Hey so I know you don't talk about yoi anymore, so feel free to ignore this ask. But I just find it interesting looking back years later, how everything you predicted came true? The series ended the way you said it would and sure enough there has been a rise in series like yoi since then, with large male casts and "romance" between them, but not really a rise in lgbt content
I'll have to take your word for it anon, since I've watched little to no anime in recent years (I just read manga). I mean Banana Fish was a blatant attempt by MAPPA to duplicate the yoi effect, but otherwise I'm not sure what else... I suppose Housekishou Richard-shi no Nazo Kantei... and maybe Fugoh Keiji, Idolish, Tsurune (tho that's more Free), and SK8?? (disclaimer that I have not watched any of these and am just going off what I've heard about them)
Keep in mind though that such shows were already on the rise because of the growth of the BL industry and the rise of female fans for shounen shows like Prince of Tennis, KHR, and Kuroko no Basket (and more recently, Haikyuu, Demon Slayer, and JJK). So yoi might've given studios a further push forward but they were already heading there.
On the plus side, there has actually been an increase in lgbt representation in Japanese media, but more so in tv dramas and manga. And that's due to a combination of past tv dramas pushing the envelope and activism. But anyway, we love to see it.
So yeah, I'm honestly not sure how right I ended up being lol (except the ending. the ending, I did predict correctly)
for context, i use to be a fan of the show in the beginning. i thought it was kind of interesting, and the main character being in his 20′s and coping with constant anxiety was something i can 100% relate to! that being said, i have a shitton of issues with the show and the fanbase itself by extension.
i’m gonna put all this under a readmore and separate this by categories. before that, i’m gonna start off with a quick summary of what Y/O//I is (for anyone that’s kinda curious and have 0 idea wtf this anime even is about). i tried to keep everything as brief as possible so it won’t be too much to read through, but i have a lot to say about this entire anime that i didn’t get to say last year, soooo.
PROLOGUE: WHAT IS “ YOI ” ?
if you already know what YOI is, you can skip right over this and jump right into PART ONE.
ok, so. Yuri!!! on ICE (a.k.a. YOI) is a sports anime series that was produced by MAPPA, directed by Sayo Yamamoto and was written by Mitsurō Kubo. it ran from October 6, 2016 – December 22, 2016, with 12 episodes under its belt for one season and talks of a possible second season.
the story goes that 23-year old (turns 24 in episode 9) Yuuri Katsuki is Japan’s top figure skater and he fucks the fuck up at the last Grand Prix Final (GPF) he participated in. he decides that he might as well put this career on hold or just quit altogether. while he’s chillin’ back at home (which is a hotel-bath house, keep that in mind for a lil’ bit), he recreates an advanced performance done by his idol Victor Nikiforov during that same GPF (Viktor was in first place, Yuuri was dead last).
well, this performance was secretly recorded by his friends’ triplet daughters and put up on YouTube, getting the attention of Victor and prompting Victor to stop skating for an entire season to coach Yuuri (much to the dismay of Victor’s coach, Yakov). this event sets off Yuri “Yurio” Plisetsky, a 15-year old skating protege that worked with Victor closely and was promised Victor’s help years ago.
the two compete for who gets to be coached by Victor in this season and Yuuri beats Yurio, leading to the rivalry between the two and Yurio returning to Russia without Victor. the anime goes through the entire skating season revolving around these three characters- along with a revolving door of side characters in order to keep the competitions interesting- going through physical and even mental obstacles to kick their opponents’ asses.
...and this is where my issues with the anime starts.
PART ONE: THE STORY IS AWKWARD
i have a lot of issues with this anime. a lot.
for one thing, the entire story hinges on this one accidental night that was revealed in episode 10 after Victor and Yuuri trade matching golden rings: Yuuri got hella wasted after his fuckup in the GPF, and basically gave Victor the time of his life. they danced, and Victor had fallen hard for drunk-off-his-ass Yuuri. (pole dancing was also somehow involved. don’t ask me how.)
Yuuri forgot the entire night, presumably because he dropped off the face of the earth in social media. my main issue with that is how was this never brought up again with any of the other characters?! how was Yuuri completely unaware of this happening?!
Yuuri’s friend, Phichit, being unaware of it makes a little bit of sense due to his absence during that GPF. but not Yuuri? there was a small segment in the first episode that shows that he had his phone notifications off for a long period of time after he recreated Victor’s routine.
but, i still find that to be a bit too convenient. and after he’s back into skating how did no one else mention this? i know Chris, Victor and Mickey alluded to it at separate points and that makes sense- it’s a good way to get the shock of what episode 10 dropped on us to be even better.
