#yoi analysis

(some of this is kinda headcanon, but it’s based on what is implied in canon)

It’s evident from the beginning that Yuuri sees himself as not enough. He doesn’t think he’s good enough, attractive enough, sexy enough, or talented enough to be Victor’s student. These fears introduce his struggle with anxiety long before he enters his first Grand Prix competition. He doesn’t think he’s good enough to deserve Victor’s attention, he doesn’t think he’s talented enough to beat Yurio, he doesn’t think he can keep Victor in Hasetsu with him when the world wants him back in Russia, competing.

And although his confidence grows throughout the series, his self-doubt is still very evident in their argument in episode 11. Yuuri doesn’t think his career is worth more than Victor’s career. Yuuri doesn’t even consider the romantic value of their relationship, only comparing the success of their careers, because even with all the validation he receives from Victor, he doesn’t know just how much his love means to Victor, and he’s scared of overestimating it. Yuuri’s ongoing fear is not being enough.

Victor, on the other hand, is an enigma. Throughout the show, Yuuri’s unreliable narration makes it difficult to know exactly how Victor feels. Victor is scared of being too much. When he arrived in Hasetsu, he was expecting a very different welcome— something akin to the sensual, sexy, confident dancer he encountered at the banquet— and is instead greeted by a shy, unconfident skater, who can’t grasp why Victor would be there to coach him of all people.

Though Victor initially tried to coax Yuuri out of his shell by being extremely forward, he realized that he needs to give Yuuri his space, and meet him in the middle— not force Yuuri to let him in when he’s not ready. Yuuri challenges Victor in episode 4 by telling Victor to be himself. For so long, Victor had been performing in every aspect of his life; every season wiping the slate clean and beginning again, constructing a new persona for himself. He was seen as a force of nature, a whirlwind, a god. Nobody has ever asked him to be himself before. He’s afraid he’s too messy, too impulsive, too Victor to be what Yuuri wants, which is why he asks Yuuri to give him a role in the first place.

Although Victor’s extra-ness is far from lacking in the following episodes, he’s significantly toned down how direct he is, and instead motivates and challenges Yuuri through his small touches and words. When Yuuri is crying in the parking garage in episode 7, Victor doesn’t know how to react, and slips back into a suave bachelor persona— “Should I just kiss you or something?”— in order to keep his messy self hidden; the kind that doesn’t know how to handle when people cry, the kind that acts impulsively, the kind that really doesn’t know what he’s doing. And Yuuri challenges him again. He doesn’t want Victor to be fake, to hide his true self behind a mask. He just wants Victor to stand by him, as himself. This could be another reason why Victor was so angry when Yuuri wanted to end things for the sake of Victor’s career. Victor had given himself, all of his whole, messy, impulsive, imperfect, balding self to Yuuri, who wanted to give it up for the sake of Victor’s suffocating career, his persona as The World’s Most Eligible Bachelor, God of Figure Skating, Victor Nikiforov. It felt like a rejection of his true self, the one that was shown to Yuuri after he painfully tore down all the walls he had to protect his fragile heart. Victor is afraid that his true self is too much.

But together, they fit together like a puzzle piece. When Victor is afraid he’s too much, Yuuri embraces all of it— all of the messiness, all of the tears, shattering those masks one by one and letting them pick up the pieces together. When Yuuri is afraid he’s not enough, Victor helps him build himself back up, showing him that he is strong and deserving of everything he has.

This probably was brought up in the past, when YoI was ultra popular, but Victor story pre-Hasetsu parallels Princess Aurora's story so well, that if it wasn't intentional, Sayo or Mitsurou was surely possessed by Tchaikovsky's ghost.

In episode 1, after Yuuri met with Yuuko for the first time in 5 years, he starts reminiscing about Yuuko and the time they've spent skating together in Hasetsu. One highlight of Yuuri's memories in that scene is that it was Yuuko who showed him Victor for the first time on TV one day when he was still 11-12 year old.

The directing in that scene though...

im rewatching yoi and is at ep 2 now. in this scene Viktor was crying with a pained expression. prolly scrolled on his phone 4 a while before crying to sleep.. man was sad and frustrated and lonely.

A very close second to that is my need for more pair skating with Victuuri!! Watching them practice together and then the exhibition skate at the end about did me! They are so beautiful together and you can see how much they love each other!! I love them so much 😅😅😅

Back on my bullshit.

Rewatching parts of YOI for fanfic inspo and noticed this very brief expression of shock Victor shows right when Yuuri leans his forehead intimately against Victor’s before the short program in episode 6.

Love the contrast between Yuuri’s determined, assertive face and Victor’s astounded blush. It drives me nuts when I read fics where Victor is the only forward one in the relationship. It takes a bit for Yuuri to get revved up, but once he is, he gets Victor (and honestly everyone else in the room) to quake in his very expensive shoes.

In other words, he shook.

We all shook.

Watching the blessed Barcelona pre-Grand Prix Final episode and noticed when Victor is taking photos of Chris, that his language settings appear to be Japanese rather than cyrillic. At first, I took into account that due to the origin of the studio, that would make sense, however please accept this headcanon:

Up to this point Victor and Yuuri have grown so much together, this entire episode is literally about how much their lives have changed due to the love they have for one another and this small detail of his language settings being different and thinking about Victor learning Yuuri’s native tongue in order to maybe communicate with his loved ones better or even just for the sake of learning it for Yuuri just pulls at my heart. He dives in head first with learning the language, so much so that he practices with the settings on his phone.

