| 1 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yurionice_0.jpg]] |
| 2 | [[caption-width-right:350:''Yes, we were born to make history!'' [[labelnote:Note]]Counter-clockwise from center: [[HeroicSelfDeprecation Yuri]] [[PerformanceAnxiety Katsuki]], [[LivingLegend Victor]] [[EccentricMentor Nikiforov]], [[{{Fanboy}} Kenjiro Minami]], [[AwesomenessByAnalysis Seung-Gil]] [[HeManWomanHater Lee]], [[{{Narcissist}} Jean-Jacques]] [[InsufferableGenius Leroy]], [[{{Keet}} Phichit]] [[CameraFiend Chulanont]], [[MySisterIsOffLimits Michele Crispino]], [[ShrinkingViolet Guang-Hong Ji]], [[ShamelessFanserviceGuy Christophe]] [[MellowFellow Giacometti]], [[TheStoic Otabek Altin]], and [[JerkWithAHeartofGold Yuri]] [[HotBlooded Plisetsky]].[[/labelnote]]]] |
| 3 | |
| 4 | ->''"We call everything on the ice 'love'."'' |
| 5 | --> -- '''Yuri Katsuki''' |
| 6 | |
| 7 | %%Please do NOT index this anime in Yaoi, Boys Love, or Shonen Ai. It should instead be included in more general "gay" genres without the stigma those are attached to, such as QueerRomance. |
| 8 | |
| 9 | ''Yuri!!! on Ice'' is an original anime directed by Sayo Yamamoto, who previously directed ''Anime/MichikoAndHatchin'' and ''Anime/LupinIIITheWomanCalledFujikoMine''. It was co-created by Yamamoto with Mitsurou Kubo (creator of ''Manga/{{Again}}'' and ''Manga/{{Moteki}}''), who is also responsible for the writing and original character designs. Tadashi Hiramatsu, who's best known for his work on several Creator/StudioGainax series, serves as lead character designer. |
| 10 | |
| 11 | Yuri Katsuki has always idolized famous Russian figure skater Victor Nikiforov, and dreams of one day being able to skate on the same ice as him. Unfortunately, when he finally gets his chance to do so, he messes up in his free skate, coming in dead last at the Grand Prix Final in Sochi. To add insult to injury, similarly-named Russian junior champion Yuri Plisetsky tells him to just give up already. |
| 12 | |
| 13 | In March the following year he returns to his hometown in Kyushu, unsure whether or not he really wants to quit figure skating altogether. When he goes to the local skating rink and perfectly imitates Victor's latest program, a video of him is uploaded to the internet and it goes viral, catching Victor's attention. Victor then shows up at Yuri's family hot spring, declaring that he will now be Yuri's coach for the upcoming Grand Prix. |
| 14 | |
| 15 | The show is animated by Creator/{{MAPPA}} and aired in the fall of 2016. It is available for worldwide[[note]]With the exception of China and Japan.[[/note]] streaming on Website/{{Crunchyroll}} [[http://www.crunchyroll.com/yuri-on-ice here]]. Creator/{{Funimation}} has released an English broadcast dub for this series, which began on October 24, 2016. Watch it [[http://www.funimation.com/shows/yuri-on-ice/ here]]. |
| 16 | |
| 17 | A [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2017-04-29/yuri-on-ice-anime-gets-brand-new-film/.115476 movie]] was greenlit, called ''Yuri!!! on Ice the Movie: Ice Adolescence'', which [[https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2018-07-01/yuri-on-ice-anime-film-reveals-staff-title-2019-date-visual/.133649 was originally going to be released in 2019]]. On 26 November 2020, a PV that was previously screened in Japanese cinemas was [[https://youtu.be/8Mk4Uykq5I8 released to the general public]] along [[https://twitter.com/yurionice_PR/status/1331885656352632832?s=20 with a notice about the delay.]] On April 19, 2024, MAPPA [[https://twitter.com/yurionice_PR/status/1781155766172565922 canceled the movie's production due to various circumstances.]] |
| 18 | |
| 19 | Along with ''Anime/TigerMaskW'', it's notable for being the first Creator/{{TV Asahi}} [[OtakuOClock Late-Night Anime]] since ''Literature/FromTheNewWorld''. |
| 20 | |
| 21 | [[JustForFun/IThoughtThatWas Not to be confused with]] the YuriGenre; quite the inverse, in fact, given that the predominant romantic themes are between two men. (Note that the transliteration is of ユーリ , which can often be transliterated as ''Yuuri'' as well, while YuriGenre would be written either as 百合 or, in rarely-used katakana, ユリ.) This has led to some fans joking that it ought to be named "''Yaoi!!! On Ice''", instead, though it isn't strictly YaoiGenre, either, despite its gay themes. |
| 22 | ---- |
| 23 | !!This series contains examples of: |
| 24 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 25 | [[folder:A-E]] |
| 26 | * AirGuitar: Minami briefly does this during his free program in Episode 5, which is fitting since the song he's skating to is a jazz number that includes the electric guitar. |
| 27 | * TheAllegedCar: Yurio's grandfather's' beat-up old "Zaporozhets" (hunchback) [[note]]ZAZ-965, a 60es-vintage ultra-compact inspired by the Fiat 600.[[/note]]. It's a jalopy of such a caliber that you'd have to be really lucky to just ''see'' one on the streets today. |
| 28 | * AllThereInTheManual: |
| 29 | ** The official website for the anime provides background details on the various skaters, like how J.J. does volunteer work in the off-season and how Minami comes from a family of doctors. |
| 30 | ** The official guidebook, ''Yuri!!! on Life'', provides even ''more'' background details, including a full list of program elements for Yuri, Victor, Yurio, Otabek, Christophe, J.J. and Phichit's short programs and free programs. |
| 31 | * AlwaysIdenticalTwins: Played straight with the Nishigori triplets, who are identical and look very similar to one another aside from [[IdenticalTwinIDTag a couple of distinguishing points]]. Averted with Michele and Sara Crispino, who are fraternal twins and don't look much alike aside from having the same eye color and skin tone. |
| 32 | * AmicablyDivorced: Yakov and Lilia. They're no longer a couple, but they still respect each other as professionals, and they get along well enough to live together with Yurio for the sake of the boy's career. |
| 33 | * AnimalEaredHeadband: |
| 34 | ** The members of Yurio's GroupieBrigade are easily recognizable by their cat-eared headbands (since Yurio is known for his love of cats). Yurio ends up wearing one himself in Episode 8, when a fan throws him one as a gift after his short program and it lands squarely on his head. |
| 35 | ** The hoods on the Nishigori triplets' vests all have animal ears on them; Axel's hood has bear's ears, Lutz's has bunny ears, and Loop's has cat ears. |
| 36 | * AnimationBump: The show looks consistently nice ([[EnhancedOnDVD especially on DVD]]), but Victor's ''Stay Close To Me'' and Yurio's ''Welcome to the Madness'' programs are gorgeously animated. |
| 37 | * ArcWords: "I'm the only one who..." and variants thereof. The phrase showcases the different skaters' priorities. For Yuri, it's Victor; for Phichit, it's his pride as a representative of his country; for Christophe it's his confident sexuality and self-determination; and for J.J. it's his pride and individuality. |
| 38 | * ArtShift: When Yuri is telling Takeshi his imagined story behind the ''Eros'' program, the art style changes to resemble an old-school [[ShoujoDemographic shoujo]] look made of paper cutouts. |
| 39 | * AscendedFanboy: Yuri grew up admiring Victor and has a wild number of posters of him in his bedroom. He ends up competing with him, and Victor eventually becomes his coach. [[spoiler:Then they kiss in Episode 7 and become the show's OfficialCouple. Then they get engaged in Episode 10.]] |
| 40 | ** Kubo Mitsurou also drew figure skater Evgenia Medvedeva with Victor holding a banner of Yuri. Evgenia is a massive fan of the anime, who even cosplayed Yuri with an actual Team Japan jacket. |
| 41 | * AudienceSurrogate: |
| 42 | ** The triplets get by expositing about how competitions work by reviewing what Yuri has to do in order to make his way up to normal competitions to his family, who have no idea about what goes on in the skating world. |
| 43 | ** In general, Yuko seems to be this, seeing as that she's a woman who regularly fangirls and nosebleeds over Victor, [[MrFanservice who's considered the most attractive man in the cast]]. |
| 44 | ** In the final episode, we get an audience surrogate in the ''audience'' -- the almighty cheer/squeal heard when [[spoiler:Victor joins Yuri for his exhibition skate]] is one that is echoed in many a real-life reaction video. |
| 45 | * AuthorAppeal: |
| 46 | ** Yamamoto is a huge fan of figure skating [[note]]Quite a few of her directing roles have figure skating in them: see the ''ENDLESS NIGHT'' short and the ''VideoGame/Persona5'' opening.[[/note]], and it really shows in this series. Mitsurou Kubo, the anime's writer and original character designer, is also a skating fan, particularly of Tatsuki Machida (whom Yuri Katsuki was partially inspired by). |
| 47 | ** Kubo is also notably fond of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oendan ouendan]], as two of her previous works (''3.3.7 Byooshi!!'' and ''Manga/{{Again}}'') feature high school ouendan clubs. During the Grand Prix Final, Kenjiro and the Nishigori triplets form an ouendan squad complete with uniforms to cheer for Yuri. |
| 48 | * BackForTheFinale: Episode 10 shows that ''every character'' introduced will be watching the Grand Prix Final, either from TV, livestreams or in person. |
| 49 | * BaitAndSwitch: |
| 50 | ** When Yuri goes back to his old skating rink, he runs into Yuko, his old rinkmate and childhood friend. When thinking about her, he smiles and thinks about how she's "still really cute", and we even get a flashback montage of their relationship together and their mutual admiration of Victor. After he performs Victor's championship free program for Yuko, he looks as if he's about to confess to her... and in pop Axel, Lutz, and Loop, her ''daughters'' by their mutual rinkmate Takeshi. It turns out she had settled down in the five years he was away, and he's already seen the kids before. Sometimes boys and girls are just friends. |
| 51 | *** The romantic framing is strong enough here that a lot of fans think he did actually admit to having a crush on Yuko, because on first watch, that's where it feels like it's going. [[RewatchBonus On rewatch]], though, not only do you notice that Yuri never says anything like that (he only calls her "cute" and mentions that he grew up admiring her), but that with how the scene cuts between Yuri and Victor's performance, the romantic framing really isn't about Yuko at all. There are other small details too, like the way the lyrics of the song in Italian involve a man's love for another man. It's a pretty brilliant way of [[{{Troll}} trolling]] viewers' heteronormative expectations. |
| 52 | ** The story of Yuri's ''Eros'' program. At first, you'd think that the story represents Victor sweeping Yuri off his feet and then leaving for bigger and better things. Episode 10 shows [[spoiler: it's actually the reverse: it was ''Yuri'' who initially impressed and charmed ''Victor'' while he was drunk, and he "cast him away" not because he was disinterested, but because he doesn't remember what happened that night.]] |
| 53 | ** In the early episodes, Victor is set up to look somewhat duplicitous, if not outright suspicious. He's seen with HiddenEyes, DissonantSerenity shots and many a CheshireCatGrin, which would (and did) lead the audience to believe that he was using Yuri to further his skating career and would eventually hurt his protege when this was revealed. [[spoiler:As it turns out, nothing could be further from his mind. Victor's not setting up a XanatosGambit at all, he's just a {{Determinator}} in love, and the crossed wires that make him look suspicious are largely a combination of UnreliableNarrator, PoorCommunicationKills and a ForgottenFirstMeeting. He wasn't using Yuri to further his skating, he was using his skating to get close to Yuri -- and even then, he absolutely keeps his word to coach Yuri, with great success]]. |
| 54 | * BaitAndSwitchComment: In Episode 9, Sara tells Michele that they are too codependent and that they would be better off apart. Michele proceeds to skate a beautiful program, by the end of which Sara is driven to tears. She then rushes to kiss-and-cry, hugs Michele and apologizes for saying such cruel things to him. You'd think she slipped back into codependency... but nope, the next moment she smiles cheerfully while saying that she's glad she said them anyway, since they'll be better off apart after all. |
