i do have to say that some ppl in this fandom act a bit too entitled abt ice ado. mappa turned their replies off on the tweet w the new art, and obviously idk their reasoning, but in every tweet from them (or mizuno) abt yoi, the replied are nothing but “give us the movie” “where’s the movie” etc. we are still in a pandemic, with labor shortages everywhere. if they’re making a movie, they’ll show us eventually. and if not, we are not entitled to that movie. we are fans of their work and that will never mean we “deserve” anything from them.
Okay, but can we take a moment to realize how difficult it must have been for the creators of Yuri on Ice to even get an anime studio to work with them?
Because this was not a simple project at all.
Like, think about Kubo-sensei walking into an office to begin negotiations with an anime studio to get the project known as “Yuri on Ice” greenlit and approved for production (I mean, in real life it’s a bit more complicated than that, but let’s just imagine for the sake of brevity and clarity), and she begins pitching her product:
“We would like to make an original anime about male figure skating”
[Figure skating is one of the most niche sports you could think of, esp in Japan, which could make it really hard to sell]
“Featuring a serious emotional (romantic) relationship between two men”
[Anime is notorious for its poor presentation of homosexuality and is afraid to treat the topic seriously and respectfully because it might scare away potential viewers]
“As well as about 14 different skaters, all from different parts of the world and relevant to the story in some way”
[All of that requires extra character design and casting]
“Which would all need at least 1 figure skating program each, amounting in about 22 different skating programs total”
[That requires immense amounts of animation (and research, and references for its sake) which also means the animation team has to be sufficiently large and skilled to accommodate this need]
“And for this we would also need a professional figure skating choreographer, to actually design all the programs”
[Finding someone who could design 22 different programs, some of them particularly impactful and memorable is a difficult task in and of itself and finding someone who would want to work on an anime project is even harder]
“And of course, we would need someone to write about 22 different music pieces for all of the programs”
[All of which would need to be impactful and memorable, similarly to the choreography]
“And all of this would be contained within 12 episodes.”
[Meaning very little downtime between competitions, as we saw, which means that the animation team has no time to rest because they must complete all the frames for the next episode’s programs (and let me tell you that fluidly animating figure skating is not only difficult but also time consuming as all hell)]
I feel like I could still mention a few aspects, like for example the design of the different locations and the references that it would require, but I think this already gives you a picture of how difficult it was to not only make this anime, but how hard it must have been to actually get it approved (considering how difficult the production process would be, especially for something that originally looked like a risky project that may not even be popular enough to make a profit).
In case you needed more reasons to appreciate Yuri on Ice, let’s take a moment to appreciate how much work and effort went into the creation process for this anime.
Because the fact that it even exists is nothing short of a miracle and something we should never take for granted.
srsly it gave me so much serotonin i am crying happy tears
ヴィクトル誕生日おめでとう〜🎉👏🎂
he’d rather yuuri do it instead
Its a blessing.
SCREAMING CRYING THROWING UP
Now the headcanon of yurio screaming “You guys GET A ROOM!” become a canon. Thanks to YOI official.
BTW, yuuri is lying on victor’s right leg. So does it mean before yurio came in, yuuri was lying in victor’s arms? They were flirting before yurio so yurio threw pillows to them? That’s so sweet!
And some one drew it! lol
source
new YOI official art….and as always, the attention to detail for little figure skating references from MAPPA blows me away, and i need everyone to appreciate it too. welcome to yuuri katsuki’s 2022 beijing olympics!
to start, this is very clearly the official beijing rink; even without the logo or rings (which would have been too much of a hassle to use copyright-wise, i’m sure, but would also take away from the subtlety), it’s very clear from the colors and the mountain pattern, as seen here behind nathan chen:
next, victor is wearing the official team japan jacket, as seen here on team japan’s singles skaters yuma kagiyama (left, silver medalist in the men’s individual event) and shoma uno (right, bronze medalist):
…as far as i know, however, only skaters got team japan jackets, not their coaches. which means victor is wearing yuuri’s jacket. cuuuute.
next up, yurio’s practice outfit has to be based off of skater andrei mozalev of the russian olympic committee:
…so since yurio here is being based on mozalev, naturally, mappa chose to put yakov in the same coat that kirill davydenko, mozalev’s coach, wore at the boards!
i’m sure that otabek’s practice clothes and the mysterious ass-haver’s are a reference to something as well. since the tragic death of skater denis ten of kazakhstan, whom otabek is based on, there hasn’t been a strong enough kazakhstani men’s skater to make it to the olympics, but these are probably practice clothes denis ten wore once upon a time, or something!
finally, this last one isn’t a reference to the olympics in YOI–rather, the opposite! the makkachin tissue box seen next to victor was seen at the olympics, used by skater alexandra trusova of ROC!
so what is yuuri pointing at and looking so mad about? personally, i think he’s probably upset about the hole in the ice that made him pop a quad salchow…
but we may never know.
