Shall we skate? :｡･:*:･ﾟ'♪ ♫ ♪ [YOI 11]
So much skating in this week's Yuri on Ice! This totally makes up for the lack of it in the previous. Especially Phichit! <3
All right!
I was spoilered again for this one, though most of the spoilers were pretty vague (unlike, say, last time). So, I'm not really sure what I'm in for. Here we go!
WHOA, those changes in the OP, with the images of the finalists in the background...! NEAT. This really is almost the end, isn't it. On the one hand, I'm going to be a little sad to see the series end with next week's episode. On the other hand... I'm not a fan of series that go longer than, say, 13 episodes; I tend to not have the patience for them. So, I'm glad for what we have, even if part of me will want more I'm sure. But, anyway-
THE RINGS
THE RIIIINGS
What a touching scene. :'D Jesus, I can't believe we got actual ring-kissing. I keep saying that, with regard to Victor and Yuuri's relations, this series meets and exceeds all of my desires, and... yeah, that's basically it. No matter what will happen in the final, I've had everything I could possibly ask for, and more. This is actually why I don't seek out fanwork for these two, aside from appreciating the art that does cross my dash; I don't need to read fic for them when the canon itself has everything I would want in a story. (So, instead, I devote all of my fannish love to the secondary skaters. <3 But I digress.)
I find the part about the base scoring pretty interesting - that without that quad flip, Yuuri doesn't stand a chance at topping JJ. It really underscores the fact that (asshat though he is) JJ is a pretty formidable foe. He sure has the quads to prove it, anyway.
...That hug between Victor and Yuuri when they're talking about whether he should put the flip in his SP, though! So CUTE! I love Victor's enthusiasm at the idea of Yuuri being able to land that thing in competition. And - OH MY GODS, that part in the actual SP, when Victor was so excited at seeing it that he jumped up as if he was going to do the flip, too! SO CUTE! That excited spin! SO ADORABLE! I normally don't find Victor this adorable, that just - that was way too cute. TOO CUTE.
(Ahhh too bad Yuuri touched down, though... BUT HE LANDED IT. HE LANDED THAT SUCKER. GO YUURI!)
Wow, the way he collapsed on the ice after that... Poor guy. I want to hug him. But more importantly - how the fuck did Yuuri's skate not break 100, I CALL SHENANIGANS. Actually, this is one of the things I came across when I was scrolling through discussion - that those who go first can have a spectacularly difficult time with it, because the judges tend to score conservatively at first. Makes sense, but... argharghargh.
Ah, but anyway, here's Phichit!!!! <3 <3
...Oh my gods that flashback of kiddo!Phichit is about the most adorable thing I've ever seen. What a sweetie. <3
Ahh and his internal monologue about how the only quad he can do is toe loop - it's cool that we'd get that, now that we have Kubo's chart of which quads the finalists can do ( this one). He's at a real disadvantage compared to the others. But at least he knows how to work the crowd! <3 (Oh man, his expression when he landed that quad was... really hot... I don't think we got to see that part in the Cup of China episode?!)
"It's a waste if I'm not as excited as a child!" Oh, Phichit <3 <3 <3 I love this guy SO MUCH. He's just so happy that he made it through to the GPF.
....Oh my gods, that flashback with him and Yuuri and those adorable hamsters, I just about died. "Some day I'll skate to [this song], and you'll be there too!" MY HEART. He's so sweet. He just wants to skate to that song, and compete on the same ice as his friend, and represent his country! Ahhh I love him so much. <3
THOSE TEARS... one of the spoilers I saw was of Phichit crying, and it made me worried that he'd skated terribly! But it was the exact opposite. That was beautiful, and I'm so glad that they're happy tears. He's really, really stolen my heart. I love how happy he is to just be there, skating and making history for Thailand.
(...Also, wtf, this bit with him crying, why do I find it hot - brain, why.)
