i'm not sure if you're the right person to ask this but does victor speak with a russian accent in the sub?
If by “sub” you mean the original anime voiced by the Japanese voice actors, no, he doesn’t have a Russian accent. He speaks in an absolutely normal standard Japanese! There are a few exceptions where he pronounces English words with a “foreign” accent (like when he says “amazing!”), though they are mostly single words and it happens in humorous/comedy situations. Also, for Russian words like “vkusno” I think he paid attention to pronounce them correctly.
In Japanese anime, “foreign” accents are mostly used for characters like the “token gaijin”, often in an over-the-top way, and are normally associated with humorous situations or characters that cannot speak fluent Japanese (but in this case it’s often minor characters who only appear for a short while), so you wouldn’t really see important characters speaking with a foreign accent in a “serious” context. The most used is probably the “American-like” accent, but they have a “Chinese” accent where too Chinese characters also speak with “-aru” at the end of their lines.
Because of these reasons, if Victor (or any other character) were to speak with a foreign accent people would probably be distracted by it and would find it hard to concentrate on what he says seriously. In YOI no one consistently speaks with a foreign accent, though Michele for some reason speaks in a light and quite stereotyped Hiroshima dialect and I’m still puzzled about that… (Sara doesn’t, by the way). But that still works because Japanese dialects are sometimes used to “color-code” characters.
why do some jp fans refer to chris as クリスニキ? where did niki come from?
Hello! “Niki” comes from “aniki” (兄貴/アニキ), which literally means “older brother” but can be used to refer to young men. I’ve seen a few people refer to Victor as ヴィクニキ too (it might sound like the abbreviation of “Nikiforov” but it’s actually “aniki”). There’s not really a rule for this, it mostly depends on personal preferences. For example, none of the people I know use it, and I have the feeling it’s mostly used by younger fans.. (Though it’s probably also because if the character is younger than you are it would be a bit weird to refer to him as “aniki”, unless you’re borrowing a word actually used in the anime)
about Yuuri's accent, does he still have it? like, did he completely turn into a city boy?? if yes, can you give examples when he slipped up?
Hello! I reckon you are referring to his Hasetsu/Kyushu accent? It’s a bit hard to say, because in the anime he speaks standard Japanese by default, and he is only shown speaking (slightly) in a dialect when he’s drunk and in a few other instances. As he seems to have always trained at Ice Castle Hasetsu, I don’t think he ever lived in a bigger city like Tokyo (I mean within Japan), and in Detroit he spoke English so that might not have affected his Japanese too much.
To make a comparison, the only characters consistently speaking Kyushu dialect are Yuuri’s parents, random inhabitants of Hasetsu and Minami-kun. Also, Yuuko sometimes does too though it’s not as heavy. Yuuri’s sister Mari always speaks standard Japanese, but considering her looks/personality I think that fits her. Same for Minako. It’s possible that, since whenever Yuuri participates in tournaments he would get interviewed by Japanese media, he is used to speaking standard Japanese because it sounds less “provincial”. When he’s dead drunk he often speaks in a dialect and refers to himself as “oi” (local dialect for “I”) so I guess deep down he’s still a “Kyushu boy”…
Other instances are when he’s expressing emotions or replies instinctively, though it’s not consistent and it doesn’t happen that often. For example, when he says “kakkoyoka~” (kakkoii) regarding Victor, when he says “hazukashika~” (hazukashii = embarrassing) inside his mind after pulling Victor’s necktie before the Cup of Russia, and when he says “yamete sa~” (”stop”).
By the way, the woman who voices Yuuri’s mother is from Fukuoka so maybe she’s the one with the most realistic accent among them.. (I think they get some kind of accent coaching for the lines in a dialect, but when they speak standard Japanese they also use standard accent.) Also, the dialect they use is not very heavy, otherwise viewers from other parts of Japan would not be able to understand what they say.
Yuri on Ice BD choreography commentary translation - Volume 4
You’re seeing right... At last, the full translation of the choreography commentary from the BD/DVD vol.4! I’ve just been really busy, I haven’t abandoned the project of translating all the BD/DVDs of course. The commentary is by Kenji Miyamoto & Mitsurou Kubo, as usual. This time it’s Guang-Hong’s FS, Chris’ FS, Phichit’s FS, Georgi’s FS, Seung-gil’s SP, Michele’s SP and JJ’s SP. As you can guess from the list it was very long so it took a long time to write down and translate (I’m already scared of vol.5 lol).
Notes:
-It’s two people talking, not a written interview, so expect them to hop from one subject to another within the same sentence… Even if it sounds a bit unconnected at times, that’s how they said it.
-I still arranged it a little to make it easier to understand as written material, by removing lots of “ehm” “uuhm” “you know” “yes” (I especially removed all instances where someone says “yes” in the middle of the other speaking) and fumbled words.
-Amusingly enough both their initials are KM/MK, but I used the surname initials so M is Miyamoto and K is Kubo.
-I put (LOL) when they’re laughing because otherwise some lines might sound serious while they’re actually joking.
***VERY IMPORTANT***
Do NOT use this translation for subtitles, in ANY way.
I don’t support the upload of bonuses contained in BDs/DVDs, as they are meant to be (as the word says) bonuses for the people who spent money to purchase them. Unfortunately A*ex is a b*tch but still...
Translation under the cut.
Miyamoto: Hello, I’m the choreographer Kenji Miyamoto.
Kubo: I’m the original planner Mitsurou Kubo. Hahh…
M: Yay~
K: So, this time you will be able to see a lot of choreography footage. The first one is the choreography of Guang-Hong Ji’s free skating program, “The Inferno” from the movie “Shanghai Blade”. Regarding “Shanghai Blade”… in Yuri on Ice some of the choreographies are based on music from the soundrack of fictional movies. This is the soundtrack of “Shanghai Blade”, which is one of these fictional movies and is about the Underworld of Shanghai. It looks cool because it was made in Hollywood, but it’s a gang action noir with the themes of fraternity, bonds and betrayal.
M: That was a very clear explanation!
