Plot hole central

I SWEAR THE YURI ON ICE STAFF READ FAN FICTIONS AND HIDE IN THE FANDOM AND SEE EVERYTHING WE POST!

Like how do you explain “Viktor and Yuuri both get flirty and naked when drunk together.”

AND

Viktor loves Yuuri’s off season tummy

Yuuri’s still in weight-loss mode.  He’s eating broccoli served with either grated daikon or bean sprouts:

And he has been for a while. Meanwhile, Victor and Yurio are both eating katsudon.  Yuuri’s favorite food in the whole world.  Which he can never even forget about or put it out of his mind, living where he does:

Well, Victor is eating katsudon.

Yurio is too tired to even touch his

so it’s right there, taunting Yuuri, smelling amazing, addling his diet-tortured brain…

CRAVINGS SUCK, okay.  Nothing against broccoli, daikon, or bean sprouts, but when there’s a hot meal containing fried pork, eggs, and caramelized onions right next to you… (we shall let the peas pass by without comment)

But Victor.  Victor is enthusiastically eating katsudon right across the table from Yuuri.

Victor, the guy who probably provided Yuuri’s first wet dream ten years ago, the guy who Yuuri clearly still wants to bang to this day:

especially recently:

Victor really loves katsudon.

Yes, we can all agree that during the first days, Viktor is pushy because he came to Hasetsu most likely believing that Yuuri remembered the banquet and showed interested in him, so he acts according to that belief

But it’s obvious that he quickly realizes that the Yuuri he met at the banquet wasn’t an image of the real Yuuri, after speaking to the people close to Yuuri and observing Yuuri himself

Just look at his reaction when Yuuri shows him affectionate physical contact for the first time during the Hot Springs on Ice event

HE’S SO SURPRISED FOR A BRIEF MOMENT BEFORE COLLECTING HIMSELF

To me his surprise hints that he doesn’t really expect a lot of direct physical affection in return from Yuuri at this point in their relationship? This contrasts a lot with their first interactions, where he instead is surprised when Yuuri retreats from him. But even if he might have doubts about what Yuuri feels for him he never becomes withdrawn or salty and just continues to wholeheartedly support Yuuri and it says a lot about what a compassionate and respectful character Viktor is

We see the exact same reaction in episode 6 when Yuuri suddenly gets into his face

I just really think it’s important to note that while Viktor always shows his interest in Yuuri he changes his line of approach a bit when he gets to know more about how shy and easily embarrassed Yuuri is. He always respects Yuuri and never push him too far? I mean sure Yuuri gets flustered a lot but who doesn’t when someone you like acts affectionate towards you?

We can clearly see that by episode 6 Yuuri is fully comfortable with Viktor being close to him, showing how much their relationship developed in the past months

Viktor is really just a fool in love and he pursues that affection without ever letting any frustrations go out over Yuuri’s anxiety and insecurities (not counting the incident in episode 7, since that was unrelated to his romantic feelings for Yuuri and instead about him feeling unable to help Yuuri deal with his anxiety attacks) 

as Yuuri so eloquently said

Here is my magnum opus. I have spent hours creating it, and it goes into many different topics. Without further ado, History of the Yuri on Ice fandom.

On Mar 26, 2016 the first official Yuri on Ice preview is posted to avex pictures

It’s reported in this article that the Tuesday around March 26th (The 22nd of March I believe) The yuri on ice offical website was opened, as well as the first tidbits of information

The preview is fairly well received. I remember the comments having a surprising amount of russian in them, and I found it off a tumblr link. My first impression was, “Woah, this looks really pretty.” I hyped it up to all my friends based on the animation, and that was it. I didn’t see it as something more than Cheer Danshi, or Days that were prospective “Yaoi-bait” anime for me, and I thought it was nice that there was no shown fanservice at the time.

On April fifth, @yaoionice was created, one of the first blogs to pop up for yuri on ice, and on August 29th @fyeahyurionice one of the more prominent first blogs was created. 

And on August 21st (Or the 22nd, depending on timezones and such) the first longer preview was posted, but has since been made private. This created the first real wave of attention

Also on the 21st, the first supporting cast members are added

August 26th, the first recorded prominent post that I could find by @karmallika claims the iconic ship “Vikturi” 

and… the first fanarts come in. The first one I have seen so far on record is from August 22th, done by @italiano-biscotti and is the one of Victor skating at the bottom

August 30th, TalkingIsJustAWasteOfBreath uploads the first fanfiction in the archive, which is a crossover.

On September 5th, even more characters are added and Wataru Hatano is confirmed to be singing the ending theme song

September 11th, @seiyuuslittleforest makes this post, which gets a little over 6,000 notes and builds more hype for the show. People theorize why exactly it barely passed the censorship law

September 14th, the official Yuri on Ice twitter uploads this tweet. It basically solidifies the homoeroticness of the show, and builds an even higher hype based around the gayness shown

On September 21st, the preview is re-uploded (I have no idea why it was privated in the first place) and creates another splash of GIFS, art, ect.