(Well, actually, it IS sort of vaguely erotic, I mean-)
(Ahem, moving on.)
Hmm, Yurio. I find it interesting that we didn't get his internal monologue, only commentary that other people have about him. But AHA, I knew it! He finally nailed the Agape performance! And I figured that his friendship with Otabek would be partly what motivated him, but I didn't expect that we'd get to see everyone else in there as well! <3
They're really setting him up as a new Victor, aren't they... (Complete with flashback to young Victor, and Yakov making the connection, hmm.) It makes me wonder if he will do as well as this in the Free Skate. It would make narrative sense for him to be on the podium, but getting the gold, hmm, I don't know. But that record-breaking SP was impressive (score-wise, at least. I'm not a fan of the Agape program actually, even when he does nail it.)
Aaand here we have Chris again. Funny how in-story, the crowd loves him, whereas I haven't come across anybody in real life who actually likes his skating, or at least his Intoxicated SP. It's interesting to watch him again, now that we know him a little better. In fact, I thought that most of his performance would be cut, since we already saw him at Cup of China, but eh. I like that we get a bit more insight into him once more here - also, wow, in that brief flashback, he looks really hot with glasses on... Not to mention that I'm glad we finally got to see him with his adorable cat. <3 And I like that he acknowledges that he doesn't have many years left before he'll have to stop competing. Dude sure isn't getting any younger.
OTABEK. AHH Yurio cheering Otabek on is so cute! Hmm, I don't know what I expected Otabek's costume to look like, but this isn't quite what I expected. Nice, though. Very folksy.
"There is no right path. The ice is a battlefield. I am going to survive!" Wow... Impressive. So determined! <3 No wonder that he'd find Yurio, with the "eyes of a soldier" (apparently), to be someone who'd stick in his mind. Hmm, I wonder, since he didn't do ballet after that experience in Russia, I wonder if he took inspiration/teaching from dance forms in other areas - I'm thinking traditional Kazakh stuff maybe - I mean, I can't tell the difference, but Victor sure does seem to think that Otabek's style is exotic! (Much to Yuuri's upset, lol)
Anyway, I'm so glad that we finally got to see Otabek skate. <3 Since his quads were blanked out on the quad chart, I had expected that he would pull out something unexpected for his program, but it looks like what we got as an unusual style and triple axles with very impressive height + distance. I wonder if he has something unusual for his Free Skate - none of the other competing skaters can land a quad loop, so that would be really impressive, but maybe a little bit too unrealistic for Otabek (all of the skating pushes the bounds of realism, but shhh). And then there is the quad flip, which only Yuuri can do. A quad lutz is also a possibility - it isn't as out-there as the other two options, but it's also special since the only ones who can land that are Chris, who is experienced, and JJ, who is close to Otabek's age but has crazypants skills.
Or maybe he'll try for something typical, but with atypical height and distance, like he did with the impressive triple axles. Argh, now I really can hardly wait to watch his Free Skate!
Now... JJ. I am so totally not into that purple outfit, seriously, what even is that. It was hideous the first time I saw it, and it's hideous now. Who the hell designed that thing? Actually, you know, if it was black + sparkle trim, it might look decent, but with that hideous shade of purple - well, never mind.
...More importantly, what even is with these fuckups. Wowww, this guy is totally choking -- ahh there we go, he picked himself up. I kind of have a new appreciation for his girlfriend, the way she kept cheering for him even though he messed up so badly. She's cute. <3 Wish we knew her name, though. [Edit] Oh, she had a name in the credits, apparently - Isabella Yang! Nice, I like that name. :D Good to know, if I ever decide to write something with her in it....
Man, JJ getting nervous was something I expected, since I'd been spoiled for it (complete with screencap of the other skaters LOOMING MENACINGLY at him in his imagination, pfff, so dramatic!) But I didn't expect him to be doing singles. Wow. I expected, you know, more like a splatfest - not landing his jumps. Still surprised that his score isn't lower, though - or that Yuuri's and Phichit's were't higher. (Time to shake my fist at the judges again.)