...but no one’s bothered to straight-up mention, “hey, Yuuri, remember when you spun on a fucking pole and beat a 14-year old in a break dance competition? yeah, what the fuck was up?”
my main issue with the entire story would be the ending, so...
PART TWO: THE ENDING KINDA WAS MEH IMO
the end of the series has Yuuri coming in second place (a huge improvement from the last year) and Yurio in first place in his first senior-division GPF. oh, also JJ gets in third place somehow, but we’ll get back to that in a second.
now, i get why they made Yuuri get second place since he promised to quit skating competitively once he wins gold and to also “allow” Victor to go back to skating (there’s a huge internal conflict with Yuuri since a lot of people assumed Yuuri “stole” Victor from competing). what could’ve happened instead of Yuuri getting second is the following:
Yuuri wins gold, and he either stays in the competing world as a competitor for another year because he gained his love for the sport back and wants to go for one more year. or, he decides to teach Minami (an upcoming Japanese skater that greatly admires Yuuri). this would help create a new dynamic with Yuuri and Victor (if Victor coaches Yurio if Yuuri starts coaching), along with introducing Yurio to a new competitor for the next skating season.
Victor stays as a coach, for either Yuuri or Yurio (since Yuuri does move in with Victor after this GPF). he really enjoys coaching people, and learns how to improve his coaching skills with extra help from Yakov.
Yurio comes in second. he’s devastated at first, and he’s disappointed in himself. but then he remembers: he’s only 15. and he got second place in his first senior division GPF. and that itself is fucking incredible.
JJ gets dead last. after an incredible season of completely crushing all of the other competitors and even showin’ Yuuri up by perfectly executing Victor’s signature move (that Yuuri struggled to replicate), he fucked up. he messed up both his skate routines. with the promise he had made is fiance, Isabella, that winning gold means they’ll get married and he fucks it all up. but, Isabella is still with him after he fucks up; his parents- that are also his coaches- still support him; the crowds still chant for King JJ! the king may have fallen, but he’s not gonna give it up. and he becomes stronger from that!
give Phichit or Chris bronze, dammit.
PART THREE: THE CHARACTERS THEMSELVES ARE MEH AS HELL TOO, NGL
so the character design was handled by Tadashi Hiramatsu, working off of Kubo’s original sketches of how the designs would look. and overall, i think the designs are alright. they don’t stem too far from reality (with a few exceptions, because this is a fuckin’ sports anime so fuck it!).
i’m only gonna specify a few characters, because tbh almost all the characters are very flat or not interesting. if they didn’t have nice designs or hella bomb music for their routines i wouldn’t even give a flying fuck about them. but they have that goin’ for them, i guess.
Yurio Plisetksy
oh, we’re gonna get back to this character don’t worry.
Seung-gil Lee
i personally don’t have much to say about Seung-gil, but the issue of racism against this character was brought up multiple times while the show was airing.
Seung-gil is a South Korean skater that competes against Yuuri once, and was unable to make the cut. the issue with this character is that he’s rude to a lady skater that seems to have taken some interest in him (and she was being polite and sweet to him) by ignoring her calls and outright saying he has no interest in being her friend. he also is calculating his scores as he’s performing.
Otabek Altin and JJ
god, i wish Otabek was introduced earlier ‘cause he probably would’ve been a much better character. his entire existence was basically just to contrast Yurio, and not in the way JJ does with Yuuri.
Otabek is a large and powerful masculine man, while Yurio is constantly called the “Russian ice fairy” due to his more feminine appearance (which was stated in the anime). and Otabek admires Yurio’s grace while Yurio admires his strength. but, other than that, Otabek is basically only a prop for Yurio. his entire character revolves around Yurio, and that’s it. you can’t really talk about Otabek at all without even mentioning Yurio.
with JJ, he’s got his own character arc goin’ for him. he’s always been at the top, he’s incredibly skilled and everyone fucking bows for King JJ. fuck, he has an entire song called Theme of King JJ! and this contrasts amazingly with Yuuri!
whereas Yuuri is constantly questioning his self-worth and skill, JJ owns that shit. but with Otabek and Yurio, it falls flat, and in the next section i’m gonna delve into the character of Otabek a bit more.
Makkachin
the dog is objectively the best character and no one can say otherwise.