| 55 | * BathroomStallOfAngst: In the first episode, Yuri cries while sitting in a bathroom stall after all the accumulated stress from his failure at the Grand Prix Final and the news about his dog's death catches up to him. |
| 56 | * BetweenMyLegs: This shot appears after Victor demonstrates the Eros routine for the first time, with Yuri framed between his legs. |
| 57 | * BigBrotherInstinct: Michele Crispino has this towards his younger twin sister Sara, stemming from how boys used to bully her when they were young. However, it's deconstructed since over time his protectiveness of her has become very dependent and possessive; the two of them go everywhere together, Michele is hostile towards any man who tries to [[MySisterIsOffLimits approach his sister]], and his monologue during his program is about how nobody can tear them apart. Sara acknowledges that they are rather codependent and knows that they need some distance, and she tells Michele this [[CruelToBeKind in no uncertain terms]] in Episode 9. [[spoiler: This makes Michele realize that truly loving his sister means that he needs to let her live her own life, and he uses that realization to fuel his feelings during his free program, putting on a fantastic performance without her near the rink.]] |
| 58 | * BigBrotherMentor: Victor's default mode -- he's been seen in the first episode alone quietly mentoring Yurio on fine points of his skating, and once he'd seen Yuri imitating his latest championship program, he immediately packs his bags to coach the latter in Japan. He's also almost thirty and thus close to retirement, and as a common occupation of retired athletes is coaching, he might be interested in trying this himself. Oddly enough, his brotherly attitude is just one of many personalities he has to teach Yuri with, and Victor even asks him what type of mentor he wants him to be. |
| 59 | ** Midway through the series, though, and particularly after [[spoiler: the grand banquet sequence in Episode 10]], we know for certain that [[spoiler: to be this was ''never'' what he intended, at least with Yuri]]. |
| 60 | * TheBigDamnKiss: [[spoiler:Between Victor and Yuri at the end of Episode 7, after Yuri skates his free program. Not only is the kiss given a lot of significance, but it happens in front of a huge crowd, while they're being filmed for '' international television''. While Victor's arm [[KissingDiscretionShot blocks their mouths from view]], the angles of their faces and the reactions of Yuri's friends and family make it clear that they're not just hugging. It was further confirmed in the [[http://fencer-x.tumblr.com/post/159183024629/for-anyone-still-doubting-that-yuuri-and-victor audio commentary]] for episode 7, where Mitsurou Kubo, Leo's voice actor and Guang Hong's voice actor all congratulated Victor and Yuri for finally doing it.]] |
| 61 | * BigNo: |
| 62 | ** Minako practically shrieks one when she sees how Yuri has gained a lot of weight from his last few months in Detroit. |
| 63 | ** To a lesser extent, Yuri does this (in [[GratuitousEnglish English]], no less) when Victor tries to invite himself in his room. |
| 64 | * BigWhat: |
| 65 | ** Yuri's reaction when Victor declares that he'll be Yuri's coach. |
| 66 | ** The Nishigori family does this three times when they realize that Victor really is in Japan to coach Yuri. |
| 67 | ** Yuri, Yurio, and Yakov's reaction when Victor asks Yakov to take his place as Yuri's coach for a day. |
| 68 | * BlandNameProduct: |
| 69 | ** In the second episode, Victor's belongings arrive in [=CedEx=] boxes. |
| 70 | ** An official poster shows Yuri, Victor, and Yurio after a shopping outlet with bags labelled Rouis Buitton and Cocoa Sambora. |
| 71 | ** J.J.'s jacket has [[https://i.imgur.com/xn6ftBS.png an inverted version]] of the logo for Canadian Tire, a major retail chain in Canada that frequently sponsors athletes. |
| 72 | ** In Episode 12, Seung-Gil uses a Sunsung laptop to watch the Grand Prix Final. |
| 73 | ** This is oddly ZigZagged on two occasions. Aeroflot is mentioned by name in a joke early in the series, but background advertisements during the Rostelecom Cup instead mention a generic Rub Airline. And speaking of the Rostelecom Cup, it is still called that in the show, even though Russian skaters are sponsored by Hellofon instead. |
| 74 | * BodyMotifs: You may expect the focus to be on feet and legs, given the sport, but in reality there is much more attention paid to hands, especially in a romantic context: |
| 75 | ** Victor's aria, "Stammi Vicino", references both hands and feet [[spoiler:and in the pair skate with Yuri, the characters' choreography matches up with the lyrics]]. |
| 76 | ** While subtle, a fair amount of attention is focused on Yuri and Victor's feet, particularly during intense or crucial scenes in the show, and this symbolizes their developing relationship. |
| 77 | *** In Episode 3, when Victor makes a not-so-subtle pass at Yuri, their feet (which are both in skates) is shown beforehand, indicating that on the ice, they are able to see eye-to-eye -- which isn't the case off the ice, since later in the episode, when their feet is shown once more, only Yuri is wearing skates, while Victor is wearing normal shoes. |
| 78 | *** Upon [[spoiler: their reunion]] in Episode 9 however, the audience is given a brief shot of their feet, which are both in normal footwear -- indicating that they are now on the same page even when skating isn't concerned. |
| 79 | ** When Victor flirts with Yuri, the focus is on his hands, running his hand down Yuri's arm in Episode 2, for example, or caressing his face and lips in Episode 3. |
| 80 | ** About halfway through the series, Yuri and Victor make a ritual of holding hands and/or entwining their fingers before Yuri heads on to the ice. [[spoiler:In the final episode, faced with Yuri's retirement, Victor is slow to release his grip]]. |
| 81 | ** The final flourish of Yuri's free skate is extending his left hand towards Victor, with his right hand over his heart. [[RuleOfSymbolism The symbolism is not subtle]]. Of particular significance is Episode 5, where [[spoiler:the gesture is performed for the first time, catches Victor off-guard, and is probably the first instance of Yuri "reaching back" in response to Victor's flirtation]] and the final episode, where [[spoiler:the final performance of the program is accompanied by extended focus on Yuri's hands and his HeldGaze with Victor]]. |
| 82 | ** The [[spoiler: pair rings, which shine and sparkle constantly]], draw even more attention to the characters' hands. |
| 83 | ** Victor wears gloves to every event as part of his "coach outfit." However, once [[spoiler:they put on the rings]], the gloves go missing to show off [[spoiler:Victor's ring]] in the final two episodes. In accordance with this, there are ''many'' shots of Victor's hands in these episodes. |
| 84 | ** On a less warm and fluffy note, hands also signal when the characters are enraged. Yurio's violent gestures and death grip on whatever he's holding are fairly prominent, but so is [[spoiler:Victor's tremor when he grips Yurio's chin after the teenager insults Victor and Yuri]]. |
| 85 | * BookEnds: Episode 12 has multiple scenes that serve as parallels to similar occurrences in the earlier episodes. |
| 86 | ** [[spoiler: Yuri crying in Episode 7 and Victor crying in Episode 12 because of what the other had said]]. |
| 87 | ** Yuri's "dime-a-dozen skater" speech, which is spoken in the first and final episodes. |
| 88 | ** [[spoiler: The "Stay Close to Me" program: In Episode 1, it's skated by both in separate occasions albeit is shown in a manner that transitions from one to the other and goes back and forth; in Episode 12, they skate to it as a pair]]. |
| 89 | ** [[spoiler: Victor walks away from Yakov and Yuri runs towards Victor and Yurio on the same bridge]]. |
| 90 | ** Yurio calling Yuri a moron. In Episode 1 Yurio shouted it in Yuri's face after his "just retire already" speech; in Episode 12, he muttered it during his internal monologue [[spoiler:while skating his best to make sure Yuri doesn't get gold and retire]]. |
| 91 | ** Victor's first and last spoken line: "Yuri." |
| 92 | * BrattyHalfPint: The Nishigori triplets. They use their parents' social media accounts without permission (like how they use Yuko's account to upload the video of Yuri skating Victor's program), and they often stay up past their bedtime to watch figure skating competitions, no matter how many times Yuko tells them to go to sleep. |
| 93 | * BreatherEpisode: Episode 10, which is between the emotionally-intense Episode 9 and the start of the Grand Prix Final in Episode 11. It features the cast taking some restful moments in Barcelona before the big event. While there's a lot of light-hearted comedy, there are also some more emotional moments, such as [[spoiler:Yuri and Victor's engagement and the reveal about their ''real'' first meeting]]. |
| 94 | * BrokenPedestal: Episode 12 reveals [[spoiler:this is the reason Yurio is so harsh on Yuri. During the Sochi Grand Prix Final, Yurio admired Yuri's eye-grabbing step sequence and wished to see him skate to his full potential. He followed him to the restroom because he wanted to know what kind of person Yuri was, only to find him crying. For Yurio, who uses every defeat to motivate himself to improve and come back stronger, seeing someone he looked up to wallowing in self-pity was a massive disappointment]]. |
| 95 | * BroodingBoyGentleGirl: Downplayed; Yuri (as the former) and Victor (as the latter) share this dynamic. |
| 96 | * ButNotTooGay: The series doesn't have a double-standard between heterosexual and gay couples, and includes plenty of other indicators of affection and milestones in its central relationship [[spoiler: such as Victor and Yuri's eventual engagement]]. However, director Sayo Yamamoto did discuss this trope when she said that TV censorship required [[spoiler: [[KissingDiscretionShot the arm in the way]] of TheBigDamnKiss]]. She also said that she still had to fight to include that scene at all. |
| 97 | * TheCameo: Real life figure skaters have shown up in the anime. |
| 98 | ** Stéphane Lambiel announces the start of the free program at the Barcelona Grand Prix Final and seems to be an acquaintance of Victor's. He is a fan of the series and owns at least one Yuri on ICE phone case (as of 2017). |
| 99 | ** Satsuki Muramoto, one of Phichit's coaches, is a tribute to a real ex-figure skater of the same name who coaches in Thailand. Similarly, Kanako Odagaki, Minami's coach, is based on a real skater who worked with Kenji Miyamoto to choreograph the show. |
| 100 | ** Other skater cameos without voice roles: |
| 101 | *** Evgeni Plushenko [[http://yuri-on-ice.tumblr.com/post/153949672348/alliandoalice-evgeni-plushenko-made-a-cameo watches]] fellow Russian Yurio's performance in episode 9. |
| 102 | *** Evgenia Medvedeva [[http://www.fandompost.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/yuri_on_ice_10e.jpg takes pictures]] [[spoiler:of the dance-off]] in episode 10. She has been quite vocal about her love for the show on social media, cosplayed as Yuri (using an actual Team Japan jacket), and had art drawn of her, Victor, and Yuri, by the series creator. |
| 103 | *** A BlinkAndYouMissIt moment in episode 12: Yuzuru Hanyu appears on [[https://965cchikudasai.tumblr.com/post/154771474133/hanyu-in-yuri-on-ice the cover of an Ice Jewels magazine]] in his Let's Go Crazy costume, striking J.J.'s trademark pose along with the Canadian. [[note]]Hanyu's Canadian home rink is the Toronto Cricket Club. J.J.'s home rink, as it appears in the anime, resembles TCC.[[/note]] |
| 104 | * CastFullOfPrettyBoys: It's a male-centric sports anime, what do you expect? |
| 105 | * CastingGag: |
| 106 | ** In the Funimation English dub, Victor is played by Creator/JerryJewell. Turns out he has some experience playing Russians, since he ''was'' the personification of the country in the ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' dub. |