K: (LOL)
M: I used kung fu-like kicks and other things in this choreography, but it was quite difficult to make it easy to understand…
K: Oh, I see.
M: Though, acting like I’m wielding a sword when the sword sound plays was a little embarrassing.
K: The story was decided in detail, so there is a lot of gun and sword action, battle scenes, scenes like the character entering the enemy’s hideout alone, etc. I think it’s important to make it easy to understand.
M: Yeah.
K: Like, with this spin, the protagonist goes to the boss’ place led by his past comrade, but just before the goal he is betrayed and loses consciousness. There are quite a few portrayals of sadness, like the protagonist being betrayed by his comrade, or being confined, and some of them were actually shown with visuals in the anime too.
M: Yes. I also kind of tried to play two different roles by putting on and removing glasses. Ah, sorry, you didn’t mean it like that, did you (LOL).
K: I didn’t mean it like that (LOL). But, yeah, since you performed the choreography a few times, we put together different parts, so there are times when you have glasses on too. Is it easy to dance with your glasses on? Don’t they get in the way?
M: Well, if you don’t do rotational jumps or fast spins, I think it’s ok.
K: So indeed your glasses would fly away during spins or jumps.
M: Yes. Is this the battle scene?
K: The battle has started. I think we’re almost at the car chase, aren’t we?
M: Ooh!
K: Aah!
M: He turned the wheel (LOL).
K: He did (LOL).
M: There was a vrooom sound (LOL).
K: Yes. We’re almost at the climax. Here it is! Sword-drawing Ina Bauer, meaning that he performs Ina Bauer while drawing the sword. And here he’s also holding a gun.
M: Yeah (LOL).
K: No time to rest.
M: It was quite embarrassing (LOL).
K: The sword-drawing Ina Bauer was very cool actually.
M: Was it?
K: Yeah, this Guang-Hong was really amazing. The protagonist goes to save his sworn brother, who is cornered. How will it end!? Ah, here he’s timing the seconds of the spin.
M: Yes.
K: Ahh… It ends with a gunshot, and the protagonist being shot down as he protects his sworn brother. Thank you, Kenji-sensei.
M: Thank you.
K: OK, the next one is the choreography of Christophe Giacometti’s free skating, “Rapsodie Espagnole (Spanish Rhapsody)”.
M: Uff, had I known this would happen I would have set my hair.
K: (LOL) Is it not set here?
M: Not set. This pose too, I received lots of requests from director Yamamoto and Kubo-sensei.
K: Yes. In all the choreographies we have asked quite a few times for poses that would leave a strong impression, but in this program there are a lot of wonderful poses, I really like it.
M: Thank you. I tried a few different kinds of poses, to get closer to the image you requested. Like this (LOL).
K: Ah, this! A pose where you’re kind of.. holding something in your arms, it’s nice. Though you originally practiced it when the rink was open to the public…
M: Yeah (LOL).
K: I remember that we decided that this was a nice pose with all the normal visitors skating around. Is it embarrassing if there are people looking at you?
M: Once you get absorbed in the performance it’s not embarrassing at all, but if you look back on it it’s a little embarrassing (LOL).
K: (LOL) We ordered this song for Chris’ free program, and we asked to make it sound powerful to give the impression of a program that can win, so we also requested the choreography to express Chris’ strength as a veteran, since now that Victor isn’t here he’s the oldest. Are there choreographies that look like “for veterans”?
M: Well, doing wide movements, for example, means that you are moving with confidence, so I took that into consideration when I created this choreography.
K: I see.
M: The spiral that doesn’t rise (LOL).
K: The spiral that doesn’t rise (LOL).
M: I can’t raise my leg that much, I leave it to the animators to make it look nice (LOL).
K: Right. Apart from your personal example, is it true that when someone is young it’s easy to do spirals and it becomes more difficult as they grow up?
M: Well, men don’t really need to do it in the first place, and also a lot of the time is taken by jumps, so there’s no time to put it in the program.
K: I see.
M: Actually, I made this choreography symmetrical, so that it looks like he’s moving symmetrically left and right.
K: Oh, really?
M: Really.
K: Symmetrical?
M: Basically, I go to the right and then go to the left, using the whole area of the rink.
K: Oh, I see. When you watch it it’s kind of vague, it looks kind of like the skater is twisting a curtain, like, they skate in one direction, then they rewind and then they go to the opposite direction again. I often watch figure skating with that image in mind.
M: Sorry, I don’t get what you mean at all (LOL).
K: I mean, it’s kind of like.. ah, it’s almost over! Hum hum~. Right. Hmmm Chris! Chris! And then in the Grand Prix Final Minako-sensei brings a flower crown and puts it on his head.
M: I see.
K: The next choreography is Phichit Chulanont’s free skating, “Terra Incognita” from the movie “The King and the Skater 2”. This is yet another movie song. Phichit-kun used “Shall We Skate?”, from the movie “The King and the Skater”, for his short program, a song that he had always wanted to use. And… actually, according to the setting, “The King and the Skater” was a hit and so they decided to make a sequel. A song from the sequel is what he is using for his free program. The sequel is set in the near future. While “The King and the Skater” is about traveling back in time, in “The King and the Skater 2” the king of Thailand is sent from the 19th century to the future, to a 21st century skating rink that has become a clubhouse, together with the English skater who was hired as his tutor. They come to the 21st century and dance wildly together. The movie is a romantic comedy released in 2004 that became a hit in the US and is said to have supported the current popularity of figure skating.
M: So that was the setting (LOL).
K: Yes (LOL). Well, of course the movie doesn’t actually exist.
M: The settings are always so detailed (LOL).
K: Yeah, though well, this is the setting we thought when we were thinking about the choreography, so it’s a little different from the official anime setting. It was to create a detailed image for the choreography.
M: I see. At the time I remember looking at lots of pictures together with you and the director because we wanted to include movements and dance poses of the Thai folklore.
K: We did (LOL). We were like, what kind of poses look like Thai poses? And coming up with this and that.
M: Yeah.
