If you're anything like me, you watch a lot of anime. Like, a lot of anime. From classics like "Cowboy Bebop" and "One Piece" to modern showstoppers like "Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid" and "My Hero Academia"and even an American-made anime like "RWBY."
But there was one within the past few years that stole everyone's hearts and ran away with them: "Yuri!!! on Ice."
Who thought an anime all about figure skating would become such a national sensation? Even real-life professional figure skaters were singing the show's praises. I certainly have a preference for more action-based anime (the fight scenes are amazing, can you really blame me?), but I had watched "Yuri!!! on Ice" because a friend of mine had become obsessed, and I wanted to see what all the hype was about. I fell in love with the show faster and harder than I have ever fallen in love with anything.
The animation was beautiful, the characters were funny and driven, and the music melted your heart, not to mention all the food in the show looked unfairly delicious (seriously, where did these people get permission to make every dish look so mouth-watering?!). Watching the characters put their heart and soul into their programs and competing for gold was just heartening, as well as the evolution and strengthening of the relationship between Yuri and his coach, Viktor, over the course of the season as they fall in love on and off the ice. It became a favorite of mine that I still rewatch and don't get sick of.
Now that the time for the Winter Olympics has arrived and figure skating is an event, the Japanese Olympic figure skating duo Miu Suzaki and Ryuichi Kihara paid homage to the anime by skating to the song used by Yuri Katsuki (the main protagonist of the anime) for his free skate program, bringing "Yuri!!! on Ice" to life at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
I'd be more detailed about their beautiful program, but everything I know about figure skating is from an anime so I don't think I'm well-versed enough to give it a try. But I can tell you with confidence is that figure skating is a gorgeous sport that requires a lot of dedication and hard work, and all the skaters earned the right to be proud of themselves the moment they stepped on the ice for practice, not just the Olympic stage.
Above is a video of the performance, as well as some highlights and them receiving their score (56.95 for their Short Program!). If you haven't seen it and want to check out Yuri!!! on Ice for yourself, you can watch it at crunchyroll.com (along with plenty of other amazing anime that I won't plug right now).