Within a span of a couple weeks, Reddit, Twitter, Facebook and the rest of social media was filled with fans gushing over the new, gay anime called "Yuri!! on Ice." Anime fans such as myself struggled for the longest time to try to figure out how exactly an anime about gay figure skaters became the hit of the world. There was so much talk on the internet that fans even crashed Crunchyroll.

After reading several articles on the anime, and being guilty of watching the anime (and enjoying it), I've started to slowly see the reason behind all the fuss.

"Yuri!! on Ice" is an anime about a 23-year-old professional skater named Yuri Katsuki, who has the emotion that ice skaters need, but doesn't have the confidence he needs to perform in front of people. He is very loved by his fans and, when meeting with any of them, gets shy from their attention.

Smitten by his skating, he catches the eye of a world famous Russian champion named Victor Nikiforov, Yuri's childhood idol. Viktor decides to give Yuri a chance to succeed by being Yuri's coach, and training him with love to give him the confidence that he needs to win the championship.

Romance is a huge part of this anime. Let's be honest, there are a million animes out there that have watermelons bouncing around, and skirts that are too short, to give that fan service that the viewers want. But a love ordeal between two attractive, successful, male characters?

Now THAT'S rare.

First off, the anime doesn't throw it all out in the first episode. They string you along with a while, providing some juicy shots here and there to keep the audience hooked.

Yet the much anticipated kiss that made everyone go crazy doesn't actually occur until much later into the show. "Yuri!! on Ice" somehow combines to very opposite groups: the anime weebs and the professional athletes. The anime weebs are in love with the artwork put into the anime, and the emotional conflicts that have to accompany a well-crafted show, and the professional athletes adore the attention to detail put into the figure skating aspect of the show. It is a very accurate depiction of the work and emotion that a figure skater puts into his/her profession. And, realizing that, the anime puts quite a bit amount of time into showing figure skating on its own. There is even an easy to understand explanation of the scoring system.

Another huge plus of the anime are the ridiculous cringe-worthy and hilarious moments and strange jokes. There is an amazing combination of serious moments, gay stuff, and ridiculously comedic points. For example, Yuri's motivation and inspiration for a skating dance is his favorite food: pork cutlet bowl.

And then, ya know, some sexual innuendos...

Furthermore, "Yuri!! on Ice" has an AMAZING soundtrack. If you still haven't listened to it, go do it now. The music is gorgeous. Accompanying the music is the amazing artwork. You can easily tell how much hard work and attention the creators put into this anime. Check out the opening
for yourself! Each character seemed to be based on a real life figure skater! Which made everyone more excited, to such an extent that even professional ice skaters are striking posesfrom the anime itself.

The anime is loved by all kinds of people, all over the world. Yuri!! on Ice brings people together, no matter if it's for the heated discussions or the shared love. This anime is beautiful, but the most beautiful thing is the bonding it creates in the real world around us.
Keep it up "Yuri!! on Ice," this is pretty good!