K: So we incorporated lots of movements and then you couldn’t lift your left shoulder anymore… (LOL)
M: Yeah (LOL). From the footage you don’t really see that it hurts I guess. My left shoulder was actually hurting, but I tried to show the choreography as nicely as I could. It was a really difficult program, because I moved my joints in directions I normally don’t use.
K: (LOL). But I think that this choreography is really beautiful, it really shows Phichit’s personality perfectly. I see, so there are some directions you don’t normally bend your limbs in?
M: Yes. For example, the way I use the toe here is unusual for me, and the way I use my head too, is something I don’t usually do. I’m actually laughing here though (LOL).
K: (LOL). Are you laughing because it hurts?
M: No, I was thinking, “this program is really tough” (LOL).
K: We also ordered the song to sound, more than “Thai”, somewhat like traditional folk music, and I was told that the lyrics are in a fictional language. It’s really nice. And here it’s supposed to be a Klimkin eagle (cantilever) done in a Thai-like pose.
M: I can’t do it, so in the footage it looks like that.
K: Is the Klimkin eagle difficult?
M: It is!
K: I have no idea how they can balance themselves in that position.
M: I haven’t either (LOL). By the way, Phichit-kun is popular in Thailand. It’s really amazing.
K: Really?
M: Yes.
K: I’m so happy~. I really want Phichit-kun to have a great career in Thailand, I mean, I don’t mean as in a sequel of the anime, in general.
M: Yeah.
K: It seems that many fans of Phichit-kun are married women.
M: Oh.
K: Of course I’m sure that he has many young fans too, but I guess he feels like a young skater that you can safely cheer on. Ah, right, this last victory pose is so nice (LOL).
M: That is kind of embarrassing! I was so tired I couldn’t move…
K: The next one is the choreography of Georgi Popovich’s free skating, “A Tales of Sleeping Prince”. In his short program Popovich-san performed Carabosse from the Sleeping Beauty, and since he is maintaining the same atmosphere, this time it’s the man’s feelings in the Sleeping Beauty, though it’s not a ballet song. The image of the story is actually pretty clear: I will become a prince, save everyone with my kiss and take back the girl’s smile. He regrets having cursed her into eternal sleep, gets depressed and feels lonely, so he decides to become a prince and save everyone with his kiss. He saves everyone with his kiss, everyone becomes happy, and in the end the girl wakes up and gets back her smile, and we have a happy ending. This is what happens in the free.
M: I see (LOL).
K: (LOL). Well, this is the tentative story we decided. When we talked with Kenji-sensei we told him some things about the image of the song ad asked him to dance with somewhat of a lonely aura.
M: Yes. In the first half, and well, in this part too, I created the choreography to make it look like I’m feeling lonely.
K: Yes, we requested the song to be that way, but we also made it on purpose so that, if you listen to the lyrics, one false step and it will sound like a stalkerish kind of love. We thought maybe it would fit a Russian guy (LOL).
M: I see (LOL).
K: Popovich is the same age as Victor-san and his birthday is the next day, so for all this time he couldn’t see the light of the day and stayed in his shadow. For this reason, we thought it would be nice if he could express love in a different way than Victor. I really love both this song and the choreography.
M: I tried to raise my arms as much as possible when it says “promise”.
K: Yeah, when it says “promise” he raises both his fists to the sky and I really like that. Makin’ up~. He’s kissing her!
M: Yes. Ok, if you say it out loud it’s kind of embarrassing (LOL).
K: (LOL). Yeah, but you know, what is nice is that there are lot of clear meanings in this song and they are all expressed.
M: I made them visible. Also, this time I have a microphone attached to my left leg.
K: Oh right, he’s not injured, this time he has a special microphone attached to him to record the sound of the edge grazing the ice as he skates.
M: It made it kind of hard to perform.
K: I guess normally you don’t skate with something like that.
M: I don’t.
K: I’ll save you now~. Ah, at the back you can see the sound staff holding the directional microphone, but he’s sitting right on the ice without anything under him, we were really worried he would freeze to death…
K: Thank you. Ok, the next choreography is Seung-gil Lee’s short program “Almavivo”. This is one of the songs that I really wanted Kenji-sensei to choreograph. The reason is that… it’s mambo!
M: In this program too I did my best to incorporate easy to understand mambo movements. How do you like it?
K: It’s perfect. I remember how I felt when we took this footage (LOL). The director and I were so excited, it was awesome. By the way, the theme of Seung-gil-san’s programs this season is “greed”. Since he is composed and isn’t good at showing his emotions, with this song he tried to radically change this image.
M: I see.
K: So basically, more than his expression, the costume was surprising. When I wrote the manga storyboard we still hadn’t decided the costume, but when it was turned into an anime it had become a costume that really looks like some bird living in the tropics… That’s quite a change of image (LOL).
M: Here I was looking at the camera and dancing aggressively to catch the attention of judges, but yeah, Kanako-sensei was just bursting out laughing.
K: Yes, Kanako-sensei is the one holding the handy camera and filming up close. It was really fun to look at too.
M: Was it? (LOL)
K: Yeah, Kanako-sensei was laughing too… Come on, look at the camera! (LOL)
M: I was laughing too in fact (LOL).
K: It was nice. Everyone was looking and I was also absorbed in filming.
M: I tried to use light steps and dance following the rhythm. I looked a bit stiff though.
K: (LOL). You know, mambo is not a music style that you can use more than once in the end.
M: Yeah.
K: So you have to choose the right time to use it. Seung-gil~. Thank you. So this was Seung-gil Lee’s short program.
K: The next one is the choreography of Michele’s, I mean, Michele Crispino’s short program, “L’homme Armé” from the movie “Destiny of Knights”. This is another song from a fictional movie, “Destiny of Knights”. For the costume we had Michele wear an armor costume in the European style everyone loves.
M: He drew the sword.
K: He did, another program where the skater draws a sword. But it’s not a Japanese sword, it’s European, I guess the drawing style is different? [translator’s note: I adapted this line because the original was impossible to translate literally into English. She is using the word “battou”, which literally means “drawing a sword” but it’s normally used to refer to Japanese katanas, so in the original Japanese line she is actually wondering whether there is an exact term to refer to the drawing of an European sword.]
