My faves from Crunchyroll article
“In spite of that all, it’s hard to fault Yamamoto for doing what she does best: artistically subverting traditional pop-culture representations of gender, sexuality, and nationality. Episode 6 of Yuri!!! On ICE may have been structurally chaotic, but few anime directors would have taken the time like Yamamoto did to voice a non-Japanese side character’s political statement. During this episode, Phichit – a skater from Thailand and a close friend of Yuri Katsuki – performs a short program routine to a piece clearly referencing the 1956 musical film, The King and I. As the film and its 1999 remake are currently banned in Thailand, Phichit’s desire to “write a new chapter for skating in Southeast Asia” during his performance carries significance for himself and his country. Had Yamamoto chosen to condense or omit Phichit’s performance for the sake of time or a less taxing production, her message of transnational inclusiveness would have been lost.”
“In a similar vein, Yamamoto is very upfront about paying homage to iconic pieces of German and Russian animation throughout Yuri!!! On ICE. In episode 3, Yamamoto explicitly references the silhouetted, paper cutout animation used by German animator Lotte Reiniger in her 1926 film The Adventures of Prince Achmed. Later in the episode, Yamamoto characterizes a flashback of Yuri Plisetsky remembering his father in the style of famous Russian and Soviet animator, Yuriy Norshteyn. Yamamoto alludes to Norshteyn’s incomplete production, The Overcoat, in this sequence depicting a lonely Russian snowfall.”
Read the whole thing it is worth it.