This episode felt so short. On the upside, SO MUCH SKATING. Especially Phichit. Phichit was amazing.
That shot that we got of the final points and placement is fucking balls and kind of pisses me off in the way that real scoring might, heh. PHICHIT WAS ROBBED. AND SO WAS YUURI. Phichit skated a perfect program. Yuuri skated almost-perfect as far as the technical stuff goes; he even landed his flip - not a clean land, sure, but he didn't fall. There is no way their scores should be that low. HIGHWAY ROBBERY, I TELL YOU.
I think that Yuuri will be able to reach gold, or at least the podium, if he absolutely nails his free skate, including doing a clean land on the quad flip. He almost did it for Eros, so I think he'll manage to do it again. As for Phichit... who the hell knows if my darling prince can catch up, heh. We already know that he's capable of a flawless FS, and he's good with the artistic elements, but as far as technical stuff goes, he can only do one quad. Character-wise, he's obviously just happy to be in Barcelona at all, but I want him on the podium, please and thank you.
As for the little snip that we get post-ED, "Let's end this" - I've seen people freaking out about it pretty much everywhere. So, I wasn't sure what to expect. But now that I've seen it, I feel... hmm... The way the scene was blocked (mood, expressions) and the way the line was delivered (tone) - something tells me that we don't have anything to worry about. I doubt Yuuri is talking about the relationship - It wouldn't make narrative sense. But I don't really know what he is talking about, either. Regardless of the specific subject, I do think that this is a cleverly-cut fake-out, and that a lot of people are going to be relieved when they actually watch the next episode. ;p
So, I guess we're all going to have to bite our nails and wait for a week to find out, heh. Good lord, next Wednesday is going to be... interesting. I hear that they're going to cut out the OP and the ED so that there will be a little bit more time to fit everything in. It's bound to be impressive. I CAN HARDLY WAIT!
This entry was originally posted at http://yuuago.dreamwidth.org/3524021.html. You can comment here or at the original entry.
All right!
I was spoilered again for this one, though most of the spoilers were pretty vague (unlike, say, last time). So, I'm not really sure what I'm in for. Here we go!
WHOA, those changes in the OP, with the images of the finalists in the background...! NEAT. This really is almost the end, isn't it. On the one hand, I'm going to be a little sad to see the series end with next week's episode. On the other hand... I'm not a fan of series that go longer than, say, 13 episodes; I tend to not have the patience for them. So, I'm glad for what we have, even if part of me will want more I'm sure. But, anyway-
THE RINGS
THE RIIIINGS
What a touching scene. :'D Jesus, I can't believe we got actual ring-kissing. I keep saying that, with regard to Victor and Yuuri's relations, this series meets and exceeds all of my desires, and... yeah, that's basically it. No matter what will happen in the final, I've had everything I could possibly ask for, and more. This is actually why I don't seek out fanwork for these two, aside from appreciating the art that does cross my dash; I don't need to read fic for them when the canon itself has everything I would want in a story. (So, instead, I devote all of my fannish love to the secondary skaters. <3 But I digress.)
I find the part about the base scoring pretty interesting - that without that quad flip, Yuuri doesn't stand a chance at topping JJ. It really underscores the fact that (asshat though he is) JJ is a pretty formidable foe. He sure has the quads to prove it, anyway.
...That hug between Victor and Yuuri when they're talking about whether he should put the flip in his SP, though! So CUTE! I love Victor's enthusiasm at the idea of Yuuri being able to land that thing in competition. And - OH MY GODS, that part in the actual SP, when Victor was so excited at seeing it that he jumped up as if he was going to do the flip, too! SO CUTE! That excited spin! SO ADORABLE! I normally don't find Victor this adorable, that just - that was way too cute. TOO CUTE.
