[Illusion]

Oh yeah so is Yuri and his coach.. Um.. You know? Or is this queerbait? I was trying to read in between the eyes but couldn't figure it out.

[Demonskid]

According to Kubo (one of the creators) she wanted to make a world where there was no discrimination and episode 7 was a kiss. it was confirmed by the maker. NOT Queer Bating, its a real relationship. ovo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nUMV-ousbo

LOVE IT! D:< LOVE MAH VIDEO!

[Gallagher]

I've finally watched this, after hearing so much praise and recommendations. And after being afraid of what it would turn out to be.

Unfortunately, it was as disappointing as I was worried it would be. Maybe someone can explain to me where the romance in this romance comes in, because I honestly don't see it. It all feels awkward, forced, undeveloped.

The actual skating side of the show, I have no complaints about. But the characters, short and long term, and the relationships between them... Well, I don't feel it. Any of it.

I've been told that I'm being too critical for the genre, and I suppose that's probably true. But that doesn't change the fact that I don't feel any real love in this romance, and that's a big problem for my personal enjoyment of it.

[Demonskid]

Considering its not a Romance anime but a sports anime and it focuses on the sport and not the romance.. x'D

The reason everyone can say Victor and Yuuri are in a romantic relationship is because the creators have stated that they were.

the kiss, the rings, the beds being shoved together in the hotel..

yuuri dry humping victor when drunk

it's not just the fujoshi imagining things.


Also since they were airing the show during the daytime, they had to cut down on the BL, like the reason the kiss was hidden behind Victor's arm, they had to do that to keep it airing. While Japan is starting to accept same sex relations, BL and GL no matter how soft it is, even if it is just a con-grat kiss, it goes on the night time tv.

Hopefully we'll get to see the romance in the movie when it comes out. =)

[Gallagher]

I do understand that it's primarily a sports show. The fact remains that there were opportunities to show their relationship developing in their interactions, and they didn't. The only thing developing is Yuri's confidence.

When I say the romance in this romance, I don't mean the romance in this show. I mean the romance between them that's blatantly there, but there without growth and without chemistry. It's a romance that's told to us time and time again without any evidence that it's real and it's stable and it's worth remembering.

Their interactions don't play out like people interested in one another on a serious level, and they could have, very easily, without coming off as too questionable. There's plenty of sexualization and flirting in this show, but nothing that feels real. Yuri has no more chemistry with Victor than he does with other Yuri or that skater that's his friend.

[Demonskid]

Flirting isn't romantic? o3o

[Gallagher]

what flirting was there? it was one boy making jokes and suggestions, while the other had an idol crush. blushing gazes does not a romance make.

[Demonskid]

The more confident he got in his skating, the more bold his flirting got towards victor. The moment Yuuri pulled Victors tie, putting their faces close to each other, I saw that as flirting.

There were a few other things but I can't think of it at the moment. I need to rewatch the anime to refresh things in my mind.

[Gallagher]

yeah, idk duder. i got the feeling that by that point, they were already a couple? and if they're already a couple, the flirting has much less impact. like, they had the time together and the means for their relationship to happen, but we didn't see any of it. not really. we saw the results of their shifted relationship with no chance to fall in love alongside them. and yes, it's a show focused on the sport, but their romance and their relationship is clearly the secondary plot here. it's clearly an important statement the show is trying to make. but opportunities to show them even developing as friends are practically non-existent.

sorry if i sound like a hater right now, lmao. i'm not really, i swear. i'm just trying to understand where the emotional connection is that i missed but just about everyone else clung to. because from where i sit, it feels like if you're someone like me that has no use for eye-candy, this show loses a lot of its point. because it's a couple of dudes that are suddenly into each other and they're both attractive so i'm supposed to be automatically invested? yeah, that isn't how it works for me.

yuki's character evolution, on its own without the rest of this nonsense, makes for a great story. but you could replace victor with anyone else and it would be just the same. and that to me shows that their relationship, this entire subplot of the show, is extremely flawed.

[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.

[Gallagher]

if they wanted to downplay it, they really shouldn't have made everything so unnecessarily sexual to begin with. that part of it all sent me the most mixed messages. no, the focus wasn't on them, it was the sport... but then there were extremely jarring moments whenever it wasn't focused entirely on the sport.

scenes like all the drunken nonsense could have easily been spent showing how their relationship changes from idol and fan into player and coach, or even the shift into actual friendship, and it would instantly make that subplot far more believable without dipping too far into the romance genre at all.

and again, the sports side of the show — the majority of it, clearly — is perfectly fine in all its technical aspects. it's accurate, sequences are animated beautifully, all of that. but to say their relationship isn't a huge part of the show, whether being seen with a romantic eye or not, would be a big fat dirty lie. love or friendship, it falls flat, and it didn't have to.

[Demonskid]

o3o dk found this on the CR news site