Yuri!!! on Ice Episode 3 Discussion

shirley77 said:

soffan said:
i've never seen any anime twice but i alREADY WANT TO REWATCH THE 3 EPISODES OF THIS ?? i love the animation, music, humor, characters and of course them yaoi vibes lol

koropokkurs said:
As an LGBT person, I'd love to see something come from all this subtext, but I'm not getting my hopes up. I've been burned too many times before, but I would really loved to be proven wrong in this case!

sidenote: totally nhf the fetishizing and homophobic undertones of a lot of the comments, but what can you do

ashlinlandey said:
also i feel some tension between yuri's childhood friend and yurio?? idk but i am so HOOKED

Mintchi said:
also shes got a husband and kids so there's that.

shirley77 said:

@ yuyuka

I can also understand why people feel differently. It's incredibly easy to become emotionally invested in this anime's characters, especially one you favor. I'm as guilty as anyone else.

But you also can't ignore the facts. They're involved in a highly competitive sport. Being able to accurately and realistically gage your own abilities to understand your own potential and that of others is a necessity if you want to perform at your best.

Yurio, used to being the big fish in the small pond of the junior division, hasn't fully comprehended how much tougher the senior division will be while Yuuri, knowing all too well, persists in underestimating himself. One has too much confidence while the other has almost none. Both need a nudge in the right direction. So Victor's cruelty acts more along the lines of a tough love, cruel to be kind variety.

You also have to acknowledge Yurio arrived under several misconceptions. From the two Yuris' conversation in the lobby at Ice Castle it's obvious Yurio was under the impression the only reason Victor was coaching Yuuri was also due to a promise. Quite a lot of his anger was from his assumption Victor was forgetting the promise to him to fulfill the one to Yuuri. Plus he saw the situation as Victor endangering his own career to help someone without sufficient talent, while a more worthy prospect, himself, was ignored.

But Victor also has every right to make and follow through with his own decisions. And coaching Yuuri was entirely his decision, to the surprise of everyone, especially Yuuri. So despite his misconceptions, Yurio had no right to show up and demand anything other than the short program he'd been promised.

Again, it's a matter of tough love. As Victor told him, no short program, even one choreographed by him, would guarantee Yurio would win the Grand Prix. Yurio had to fight for that win himself. So, yes the Hot Spring on Ice was a reality check for the junior champion, in terms of his own shortcomings and the level of competition he'd be facing, to bring home that he was entering an entirely different, much tougher, league. Seen in those terms, the competition was a far gentler way of Yurio learning this than in his first senior competition, in the full glare of the more critical international audience.

It also proves Victor's genius because he was able to achieve so much, on so many levels, with just one competition. Yes, he's capricious, but we also see how he uses that to help both Yuris in his own unique way. Flawed, sure, everyone is, but also a very honest, caring man with a lively humour, remarkable teaching ability and really unfair amount of personal charm.

And I wouldn't worry about Yurio. I can see him showing up for unannounced visits when they least expect it.

GangsterCat said:
so what??????????????????????????????????

AvidAnimeViewer said:
Holy fuck this is gay. It doesn't make the show worse (actually makes me laugh), but HOLY FUCK THIS IS GAY.

Cativa said:
Look. If this series doesn't commit for the blatant romantic interest between two of the mains by the end, it's gonna be shit. There's no salvation to this. The romance tone is too dominant to get away with just fanservice, "haha no homo tho". And I'm really enjoying the animation, the ost, the characters by themselves, their goals regarding ice skating and everything, but it will be all for nothing if it's just some empty fanservice.

I'm not telling they must be a couple by the end, but all this interest has to be handled with in a serious, human way. I'm so sick of all the romantic/queer baiting I'll feel actual disgust if they shove it down my throat like that. UUUUUUUGH

cockaine said:


He actually pictured Victor because right before he started his routine, we could heard him announce he knew the person he was doing this for.