So, this is a post I’ve really wanted to make for a while. And, I know how much people seem to like my metas, so why not? I will preface this with the fact I am not a musical expert. I had vocal training, was in a few choirs etc., but I have no qualifications, I’m just a nerd who’s really into music and analysis. I would be perfectly okay with someone with experience sweeping in to tell me I’m completely wrong, these are just my personal thoughts and observations. Also, if you want to skim this, I’m bolding the main points.

I have a bone to pick with the Yuri On Ice Original Soundtrack(s), because they’re absolute bloody genius. And personally I think, represent a lot about Viktor and Yuuri’s relationship.

My main focus will be on three: Kamome, Passacaille In Barcelona, and Yuri On Ice itself. To stop it from getting to a ridiculous length, I’m going to be tackling this in three different parts. 

First, the appropriately named Kamome (translating to ‘seagull’ in Japanese).

One thing you have to understand is that consistently in the music, Viktor is represented by strings, and Yuuri by piano. I’m not going to claim that this is true for 100% of the anime, but honestly just listen to background in the scenes for the characters (even down to their Free Skate music! The difference between Stammi Vicino and Yuri On Ice!), you’ll see what I mean.

Personally, I think this represents their personalities. Though it’s true you can pluck strings pretty quickly if you want to, none of that really happens in the pieces we care about. In fact, Viktor’s pieces are always so steady sounding (some are waltzes, I believe? A very sturdy dance and beat). Whereas, a lot of the piano represented by Yuuri is super erratic and unpredictable. I don’t think I really need to go that deep into explaining why that represents them both, and what they brought to each other’s lives so beautifully. But oh boy, the piano and string pieces meant to represent the both of them together?

We see Kamome used in three scenes, which all represent similar events in that the scenes start with Yuuri fighting on his own, and end with a greater bond between he and Viktor. Those scenes are:

Yuuri running off to practice figures in Ice Castle (episode two)

The infamous beach conversation (episode four)

The Christmas market scene (episode ten)

And the same story is told through the music too!

Now I believe the figures scene and the market scene both use the exact same clip of the music, which happens to be the start. Honestly, just listen to how innocent it sounds. For me at least, the first part of Kamome reminds me of a music box. Which, if we take that image, makes me think of repetition (you know those spinning ballet dancers and such? – Interesting that we see Yuuri skating figures with this playing).

Now, these two scenes skip the strings sections and just keep the little piano parts. And to be fair, these are both scenes that only lead up to Yuuri bonding with Viktor, hence the solo piano; Yuuri is fighting on his own, making his own choices.

So, we’re left with one scene were the music is pretty much as it appears on the purchasable soundtrack: the beach scene. This is, in my opinion, the best symbolic use of the music. First of all, we start off with the innocent sounding piano as Yuuri recounts that story of Detroit, which again portrays him in a naïve and kind of childish/innocent light. And finally, we get the strings at this moment:

As soon as Viktor reaches out to Yuuri, the music has a different mood. The strings fill in the gaps the piano left, almost swirling around it and complimenting it in the best of ways. If you will, Viktor is literally meeting Yuuri where he is, both in animation and their figurative strings/piano representations.

The music for that scene ends there, but if you listen to the whole piece, it almost tells the story of Viktor and Yuuri all together. This is going to be a lot easier if you actually listen to it, the music is on both Spotify and Youtube.

0:00-0:28 We have the innocent music box piano, AKA Yuuri on his own

0:28-0:51 The strings have joined in, but the piano definitely seems to be leading, so this part represents where Viktor followed Yuuri’s lead, and decided to ‘meet him where he is’

0:51-1:10 This part feels more like a mutual balance, showing how Yuuri has begun to accept Viktor’s presence, and even trusts him more.

1:10-1:20 The piano is alone again, but this time much more playful. For me, this sounds like an invitation, especially with the little flourish at the end that begs to be completed. The anime literally shows this, as it’s the same moment Yuuri actually extends his hand to Viktor in invitation.

1:20-2:00 This honestly sounds more like the strings are now leading, showing how Yuuri has finally put his faith in Viktor. Now the piano sounds like the steady beat, which could perhaps represent how the tone of the anime shifts as we find more out about Viktor, and see how Yuuri created stability in his life too.

2:00-2:18 The piano and the strings are now in perfect harmony, creating a beautiful, romantic sounding duet as they’re less distinguishable from each other. To be honest, this is the exact conclusion of Viktor and Yuuri’s relationship in canon – just take a look at the Stammi Vicino Duetto

To be completely honest, I have no idea whether the Yuri On Ice creators actually intended this to be such a perfect representation of viktuuri or not, but I kind of think it is? Why? Kamome. Seagull. Through the entire series, seagulls are used consistently as a symbol for Viktor and Yuuri’s love. Sometimes it’s a mere background shot, but it is explicitly brought to our attention. Although it could just be called Kamome due to the beach scene it’s in, I have to think it’s deeper than that.  

So, long story short, some serious praise is deserved, because this is symbolic genius.

Even if you don’t buy into my analysis, please listen to it because it is a BEAUTIFUL piece of music.