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Yuri on Ice
It's National Blog Posting Month again! No time for a long write-up, so today's entry is a quick review of Yuri on Ice, which is legally available for streaming on Crunchyroll. I'm a figure skating fan, so anime about figure skating sounded right up my alley.
The title is somewhat deceptive if you're familiar with the term "yuri" (meaning manga/anime about lesbian relationships), because "Yuri" here refers to the main character, male figure skater Katsuki Yuri (and there is also another Yuri, a rival Russian skater). Basically, this anime is fanservice-y fodder for the BL crowd, because it's chock-full of beautiful bishonen skaters. There's no canon m/m romance so far, and I would guess the show won't explicitly go there, but judging by the first episode (which is all I've seen so far) and from what I've heard about it online, I'd say it's deliberately playing up to the fangirls with the friendships and rivalries between the guys.
The skating scenes are animatedly beautifully and accurately, and clearly the animators have spent a lot of time observing actual skating and can tell the difference between an axel and a toe loop. In fact, the skating was so good that I was going to show it to my sister, a skating fan, until the final scene showed Yuri encountering his idol Viktor in an outdoor onsen bath, with several lingering shots of Viktor's naked body (full view from the back, and a conveniently placed plant just barely preserving his modesty from the front). I can just hear Sis asking me, "What kind of pervy shows are you watching?!" (Defintely won't show her the Embracing Love dvd, haha!)
The show is a bit silly, but a lot of fun, and at the same time, there's a more serious (and sympathetic) note to Yuri's struggle with his skating--he has a lot of talent, but cracks under pressure and hasn't lived up to his full potential. If you like figure skating (and gorgeous guys), I highly recommend it!
The title is somewhat deceptive if you're familiar with the term "yuri" (meaning manga/anime about lesbian relationships), because "Yuri" here refers to the main character, male figure skater Katsuki Yuri (and there is also another Yuri, a rival Russian skater). Basically, this anime is fanservice-y fodder for the BL crowd, because it's chock-full of beautiful bishonen skaters. There's no canon m/m romance so far, and I would guess the show won't explicitly go there, but judging by the first episode (which is all I've seen so far) and from what I've heard about it online, I'd say it's deliberately playing up to the fangirls with the friendships and rivalries between the guys.
The skating scenes are animatedly beautifully and accurately, and clearly the animators have spent a lot of time observing actual skating and can tell the difference between an axel and a toe loop. In fact, the skating was so good that I was going to show it to my sister, a skating fan, until the final scene showed Yuri encountering his idol Viktor in an outdoor onsen bath, with several lingering shots of Viktor's naked body (full view from the back, and a conveniently placed plant just barely preserving his modesty from the front). I can just hear Sis asking me, "What kind of pervy shows are you watching?!" (Defintely won't show her the Embracing Love dvd, haha!)
The show is a bit silly, but a lot of fun, and at the same time, there's a more serious (and sympathetic) note to Yuri's struggle with his skating--he has a lot of talent, but cracks under pressure and hasn't lived up to his full potential. If you like figure skating (and gorgeous guys), I highly recommend it!