MadokaAkimoto said:


Yup, I agree. He was seducing Victor and Victor fell for him *prepare my CANONS!*

Cloe900311 said:
I adore and really appreciate Victor's guidance. It was very uplifting to see Yuri gain confidence and he recognized his own identity - why be the playboy when it's just not him? He fit the role of the woman being pursued from his story very well... He wanted Victor to look at him and be proud of his performance. :) I want to see how their pork cutlet bowl meal goes <33

I hope Yurio comes back... ^^ He's only 15, so it makes sense that he didn't have a solid sense of his identity. His greed - that desire to win was very obvious toward the end of his performance...

This was a very motivating episode. :) I loved it!


AHH! I just got reminded of the funny comments too!! xDD LOL when Yuri said, "It's enough to make even me, a man, pregnant! Such eros!" Victor's eros and agape on ice... Definitely a genius <3 I really like the Yuri x Victor moments, like when Yuri smirked and Victor whistled...and when Victor gave Yuri a hug which had our shy boy make his confident speech :)

Grimmbae said:
This is... It's canon, right? How can it not be?!

SchwingBoner said:

I didn't expect him to choose to play the feminine role. And that wolf whistle. XD

shirley77 said:


The entire opening scene of ep. 2 was their coach, Yakov, trying to convince Victor not to go to Japan. I think we can take it as given Victor informed his coach of his immediate plans. If he chose not to also inform his rink mates, that was his prerogative.

And as an adult, he has every right to set his own goals. He certainly has no obligation to base/explain his action/decisions on what Yurio, a 15 year old boy totally unrelated to him, wants. Unless, as with the promise, it's an obligation he chose to take for himself.

And on that subject, in the flashback (ep. 2) where Victor originally makes it Yurio looks to be about 13, 14 at most to me. So this promise is at least 1 or more years old. With his own busy career, I think it's understandable that it may have slipped Victor's mind for a time.

All Yurio had to do was keep reminding him of the promise until he anted up, which he probably would've been happy to do. But the program didn't necessarily require Victor's presence to learn. It could've been sent in video form and Yakov could've helped Yurio learn the choreography. If Yurio insisted on learning from Victor himself, it could've (considering the two Yuris managed to learn their programs to exhibition level in about a week) been roughly learned over a single weekend in Japan, then fine-tuned in Russia.

Instead we have Yurio not only demanding the new choreography but Victor's return to Russia. When Victor counters with the idea of the competition (and at no time does he say he's going back on his promise) to see who can surprise an audience more, it's Yurio who comes up with "Victor will do whatever the winner says. If those are the terms, I'm in!"

In the later scene where the music is revealed and Victor brings down the hammer, he only says if both Yuris aren't up to his standards in the time set, he wouldn't choreograph programs for either of them. He wasn't talking about Eros and Agape. He already had those ready for them to learn. This is when Yurio progresses to not only a winning debut program but 'Victor returns to Russia to become MY coach'.

Yes, Yurio lost the competition, but since Victor only specified him (and Yuuri) achieving a certain level of performance (and he clearly tells Yurio his is the best he's ever done, it was Yurio who was dissatisfied) it wouldn't surprise me if the promised choreographed program is sent sometime in the future in time for Yurio's senior debut.

CothN said:
I need to say something to the skeptics out there, the ones who are annoyed with YoI, the ones who believe it’s yaoi shit.

Yuri on Ice is gonna change shit. It is a big deal. We’re not screaming over some spineless fanservice or some homoerotic subtext. You’ve probably seen the screenshots and gifs out of context and thought, ‘wow, that looks pretty gay.’

It is gay. Really gay.

This is an anime that is not labeled as yaoi- meaning, it is not basic, fanservice intended for women. It is not shounen-ai, where it simply teases the watcher for hints of homosexuality.

Of course, there is fanservice- butt shots, body shots, what have you- that is placed really damn well throughout.

But so far, this show is not queerbaiting.

So far, only three episodes in, Yuri on Ice has been smashing anime stereotypes one after another.

