History Anime / YuriOnIce

The show is animated by Creator/{{MAPPA}} and aired as part of the Fall2016Anime season. 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]].

** 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, the shy, insecure Yuri gets the seductive ''Eros'' program, while the hot-blooded and temperamental Yurio gets the emotional ''Agape'' program. It's done to give the boys a chance to branch out from their usual programs, and to make them look inside themselves for emotions they can use in their dancing for future projects.

* FiveSecondForeshadowing: After Yuri gets off the phone in the first episode, the scene cuts to the bathroom faucet leaking a little bit. [[CryCute Three guesses to what Yuri's doing when the scene cuts back to him]].

* 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:This gets taken UpToEleven when they kiss in Episode 7 and become the show's OfficialCouple. Then they get engaged in Episode 10.]]

* AdultFear:
** The very premise: that you work so hard to achieve your lifelong dream, only to fail when it counts, and to enter a downward spiral. Then you have to rebuild your life and figure out if you want to try again, to pursue your passion at the risk of failing a second time. At the start of the series, Yuri is DesperatelySeekingAPurposeInLife as he wants to skate while he can, but he doesn't know what to do once his career ends.
** The reason why Yuri ended up bombing at the previous Grand Prix Final? His dog died while he was away from home. Then in the present, when Yuri hears from home that [[spoiler:Victor's dog Makkachin is in critical condition]] he immediately urges Victor to go back to Japan even though it means [[spoiler:Victor won't be able to watch him perform]].

** [[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]].

[[JustForFun/IThoughtThatWas Not to be confused with]] the YuriGenre; quite the opposite, 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 queer themes.

*** Creator/EvgeniaMedvedeva [[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.

** Episode 7. You know, TheOneWith [[spoiler:that infamous TheBigDamnKiss -- yes, it did happen.]]

** The creator also drew Creator/EvgeniaMedvedeva with Victor holding a banner of Yuri. Evgenia is a massive fan of the anime and is thereby an [[AscendedFanboy Ascended Fangirl]]

** Episode 11: Yuuri 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, Yuuri?". Which is news to even ''Yuuri'', 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.]]

** 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. Don't forget about the fact that 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."

** Right before the preview for Episode 11, which turns the entire anime over its head: "If I win this dance-off, [[spoiler: you'll become my coach right?]]"

*** A BlinkAndYouMissIt moment in episode 12: Creator/YuzuruHanyu 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]]

*** Visually, Yuri looks quite a bit like Creator/YuzuruHanyu 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.

** 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. [[RealityEnsues Sometimes boys and girls are just friends.]]

* RealityEnsues:
** Victor can pull off programs that are at the very limits of human ability... but he's not immune to aging. In a sport where youth counts, he's thinking about retirement at an age when most young adults have just started their careers.
** 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. In addition to that, as with Victor, time is not on Yuri's side, with retiring at 24 a serious possibility.
** 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.
** What happens when you tell a dog not to eat some food, and the food is right within the dog's reach? [[spoiler:The dog in question, Makkachin, will eat it, of course. After all, without a human around to tell them off, there's no way a dog could overcome their instincts that easily. There's also a very good chance that the food will make the dog sick...]]
** J.J. is a great skater and is seen as a favorite to win the Grand Prix Final, but he's also only ''nineteen'' with [[spoiler:a lot of expectations placed upon him, which pressures him to the point that he has an anxiety attack in Episode 11. It happens at the last minute and almost seems to come out of out of nowhere since he looked quite confident before starting his performance, but [[TruthInTelevision anxiety attacks occurring out of nowhere is actually realistic, and happens very often. Seeing an exaggerated version of his situation and how he views the other skaters is also not uncommon during an anxiety attack.]]]]
*** Anyone who has watched figure skating IRL has seen this happen.
** Yurio may be the extremely skilled, but he's fresh out of Juniors, and he lacks both the physical and mental experience that the other Senior skaters have. This manifests itself first in the Onsen on Ice informal competition, when he competes for the first time with a Senior level program and starts to get sloppy and fall apart near the end because of how fatigued he was. This motivates him to actually start listening to his coaches and make up for the physical deficit, but during the Rostelecom Cup, [[spoiler: his worry over his grandfather, Yuuri and Victor, and the intense environment send him into the beginnings of an anxiety attack right before his program. He doesn't do badly objectively, as he still secures a spot in the Grand Prix Final, but he does feel the need to clarify to press afterwards that his lack of competitive experience made him a bit of a nervous wreck (in harsher words, of course, and only to stop them from thinking that his skating had gotten rusty).]]

** 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.]]

** 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 Jin Boyang, 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!]]

* TitledAfterSong: 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]].

** Its 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. Don't forget about the fact that 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."

*** A BlinkAndYouMissIt moment in episode 12: Creator/YuzuruHanyu appears on [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/yurionice/images/3/33/Jj_iy_ep_12.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/1000?cb=20161222020652 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]]

*** A BlinkAndYouMissIt moment in episode 12: Creator/YuzuruHanyu appears on 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.[[/note]]

** 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 Jin Boyang, Patrick Chan, Javier Fernandez, Yuzuru Hanyu, Shoma Uno, and Daisuke Murakami. They even drew the free skate costumes!

[[JustForFun/IThoughtThatWas Not to be confused with]] the YuriGenre; quite the opposite, in fact, given that the predominant romantic themes are between two men. 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 queer themes.

''Yuri!!! on Ice'' is an original anime directed by Sayo Yamamoto, who previously directed ''Anime/MichikoToHatchin'' 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.

** 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 ''Manga/AxisPowersHetalia'' dub.

** On a lesser note, Celestino (Yuri's former coach), who is Italian-American, is voiced by Creator/IanSinclair, who also voices South Italy [[Manga/AxisPowersHetalia in the same anime as above]].