Yuri!!! On ICE and the revolutionary portrayal of queer Slavic representation
Of all the amazing things about the show, one of the most striking to me was the revolutionary way it portrayed the intersection of queer and Slavic identity.
Of all the amazing things about the show, one of the most striking to me was the revolutionary way it portrayed the intersection of queer and Slavic identity.
Anime (like media in general) has a rough record when it comes to body positivity. Fat-shaming is frequent and even stories that attempt positivity often fall into fetishization. Fortunately, there are bright spots as well, particularly in series that integrate fat characters without drawing attention to it.
The Roaring Twenties are right around the bend! Before we turn that corner and leave the Turbulent Tens behind us, we wanted to lavish some love on the standout titles of the last ten years.
AniFem staffer Caitlin sat down with Yamamoto Sayo at AnimeFest 2017 to talk about Yuri on Ice, her themes, and her career.
During the Chatty AF Fushigi Yugi watchalong, Caitlin, Dee, and Vrai would frequently chat privately about the show. While watching the OVAs, the conversation turned to the relationship between a pair of supporting characters, which in turn developed into a spontaneous discussion about age-gap romances in fiction. As the subject is a complicated one (and particularly topical given recent anime), the team thought it worthwhile to expand it into a roundtable and publish it for the site.
Throughout my ever-growing love for all things manga and anime, there have been a lot of pretty good and some downright horrible portrayals of Latinx people.
Last year, Yuri!!! On ICE took the anime community by storm. Whether it was from the passionate portrayal of figure skating, the queer romance, or the sincere way it cared for its characters, it resonated with many. I’m no exception.
Because moe characters are courageous in their fear, I’m able to find inspiration in these girls who step out from hiding to stand victorious beside their friends or charge into battle for the sake of love.
Translators are human, and humans make mistakes. This post is not about translation errors. This is about the choice simulcasting companies currently make to leave problematic translations intact.
Yuri!!! On ICE might’ve been one of the best things about 2016. It engaged viewers, offered one of the most positive portrayals of a queer relationship I’ve ever seen in anime, and—most importantly—offered me a chance to talk about Yamamoto Sayo, a director whose works have until now struggled to gain attention despite their high quality.
We’d been talking internally about our feminist recommendations of 2016, and some of the team wanted to go into a bit more detail on some of their favorites.
What makes a trash character? What’s the connection between trash characters and other anime archetypes, like moe or chuunibyou? How are male and female trash characters portrayed differently?
In episode 7, Yuri on Ice directly connected Victor to famous gay skater Johnny Weir. Meanwhile, members of the anime fandom are digging their heels in about whether Victor throwing himself lips first at Yuri was actually gay.
While they take place in very different settings, Rakugo Shinju and Yuri on Ice both challenge cultural expectations about how men should or shouldn’t act, and show why it’s important to cast aside restrictive gender roles and play to our own strengths.
There’s a misconception that feminists believe any and all fan service is always bad. But in this feminist’s opinion, fan service goes wrong when it interrupts the mood of the show.
If this first episode is anything to go by, Yuri on Ice will be anime of the season for me.