Hello fellow yuuram fan!
Have you ever caught yourself thinking:
- Does Yuuri like Wolf?
- No, but I mean like “Does he REALLY like Wolf?”
- Am I getting invested just to find out it’s clickbait?
- Is Yuuri ever going to accept Wolf’s feelings?
- Does Yuuri like guys?
- Will they get married or not?
You have questions?
I have source material-backed answers!
First, you need to understand that there’s a variety of so-called canons. There’s an anime canon, a manga canon, a drama cd canon, a musical canon, and then some other random things that you can’t really call canon but exist: such as games, radio shows, tv stuff not written by the author, etc.
All of these canons and non-canon stuff are fine, and you can enjoy them as much as you want, but they’re NOT the source material.
Source material are only the novels and stories that have been written by Takabayashi-sensei (anything in written form and some dramas also written by her according to interviews).
Takabayashi-sensei is the author of the novels (the source material out of which everything else is derived), and her word is “god’s word”. By the way, she used this term to refer to herself in regards to the maruma series, I’m not fangirling, but using terminology she herself used.
Please understand that most of the material that isn’t ‘source material’ has been altered in many ways to appeal to a 'larger audience’ (manga and drama cds), or to make it palatable to the more homophobic society of the 2000s (in the case of the anime). When the anime began social media didn’t exist. And when the anime ended (in 2009), social media was in its infancy. That’s how long ago these media were adapted from source material.
The fandom has influenced the source material itself at times (such as Conrad fans throwing a hissy fit when he died in novel 5 to the point that Takabayashi-sensei had to resurrect him and change who the key was and many other plot points since then). Certain shippers still force sensei’s hand to write fanservice here and there, and despite that, one thing has been clear from the beginning:
Takabayashi-sensei’s 'main couple’ is the one she got engaged back in novel 1: Yuuri and Wolf, the royal couple.
Before we get into the thick of this, let’s take a moment to understand bias. I’m sure that if you’re reading this far into this you really like yuuram and don’t have a problem with homosexuality, boys love, etc. (I use yuuram to mean the royal couple: Yuuri and Wolf, nothing to do with 'who’s on top’ or anything like that, just a name for the ship with these two characters).
Despite that, anyone reading this has been born and raised in a highly hetero-normative society where if a girl so much looks at a boy she must be into him, and vice-versa.
Who can forget the “He was a boy, She was a girl, Can I make it any more obvious” lyrics of the 2000s? Same applies to 'ships’ all across the board.
If any, and I mean any 'boy-girl’ relationship was 10% of what the yuuram relationship is, there wouldn’t be a single doubt that those two are in love, dating, married, and living happily ever after.
But when it comes to Yuuri and Wolf it feels like pulling teeth to get people to accept that they’re in a relationship. I blame mostly the anime for including weird non-canon ideas into fans minds, as well as heteronormative societies.
Please don’t be this person:
Finally, please take a moment to read THIS as an introduction to my next section.
Begin by forgetting everything you consumed from other canons (TV, manga, fanfics) if you truly want to appreciate the Royal Couple in its source material form.
The source material has made Yuuri very interested in Wolfram since the very beginning. Of course, at first, he was only interested in Wolfram’s physical appearance. But the more he got to know Wolfram the more he cared about him and the less he cared about his physical appearance.
To get a full picture of how madly he falls for Wolf, you need to read the novels, but here are some excerpts to illustrate my point:
Source: Novel 1-Chapter 1
“Even if our bodies are evenly matched, when I just glanced up, I’ve already been defeated. How can he be this beautiful! (どうよ、この美しさ！) At the same time, his head is emitting an aura. Although it’s likely that it seemed that way because of his dazzling blond hair. His looks and voice are like an older Vienna chorus boy. His white skin seems transparent, and his irises are an emerald green that make me think of the bottom of a lake, and furthermore he doesn’t have a split chin. He’s an angel, definitely an angry angel. However, because he’s in this place, he’s probably a beautiful demon.”
-> Yuuri writes a fucking sonnet in his head about Wolf’s beauty when they meet.
Source: Novel 1-Chapter 10
From the far side of the corridor, the blond with wavy hair comes running. The intense navy blue uniform suits him; the mazoku Prince Wolfram. I muttered in a sigh 'Although he’s a man, he’s this beautiful, Günter’.
-> Yuuri complains to Gunter that Wolf is too beautiful.
Source: Novel 17, Chapter 7
“Those words hurt me deeply inside my heart, a pain as though I was burnt in an instant. Because I had an experience like that, in which I nearly lost the most important person to me, just because he was wearing someone else’s clothes.”
-> Yuuri calling Wolfram his most important person, code in the maruma series for person you’re in love with.
Source: Do you want an exorcism? 2 (post novel 17)
“And because of that rich VARIETY in the configuration, mazoku is more an ethnicity than a race.
You have from kotsuhizoku, kotsuchizoku, and bone fish who are living creatures, even though they are just bones, to the seasonal migrating tribe of half-humanoid, half-fish maidmer princesses. As for the humanoid ones, there are regular looking ones like me or Conrad, but there are also some who are super beautiful like Günter or Wolfram…………. as for the last one, this is just a little bit of my own personal bias, but it makes no difference if he’s beautiful or not.”
-> Yuuri saying that the beauty he went head over heals in novel 1 for, doesn’t matter to him anymore because of his 'personal bias’
Source: Misepan 2: (post novel 17, arguably the last story written near the release of the novels)
“If I was in trouble, and I was missing something important. And you had one that was exactly the same ….”