PART FOUR: YURIO IN GENERAL TBH
honest to god, i think Yurio was the character that was hardest for me to get use to.
and i’m just gonna start right off with my biggest issue here: Yurio was incredibly sexualized. and not in the way that would be Yurio owning his sexuality.
nope, Yurio’s performance for his exhibition skate Welcome to the Madness was very... uncomfortable to sit through. his performance was like this:
(CREDIT FOR THIS GIF)
there is absolutely NO FUCKING REASON to show off one of the youngest characters in this show in this way. there’s ZERO REASON FOR THIS BOY’S SHIRT TO RIDE UP LIKE THIS, OR FOR HIM TO REPLICATE THIS SPECIFIC ICE SKATING MOVE. you want one of your characters to perform that kind of move as a homage to Stéphane Lambiel? HAVE YUURI DO IT- HE WAS THE ONE THAT SKATED TO EROS- A LITERAL SKATING ROUTINE ABOUT PASSION AND LOVE-MAKING AND ALL THAT JAZZ.
yeah, Yurio was the one that wanted to go for that spicier routine (basically personifying lust) over Agape (personifying wholesome love), and you can argue that having Yurio do shit like this was for the character to show everyone that he has control over his own sexuality, but that isn’t the case. having his arc be about how he’s coming to terms with his sexuality or how he feels pressured into being more sexual while still being a minor- leading to him being uncomfortable and having a new friend step in and say “hey you do wtf you wanna do” would’ve made this shitshow better.
no, the creator made this routine in order to get more sales (which duh), and to garner more interest from the side of the fanbase that wants to see Yurio get together with Otabek by throwing him in the routine.
Otabek’s part in the routine was only for a decoration, like icing on the cake for Yurio’s performance! he was only there so they could upstage Yuuri and Victor’s duet!
this isn’t a character taking charge of his sexuality or even an arc about how figure skaters. no, they only had Yurio doing this performance because a lot of people wanted to see Yurio and Otabek end up together (which is something I’ve already stated i have a few issues with).
a really good way they could’ve taken Yurio’s arc was to show him being pressured by the adults in his life into having to sexualize himself, and constantly showing Yurio being uncomfortable with this. he just wants to skate his own way, but then the fear of the judges and other competitors looking down on him because he’s the youngest competitor in this year’s GPF (everyone’s in their 20′s, minus JJ who is 19) he falls into a state of depression because he’s not doing things on his own terms. have Yurio combating with this inner struggle and have him overcome it by saying, “hey fuck you, stop staring at me like this.” have Otabek back him up- have Otabek (who is 18) be someone that isn’t confident with himself and have him be the one that tells Yurio, “hey, this is hella gross, are you even okay with any of this?”
or, y’know, don’t sexualize kids just for money, just sayin’, that’s a better option.
another issue i’ve seen with Yurio is that he’s fucking everywhere.
yes, Yurio is a main character and i get that he’s gonna get a shit ton more merch than Georgi or Leo, but he’s overshadow the other two main characters. and honestly, i’m sick of seeing him. it’s upsetting, but true. i’m sick of that character entirely.
PART FIVE: THE ANIMATION REALLY ISN’T GOOD
so, another issue i have is that the animation really isn’t jaw-dropping.
the only time i was fucking impressed by the animation was episode one, showing off Victor’s performance of Stammi Vicino!
the show’s animation was subpar at best, and it wasn’t anything revolutionary or stellar at all. it was very flat and static, and even the ice skating routines were boring in that regard. there’s barely any real effort that is put into the animation of the anime, and it’s a real let-down!
y’know what anime had crazy-good animations? Mob Psycho 100.
this character is just talking to people, and he’s incredibly animated and overall interesting to watch!
this show has very interesting use of squash and stretch when it comes to making characters emote. even the smallest of expressions are easily magnified due to the solid execution by the animation team at Studio Bones!
YOI could’ve better attempted at doing this with at least the skating routines, and the bare minimum with the main three characters. it would’ve made the anime a lot more engaging instead of having everything be so damn static or consist of shot reverse-shots. having more interesting angles in the show would also help with the expression of feelings, as this show is very heavy on emotional weight when it comes to Yuuri and Yurio’s struggles to compete against the other.
and i’m so not upset about MP 100 losing to YOI in the Crunchyroll anime awards because it was totes not biased. which, by the way...
PART SIX: THE FANBASE ITSELF (OH BOY)
these are a few examples of the issue i take with the fanbase. for this section, i’m going to list off what problems i have with the fanbase, and why i now have the entire YOI tagged blacklisted.
