YURI ON ICE

A new type sports anime, “Yuri on Ice.” It focuses on… figure skating. Sports is popular genre in Japanese anime, but why is this “Yuri” different from other sports anime and has it gained huge popularity?

(C) YURI ON ICE Production Committee

STORY

YURI KATSUKI (M/23) is a Japanese figure skater. He competed at World Figure Skating Championships last year, but he lost getting the lowest score at the final and quitted practicing in frustration. He now comes back to his local city Hasetsu (a fictious city in Kyushu) for his recreation.

But actually, he didn’t give up skating completely. Yuri skates a number of VICTOR NIKIFOROV (M/28) in front of his old girlfriend. Victor is a Russian figure skater called “living legend,” having won all of the competitions he has appeared. Yuri has adored Victor since he was a child, so mastered his performance perfectly.

One day, suddenly and surprisingly, Victor flies to Japan and appears in front of Yuri. In fact, his friend’s daughters recorded his skating at that time, and upload the video on YouTube. Victor says he is inspired by Yuri’s performance and decides to coach Yuri in order to make him a winner in the next world championship.

Yuri, trained by Victor, grows as a human being, not only as a player.

APPEAL: Internal growth rather than improvement of skills

In this anime, though it is about sports and winning or losing is important, it is not the main theme. What “Yuri on Ice” describes is each character’s inside progress. For instance, the main character, Yuri’s problem is his lack of confidence and mental weakness. It isn’t about his skill itself since he is actually skilled enough. Through communication with his coach Victor, he comes to realize “Love” which surrounds him and becomes strong.

It is also interesting that any other characters are so attractive that you will want to support everyone, even though they are rivals of Yuri. Because each player’s minds and emotions are emphasized, you will feel empathy with all of them. Heartful relationships between skaters maybe one characteristic in figure skating world.

APPEAL: Beautiful animation and music

Thanks to a very skillful production company MAPPA, its animation is amazingly real. The description of skating is really faithful and smooth although the motion is detailed and complicated. Also, you can enjoy watching figure skating from the perspective you cannot see in the reality, such as an extreme close-up of the skater’s feet.

What’s more, music is fantastic too. All music is original and composed according to each character’s image. You must be surprised at high quality sounds.

REMAKE

It may be hard to make live action film of sports anime since you have to find someone who can do the sport well. But when it comes to this anime, it would be one idea to develop an ice show using stage skaters, with the same music, costumes and choreography.