| 107 | *** And Russia is quite possessive towards Lithuania, voiced by Josh Grelle (Yuri) too. |
| 108 | ** On a lesser note, Celestino (Yuri's former coach), who is Italian-American, is voiced by Creator/IanSinclair, who also voices South Italy [[Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers in the same anime as above]]. |
| 109 | ** Almost a meta-example, but this is about the third time that Creator/JunichiSuwabe voices [[Manga/ThePrinceOfTennis a character from a sports anime who is acknowledged as good-looking]] InUniverse [[Manga/KurokosBasketball and the ace of all aces in the featured sport.]] [[Manga/FoodWars Fourth, if cooking counts as well.]] |
| 110 | * CentralTheme: |
| 111 | ** Time, and its lack thereof. The premise of the show is about a man who's almost at the end of his career, but is given the chance to make a splash with his presumed final year. Time isn't on Yurio or Victor's sides, either-- Yurio's youthful frame is part of what gives him an edge over other competitors and he will, inevitably, grow out of them, and Victor's very quickly approaching retirement. Even the ending theme, "You Only Live Once", invokes the theme. |
| 112 | ** Perhaps most strongly, love. Yuri states in the beginning that he wishes to regain his "love for skating". Victor meets Yuri though a video of him skating his "Stay Close to Me" program, a romantic song originally commissioned by Victor himself. One of Yuri's performances is inspired by ''eros'', sexual love, and his other performance is about his journey of finding love. Yuri even decides to make his competition theme "love". Both of his programs slowly evolve to reflect his growing relationship with Victor. On the other hand, Yurio's performance centers around ''agape'', unconditional love, and he eventually connects this to his relationship with his grandfather. Many of the skaters dance out of love for something or someone -- e.g. Georgi skates as a desperate plea for his ex-girlfriend Anya; Michele, out of a codependency with his sister; even out of love for oneself (J.J.). In short, the entire concept of "love", in all its forms, both unhealthy and healthy, runs ''rampant'' throughout the show. |
| 113 | ---> '''Yuri''': There's a place you just can't reach unless you have a dream too large to bear alone. We call everything on the ice "love". |
| 114 | ** The gap between perception and reality also features quite a bit, particularly with regard to how people see themselves, what others think of them, and reality. The most obvious case is Yuri, who thinks he's an unremarkable skater with no friends who got the temporary attention of his idol through freak chance, when in reality he's a skilled (if under-confident) skater who's well-thought of by his peers and [[spoiler:whose idol not only thinks the world of him, but has been smitten with him for a year]]. Victor showcases another side of the coin, viewed as the untouchable, flirtatious king of the ice by his fans and as a fickle, selfish BunnyEarsLawyer by his peers, when in reality [[spoiler:he's been bored and lonely for a while now, until a certain banquet happens]]. Yurio struggles with his own self-image too: he's thought of as "cute" by his fans and even his coaches play up his "delicate and graceful" image, when he's really a spitfire who wants to be thought of as ferocious, not sweet. |
| 115 | * ColorMotif: |
| 116 | ** The entire anime's color seems to be blue. It's a color commonly present on the design of many characters, like Yuri's glasses, Victor's eyes, Yurio's jacket, etc. The background of the scenes often have some blue details, particularly when they are on the ice rink. Even the poster for the anime has a blue color overlaying the image and the first episode has a blue glow on Victor during his performance. This might double as a GeniusBonus, as the color blue is [[spoiler: often associated with same-sex romance, particularly in Russia, where the Russian word for "blue" (голубой) is sometimes used to refer to a gay man]]. |
| 117 | ** The three main characters have their own: Yuri has blue to match the show, Victor has red and purple, and Yurio has yellow. |
| 118 | * CoverInnocentEyesAndEars: One man does it to their little boy when Victor stretches Yuri in the hot springs. |
| 119 | * CreativeClosingCredits: The ending credits are mainly shown as photos being scrolled through on Instagram. In Episode 10 it changes to [[spoiler: the gallery sections of Victor's, Christophe's, and Yurio's phones showing photos of the banquet where Victor and Yuri drunkenly danced together in their ''real'' ForgottenFirstMeeting]]. |
| 120 | * DeathbringerTheAdorable: Yurio's cat is named Pyocha, which according to the official guidebook is short for ''Puma Tiger Scorpion''. |
| 121 | * DemonicPossession: This happens to [[spoiler: Yuri]] in the ''Yuri!!! on Festival'' script reading. And no, this is not a joke. |
| 122 | * DeterminedExpression: Yuri gives this, coupled with the UnflinchingWalk, as the Grand Prix finalists head to the rink for the short program. |
| 123 | * DissonantSerenity: Usually during performances, when we hear the character's inner monologue, it sounds strained, like they are talking while performing. However, during Episode 7, during Yuri's performance, his inner monologue is strangely calm, and even after flubbing parts of his program, his inner monologue remains calm and collected. |
| 124 | * DoItYourselfThemeTune: Creator/WataruHatano, Georgi's voice actor, sings the ending theme "You Only Live Once". |
| 125 | * DontYouDarePityMe: Yurio gets furious when Victor and Yuri wish him good luck on his short program, thinking that they feel sorry for him. |
| 126 | * DramaticIrony: Because the viewer can hear the characters' interior monologues, they're often privy to information that the other characters don't have. |
| 127 | ** Most of the story is seen through Yuri's eyes, and so his thoughts and feelings dominate. This usually means that the viewer is well-aware of when Yuri is on the verge of a breakdown or FreakOut long before the other characters are. Made especially obvious in Episode 11, where [[spoiler: Victor comments on Yuri's new confidence and his determined appearance, while the viewer knows that Yuri is an anxious mess in desperate need of Victor's reassurance. This only gets worse when he sees Victor's enthusiasm for the other skaters, yet the final scene implies that Victor didn't realize anything was wrong]]. |
| 128 | ** When we get a look into Victor's head, especially in Episode 10, we can see that [[spoiler: he's Yuri-besotted, and has been thoroughly enjoying his new lifestyle away from the rink]]. A pity that he doesn't seem to have told Yuri this, as Yuri is absolutely convinced that his time with Victor is a fleeting thing, and has been braced to say goodbye since the moment they met. It doesn't help that Victor hasn't filled Yuri in on what happened [[spoiler:between them at the last Grand Prix banquet]]. |
| 129 | * {{Eagleland}}: Subverted. The bombastic, hammy character with an ItsAllAboutMe attitude is Canadian Jean-Jacques Leroy, while American Leo de la Iglesia is more down-to-earth. |
| 130 | * TheEndingChangesEverything: The credit sequence and post-credit scene of Episode 10 was this. [[spoiler: In one fell swoop, it drastically changed every preconception the viewers had about the show's main trio.]] |
| 131 | ** [[spoiler:Victor isn't malicious, out to ruin Yuri's career, or dying. He became Yuri's coach because ''Yuri asked him to.'']] |
| 132 | ** [[spoiler:Yuri can be seductive in the persona of Eros, yes. But he's... a ''fun'' drunk, it turns out. And capable of great feats like executing pole dancing moves perfectly, and win a dance off, while having ''a lot'' of champagne in his system. He ended the scene cozying up to Victor, basically ''grinding'' on him, while an entire ballroom - complete with a half-naked Chris and a fuming Yurio - was staring. A far cry from the skittishly frightened and awed Nikiforov fanboy we meet earlier.]] |
| 133 | ** [[spoiler: Yurio claimed to have been dragged into the danceoff. He was very clearly enjoying himself, from what the photos show. And his fuming while Yuri was, uh, getting ''closely'' acquainted with Victor, can be taken as a sign of the Episode 12 reveal that he actually admired Yuri all along.]] |
| 134 | * EnhancedOnDVD: The DVD/Blu-ray release fixes a lot of the OffModel stills and animation, and some environments and backgrounds were redone to avoid any controversies regarding plagiarism. Some shots that were originally stills were even redone to be animated. |
| 135 | * EvenTheGuysWantHim: |
| 136 | ** Victor is an extremely popular figure skater and has both male and female fans. It's to the point where all he has to do is playfully ''wink'' at the camera to set reporters of all genders swooning. |
| 137 | ** Christophe also seems to have both male and female admirers. |
| 138 | * EverythingsBetterWithSparkles: The outfits the skaters wear during competition are generously sparkly with encrusted crystals, shiny fabrics, and colorful jewelry. TruthInTelevision for this one, given the nature of performance costumes in real life. |
| 139 | * EvilLaugh: Creator/ToshiyukiToyonaga unleashes one as [[spoiler:Yuri is subjected to DemonicPossession]] in the semi-canon CrackFic of a special event that is ''Yuri!!! on Festival''. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2VZR1Vi5T0 Enjoy.]] |
| 140 | * EvolvingCredits: After the first episode, the opening becomes more colorful. The second half of the first opening in particular is almost completely monochrome at first, but after that more colors and even a skating arena background are added in. In Episode 11, images of the skaters competing in the Grand Prix Final are also added. |
| 141 | * ExcitedTitleTwoPartEpisodeName: All the titles of the episodes follow this format (i.e "Easy as Pirozhki! The Grand Prix Final of Tears"). |
| 142 | [[/folder]] |
| 143 | |
| 144 | [[folder:F-L]] |
| 145 | * FailedAuditionPlot: Yuri gets his big break in the form of finally getting to the Sochi Grand Prix Final and competing against his idol, Victor Nikiforov. He crashes and burns, placing dead last, and messes up the rest of the skating season. Thanks to Victor showing up to be his coach, he recovers and ends the next GPF [[spoiler:as the silver medalist (by the razor-thin margin of 0.12 points), breaking a world record - set by a LivingLegend - in the process.]] |
| 146 | * FamilyBusiness: Yuri's parents and older sister run Yu-topia Katsuki, the last remaining hot springs resort in Hasetsu. Since the family name "Katsuki" is part of its name, it's likely that it's been a family business for a while. |
| 147 | * {{Fangirl}}: It's probably safe to say that any female character who either isn't knowledgeable about the figure skating world (like Hiroko) or isn't already a figure skater themselves (like Mila or Sara) will be this for a specific male skater or skaters in general. |
| 148 | * {{Fanservice}}: |
| 149 | ** In the first episode, we get a rather gratuitous shot of Victor's naked butt as he stands up while in the hot spring. The triplets are very aware of what [[FemaleGaze some of the audience]] came for, and even tease at a nipple slip for the preview of the ''second'' episode. A ''male'' nipple slip. |
| 150 | ** Christophe plays this straight with his short program, complete with multiple butt shots. |
| 151 | ** The ending of Episode 10 shows [[spoiler:an almost-naked Christophe and a ridiculously drunk Yuri pole-dancing at the banquet for the previous year's Grand Prix Final.]] |
| 152 | ** Victor stretching Yuri in the hot springs in Episode 4. It starts off with Victor crouching and clasping Yuri's hands as the camera pans up from the floor, giving [[FemaleGaze generous focus to their naked bodies]] before Victor pulls him from the water and puts Yuri in increasingly awkward poses. The original run used SceneryCensor, but the Blu-ray upped the fanservice by using nearly see-through CensorSteam. |
| 153 | * FatalFlaw: Everyone has one: |
| 154 | ** Yuri and his confidence issues. He's an excellent skater, but when it comes to competitions, he can't handle the pressure and he chokes at the last second. He also lacks the drive to ask for what he really wants to do, resulting in a poorer performance. His anxiety and low opinion of himself only [[InnocentlyInsensitive make way]] [[LackOfEmpathy for even]] [[MasterOfTheMixedMessage more flaws]]. |
| 155 | ** Yurio is fine technically, but lacks the emotion in his programs to truly stand out on top. He'll get himself too focused on landing his moves that he forgets to tell a story with his skating. |
| 156 | ** Though Victor is a famous skater who's loved by many and has a lot of natural charisma, he tends to be InnocentlyInsensitive and lacking in emotional intelligence, not knowing how to deal with people who are in distress. This comes to a head in Episode 7, [[spoiler:when he tries to scare Yuri out of his anxious funk by saying that he'll quit being his coach if he doesn't make the podium, but all that does is make Yuri break down in tears]]. |
| 157 | ** Yakov mentions that Georgi's programs, while flashy, have a giant component that Victor's programs lacked a lot of the time. It's implied that that "something" is honesty, or the ability to convey his true feelings through his skating. |
| 158 | * FiveSecondForeshadowing: After Yuri gets off the phone in the first episode, the scene cuts to the bathroom faucet leaking a little bit. Yuri's crying when the scene cuts back to him. |
| 159 | * {{Foreshadowing}}: |
| 160 | ** Several regarding Yuri and Victor's [[spoiler:eventual RelationshipUpgrade into the OfficialCouple]]: |
| 161 | *** In the very first episode, Victor's program and Yuri copying it overlap to the sound of "Stay Close To Me". The song foreshadows the future of the relationship between them as [[spoiler:the song actually narrates a romance between two men]]. |
| 162 | *** In Episode 3, Victor seems like he is about to kiss Yuri, something the shot even makes it looks like. [[spoiler: In Episode 7, extremely similar shots are used when Victor does kiss Yuri, but in a more dramatic way]]. |
| 163 | *** In Episode 4, Victor asks Yuri what he wants him to be to him, starting with "father figure" and ending with [[spoiler: "lover"]]. |
| 164 | *** When Yuri nails his short program performance in Episode 6, the commentator for the event declares that "Love wins!" as a callback to Yuri's chosen theme for the season, but the phrase was also a heavily-publicized hashtag used during the course of the Supreme Court case that ultimately gave same-sex couples across the United States the right to marry, giving the impression [[spoiler:that Yuri and Victor's relationship is romantic]]. |
| 165 | *** [[spoiler: Also in Episode 7, earlier in the episode, when Yuri is crying in the parking lot, Victor straight-up offers to kiss Yuri to make him feel better. Yuri declines, not out of disgust or a distaste for the idea, but because what he wants right now is for Victor to have faith in him]]. |
| 166 | ** In Episode 4, Takeshi and Yuko joke that many skating fans might be hating Yuri now since they believe that he "stole Victor from [figure skating]". Episodes 6 and 8 show that there really is some resentment towards Yuri from Victor's fans because of this. |
| 167 | ** In Episode 6, Victor tells his dog Makkachin not to eat his steamed buns while he's away with Yuri. [[spoiler:In Episode 8, Makkachin does eat them and gets some stuck in his throat as a result, putting him in critical condition and forcing Victor to go back to Japan to make sure he's alright]]. |
| 168 | ** In Episode 9, Mila remarks that Victor's presence affects Yuri's skating ability and mentions that one can imagine what kind of performance he'd bring out if Victor were there with him. Cut to Episode 12 and [[spoiler: Yuri delivers his most breathtaking performance of his free program with Victor there with him and supporting him wholeheartedly]]. |
| 169 | ** In the Episode 10 preview, Yuri says that he'll get something ''round and golden'' for Victor. There were many guesses but as it turns out, Yuri gives him [[spoiler: a golden engagement ring]]. |
| 170 | ** With the revelation in Episode 10 that [[spoiler:at their ''real'' ForgottenFirstMeeting Yuri had drunkenly hit on Victor but forgot about it the next morning,]] all of Victor's questions about Yuri's love life and all the flirting makes more sense. He wasn't just teasing Yuri, he was straight up hitting on him, as [[spoiler: he was already infatuated with him since the beginning]]. |
| 171 | *** In Episode 10 itself, Victor narrates an incident where Yurio makes his first friend. Otabek, the reticent skater from Kazakhstan, has a history with Yurio which the Russian has entirely forgotten: they trained together for one summer, and while Yurio doesn't remember it, he left such an impression on Otabek that the unsociable skater seeks him out when he has the opportunity. A few minutes later, we learn [[spoiler:that Yuri and Victor are in a similar situation. They spent one night talking and dancing together which culminated in Yuri begging Victor to be his coach. Yuri, who was drunk at the time, doesn't remember a thing... but it's one of the defining moments of Victor's life, as he falls for Yuri that night and seeks him out again the instant an opportunity arises]]. |
| 172 | ** In Episode 8, one of the reporters asks Victor if he would like to face Yuri as a competitor someday, to which Victor deflects the question by drawing the attention to Yurio (who was nearby). [[spoiler: By Episode 12, Victor decides to resume his career as a figure skater and Yuri changes his mind about retiring, which means that they'll compete together for the next season]]. |
| 173 | ** Yuri's shown with bare, injured feet that aren't consistent with figure skating or ballet, but with [[http://vityanikiforova.tumblr.com/post/166765368603/figure-skating-injuries-101 pole dancing.]] This foreshadows [[spoiler:his ability to pole dance perfectly while incredibly drunk in Episode 10.]] |
| 174 | * ForgottenFirstMeeting: |
| 175 | ** Before Victor arrived at Yuri's hometown, the two had already encountered each other during the Sochi Grand Prix Final. However, only Yuri seems to remember. Later on, it turns out [[spoiler:that ''Yuri'' is the one who forgot their ''actual'' first meeting, which was at the closing banquet that takes place after the competition. ''Several'' glasses of champagne had him hitting on Victor, dancing with him, drunkenly pleading with him to be his coach, and then forgetting all about it the following morning]]. |
| 176 | ** Otabek and Yuri met during a summer camp five years before the start of the series. While Yurio made a strong impression on Otabek, he was going through some difficult stuff at that time and didn't really pay much attention to Otabek, forgetting about him. |
| 177 | * TheFourLoves: |
| 178 | ** Two form the character arcs of Yuri and Yurio, beginning from the "Hot Springs on Ice" showdown in Episode 3. The two Yuris need to skate to two similar pieces, with one representing ''eros'' and the other ''agape''. However, Victor decides to assign the shy, insecure Yuri the seductive ''Eros'' program, while the hot-blooded and temperamental Yurio gets the innocent ''Agape'' program. It's done to give the boys a chance to branch out from their usual styles of skating, and to make them look inside themselves for emotions they can use in their skating for future projects. |
| 179 | ** As Yuri's program centers around the concept of love, it stands to reason that he's looking at it from all angles as well. He recognizes the love he receives from his family and friends, and he describes his feelings toward Victor as a sort of "love" as well, since he's the first person that Yuri wanted to keep a hold of. [[spoiler:That latter love eventually develops into a romantic relationship.]] |
| 180 | ** The other two loves, ''storge'' (familial love) and ''philia'' (brotherly love), do make small appearances in the story. Episode 9 showcases an unhealthy case of ''storge'' with the Crispino siblings and Michele's inability to let go of his sister, and Episode 10 presented ''philia'' through Yurio finding a genuine friend who admired him in Otabek. |
| 181 | * FreezeFrameBonus: |
| 182 | ** In the ending credits, if you pause the video during the quick transitions between the Instagram pictures, you can see the skaters' comments on the photos (in English to boot!), as well as other details like their account names and how many likes they have. You can also see that the last picture, a tender photo of Victor combing Yuri's hair, was uploaded by the Nishigori triplets. |
| 183 | ** During a flashback in the first episode, Yuko briefly holds up a magazine that has an InUniverse interview with a younger Victor, [[http://lookiamnotcreative.tumblr.com/post/152194922083/has-anyone-done-this-yet-yes-no-maybe-in-any which is actually readable if you pause and zoom in enough]]. |
| 184 | * FriendlyRivalry: |
| 185 | ** Yuri seems to have this with the skaters we see in Episode 6, especially Phichit, Guang-Hong and Leo. They're seen supporting each other throughout the whole competition. At times, his relationship with Yurio can be this, although their overall relationship remains rocky, what with Yurio's temper and insensitivity, as well as Yuri's lack of self-esteem. |
| 186 | ** Victor and Christophe have this kind of relationship. Despite being rivals who have been competing against each other for about ten years, Episode 11 shows that they're still on good terms when off the ice, and Victor admits that he can't imagine being in a competition without Christophe . |
| 187 | * FunnyBackgroundEvent: |
| 188 | ** When Yuko scolds the triplets for using her account to upload the video of Yuri skating Victor's program without her permission, Lutz and Loop are crying, but Axel is happily watching the video without any remorse at all. |
| 189 | ** In Episode 6, shortly after Christophe makes his first major appearance and is talking to Victor, Phichit tries to take a picture of them while Leo tries to stop him and Guang-Hong looks awestruck. |
| 190 | ** In Episode 10, when Yurio is arguing with J.J. and Isabella, some of J.J.'s fans (the J.J. Girls) are angrily staring down a group of the Yuri Angels, who look ready to start a fight. |
| 191 | ** Most of what Makkachin does is this, whether he's bouncing along behind Victor or sleeping in Yuri's bed. |
| 192 | * FunnyForeigner: Yakov Feltsman, Victor and Yurio's coach back in Russia, is played largely as a combination of this and CoolOldGuy. |
| 193 | * TheGlomp: Victor ''loves'' giving this to Yuri, and hugging before and after a competition eventually became a tradition for them. |
| 194 | * GrandRomanticGesture: [[spoiler: Yuri's free program is more or less this for Victor, and Episode 12 is more than happy to make that perfectly clear to the audience]]. |
| 195 | * GroupieBrigade: Several of the skaters have them, but Yurio's fangirls, the "Yuri Angels", are easily the most passionate: they follow him to every event, {{Squee}}ing loudly and asking for photos and autographs, whether he is in the mood for it or not. J.J. has the "J.J. Girls", who are a bit older and not as overbearing. |
| 196 | * GrowingUpSucks: The teen-to-young-adult transition and young-adult-to-"proper"-adult transitions pose problems for the main cast: |
| 197 | ** Yurio is the most striking example: his skating style relies on his delicate looks and a degree of flexibility that the older skaters don't have. However, as Episode 4 makes clear, he knows that he's on borrowed time in this regard. He doesn't have long until puberty changes his body drastically, and this will probably cost him many of the techniques that were part of his repertoire. After years of training to get as good as he is, he'll probably have to start relearning -- or at least drastically adjusting -- his whole approach to skating. |
| 198 | ** Yuri's faint-heartedness and lack of direction really come back to bite him once he finishes university. Losing the fallback of being a student, coupled with the demands of his sport favoring younger competitors over older ones, means that adulthood hits him like a brick. He's already reasonably independent (he's lived abroad for years), but when faced with the question of "what do you want to do with your life?" he retreats back to his family home, chasing what little comfort and security he can find. He's too old to be able to rely on someone else stepping in to guide him, but he's still young enough to ''need'' guidance. Thank goodness that a certain Russian shows up when he does. |
| 199 | ** Speaking of Victor, it's easy to forget that he's still fairly young himself. At his age (27), few people would even be ''thinking'' about the word "retirement," but he's already considered a bit of a dinosaur in the skating community, with everyone else measuring their age and seniority against his. Throughout the series, he's forced to consider what he really wants to do, and what life after skating might hold for him. |
| 200 | * HappyDance: Minako and the Nishigori triplets do this in Episode 3 since they're excited about Yuri's comeback as a figure skater, though it mostly involves [[http://68.media.tumblr.com/7d99ff0ad8fcc71ba5923381af54f228/tumblr_ohd4pz0Tqu1rztjsno1_500.gif spinning]]. |
| 201 | * HeldGaze: [[spoiler: After Episode 7, they share this at least once an episode]]. |
| 202 | * HopeSpot: At first it seems that Yurio has mellowed toward Yuri in Episode 9, offering him pork cutlet pirozhkis and encouraging him while Victor is absent. Then [[spoiler:he finds out about Yuri and Victor "engagement"]], and the GreenEyedMonster returns; although ''what'' Yurio is envious about is left unclear. |
| 203 | * HotSpringsEpisode: While multiple episodes could be considered this, since the Katsuki family runs an onsen and characters frequently bathe in it, episode 4 in particular features many extended scenes and gratuitous {{Fanservice}} shots of Victor and Yuri naked in the hot springs. |
| 204 | * HypocriticalHeartwarming: Yuri defends his fangirls when J.J. insults them, even though he finds them annoying. |
| 205 | * ImStandingRightHere: Of a sort; in Episode 2, Yurio heads to Ice Castle Hasetsu after being told that Victor might be there. When he arrives, a few seconds later Yuri does so as well, but doesn't notice Yurio at all. The Nishigori triplets try to point out that Yurio (who's beginning to shake in rage) is right behind him, but an exhausted Yuri fails to get the message... and [[RageBreakingPoint Yurio roundhouse-kicks him right through the door]]. |
| 206 | * InconsistentSpelling: A lot of the characters' names in the anime suffer from this. An example would be Victor's dog's; is it "Maccachin", or "Makkachin"? Other examples would be: |
| 207 | ** Yuri or Yuuri? |
| 208 | ** Viktor or Victor? |
| 209 | ** Jean-Jacques or Jean-Jack? |
| 210 | ** In relation to the songs, some people use "In Regards To Love: Eros/Agape" and others "On Love: Eros/Agape". It seems that the Japanese original tends to the former, while translations and the English dub tend to the latter. |
| 211 | * IndecipherableLyrics: The lyrics of Yurio's short program theme, "In Regards to Love: Agape". The album of the official soundtrack [[http://klass1196.tumblr.com/post/154751892262/look-what-came-in-the-mail-today-and-we-finally provides]] the lyrics and reveals that the song is sung in Latin, and a fan English translation can be found [[http://littlechubbyyuuri.tumblr.com/post/154765567231/agape-lyrics-and-translation here]]. |
| 212 | * InstantWebHit: Yuri's perfect imitation of Victor's free program found its way onto the net thanks to the mischievous Nishigori triplets, and became a sensation around the figure skating world. It's one of the reasons why Victor came to train Yuri in the first place, [[spoiler:though it turns out that Yuri had already attracted Victor's interest long before the video even existed]]. |
| 213 | * IntendedAudienceReaction: Christophe's short program in Episode 6 is filled with over-the-top sex appeal intending to entice the audience. Phichit and Yuri are very understandably confused throughout the whole thing, while only Minako shows any real enthusiasm about it. |
| 214 | * InTouchWithHisFeminineSide: |
| 215 | ** Yuri, most definitely. Besides his career as a figure skater (which includes a lot of ballet practice), he's a generally sensitive soul and even has a phone cover in bright cheery colors with his beloved dog patterned all over it. It's further emphasized in Episode 3 where he decides to perform his ''eros'' skating program from the perspective of the woman rather than the playboy pursuing her. |
| 216 | ** The same could be said of Victor, whose costume from the Junior World Championship was meant to evoke "both male and female genders at once". |
| 217 | * InVinoVeritas: Yuri is a... fun drunk, as it turns out. [[spoiler:During the closing banquet for the Sochi Grand Prix Final, he got drunk, had a dance-off with Yurio, stripped and did a pole dance with Christophe in front of everyone there, and then hit on Victor, danced with him and drunkenly begged him to be his coach]]. He remembers exactly ''nothing'' about it. |
| 218 | * {{Irony}}: Yuri spends most of the series expecting Victor to leave him and return to his career. In the end we see [[spoiler:that Victor has zero inclination to leave Yuri's side, skating be damned. Instead, it's ''Yuri'' who puts their relationship in jeopardy, via a misguided IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy]]. |
| 219 | * ItsAllAboutMe: J.J. is a perfect example of this, although he's a nicer and more harmless example than most. |
| 220 | * JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Yurio is a mean little bastard... but not entirely. He definitely has a temper issue, and he acts a little stuck up for someone who's trying to work his way up in the senior division, but he still helps Yuri out with a quad move without much prompting, he [[GracefulLoser accepts his loss in Episode 3]] without much fuss (besides leaving early), and when he's not focusing on skating he seems to be a decent fellow. It's later shown that he also cares a great deal about his grandfather, and the finale shows that [[spoiler: he never really hated Yuri, and actually idolized him all along]]. |
| 221 | * JizzedInMyPants: Christophe is heavily implied to do this at the end of both his programs. |
| 222 | * JokeAndReceive: In Episode 4, Takeshi and Yuko joke that many skating fans might be hating Yuri now since they believe that he "stole Victor from [figure skating]". Episodes 6 and 8 show that they're actually correct. |
| 223 | * KissingDiscretionShot: The kiss between [[spoiler:Victor and Yuri]] isn't shown in full. The moment before it happens there's a closeup on their lips as they inch closer and closer, and then [[spoiler:Yuri's]] eyes widen in surprise while [[spoiler:Victor's]] eyes close. Then when the kiss happens, [[spoiler:Victor's]] arm blocks their mouths, but from the positioning of their faces and the reactions of other characters afterwards, it's very obvious that they weren't just hugging. |
| 224 | * TheLastDance: The premise of the show, at least on Yuri's part. The last five years of his skating career have been so spotty that the season Victor's coaching him through could end up being his last, if he doesn't watch himself. He's skating while fully aware of this fact. [[spoiler: Episode 12 eventually subverts this, as he changes his mind and decides to skate for another season, with Victor as both his coach and his rival]]. |
| 225 | * LockedOutOfTheLoop: A major source of headaches for the characters: |
| 226 | ** [[spoiler:Yuri]] is oblivious to the events of last year's banquet, despite nearly every other finalist remembering him as [[spoiler:the life of the party. He wasn't deliberately locked out of the loop, but no-one realized he was too drunk to remember the events of that night, and avoided posting the pictures on social media out of respect]]. |
| 227 | ** [[spoiler:Victor]] is oblivious to his skater's career plans: [[spoiler:Yuri makes it known to the audience from the beginning that he intends this year to be his last year in competitive skating, and according to Christophe there have been rumors about Yuri's retirement in the skating community. When Victor finds out though, he's nothing short of devastated]]. |
| 228 | ** More pragmatically, younger skaters, or those who are new to particular levels of the competition circuit, usually have to be filled in on what went on the previous year. Phichit, for example, needs to catch up on the events behind the scenes of the previous year's Grand Prix Final, because he wasn't there. |
| 229 | * LongHairedPrettyBoy: When he was a teenager, Victor used to wear his hair long. |
| 230 | * LoveHurts: Examined in various ways: |
| 231 | ** [[spoiler:Yuri and Victor]] become the lights of each other's lives... but that also means that they have the power to emotionally destroy the other with an insensitive or misguided remark. [[spoiler:The already-anxiety prone Yuri spends the whole series dreading the seemingly inevitable (to him) loss of Victor once his coach's interest wanes, or the pull of the ice rink calls him back to Russia. Meanwhile, Victor, who seems to have dodged the extremes of love and heartbreak up until now, falls to pieces when it looks like he might lose Yuri]]. They work through it. |
| 232 | ** Georgi has ''not'' coped well with his recent break-up, and it informs not only his short program but the majority of his characterization. |
| 233 | ** On a familial level, Yurio adores his grandfather, but the man isn't always able to be there when his grandson needs him. When he lets Yurio down, the normally self-motivated teenager's confidence takes a major hit. |
| 234 | * LoverAndBeloved: While downplayed due to an age difference of only four years, Victor's status as Yuri's coach, helping him improve as a skater and also get in touch with his sexy side, has shades of this. And then the romantic side of their relationship [[spoiler: is confirmed as of Episode 7]]. |
| 235 | [[/folder]] |
| 236 | |
| 237 | [[folder:M-R]] |
| 238 | * MeaningfulName: |
| 239 | ** The Nishigori triplets are named Axel, Lutz and Loop -- after the three most important skating jumps. |
| 240 | ** Yuri's family name, Katsuki, means "born to win". Yuri's given name means "courage". |
| 241 | ** Victor's name is fairly obvious, meaning "winner" in English... even the Russian spelling, Viktor, has the same meaning. His family name, Nikiforov, comes from the Greek name Nikephoros, which means "bringer of victory". |
| 242 | ** J.J.'s last name "Leroy" is an old spelling of "Leroi" which translates (from French) to "the King," which is what he calls himself. |
| 243 | ** Yurio's family name, Plisetsky, is possibly a shoutout to Soviet-born prima ballerina, choreographer, director, and actress Maya Plisetskaya... who may have served as inspiration for Lilia Baranovskaya. |
| 244 | * MeditatingUnderAWaterfall: The two Yuris do this in Episode 3 to prepare for the Hot Springs on Ice competition. |
| 245 | * MementoMacGuffin: From the moment [[spoiler:Yuri and Victor's engagement rings]] enter the plot, the anime is keen to remind you of their presence, and they can even signal the status of their owners. [[spoiler:They're a little duller when Yuri and Victor have a falling out, but they dazzle and flash even more noticeably than the skaters' costumes when they reaffirm their affection for each other: at the end of Yuri's free skate, Victor's ring sparkles, and Yuri's shines back in response]]. |
| 246 | * MenDontCry: '''''Averted'''''. Almost all the characters are not ashamed to cry, and thankfully, never once are they mocked for daring to shed tears. The only exception is in Episode 2 when Yurio cruelly taunts Yuri for crying in the previous episode, although Yuri just brushes the comment aside. |
| 247 | * MiseryPoker: A lighthearted variant, given that Yurio is trying to cheer up Yuri at the time. Post-Rostelecom Cup, he complains that [[spoiler:Yuri at least had a legitimate excuse for why he under-performed, with the stress of his coach/boyfriend not being there which then threw him off balance, but Yurio skated his heart out and ''still'' lost to J.J.]]. |
| 248 | * NecktieLeash: Yuri does this to Victor in Episode 8, as a demonstration that a) they've had a RelationshipUpgrade and b) Yuri has gained a lot of confidence and no longer sees Victor as an untouchable god. |
