come out and yell that No. 6 did it earlier and it even showed kissing. But you’re forgetting one important thing. No. 6 was based on a light novel. When it was animated it already had a fanbase. The anime was mostly promotional material for it and the upcoming manga adaptation anyway. YOI though? YOI is a completely original project with no previous following. You could very well say that YOI itself is one huge experiment in what anime can and cannot show these days, because literally no original anime has ever done this before and succeeded so overwhelmingly which is actually a good sign. Because it means that the otaku community is changing for the better and can recognize what’s good. Because if the industry realizes that featuring normalized gay couples isn’t risky then they will create more of them. It’ll be the end of the age of queer-baiting and the beginning of an era of actual LGBT representation.
Of course, that’s idealistic right now but perhaps not impossible after all. Remember guys, baby steps. And YOI itself is like a leap forward anyway, and I think that deserves to be appreciated and not shunned for “not being enough”.
And the bottom line is: Now that the creators have realized the power of Victuri and the fact that they don’t need to hold back when showing them, I think we can expect a lot of good things from season 2, whenever that rolls around.
And if you really think that it wasn’t gay enough then please stop comparing Yuri on Ice to yaoi anime or to shows with gay couples in Western media, and start comparing it to relevant stuff - anime within its genre. And what genre was YOI? Sports.
Which sports anime comes anywhere near what YOI showed us? Exactly.
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