Victor and Yuuri’s relationship (homophobia!!): this is one of the biggest reasons why i don’t associate with the fanbase anymore. the fanbase constantly takes this couple and tries to add toxic “relationship problems” to them. this includes (but is not limited to):
threatening to divorce each other
doting “wife” Yuuri
“playboy” Victor
Yurio’s “constant disgust” with the two being happy together (Yurio seeing “sin” if the two so much as cuddle with each other)
basically calling two men that are together “a dirty sinful ship”
“Victor is the man of the relationship” “no, Yuuri is” (basically the application of heterosexual standards onto a gay pairing, and having a “power struggle” with them instead of them being happy together)
fanfics (which i will make a separate part for)
Yurio’s sexualization (OtaYuri): i’ve went well into depth about this, but there’s another point i would live to bring up. there are actual minors that don’t want to see Yurio in a sexual way because they’re around the same age as him and don’t like the idea of having people having sexual fantasies about a teenager. that thought genuinely makes them uncomfortable. well, the side of the fanbase that ships OtaYuri (the ship name) will go well out of their way in order to make them uncomfortable. some OtaYuri shippers join anti-OtaYuri discord servers or skype groups, and then spam them with OtaYuri content until they’re permanently banned from the chats.
Killing Stalking (also referred to as “KS”): i already can’t stand the fucking online series called Killing Stalking, and it’s horrid to sit through. the fanbase of KS already has a fucked up vision of shipping the two main men- one of them being a homophobic serial killer that breaks the other guy’s legs in order to keep him trapped in his home and another his obsessive stalker that broke into his house. and the Yuri!!! on ICE fanbase flocked right into that the second the anime ended, and decided it was okay to take Victuuri (the ship name of Victor and Yuuri), and try to come up with their fucked up headcannons and AU’s with KS.
The YOI Fanfics: okay. this is honestly a huge part of why i’m very cautious of interacting with YOI fans. there’s a multitude of fanfics that incorporate homophobic, non-consensual aspects into their writing just so people can get their rocks off to it. and that really bugs me. i’m going to talk about the kinds of fanfics that really seem to bug me the most. WARNIING: this is NSFW-related, since that’s the most kind of fanfic i’ve seen of them.
Alpha/Omega/Beta Fics: this category for fanfictions involves an AU where occasionally characters will go “into heat” and have the uncontrollable need to breed with either their partner or anyone nearby. and usually it’s the “uncontrollable, lusty, submissive Omega” (which is commonly Yuuri) that needs their “dominating and powerful Alpha” (usually Victor) to give into desires and screw. a lot. now, this is wrong for a coupe of reasons: it portrays these gay men as people that cannot control their desires at all; this isn’t always consensual sex at first; there’s always a focus on a power dynamic between the two+ characters involved due to being “presented” as an Alpha, Omega, or Beta.
THE POSITIVES: YES, THERE’S A FEW POSITIVES I SAW
its music was composed by Taro Umebayashi and Taku Matsushiba, and they did a fucking great job workin’ with the music. On Love: EROS will remain as my favorite song from the entire album that YOI released.
seeing Yuuri attempt Victor’s move in episode 7 and then successfully master it in episode 12 was something amazing to see. it was an incredible thing to see Yuuri land on his feet as opposed to him hitting the ice again, and it really shows how far’s he’s come.
another positive would 100% be the fact that figure skating had gained a lot more popularity. it was so nice seeing so many people become more interested in the sport itself, and i loved seeing pro skaters even love the show! Stéphane Lambiel even had a cameo in episode 12!
the characters’ designs are really not all that bad. and the voice work is great! i don’t really watched dubbed anime often, but the dub for YOI was over-the-top and ridiculous! and the VA for Yuuri in the English dub (Josh Grelle) was at SuperCon this year, and he kept talking about how much he loved Yuuri’s character. he loves the fact that the story of YOI takes place in a world where no one has to be afraid of loving who they love, and that’s something he wants to see in the near future, and i find that incredibly sweet.
the dog is immortal.
