Story:
Initially, I wasn't sure what to expect with this show. The beginning is dramatic, then the show turns to comedy and Yuri is sort of chubby and not confident and I was like...meh. Then Viktor comes in and he is just a gorgeous and hilarious personality. Yuri failed at the national competition a year prior, and somehow (heheheh) a video of him performing Viktor's routine from years prior is leaked on social media. Viktor sees it and decides he wants to coach Yuri through the new season. From there, it is a joy to watch. There's humor in yaoi tropes, but when the characters are actually talking about love, they talk about it with mature voices. These two characters develop this relationship and it's strong and beautiful to watch. There's no homophobia, there's no gender, they just are who they are and I think that is another reason why this show was so good. This is a sports anime, yes, but it is also a love story. It's a love story between a man and his skating, his coach, and his want to grow as a human.
Animation:
A big fat 10/10. It was gorgeous to watch. As with Your Lie In April, the animation during the performances tell the story. The performances themselves were beautifully choreographed, and during some, we get flashbacks and dreamscapes that make them all the more vibrant. I couldn't look away. The characters themselves are beautiful to look at as well. Bravo animators.
Sound:
Again, I can't give it less than a big fat 10/10. The OP theme was PERFECT and was stuck in my head long after the last episode. I also enjoyed the ending theme. Very electro pop and went with the theme of following your dreams. They had some opera music in the performances which SCORE I loveeee opera, they had Beethoven, themes from Sleeping Beauty...you get the jist. All lovely to listen to. The show stopper here though, is the OST. The in-anime music during the performances were wonderful (though some aren't OST music), and the "Yuri On Ice" theme was nothing short of breathtaking. Even JJ's theme was good. I will be purchasing all of it.
Characters:
Throughout the 12 episodes, we are slowly introduced to a variety of characters. The main three are Yuri, Yurio, and Viktor. Initially, I was leery about character development, but by episode 3, I was in love with all three characters. They all had depth and pain and life to them. Developing personalities in such a short span of episodes is hard to do, but even some of the latter characters were developed enough for me to care about them. I am hoping to delve in more next season with some though like Otabek and JJ. Otherwise, I was happy.
Overall:
This is an original anime. Most anime that aren't derived from manga (that I've seen) aren't all that good in my opinion. The story here is straightforward and the conflicts are resolved easily, but damnit if it isn't a joy to watch. Free! sort of paved the way for sports shows to come back into light, and I hope this one will open even more doors for them, as well as doors for lgbtq anime to become more mainstream. Everytime I watch competition anime, I am brought back to my competitive days and it's such a great nostalgic feeling. So maybe I'm biased, but I don't care. All I know is that I thought this was a really funny and joyful show to watch in between all of my super dramatic and death filled anime I usually watch. I can't wait for season 2.
10/10. Watched subbed.