FINALLY, LETS GET TO THE FANDOM. 

Episode 1:

Oh boy. This one was a tizzy. The fandom seemed relatively fine most of the episode, but there are two major bits that caused a stir. Yuuko was pretty much a meme (pretty hilarious) about how it seemed Yuuri was going to confess to her about his crush but her daughters popped up. Lmao. And the most important part, the end. Victor’s ass. This was basically hell for people who wanted to GIF the show but keep their blog sfw, and also gained the title “Gayer than Free!” people loved that ass. The preview for the next episode also showed an EVEN MORE homoerotic scene

It was around this time people realized this was a decent show and contender for anime of the year, with people such as Chibi Reviews who passed it off as nothing earlier, taking an interest. I can’t remember exactly how long it trended on tumblr, but it was for around FOUR FUCKING DAYS, so it drew in a lot of people. People also praised the instagram ending for being modern. On October 6th, the first big NSFW post is made by someone (I don’t know if they want themselves to be known here for drawing porn) and gets 6,300 notes

Episodes 2-3:

Yuuko and Yurio: For some reason a few people thought they had crushed on each other, despite Yuuko being 9 years older than him and being married and having 3 kids. People justified this with Yuuko being Yurio’s mother figure since it was hinted at he had an absent mother

Episode 3 lip touch scene: This was in the previews, and one of the most hyped up and gayest moments in the whole show. People flipped.

“Yuuri! Lets sleep together”: Quote by Victor, easily taken out of context by fandom. After this, the fandom notes he cried when Yuuri turned him down

Yuuri’s posters: People talked about wanting to see Victor walk in on Yuuri’s photos of Victor. The fandom notices Yuuri leaves a photo of Victor behind even when he cleans up all the posters frantically

Yurio Discourse: Russian fandom takes offense to Yuri being abbreviated to Yurio. I’m not Russian so I can’t comment on this, but it did happen

Fatshaming: People get angry at Victor for calling Yuuri a pig. Athletes try to defend this saying that he physically cannot skate competitively while overweight

Evgenia Medvedeva: October 12th, she tweets about Yuri on Ice for the (first?) time. Fandom picks up on it in multiple posts. People consider her as the fandom queen for making posts every time a new episode comes out

History Maker: People fucking love History Maker. A lot.

Whistle: Episode 3, Yuuri whistles at Victor during his performance, which causes quite the reaction

Playboy: Lots of the fandom are happy when Yuuri chooses to be the seducer because it fits him more, proving he can find strength in being someone who isn’t just a playboy and not fitting to the norms. They also praise his choice of costume for its feminity

Episodes 4 through 5:

Love confession: At the end of Episode 5, the confession is seen as one of love to Victor

Tie: It becomes a meme that faces with a love confession from Yuuri, the only thing Victor thinks about is his ugly tie

Language barriers: People theorize that maybe Victor didn’t react as well to Yuuri’s confession because he doesn’t understand Japanese and they speak in English to each other. This is later confirmed.

Man Praying: When Yuuri and Victor get “intimate” in the hotspring, an old man is seen praying while looking at them. The fandom sees this and realizes that’s basically them watching it

Boyfriend: Victor asks if Yuuri wants him to be his boyfriend. Yuuri suspiciously leaps into the air and yells almost frantically “No No No”. This is seen as a push towards non-queerbaiting because Victor says he’s fine with dating another man

Hair bop: For some reason in Episode 4, Yuuri bops Victor’s hair. Of course, the fandom can’t not analyze literally everything, and take this as a sign Victor’s literally dying

Minami: People compare him a chicken nugget or McDonalds because of his hair and costumes color scheme

Episode 6:

Christophe: He comes on the ice. First off, what the fuck, and second off the fandom literally hates him for this, the primary reason being he made a lot of people uncomfortable. He also shakes his ass a lot. Plenty of memes are made from this.

Georgi: Fandom makes tons of memes about his outrageous eyeshadow. People can’t decide if he’s a “nice guy” that needs to move on or is just deeply in love

Victor getting drunk: Victor gets extremely drink and begins to strip. Fandom notices he wears black panties as he throws them on Guang-Hong Ji. Victor is hanging onto Yuuri naked

Proud dads: Victor and Yuuri show great happiness in Yuri’s success, leaving many fans with the headcannon that Victor and Yuuri are Yuri’s proud dads

Episode 7: THE LEGENDARY KISS. Victuri is confirmed canon in a kiss!

Victor offering to kiss Yuuri: Victor seeing Yuuri upset has no idea how to deal with it. So, he offers to kiss Yuuri, which Yuuri says no to, just wanting Victor to believe in him

Censorship: In the kiss, an arm is obstructing the lips. People go to blame Japanese tv censorship, which is actually not to blame

Further confirmation: Creator compares the episode which Victor and Yuuri kiss to another episode of a show where two characters also shared their first kiss giving further confirmation

Episode 8:

Not much happens until the end.