M: Since he is supposed to be wearing an armor I was careful to make his back look powerful in the choreography. I’m keeping my back straight so that it looks square, without bending it because it would make it look softer.
K: Aah, it’s wonderful. The theme of Michele’s programs this season is “chivalric romance”. A knight worships his lady but it’s not romantic love, he must be satisfied with just spiritual love, and since Michele has never had a lover we had him represent this concept of carnal love being forbidden. Since he loves his younger twin sister a lot. The movie is an action fantasy movie set in medieval Europe and this is its theme song. It’s about the spirit of chivalry. Though well, in the end I just wanted to see an armor (LOL). Sorry for being that simple. You can hear roaring… some animal howling… I mean, not howling. It’s the roar of a tiger or lion. I discussed with the director on whether we should insert this sound or not, and in the end we decided to insert it. It’s nice to add this kind of sound effects (LOL).
M: It makes it feel more realistic.
K: Realistic (LOL). I felt that it would sound more like movie music, and it would be easier to have a clear image of the story. Now he just swore his loyal love. Thank you.
K: The last choreography is Jean-Jacques Leroy’s short program, “Theme of King JJ”. This song is so popular. With this program JJ did something quite wild. He got a rock band – a rock band so hugely popular in North America that they could get a Grammy Award – to write a song for him with his name in it, and used it for his program.
M: But the song is cool.
K: Yeah, i love it too (LOL).
M: Seriously, when I created the choreography for this program the song stuck to my head all day (LOL).
K: (LOL). It was the same for us. Aah, JJ is so cool. We pictured him as a skater representing North American strength, and he really turned out that way. I think it’s expressed very well. JJ. Though well, Victor has been on top of JJ for a long time, so actually he has never gotten a gold medal in the World Championships or the Grand Prix Final.
M: I see.
K: So he is referring to himself as “king” to encourage himself. Even though he’s still young. He says, “everyone, sing!” and from here the audience starts to sing the lyrics.
M: Yes (LOL).
K: In real sport venues you would probably annoy the person next to you if you started singing, and they would glare at you, but since this is an anime we thought it would be ok to do something a little unrealistic, so we had them sing. And some time ago there was an all night screening of “Yuri on Ice”, and the public was actually singing during this program.
M: That’s cool (LOL). Before creating this choreography I was told about JJ’s, how do you call it, pose? But I refused to incorporate it in the choreography.
K: (LOL). I’m glad you did. It’s fine. Ah, this is the cut version for the TV broadcast so it’s shorter. Ahh~ JJ, J-J, J-J! Stop! It’s JJ style. Waah~. This is what is happening now.
M: Is it happening? (LOL).
K: Thank you. We have looked back on a lot of choreographies. How do you feel?
M: Well, uhm, first of all I’m surprised to see once again how many choreographies I made, and then I feel that you and the staff really have too much passion, and I hope that I was able to live up to that passion…
K: Only you could have met our expectations so much, Kenji-sensei.
M: No no (LOL).
K: Thank you very much.
M: I had a lot of fun working on this, though.
K: Looking at the choreography footage I remembered that at the time I thought “oh, we’ll be able to see this animated!”, but even without seeing it in the anime, I was happy enough to be able to see your choreographies every day. I went home every day thinking that. Looking at the morning sun in Edogawa.
M: Yeah (LOL). Everyone was chilled to the bone (LOL).
K: Right. It was exactly one year ago. One year has passed, and “Yuri on Ice” is now a work loved by people all over the world. Thank you very much.
M: That’s really wonderful.
K: It’s really really wonderful. I think there is still some choreography footage left, but did your state of mind change from one year ago?
M: I must say that I’m happy that in this way I was able to make a contribution to the world of figure skating.
K: Thank you. Bye-bye~.
M: Bye-bye~.
I personally appreciated that she asked him some of those “questions that you would like to ask but are afraid to sound stupid or a figure skating n00b” like “what happens to your glasses when you spin”, “why don’t men do spirals” etc.. Also, some techniques like eagles and cantilevers are famous because they are impressive and easy to recognize, but actually it’s not like every single high level skater can do them (sometimes it’s because of physical reasons related to joint flexibility etc., Akiko Suzuki explained that about the eagle in the YOI-related figure skating talk event in March). By the way, I think the cantilever is only called “Klimkin eagle” in Japan?
The contents of vol.5 or other interviews will be translated next... (Hopefully “next” is not “next month”, though I already have plans for almost ALL weekends until the end of November and it’s mostly YOI’s fault..)
Hi, I was wondering if you had any insights or advice on the current YOI 4DX situation? I'm a little confused how the advance tickets work because someone told me you can still be beat out by people with internet reservations?
Hi! Sorry for the late reply… I hoped they would announce the details of the special newly illustrated tickets but they haven’t yet, sigh.
To explain about the YOI 4DX tickets I guess first of all I need to explain how movie ticket bookings work in Japan.
For some special events held in movie theaters they sell tickets via normal ticket websites (like eplus) and in that case they are sold with the date and seat number already printed on them. However, this is not the case for the YOI 4DX screening, which is treated like a normal movie showing.
See under the cut for details.
There are 2 types of advance movie tickets in Japan:
1) The tickets you can buy directly at the cinema counter or from the cinema’s website. In this case the sale starts X days (depends on the cinema) before each screening and you can choose the seat. If you buy them online you will have to receive them from one of the ticket issuing machines at the cinema. They all look the same, they don’t have special pictures on them.
2) General advance tickets which are sold months before the movie is actually screened. You can usually buy them at the cinema shop (not the ticket counter, usually it’s a shop that sells pamphlets and merchandise too) or in some cases even in places such as Animate or convenience stores. They don’t have a day or seat number on them and most of the times they can be used in any cinema that shows the movie (unless there are limitations). They usually have a picture on them, which may be different depending on where you buy them, and sometimes they come in special versions with goods or other bonuses.
