One thing that struck me about Yuri on Ice today when I was rewatching Episode 6 is that everyone,even people who support Yuuri, underestimate him.
Minako and the Nishigoriâs and Phichit and Celestino all support Yuuri but theyâre also absolutely shocked when he succeeds
Everyone at Onsen on ice commented about how itâs a âYuuri theyâve never seen beforeâ
Minako and Takeshi donât understand why Victor tells off Yuuri after the skate at regionals
Phichit and Celestino and Yurio are shocked at his high score for his short in China
Chris thinks âheâs completely different from last yearâ and is also shocked (and pissed off about it)
But why do I think Victor is different?
If you go back to episode 3 when Victor and Yuuri are talking after his demonstration of Eros he says clearly âYou have the skills to win, why canât you make it happen?â
And that line says a fucking lot.
Itâs a line that says Victor looked at Yuuri and saw that potential. He knew Yuuri could break his record if he could just get out of his own head. Heâs elated when Yuuri does well but heâs never surprised
That why he criticises him immediately after Onsen on Ice and why heâs so critical at regionals. Thatâs why he says âI would have thought youâd score in the hundredsâ and âdonât get too down because I know you can score higherâ
Victor sees him as more than capable of getting the scores he shoots for. In fact he expects it
Which is why Yuuri responds so well to his coaching
I have a feeling every coach before has made Yuuri feel like âthis is your ability line firmly in average. If you go above it itâs a freak accidentâ unintentionally by expressing surprise at Yuuri achieving certain things
Victor treats it as inevitable and even when Yuuri does succeed Victor meets him with either âyou can do betterâ or âI knew you could do itâ
god I love this show and all these little details