“I’d lend it to you, of course”
I thought about this, literally with my hands on his chest. In fact, with my hand, that was pressed against his chest, I could feel that the speed of my partner’s and my heartbeat was the same. Anyone would get blood rushing to their brains when they’re seriously thinking about something. When I could calm down a little, I let out a small sigh.
“Or rather, when it comes to things that I can give you, I would give you anything, Wolf.”
-> Yuuri tells Wolfram he would give him anything in the world.
-There are several times when the source material implies that Yuuri and Wolf don’t just sleep at night.
Again, please remember that in the novels Greta does not sleep with Yuuri and Wolfram. This was a TV addition to appease homophobic minds. In fact, in the novels, Yuuri forbade Greta from sleeping with them because she’s 'too old’. Also source material Greta is rarely in Shin Makoku as she’s studying abroad half the time.
Source: Novel 2- Chapter10
“If I leave it up to you, it will never get settled.”
“So, what kind of settlement do you want…?” My voice trails off as he sways his hips closer.
The former mazoku prince’s face brightens and he pulls me down by the arm.
“So you finally feel like settling things!?”
I’m scared to think about what sort of settlement this is. I’m not going to lose my life or anything, but I do feel like there’s something else I’m going to lose. I desperately extract myself, fly into the bathroom and lock the door.
“Wait wait wait! I gotta take a bath first, okay!? You don’t wanna do it with a sweaty guy, right!?”
Do it…? I blanch at my own words.
-> Yuuri’s subconscious is clearly working against him.XD It looks like Yuuri doesn’t want to lose the v-card yet (he barely knows Wolf at this point), but he still says to Wolf he should take a bath before they do it. Gambare, Yu-chan
Source: Novel 4 - Chapter 1
-> Yuuri and Wolfram have been sleeping together for 3 months at the beginning of novel 4! Please! If this was a guy and girl you wouldn’t be wondering what they’re doing! He has a lock on the door! He can keep Wolf out , order him out, but he never does. Don’t be the gray haired lady!
Source: Never Ending Poison Lady 1
- “As a measure against Wolfram, who somehow even on our trips sleeps in the same bed as I do, I made a wall with three pillows which also had cute egg shaped buttons. I tucked my shirt into my pants, so that my stomach wouldn’t get cold. After all, in the mornings when I woke up, both my clothes and my sleeping posture were always preposterous.”
-> Yuuri says he puts some pillows to avoid getting into the weird sleeping postures and getting his clothes messed up and shirt untucked, but he never thinks of 'not sleeping with Wolf’~
Source: Never Ending Poison Lady 1 (same book as last)
- “While watching Wolfram’s cheeks get red in excitement, a surprised Josak swallowed the question” You even sleep together when you’re out on a trip?“.
-> Even Jozak (the spy who’s supposed to know everything) seems surprised that they’re "sleeping together all the time”. They’re clearly hiding it from people.
Source: Maru maru maruMA- (book with series info and interviews)
Takabayashi-sensei replied to a question about Yuuri and Wolfram and what would happen once they get married… and she said it clearly: They’ll have sex.
(“Please answer my maruma question”, maru maru maruMA)
Source: SS: Murakenzu 2018-11-13 (Paper 1 accompanying cd72)
“Yeah, my father was talking about it, and she’s still being called 'Gokumi’, huh? At any rate, even if he was smiling way too much, his footsteps started to sound louder and faster as he got farther away. In that moment we thought: Eh? Is it that bad? Maybe they saw something while we were sleeping, or rather, maybe they took peeping photographs and want to do something bad with them.”
“Rather than while you were sleeping, before going to sleep?”
“You mean like, when I do practice baseball swings naked or something?”
“Or maybe like, a picture of Wolf’s butt when he’s wearing his sexy negligee or something?”
“Ah! If a picture of it peeking out is released it would be bad, huh?”
“Then, I suddenly realized that "secret” might just be a hook. In other words, those trick titles that often appear in sports newspapers.“
-> Yuuri talks about Wolfram’s butt showing as a common place and about himself being completely naked doing 'baseball practice’ in the room with Wolf, whatever that may mean.
The 4 wedding pictures. Yuuri and Wolfram have been illustrated as married four times by the series’ illustrator:
And I like to add this fifth one (used in There’s Valentine’s Day in Shin Makoku!? DVD special), since in the black and white version, there’s a comment by Takabayashi-sensei that says: “With this we’ve finally won against the anime team! ”, meaning they beat them to the wedding.
Yuuri and Wolf are referred to in tweets by Takabayashi-sensei, GEG-san and Temari-sensei as the Royal Couple (ロイカプ). The author, editor and illustrator all know already what they are and that’s why they call them that.
Please, please read the source material. But if you won’t, at least read some of the analyses I’ve made to find out more about yuuram. Yuuram is here, it’s canon, and their ship has sailed a long time ago, in novel 1. They were always meant to end up together and they have. (”The dream ending” was how the author wanted yuuram to end, happily married). This isn’t clickbait, or fanwork. The author likes the Royal couple and will see that they end up together no matter what.
Yuuram in novel: 1 |2 |3 |4 |5 |6 |7 |8 |9 |10 |11 |12 |13 |14 |15 |16 |17
* Novel Analysis: Crossheart and Love Letter
* Novel Analysis: Misepan2
* Novel Analysis: Do you want an exorcism?
* Bias in KKM: English version of KKM
* Novel Analysis: Yuuri confessing to Wolf (w/quotes)
* Novel Analysis: Physical and mental development in mazoku
* Novel Analysis: Yuuri and Wolfram’s daily routine (with quotes)
* Novel facts: No mpreg in Shin Makoku (I get asked a lot)
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