The advance tickets they are currently selling for the YOI 4DX screening are the second type. Now, what is the problem with this type of tickets? Since they don’t have a date or seat number on them, to actually use them you need to physically go to a cinema and exchange them for normal tickets (you will still be able to keep the picture part, they will only rip off the tag). However, you can only do this once normal ticket sales for the screening you want to go to start. And you can only do it at the cinema’s ticket counter. You cannot do it online.
Practical example of what this means:
Screenings for YOI 4DX start on September 23. Some cinemas start selling tickets 2-3 days before each screening, at midnight (however this varies by cinema so you need to check the place you want to go to). If they start selling tickets at midnight of, let’s say, Thursday Sep. 21st, it means that people purchasing tickets online will be able to buy them right away from the website after midnight. However, you cannot use your advance ticket online, so if you want to exchange it for the 23rd you would need to go to the cinema as early as possible to exchange it at the counter. Most cinemas are not open and/or do not sell tickets after midnight though, so in most cases the earliest you can go is in the morning (but since it’s Thursday, if you work at a normal company you might not be able to go until the evening).
Of course this means that if tickets for the 23rd sell out via online sale before you can go to the cinema counter you will not be able to exchange your advance ticket for that day. And since they have announced a first-come first-served bonus you can bet that people will try to go as early as possible to make sure they get it, especially the first week when we don’t know how many bonuses they have and cannot predict how fast they will finish (of course I hope they prepare enough to last most of the week but who knows…).
Adding to this, not many cinemas are showing YOI 4DX, for example in my case they are all quite far from where I live and having to go to the cinema a few days earlier just to exchange the ticket is already annoying (and would cost me extra train fare).
What you should do depends on your priorities.If you absolutely want to buy an advance ticket because you like the ticket with the YOI visual or if you want to get the special ticket set (a set of 3 tickets for all 3 volumes), you will have to accept the possibility that some or all shows on at least Saturday and Sunday will sell out before you can exchange your advance ticket for a normal one, and therefore that you might have to go on another day.If you want to watch the screening as soon as possible, you should give up on the advance tickets and participate in the war to get online tickets as soon as the sale starts (I predict there will be a war depending on the area).
If you want the advance tickets but you also want to watch the screening as soon as possible… you should consider going two times. You can try to get online tickets for the first time, and use the advance ticket to go another time later on. Of course it costs you twice the price…
Now, in some areas with less population maybe Saturday tickets will not sell out right away, but in the Tokyo/Kanto area there are only a few cinemas showing it, which is kind of not enough compared to the population, also because 4DX needs larger seats so the rooms are usually not able to accomodate as many people as normal screenings.
I hope it was clear enough but if you have any questions let me know! The advance tickets they are currently selling have a normal YOI visual but don’t have any bonuses with them and only cost 200 yen less than normal tickets. The special set is the same price x3 so the only “bonus” it has is probably the new illustration. Still waiting for information on when/how to buy it… (The details of the first-come first-served bonus haven’t been announced yet either)
I was wondering, I bought my tickets in advance but the time slots are only given out at 10am. Can you go the day before to get a time slot? Or how early in the morning should I show up to wait in line for earlier time slots? (I bought 4 tickets.) I probably should have bought tickets earlier but the museum was all sold out until the day I leave Tokyo. I can leave pretty late and still get back home, but the earlier I can leave the better.
Unfortunately they only give out time slots for each day on the same day, so you can’t get them the day before.. If you want an early time slot you should probably go there at 10 am or slightly earlier. If it’s a weekday (not weekend/holiday) you should be able to get an early one without issues.
This week there might be more visitors than usual because of Obon holidays, but from next week it should be less crowded than early August because many have finished listening to all the guides by now.
So, the other day I finally completed my 6th visit to the Museum and listened to the secret audio guide. As I don’t think my impression of the Museum will change any more, I’m writing a short extra report of what I think about the whole exhibition after going there 6 times.
The post has no “spoilers” nor details about the conversations in the guides so it’s safe to read even for people who are planning to visit. I will only post “spoilers” when the Museum is over and (hopefully?) the no-spoiler rule is lifted.
I have already made a few posts about “how to visit/buy tickets”, so if you’re looking for that kind of information check out the last few posts of my blog!
After writing the first report I was asked whether I would write which audio guides I liked the most. Here is my personal ranking:
1) Victor & Yuuri
2) Yuuri & Yurio
3) Victor & Chris
4) Yuuri & Phichit
5) Yurio & JJ
I am leaving out the secret one not to give out hints, but I liked that too. It was... interesting.
Yuuri & Yurio’s guide was really cute. It’s not like they “act cute”, but they are cute together because you can understand that they are friends even if they bicker. And Yuuri & Phichit are really “longtime best friends”. If you want to listen to something that heals you when you go to the Museum you should probably choose one of these two. If you are tired I would not recommend Yurio & JJ’s because it will probably tire you more, though it is amusing... It actually managed to be “more JJ” than I expected. Victor & Chris’ was hilarious and kind of “R-rated”, but it also had some interesting serious parts. You can feel that Victor & Chris are also longtime friends, but their relationship is clearly different than Yuuri & Phichit’s. Victor and Yuuri were... Victor and Yuuri. In the audio guides you are basically a visitor who kind of follows the characters through the Museum, and in some cases they will speak to you, like to explain things about their skating programs. In Victor and Yuuri’s case, you may as well introduce yourself as “hello, I’m here to play gooseberry”.
I am actually planning to go to the Museum again (as if I haven’t already given them enough money, lol) to take pictures at the kiss & cry display with a friend, and I will probably listen to the Yuuri & Victor guide again so that I can take some more notes when I get home for whenever the spoiler ban is lifted.
