[Illusion]

They wanted to downplay the romance as much as possible so it went over people's heads. Mostly to confuse and have people question with one another if Yuri was actually gay or not. It's up and foremost about the seemingly uninteresting sport and going deeper where most content and media doesn't truly touch.

I think you went into the show expecting a romance after hearing/seeing all the pro-LGBT statements about the show and it's gay couple/romance, when really the show rarely ever touches it. It's truly a story about a skater and his coach.