(CR) Yuri!!! on Ice

[Gravitas Free Zone]

Originally Posted by magnumcyclonex

Hmmm...not quite a fan of JJ choking. Why introduce this stuff now all of a sudden with no slivers of pressure/moments during the past episodes?

It's believable when working from our limited POV; we haven't seen JJ's inner thoughts other than the few minutes of time we get with him on the ice.

He's joining a long list of real-world dominant competitors and media darlings who have a choke moment at the worst possible time and that we would never know to have had any doubts until it happened.

Plotwise it's also not totally unexpected; as Yuuri and Yurio both note, JJ's program can mop the floor with the others, so if it was going to be a weakness, it would come from JJ.

[Ernietheracefan]

I'm in tears again when JJ said that he wouldn't give up..

[bakato]

I still don't get where this breakdown came from. This isn't his first time at the Grand Prix. He should be used to this.

[shmaster]

That's how I feel too.
Not to mention he competed against Viktor last season, who is better than everyone that's competing in this season, and still won a medal. So it is completely unbelievable to see J.J. breaks down all of sudden now and got intimidated by other's performance.

Though, I am actually prepared for J.J. to flop, as he is clearly written that way. But I didn't expect it is so poorly done like this.

They could done it like... say, making him overdoing himself after seeing Yurio's high score and thus making a mistake while trying too hard.
Or simply slip because of agitation. I mean, anything is better than this random breakdown.

Not to mention that "let's get marry scene."
Do they have to rob a death flag in our face like that? Clearly showing the staffs aren't taking things seriously anymore when handling J.J.

[ars89]

JJ choking might seem out of left field, but the title was his to lose, last year victor was there, this year he was the clear favorite so more pressure. As mentioned choking at this stage isn't uncommon. Also if he didn't choke Yuuri would not have a chance to win gold if he does indeed accomplish it. Though he will probably need the others to mess up and either add to or be flawless in his free skate. Case in point Nathan Chen went from 5th after the short program to second at this year's grand prix final, thanks to some hiccups. I wonder what the order will be to skate the free skate?

I think something that might have been glossed over was when Yakov saw a young Viktor during Yurio's performance. We have seen him always ask when Viktor would return to skating, but that might have changed just now. Also a new world record helps.

[Veritas]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

Watching him being interviewed in English afterwards confirmed my belief that everyone in Yuri on Ice is probably speaking English regardless of nationality.

Otabek and Yuri were probably speaking Russian to each other.

Chen failed to land either of two quads in his short program, but hit all four of them in the free skate. Maybe some of the criticism of Yuri on Ice as being unrealistic needs rethinking. His technical score of 113+ set the bar in the mens' free skate.

Five years ago that would have been unthinkable. People were struggling to add one quad to their free program. And all of this pressure to add quads is going to end with someone getting seriously fucked up. Hell, Nathan hasn't even finished growing yet and already had his goddam chunk of his hip bone tear off last year. Yuzuru Hanyu got knocked cold during a warmup two seasons ago and fell five times during his free program which he skated almost immediately after, with a bandage on his head. Josh Farris was barely on the senior scene for two years when a quad-related concussion lead to two more in the next three weeks and ended his career. No one at this level of sport is really "healthy" with the abuse their bodies take.

If there's a second season, I wonder if this will be the conflict.

Didn't see any unusual plushies though; Winnie the Pooh seemed the most common one tossed from the stands.

No doubt all for Yuzuru (and some for Javi, since he's close friends and training mates with Yuzuru.

During the portion of the coverage I watched there was, unsurprisingly, no mention of Yuri on Ice by the American commentators on NBC.

Johnny is one of the commentators, so he might say something next time, but the next time there'll be a competition on NBC will be US Nationals in January.

Ep 11:

- I noticed the addition of the arena in the opening last week, but couldn't remember if they had the pictures of the GPF competitors. Nice how this opening has evolved.
- Center ice before a program has got to be one of the loneliest feelings in the world.
- It's not unusual for coaches to mimic their skaters' choreo during programs, though never the full jumps. It can be quite charming.
- If there's a Season 2, i wonder of more of Team Japan will show up. I want a canon anime version of Daiske Takahashi and Shizuka Arakawa.
- I wish they'd do a mock up of everyone's score protocols.
- What JJ did is known as "headcasing" in skating fan vernacular.
- Yurio, Christophe, and Otabek would all have to headcase for Yuuri to win, but he'll probably still end up on the podium.

[Guardian Enzo]

Totally different pressure when you're the guy everyone expects to win. With Viktor around, there was no pressure on JJ at all.

Plus, don't forget - dude is just 19 years old.

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by Veritas

Otabek and Yuri were probably speaking Russian to each other.