Makkachin: Yuuri is called and told that Victor’s dog Makkachin choked on some steamed buns and may die. Yuuri selflessly tells Victor to go back and see Makkachin for what may be the last time

Makkachoke: Pretty self-explanatory meme about Makkachin choking. lol. 

Makkachin reaction: People are pretty upset over this in the fandom. The episode wasn’t very fluffy, and people begin trying to defend Makkachin and explain why he’ll survive. Art is made for Makkachin. People fucking love Makkachin.

Episode 7 vs. Episode 8: People make memes about how episode 7 saved them and episode 8 destroyed them due to the angst

Episode 9:

Yuuri hugging everyone: Yuuri is drained without Victor, so he at the end just runs up and hugs everyone

Airport scene: This scene made me and many others cry. Victor and Yuuri embrace at the airport after spending a day separated. They talk about their future, and one particular comment makes Victor kiss Yuuri’s ring finger and comment that it was almost like a proposal

Victor leaving: Victor has to go back to Russia to see his dog, leaving Yuuri stranded with Yakov for most of the episode

Ring or Medal: The previews show Yuuri and Victor in front of a church looking down. The phrase gold and round are also said, making it seem like a ring. But, most people pass this off as an impossible joke, and settle on it being a medal. Others, not so much. Thus begins the Ring or Medal war, packed with theories

Episode 10:

Proposal: In this episode, Yuuri purchases rings and he and Victor exchange them in front of a church with a choir. Later, Victor confirms they’re wedding rings. The whole fandom flips their shit because never before have a gay couple ever gotten engaged in anime.

Otayuri: Otabek and Yuri share a tender moment on the roof of a building after Otabek saves him from Yuri’s obsessive fans. Thus, Otayuri becomes the fandoms second most shipped ship, despite the controversy around Yuri being 15 and Otabek 18

Phichit: When Phichit sees Victor and Yuuri’s matching rings, he thinks they’ve gotten married and shouts it out to the restaurant, to the pleasure of the fandom

Pole-dancing: It’s revealed in the episode that Yuuri got drunk last year at the banquet and pole danced with Christophe 

Plot twist: At the end of Episode 10, it’s revealed at the same banquet last year Yuuri asked Victor to be his coach. This completely changes many things, including snide comments from Victor previously unnoticed that now make sense

Wedding ring discourse: Fandom members overanalyzing the receipt of the ring(s) Yuuri bought, trying to decide if it was one ring, two rings, a wedding ring, and how much it cost based on a piece of blurry paper in an animation

Episode 11:

End this: At the end of episode 11, Yuuri says “After the final, let’s end this” Everybody freaks out, thinking of the worst. What’s going to end?

Angst: Fandom members make jokes on how angsty the episode was, and how it had this weird sad vibe the whole time, courtesy of Victor being extremely reminiscent. Like episode 7 vs episode 8, people compare the happiness of episode 10 to episode 11

JJ flopping: JJ completely messes up his performance, but he tries hard and everyone cheers him on. Because of this, many fandom members cry during this scene and JJ previously hated on starts being liked

Breakup theories: People theorize the angstiest stuff, thinking “Lets end this” means Yuuri wanting to break off his entire relationship with Victor rather than retirement

Episode 12:

Pair-Skate: It was revealed on a track that Stammi Vincino had a duet version, so many people had anticipated the pair skate. It’s a gorgeous scene with Yuuri bathed in blue light and Victor in purple

Retirement: Victor announces he’s coming back, and Yuuri says he also is after loosing to Yuri and wanting to win a gold medal before he retires

Wedding: People had also theorized a wedding would happen if Yuuri won gold. Yuuri did not win gold, therefore no wedding occurred

Yurio winning: When Yuri won, it was a surprise to many. People thought Yuuri would win, but Yuri won by only a matter of .12 points. Mixed reactions came from this, some accusing the studio of changing the result for a second season, which the creator denied

See you next level: At the end of Season 1, the title card “See you next level” is flashed. People theorize this is the announcement for a second season.

Victor Theories:

And here it begins. Around this time, people begin theorizing Victor is using Yuuri in the way he doesn’t smile when he hugs him or even theorizing Victor is dying based off of a “was” statement at the end of episode 1. These theories were taken seriously by some, and laughed off by others. I THINK WE CAN ALL AGREE BY NOW THEY WERE ALL COMPLETE BULLSHIT

Mistranslations:

Multiple times “lover” is corrected to boyfriend, and in many episodes words are chopped so badly they fuck up EXTREMELY important scenes, that literally warp Yuuri saying that his love for Victor is indescribable to “It’s not a romantic love” which is dumb because it left more room for people to pass it off as queerbait.

Yurio:

Headcannons are mostly about him being an angsty teen and liking trashy animal print and heavy metal. Also about him calling skates “knife shoes” and him being disgusted by Yuuri and Victor’s PDA. Also referred to as being Victor and Yuuri’s adopted son

Queerbait:

Until episode 7, wild accusations of queerbait are going around, with people comparing it to Free! and being angry about it. People in the fandom defend this saying not all the episodes have aired yet and that queerbait is a western term.

