#figure skating anime

[alexskye]

Just realized that if there’s a Yuri!!! On Ice season 2 and they age up Yurio, there’s is 0 fs he’s giving once he realizes he’s old enough to skate mature themed routines. Welcome to Madness was wild, so imagine that times 10 when he’s an adult.

[thefawnfallacy]

Yuri on Ice was such a life changing anime, especially to have experienced in real time waiting for those episodes to drop every week. It was an open acknowledgment and love letter to queerness, to valuing and creating art, to loving yourself and loving those around you and it’s no surprise that it had such a large impact on those who watched it. Not to mention how stunning it was to be presented with an open letter to queer love during a time where same sex marriage and gender equality was still a very hot and controversial topic. It’s, in its own way, nestled itself into history.

It may not be in the way we all expected or hoped, but see you next level.

[uniquetosmbody]

Figure skater! Sanji AU

+close ups

[turtleblogatlast]

I am once again reiterating that Leo could and should be a figure skater because what are ice skates if not twin blades? What is dual blade swordsmanship if not a dance-like performance? Using the skates as blades themselves could let Leo make portals be his ice rink no? I rest my case. ⛸️

[honey-side-up]

I love them 😍🥰💙

Original template design by Syundei 💙

[paracosmicessence]

currently hyperfixating on that stupid gay emo hedgehog so here’s some animation practice

[yoi-joi]

LET’S SPREAD THE LOVE #YNSNT

YouTube: Yoi Joi

TikTok: yoi.joi 

Instagram/Twitter: yoi.joi

Tumblr: yoi-joi

[thegirlwhorideslikeasamurai]

When did Viktor choreograph Stammi Vicino and did he commission the music?

There are some controversies regarding Viktor's free programme and I took the time to look at them in greater detail and pin them down to the likeliest explanation. (some of the things discussed in this post I've mentioned in a discussion I was involved in recently. The rest of this post builds on that.)

Disclaimer: Please note that this is an analysis of the source material. Popular headcanons that have no basis in canon cannot be part of this discussion. This is getting a bit academic. Please bear with me.

1. Did Viktor commission the music for Stammi Vicino?

In an interview, Mitsurou Kubo called the aria a piece of music that exists in the world of YOI, but when we subject the hints in the anime to a close examination, they contradict her statement, making you wonder which is true.

I mean, there’s this (sorry for the crappy screenshot)

Technically, the YOI creators might just have used footage of this programme because there was no time to animate Viktor skating an entirely different routine, but due to the tight time constraints of 12 episodes that forced the creators to condense the plot to 50% of its initial size, every scene and every image demanded to be filled with meaning. Speaking of time constraints, they could have used a series of pictures that show adult Viktor in different costumes (like those that had been drawn for Yuuri's room), but they didn't do that either, which rules out technical reasons for this choice.

But there’s more.

From a storytelling perspective, it makes no sense to combine these lines with a short scene of Viktor skating Stammi Vicino if it doesn’t apply to this programme. It’s bad storytelling, period. As Viktor’s fan, Yuuri knows which songs Viktor commissioned because skaters love to talk about these things in interviews. Being a skater himself, Yuuri is knowledgeable in all kinds of music genres even if he lets his coach pick the songs for him. Skaters just happen to be exposed to a lot of music.

This scene makes it seem as if Viktor has been commissioning music for his programmes for several seasons at least. While this doesn’t rule out the possibility that he occasionally picked a song that already exists for whichever reason, Stammi Vicino applies to Viktor’s situation at the beginning of the show so neatly that the lyrics must have been tailored to him. The commentator’s words while Viktor is skating his FS furthermore suggest that this programme shows a new and personal side of him. Of course, that could also work for a song that already exists, but how likely is it that such a song 100% matches the vision of a perfectionist? That a genius like Viktor would just roll with that is debatable at least. He’d rather think “Okay, that’s nice. But this verse and that verse don’t match my idea at all. I think I'll call my composer and ask them to write a song for me.”

Stammi Vicino holds unambiguous references to Plato’s Symposium, which the YOI creators have mentioned repeatedly. And while this is neither an argument for or against the song already existing before Viktor even thought about a free programme for the season in question, it seems too coincidental from a storytelling perspective.

To me, all this points to Viktor commissioning Stammi Vicino because taken all facts together, it’s what makes the most sense.

Side note: It’s not entirely uncommon for storytellers to contradict their creation. Sometimes, you forget details, remember them wrong, or didn’t think them through. Or your views simply change. In the case of YOI, we have to factor in the possibility that certain details had to be de-homoed due to protests from parts of the Japanese fandom. The rings that were removed from many official arts that were released during the first year after the show had aired are such an example. In addition, interviews are often heavily edited.

2. When did Viktor choreograph Stammi Vicino?

The first time we see Viktor wearing the Stammi Vicino costume, is right at the beginning of episode 1 at the GPF. While there is no rule against wearing the same costume for different programmes and costumes are expensive, you usually don’t see this in real figure skating. Some figure skaters even get a new costume for the same programme mid-season because matches the purpose better.

The music, the composition and choreography, and costume build the concept of a figure skating programme. The more perfectionist a skater is (and many top skaters actually are), the more specific you can bet they are about the concept. Viktor is a perfectionist who has full authority over his programmes and he can afford having several costumes per programme. Wearing the same costume for several programmes is a breach with his characterisation.

Let’s assume for one moment that Viktor did indeed create Stammi Vicino because of his encounter with Yuuri at the GPF in Sochi. Why would the creators have been so sloppy and put him into the same costume which he wears at Worlds when they even designed costumes the other two GPF winners JJ and Chris?

