On YOI ep 8: Why I think it focuses more on Yuri than Yuuri
I’m reactivating my Tumblr for this because honestly I don’t know where to put it and I’ve been itching to get this out of my system so I can finally move on.
Normally I differentiate Yuri Plisetsky from Yuuri Katsuki by using Yuri for Yuri P and Yuuri for Yuuri K but for all intents and purposes of this, I’ll be using Yurio for Yuri P and Yuuri for Yuuri K because it’s easier.
Warning: it’s a bit long though and of course, spoilery.
Let me begin by saying I love love love how the Yuri!!! on ICE team wrote the story of the anime thus far. They don’t outright tell the viewers what each character’s personalities are or how they’re developed, but they show you if you pay close attention (or if you’ve read the Wikia, then I guess that’s also fair). They make good use of foreshadowing and comparing and contrasting between characters. A good example of the latter is this tweet right here (link: https://goo.gl/RXllBo):
^This was shown in episode 7 and the whole Cup of China narrative was a really good platform to show Yuuri’s overall personality: between him and Phichit, Yuuri lacks self-confidence and actually relies a lot on people to keep him going. In fact you can also see a bit of Yuuri in Guanghong’s free skate performance:
^The difference here between Guanghong and Yuuri is that Yuuri skates to whatever his coach used to pick for him and Guanghong, while the same, unwillingly does so. The results are the same though, because sometimes not having to choose something for yourself leads to half-hearted performances (they still did their best though I love them so much). In a way, Guanghong’s situation reflects Yuuri’s past situation. The lineup going from Guanghong to Yuuri shows Yuuri’s journey as a skater: from being able skate to something he didn’t choose to skating to music that was made for him.
But hey, we aren’t here for Yuuri or episode 7. We’re here for episode 8.
One of the most striking narrations in the episode thus far had been Mickey’s and Sara’s and one might think that this relates a lot to Yuuri and Viktor, which is, admittedly, a possibility.
But take note as to who opened the episode:
In the past seven episodes, it has always been Yuuri Katsuki who’s opening the episode, and all of the episodes before episode 8 had been about him even if there were other characters around. By opening the episode, don’t you think that this time, the episode is about Yurio?
One other reason why this episode is more on Yurio’s character development than Yuuri is the fact that Yuuri, this time, isn’t familiar or friendly with anyone in the Rostelecom cup (aside from Yurio ofc), which sort of pushes him out of the picture now.
Add to that that Yurio has had even more screen time now than the past episodes.
Going back to Mickey’s and Sara’s narration, while it could foreshadow/reference to Yuuri and Viktor’s separation, it could just as well reference to Yurio. But given that this episode looks like it’s Yurio’s episode, it (it being Mickey’s and Sara’s narration) might as well have referenced to Yurio’s situation. But separation from whom? His grandpa? Likely, maybe. But it could be Viktor as well.
Point:
Here we can see that Yurio’s still hellbent on having Viktor stay in Russia. He’s refusing to let go of Viktor even after his defeat with Yuuri back in Onsen on Ice. This kinda reminds us of a certain someone, doesn’t it?
^This can also reference to Yurio wanting to win the Junior division just so Viktor can make a program for his Senior Debut and/or Yurio making a bet with Viktor that if he had won Onsen on Ice, Viktor would go back to Russia to coach him. Yurio tries to ward off any competition to just to get Viktor for himself in the same way that Mickey is threatening every man who tried to approach his sister. (And no, I don’t mean both statements as romantic. In fact I think Yurio really thinks of Viktor as a coach more than anything).
But Sara’s narration emphasizes that Yurio can’t ever get Viktor because “both of them will go down” should they be together.
If we analyze both Yurio’s and Viktor’s personalities, and reference back to when Viktor was coaching Yurio’s short program, we can say that they’ll definitely will not be an ideal coach-skater pair. Yurio is too stubborn and shouty, Viktor has high standards (which I assume would shoot up higher considering that Yurio is the top skater of the junior division). Should Viktor be Yurio’s coach, it’ll just be more explosive than when Yakov was Yurio’s coach. And judging by how Onsen on Ice went, I think they’ll tire each other out even before Grand Prix Finals came by.
If this coach-skater tandem of Viktor-Yurio were to happen, I’d pretty much guess that Yurio might have not done so well in any of the assignments, leading to Viktor’s reputation as a skater and a coach to deteriorate.
In a way, Yurio not having been able to attain Viktor as a coach was a way to push the story forward (if it hasn’t been going further enough): this would, in a way, give Yuuri a rival (-not-so-rival) as he makes his way to the GP Finals, all the while fleshing Yurio as a character (do take note that he is also considered a main character).
But hey, Rostelecom cup’s not over yet, and I could be wrong in some parts. Eitherway, sorry for the long ass post and in case you’ve read this far, here’s a small Yurio in the kiss and cry:
