Yuri on Ice Review

Thanks for dropping back in–I decided to start, at least, with anime reviews, because I think that is more in line with the skills I am trying to practice.

The first anime I’m going to review is Yuri on Ice. This is by no means a new anime, but it’s new to me, which is a trait that will likely apply to the rest of my reviews as well. 

My boyfriend and I finished watching Yuri on Ice together last week. After years of scouring fandoms on social media, I basically knew what was going to happen, or so I thought. You see, the nice thing about the fandoms is that we can make fanart or headcanons or whatever to represent how we wanted the series to end. I was under the impression when I began watching it that Yuri on Ice was going to end with the beginning of a romance between Yuri and Victor. And that’s what I thought I was getting, for the first eleven episodes. 

We have Yuri Katsuki, insecure, down on his luck figure skating fanboy, who is filmed performing the exact same routine as his idol, Victor Nikiforov. Victor, also dissatisfied by his career, randomly shows up at Yuri’s house after seeing the video and becomes Yuri’s coach. The rest of the episodes follow their journey through skating circuits, introducing new characters along the way but mainly focusing on the relationship between Yuri and Victor. 

Then we get to episode 12.

Yuri buys matching rings for himself and Victor, goes into credit card debt for them. BUT THE ENGAGEMENT ISN’T CONFIRMED. Even after that, they still make separate decisions, and the end only confirms that both of them will continue their skating careers.

After 12 episodes of devoting my heart to these “disaster gays” (after my very own heart), listening to them pledge their desire to skate together forever, keeping their eyes on each other, sleeping next to each other, that’s what I get????

It’s the kind of cliffhanger that demands a season two.

There is no season two.

I’m….

So, let’s back this up a little bit. You now have my very strong opinions about how pissed I am that my ship has not yet sailed, but to call this a semi-real review, I’m gonna give you the pros and cons of the actual show itself.

The animation is pretty good. It’s a running joke in the fandom that the animation of Victor’s abs is gorgeous, but it gets pretty bad during skate routines. Of which there are a lot. Even for a skating anime, you can start to feel like the focus is off of our protagonists. For the most part, the plot makes sense, and until the end there are no kitschy plot devices. 

Characterization is also pretty good, from a writer’s point of view. Although absolutely be prepared to hate Christophe. He’s…disturbing. Moving on from Chris, Yuri and Victor both show character growth throughout the series, with Yuri gaining confidence as the season goes on and Victor showing more humanity the closer he gets to Yuri. Yuri Plisetsky, or Yurio, another main character, shows growth both on and off the ice, finding himself as both a person and skater. (As a totally irrelevant side note, Yurio is a ferocious tiger boi and I love him.)

Also, although the season is only twelve episodes, they don’t move too quickly. The progression of the story is pretty clear until the end, without any confusing or badly done twists.

All in all, I wasn’t expecting a lot from Yuri on Ice initially. I figured it would just be another sports anime, which tend to have great animation but a bad plot, focusing on the sexy fanservice shots that cater to their chosen audience. Plenty of fanservice here, but it didn’t drown out the plot and each of the characters was well-rounded, each one of them given a clear motivation and a dilemma they needed to overcome to reach their goal.

However, I still hold that the last couple of episodes portrayed a poorly-executed cliffhanger. As a writer and as someone who has seen a lot of anime, I can appreciate leaving the story at a spot that allows you to pick up in a new season without having to come up with a whole new plotline.

I don’t think that the end of this anime particularly accomplishes that. If fans are drawn in by Yuri and Victor’s relationship, they aren’t going to abandon it after season one if they get engaged. One of the things that I dislike about a lot of romance tropes is that they focus on young people, and as soon as they get married those characters and their romance becomes unimportant. With Yuri and Victor in their 20s, it seemed like Yuri on Ice was breaking those tropes, only to bring them right back by playing coy around the engagement.

To recap, I really enjoyed Yuri on Ice. I was super disappointed by the ending, but I would definitely watch season two (if it ever comes out). Yuri and Victor are well-rounded, and their problems and reactions are relatable, their romance endearing. If you enjoy sports, romance, or comedy anime, I think you’ll love Yuri on Ice.