(Ahhh too bad Yuuri touched down, though... BUT HE LANDED IT. HE LANDED THAT SUCKER. GO YUURI!)
Wow, the way he collapsed on the ice after that... Poor guy. I want to hug him. But more importantly - how the fuck did Yuuri's skate not break 100, I CALL SHENANIGANS. Actually, this is one of the things I came across when I was scrolling through discussion - that those who go first can have a spectacularly difficult time with it, because the judges tend to score conservatively at first. Makes sense, but... argharghargh.
Ah, but anyway, here's Phichit!!!! <3 <3
...Oh my gods that flashback of kiddo!Phichit is about the most adorable thing I've ever seen. What a sweetie. <3
Ahh and his internal monologue about how the only quad he can do is toe loop - it's cool that we'd get that, now that we have Kubo's chart of which quads the finalists can do ( this one). He's at a real disadvantage compared to the others. But at least he knows how to work the crowd! <3 (Oh man, his expression when he landed that quad was... really hot... I don't think we got to see that part in the Cup of China episode?!)
"It's a waste if I'm not as excited as a child!" Oh, Phichit <3 <3 <3 I love this guy SO MUCH. He's just so happy that he made it through to the GPF.
....Oh my gods, that flashback with him and Yuuri and those adorable hamsters, I just about died. "Some day I'll skate to [this song], and you'll be there too!" MY HEART. He's so sweet. He just wants to skate to that song, and compete on the same ice as his friend, and represent his country! Ahhh I love him so much. <3
THOSE TEARS... one of the spoilers I saw was of Phichit crying, and it made me worried that he'd skated terribly! But it was the exact opposite. That was beautiful, and I'm so glad that they're happy tears. He's really, really stolen my heart. I love how happy he is to just be there, skating and making history for Thailand.
(...Also, wtf, this bit with him crying, why do I find it hot - brain, why.)
(Well, actually, it IS sort of vaguely erotic, I mean-)
(Ahem, moving on.)
Hmm, Yurio. I find it interesting that we didn't get his internal monologue, only commentary that other people have about him. But AHA, I knew it! He finally nailed the Agape performance! And I figured that his friendship with Otabek would be partly what motivated him, but I didn't expect that we'd get to see everyone else in there as well! <3
They're really setting him up as a new Victor, aren't they... (Complete with flashback to young Victor, and Yakov making the connection, hmm.) It makes me wonder if he will do as well as this in the Free Skate. It would make narrative sense for him to be on the podium, but getting the gold, hmm, I don't know. But that record-breaking SP was impressive (score-wise, at least. I'm not a fan of the Agape program actually, even when he does nail it.)
Aaand here we have Chris again. Funny how in-story, the crowd loves him, whereas I haven't come across anybody in real life who actually likes his skating, or at least his Intoxicated SP. It's interesting to watch him again, now that we know him a little better. In fact, I thought that most of his performance would be cut, since we already saw him at Cup of China, but eh. I like that we get a bit more insight into him once more here - also, wow, in that brief flashback, he looks really hot with glasses on... Not to mention that I'm glad we finally got to see him with his adorable cat. <3 And I like that he acknowledges that he doesn't have many years left before he'll have to stop competing. Dude sure isn't getting any younger.
OTABEK. AHH Yurio cheering Otabek on is so cute! Hmm, I don't know what I expected Otabek's costume to look like, but this isn't quite what I expected. Nice, though. Very folksy.