Nanithefak:

Known for their over the top reactions to yuri on ice, gaining thousands of views on her instagram. The most famous reactor who screams way more who they should. Extremely well known around the fandom and had around 60k instragram followers

Yuri on Ice Dub:

Yuri on Ice dub is well… not exactly received nicely. People immediately start comparing Victors accent to Gru, even editing over audio from despicable me or photoshopping Gru’s face onto Victor. It’s constantly made fun of, and is basically a joke. It does (at least to me) improve in later episodes. A post with a compilation of funny things said in the dub reaches 100,000 notes.

Crunchyroll Anime Awards:

Yuri on ice won 7/14 of the Crunchyroll anime awards, to people’s outrage. Because of this, massive amounts of hate were directed to Yuri on Ice, because apparently some people don’t understand the word “popular votes” Many of the fandom became angry and defensive by this, and rightfully so as the hate started being directed towards fujoshi’s and female fans, saying they shouldn’t be allowed to vote

IRL Figure Skating:

It started becoming a bit of a problem when Yuri on Ice fans started comparing anime characters to actual skaters, going as far as spamming their comments and changing their wikipedia pages. This has led to some figure skating fans hating yuri on ice fans

DVD/Blu-Ray:

Yuri on Ice, to the surprise of some and not to others, sold 50,000 Blu-ray/DVD copies in it’s first week. As of January 22nd, 2016 it has sold 66,000 Blu-ray/DVD volumes, an extremely high number

Phichit:

Phichit has become sort of a meme for his face, which has been photoshopped onto shocking photos. He is also known around the fandom as a Victor and Yuuri shipper.

Cafe Discourse:

Small amount of discourse, but something that should have been bigger. Korean fans started accusing the Yuri on Ice cafe of racism after having the South Korean character Seung-gil Lee be represented by a soup rather than something more filling. Japan and Korea have a long history of hatred, and I wouldn’t be surprised if these accusations had some merit

Sara/Michele Discourse:

So um.. there’s some pretty major incest vibes between these two, especially coming from Michele who seems dependent on Sara and goes as far to say he loves her. It’s pretty weird and most of the fandom agrees on that

Name Discourse:

Victor vs Viktor. Yuuri vs Yuri. Yurio vs Yuri. Victuuri vs Viktuuri vs Victuri vs Vikturi. Sala vs Sara. Nobody can seem to decide on how to spell any of the names

LGBTQ+ Representation: 

Yuri on Ice has been called by many in the LGBTQ+ community a good representation, taking the examples from yaoi and how they are usually heteronormative, sexualized, and stereotype LGBTQ+ characters. Even in non-yaoi, LGBTQ+ characters can be villains, be killed off, or face homophobia. There’s none of that in Yuri on Ice, the creator Kubo literally taking to twitter to say that in her universe there’s no hate

Figure skaters:

Many figure skaters, including Johnny Weir, Evgenia Medvedeva, Dennis Ten, and more have come out saying that they have watched and love Yuri on Ice. They tweet about it, and some find similarities between them and the characters. Johnny Weir especially as a former openly gay figure skater has done interviews about it.

Crashing Websites:

Episode 12 actually managed to crash many streaming sites, including Gogoanime, Kissanime, and Crunchyroll. People also suspect Tumblr was crashed from this

Chris’s Mysterious Boyfriend:

Christophe has a mysterious person, who the fandom have concluded as his boyfriend. He shows up at his house, and comforts him at the kiss and cry. Chris is shown to be extremely gay, so the theory is plausible.

Yaoi on Ice:

When it was revealed that Yuri on Ice was not about lesbians and instead gay men, some people were outraged. Others created this extremely cringe and overused joke that should only be used ironically by now.

Edit: Love on Ice:

allow me to explain

i don’t know exactly how long after yuuri’s video went viral that this scene happens, but it’s safe to say that at least a couple of days passed? perhaps a week or a bit more, even though the anime makes it look like it’s on the next day?

so he’s been avoiding the media for days, keeping his phone off so absolutely nobody’s going to be able to reach him until people forget about this madness 

which means he’s also entirely clueless about the rumors of viktor being his coach

and it makes it so much funnier because we know yuuri’s dad doesn’t know jack shit about figure skating, and viktor doesn’t know how to speak japanese AND IT WAS PROBABLY TOSHIYA WHO FIRST TALKED TO VIKTOR WHEN HE ARRIVED AT YU-TOPIA?