Does he wear the same costume because he met Yuuri there? Well, Yuuri approached him at the banquet at the end of the competition and only because he was drunk. Before, Yuuri was to awkward to even talk to Viktor and was, in all likelihood, too busy not freaking out, dealing with having bombed his performance, and Vicchan's death. To reflect Viktor's first actual meeting with Yuuri in a programme, thus choosing a costume that resembles the suit he wore that night would make way more sense.

Some skaters change their programme mid-season. Some switch back to an old programme, other skaters create an entirely new programme. Again, a skater like Viktor could afford this and is skilled enough to bend a new routine to his vision in time for the big competitions. (For reference: Russian Nationals are two weeks after the GPF, which leaves a skater competing in both events one week in between. That’s just enough to pitch the idea to his composer and commission a costume.)

Once Nationals are over and done, Viktor could start working on the new programme and show it at Europeans for the first time. That would leave him about one month to bring it to a level that will win him this competition. Yuuri would now have about two months to create a perfect copy. As he his busy graduating and preparing his move back to Japan, it’s debatable whether this is enough time. That’s the only reasonable timeline for such a scenario. However, since Viktor wore the costume before the banquet, this doesn’t seem likely and the show gives us no clear-cut clue why that could be and I’m loath to speculate wildly.

BUT: Viktor can't have created this programme after Sochi because Yuuri explains to Yuuko that he started practising the programme when the competitions ended [for him, the season itself is not yet over]. For Yuuri, the season ended at Japanese Nationals, which happen to be at the same weekend as Russian Nationals.

Long story short: Everything points to Viktor having created Stammi Vicino at the beginning of the season in which he wins his fifth GPF and world title, respectively. And there’s a beauty in this choice because it gives Viktor an agenda beyond his love interest. Well-crafted characters exist outside of their interactions and relationships with the other characters. Giving them things that belong to them alone adds more depth to their personality and turn them into individuals. Viktor had a life before Yuuri and this life was lonely and his (secret) longing for love was an inherent part of it (I’m preparing a follow-up post that examines the lyrics more closely, so forgive me for not going into the details here).

Especially in a show that is limited to 12 episodes and in which every image is filled with meaning, including details that hint at the characters’ past are beyond precious.

Thanks for reading! <3

If you enjoy my meta, please consider checking out my works on AO3 (link in bio)! My YOI canon works all include my meta musings.

[marce-la-ly]

I drew them at the time the anime was on emission, it's an old piece but I love how it turned out.

Maybe I should redraw too?

[dozydawn]

ISU World Figure Skating Championships, 2015. Photographed by Johannes Eisele.

[persimmontea]

Shoma Uno as Monkey D Luffy on One Piece on Ice ✨

Bonus:

[the-real-lordrisley]

WHY IS NOBODY TALKING ABOUT ICE ADOLESCENCE GETTING CANCELLED??????

7 years of waiting.... ALL FOR NOTHING... their biggest original anime WASTED

MAPPA consider your days numbered

[uniquetosmbody]

Arts for a fic “On thin ice” by @roronoaiz (link)

A wonderful figure skater Sanji x hockey player Zoro AU with a good amount of angst🤌

More to come~

[kiukiu1270]

Fully finished 15 Nikolai AU Character sheet + Headcannons!!!

Nikolai is a Piano player and I will not accept him playing any other instrument other than that. His cannon design even looks like a Piano how much more piano-y can a character get?? He is those self-taught pianist. The type that only knows chords and those weird numbered sheets music you get in those church songs lol (Fyodor taught him to read sheet music later on ;3)

Also pianist of 10 years writing over here, The tenor clef page is based on personal experiences.

It took me so long to figure out his sexuality, It was between Gay, Pan, Achillean but I settled with Omnisexual

“Omnisexual refers to someone who is romantically, emotionally, or sexually attracted to persons of all genders and orientations”Basically, All is good. But of course he does have some (a lot) of Internalised Homophobia and Religious Trauma (Haven’t fully figured it out yet in my head but I’m working on it)

Figure skating ehhhhhhh (for personal reasons) Realistically it is near impossible to do a Hydroblade self taught and pretty much figure skating isn’t a hobby that you can just buy a pair of skates (1000usd per pair) (he stole those with his ability ofc) but you can’t just teach yourself through YouTube videos (based on…. Experience….) (you Will Hurt yourself) but I meannnn He has an magical portal opening ability, he got plot armour. (And I like figure skating)

Random Trivia

Cavetown coded, Star coded, Neurodivergent, Enfp, likes cardistry (like magicians you get it), has the biggest crush on Fyodor (if it wasn’t obviously enough lol), likes Pigeons (yk street rats) (I love pigeons, they deserve more love), (Personally I think cannon adult Nikolai is more white Dove coded tho), Loves theatre and the stage (based on irl Mykola), Irl Mykola was queer, Loves Tchaikovsky (me too) (Tchaikovsky was also queer btw (he was very gay)), likes Mykola Lysenko (carol of the bells original composer) (ayy father of Ukrainian classical music and him share the same name!!) (I love researching about Ukrainian culture while making this)(Ukraine is so beautiful, I wish we could’ve had the chance to visit it in its beautiful light and glory before yk…) (Making this was very emotional) (Don’t forget to support Support Ukraine guys) 🌻🇺🇦🫶

Btw here are some songs that I listened to while drawing him!!!

(Definitely listens to Tchaikovsky’s 1812 overture to fw Fyodor lol)

(Btw go watch my 15 Fyolai Astronomy mini Animatic on my page)

(This is Home will always have a special place in my heart)

[itszygoart]

Watched “I, Tonya” a couple weeks ago and forgot i drew this

[lovesyarnandnancydrew]

Yurio, you little bitch, how dare you ruin such a perfect moment?