Truly, this is a good day to be an anime fan.
Earlier today, the 2018 Winter Olympic games in Pyeongchang officially kicked off, to the delight of sports fans across the globe. Among today’s events was the Pairs Figure Skating, short event.
Skaters Miu Suzaki and Ryuichi Kihara put forth a presentation that would have anime fans everywhere letting out a small, silent cheer. The duo put forth a stunning show, set to Yuri’s theme from hit anime Yuri!!! On ICE.
Yuri!!! On ICE was a Fall 2016 series, from studio Mappa. Sayo Yamamoto (Michiko & Hatchin) and manga author Mitsurou Kubo (Moteki) created the project, with Yamamoto filling the dual role of director chair and series composition. Parasyte -the Maxim- character designer Tadashi Hiramatsu lent his talents as a character designer.
The series was released to critical and fan acclaim, ultimately going on to dominate in Crunchyroll’s inaugural Anime Awards.
In North America, Funimation aired Yuri!!! On ICE as a Simuldub, while Crunchyroll simulcasted the subtitled version. Crunchyroll describes the show as:
Yuri Katsuki carried the hope of all Japan on his shoulders in the Figure Skating Grand Prix, but suffered a crushing defeat in the finals. He returned to his hometown in Kyushu and hid away in his family’s home, half wanting to continue skating and half wanting to retire. That was when the five-time consecutive world champion, Viktor Nikiforov, suddenly showed up with his teammate, Yuri Plisetsky, a young skater starting to surpass his seniors. And so the two Yuris and the Russian champion Viktor set out to compete in a Grand Prix like none the world has ever seen!
Source: Twitter (Netstryke)