| 249 | * NewscasterCameo: |
| 250 | ** Hisashi Morooka, a reoccuring commentator, is voiced by Taihei Katou, a RealLife figure skating commentator and announcer for TV Asahi. |
| 251 | ** Former figure skater-turned-commentator Nobunari Oda appears as a commentator, and watches J.J.'s short program from the stands at the Barcelona Grand Prix Final. He also appears in the preview for episode 11, in which he calls Victor and Yuri by their nicknames, comments on their matching rings, and agrees to take a photo with Yurio. |
| 252 | ** Former Japanese national champion-turned commentator Takeshi Honda is a commentator at the Sochi Grand Prix Final. |
| 253 | * NiceMeanAndInbetween: Yuri, Yurio, and Victor, respectively; though Yuri and Victor switch places from time to time. |
| 254 | * NoAntagonist: None of the characters are really villainous, not even those with more abrasive or self-centered personalities like Yurio and J.J., since even they have more sympathetic sides to them. One can view Yuri's own anxiety and insecurities as the only real antagonistic force of the story. |
| 255 | * NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: |
| 256 | ** Yuri Katsuki seems to be a combination of various Japanese figure skaters. |
| 257 | *** Yuri's career and background are based almost verbatim off Tatsuki Machida. 23-year-old Machida, like Yuri, finished last during his first stint at the Grand Prix Final in Sochi (which was actually held at the Iceberg Skating Palace), proceeded to fail at Nationals, and didn't make it to the World Championships that year. Machida was also a college student at the time, had no idea what to do when he graduated, and struggled with low self-esteem. Both Machida and Yuri went overseas to America and Yuri's home rink "Ice Castle Hasetsu" was most definitely inspired from California's "Ice Castle" where Machida trained. |
| 258 | *** Parts of Yuri's personality and skating style draw inspiration from Daisuke Takahashi. Takahashi was known for having a "glass heart" from his fragile mentality during skates in his early days. This is reflected in Yuri's struggle with his anxiety and weak mentality on the ice throughout the entire series, as well as directly referenced in Victor's statement of "skaters' hearts are as fragile as glass" in Episode 7. However, Takahashi is a legend who has a sensual style of skating much like Yuri's ''Eros'' persona. In addition, Yuri's strength is said to be his step sequences, which is also Takahashi's specialty. |
| 259 | *** Visually, Yuri looks quite a bit like Yuzuru Hanyu and his idolization of Victor was directly inspired by Yuzuru's admiration of Victor's real-life counterpart, Evgeni Plushenko. Yuzuru's coach Brian Orser has stated that Yuzuru's idea of downtime between competitions is doing an ice show (as opposed to taking a holiday); Minako confirms to Victor that skating relaxes Yuri when he's anxious. |
| 260 | ** Victor Nikiforov drew inspiration from quite a few men as well. |
| 261 | *** Career-wise, he is based on Evgeni Plushenko, to the point that they hired Plushenko's choreographer as an advisor. |
| 262 | *** Physically, Victor is based off of American actor John Cameron Mitchell; Mitsurou Kubo stated in an interview that when she went to see the musical ''Theatre/HedwigAndTheAngryInch'', she was inspired to base Victor's good looks on him. |
| 263 | *** Victor's skating style is most likely based on Creator/StephaneLambiel's, which is very different from Evgeni Plushenko's. Some of his cheerful personality seems to be based on Lambiel (who is quite a fun-loving goofball) as well. Victor is also shown standing with his hip cocked to one side and a finger to his lips, a tic he shares with Lambiel. Lambiel also went to Japan and briefly served as a choreographer for Daisuke Takahashi just after he retired from competition. |
| 264 | ** Yuri Plisetsky was based on Yulia Lipnitskaya, making him a partial GenderFlip on her story. His story and skating style also strongly resembles a young Evgeni Plushenko. |
| 265 | ** Lilia Baranovskaya, an aloof Russian prima ballerina, is an {{Expy}} of Maya Plisetskaya. |
| 266 | ** Mila Babicheva shares a strong resemblance with American skater Ashley Wagner, [[https://twitter.com/AshWagner2010/status/793590070766821377 as highlighted by Ashley herself]]. |
| 267 | ** Phichit Chulanont seems to resemble Michael Christian Martinez, with both sporting similar appearances and having south-east Asian backgrounds (Thai and Filipino respectively). In fact, Michael [[https://78.media.tumblr.com/591525246838736eff5b8042cd080643/tumblr_inline_ohx0x5lK591ts5ydk_500.png himself]] seems to have noticed the resemblance. |
| 268 | ** Leo de la Iglesia may be based on American skater Jason Brown due to his fresh musicality and his programs not having a quad, which Jason Brown himself took a bit longer to put into competition. Alternatively, he also shares some similarities with Misha Ge, who, while not American (he represents Uzbekistan), is very well known for his love of choreography and extensive use of social media. |
| 269 | ** Otabek Altin is based off of Kazakh skater and 2014 Olympic bronze medalist, Denis Ten, who was similarly noted to be a national hero to his people. Ironically, while Otabek is noted to dislike social media, Denis was quite active on it. |
| 270 | ** Sara Crispino may be based on six-time Italian national champion Valentina Marchei, [[https://www.instagram.com/p/BNPAL3iDqAf/?taken-by=valemarchei14&hl=en as the skater herself speculates]]. |
| 271 | * NoodleIncident: Apparently the Nishigori triplets have used Yuko's account without permission more than once, even before they recorded and uploaded the video of Yuri skating Victor's program. |
| 272 | * {{Nosebleed}}: |
| 273 | ** Yuko gets a huge one in Episode 3 when Victor sends a smolder her way while demonstrating the ''eros'' program for Yuri. Later in the episode, she gets another one when she sees Yurio in one of Victor's old skating outfits. |
| 274 | ** {{Subverted|Trope}} in Episode 5, when Yuri suffers a knock during his free skate that results in a nosebleed when he points to Victor at the end, being the usual VisualInnuendo with a more realistic cause. |
| 275 | * TheNotCatch: In Episode 5, after Yuri has finished skating his free program, Victor opens his arms for a hug. Yuri dashes towards him and jumps into his arms...only for Victor to jump to the side at the last minute, because he doesn't want Yuri's nosebleed to stain his suit. |
| 276 | * OddFriendship: |
| 277 | ** Yuri and Phichit. Yuri is shy, has almost NoSocialSkills, and rarely gets involved with social media, whereas Phichit is outgoing, highly affable and easy to get along with, and is a CameraFiend who's almost always immersing in social networks when he has the opportunity. |
| 278 | ** Yurio and Otabek. Yurio is aggressive, active in social media and a natural prodigy in ice-skating and ballet, while Otabek is stoic, outright dislikes social media, and initially struggled with ballet before eventually leaving it and had to undergo a lot of training to become a skilled skater as compensation. |
| 279 | ** Yurio also has one with Yuko. Yurio is irritable and usually very rude to other people, while Yuko is friendly and kind to everyone (at least when her daughters aren't testing her patience). Doubles as an IntergenerationalFriendship since Yuko is also ten years older than Yurio. |
| 280 | * OfficialCouple: [[spoiler: After six episodes of {{Foreshadowing}}, Victor and Yuri enter in a romantic relationship. And as of Episode 10, they're engaged!]]. |
| 281 | * OlderThanTheyLook: |
| 282 | ** Despite being in their mid-to-late 20s, some of the skaters look like they're still in high school, with Yuri as the most prominent example. |
| 283 | ** Minako is probably the most extreme example out of all the characters; she looks like she's in her twenties, but she's been confirmed to be older than Hiroko, who's 49. |
| 284 | * OnceMoreWithClarity: In the first few minutes of Episode 1, Yurio's EstablishingCharacterMoment causes the viewers to believe that he's a JerkJock who bullied Yuri simply because they have the same name, and couldn't care less whether or not Yuri was not in the best state for him to beat down even further. Then in Episode 12, the scene is briefly replayed to see things from Yurio's point of view. As it turns out, [[spoiler: he's actually a fan of Yuri and wanted to speak to him in person, though he caught Yuri in a moment of SelfDeprecation. Needless to say, Yurio was disappointed and impulsively lashed out at Yuri for it]]. |
| 285 | * OneSteveLimit: There are two characters named Yuri: Japanese Yuri Katsuki and Russian Yuri Plisetsky. Mari nicknames the Russian Yuri "Yurio" to avoid confusion, which he isn't very happy about. |
| 286 | * OpenTheIris: The last shot of episode 10 is Victor's eyes doing this, [[spoiler:coupled with a little gasp, as he falls in love with Yuri.]] |
| 287 | * PerformanceAnxiety: |
| 288 | ** Yuri suffers from it, and it causes him to choke during his performances. Getting past it is part of his CharacterDevelopment. |
| 289 | ** [[spoiler: J.J. in Episode 11.]] |
| 290 | * PhenotypeStereotype: Zig-zagged. Some characters hit their national stereotypes (e.g. Russians Victor and Yurio have pale hair and light eyes but [[HuskyRusskie lithe builds]]), but others don't (eg. American Leo isn't a blond and blue-eyed Caucasian but a tan, dark-haired Mexican-American). |
| 291 | * PoorCommunicationKills: The most cliched variations of this are avoided, but there are still occasional problems for the three protagonists. |
| 292 | ** Yuri didn't inform Victor of his decision that this would be his last season (even though [[DramaticIrony the audience has known this almost from the start]]). His poor coach[[spoiler:/fiancé]] does ''not'' take the news well. |
| 293 | ** Victor somehow manages to go the best part of a ''year'' without telling Yuri [[spoiler:that they met at last year's Grand Prix banquet, got on like a house on fire, flirted madly and spent the night dancing together. Afterwards, Yuri invited Victor to his home and begged him to become his coach]]. Thus, Yuri's completely baffled as to why Victor turned up out of the blue, and Victor's left wondering why he's getting the cold shoulder. |
| 294 | ** Yurio's main communication style is "angry," and so [[spoiler:Yuri]] is utterly unaware of the fact that Yurio looks up to him -- instead, [[spoiler:Yurio is so disappointed when he finds Yuri crying after his Grand Prix Final disaster that he impulsively lets loose a tirade of abuse and tells him to quit... which is utterly counterproductive, since Yurio really wanted to see Yuri skate a flawless program]]. |
| 295 | * PosterGalleryBedroom: Yuri's bedroom is practically wallpapered with posters and photos of Victor. He quickly takes them off and hides them before Victor can see any of it. |
| 296 | * PrecisionFStrike: In the English dub, Yurio calls J.J. a shithead during the middle of his free skate at the Rostelecom Cup at the memory of J.J. beating him at Skate Canada. |
| 297 | * QueerRomance: Between [[spoiler:Victor and Yuri, who become an OfficialCouple in the seventh episode.]] |
| 298 | * RaceForYourLove: As soon as [[spoiler: Victor and Yuri see each other in the airport]] on Episode 9, they dash in each other's direction until they finally get to each other and embrace. |
| 299 | * RaysFromHeaven: In Episode 4, when Yuri and Victor are having a heart-to-heart conversation on the beach, the sky is cloudy. After they reach an understanding with one another, the sky starts to clear and rays of sunlight shine down on them. |
| 300 | * RealAwardFictionalCharacter: Minako is shown to have won the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prix_Benois_de_la_Danse Prix Benois de la Danse award]] in the past, which is a prize for one of the most prestigious ballet competitions in the world. |
| 301 | * RealPlaceBackground: The anime takes place in several real-life locations around the world, which naturally results in this. The first two episodes alone have a lot of examples, which are listed in [[http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-feature/2016/10/22/feature-anime-vs-real-life-yuri-on-ice this Crunchyroll article]]. Though Yuri's hometown of Hasetsu isn't a real place, it's heavily based on the real Kyushu town of Karatsu. |
