By Dustin Cabeal

I was late to check out Yuri on Ice. Originally, I had wanted to see it because it was about figure skating and I will admit that it’s one of my favorite Olympic events. The poster kept me away for a while because it had too many damn characters on it. I like sports anime, but not all of them can sustain a large cast like Haikyuu!! and this was for ice skating… not exactly a big team sport.

This show is incredible. I say that as a straight man who is comfortable with his sexuality and actually if I weren't I would still find this amazing. I point that out because this show is Yaoi through and through. The love story, the implied gay moments are fantastic. I giggle while watching it. It doesn’t hurt that this is also in my top five of visually stunning anime of the year. It’s gorgeous and has a film quality to it. That helps the story because if it had cheaper animation, I don’t think it would be as good or touching.

Yuri loses on the world stage and upon returning home copies the performance of his idol. The performance, without his knowledge, winds up on the internet where his idol sees it. His idol then flies to Japan and becomes Yuri’s coach. He tells him this by standing up naked in the hot springs by the way.

Side note, the theme song is tied for the best of the year and my current ring tone.

Here’s the thing… I don’t know if this show is trying to appeal to me. I’m sure if I told a non-anime viewer about the show they would probably just call me derogatory names, but I don’t care. I fucking love this show. The love story is great (perhaps not the best I’ve ever seen, sorry Patrick), the animation is amazing, and above all else, it makes me really happy to watch it. It leaves me with the joy that the characters have, and that is incredibly rare, but very powerful storytelling. Check it out or not, but YOI is here to stay.