I am basing my opinion on Yamamoto’s intentions on what she herself said in all her interviews and at cons (on what else should I base it? On hearsay?). She always speaks about “relationships without a name” when referring to the relationship between Yuuri and Victor and I have never read anything in which she either confirmed or denied a romance.
The other creator of the story, Kubo, is also saying every time that “the relationship is up to people’s interpretations”. I have never read anything confirmed or denied by her either.
I see that many use the wording “he is speaking on Sayo’s behalf” to prove their point, but can’t Sayo speak for herself? She seems to be a very determined woman that will not let others stop her even if she wants to do something difficult or controversial, not to mention she has been in more overseas events than Otsuka. I would think that she’s perfectly capable of speaking her mind on this topic as well, without using others as “messengers”.
The fact that Yamamoto and Kubo (nor anyone else of the staff) have never been direct or confirmed anything makes me find it a bit weird that Otsuka would do that, thus basically trying to clarify something all the others are trying to keep vague. This, combined with misinterpretations that have happened at other cons and the fact that there is basically only one person that transcribed (part of) the Japanese line from audio that was apparently very hard to make out even for a native speaker, make it difficult to understand how everything was actually worded in the original language.
If you prefer to think that one person saying something not 100% clear at a con is more reliable than all the interviews Yamamoto and Kubo have released so far, well.. go ahead. It’s your opinion and I won’t try to convince you of the opposite (I wasn’t trying to convince anyone from the start anyway, I was just replying to a question I received). I like Yamamoto’s concept of relationships that don’t need a label and since she said it herself and thus it’s something confirmed that’s why I’m sticking with her opinion. Whenever she or Kubo also say “we made their relationship develop into romance” I will trust them on that too.
TBH the point is not whether they are in love or not, I think that’s something that can be easily perceived from the anime without even reading interviews. It’s the staff’s stance about their “relationship” (not about their “feelings”). They all say that there is “love” between them but don’t define their relationship.
Also, I’m writing all this stuff on my blog in response to people’s questions. I’m not going to other people’s blogs to try to convince them that what they think is wrong or to hate on them or make any kind of propaganda. If you don’t like, don’t read. I think there are plenty of people sharing your opinion out there, so there’s no need to hate on others who think differently. The problem is not “an opinion” but how it’s worded, and I think I’m wording everything without calling people names or hating on others, so I wish others would stop doing that. YOI is about love and nothing regarding it should be used to spread hate or attack others.
This is all you’ll hear from me about this matter anyway, I will not reply to any other questions about this.
(Again I’m on my phone and I still haven’t figured out to use “keep reading” from here so I’ll do it when I get home tonight..)