| 302 | * ReasonableAuthorityFigure: All of the coaches are thoroughly decent people. They all have different styles, ranging from SternTeacher to CoolBigSis, and sometimes they may not be compatible with an individual skater (for example, Celestino, who's a great coach for Phichit, has a crushing effect on J.J. and can't provide the substantial support that Yuri needs), but they all want the best for their charges. Even Yakov, the sternest and most authoritarian of the coaches, shows strong support and genuine warmth for his skaters, even when they drive him up the wall. |
| 303 | * RelationshipUpgrade: After many episodes of teasing, in Episode 7, when [[spoiler:Victor kisses Yuri]]. |
| 304 | * ResetButton: After Yurio warms up to Yuri and shares food with him, he goes back to acting like a jerk towards Yuri in Episodes 10 and 11 after [[spoiler:Victor teases that they're engaged says they'll get married when Yuri wins the gold medal at the Grand Prix Final. Since it's been Yurio's goal to win gold since the beginning, Victor's announcement clearly doesn't sit well with him]]. |
| 305 | * RewatchBonus: TheReveal of Episode 10 casts all previous interactions between Victor and Yuri in a different light. |
| 306 | * RyokanInn: Yuri's family runs the last remaining one in Hasetsu; there used to be many more, but most of them closed down as the town's population became smaller. It's complete with hot springs and a short old lady (Yuri's mother, Hiroko) running it. |
| 307 | [[/folder]] |
| 308 | |
| 309 | [[folder:S-Y]] |
| 310 | * SecretTestOfCharacter: Victor implicitly gives one to both Yuri and Yurio in Episode 2 by having them listen to both "On Love: Eros" and "On Love: Agape", and after gauging their reactions to the songs, assigns them to the program ''opposite'' to what they preferred, before informing them that they should learn to step out their comfort zone (regarding their style of skating) to continue improving. [[spoiler: Although Episode 10 hints that Victor may have another motive for assigning Yuri the ''eros'' program]]. |
| 311 | * SerialEscalation: Just how many of the fans' wishes can the creators make to come true? How much more intense can the gay relationship between Yuuri and Victor get? [[spoiler:How much higher can the skaters score?]] |
| 312 | * SeriousBusiness: Of course, like in any other sports anime, the characters do ''not'' take their careers as figure skaters for granted, and every one of them aims to win the gold medal at the Grand Prix Final. In this case it's more justified than most other sports anime as they're competing on an international level, so there's an appropriate level of gravitas. |
| 313 | * ShoutOut: |
| 314 | ** When the Nishigori triplets are explaining how the Grand Prix series works through a series of crayon drawings they made, they display a drawing of themselves in Chicago with [[https://i.imgur.com/8K63eAm.jpg outfits]] taken [[Theatre/{{Chicago}} straight from the Cellblock Tango]]. |
| 315 | ** The triplets' explanation of the Grand Prix also includes [[http://i.imgur.com/lhbXL87.jpg one drawing]] of the real-life top six men at the 2015 Grand Prix Final. From left to right we have Boyang Jin, Patrick Chan, Javier Fernandez, Yuzuru Hanyu, Shoma Uno, and Daisuke Murakami. They even drew the free skate costumes, and the medalists are drawn in [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3c/2015_Grand_Prix_of_Figure_Skating_Final_men%27s_singles_medal_ceremonies_IMG_9483.JPG/1920px-2015_Grand_Prix_of_Figure_Skating_Final_men%27s_singles_medal_ceremonies_IMG_9483.JPG the correct podium order!]] |
| 316 | ** In Episode 7, a younger Victor wears an outfit that is a homage to [[https://www.facebook.com/TheOfficialJohnnyGWeir/posts/546245655571555 Johnny]] [[https://www.facebook.com/TheOfficialJohnnyGWeir/posts/546304905565630 Weir]]. Additionally, the blue flower crown Victor wears in the same episode, along with Christophe's red flower crown in Episode 12, is also a homage to the flower crown Johnny Weir wore in the Vancouver Olympics. |
| 317 | ** The song Phichit skates to for his short program is called "Shall We Skate?" from his favorite movie "The King and the Skater", which is a clear reference to ''Theatre/TheKingAndI'' and one of its best-known songs, "Shall We Dance?". Also, note that ''The King and I'' is about a European woman falling in love with a Thai king, and Phichit himself is Thai. Mitsurou Kubo posted the synopsis of "The King and the Skater", which changes the story to a European man, and adds TimeTravel and card games. |
| 318 | ** In Episode 8, J.J. is shown [[https://sumikai.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/yuri-8.jpg posing with his skates]] in a [[http://img.ahaonline.cz/img/18/full/1232872_.jpg similar way]] to a pose done by Czech skater Michal Březina. |
| 319 | ** At the end of the preview for Episode 8, Victor says [[Film/FromRussiaWithLove "From Russia with love"]]. |
| 320 | ** [[https://s30.postimg.org/95csxeo41/tumblr_oi07k3jzh_Q1qdk9b0o1_540.jpg Victor]] is pictured wearing [[https://s23.postimg.org/83ec562ob/tumblr_oi07k3jzh_Q1qdk9b0o2_540.jpg Plushenko's]] 2006 Olympic gold medal. |
| 321 | ** Otabek's bear, which was noted by his real life counterpart [[https://twitter.com/Tenis_Den/status/809658079168135168 Denis Ten]] himself; it also bears a resemblance to the titular ''Film/{{Ted}}''. |
| 322 | ** A FreezeFrameBonus in ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' [[http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2016/12/09/south-park-name-checks-crunchyroll-and-yuri-on-ice which referenced the show]] was reciprocated in Episode 12, when a young J.J. wears Cartman's [[https://68.media.tumblr.com/13e5308c34ea1a4a492a249f8f888e5f/tumblr_oik4n2OcmJ1u6jksbo2_1280.png iconic coat and hat]] in a flashback. |
| 323 | ** During previous Grand Prix Final, Yuri was wearing an [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cz5sShZWQAAaB3Z.jpg outfit]] similar to that of [[https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Cz5sJguWIAATb_5.jpg Daisuke Takahashi's]]. |
| 324 | ** In one of Yuri's posters of Victor, Victor wears an outfit and various jewelries similar to that of [[Series/TheTudors King Henry VIII]]. |
| 325 | ** In another InUniverse poster, Victor is seen in an [[http://68.media.tumblr.com/5e1a3b60b068584d8a2bc3b2eaee7ec4/tumblr_ohs21xUedB1qhax3so1_1280.jpg outfit similar to the one]] Canadian skater Jeffrey Buttle wore in the 2006 Winter Olympics. |
| 326 | ** [[https://sofiakagaminejaeger.tumblr.com/post/164112672629/el-mame-se-volvi%C3%B3-realidad-dibujos-del-staff-de A drawing]] from the official staff book has Yuri and Yurio directly parodying the poster of ''Film/BladesOfGlory''. |
| 327 | ** Yuri and Victor's pair skate at the end of the last episode has several moves taken from ice dancers Virtue/Moir's free dance at the 2016 [=GPF=]. |
| 328 | ** When Axel proposes that she and her sisters organize the Hot Springs on Ice event in Episode 2, there's a moment where she briefly cosplays as Stalker from ''Anime/MobileFighterGGundam'', complete with eyepatch. |
| 329 | ** Doubling as an ActorAllusion: Creator/MamoruMiyano did [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TXrQS4uh-Y a little "re-arrangement"]]. "InTheNameOfTheMoon... JJ STYLE!!! (uproarious laughter)" He was in ''Anime/SailorMoonCrystal'' as Prince Dimande, and Creator/KenjiNojima (Seung-gil) was Mamoru Chiba/Tuxedo Mask. |
| 330 | ** Victor's habit of putting a finger to his lips and standing with his hip cocked to one side resembles Stéphane Lambiel. In Lambiel's cameo as a commentator, he does the same pose as well. |
| 331 | * ShownTheirWork: |
| 332 | ** They go absolutely hard with the explanations for how competitions work, and each jump and maneuver during the skating programs is labelled correctly. The programs themselves are choreographed by former ice dancer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenji_Miyamoto_(figure_skater) Kenji Miyamoto]]. |
| 333 | ** In Episode 10, they also put in a surprising amount of research in regards to [[spoiler:''pole dancing'', of all things. The pole dancing moves done by Yuri and Christophe are not only accurate and have been identified as such by viewers who know how to pole dance, but said moves are also very difficult to pull off in real life]]. |
| 334 | ** The research is so good that it's actually recognizable which figure skaters were used as the inspirations for their skating based on the characters skating styles. Yuri is a sensual "sexy" skater with strong high jumps, which strongly alludes to Daisuke Takahashi. Although Victor's backstory as a legendary figure skating champion would fit very well with Evgeni Plushenko's, it's actually Yurio whose skating style fits with his the closest. They are both incredible prodigies that have a fast, agile skating style with powerful jumps and high flexibility. Victor's skating style seems to be based of off Creator/StephaneLambiel, who was known for his elegant, yet manly skating style and his incredible spins in his active years. |
| 335 | ** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fL35WoFkS-Q Someone went through the trouble and animated over a show program that Takahashi and Lambiel skated together]], and it fits Yuri and Victor to a tee. |
| 336 | * ShowWithinAShow: Several of the songs the skaters use for their programs are from InUniverse movies, which reflects how figure skaters often perform to songs from movies in RealLife. The most notable example is "The King and the Skater"; it's Phichit's favorite movie, and he uses one of its songs along with a song from its sequel for his short program and free program. Mitsurou Kubo has actually written [[http://yurionice.wikia.com/wiki/The_King_and_The_Skater a full synopsis]] for "The King and the Skater". |
| 337 | * SignificantNameOverlap: Both the protagonist and his rival are named Yuri, although the latter is usually called "Yurio" to avoid confusion. The latter is not too happy about this, and swears to defeat Yuri so that there can only be one "Yuri" on the rink. |
| 338 | * SilverVixen: Minako, Yuri's ballet teacher, is his mom's senpai, but she looks younger and more attractive than his sister. |
| 339 | * SleepingSingle: [[spoiler:Yuri and Victor have two separate beds in their Barcelona hotel room, even though they are very much a couple by this point. This foreshadows the strain that the Grand Prix Finals ends up putting on their relationship]]. |
| 340 | * SneezeCut: One instance happens in Episode 2: while Yakov is being interviewed about Victor's sudden decision to coach Yuri, the episode soon cuts to Victor sneezing and "waking up". |
| 341 | * SpecialGuest: |
| 342 | ** Former figure skater Nobunari Oda appears in voice in the preview for Episode 11, and appears as himself to serve as a commentator for the Grand Prix Final. |
| 343 | ** Choreographer and former figure skater Creator/StephaneLambiel appears in the final episode as a reporter. |
| 344 | * SpitTake: Victor does this in Episode 10 when Yuri says that he couldn't even talk to Victor at last year's Grand Prix banquet. Victor then reveals that [[spoiler:he and Yuri actually did talk; not only did they flirt and dance together, but Yuri begged Victor to be his coach. However, Yuri was so drunk that night that he doesn't remember any of it]]. |
| 345 | * StepfordSmiler: It's quite telling how Yuri cheerfully explains how his skating season's gone down the drain in a cute, chibi artsyle. It's even worse when he's talking to his family, since he puts on a nice face for his mother when he talked about getting sixth in the Sochi Grand Prix Final and then cried his poor heart out the minute he hangs up. |
| 346 | * StockFootage: |
| 347 | ** It only starts to become more apparent after the second episode or so. A lot of the programs borrow animation from Victor's championship program and Yurio's ''Agape'' program. |