Except for the first time (it was the second day and it was super crowded) I always visited the Museum late at night on weekdays, which was really nice because we were always less than 10 people and it was very peaceful. Thankfully enough all the pictures except a few (like the new picture of Yuuri, Yurio and JJ on the GPF podium) have been turned into merchandise, so the ones who can’t go can at least take a legit look at that and hopefully it will dissuade people from sharing pictures of the areas were photos are forbidden. There are no released pictures of the costumes, but to be honest they probably look much better and real if you look at them directly. Considering how much time and money they must have spent on them I’m pretty sure they will display them again somewhere, though I guess it will probably still be in Japan. Apparently they are considering touring Japan with the Museum, which would be nice at least for all the people who do live in Japan but cannot come to Tokyo. Taking them abroad would probably be very expensive.. (Having worked in the forwarding business I have experience with shipping mannequins for exhibitions and it’s not cheap)
Highlights of the costume mannequins:
-The mannequins themselves. They have been as careful as to make all the mannequins different in size and body build, so you can not only take a look at how the costumes would look in real life, but also at how they would look on the characters if they existed in real life. Except for Otabek I guess, because no matter how you look at his mannequin it’s basically as tall as Yuuri and towers over Phichit and Yurio (he’s between them) while he should only be 3cm taller than Phichit.. Maybe they ran out of mannequins?
-Yuuri’s FS costume is a remake, not the same one that was displayed at previous events and at the Chacott cafe. It should be closer to the anime version.
-Chris’ mannequin definitely has something stuffed in the crotch.
-If you are a hardcore figure skating fan you can probably make out not only the skate brands but the blade types too, as you can look at them quite closely.
-The different physique of Yuuri & Victor’s exhibition mannequins. They are standing next to each other so it’s very easy to compare the differences. They really paid attention to everything... The size of their legs, thighs, arms are different, the muscles on their chests, even the throat and collarbones area!! (They don’t have heads, only up to the neck, but still the throats are different!) I don’t know what those golden decorations on their chests are called, but Yuuri’s are more loose and U-shaped, while Victor’s are almost a straight line because his chest is wider. And of course they have golden rings. Their EX costumes were only shown for a short time in the anime so it’s a nice occasion to see how they are made, though I wish we could see the back side better too (you can’t go behind them). Victor’s normal FS costume is alone in the Victor area but he’s also against a wall so you can’t see the back either.
There’s also an “Easter egg” in the Victor area... On the wall on the left side of Victor’s FS costume mannequin there is a small hole. If you look inside... there is actually something. It’s nothing like new art or new information, it’s just random but it’s still amusing that they made that. I don’t know whoever had the idea of actually looking inside that hole the first time...
Staring at the new art of young Victor (which everyone has probably seen by now thanks to the merchandise so I can talk about it) I noticed that he actually seems to have more muscles on his chest than Yurio? Probably also more than Yuuri had at his age. Looking at his full body too, he doesn’t seem to be as lithe as Yurio, which makes me think that even if Yurio grows taller (and he likely will) he will probably be more slender than Victor, not as muscular, so he might still keep a different jumping style. Also, this is very random, but young Victor for some reason reminded me of Mao Asada in her late teens... (I wouldn’t even know how to explain why)
I could finally smell Victor’s cologne, though they probably don’t spray it as much in the late evening as in the day because it’s not that evident.. (I have hopes for the 4DX screening of YOI though, lmao)
In the evening the staff only stands there to check on the statue, so if you want them to take a picture of you with Victor you must ask them yourself (the first time I went the staff was offering to do it themselves). In the kiss & cry area there is usually no staff so if you want someone to take your picture you would need to ask a random visitor.
The first time I went to the Museum, in the room with all the genga art they had a screen showing pages from the Setting Material Collection. However, a few days later it apparently changed, and now they are showing the genga of some animation sequences (Victor removing his sunglasses and winking at the Worlds in Yoyogi, Phichit jumping in his SP costume, Makkachin about to jump on Yuuri in episode 1, Nishigoori uncovering Yuuri’s belly when he was chubby, Victor skating to Hanarezu ni Soba ni Ite, and I don’t remember what else). So that’s worth taking a look at too!
Lastly.. just a note regarding “spoilers”. I am aware that some people have been ignoring the Museum’s requests and posting detailed information about the audio guides. I myself had to stay away from Tumblr because I was scared to be spoiled about the secret guide before I could listen to it... I can’t force people to keep quiet, but what annoys me the most is that there is little respect for the ones who do not want to see spoilers. It will probably happen whenever the YOI movie is released in theaters too, and it’s kind of sad if Tumblr turns into a spoiler minefield for people who can go watch the movie but not on the first day. There is a “keep reading” feature, so it’s actually easy to hide spoilers and let people choose whether to look at them or not.. Anyway, I dislike spoilers myself, so rest assured that this blog will always post spoilers hidden and with a warning.
Hi! I was wondering about the YOI museum tickets? If I buy from Lawson, do I still need to go Tower Records to get a numbered ticket? I'm a little confused...
Hi! Yes, basically they distribute numbered tickets based on the time slot. For example, let’s say you have a ticket for August 7th. There is a counter on the 7th floor of Tower Record, close to the elevator, where they distribute numbered tickets. They start distributing them at 10:00 in the morning every day (so for Aug. 7th they will distribute them from the morning of Aug. 7th), and they have a panel with all the time slots written on it and a “O” or “X” depending on whether there are still numbered tickets available for that time slot. Kind of like this:
10:00~11:00 X 13:00~14:00 O11:00~12:00 X 14:00~15:00 O
You show them your ticket, tell them which time slot you want, and they will give you a small ticket with the time slot and a number on it. If you choose, for example, the 13:00~14:00 time slot, you can go there slightly before 13:00, they will make you line up on the stairs based on the number on your small ticket, and at 13:00 you can enter.
Tips:-You don’t have to go there at 10:00 in the morning, unless it’s a crowded day and you have a tight schedule so you absolutely want to make sure that you can get a certain time slot. Numbered tickets are distributed all day and they never finish right away (some time slots, like the early ones, might finish early). If you are ok with going in the late afternoon/evening usually there will still be tickets for those time slots even later in the day.-You actually don’t have to go there right at the start of your time slot. For example, if you get the 13:00~14:00 time slot you can go there at any time between 13:00 and 14:00. However, you must get out by 14:00, so if you go there late you will have less time to see the Museum. (The first time I went was the second day and it was super crowded, so it took 1 hour to see everything because we were moving in one long line, but normally it wouldn’t take that long.)
