Revisiting Yuri!!! on Ice — 8 Years Later!

That’s right, people—Yuri!!! on Ice came out over 8 years ago. Feel old yet?

Yuri!!! on Ice is a lovely little show. It’s a half-figure skating, half-romance anime about a 23-year-old Japanese ice skater named Katsuki Yuri, and he’s having a rough go of it. After binge-eating before a competition due to stress and the depression of losing his childhood dog, Yuri loses terribly at Nationals. He heads back home to Japan, fearing and dreading that his exuberant figure skating career may be coming to a sad and rather lackluster end.

Of course, this ends up not being the case. During his free time spent back home in Japan, Yuri records a video of himself skating to a routine of Victor Nikiforov, the best figure skater in the world and Yuri’s own personal figure skating hero, as well as a distant contemporary of his. Due to the scheming of three very cute little ice skating-loving rascals, the video ends up being posted online, where it immediately goes viral.

Victor himself ends up seeing it, and he feels incredibly inspired by Yuri’s potential and talent. He flies all the way from Russia to Japan to be Yuri’s new coach, stepping away from competitive skating itself to do so—much to his coach’s fury.

This set-up is what brings us a very funny, sweet, passionate, and heartfelt show. The differences between Victor, the very confident, effortless, extremely capable type of athlete, and Yuri, who is more awkward and insecure despite his work ethic and his talent, make for a great dynamic. Victor’s confidence helps Yuri develop more confidence and faith in himself, both in his skating and in his own life more generally. In turn, Yuri’s effort, growth, and determination inspire and amaze Victor, bringing him out of his world of boredom within routine and perfectionism and into the world of hard work and fiery passion.

Katsuki Yuri, off the bat, is a charming and likable character. He is awkward, but he doesn’t have anime character syndrome where that’s all he is. He’s also funny, witty, and an extremely hard worker, which makes it feel great to see him succeed. His awkwardness is only a part of him, not his defining characteristic. And the story follows him as he slowly yet surely gains confidence in himself and his capabilities, becoming more and more like the skater, and the person, he wants to be.

Victor, on the other hand, is Yuri’s polar opposite. He is effortless, confident, and well-aware of his gifts and talents. Despite his cockiness, which is arguably well deserved as the world’s best figure skater, he learns through coaching Yuri to be more sensitive, grounded, and emotionally receptive to other people’s feelings, as not everyone learns the same way or excels under pressure. He is also probably the most homoerotic character ever constructed, which is, of course, great. His flirtations with Yuri throughout the show are very genuine and sensual in a way that drives the romance between them forward in a very cute and fascinating way. He is very fun to watch at every turn.

Now, as always: some critiques.

My personal biggest gripe with the show is in its second half. The best part of the show, by far, is Yuri and Victor’s relationship, and we get less of that after episode 7. I’d even go as far as saying you don’t need to watch past episode 7 after you’ve seen the show once, honestly. There’s a handful of great scenes in those remaining 5 episodes, but for the most part, you’re not missing very much.

12 episodes just wasn’t enough time to develop as many characters as the show attempts to, unfortunately. Though all the figure skating scenes are lovely, and it’s awesome to see all the different cultural representation at Nationals through the author’s depiction, it just isn’t as interesting due to repetitive episodes and a lack of developed characters.

Also—like a lot of anime, Yuri!!! On Ice has some fanservice. (Vigorously bouncing boobs, rippling abdominals, etc. in animation are some examples of what can be construed as fanservice, if you’re not super familiar.) Sometimes, it goes too far. There’s one character in particular who’s just kind of wild, and though his wildly sexual moments are played for comedy and work fairly well in showing how outlandish and funny he is, there’s one very minor, very unnecessary scene I do not love due to some fairly dubious consent concerning him and our boy Yuri.

However, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say this—most of the fanservice in this anime doesn’t detract from one’s enjoyment the show but rather enhances it, because a lot of the show’s sexuality and sensuality is actually used to drive the plot or the relationship forward at every turn.

For example, when Yuri is learning to skate the Eros (or sexual love, in Latin) based routine Victor assigned to him, he struggles with it due to not feeling like a person who can be sexy in a way that “works” due to a lack of confidence. However, when Yuri develops more confidence in his own way, he is able to portray a beautiful, sexual side of himself in a way that enraptures both Victor and the audience. Since sexuality plays such a direct role in a lot of these moments, especially when it comes to this idea of “capturing” an audience with nothing but your body and what you do with it, it doesn’t feel gratuitous. And even in the moments where it can be, it doesn’t feel objectifying, but rather liberating.

Critiques are over, so let’s talk about the romance: it’s great.

Victor and Yuri are probably the most well known queer couple in anime for a reason, and that’s because they are really and truly awed by one another in a way that feels invigorating to watch. They both compete to prove themselves to the other—Victor as a coach, Yuri as a student—only to realize that the love and joy and passion they experience together in this relationship can only be found with and fulfilled by each other.

When I first watched this series as a teen, I liked it a lot. Looking back on it with older, more critical eyes—I still really enjoyed it!

Yuri!!! on Ice is magical, whimsical, and genuine in its portrayal of love and how we define it. It stands the test of time so well in many respects, and it’s definitely a landmark for queer anime and manga. On top of all that, it’s also visually gorgeous and has amazing music. I’d highly recommend it to anyone who wants a beautiful, funny, and heartfelt show-watching experience.

Happy Pride Month! ♥️