TOSHIYA IF YOU’D ONLY GET INTO YOUR SON’S ROOM, LOOKED AROUND AND DID THE MATH YOU WOULD KNOW

so what has happened was probably something like “i have no idea what you’re saying mr. foreign-dude but you’re probably here for our famous onsen so yes make yourself comfortable” which viktor, tired as fuck from his travel (a long ass flight from st. petersburg to tokyo, probably? plus the train from tokyo to hasetsu?) GLADLY ACCEPTS

hell yeah i’m going to enjoy the fuck out of his hot spring

since yuuri is nowhere to be seen why not take some time to relax after a long travel, am i right

it’s not like viktor would understand if yuuri’s parents were to say “oh yes yuuri is holed up in his bedroom but he’ll come out eventually” so as viktor is pretty sure he found the right place and that yuuri is there he’ll just wait and have a nice soak meanwhile

AND THEN YUURI JUST BARGES INTO THE ROOM WHERE VIKTOR IS BATHING

well, this was not how i had planned this to go but here you are?

AND OF COURSE, STANDING UP WAS COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY BUT VIKTOR BASICALLY INVENTED BEING EXTRA AND… LET ME SHOW YOU MY HOT BOD BECAUSE I GOT TO SEE YOUR ALMOST-EVERYTHING AT THE BANQUET SO I THINK IT’S FAIR YOU GET TO SEE ME NOW AM I RIGHT??? 

in viktor’s mind, yuuri is this extroverted, outgoing party animal he got to know at the banquet and was absolutely mesmerized by, so he probably thinks yuuri’s going to be alright with this extra introduction? also knowing yuuri lives and probably worked at the onsen for a while viktor maybe just assumes he’s probably unfazed by nudity?

oh viktor, little did you know

My favourite Viktor moments are when he is an adorable idiot.

I love exploring Viktor’s character because despite being the most senior character among the skaters and being seen as the one to chase and look up to, this boy truly does a lot of stupid things. To be fair, 27 is still quite young. It’s a shitty age when everyone plus their dog seems to think you know what you are doing except you. I can tell you all the weird decisions and unnecessary drama people have and get into at 27, but then this post will never end.

Now, we know about the whole banquet fiasco and the whole impulsively flying to Japan arms open, dick out thing, not to mention the whole car park “let’s shatter his heart” shenanigans, but I also have these screencaps stewing for maybe a month in my phone because I remember I was rewatching the show and these just made me go, “Oh, Viktor.”

Okay, so we know Hot Springs on Ice all started with Viktor’s idea…

…to which Yurio gamely accepts the challenge and issues his own (while Yuuri adorably panics in the background like the puppy he is)…

…which Viktor also accepts.

Look at him all excited.

Here, though, is where Viktor gets himself in trouble:

He’s been riling Yurio up the entire morning that the kid just up and threw a tantrum and demanded this prize. But then, no problem, since it’s not like Viktor had to accept or anything–

Yuuri’s face when Viktor agreed, though.

*sigh* Same, Yuuri. Same.

It seems that it’s not until later that Viktor realises the trouble he put himself in. At this point, we didn’t know yet just how invested Viktor was in Yuuri Katsuki (i.e., very invested and nursing a weird kind of crush, probably) and how important it is that he doesn’t coach just anyone, but Yuuri Katsuki only. How ever good Yuuri could potentially be, however, there was still a big chance that he could actually lose to Yurio. Yuuri sometimes choked during competition. Yurio, on the other hand, was the juniors gold medallist. There was a very real possibility that Yurio would win and Viktor to have to go back to Russia.

Having realised this, Viktor then began to sport this face:

This is Viktor during Yurio’s performance:

At this point, Viktor didn’t know yet that Yuuri had a breakthrough on his Eros performance. As far as he knew, Yurio was the one who found his Agape. While Yurio’s performance was not perfect, he was doing well enough.

That, right there, is what Viktor Nikiforov looks like when he knows he is in very deep shit.

What’s interesting though is that these expressions were not really blatantly pointed out in the show. No one notices this, and Viktor just stands in his corner looking like that. With what knowledge we had at episode 3, we don’t know, maybe he just looks thoughtful because Viktor Nikiforov is just a mysterious character. Lol, but rewatching this after season 1 is over?

Yeah, Viktor. Because of you, for about an entire episode, we were in danger of never having the events that would lead to the kiss at the Cup of China, the exchange of rings in Barcelona, and the glorious masterpiece that is Yuuri’s record-breaking free skate. Viktor, Viktor, Viktor… sometimes just *facepalm*

Thankfully, Yuuri DID find his Eros at the last minute, wins the competition, and consequently saves Viktor’s gorgeous but impulsive arse and gives us the wonderful events of season 1. Thank you, Yuuri! ♡

Lol, look at how happy and relieved this dork is:

There he is, ladies and gentlemen, our Viktor Nikiforov - king of impulsive decisions. For a long time we thought he was such a mysterious character. Now, we just… wtf, we know him better and we love him very much, but sometimes

Viktor, no. For fuck’s sake.

*sigh* Same, Yuuri. Same.

–

Bonus: Viktor during Yuuri’s Eros performance. He probably realised he’s safe at this point, and I bet he was enthralled again, and possibly getting turned on by Yuuri Katsuki falling in love again.