It probably sounds more complex than it actually is (there was some chaos among Japanese fans too before the Museum started because the first official explanation about the numbered tickets was confusing...). If something isn’t clear let me know!
May I ask some questions about Yuri on Museum? I will be at Tokyo on 6-13 Aug and I have found out online tickets for some days are already sold out. So I wander,Can we reserve the tickets via HMV website from outside Japan? I have used google to translate the web but not so sure about this line "■チケット代金入金＆引取期間 予約日＋1日間" . Does it mean I have to collect the tickets within 2 days after online reservation? thank you very much!!!
Hello! If you can register on their website you can “buy” (more exactly, “book”) tickets because they require payment at a Lawson (not online), so even if your card doesn’t work on the website you can still get them. However, the downside is that you only have 2 days to pay for them, so for example if you book them today you must pay and collect them by tomorrow night…
August 11-13 is “dangerous” because of all the people coming to Tokyo for Comiket, so there is a small chance that they will not sell same-day tickets during those days, but based on my recent experience, on normal days they will sell same-day tickets at Tower Records even if the advance tickets are sold out, so if you’re in Tokyo from the 6th onwards and advance tickets are sold out for all days I would suggest going there before the 11th! They have a counter selling YOI Museum tickets on the 7th floor close to the elevator.
Hey there! Thank you for all of your translations! I have two questions. First, did you learn Japanese later in life or as a child or is English your second language? (Forgive me if you've answered this in the past.) Second, this my be wishful thinking, for international fans that want to see the museum and have a friend that can physically go, do you think they would allow present person to purchase 2 tickets and video chat the experience with with non present person as they bought a ticket?
Hello! Thank you for your message and sorry for the late reply...!
Regarding the Museum, unfortunately video chatting would involve having the stuff on display appear on a smartphone screen, which would be considered the same as “taking pictures” and therefore not allowed (even though it’s just a live video, anyone could take screenshots or film the phone screen with another device etc. so it couldn’t be considered “safe”).
Actually, people visiting the Museum should probably never even take out their phones from their bags unless they are in the areas that can be photographed, because for example, if you type something on your phone while you’re listening to the guide, even if it’s completely unrelated it might look like you’re trying to transcribe it. I must say I’m a bit paranoid after spotting a person trying to take pictures of the costumes while the staff wasn’t in the room the other day.. (She said she didn’t know but uhm, it’s full of signs and she was Japanese.. and now they have more signs in English too by the way)
Regarding myself, I first started teaching myself Japanese about 16 years ago, then took private lessons for 2-3 years and also studied it in university (though by the time I entered university I already had the JLPT N1 so I didn’t really get much out of it language-wise). I also studied 1 year in Japan with a scholarship, which was way more helpful than university to improve conversation, and after graduating I got a job at a forwarding company in Japan. (I worked there for 4 years and I liked it, but I was starting to have too many responsibilities for too little pay and unpaid overtime, so I got another job 2 years ago and I’m now working as a translator + other stuff for a company with an international department). And yes, English is my second language.
Hello! Regarding the museum tickets, you said you can only choose the day and not the time slot for advance tickets - is the time slot printed on the ticket, or is a time slot assigned when you actually show up at the museum? I’m curious because I wanted to go, but am only able to go in the evening/night. Thanks for all your translations and all the helpful info!
Hello! Unfortunately it’s not printed on the ticket, you can choose a time slot when you go to the Museum. There is a counter on the 1st floor of Tower Records that hands out the numbered tickets with the time slot, if you show your ticket to someone on the 1st floor they will be able to tell you where to go. If anything (like the place where they give out tickets) changes it might be written on the white board close to the elevator.
From the latest reports it seems that actually the Museum is not very crowded in the evening and starting from today they are selling same-day tickets too, so you should be fine! I was personally glad to hear that too because I also can only go at night on weekdays..
Hello, thank you for sharing your experience in the museum. I'm sorry for my bad English, I speak Spanish. My question is about the image of the three GPF winners. I could only find a pixelated image of it. Was not it sold as an image? I have seen others if it were sold and were exposed there. Thank you for your translations.!!!!! *Kiss*
Hello! Don’t worry, your English is ok :DI think the picture you’re referring to is one of the few that were only on display and weren’t sold as goods. Though apparently the goods they are currently selling are “part 1″ so some people are hoping that they will release goods of the other pictures too (especially the ones with young Victor)..
I read that on the first day some people didn’t understand that photos are forbidden in almost all of the Museum and were posting pictures online. I guess they removed them when they found out and that’s why that picture was “leaked”..
Hi, thank you for all the info you posted about the museum. I wonder, would it also be against the rules to write your own impressions about the audio guides, once you have listened to all of them? Like, which were your favorite and least favorite ones, if you liked the characterization, etc. Thank you again.
Hello! If it’s general I don’t think it would be against the rules. The staff seems to appreciate people saying whether they like them or not, so I guess that’s ok.
Also, this is something Kubo wrote about on her Twitter after visiting the Museum yesterday so I reckon it can be said.. The audio guides are called “guides” because the characters are guiding you through the Museum. “You” are basically a random person who is there to watch the items on display. How much they actually guide you I guess depends on the pair.. Before going I was wondering why on the Museum website it said “the characters talking about Victor”, but knowing the setting it makes sense since there’s an area about him. I am really curious to hear what characters like Phichit and JJ, who haven’t interacted with Victor a lot, will say about him.
So far I’ve listened to Victor & Yuuri’s one and it was really nice. Their characterization is coherent with the anime, and actually even with the voice dramas performed at the stage events.. (There is no reference to the dramas though)
Could you tell me how to purchase tickets through the Loppi machine? I assume you start with the Service Menu, but where do you go from there? I live in Japan, but far from Tokyo and I'm only going to be there for a few days in early August, so I want to make sure I can go.
Hello! Since Loppi can be tricky to explain with words (lots of screens), I went and took pictures. The shop’s neon lights are in the way, but hopefully it’s still easy to understand! (I wrote the guide in detail so that it can be used by people who can’t read Japanese too)
Under “keep reading” because it’s image-heavy.
