Yuri!!! On Ice caught my attention, because it was not set in a school. Seeing as most sports anime are set in schools with teenage characters, I found the idea of a cast with a wider range of ages interesting. Yuuri's development was fine and I liked how the production team used the 'unreliable narrator' and let some episodes be in a different character's point of view to flesh out another character. Good job in breaking the stereotypes!
However, I found the plot development and dialogue rushed. Most of the story was 'word-for-word', the production team should've done the dialogue in a 'show not tell' method which I think would have executed the story better. The comedy part is subjective but I found it funny. No offence, but the gay undertones in the show were cringey.
Art: 7/10
For a sports anime, the quality of the animation and art is substandard. Animation was rather inconsistent, for example, some skaters' performances are blurred compared to the major characters. The quality of animation dropped after the first few episodes. The design of the characters were good though.
Sound: 8/10
Music was well done, I liked the skaters' tracks, especially Yuuri's and JJ's, which were very memorable. The sound could have been improved, if they had added more fast-paced tracks to make the atmosphere more intense. For a competitive sports anime, the atmosphere is a little too laidback.
The voice acting section was excellent. All the voice actors are in character and their voices fitted their characters, especially Uchiyama Kouki (Yuri Plisetsky).
Character: 7/10
Katsuki Yuuri is the main protagonist of the show and he is the one undergoing development. His development was done nicely.
Victor Nikiforov has a strong presence in the show and is a relateable character, in my opinion.
Yuri Plisetsky is a unique character and unlike most younger characters in sports anime, he is more matured and very determined. This makes him stand out.
Sadly, the minor characters (especially those who did not end up in the Grand Prix Finals) were one-dimensional characters, who could have been further developed. The only exception to this is Georgi Popovich, who has a backstory behind his program. Maybe we'll be seeing that in the next season.
Enjoyment: 8/10
I had enjoyed the show because of the humour, soundtrack and captivating characters.I'll be looking forward to a season 2, hopefully the later season would focus on the side characters, whom I think deserve more development. I found the show slightly disappointing as I did not find it as 'great' or 'amazing' as most people did.
Overall: 7/10
I think that the show could have much more potential but sadly, most of it is wasted on the story. If you like shonen ai or yaoi, this show is for you.