| 348 | ** The audience members in the Rostelecom Cup are the same audience members from the China Cup with recolored hair and skin. [[EnhancedOnDVD This is changed in the DVD/Blu-ray release]], where they're given more varied designs. |
| 349 | * SuddenlyShouting: In the first episode, Yurio talks to Yuri at a reasonable volume before abruptly yelling "Moron!" in his face. |
| 350 | * SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: |
| 351 | ** Despite being able to mimic Victor's impressive programs, Yuri is hampered by his tendency to comfort eat. In most sports anime, that would be a [[BigEater cute quirk]]... but Yuri isn't a rookie teenager, he's a professional athlete and his food preferences count against him, even though it's fairly mundane rather than obviously unhealthy. |
| 352 | ** Yurio is set up as Yuri's big [[TheRival Rival]] in the first episode. He even has all of the hallmarks of a typical sports anime rival: a TeenGenius, [[TheAce the best skater]] in the junior division, a connection to the main cast, and even a bit of a [[HairTriggerTemper temper problem]]. You think that the story would be about them fighting neck-and-neck against each other... but after Episode 3, they don't meet in competition again until the Rostelecom Cup. Both Yuris have very different paths to follow in their competition season, meaning that they don't see each other often, and Yuri [[UnknownRival doesn't really see Yurio as a rival]] at all. Until Episode 8, the most one hears about the other is from the news. |
| 353 | * TakeThat: To Aeroflot, a Russian airline, when Victor says that the airline is the only other thing that has kept him waiting longer than Yuri has. |
| 354 | * TalkingIsAFreeAction: Played with. They do not talk ''out loud'' while they're skating, though each skater has their own internal monologue that lasts as long as their programs and is usually the real-time analysis of their own performance so far and how to make up for mistakes they've made or keep up a good skate, so the show employs a more realistic example of this trope. |
| 355 | * TeacherStudentRomance: [[spoiler: While both Victor and Yuri are fully-grown adults (with only a four year age gap and Yuri having graduated college during the time skip in Episode 1), they also have a mentor-protege relationship; their romance]] could be considered as this. |
| 356 | * TechnicianVersusPerformer: |
| 357 | ** {{Downplayed|Trope}} with the two Yuris. They are both talented and hardworking, but their differences as skaters are highlighted during their competition during Episode 3: Yurio's performance is perfect from a technical point of view, but he struggles to convey the emotional theme of his program. On the other hand, Yuri fumbles some jumps, but he expresses the theme of his program perfectly. [[spoiler:As is usual with this trope, the latter wins the competition]]. A bit of TruthInTelevision, since unlike most examples of this trope, figure skating actually ''does'' have two point categories – one for technical skills and one for the more theatrical elements expressed during the performance. Yuri Katsuki even explicitly states that he relies on the second category to make up for his weakness in the first, [[spoiler:so once Victor helps him clean up his technical, it's no surprise that he becomes a bit of a point-scoring monster.]] |
| 358 | ** Other characters also showcase this trope: Yuri calls Phichit a born entertainer, and Phichit's goal isn't really competition-based: ultimately, he wants his own ice show to demonstrate how fun skating is. On the other end of the scale, Seung-Gil Lee is constantly calculating his points as he skates. |
| 359 | * ThirdLineSomeWaiting: Since Yuri's comeback as a skater and [[spoiler:his romance with Victor]] are [[TwoLinesNoWaiting the A and B plots of the anime]], Yurio's story is the C plot, going OutOfFocus or being reduced to one or two scenes an episode when he's not in the same geographic place as the other main characters. Viewers never even see his first Grand Prix qualifier, while Yuri's gets two whole episodes. |
| 360 | * TimeSkip: There are quite a few, relatively short ones in order to fit in the four main skating events that Yuri competes in. The most significant one is [[spoiler:in the epilogue, which cuts from Yuri and Victor's exhibition skate to the main trio in Russia, with Yuri apparently having moved there with Victor and Yurio in the interim]]. |
| 361 | * TitledAfterTheSong: In Episode 4, Yuri decides that "Yuri on Ice" will be the name of the piece of music he's skating to for his free program. The piece itself is meant to embody his career as a skater, which is especially important since he believes that this will be his [[TheLastDance last season]]. |
| 362 | * TranslationConvention: |
| 363 | ** According to WordOfGod, Yuri and Victor speak to each other in English, which is why they both tend to use GratuitousEnglish in the Japanese version. There are several implications that Victor only understands basic Japanese, but not enough to have a proper talk to Yuri in said language. Yuri in turn probably doesn't speak Russian. So they use an international language, English, as a ''lingua franca''. |
| 364 | ** Generally, it also seems to be apparent that the international skaters, Minako and Yuko all speak English to each other and it's also likely that Takeshi, the triplets, Morooka and Mari probably speak English to some standard. |
| 365 | * TwoLinesNoWaiting: "Yuri's skating career/comeback" and "[[spoiler:Yuri and Victor]]'s romance" are the A and B plots, juggled and building off each other for most of the series, and each strong enough in their own right to earn the series a specific PeripheryDemographic (figure skaters and their fans, and LGBTFanbase/[[YaoiFangirl Yaoi Fans]] respectively). |
| 366 | * UncoveringRelationshipStatus: In Episode 2, Victor inquires Yuri if he's dating at the moment, or if he's gone out with other people before. Yuri gives a negative for the former question, but refuses to answer the latter, and even stops Victor when he's about to reveal his own dating history. |
| 367 | * UnderdogsNeverLose: Contrary to what most would expect, [[spoiler: this is averted when Yuri ''doesn't'' win the gold medal at the Grand Prix Final; instead, it's Yurio who takes first place at the podium with Yuri placing at second. This is much less depressing example however, since Yurio wins only by a 0.12-point difference, both of them broke a world record during this competition, and Yurio was driven to win so that Yuri wouldn't retire just yet and would continue skating for another season, which is exactly what happens]]. |
| 368 | * UnreliableNarrator: |
| 369 | ** It’s easy enough to miss, but in the first episode while explaining what he is to the viewer, Yuri calls himself a "dime-a-dozen skater", even though the visuals show he is actually the number one skater in Japan and he made it all the way to the final round of a world-class skating competition, even if he placed last. He's also convinced he's failed his family, his nation, and himself, when he's literally been dubbed the in-universe "Ace of Japan." |
| 370 | ** Episode 10, which is the first episode told from Victor's point-of-view, is arguably all about the differences between how Yuri sees himself and how others -- particularly the people who love and admire him -- see him. There are earlier hints of this, though, like Minami's admiration for Yuri and how Yuri dismissing his past programs as a "dark age" affect him. |
| 371 | ** Yuri seems convinced that Victor will leave him for bigger and better things soon, and the audience largely goes along with this, not getting any other perspective on this... until Episode 10, which switches to Victor's perspective and [[spoiler: makes it clear to the audience that he is actually smitten with Yuri and [[ForgottenFirstMeeting why]]]]. |
| 372 | * TheUnreveal: It's never revealed what exactly Yuri wanted to tell Yuko after performing Victor's program for her in the first episode. The audience is initially led to believe he's about to make a LoveConfession, but this is [[BaitAndSwitch immediately proven wrong]] when Yuko's triplet daughters show up and it's made clear that she's already married to Takeshi. |
| 373 | * WeightWoe: Yuri has always struggled with his weight. After a few months of not participating in competitions, he's gained quite a few pounds. |
| 374 | * WeNamedTheMonkeyJack: Yuri's deceased poodle is named Vicchan, after Victor. Which, by the way, he got because he saw that Victor himself owned a poodle. This was how Yuri learns that something is afoot when the suspiciously familiar pooch jumps him on his return from shoveling snow. [[note]]Even though he's from Kyushu, Japan was hit by a sudden cold spell, resulting in the uncharacteristic April snowfall.[[/note]] |
| 375 | * WhamEpisode: |
| 376 | ** Episode 7. The one with [[spoiler:that infamous TheBigDamnKiss -- yes, it did happen.]] |
| 377 | ** The writers have stated that Episode 10 was a filler. Yet, after watching it, you have to [[RewatchBonus watch the whole show from the start]], because the episode changes everything that's happened up until that point, particularly regarding [[HeartwarmingInHindsight Victor's interactions with Yuri]], and [[HilariousInHindsight Christophe's relationship with Yuri]]. And most of all, the development of the plot as a whole gets an entirely deeper meaning. |
| 378 | ** Without explaining why, Episode 11 is by far the most emotionally-devastating one of them all. |
| 379 | * WhamLine: |
| 380 | ** Episode 11: Yuri buying [[spoiler:a set of gold rings for Victor and himself]] as good luck charms is a legitimate explanation, as wearing charms is an international practice in figure skating [[note]]Yuzuru Hanyu, Shoma Uno, Evgeni Plushenko, and Johnny Weir - skaters that ''Yuri on Ice'' shouted out to - all wear necklaces with charms.[[/note]]. The real wham line hits in Victor's cheerful correction of Phichit's assumption that they're [[spoiler:wedding rings: "Yeah, don't get the wrong idea. This is an engagement ring. We'll get married after he wins the gold medal. Right, Yuri?". Which is news to even ''Yuri'', who didn't contest Victor's remark that his Episode 9 request for Victor to take care of him until he retires sounds like a marriage proposal.]] |
| 381 | ** Right before the preview for Episode 11, which turns the entire anime on its head: "If I win this dance-off, [[spoiler: you'll become my coach, right?"]] |
| 382 | ** At the end of Episode 11: [[spoiler:"After the Final... ''let's end this.''"]] |
| 383 | * WhamShot: |
| 384 | ** In Episode 7, [[spoiler: the climactic scene where Victor leaps forward to give Yuri TheBigDamnKiss]]. |
| 385 | ** TheStinger of Episode 12. Four little words: [[spoiler: [[SequelHook See you NEXT LEVEL]]]]. |
| 386 | * WhatDidIDoLastNight: This trope is essentially the plot of the ''Yuri!!! on Stage'' script event, which begins with Yuri waking up with a bad hangover, Victor's underwear on his head and "Overcome Chihoko" written on his back. He and the other characters then try to figure out what happened the night before. |
| 387 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: One of the main features of the final episode is [[spoiler:Yurio pushing himself to his limit to win gold... because he's furious/heartbroken at the prospect of Yuri retiring, and wants to take the gold to prevent Yuri from doing so and consequently quitting his career on a high note. He succeeds, but we don't get to see Yurio learn of Yuri's decision to keep skating; that revelation is reserved for Victor]]. |
| 388 | * YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: Victor implicitly tells Yuri this in Episode 5 after the latter lets out his feelings of self-inadequacy. |
| 389 | * YoungerThanTheyLook: There are some skaters who are younger than 20, but appear older than that. |
| 390 | * ZenSlap: Played for laughs (supposedly). Victor suggests for Yuuri and Yuri to go to a Buddhist temple, so they'll find inspiration to interprete Eros and Agape. A monk hits Yurio's shoulders with a stick, much for his surprise and confusion, since it's his first contact with Zen Buddhism and nobody explains him anything. |
| 391 | [[/folder]] |
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