Having a queer character believe he won't find love and proving him right is not good writing.
Having a character grow up in solitary confinement and then ripping her away from the only family she's ever known to live a life of solitude once again is not good writing.
Having a character be in love with his best friend and then just compare it to a high school crush is not good writing.
Having Eleven say that Mike has always been the person who truly understood her after showing us in the previous seasons that he only sees her as a superhero IS NOT GOOD WRITING.
Having two girls be abused by a man with power for the majority of their lives only to leave them dead and alone as a direct consequence of the trauma they suffered IS VILE WRITING
I first watched YOI in middle school when I was younger than Yurio and I remember having a little crush on him but also wondering why everyone put up with his being an asshole all the time instead of hating him.
Now that I’m older, I realize that they put up with him because he was like 15 and nobody takes anything a moody 15 year old says seriously lol. He is like 3 apples tall. Cute kid who thinks he is tuff and edgy to the point where it’s endearing. Strangely, now I’m very attracted to the Japanese Yuri.
hey there! so idk if I'm tripping but I got this notif
and I went to check out the post (which is pretty interesting btw!) and I don't see the mention in question??? and I was just wondering if like tumblr fumbled the ball or if you just changed your mind and edited out the mention or something? (which is also fine! I was just kind of lost in the sauce about the ghost mention lmao)
Ah yes, this... you're not crazy! I guess Tumblr just didn't get my memo 💔
I did in fact have you mentioned at first, but I had started this analysis back in November of last year and I had only gotten around to finishing it now. When I posted it, I figured that you may have forgotten about the post I had been referring to entirely, so I just figured I'd keep it anonymous (considering that I've also forgotten about the post I had been referencing as well...😅) to prevent any confusion. But I suppose my efforts weren't exactly useful...
I apologize for the confusion!!! Just know that you were in fact the inspiration behind my yap fest...I just forgot which post I had initially been talking about! But I hope this clears it up!
I've had thoughts and feelings regarding this topic before, but a specific user on here has inspired me to make my own post about it.
Ever since I was first introduced to the asexual Yuuri Katsuki headcanon/debate, I was very torn.
Yuuri is a very complex character who is portrayed as having just as complex of a relationship with his confidence and sensuality. Which is why I think there are many variables that need to be considered when forming a concrete conclusion regarding Yuuri's relationship with sexual love and attraction. The main factors being insecurity, anxiety, and experience.
Disclaimer : this post is NOT about my opinions on the ace Yuuri headcanon. This is ONLY about the claim that Yuuri's character is inherently ace coded.
Insecurity
Let's start off strong with insecurity, and why it could very obviously impact Yuuri's relationship with sex and sexuality.
One of Yuuri's biggest struggles in Yuri on Ice is his lack of self confidence. It's one of the main reasons he's never been able to reach his full potential when skating. He second guesses himself and his abilities, and he talks himself down so much that the quality of his skating decreases exponentially. His confidence was so depleted after the Sochi GPF that it caused him to diminish his own career, despite still being among the top 6 skaters in the world at the time.
However, we all know Yuuri's insecurities extend far beyond just his skating skills.
Yuuri's issues with his weight and body were front and center during the first couple episodes of Yuri on Ice, and continued to be touched on throughout the show. He gains weight easily, and tends to binge eat when he's anxious or stressed. His weight is pointed out many, many times by other characters, and never in a good way. Minako, Nishigori, Yuri, and even Victor have all made comments about Yuuri's body in an attempt to embarrass him or make fun of him. While these comments aren't overtly shown in the anime to have much of an impact on Yuuri's self image, the frequency of the comments is enough to imply it. After all, a character with self worth and insecurity issues having fatphobic comments hurled at him by the people he cares most about is...not exactly a good mix, to say the least.
So while yes, there's not much talk about Yuuri's relationship with his weight in the show (besides annoyance with how easily he gains it), there are enough factors contributing to it that it can be assumed that he has some self worth issues because of it.