I could speak endlessly about the things that make Victor and Yuuri an amazing couple, but this one really stood out to me: their insecurities.
(some of this is kinda headcanon, but it’s based on what is implied in canon)
It’s evident from the beginning that Yuuri sees himself as not enough. He doesn’t think he’s good enough, attractive enough, sexy enough, or talented enough to be Victor’s student. These fears introduce his struggle with anxiety long before he enters his first Grand Prix competition. He doesn’t think he’s good enough to deserve Victor’s attention, he doesn’t think he’s talented enough to beat Yurio, he doesn’t think he can keep Victor in Hasetsu with him when the world wants him back in Russia, competing.
And although his confidence grows throughout the series, his self-doubt is still very evident in their argument in episode 11. Yuuri doesn’t think his career is worth more than Victor’s career. Yuuri doesn’t even consider the romantic value of their relationship, only comparing the success of their careers, because even with all the validation he receives from Victor, he doesn’t know just how much his love means to Victor, and he’s scared of overestimating it. Yuuri’s ongoing fear is not being enough.
Victor, on the other hand, is an enigma. Throughout the show, Yuuri’s unreliable narration makes it difficult to know exactly how Victor feels. Victor is scared of being too much. When he arrived in Hasetsu, he was expecting a very different welcome— something akin to the sensual, sexy, confident dancer he encountered at the banquet— and is instead greeted by a shy, unconfident skater, who can’t grasp why Victor would be there to coach him of all people.
Though Victor initially tried to coax Yuuri out of his shell by being extremely forward, he realized that he needs to give Yuuri his space, and meet him in the middle— not force Yuuri to let him in when he’s not ready. Yuuri challenges Victor in episode 4 by telling Victor to be himself. For so long, Victor had been performing in every aspect of his life; every season wiping the slate clean and beginning again, constructing a new persona for himself. He was seen as a force of nature, a whirlwind, a god. Nobody has ever asked him to be himself before. He’s afraid he’s too messy, too impulsive, too Victor to be what Yuuri wants, which is why he asks Yuuri to give him a role in the first place.
Although Victor’s extra-ness is far from lacking in the following episodes, he’s significantly toned down how direct he is, and instead motivates and challenges Yuuri through his small touches and words. When Yuuri is crying in the parking garage in episode 7, Victor doesn’t know how to react, and slips back into a suave bachelor persona— “Should I just kiss you or something?”— in order to keep his messy self hidden; the kind that doesn’t know how to handle when people cry, the kind that acts impulsively, the kind that really doesn’t know what he’s doing. And Yuuri challenges him again. He doesn’t want Victor to be fake, to hide his true self behind a mask. He just wants Victor to stand by him, as himself. This could be another reason why Victor was so angry when Yuuri wanted to end things for the sake of Victor’s career. Victor had given himself, all of his whole, messy, impulsive, imperfect, balding self to Yuuri, who wanted to give it up for the sake of Victor’s suffocating career, his persona as The World’s Most Eligible Bachelor, God of Figure Skating, Victor Nikiforov. It felt like a rejection of his true self, the one that was shown to Yuuri after he painfully tore down all the walls he had to protect his fragile heart. Victor is afraid that his true self is too much.
But together, they fit together like a puzzle piece. When Victor is afraid he’s too much, Yuuri embraces all of it— all of the messiness, all of the tears, shattering those masks one by one and letting them pick up the pieces together. When Yuuri is afraid he’s not enough, Victor helps him build himself back up, showing him that he is strong and deserving of everything he has.
They are perfect for each other.
you can’t tell me yuuri and victor aren’t married when the official yoi pr account says they adjusted their official art only to add victor’s ring
*dead*
https://youtu.be/3L7u2AW2b28
WATCH WATCH WATCH WATCH
OMG OKAY but like can we talk about how yuuri is just slightly taller than victor with his skates on i found it be soooooo ADORABLE i cant
like look at this precious cutie
and im just like awww while giggling a little
and victor is just taking it really seriously and its so sweet to see because victor really cares for yuuri and im like lajsdflasdfl
AND THEN THE UNEXPECTED HUG THAT CAUGHT US ALL MAYBE JUST ME AND VICTOR LOL OFF GUARD
ALSJDLFAJLSDF LOOK AT THEM!!! lolol the people next to them sure are but its just a time for victory <333
x3
um victor i think you mispoke you meant to say you to yuuri but its okay we all know what you meant x3