First of all, credit goes to the ever amazing @toraonice and to her post with the full translation of the interview.

Now, for the highlights! (Aka “the meta that is now canonically confirmed”)

(ep 7) Yuuri pushes the whorl of hair on the top of Victor’s head in order to loosen up the atmosphere. He came up with an idea to ease the tension and just acted it out, then looking at Victor’s surprised face made him even more relaxed when he started the FS.

(ep 8) Victor doesn’t want to compete against Yuuri as a fellow athlete [in regards to a question asked by one of the news reporters in the hotel]

(ep 8) “By the way, I think that if Phichit-kun is the sun of Southeast Asia, Emil is the sun of Europe. And JJ is just on a whole different dimension than the sun.” [Bless this woman lol]

(ep 8) Yuuri skates better when he’s in an unfamiliar setting and tends to feel pressured when there are people cheering on him

(ep 8) The reason why Yurio didn’t skate his SP perfectly was not because his grandpa wasn’t there, but rather that Yurio’s development wasn’t fully complete yet [he was still discovering his agape, perhaps?]

(ep 8) “Treating Yurio as a lady is JJ’s idea of a joke. He doesn’t mean to be offensive. Maybe he thought that Yurio would relax.” 

(ep 9) Yuuri has been able to work hard so far because he wants to win a gold medal and is confident that he is good enough to succeed. Even though Yuuri might look weak, he actually has been fighting the whole time.

(ep 9) The person Yurio most wanted to eat a katsudon pirozhki is Yuuri.

(ep 9) Victor hadn’t yet decided how long he would be Yuuri’s coach but hearing his feelings made him happy and made him realize that Yuuri also wanted to stay with him “until the end” (which Victor gladly wanted to do).

(ep 10) Yuuri bought both rings.

(ep 10) Victor is worried about people thinking that he has become stagnant and that he is dead as a competitor (or will become like that eventually).

(ep 10) In the scene by the beach, Victor was starting to seriously consider his future.

(ep 11) “Victor used to think that new surprises and impressive feats is something that he needed to create himself, however after becoming Yuuri’s coach his world broadened, he realized that it’s not necessarily that way and this changed him.”

(ep 11) “The reason Yurio could pull off his best performance is that many elements like his experience and the environment surrounding him all blended together perfectly right at this time. […] Every single second of a young and strong athlete’s performance is the result of their efforts. I wanted to show this with Yurio’s SP. ”

(ep 11) Victor and Chris have been in the Olympics and in ice shows together until now.

(ep 11) “Chris is probably the one that was closer to Victor in his career, and I think that Victor does genuinely like Chris’ skating. […] I believe they are good comrades.”

(ep 11) “JJ calls himself the “king”, but if you think about it as long as Victor was around he could only really become the king in the World Junior Championships or the Four Continents Champsionships… I realized that JJ is only saying that to motivate himself and in fact he is not a real king, he is just behaving like he is because it’s his goal, and fans are cheering on him for that… and in a way that moved me.”

(ep 12) “The part that I like the most in this episode is Yuuri’s monologue before he skates: ‘My name is Yuuri Katsuki. I’m just an ordinary figure skater, 24 years old.’ This is the same line he said in episode 1, so it’s like he is going back to his origin, and I think it’s the moment where he finally accepts himself. I cried writing the storyboard.”

(ep 12) Victor didn’t hug Yurio because he was begging for help to stop Yuuri from retiring or because he was asking for something. He only wanted Yurio to skate his best and wanted to show his support.

(ep 12) “The reason Yurio cries after finishing is also not something logical. But I think it was probably because he could skate at its best, and because of the sense of fulfillment caused by being able to skate that well despite a few mistakes. I’m sure he himself didn’t really understand his own feelings at that time.”

(ep 12) Victor and Yuuri tried doing lifts while fooling around during practice and ended up incorporating them in the “Hanarezu ni soba ni ite” performance. [My headcanon became canon, bless.]

(ep 12) “The selfish decision ultimately taken by the selfish Yuuri Katsuki was to continue competitive skating. I think there were many reasons that led to this conclusion. Not only what Victor gave him, but Yurio’s performance in the FS also managed to pull Yuuri back to the ice, and maybe he was influenced by the other athletes’ performances too. However, Yurio definitely wanted to see more of Yuuri’s skating, and Victor wanted as well. I guess Yuuri might be finally realizing how much things have changed from one year ago, when he almost decided to quit, and how now he’s on a completely different path.”

Ah, I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently so thank you for giving me an excuse to talk about it haha.

I was rewatching the entire anime recently and I’ve come to the conclusion that Yuuri realized that he was in love with Victor after episode 7 and by episode 8 they are already a couple.

Some may disagree, but allow me to explain my point:

In the first four episodes Yuuri was still getting used to the idea that Victor - his lifelong idol - was also a human being, and not only that, was now his coach and was always right there. At the beginning of episode 4 he still remarks that he feels like he’s now being coached by a god and he still doesn’t know how to act. By episode 5, they are much closer and the emotional distance between them is much smaller, but they’re not quite there when it comes to romance yet.