This is unlike we’ve seen in sports anime. This is almost comparable to No. 6; an anime with a solid, well-done plot that so happens to have a gay romance rather than a straight one. However, Yuri on Ice isn’t just that. There is no doubt this show is one about sexual awakening. (See episode 3)

Not only is it unique that this show is about sexual awakening, but it is between two men. It is very real, and not made fun of. It is not a joke. It is not a facade to draw the FangirlsTM in. It's fucking real.

The act of combing one’s hair is an intimate act between lovers in Japan. That was focused on in the ending sequence of Instagram posts.

In episode 3 alone, there was the significant dialogue of Yuri as he skated about how he found his eros in embracing his femininity. Yuri felt more comfortable being ‘the woman seducing the playboy,’ the playboy being Victor. Victor’s whistle was a skillful and clever way to give that away all too obviously.THAT WHISTLE...Ehm.

If you haven’t watched Yuri on Ice yet because you believe it’s all ya'll think it's all fanservice think again buddy ol' pal.Both of those shows, while absolutely beautiful and I personally enjoy them both, are constantly skirting around homosexuality. They do everything to imply romantic attraction, but do not actually take the next step. They tease but refuse to deliver..............THAT WHISTLE!

No, this show is gay, whether you like it or not. You can deny a shitload anime of being gay,but you cannot deny this one.

I hope this show continues to do what it’s doing. If nothing comes of Victor and Yuri’s relationship, this show will still make history as the biggest queerbaiting shit storm ever. If it continues doing what it's doing, it'll be a while till we see another one like this one.

Ysad_Ziwezhan said:


Agree + 1000.
I don't see how those who make the show can avoid the yaoi tag at the end without losing respect and credibility as writers. " if it's just some empty fanservice" then the show is a bad joke and typicaly what's called inconsistent writing. As for the exact kind of end, don't forget japaneses love open-ends or bittersweet ones.


I didn't understand the glances between Yurio and Yuuko, did they want to start a romance between a teen and a married mother of three? :) Is it the reason why Victor has no "interest" in Yurio? He knows already he's hetero?

Cativa said:


Oh the glances between them! I think she quickly became a mother figure for Yurio. If you remember Yurio's backstory flashbacks, he says to his grandfather "I can do it even without mom", or something like that, so he probably had an absent mother, if not dead. Since Yuuko is a kind person and a good mother, she instantly saw through Yurio and instinctively supported him through the competition. He can be an excellent skater, but he's just a grumpy teen with grumpy teen problems after all.

I think Victor isn't flirtatious with Yurio because he's too young for him, because he's still just a kid and because he spent a lot of time already with Yurio, as they shared their coach. Flirts like Victor often are quick to move between targets of attention, so he maaaybe sometime could have teased Yurio, but has not the same interest now. I feel it's more because of the two first reasons I mentioned though. So, in my opinion, it has nothing to do with Yurio's sexuality at all :)

Ysad_Ziwezhan said:


Thanks, I didn't think about the mother issue. It might make sense, at least more than what I was interpreting :) We'll see.


@ Cothn
I didn't know there was a subtle difference between a yaoi show and a show where the romance happens to be a gay one. I'm not an expert about the definition of this genre. So, I am sorry that my understanding wasn't correct and my wording a wrong one.

Cativa said:


I hope you don't mind me clearing up the genre thing, but in theory it's like this:

Yaoi is a show with explicit sex between two men. The (male) gay version of hentai.

Shounen-ai (or boys love - BL) is a romance driven story in which the main couple is composed of two men. It does NOT display graphic sex at all. The main couple hardly ever even kiss. Much like any romance shoujo anime out there, only gay.

In this two genres, anything else in the story is a secondary plot. Like if it's fantasy adventure, or high school drama, etc it's only showcased as an ambient.

In Yuri!!! on Ice's case, the romance comes after the Sports genre, like it happens all the time but, since it's two guys, it isn't common. No.6, which @Cothn mentioned, was similar in this point. It was political and about a dystopian future, but there was also romance between the two main characters, who happened to be male.

Araneae said:


Wait. Wait. Wait. Are you saying this anime has an actual romance in it and not just BL teasing? O.o