And naturally, when one is insecure about their body, it will probably make it less likely for them to want to show it to others. I know some may like to rebuttal this with the fact that Yuuri grew up with a family who runs an onsen, and is shown using it around Victor. So how could he be so insecure if he's already so willing to bathe with him after just a few weeks-month of knowing him?
Well, this is because bathing with strangers became such a normal activity for Yuuri, it lost any effect it could've had on him in terms of embarrassment. Meanwhile, sex is far more intimate, and requires a certain level of vulnerability that simple bathing does not.
After years of being picked on and bullied for his weight by those around him, there's no doubt that Yuuri would be reluctant to ever portray his body in such a sensual way. Let alone become sexually involved with the man he's been obsessive about since he was 12. When you consistently hear negative things being said about something about yourself, it's easy to start to believe it.
My apologies if this section felt repetitive in any way, but there's a certain emphasis on this part that I felt needed to be placed.
Moving on!
Experience
Yuuri -- as Victor loves to point out -- has never had a lover before. He's completely inexperienced in all romantic aspects, and I don't feel it's too far off to assume he's not very experienced sexually either.
I also don't feel as though I'm too far off by saying that this lack of all around experience most likely stems from his insecurities, as well as his general environment.
It's said in the show that Yuuri always struggled with putting himself out in the world. As mentioned before, his confidence has always been low, and we can very easily tie that into this as a factor of why Yuuri lacks these experiences. We can also argue that since Japan is a rather reserved country, he never truly had the opportunity to experiment much with his romantic and sexual identity. Especially with dance and skating consuming most of his time anyway. It was probably really only in Detroit that he was able to have some fun and really experience life outside of his hometown.
(one of my favorite headcanons is that Yuuri and Phichit got into some pretty interesting shenanigans in Detroit...)
So naturally, when Victor first asks him to skate the Eros routine without having any prior experience with that side of himself, he'd obviously be a bit apprehensive...
He's seen becoming frustrated with himself over not understanding Eros in its entirety. He understands the basis of what it's supposed to be, but not how it resonates with him.
And while I can understand why people may interpret these scenes as some sort of asexual coding for his character, I don't believe this is the case given the context of this dilemma, as well as the events that follow it.
When you don't have experience with something, it's hard to truly understand it. And again, Yuuri is pretty much completely inexperienced as far as we know when it comes to both romantic and sexual relationships. It's completely reasonable for him to be a bit confuzzled about how to accurately portray this sensual persona that is Eros when he doesn't have the experience to relate to it, nor the confidence to feel comfortable enough allowing him to think of himself that way.
Later on, Yuuri finds his Eros in his relationship and love for Victor. He shows the world that he and Victor's love is something real and intimate through his skating, and I feel as if that alone should be enough to show that Yuuri's lack of understanding of the Eros routine initially wasn't an inability to feel those emotions, but moreso his inability to properly embody them in a way that related to him.
Anxiety
Last on our list, we have to discuss Yuuri's anxiety, and how it may have had an impact on his romantic and sexual experiences.
This bit takes influence from both Yuuri's inexperience and insecurity. Both factors sort of melt together to form this section, but there are some stand alone details about his anxiety that contribute to Yuuri's aversion to sexuality at the beginning of the show as well.
Yuuri is described by nearly everyone close to him as an anxious guy. He's high strung, isn't very sure of himself, and uses food and skating to cope with it. And while his anxiety is mostly portrayed as performance anxiety, there is reason to believe that it extends beyond just that.
All of us have seen just how much of a nervous wreck Yuuri was around Victor when he first showed up in Japan. He could barely even speak to him without stuttering, and couldn't touch him without immediately squirming away. Of course, a lot of this has to do with the fact that Victor has quite literally been Yuuri's lifelong idol, but if you think about it, it's pretty clear how that type of situation could quickly turn into an anxious person's worst nightmare. Especially for Yuuri, who at this point is still convinced he'd completely embarrassed himself in front of the person he looked up to most at the Grand Prix final the year before.