CONCLUSION
so. there you go. that’s all i have to say about the entirety of Yuri!!! on ICE.
did i enjoy it? well, yeah, a little bit. i was a part of a YOI skype chat when it began because i was so excited that we were getting a sports anime about figure skating!
was it worth all the Internet-breaking hype? eeeeh, not entirely, no? episode 7′s kiss was something special, yes, but the show itself wasn’t allowed to be critiqued that often while the show was still riding the high of popularity it had.
and if you liked the anime, that’s awesome! i’m glad you did! i can 100% see why the show was very popular and why a lot of people still love it!
i don’t label every YOi fan a homophobe for liking the show, but seeing this kind of behavior way too often has made me lose my love for the show overall. i can’t even look at the show anymore, and that’s really upsetting to me. but, it did make me happy for the time being. it’s just a fucking shame that the show had a shit ton to work with, and they didn’t go for it.
i’m sorry this got very long, but there were some areas that i needed to delve more into than others and i got carried away.
not salty, i dont like yoi but you like otaku trash like love live. you sound like those otaku dudes who dislike yaoi shows(with a reason) but eat loli fapbait shows like that dragon girl one.
Hey man, those words hurt.
I expected some pissant to pull that “you like Yuri so you must dislike yaoi” card eventually because I had the gall to not like the show (keep in mind I haven’t given any specific reasons for why I don’t like it and you’re just making assumptions based on nothing)
I don’t give a hoot if a pairing if m/m or f/f, what matters is the C H E M I S T R Y. WHAT CHARACTERS HAVE AN INTERESTING DYNAMIC THAT MAKES ME WANT YO CARE ABOUT IT. YOI didn’t grip me in that regard but shit like love live does, you can rag on it for being otaku bait but honestly it’s a lot more squeaky clean then YOI was, none of the girls ever get butt ass naked for one.
Also if you know I like Dragon Maid you should already know I freely admit it’s pretty trashy and I enjoy it despite that because it’s a dumb comedic show that’s silly and fun and it doesn’t try to be anything more then that. YOI was try to actually tell a serious story so comparing the two is fucking hilarious
I don’t exclusively like Yuri (HxH’s killugon and Pokeani’s Diodeshipping should tell you that much) JUST BECAUSE it’s girls involved, AND also the fact you write off any yuri as sexual in nature buy not yaoi is a little questionable in and of itself, so please take that BS elsewhere.
Also, the YoI fandom never ceases to amaze me with their homophobic, racist, sexist, distasteful and overall closeminded comments towards the people who don't like YoI. A big applause to the welcoming and open fandom- wait, I meant to the fujoshi fandom.
But why would you listen to the good friend of the Director and writer of YOI when you can listen to other friends who had nothing to do with the project. Surely they must be more reliable.
re: your YOI post: i've seen Erased and tbh it wasn't that great of a scene :/ on paper it sounds heartwarming ("abused girl has first homemade meal" vs "kiss") but YOI really had far better buildup (preceded by an emotional skate sequence) and was more impactful... in Erased, Kayo's abuse is treated in a really shallow manner & reduced to a plot device. Erased was v popular when it came out but a ton of its viewers were super let down by the 2nd half. It's reasonable that YOI won over it.
Even still, there were a lot better heartwarming scenes to choose from. If I hadn’t picked Erased I would have picked Orange. Even the yoi fandom said the “kiss” wasn’t the most heartwarming and would rather prefer to the airport scene.
The award didn’t go for the most heartwarming anime, but for the most heartwarming scene. What came before and after is technically irrelevant.
I would still think The first homemade meal was more heartwarming than a censored “kiss”, but to each their own I guess.
Sorry but why were YO/I fans trash-talking Love Live! in your inbox when Kanan and Mari got more development in one episode and is still more believable than Yuri and Victor lol? I mean, that anime was overhyped as hell. I was excited to watch it since I'm gay myself and I was so unimpressed? It wasn't revolutionary like the fans made it out to be, it was just every yaoi-fetishising trope put into one. Their "engagement" rings aren't even in official/promo art like pfft, aight.
Jfc the people who come to your blog are horrifying "HOW DARE YOU NOT LIKE THIS OPENLY GAY SHOW DESPITE ITS MANY PROBLEMS YOU ARE PERSONALLY INSULTING ME YOU ARE DISGUSTING" when before you started watching the show you literally said "I don't watch yoi but congrats on the engagement" and shit like that lmaooo. You get attacked more then any other blog I follow and I am so sorry
Haha that’s right I did say that! Thank you for remembering because I didn’t lol, and I still mean that by the way, I happy we got some of this kind of representation in anime and I hope it sends a message that people want more of this kind of thing, even if I personally didn’t get into the couple myself. Anyway thanks for your concern, the anons appear to have settled down so now things can go back to normal :p
