i miss yuri on ice so much. i miss them with all my heart. my soul aches when im thinking about them. i feel like a part of me is lost. i miss seeing them skating. i miss viktor. i miss yuuri. i miss yurio. i miss phichit, chris, otabek, even that piece of shit (jj)
i rewatch the anime but that isnt enough. i want to FEEL it with my own body and soul so much i hope it hurts
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Say what you will about the years it's taken for Ice Adolescence to air, but I'm actually glad for it in some ways because the long, long wait means we've had to spend all this time just appreciating Yuri on Ice for the genuine miracle of creative passion it was.
If we'd gotten a sequel or a movie right away, I think a lot of people would have forgotten some of the magic within those first twelve episodes. Not to mention the impact they had on those who watched and experienced it as the show aired.
Even if we never got anything else, Yuri on Ice would still be remembered, adored, and cherished because above all it was made with absolute devotion. The director, the writer, all the voice actors, the choreographers, the composers, the audio engineers, etc. etc. etc. Everyone was committed to giving everything they had to this tiny production that no one outside their team believed in. It aired late, and the only reason it blew up into the phenomenon it became was through word of mouth by an audience who recognized that devotion in each successive episode.
It'll be amazing to get more of Yuuri and Viktor someday, but for now, I'm just happy that Yuri on Ice exists at all, and that there's been so much consistent, living, breathing love for it so long after the final episode aired.
Love made Yuri on Ice legendary, and I sincerely like that it's gotten to stand on its own merits for so long.
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For the Joy of Skating
Yuri on Ice continues to stun me with how many layers there are waiting to be peeled apart and enjoyed. Like an artist who painted vista after vista on a single canvas and we have the ability to see each layer if we squint just the right way.
So here I am, squinting again, and seeing a new layer.
It’s joy.
Well, more... the joy of skating.
The animators made quite the deliberate choice in showing us both Victor and Yuuri skating Stammi Vicino at the same time. Not just to show us the difference in the skaters’ styles--Victor’s skate was precise, beautiful, and cold, and Yuuri’s was soulful, emotive, and good but not polished--but also to make us think about joy.
When we see Victor skate, when we see him get asked about next year, his face is always holding either something fake or something sad. He longs for something, misses something... His love of skating has eroded away (Yurio makes this point too. Victor’s inspiration is gone). It means he is still beautiful to watch, but it feels remote and untouchable. Cold, beautiful, other. It’s a skate bereft of joy. The skater is not having fun while skating.
Yuuri is an extreme counterexample to this. Why is Yuuri skating Stammi Vicino? Because he is looking for the thing that will get his love of skating back. Yuuri radiated joy during Victor’s skate. It was the place he could always return, a place that his joy resided. And the animators not only made sure we understood this through the backstory, we saw it in his face.
Victor watched Yuuri skate his program with the joy that he had lost.
We don’t know how long Victor has felt like a lonely shell. We don’t know if it’s been a season, two seasons, four seasons. Yakov (oh man unpopular opinion time) ignored Victor’s loss of joy, because Victor remained brilliant.
Victor’s brilliance is also why I think we see Victor trying to find the joy again. Why we see him trying to offer notes to Yurio.
Why he flew to Japan to coach Yuuri.
Because he saw the joy in Yuuri’s skate of his program. Because he remembered the drunk Yuuri asking for Victor to coach him after what we can all assume was probably some of the most fun Victor had had in a long time.
It wasn’t immediate. Rekindling inspiration and joy never is. And it wasn’t linear.
Yuuri didn’t fall immediately into Victor’s bed (as Victor planned).
And Yuuri wasn’t a blank slate of worship to take all of Victor’s notes (as Victor planned).
But slowly we see it. Victor starting to feel the joy again.
In unfiltered moments... when Yuuri charged into sleeping Victor’s room because he’s so excited about the new score!
When Yuuri asks for Victor to land a quad for the thirteenth time.
When Yuuri decides to sacrifice the gold medal at the Cup of China to attempt the quad flip (because Victor is where Yuuri’s joy in skating is from).
When Yuuri fought back his anxiety at Rostelecom and qualified for the Grand Prix Final.
Yes, Yuuri and Victor fell in love. It was wonderful to watch (and one of the other YOI layers I have loved and enjoyed), but Yuuri’s joy is also why Victor fell in love with skating again. Why Victor’s joy returned to him.
Yuuri is ultimately the reason that Victor wanted to return to the ice. Because through Yuuri, through those new emotions he was feeling, Yuuri’s joy became Victor’s joy too.
You can see it in the final skate of the series, to Stammi Vicino. The two star-crossed skaters are skating with beauty, with precision, and with joy.
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