Yuuri's anxiety was clear in just he way he interacted with Victor during the first half of the series. This anxiety caused him to reflexively reject or at least squirm at any hint of romantic or sexual implications from Victor. The reason why is pretty obvious. As stated before: Victor has been Yuuri's Idol for years, Yuuri is completely inexperienced with romance, and he's still lacking a lot of the confidence he'd only started developing after he and Victor's relationship started developing as well.
In other words, Yuuri isn't truly opposed to Victor's advances in the beginning, he's just too anxious to return them.
We know this because later in the series, we see Yuuri initiating the intimacy between the two. In fact, he does so in front of thousands of people. He's not averse to it by any means, he just hadn't established a close enough relationship with Victor to be comfortable accepting or returning it yet.
And even after he and Victor's relationship is clearly established as something less professional and more romantic (post episode 7), Yuuri's anxiety still causes him to doubt his own way of showing his love to Victor. It's a constant struggle for him, despite it lessening the closer he and Victor got.
Conclusion
So yes, while there are many moments in Yuri on Ice that may lead some to believe that Yuuri's character may be ace coded, there are factors to explain most, if not all of them.
Usually I wouldn't make an analysis like this, but since Yuuri's comfort in his sexuality is such an important theme of the show, as well as in queer media, I felt compelled to give my two cents.
Once again, this post has absolutely nothing to do with headcanoning Yuuri as ace. Coding and headcanons are two completely separate things. In fact, I made a post on it in case anyone mixes the two up (click here to see it!). You are free to make your own headcanons based on your own interpretations. This is simply my take on people claiming that Yuuri is coded to be asexual.
I hope you enjoyed this little analysis of mine, and happy pride month everyone!
[ID in plain and alt text: digital bust drawing of yuuri katsuki from yuri on ice in his blue track jacket. He's looking at the camera with a slightly apprehensive, innocent facial expression. End ID]
Merry Christmas to those who celebrate, but most importantly...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY VICTOR NIKIFOROV!
Victor's character is truly one that is so so so complex, but also so so so enjoyable. He has his ups and downs, like every character does, but even if his actions and words can be...questionable at times, it's hard not to fall in love with his goofy, lovestruck personality.
I've mentioned this before in previous posts, but Victor's character is far different from most of the typical idols in these idol to lovers stories. He doesn't fit the egotistical, selfish, and snobbish celebrity narrative that tends to be painted for them. Instead, Victor is kind and caring, and he's incredibly supportive of Yuuri and all of his accomplishments. There isn't any sort of questionable power imbalance in Victor and Yuuri's relationship either, because Victor truly sees Yuuri as his equal. I think that's a really beautiful way to interpret a story like theirs.
Another thing that I love most about Victor's character is just how important surprise is to him. It's such an interesting trait to add to a character such as Victor's. Hell, it's a driving factor of their story if you really think about it. Victor fell so deeply in love with Yuuri at the banquet because he surprised him. Victor decided to bite the bullet and coach Yuuri, even after Yuuri essentially ghosted him after the banquet, because he was surprised by his skating. To Victor, surprise is his inspiration. And while this detail is far from being a secret, there's still so much I'd love to say about it. However, his birthday post is not where I should do that...(New post in the future!)
The final thing I'd like to touch on is how much of Victor's character we still don't know. His backstory is non-existent within the anime, and the movie we were going to be getting that would've most likely cleared all of it up was cancelled. His childhood, teen years, relationship with his parents? It's all a mystery. Because of this, we don't truly know anything about him. And I fear that we never will. And that breaks my heart.
In the same way Yuuri's story regarding his skating career isn't finished, Victor's story about finding his true love and passion isn't finished yet, either. There's so much left to be told between the two of them. Yuuri still needs to win gold, Victor needs to find closure within his skating career, and our boys still need to get married!
