Anime review: “Yuri on Ice”

On October 5, 2016 a new anime was released. Not only did it steal the hearts of anime fans, but non-anime fans as well.

“Yuri on Ice” is about a Japanese skater, Yuri Katsuki, and his journey after a crushing defeat at the Grand Prix competition. He puts his career on hold and finishes college in Detroit. He comes back to his home in Japan to live at a hot springs resort his family owns. When there, he visits a friend at an ice skating rink and perfectly mimics the routine by the world-renowned Russian figure skater Viktor Nikiforov. It catches his attention as well of the attention of millions of people for being a perfect replica of Viktor’s performance. Viktor surprises Yuri by showing up in Japan to coach him. This visit sets off a chain of events including the return of Yuri’s career, a young Russian skater with the same name Yuri, and the promise to win the Grand Prix.

The art style is unique and the show has original music. All drawings of the skating are overseen by an actual figure skater choreographer.

The anime has gained attention from actual figure skaters and figure skating fans. Many have said the anime is realistic, and has even made connections with actual skaters to the characters.

“I loved the anime so much,” says Alex Rodriguez, 11. “It made me cry and freak out, but it was incredibly good.”

While there are only eight episodes out, it has already become an instant hit everywhere. It is the most tweeted anime of the season, with over one million tweets. The show’s first season is almost over, and there is hopefully no doubt it will be back for more episodes. The show is on multiple anime platforms, including Crunchyroll.