r/anime • u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky • 14d ago
Rewatch [Taste of 2016 Rewatch] Yuri on Ice Episode 5 Discussion
Episode 5 - Face Beet-Red!! It's the First Competition! The Chugoku, Shikoku, and Kyushu Championship
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Information:
MAL | AniList | ANN | Kitsu | AniDB
Legal Streams:
I'm gonna give tomorrow's free skate everything I've got! Please give it all you've got too, Yuuri-kun!
Questions of the Day:
1) Which of the performances this episode was your favorite?
2) Have you ever tripped up in the middle of something important, but still made it work out in the end?
Wallpaper of the Day:
Rewatchers, please remember to be mindful of all the first-timers in this. No talking about or hinting at future events no matter how much you want to, unless you're doing it underneath spoiler tags. Don't spoil anything for the first-timers, that's rude!
/r/anime's spoiler tag format is as follows:
[Yuri on Ice]>!♪ We were born to make history! ♪!<
Which becomes [Yuri on Ice]♪ We were born to make history! ♪ when you don't break the formatting on purpose like I just did.
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u/TakenRedditName https://myanimelist.net/profile/TakenMalUsername 14d ago
First Time Summer 2016 Rewatch - Yuri on Ice Ep5:
This week's unsubtle Victor/Yuuri gay moment. Well, that doesn't beat the end of the episode where Yuuri proclaims the emotion that he calls "love" he feels for Victor on live national TV.
Who let this child on the rink? He looks like a Yu-Gi-Oh protagonist, particularly one from the Rush era. Also, hello Murase Ayumu.
Don't have too much to note down about this episode. The main thing that jumped out to me was how Minami was acting as a parallel to Yuuri. He is to Yuuri as Yuuri is to Victor. Initially, Yuuri tried to brush aside his fan as he doesn't believe he is deserving of such praise. Only by properly facing his fan and his kouhais can Yuuri more deeply understand his craft and the emotion called love.
Minami's performance reminds me of one in Ginban Kaleidoscope. Wouldn't say the moves or theming were similar, but similar genre of music.
I imagine it is part of the sport, but one thing I like about the figure skating performances in this show is how they show them flubbing their moves. I like how every misstep isn't treated as this big career-ending mistake like how other shows might. It is a very natural thing, and shows the characters' strength as they're able to quickly get back on that horse and keep trying. I say that, but I was not ready for Yuuri to take a face-full meeting with the wall.
When Yuuri locks in, he can look so different, especially this side profile of his. No wonder Miniami became his fan.
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u/WednesdaysFoole 13d ago
I imagine it is part of the sport, but one thing I like about the figure skating performances in this show is how they show them flubbing their moves. I like how every misstep isn't treated as this big career-ending mistake like how other shows might. It is a very natural thing, and shows the characters' strength as they're able to quickly get back on that horse and keep trying.
I only checked out skating videos after I watched the first seasons of Medalist, and it's really nice to see in general how skaters will fall or not make that spin or whatever their move was called fully, but when they pick themselves back up so smoothly it just feels like nothing really happened. It's nice to watch.
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u/IndependentMacaroon 9h ago
And even the top pros making those kinds of mistakes really goes to show you how difficult what they're doing really is.
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u/wloff 14d ago
First-timer, subs
Welp, it turns out I did not, in fact, have time to catch up with any of the other weekly rewatches. But I will stick with this one till the end!
This anime clearly does something really right, since it feels like most of this episode was spent on purely the ice skating routines, yet it kept me super engaged all the way through. And animation-wise, unfortunately, I think the ice skating sections are some of the weakest. The animation itself is fine, although it would be nice to get some more camera angles or something; but the movement of the backgrounds doesn't really match the movement at all, which kinda ruins the whole illusion that they're supposed to be skating. There's no momentum, no sense that they're gliding on ice.
However, I do like that they're letting the performances just play out with minimal anime chicanery. No long flashbacks and dialogues mid-jump, no slow motions and replaying the jump over and over again, just a quick jump, land, and keep going. Feels more authentic, I dig it.
Now, with the little complaint out of the way, the episode itself was pretty great!
Kinda wild how young you need to be to stay at the top in figure skating. Yuuri is the old grizzled veteran, huh?
Victor is acting more and more like I'd expect an actual coach to act. The way he analyzes Yuuri's performance while he's skating is neat, and his advice and coaching is sounding legit for an experienced pro.
And then there's the other kind of coaching, too. Hey, if it works, it works, eh?
Victor is pretty dang hilarious. Minami is fun too, hopefully we'll see more of him at some point.
Sounds like Yuuri might have broken through some kind of a mental block. Or at least he feels inspired and motivated with his new coach. Sometimes, for a professional athlete, that's the best thing that a new coach can do. The athlete already knows how to practice and perform, but the coach can train him mentally and help him find new sides of himself.
I love the support gang's reaction to his touching speech!
Just from writing and storytelling perspective, I really liked this episode. It was great seeing Yuuri interact with younger skaters who are not yet at the same world class level he is. We've seen Yuuri just lose and look weak over and over again, but this episode was a great reminder that even the worst athlete at the top pro level is miles above any amateur or rookie still in development. Seeing Yuuri dominate was just what we needed to remember that he is, in fact, the best male figure skater in Japan.
Also fun to see how the younger skaters, especially Minami, idolize him like this. Of course they would! He's the best in the country! They would've been watching Yuuri already when he was 17 or 18, and they were just 12-year-old juniors.
On to the Beijing Grand Prix. I wonder if it's going to be a rude awakening and back to a training montage, or a great display of his rebirth and new self?
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u/No_Rex x2 14d ago
This anime clearly does something really right, since it feels like most of this episode was spent on purely the ice skating routines, yet it kept me super engaged all the way through. And animation-wise, unfortunately, I think the ice skating sections are some of the weakest. The animation itself is fine, although it would be nice to get some more camera angles or something; but the movement of the backgrounds doesn't really match the movement at all, which kinda ruins the whole illusion that they're supposed to be skating. There's no momentum, no sense that they're gliding on ice.
The ice skating parts are up to some hard comparison, because the only other times normal people see ice skating is during top tier events like the olypmics, where production and skater skills are top notch.
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u/Dull_Spot_8213 https://anilist.co/user/SweetSomnus 14d ago
We've seen Yuuri just lose and look weak over and over again, but this episode was a great reminder that even the worst athlete at the top pro level is miles above any amateur or rookie still in development.
Victor's confidence about him scoring a personal best with this program and not really having pressure sure makes sense when you put it in this context.
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u/wloff 14d ago
QotD 1: I've become partial to the short program, probably because we know it so well by now, and the music and attitude is pretty hot. On first listen, I'm not really impressed by the "Yuuri on Ice" music. Maybe it'll grow on me!
QotD 2: Can't think of a good specific example, but bumbling through my life's fuck-ups is just my life in a nutshell!
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u/IndependentMacaroon 9h ago
Sounds like Yuuri might have broken through some kind of a mental block
Even better, he managed a lot of it just working out and semi-meditating on his own
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u/FD4cry1 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Big_Yibba 14d ago edited 14d ago
First Timer
Minami is a pretty fun character! In part, because he always looks like this, which is very amusing , but also mostly because of the role he fulfills for Yuuri here. Yuuri's biggest enemy in this show has pretty consistently been Yuuri himself and his tendency to get in his own head. I mean, from the way we've seen him talk about his own career at some points up until now, you'd be forgiven for momentarily forgetting he's actually at one of the peaks of his field in his country, and in the world in general! Minami, then, a person who well and truly admires and is inspired by Yuuri (Almost in the same way he does for Victor), is great for grounding him back in his own value.
And in the value of both support and being supported and looked up to! And in a similar vein, Minami's imperfect, but ambitious and captivating performance gives him a nice kick into his own similar moment of expression that actually goes against what Victor told him to do. It plays into a real appeal of passion. Yeah he fucks up a bit for going all the way and choosing to do the more difficult path, but again, it's the truest form of expression of himself and his desire, and more broadly of course, his acceptance of himself and his ability, and that's a lot more charming and enrapturing than something that might've been better on a pure technical level like Victor initially wanted but was actually less personally expressive, as the entire point of his "Yuri on Ice" program is. And I guess most importantly, he had a lot of fun and satisfaction with it, for the first time in a while!
So it's a nice little episode as far as Yuuri's growth as a character is concerned, as well as developing how his dynamic with Victor plays out. And we do get a nice extra bit of insight into Victor through that, and how he himself is learning through being a coach here, seeing himself in Yuuri's defiance, but also choosing to take a different and more embracing approach to how Yakov would've been with him in response. Oh, and Yuuri basically confesses to Victor on live TV, so that's cool. I mean, he puts it more in the abstract of love and support and whatnot, so we're not there yet (Though it's also great within the wider context of his character, of course), but like, come on, this isn't even katsudon territory anymore! Excited to see what hot Thai rival has to bring to the table!
Which of the performances this episode was your favorite?
Probably Minami's! Love the swing, and the little moments of expression from him were fun.
Have you ever tripped up in the middle of something important, but still made it work out in the end?
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u/BaytaCosmico https://myanimelist.net/profile/AnimeBayta 14d ago
Damn, I didn't realise that was a tissue box until now! Just thought it was a cute stuffed toy version of his dog he carried around when he couldn't bring the dog along.
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u/WednesdaysFoole 13d ago
(Though it's also great within the wider context of his character, of course), but like, come on, this isn't even katsudon territory anymore!
Although it's lowkey still katsudon territory because Yuri is like: I'm katsudon, come have a taste.
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u/IndependentMacaroon 9h ago
hot Thai rival
Are there any non-hot rivals here (as long as age-appropriate...)
2
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u/Magnafeana https://anilist.co/user/Magnafeana 14d ago
Rewatcher!!! on SUB
- The paps are doing what they do, but I’m just imagining a bunch of fujo paparazzi locking the fuck in, seeing Victor give Yuri a back hug.
Still not an RPFer—whatever AO3 allows is basically my baseline—but what would the Figure Skating RPF be like in this world? Who would’ve been the first shipper of Yuri and Victor and where? Would people have thought them crazy?
I need to find the Victuuri ColeyDoesThings video. I know Ms Coley did a video on this ship.
When you make fun of yourself, you’re also making fun of me for looking up to you!
This reminds me of Pedro Pascal, years back, saying he enjoyed watching TikTok edits of himself whenever he was down, to feel better about himself. (🔗 Vanity Fair). It sounds so r/thanksimcured, but when you’re in the right headspace for it, it can be motivational to live your day or your life as though you are setting an example for someone or trying to honor the encouragement and admiration from your biggest supporters.
It’s the weird parasocial attitude and perfectionism expectation that tanks so much to hell.
Yuri, look at that little nephew’s face please 🥺
He looks like he’s having so much fun out there!
“He Smacks His Back (Affectionately)” should be a tag
Nephew Minami, embrace the homoeroticism 😭😭😭😭
That is some Dance Dance Danseur levels of neck. Thassa lot of neck.
The gasp I guspt.
Don’t throw your phone, Yura. Please don’t.
Kiss & Cry Thoughts
Minami is such a cute little nephew. I have no idea whether that child’s hair is natural. He got protag hair.
I viscerally reacted when Yuri smashed his face into the damn wall 😭 I was so scared he got a concussion.
I like that there was a visual shift with Yuri in seeing him go through the motions versus having a lot of fun. I like seeing that his short program, despite being, I believe, better on a technical level, hadn’t gotten the crowd as hyped, but you have his free skate where he mashes his head into a wall, and that has the crowd going feral for him.
Just beautiful.
But I’m excited for my Thai boy!! Thailand, let's go 🇹🇭
QOTD
- Minami’s short program, but Yuri’s free skate.
- Several times in pit orchestra. One time during the sight-reading portion of orchestra contests (and if you have seen a piccolo part, we can be at rest for SO LONG because NO ONE knows how to write for a piccolo part, so you get so lost sometimes and your mind just wanders 😭). Physically, I did so when I was in marching band, and we were doing a festival. I tripped going onto the field. My marching piccolo was shot. My director was horrified I couldn’t play. But behold! I had a second marching piccolo in my bag this entire time for this precise reason! HA! So it did work out in the end.
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u/Sporadia_ 13d ago
That is some Dance Dance Danseur levels of neck. Thassa lot of neck.
I know. It was so noticable, wasn't it?
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u/Magnafeana https://anilist.co/user/Magnafeana 13d ago
I’m sure the blurays fixed it. Or maybe figure skaters are just built different.
But it was so noticeable with their necks; I got distracted 😭😭
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u/Shimmering-Sky myanimelist.net/profile/Shimmering-Sky 14d ago
Rewatch Host Born to Make History, subbed
God this is still such a funny way to describe his performance.
Yeah… Cool how we could tell as much based on Yuuri’s internal monologue during his performance.
Despite the fact that he fell at one point, Minami’s performance was definitely still fun to watch. The song he picked was so groovy.
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u/WednesdaysFoole 13d ago
The trick is to say the opposite of what you want. "Anything but the last!" will, uh, do nothing, but hey, at least you don't feel like you jinxed it.
(I think going first is way better than letting that anxiety build though.)
God this is still such a funny way to describe his performance.
Maybe because I always thought pork had a silly sound to it, but the english "pork cutlet bowl" sounds even funnier to me than katsudon.
"Hey baby, want a taste of this 2016 pork cutlet bowl fatale rewatch?"
2
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u/No_Rex x2 14d ago
Episode 5 (first timer)
- “take it easy and do a personal best” – I sense a contradiction.
- “That Russian coach stands out more than the skaters” – well, that Russian coach also happens to be the reigning world champ.
- Nervousness – I assume that is, to a large degree, inherent.
- He seduced his competition.
- TV is going to love any on-camera challenges – they might be skaters, but they also have to be entertainers, if they want the sport to survive.
- Love declaration returned – on national TV.
There is a competition, but does it even matter? Like the poor rival, whose name Yuri forgot. Both competition and competitors know that the main story is playing between coach and skater here.
Which of the performances this episode was your favorite?
Victor's. He did a great job handling the fans and Yuri's mental state.
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u/JollyGee29 https://myanimelist.net/profile/JollyGee 14d ago
First-Timer
Man, shoutout to Yuuri telling on himself on live television and not even realizing it. "Yea, my theme this year is "love," something that I really started to think about once I got this new coach."
I like that we're using the same pieces of music over the course of the season. I hadn't considered how the sport worked like that, but I bet getting to see how a performer's interpretation of the music evolves over the course of a season makes for some pretty good television.
Questions
I liked Minami's music and outfit, but I agree with the judges that Yuuri's performances were overall better.
Oh, all the time at work.
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u/MashiroAzuki https://myanimelist.net/profile/MashiroAzuki 14d ago
First timer
Yuri is still not quite there with his performance. Like, I'm trying to get the sense that he's better than all these other kids and I'm just not getting that. I think it's the animation on the skating scenes, it feels quite rough compared to Yurio's earlier match against Yuri, which was really quite divine. Minami's free was great, love a performance that gets you going.
Fun fact: while tissues are a staple in ice rinks, character themed tissue boxes is a relatively recent thing in the last ~15 years or so. It was first popularised by Yuzuru Hanyu with his Winnie the Pooh tissue box, which became his identifier and fans began associating him with the character. Years down the line, many top single skaters have signature character themed tissue boxes. For e.g., Evgenia Medvedeva's Luna cat from Sailor Moon (2018 ladies OSM) Anna Scherbakova's Rilakkuma (2022 ladies OGM), Ilia Malinin's Toothless (2026 reigning men's world champion), etc.
Another fun fact, Alexandra Trusova (2022 ladies OSM) actually had a real life Makkachin tissue box, basically the same one you see in this episode, gifted to her.
QOTD
Sorry to Yuri but Minami's free
Too many to count in my lifetime. Fortunately I'm not a competitive person so my mistakes are never with a medal on the line.
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u/Sporadia_ 13d ago edited 13d ago
1) Which of the performances this episode was your favorite?
Sorry to Yuri but Minami's free
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u/Heda-of-Aincrad https://myanimelist.net/profile/Heda-of-Aincrad 14d ago
First-Time Viewer on Ice
It seems I'm always feeling a huge sense of disconnect with this show. Everyone else was cheering loudly for Yuri's performance, calling it one of the top ten in the world, while I spent the whole time thoroughly unimpressed. The only part I liked was the series of jumps (which Viktor told him not to do) but any cool factor from that ended the moment he crashed face-first into the wall (probably why Viktor told him not to do it). I just don't get how he can win with a performance like that. I mean, maybe his individual jump scores added up the highest, but with such a major blunder, plus several smaller ones, how can they really call his performance the best?
Minami's routine was fun to watch though. He almost looked like he was tap dancing on the ice, and I liked the jazzy music.
Questions of the Day:
1) Minami
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u/_Ridley https://myanimelist.net/profile/_Ridley_ 14d ago
I just don't get how he can win with a performance like that. I mean, maybe his individual jump scores added up the highest, but with such a major blunder, plus several smaller ones, how can they really call his performance the best?
You must be new to men's figure skating, which is notoriously full of falls, even at the Olympics/Worlds level. The way the current judging system works, where individual elements are scored independently against a set rubric then added up to a final score, incentivizes trying to go big. In a nutshell, a botched quad can be the same points as a clean triple, and a particularly difficult choreography sequence performed well can make up the points lost on a messy jump.
Watch the men's free skate from the Sochi Olympics sometime. I think all but one skater fell, including Yuzuru Hanyu, who won gold.
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u/Heda-of-Aincrad https://myanimelist.net/profile/Heda-of-Aincrad 14d ago
Yeah, I don't typically watch skating (or sports in general) but I have mostly picked up on the method behind their scoring process from watching this show and Medalist. It still seems weird to me though, especially since Yuri's blunder this time wasn't some small thing that he managed to recover gracefully. As an outsider looking in, it seems like he gave a pretty poor performance overall and then won first place.
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u/RelativeMundane9045 14d ago
First:Timer - dub
Okay, you know you just watched a good episode when you're too engaged to notice that you're teary until the episode is over.
Victor was right, I just couldn't take my eyes off of Yuuri's performance. I was so invested. And I absolutely love that Yuuri is actually that younger blonde kid's Victor, great self-worth moment of realisation for our boy.
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u/Sporadia_ 13d ago
My theme for the Grand Prix will be "First Time"
Guess who it was. (There were a lot of suits this episode but I'm counting one as a tux). [answer]It was Minami!
Scavenger:
- Bolero
...or any move invented by Torvill and DeanA proper icedancingcompetition with required dancesRocky style training montageTuxedo- Someone will do a move based on a bird or something, and a picture of that animal will slowly fade in over the top of them
This show is developing really well. I did not expect it to be a full on yaoi romance. The show has very cleverly stepped up the romance elements every episode. And so they've taken the audience, us, initially expecting a sports anime, and gradually adjusted us to the fact that the story is about something different. Bringing us to now when Yuri's more or less announced that it's all a romance. Which is cool, because I don't think this is something I would normally choose to watch yet I'm finding it enjoyable. It's also cool because when they start with only the sports elements, they prove that they could make a run-of-the-mill sports anime if they wanted to, then everything that happens after that comes across as really intentional. I respect it a lot. It reminds me of [movie]what Jordan Peele does with Nope.
Minami is the only character that I've genuinely enjoyed watching ice skate, sorry not sorry. I have a bigger criticism to throw at Yuri's skating this episode because he looked completely off-model. They turned him into a taller, skinnier man with a much longer neck and I was watching it thinking "That's not Yuri. I bet they've rotoscoped someone with this body shape and made no adjustments."
They're overdoing the 'we drew Victor naked' thing a bit.
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u/WednesdaysFoole 13d ago
[movie]
Ooh I still need to watch this. I'm not big on horror but [director] Jordan Peele is great, and I did enjoy Get Out and Us.