Okay. I was thinking more about the polyglot collection of skaters. Yuuri and Phichit must know English from their time in Detroit together, and Viktor and Yuuri are probably speaking English as well. I doubt Viktor knows much Japanese nor Yuuri much Russian. Yurio most likely speaks Russian with Viktor in one-on-one conversations, but might use English when Yuuri is involved as well. Christophe probably also knows English. "Mickey" and Sara presumably speak Italian between themselves, but probably use English when talking with the rest of the cast.

I'm not engaging in cultural imperialism here. I've just wondered about what language(s) a collection of skaters from across the globe are likely to use. English seems the most likely common denominator.

[Veritas]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

Okay. I was thinking more about the polyglot collection of skaters. Yuuri and Phichit must know English from their time in Detroit together, and Viktor and Yuuri are probably speaking English as well. I doubt Viktor knows much Japanese nor Yuuri much Russian. Yurio most likely speaks Russian with Viktor in one-on-one conversations, but might use English when Yuuri is involved as well. Christophe probably also knows English. "Mickey" and Sara presumably speak Italian between themselves, but probably use English when talking with the rest of the cast.

I'm not engaging in cultural imperialism here. I've just wondered about what language(s) a collection of skaters from across the globe are likely to use. English seems the most likely common denominator.

Relax. I was mentioning it because most people's only exposure to the Kazakhstan is Borat and don't know that Russian is spoken (albeit a dialect) along with Kazakh. Yuri/Otabek is probably the only cross cultural meeting that isn't in English, which is why I mentioned it.

Johnny Weir gave an interview about YoI here.

And apparently Denis Ten, Kazakhstan's real figure skater, is also watching. https://twitter.com/Tenis_Den/status/809658079168135168

[chi4ko]

Originally Posted by Veritas

Johnny Weir gave an interview about YoI here.

There have been many strange moments watching a fictionalized version of our world, so much so that I’ve had times when I say to myself, “Who told!?” There are so many secrets in in the show that only skaters or people very close to them, would know about. Sometimes a character will remind me of a dirty little secret that even hardcore skating fans don’t know about, and while it may not be completely played out in the show, the pink elephant has entered the room.

I wonder what he meant by that...

That plushie Otabek got is actually Ted!
https://twitter.com/Crunchyroll/stat...84796846305280

[Guardian Enzo]

I would have thought that what's-his-name, the Japanese ice dancer who's doing the choreo for YoI, would have been the one who spilled those secrets.

[chi4ko]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

I would have that what's-his-name, the Japanese ice dancer who's doing the choreo for YoI, would have been the one who spilled those secrets.

That's possible. What I wanted to know is what kind of "dirty little secrets" he had in mind...

[AntonKutovoi]

Stéphane Lambiel (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St%C3%A9phane_Lambiel) will appear in Episode 12
http://moca-news.net/article/2016121...1/?afid=zeroes

[Guardian Enzo]

That's the skater who's now a coach that's rumored to be putting the moves on his 17 year-old student, right?

[karice67]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

That's the skater who's now a coach that's rumored to be putting the moves on his 17 year-old student, right?

Hang on - where are those rumours coming from?

[Guardian Enzo]

Well TBH I'd never heard of the either of them (I'm no expert on figure skating) but I guess once the kid (Latvian I think) started tweeting about YoI some folks started speculating based on some photos of the two of them together. I obviously have no idea if there's anything to it but the rumors are out there, whether there is or not...

[karice67]

Good heavens. Now I understand why I've seen some frustrated figure skating fans around the place. I hope all anime fans realise we're dealing with real people in that world, not fictional characters.

[Guardian Enzo]

That distinction can indeed be a real problem for anime audiences. Witness the outrage when a female seiyuu is "outed" as having a boyfriend.

[Haigi]

Mixed feelings about the ending..is all I can say.

The episode just flashed by so fast I need to wait for the subs to rewatch again.
Not what I'd expect for a final episode but...hmm...possible season 2?

Animation budget might have hit a wall at the last ep. They reused quite a few scenes.
Cut short a couple of programmes which I understand or they wouldn't be able to fit other things in the episode....and probably lots of effort to animate another full free skate programme.

But of course in contrast the main two gets the full version with improvements here and there.


plus there was an Exhibition Skate as bonus~~ hmm...I don't know how to feel. \^o^/

[Stark700]

Episode 12 Finale:

That was a great finale, all the top competitors went all out in their performance.

Personally, I liked Yuri's the most as it looked so natural and he performed with excellence to impress the audience. Slightly disappointed that Yurio beat him by a slim margin but still, I think he did his very best so that's still meaningful. Loved that duo performance by him and Victor during the credits too.

I hope for another season in the future although MAPPA seems to be quite busy recently. The "see you next level" gives me some hopes.

9/10, one of my favorite shows this Fall.