"There is no right path. The ice is a battlefield. I am going to survive!" Wow... Impressive. So determined! <3 No wonder that he'd find Yurio, with the "eyes of a soldier" (apparently), to be someone who'd stick in his mind. Hmm, I wonder, since he didn't do ballet after that experience in Russia, I wonder if he took inspiration/teaching from dance forms in other areas - I'm thinking traditional Kazakh stuff maybe - I mean, I can't tell the difference, but Victor sure does seem to think that Otabek's style is exotic! (Much to Yuuri's upset, lol)
Anyway, I'm so glad that we finally got to see Otabek skate. <3 Since his quads were blanked out on the quad chart, I had expected that he would pull out something unexpected for his program, but it looks like what we got as an unusual style and triple axles with very impressive height + distance. I wonder if he has something unusual for his Free Skate - none of the other competing skaters can land a quad loop, so that would be really impressive, but maybe a little bit too unrealistic for Otabek (all of the skating pushes the bounds of realism, but shhh). And then there is the quad flip, which only Yuuri can do. A quad lutz is also a possibility - it isn't as out-there as the other two options, but it's also special since the only ones who can land that are Chris, who is experienced, and JJ, who is close to Otabek's age but has crazypants skills.
Or maybe he'll try for something typical, but with atypical height and distance, like he did with the impressive triple axles. Argh, now I really can hardly wait to watch his Free Skate!
Now... JJ. I am so totally not into that purple outfit, seriously, what even is that. It was hideous the first time I saw it, and it's hideous now. Who the hell designed that thing? Actually, you know, if it was black + sparkle trim, it might look decent, but with that hideous shade of purple - well, never mind.
...More importantly, what even is with these fuckups. Wowww, this guy is totally choking -- ahh there we go, he picked himself up. I kind of have a new appreciation for his girlfriend, the way she kept cheering for him even though he messed up so badly. She's cute. <3 Wish we knew her name, though. [Edit] Oh, she had a name in the credits, apparently - Isabella Yang! Nice, I like that name. :D Good to know, if I ever decide to write something with her in it....
Man, JJ getting nervous was something I expected, since I'd been spoiled for it (complete with screencap of the other skaters LOOMING MENACINGLY at him in his imagination, pfff, so dramatic!) But I didn't expect him to be doing singles. Wow. I expected, you know, more like a splatfest - not landing his jumps. Still surprised that his score isn't lower, though - or that Yuuri's and Phichit's were't higher. (Time to shake my fist at the judges again.)
This episode felt so short. On the upside, SO MUCH SKATING. Especially Phichit. Phichit was amazing.
That shot that we got of the final points and placement is fucking balls and kind of pisses me off in the way that real scoring might, heh. PHICHIT WAS ROBBED. AND SO WAS YUURI. Phichit skated a perfect program. Yuuri skated almost-perfect as far as the technical stuff goes; he even landed his flip - not a clean land, sure, but he didn't fall. There is no way their scores should be that low. HIGHWAY ROBBERY, I TELL YOU.
I think that Yuuri will be able to reach gold, or at least the podium, if he absolutely nails his free skate, including doing a clean land on the quad flip. He almost did it for Eros, so I think he'll manage to do it again. As for Phichit... who the hell knows if my darling prince can catch up, heh. We already know that he's capable of a flawless FS, and he's good with the artistic elements, but as far as technical stuff goes, he can only do one quad. Character-wise, he's obviously just happy to be in Barcelona at all, but I want him on the podium, please and thank you.
As for the little snip that we get post-ED, "Let's end this" - I've seen people freaking out about it pretty much everywhere. So, I wasn't sure what to expect. But now that I've seen it, I feel... hmm... The way the scene was blocked (mood, expressions) and the way the line was delivered (tone) - something tells me that we don't have anything to worry about. I doubt Yuuri is talking about the relationship - It wouldn't make narrative sense. But I don't really know what he is talking about, either. Regardless of the specific subject, I do think that this is a cleverly-cut fake-out, and that a lot of people are going to be relieved when they actually watch the next episode. ;p
So, I guess we're all going to have to bite our nails and wait for a week to find out, heh. Good lord, next Wednesday is going to be... interesting. I hear that they're going to cut out the OP and the ED so that there will be a little bit more time to fit everything in. It's bound to be impressive. I CAN HARDLY WAIT!
This entry was originally posted at http://yuuago.dreamwidth.org/3524021.html. You can comment here or at the original entry.