I'm going to use this space to be a giant, queer nerd.
Okay, not just a nerd. I'm going to use this space to talk about how affirming it has been to live in Japan in sync with weekly episodes of Yuri on Ice, the brand new sports genre anime that is taking over the internet, and subsequently, stores across Japan.
If you haven't already heard, the premise is this: Yuri Katsuki, a promising Japanese figure skater, finishes last in the senior division. The defeat absolutely crushes him. He returns to his small hometown of Hasetsu feeling uncertain about his future. Then he takes to the local rink and performs a carbon copy of seven time gold medalist Viktor Nikiforov's free program routine, flawlessly. Unbeknownst to him, the three daughters of his childhood friend Yuko record it. They post it online. It gets to the world, and of course, Viktor.
The animation in the trailer was stunning. My friends and I were amused. We thought, okay. Let's watch it. We're excited.
With episode one, we got our bait. A naked Russian guy in an onsen (what else would you be doing in an onsen, though?) declaring that he would become Katsuki's ice skating coach.
Still a little lost? Katsuki was considered a well trained, rising star. Unfortunately, he flubs his jumps under pressure, lacks confidence, gains weight easily and suffers from what I would argue is clinical anxiety. So, back to the naked Russian guy. That guy is Viktor Nikiforov. He's been Yuri's ice skating idol since Yuri was a little boy. Suddenly this legend among figure skaters wants to drop a season to coach him? Yuri is blown away.
Viktor's sudden departure from Russia enrages a different Yuri: Yuri Plisetsky, whom Viktor had promised a choreographed routine in his youth. At only fifteen, Plisetsky is slated to perform like a master in his first senior competition.
I'm getting ahead of myself. The point is, every queer or queer loving nerd was hungry for the fact that sexual antics might occur. When there's nothing queer in your media, you're starved even for subtext.
Nonetheless, we were all very aware that it was a "sports" anime. In the sports genre, homoeroticism is nothing more than subtext to bait in an audience. Nothing ever actually happens to uplift queer consumers. Certainly nothing healthy, positive and heartwarming. Nothing moves beyond friendship. The visuals are just for the audience.
We were not prepared for what Yuri on Ice had to offer, but every week, my friends and I were stunned. What might have seemed like fan service quickly became something private. As viewers, we were intruding on something very genuine going on between the two leads.
Not so subtle declarations of love. A slowly progressing, normal, healthy relationship between two adults of the same gender. A unique take on discovering one's sexual identity. An imperfect, messy relationship. Open communication about emotions and problems. Imperfect people treating each other imperfectly.
My friends and I were begging by episode three. This couldn't be bait. It couldn't just be a visual ploy. It couldn't just be fan service.
Yuri on Ice is still ongoing, with episode 8 of 12 or 13 in season one arriving next week. However, episode 7 was when it really hit us. A romantic kiss in front of a live audience. Yes, there was an arm in the way, but the producer herself made it very clear what was going on when naysayers had their doubts.
Have two people ever looked more in love to you?
To really see what I mean about Yuri on Ice, you'd have to watch it, but this picture set describes what's happened in the last couple of months.
The important part is this: this anime was never marketed as queer in it's early stages. There was nothing among the shimmering ice skating animation to suggest that this series would take a wrecking ball to social walls and boundaries. It was never labeled "shounen ai" (boy's love) or "BL" or anything of the sort. The creators have suggested that they are doing everything possible to showcase a healthy queer relationship while avoiding that label and Japan's censorship laws.
This isn't a "gay" anime. The characters' gender doesn't dictate the genre. It's a sport anime with a romantic sub plot that happens to be queer, and that kind of stuff is what normalizes and actualizes healthy queer relationships. This is not fan service. This is something we desperately need to see in our world right now.
No, I'm not about to listen to anyone say that ice skating is inherently weak or feminine or anything like that. That thought is problematic anyway, but also hugely misguided. This is one of the most physically demanding, competitive, challenging sports in the world.
I could write essay after essay about the anime itself and how cool it's been. I'd love to spend a few hours explaining their totally honest, real, healthy portrayal of getting a character through a full blown panic attack. I'll point out a few more cool things instead.
Yuri Katsuki looks a lot like Yuzuru Hanyu. Yuzuru Hanyu is widely hailed as the best single male figure skater in the known world, shattering his own world records year by year. He became the only person in all of history to land a quadruple loop in competition. He has won the hearts of audiences the world over and is almost ubiquitously adored in Japan. My three and five year old brothers scream with joy when they see him. Yuzuru Hanyu "made history," so to speak, and the anime is really doing it, too.
Heck, the opening theme, which is performed in English by Dean Fujioka, is called "History Maker." It's a little dorky, but hey, the best things are. Give it a listen if you want.
Another cool thing to note is that the internet is devouring it. Yuri on Ice has been the number one trending topic on Tumblr, Instagram and Twitter virtually every Thursday for the past seven weeks, and rightly so. The anime itself puts a huge focus on social media. It gets Yuri's video to Viktor, Viktor's whereabouts (Japan) to an enraged Plisetsky, and allows characters like the charming Thai skater Phichit Chulanont to post compromising photos that make us giggle.
No one can look away. It looks beautiful, sounds beautiful, has a colorful, diverse cast, and really just keeps us wondering how far the envelope can be pushed on both incredible figure skating animation and queer affirmation.
Did I say queer affirmation? Seriously. Young Viktor's costume and ensemble in episode 7 was obviously a homage to Johnny Weir, a talented figure skater who was often scored unfairly for being flamboyant "off the ice." Weir experienced a lot of shame after coming out as gay in a homophobic sporting environment. Viktor is the angel everyone loves in the skating world. I'm not a figure skater nor a fan of Weir's, but I would imagine this brought tears to some eyes out there.
Honestly, though? The best part of being in Japan while this is happening is getting to see merchandise for the anime in neighborhood Animate stores. I already have a folder, two buttons and a key chain. I'd really like them to release a 2017 calendar before I go home. We'll see.
Yuri on Ice is still silly. It's still bait, sometimes. It's still satisfying an audience that's looking for suggestive scenes and naughty moments. It's not for all ages (marketed as PG-13) and is not going to please every viewer at every moment. Nonetheless, it's a masterpiece as far as anime goes, and it's been awesome to live in Japan while the world is watching it.
You can find Yuri on Ice in Japanese with subtitles on Crunchyroll. You can find it dubbed in English (three episodes behind the original releases) on Funimation with a Premium simuldub subscription.