This is the Loppi main screen. You can go to the event menu and look for it, but it will take ages. The fastest way is to use the event’s dedicated number (L-code). Click on the square on the left (各種番号).
Input the number 30081 and click the orange button (次へ).
You are forwarded to the event calendar right away. The red X are sold out, the blue O are still available (I guess this is obvious). As you can see, people are pretty eager to complete the audio guides and almost all tickets for this month are already sold out… Since they will not sell same-day tickets in case the advance ones sell out, getting a ticket in advance is highly recommended.The button in the upper right (次の月へ) is to go to the next month. Click on the day you wish to get a ticket for to proceed to the purchase screen.
This is the purchase screen with the details. The museum is open from 10:00 AM to 11:00 PM, but remember that the last entrance is 10:30 PM and that on the 1st day of the month it’s only open until 5:00 PM. Tickets can only be used on the chosen day. In no cases they can be exchanged with tickets for different days, so if you wish to buy them for different days you need to repeat the full procedure for each day. Click the orange button to proceed.
Click the white button (入場券). (Yes, useless screen..)
Click on the arrow next to the 0 to increase the number of tickets. The maximum you can buy in one go for the same day is 4.
When you have the correct number of tickets, click the orange button.
This is the terms and conditions page. Click the orange button (同意する) to agree.
This page is asking you whether you want to insert your personal information (name & telephone number) using one of the cards displayed on screen. Unless you have a correctly registered Ponta Card or such, click the white button (いいえ), which is “no”, so that you can input the information manually.
Input your name & surname. The buttons circled in red on the right are, from top to bottom: “delete everything” (すべてを消す), “add a space” (一字あける), “delete a letter” (一字もどる), “switch to alphabet input” (英数入力, this will change the keyboard on screen), “transform kanji into kana” (漢字カナ変換), OK (確定). You need to input your first name, then add a space, then input your surname and click OK.
I didn’t take any more pictures because I was worried it would finalize the transaction, though now that I think about it in the next screen they probably ask you your phone number. (If you don’t have a Japanese one you can input a random one or, for people who are staying at a hotel, the hotel one. They won’t really check it in this case anyway).
After you input the phone number you will probably see a final screen that asks you if you wish to confirm, and if you confirm the machine will print out a receipt that you need to take to the shop counter. The clerk will scan the barcode, ask you to pay, maybe to sign the receipt (the sign needs to be readable) and give you the actual ticket in exchange. (You have to pay within 30 minutes from when you print the receipt)
Should you have any other questions, feel free to ask!
hi! for the museum tickets, if you get it in advance do you get to choose your time slot?
Hello! No, unfortunately you can only choose the day. I actually think that was a mistake on their part, because if they had allowed to choose the time slot too they wouldn’t have had to give out numbered tickets every day... Maybe they didn’t expect so many people to go and they couldn’t change the ticket format after they already started selling them.
HI! Sorry to bother you, but I just wanted to ask about something relating to the museum audio guides. You mentioned that it's against the rules to translate and share the contents of them, but it may be allowed after the museum closes, right? So does that mean you'll be translating parts and posting them online? Fans who don't live in Japan are pretty upset that all this exciting stuff is going on and we can't even know any details, so being able to get translations eventually would be nice
Hello! I suppose that once the Museum closes there won’t be any reason to keep silent, not to mention fans will want to be able to discuss the contents openly, so I’m pretty sure it will be allowed. And yes, when I got home the other day I wrote down what I remembered and will do the same for all the guides, so that when it’s ok to talk about it I can post about the contents (or at least a summary..). I still wish they’d release the audio too one day.. One can hope...
By the way, fans living in Japan who cannot come to Tokyo for personal reasons are similarly upset, especially because to listen to all the guides + secret one you need to go 6 times...
I am planning to buy ユーリ!!! on ICE (アニメ版) 設定資料集, based on review on Amazon, seems many are disappointed by the content? What is the reason behind, thanks a lot!
Hello! I went to check the reviews and it’s the reason I imagined..
The other day, Tadashi Hiramatsu (character designer & chief animation director) & Noriko Itou (animator & prop designer) were at VAX (Visual Arts Expo) in Malaysia and showed settings from the series, some of which are not included in the Setting Material Collection. Now, which ones are they? The setting design of the rings, the setting page about Victor’s ass, the alternative costume for Yuuri (this one was displayed in Nakano last December), another page with Yuuri wearing a padded vest and I think a few others. Many Japanese fans were enraged because it has happened a few times so far that YOI unpublished material was shown at conventions abroad and never shown in Japan. It was only possible to see it in cases where, like VAX, pictures were allowed and fans shared it online. At the masterclass in Paris they even showed Kubo’s “name” (manga storyboard) and Yamamoto’s storyboards, which the authors said they will never show in Japan. To be honest I’m a little upset too… And after the stuff shown at VAX even some usually quiet fans were complaining.
Since one of the pages not included in the Setting Material Collection just happens to be the one about the pair rings (what a coincidence, right?) some people are suspecting it’s a kind of discrimination, and they also wrote this in their reviews. It’s actually quite likely and at the same time stupid because I mean, they exchanged the rings in the series and are wearing them so what’s the point of censoring them in the book?? But yeah I don’t find it impossible and if that’s true I hope the person who decided this is kicked out of the production team or anything that has to do with YOI… By the way, Noriko Itou was surprised on Twitter because she thought the rings were included in the book and she had no idea why they weren’t.
If you see, the bad reviews were all posted after VAX. The book itself is not bad, it’s really nice and it does have lots of settings that were never published anywhere else so far, so I do recommend it. People don’t have a problem with its contents but with what is “not included”. There have been other controversies regarding the rings, like when they weren’t drawn in the preview for the guidebook poster (despite it showing the GPF podium). In that case fans made a fuss on Twitter and in the final version they “miraculously” appeared again. Anyway, when I say that discrimination is still rampant in Japan… here’s an example. I am really curious to see how this will develop, because Japanese fans are really fed up with how some information has been handled, and the rings were probably the last straw. (Thanks God at least the Museum doesn’t have any stupid censorship.) But anyway, the book itself is ok!
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