A key thing that we should mention here is what happened in those 4-5 months between episode 4 and episode 5. A lot of it is left out and we just don’t know what exactly happens between them except for one thing. Remember the ED sequence?

The creators have said that they actually intended to feature the beach scene and the shower scene from the ED in the anime, but they ran out of time, so they put them in the ED instead (it was in a magazine, but I can’t recall which one right now). Which means that these events not only happened, but that they even took place between eps 4 and 5, which definitely makes sense since we basically miss out on Victor and Yuuri’s entire summer.

I think that in those few months we don’t get to see, Yuuri and Victor grow physically close. They get used to not only each others’ presence, but each others’ touch, and this is especially true for Yuuri. As we see in episode 5, he’s already cool with Victor’s touch (the lip balm moment) and with his hugs (right after the lip balm moment). Yes, the first time we see the hug in the episode Yuuri is startled, but I think it’s more due to the fact that it’s so sudden and not that he’s not used to them.

Episode 5 is also when Yuuri announces his theme - love. I don’t think he fully realizes that part of what he has with Victor is romantic love yet - for now he still thinks of it more as admiration, respect, support, but he also know that these can be defined as love. And he goes ahead with that theme, feeling confident enough to say that ‘love’ is the closest thing to what he has with Victor (and his family and friends of course, considering that it’s more than one type of love).

By episode 6 and the Cup of China, Yuuri is all into the idea that he’s expressing love and Victor’s love especially, which he highlights throughout the episode. I think by now, there is some wishful thinking going on within him, like “Hey, I might be feeling things, maybe he feels it too?” But at the same time, he’s insecure and doubts himself and the idea that Victor could feel something more for him too, which is highlighted in the line “Don’t ever take your eyes off me”. There’s a part of him that still worries that Victor won’t give him his full attention, that he’s not good enough for Victor to care enough and watch him the whole way through. This feeling of inadequacy naturally also translates into his feelings for Victor and is probably why he never even attempts to ask Victor for more - relationship-wise - he thinks Victor is way out of his league.

And then comes episode 7.  In general this is a very important episode for the both of them, one of the major things being that Yuuri realizes that Victor is also human and is inexperienced and makes mistakes. The other big thing is of course, the kiss and the little moment when they look at each other while laying on the ice - it’s when Yuuri realizes he not only has a chance, but that maybe Victor likes him. Likes him more than just as a skater. He realizes that he wants Victor to like him, that the feeling is mutual. And like that, they get together before the Rostelecom Cup.

What makes me think that they’re already a couple by episode 8 is how explicit Yuuri is about pulling Victor close by his necktie and telling him that he will show their love to all of Russia - he’s never done that before, but now he’s confident enough to tell Victor his intentions for the program, as well as to show off their newly deepened bond to an entirely new audience - something he wouldn’t do unless there would be something more between them.

So yes, TL;DR: Victor and Yuuri grow physically closer between episodes 4 and 5. They grow emotionally closer between episodes 5 and 6. By episode 6, Yuuri is starting to feel something more. And by the end of episode 7 Yuuri realizes that he is in love and so is Victor. By episode 8 they are already a couple.

So to answer the question: Yuuri started developing romantic feelings for Victor alongside their growing physical closeness, but wasn’t quite aware of them until episode 6, and only fully gave in to them in (and after) episode 7.

Haha…so…*guiltily posts this months later* I had this in my drafts 70% completed since episode 10 came out, but with episode 11 and 12 the fandom exploded on other issues, and I thought it was kind of irrelevant since the rings have so many layers of meaning already. But in PASH magazine’s March issue, Kubo-sensei actually brings this up. 

I ended up cleaning this post and after finding out that @sachiro​ was going to make a similar post, we decided to have “pair posts” to submit for victuuriweek. You can read their yoi meta here , which discusses and connects specific moments throughout the series to the points I’ll lay out in the second half of this post.

About Yuuri’s charm. Yuuri has a figure skating precedent for buying jewelry to act as a charm - it isn’t a blasé “lots of good stuff around here…yeah, rings can make good charms, right? idk, but I’m doing it anyway.” Here’s yet another layer.

Charms are a legitimate THING in figure skating.

You won’t read about this in figure skating intros or on Wikipedia, and you won’t hear commentators talk about it either (if it’s brought up, consider it a stroke of luck and immediately save that video/interview forever). Unless you follow skaters to the point of knowing about their personal lives, then this is one meaningful aspect of figure skating that is easy to miss.

And he made it to the GPF, you know? He’s one of the top 6 skaters in the world, right off the bat! It took us a few episodes to understand Yuuri’s character to realize the context of these statements, but we figured out pretty early on that Yuuri is the embodiment of Unreliable Narrator™. Especially after ep10, jfc. 

