{"id":6870,"date":"2018-06-18T13:00:40","date_gmt":"2018-06-18T20:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/?p=6870"},"modified":"2018-06-17T20:14:17","modified_gmt":"2018-06-18T03:14:17","slug":"mark-watches-yuri-on-ice-s01e06-chinas-on-the-grand-prix-series-opening-event-the-cup-of-china-free-skate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/markwatches.net\/reviews\/2018\/06\/mark-watches-yuri-on-ice-s01e06-chinas-on-the-grand-prix-series-opening-event-the-cup-of-china-free-skate\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Watches ‘Yuri On Ice’: S01E06 – China’s On! The Grand Prix Series Opening Event!! The Cup of China Free Skate"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the sixth episode of the first season of Yuri On Ice<\/i>, Yuri heads to the Cup of China for the first major competition. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Yuri On Ice<\/i>.<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll say this: I deeply appreciate that the writers for this episode give us such loving look into the lives of the four other skaters who are up against Yuri. They didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to, and we could have been in Yuri\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s head for the entirety of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153China\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s On!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d It would have made sense! This is<\/i> his show, you know? But there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a brilliance to the format of this episode because it shows us that Yuri is not the only person with internal and external factors that influence his performance. On top of it, all his competitors are really good<\/i>. It would have been so much easier to only give us glimpses of the other routines, to focus entirely on Yuri\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s struggle, but instead?<\/p>\n

Whew, this episode is GREAT.<\/p>\n

Affection<\/b><\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not imagining this, right? Because these two are quietly becoming more affectionate with one another. Or perhaps they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re just more comfortable<\/i> in each other\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s presence. There is hand touching! