yurionbottom:

God, Yuri on Ice is just something special. It means so fucking much to me that it exists. And I think it means something for all of us. It has given us all something special, something that makes this show so unique. 

For some of us, maybe its just an OTP being canon. For others, its a symbolism that queer people shouldn’t need to hide, or be ashamed of being queer, or believe that they are nothing but a fetish that can be baited but never expanded on. Yuri on Ice brought so fucking much to the table. I would never, in a million years, think I would see a gay marriage proposal in anime. Not even in yaoi. Hell, shit like Junjou Romantica have two characters date for 4 FUCKING YEARS and not get engaged, and then Yuri on Ice comes along, and does it in 8 MONTHS. That is literally game changing. 

Yuuri’s anxiety resonates with me, and even J.J, an asshole, someone deemed perfect, brought tears to my eyes, because surprise surprise, he isn’t always perfect, and he can make mistakes and fall under pressure too. Victor, someone also deemed perfect, isn’t. He has insecurities too, unlike so many “hawt anime bishies.” 

Another thing is that they let ALL 3 main characters, who are male, cry. And not just “pretty aesthetic crying” Yuuri actually looks UGLY when he cries, and after he cries? He feels better. It’s not made to be something you should be ashamed of, it helps him relieve his feelings. 

Another cool thing is the gender neutral femininity. Yuuri’s eros costume, and how he feels he can’t be a playboy, and accepts that and goes for his own strengths. He isn’t pressured into being someone he can’t, he takes his own steps to transform his program into his own. Yuri’s femininity as well, and how he’s also able to become his own person out of destroying his past self and rebuilding his style to something that works well for him, while being able to kick J.J for being a dick about his femininity and calling him a girl. That kick is important, because it shows that he’s angry at being called a girl because surprise surprise, you don’t have to be a girl to be feminine and for the show to potray J.J as being an asshole for making that statement is amazing.

The side characters were diverse, even having an american who is NOT WHITE for once, and I’d never even HEARD of Kazakhstan before this anime aired. They didn’t resort to country stereotypes either (shocking) or whitewashing phichit or some of the other foreign skaters.

And oH MY GOD THERE’S ACTUAL FEMALE CHARACTERS THAT MEAN SOMETHING. Nor did they treat them as one-dimensional “yaoi shipping, moe blob, innocent virgins” No, they smoked (Mari) and drank (Minako) and talked about past relationships (Mila). Sara broke away from her brother and pursued her own relationships, while Georgi’s old girlfriend found someone better than him that she actually cared about. Hell, even Yuri not dating the same person he met as a child when he was 24 was great BECAUSE THAT’S SO FUCKING UNREALISTIC AND IT HAPPENS SO OFTEN IN ANIME. Not only that, but just because she wasn’t able to return Yuuri’s past feelings, doesn’t means she stops being Yuuri’s friend and is discarded. The amount of female characters in anime that is aimed at women is abysmal. It assumes that all we care about is abs, when in reality thats 10% of it. I can’t remember a SINGLE FEMALE in Love Stage, Sekai ichi Hatsukoi, or Junjou Romantica, and Free! literally has a walking stereotype to boast as the single female (other than a teacher I barely remember)

For me personally? It’s all of these things, and more. The amount of meaning this has given to me is incomprehensible. God, I’m emotional, but I just had to make this post after going through my old posts from episode 7, and seeing just how many people this affected

(via liviadeservedbetter)