It's so disheartening to know that such a beautiful story with such amazing characters has been completely wiped of any sort of publicity. And it's truly upsetting that their stories may never come full circle. So I've said this before and I'll say it again, thank you to the wonderful Yuri on Ice community that has kept these characters alive and loved for years. Your work is appreciated and seen by so many.
Happy birthday, Victor. Thank you for showing us all what true love is.
⭐Happy birthday to Yuuri Katsuki, one of the most well written fictional characters of all time.⭐
It's heartbreaking to me that his story was cut short, especially when we all know how much there still is to tell.
Yuuri's character has changed and inspired me in so many ways. I don't think I've ever related to a character more in my life. He's by far one of the most well made depictions of anxiety, and his experiences within Yuri on Ice perfectly display how it can affect your life, career, dreams, and relationships. But he also shows that while that anxiety never disappears entirely, there are ways to keep it from consuming you and holding you back. I think that message is beyond important. He's such a fun and goofy character, but he's also a character who struggles. His writing is honestly a work of genius.
He deserved so much more. I think we as a community can all agree on that. There's still so much about Yuuri we were never able to learn. I mourn every day knowing that. It deeply saddens me that we never get to see him win a gold medal, and that Victor never gets to kiss it. We don't get to see him win those 5 world championships he promised to Victor, and we don't get to see him marry the love of his life. It breaks my heart knowing how much is still untold.
This fandom truly does survive off of fan works, so thank you to all of the artists and writers who have continued to keep Yuuri's character alive through their works.
There's still so much I'd love to say, but I somehow still struggle with fully encapsulating my emotions about these characters into words. So I'll leave it here for now.
Thank you, Yuuri, for bringing joy into the lives of so many. And happy birthday! 🎉🩵🎉🩵🎉
This is a bit off topic in comparison to my other content, but I feel the need to address it.
Lets talk about queer coding, headcanons, the difference between the two, and why they cannot be used in a synonymous manner.
I'll try and make this speedy.
Queer coding - Implying a character's sexual orientation or gender identity through subtext, without ever overtly addressing it within the source.
Headcanon - A fan made interpretation of the details of a character (such as their actions, appearance, identity, etc) that is not canon/strays from the canon media.
As shown in the above definitions, these two things are very different.
So when bringing sexuality into the conversation of fictional media and characters, be careful as to not mix these terms up!
Headcanoning a certain character as queer is not the same as said character being queer coded. Queer coding implies that the creators of the source intended for their characters to be interpreted as queer.
If there is reason to believe that certain characters are queer coded, great! But don't misuse the term if it is not applicable.
Wanting a character to be queer coded doesn't mean they are. You can headcanon a character as whatever sexuality or gender you want them to be. Have fun with it! But don't say your favorite character is queer coded when they're not. If there is no subtext present to imply the queerness of the character, saying they're queer is just a headcanon, and it is a completely separate thing.
Yuri On Ice AND figure skating nerds might appreciate that this weekend, the NHK Trophy is taking place in Yoyogi Stadium, which is the location where Viktor won his 5th consecutive World Championship
The real stadium vs. the anime version:
... and from above - a sight we don't get to see in the anime.
The venue from the inside real vs. anime:
If you look closely, you can even spot the two big ventillation tubes on the left right below the curved ceiling.
It's not that uncommon that a figure skating event takes place in one of the venues from YOI because there are only so many suitable venues for figure skating competitions available. In 2021, the Rostelecom Cup was held in Iceberg Skating Palace in Sochi where the Grand Prix Final of tears happened. The Beijing Olympics in 2022 and the 2023 Grand Prix Final were held in Capital Indoor Stadium where Yuuri and Viktor kissed for the first time. And the 2022 Skate Canada was held in Mississauga, just like the Skate Canada in YOI-- and those are only the competitions since I've started following the sport.
However, every time a real figure skating event takes place in some of these places, it feels magical. As if the world of YOI and the real world connect and the universe feels a bit more complete.
This genuinely makes me so happy 😭 and you're so right, it really does feel like the yoi world connects with ours in these moments. It's so bittersweet.