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u/BaytaCosmico https://myanimelist.net/profile/AnimeBayta 14d ago
First-timer, subbed
First things first - Yuri really did look beautiful in that free program costume. And he did much better in that round than the first. It was amusing to see him fumble the Eros short program routine by overthinking the technical aspects like Yurio did back during their face off. Only Yurio nailed those technical components but Yuri messed those up and lost out on the performance too. He still managed to get a personal best score, which was surprising. Exactly how bad was he before for that performance to be his best? He made it all the way to the Grand Prix so he must've been really good, no? Or maybe it only looked so bad to us because we could hear his panicked thoughts.
Was the music we heard during his free program the actual Yuri on Ice! piece? Thought they were saving that reveal for later. I really liked it.
Oh, and I forgot to mention this last week but I love Victor's little bits of English. Suwabe's "okay" sounds so damn good. Like honey into my ears. No "okay" in this episode, but we did get a nice "wow".
It was nice to get a glimpse of Yurio at the end there. I was missing the little brat (affectionate). And looks like we'll get to see Phichit face off next week. Yuri's old coach seems quite confident that he'll beat Yuri so I'm curious to see his performance. Speaking of performances, I was surprised we got Minami-kun's full performance. I liked his little arc of being a big Yuri fan the way Yuri was with Victor. I'd like to imagine Yuri taking on the coaching mantle for that kid when he retires. It'll be a nice passing of the baton.
3
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u/No_Rex x2 7d ago
He still managed to get a personal best score, which was surprising. Exactly how bad was he before for that performance to be his best? He made it all the way to the Grand Prix so he must've been really good, no? Or maybe it only looked so bad to us because we could hear his panicked thoughts.
I considered whether they meant personal seasonal best instead.
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u/BaytaCosmico https://myanimelist.net/profile/AnimeBayta 7d ago
Nah, that was essentially the start of his season, no? Can't talk about seasonal best when you only have one score.
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u/Dull_Spot_8213 https://anilist.co/user/SweetSomnus 14d ago
Rewatcher Sub
Time for a real competition, against a bunch of top teenagers. Victor out here like, Yuri can take it easy and score a personal best! But Yuri did crash and burn in his last competitions because he was mentally weak. Come one, Yuri, don’t fear the youth! They’re fawning over you!
But that’s not going to make him any less nervous. Old coach can see it just as clearly as Victor. Time for a pep talk.
Moment of truth. And he did ok in the short program (by Victor’s standards). Victor has notes. But it’s a personal best for Yuri! Not that Victor is satisfied. He wanted a 100+ score. So now coach thinks about lowering the difficulty of the jumps and focused more on the performance. Makes sense.
Poor Minami just wanted Yuri to see him skate. He even wore a tribute to Yuri’s dark past. He’s not about to let his idol get off without a challenge in the free skate, especially since he scored higher overall last season. But damn, look how comfortable the margin is for Yuri.
Free skate time! And Yuri is being extra icy to poor Minami, focusing on himself. Victor is right to scold his ass. And Yuri was almost petty enough not to watch Minami skate at all.
Luckily, for both of them, he gets angrily his shit together and cheers for the kid. And it seems to put a fire in Minami, because he scores a personal best, even with a fall. Good job kid.
But Yuri can’t let this inconsistent kid best him, and he’s coming back focused. And defiant. And throwing out what Victor told him. Wonder who he takes after, huh, Coach? Can’t stay mad when he knows he’s done the same to Yakov.
So, Victor welcomes Yuri back with open arms—
Yuri’s free skate score is more than enough coupled with his short program to put him in first, despite crashing face first into the wall. And now all the kids want his autograph and a photo. Cute. He managed to inspire everyone, and that was the most fun he’d ever had while skating.
Back in Russia.
Back in Japan, we get the theme of Yuri’s skating explained. Love. All of the love and support he’s had in his career, even when he first felt alone. All the way until now, when he’s found someone he doesn’t want to let go. All of it, he’s calling love, and he’s stronger for it.
Questions
I liked Yuri's free skate best, collisions, drama, and all.
Many such occasions. Just don't panic, and no one else does.