High school student, Noshiro, is the outgoing type determined to get along with everyone. When he notices his classmate, Sanada, all by himself, Noshiro immediately tries to fix that; much to the stoic Sanada’s dismay. But rumors of Sanada being gay have Noshiro’s classmates telling him to stay away from Sanada. Undaunted, Noshiro makes it his mission to befriend Sanada, get their classmates to come around, understand his sexual preference, and possibly learn a little more about himself.
This manga is too damn cute. Despite the fact if you’ve read any manga ever you can see what’s coming in the plot a mile away, Noshiro is so lovable and Sanada is so relatable, it’s not so bad traveling down this road again and I can’t wait for more. 4 out of 5.
After everyone and their mother as talked about this, I have finally plunked my ass down and watched it. If you haven’t heard, this anime is about an ice skater named Yuuri Katsuki who returns to the sport after bending under the pressure at a competition and feeling he let everyone down. He goes home and his friend’s kids record Yuri doing a routine his idol, Victor Nikiforov, made famous. The video ends up going viral and Victor decides to become Yuuri’s coach to get him back into skating.
Following Yuuri’s journey in the world of competitive men’s skating not only is engaging, but educational; as I had NO clue about the ins and outs of the sport before I watched this. When I went to the panel, people said they had become so interested in the sport after watching this show, they started taking lessons! That’s pretty cool!
But to stay on point, one of my favorite parts of this show is with all those men in the cast of characters, they don’t fall into the trope of trying to destroy each other in trying to succeed. They all just try to do their absolute best to win by working hard. Hell, they even hang out together! And since this is as yaoi as a show can get without being overt with it, I am also glad that the female characters are not all bitches for absolutely no reason than the fact it’s a trope. If anything, a good chunk of this cast is almost too kind for their own good.
The animation is fucking glorious! The motion capture for the skating is perfection and the voice acting is on point. If I had any real complaint, it’s that there isn’t more of this for me to binge since I just want to spend more time with these characters. This anime is just fun and I look forward to the next season.