Anyway, why I’m bringing this up is because Kubo seemed to confirm a little theory of mine I’ve had stewing for a while and I wanted to share it with you.

So. Episode 1. The commemorative photo scene. 

I wanna first establish that this scene took place before the banquet. During the series run, sometime just afterwards, and occasionally even now there’s debate over when that scene took place. It wouldn’t make sense to happen after the banquet because they’re not only still wearing the team jackets, but they’re also wearing passes

The outside sign has information about the competition 

and Victor is talking to Yuri about his routines

which he probably wouldn’t do if it was up to a day later. 

We know how the rest of the scene goes. Victor seems to not recognize Yuuri at all, mistakes him for a fan, asks if he wants a photo, and then Yuuri leaves, thoroughly humiliated. Or, at least, that’s Yuuri’s version of what happened. I think generally everything that was said got said, all the movements and series of events were the same, but the implications of the offer were different. 

I have multiple anxiety disorders. When I remember something that I felt was a misstep or caused embarrassment, I always remember it slightly off. A person’s tone is more mocking or condescending, my reaction is worse than it was. There’s a lot of shame when it comes to anxiety and your mind immediately assumes you’re viewed to be–and are–on a lower pedestal than everyone else. Yuuri, clearly, has severe anxiety, so I don’t think it’s much of a stretch to think that, since this is from his perspective, maybe reality is a bit different than what he is able to give us. 

Anyway, my thoughts had no basis, so I’ve kept them to myself, but then Kubo came out and said this:

and then the fanbase lit up in flames because Victor know Yuuri was a fan before the banquet. But this also implies one thing I got super excited about: Victor has seen him skate, before the commemorative photo scene. 

meaning that everyone’s preconception that Victor mistook Yuuri for a fan has been completely blown out of the water. 

So, why would Victor ask him about a photo then? 

I think it’s important to keep in mind that Victor likes to make people feel good about their abilities. He likes teaching others, and he likes motivating them too. He gets pleasure out of seeing people rise to their potential. 

Although he’s flighty and kind of an airhead, and tends to ignore what he doesn’t find interesting, I don’t think Victor would ignore the scorings or the competitors landing below 3rd place. Victor clearly knew that Yuuri fell to last place, hard. This is just speculation, but maybe Yuri mentioned to Victor the incident with Yuuri crying in the bathroom. Or, perhaps Victor had already seen the press about Yuuri: he’s notorious for losing his nerve during competitions and failing to meet his potential. When Yuuri goes down, he tends to crash and burn. 

(also honda’s words imply yuuri usually performs very well)

Victor likes making people happy and better versions of themselves. Now he’s faced with the competitor who fell to last place, staring at him a few feet away. A competitor who is known for his anxiety and tendency to shy away from others. A competitor who just so happens to be a fan. So, what is Victor to do to help Yuuri feel better, or even open up a bit?

Initiate conversation. Try to reel him in to interacting with an open, non-threatening question and a tried-and-true welcoming smile. 

“Commemorative Photo?”

Victor didn’t mistake Yuuri for a non-competing fan, he knew who Yuuri was and was just trying his best to make Yuuri feel better. Victor, as we’ve seen throughout the series, resorts to giving comfort through action rather than words first and foremost. Unfortunately for him, this is not what Yuuri needs. 

It backfired. But I think Victor had good intentions. They were strangers so it’s not like Victor could just walk up and start a motivating speech. He tried to invite Yuuri to talk to him, someone Yuuri looked up to, and maybe they could talk and Victor could brighten his day? 

Victor wasn’t very tactile, and Yuuri didn’t stand his ground and identify himself, so they got nowhere with that. 

I’m so glad Kubo said this. This face looks like a combination of surprise and disappointment, perhaps not only in Yuuri rejecting him but also in himself for not being able to help.

and this face 

looks more concerned and surprised that Yuuri showed rather than like “oh shit, he’s a competitor.”

Perhaps one reason I love Victor as a character is because when I started watching the show I expected something very different from what we got. In the first episode, we as the audience are introduced to Victor Nikiforov, top athlete and celebrity. This Victor is cool, calm, collected. This Victor throws a flirtatious wink at his fans and melts hearts worldwide. This Victor only smiles when he’s on the ice, receiving adulation for his prowess, and is quiet and contemplative in interviews and in his home.

And then of course, we meet the real Victor, the one who danced drunkenly with a stranger and then moved into his house after watching a fateful internet video. The real Victor is absolutely ridiculous. He’s a hedonist. He loves good food, good alcohol, and being comfortable. He lounges about in a loose robe and immediately buys a sofa to fit in his tiny guest room. He relaxes in a hot spring every night and waxes poetic about the beauty of the ocean. And he is unabashedly, overwhelmingly enthusiastic about his interests. He’s delighted by so many things, he loves to be a tourist and enjoy new sights and places. He revels in the drama of competition and approaches every challenge in as over-the-top manner as possible. He thinks about the people he knows in terms of grandiose metaphors and fairy tales.