Yuri!!! on Ice: Debunking The Yaoi

Wolvenciel used revive! Hey there peeps. A bit too long of a  hiatus but here I am yet again. Not too sure if anybody missed me, but if you are, here I am.

Its been two years since Yuri on Ice was out and I got kind of annoyed at how people say its too much of yaoi and too little of the sport itself. So I'm here to see for myself how true it is for the show.

Yes I only review old dead anime, people.

What's The Show About

Yuri on Ice is a story about a man in his twenties who absolutely loved figure-skating and yet is stuck in a rut as he keeps on failing due to nervous breakdowns. The show expands on how he struggles to get back up in the figure-skating world with the help of a former (the dude went on break because of him) world champion while rediscovering himself along the way.

The World Champion is a handsome savage to boot

My Verdict

Now I'm doing this a bit different this time because its better for me just to get it out with before you guys waste more time reading into the review. I watched the show from start to finish and I can assure you, the most gay moment that exist in this anime is a man hugging another man to congratulate him.

I have no idea why someone would throw a plushy out in the rink

I have no idea how low a threshold someone must have to even think that kind of stuff is remotely yaoi. Its not. Sure you can see bits of fan service in the form of a naked Viktor and maybe an overly dramatic shot of the handsome men in the anime but that's about it. No smooching or whatever nonsense to alert yourself with.

This part is a bit yaoi though. But now you know.

The relationship between Yuri and Viktor is that of an athlete and his coach/good friend. I think the show really did well in showing how someone being there for you changes your whole psychological perception towards stuff and presenting how bad your minds can actually affect your performance out in the field.

Its not something I've extensively seen in a sports anime. Psychological struggles. Sure its prevalent in a lot of them but its mostly just for the training arc or reasons for losing a match or whatever. It never was a major theme in sports anime to begin with.

Visually Mediocre

Now enough of the serious stuff lets move on to the fun part. The graphics. Now a lot of people bashed this show for being unworthy of the number one place in ranking when it was out. I'll see if I can lay it out in the visual sense.

First of all, I think that the show cuts a lot on the minute details of side characters because comparing their expressions to the main characters, its very underwhelming. But again, this is minor stuff I guess.

The show likes to throw in chibi characters in, so that's fun.

The meat of the anime, the skating is also a bit peculiar. You know how sport anime likes to pump up their effects by zooming in on the players and adding effects to actions and all that? For the most part of Yuri on Ice it doesn't exactly do that. The way the skating is portrayed is as if they wanted the audience to actually see all the routines one by one in a spectator's view. You can literally break down how the characters carry out their routines pretty easily due to this viewpoint.

That looks a lot like Karna's (Fate Apocypha) shirt. Lol.

Its only at the end of the anime that they start doing the whole close-ups and effects as the athletes did their routines and even then, its not too much to write home about.

*If you're interested, do watch minute 16-18 of episode 5. That's an ideal way to show how the skaters carry out routines and still making it graphically appealing*

Astounding Musical Scores

Though the overall visuals of the anime itself average, the musical scores are anything but. I know that musical sense is in itself preferential but just hear me out. Each and every skater had their own musical scores for their routines and each and every one of them really represent those routines astoundingly.

And lets be real here. One of the songs was used during the 2018 Winter Olympics. If the whole world thought it was amazing, it wouldn't be wrong for me to say that it actually is. This also points out to the fact that the show made it very realistic. If you're ice-skating, you could actually carry out the exact same routines using the exact same musical numbers that the characters in the anime use.

To me, that is a very good approach to a sports anime. Down to earth and easily visualized. No superpower amped up bullcrap they pull out of their ass as the story progresses kind of stuff. Pure reality. No imagination required. Just maybe some ice and also basic ice-skating knowledge at least.

We don't want anybody getting hurt now.


Further Viewer Immersion

To seal the deal, the show even went as far as to give a full rundown of the figure-skating sport itself. Now I don't know about you but I don't know squat about figure-skating. I only ever gone ice-skating once.

One such example of explanation. Short, simple and informative.

It was really informative and it gives you a concrete idea on how things work in the anime. Sure they only show you bits of the whole thing but you feel as if its real (it actually is you can look up all the information online they're pretty accurate) because they even explained which circuits they would compete in and how thing progresses for the athletes from start to finish.

They even managed to make it fun to watch. Trust me, chibi characters doing cutesy explanations of something makes you pay attention to them. Because you just can't look away.

It even portrayed how young athletes are. Social media addicts.

My Verdict: Again

So yeah. I don't think Yuri on Ice is a bad anime nor is it a yaoi one. There is definitely room to improve and I bet you if and when they get a second season they sure as hell should get to improving the quality of their work.

The show has a unique angle to it in the sense that you feel as if you're actually watching a figure-skating show and not a flashy battle anime using figure-skating as the theme instead. By no means am I saying most sports anime nowadays are full of shit, but they ARE full of shit. Most. Not all.

Do watch the anime and tell me how you feel. Come on. I roasted your favorite sports anime. Roast me.

This is Wolvenciel and I'll try not to take another 4 month break. Signing off.