1. STORY: 8/10
To be frank the story did not pull me in when I read the sypnosis. I entered this anime half heartedly at first since it was overhyped. Unexpectedly, I was drawn into the story. To put it simply, the story is about Yuri suffering a crushing defeat and he danced Viktor Nikiforov's routine, and the trio recorded it and put it on Youtube. Viktor happened to see it and fly to Japan to be his coach. Never have I expected that such a story would totally captivate me into their world. I thought that this anime would be a fujoshi bait like Free! However, I was proved wrong. This isn't a fujoshi-bait. It is simply a sport anime with romance elements in it. I did not expect myself to enjoy this anime as much as I do and each episode just blew me away! Even if the romance elements were to be taken out, this anime would still be an enjoyment to watch.
2. ART & ANIMATION: 8.5/10
The art is spectacular, the animation for the ice skating is fantastic. Although there are choppy animation in between each skating movement, it is quite understandable since skating movements are quite hard to animate. In the middle of ep 8-11 (excluding ep 10), some skating scenes are too overwhelming and it just didn't really excite me that much after seeing them once.
3. SOUND: 10/10
Perhaps what made Yuri!!! on Ice so great is the sound. The sound tracks are captivating, the voice actors did a very good job in conveying feelings and the opening theme is catchy and fascinating. My favourite would be Yuri on Ice - that melody touches my heart and it inspired me to play it on the piano.
4. CHARACTERISATION: 9/10
Without a doubt, all the characters are well developed. We get to see Yuri Katsuki grow as a character and root for him. All his rivals don't seem annoying - in fact all of them are loveable! I find myself rooting for all of them and I especially like how each rival gets their development and understand the reason behind their drive on wanting to win. The only complaint I have is with Yuri Plisetsky. Maybe I'm the only one who feel this, but I find his character inconsistent. Like, he would be giving "katsudon bun" to Yuri Katsuki and be nice to him on his birthday, but the next episode he just reverted back to how he was episodes ago, as shown in him picking fight with Viktor and insulted Yuri Katsuki. Despite that, the last episode made me like him more but that doesn't change the fact that he is a brat. My favourite character out of all of them is Victor - although we don't get to see the complete story on his back story, his character is just a joy to watch.
Overall: 9/10
Despite the flaws I picked from the anime, I would like to give props to Sayo Yamamoto and Studio MAPPA for trying out something that others have not tried before. This anime brings out the challanges Ice Skaters would face. Of course, not to forget the romance between Viktor and Yuri K. I like how this anime normalise the homosexual relationship between Yuri K. And Viktor N. and not sexualise it in typical Yaoi style. Yuri!!! On ice is absolutely an enjoyable ride and I would love to watch a second season of it. It didn't deserve Best Animation, Best Boy and Best Ending, but it helluva deserves Anime of the Year. Undoubtedly, it has become my favourite anime of all times.
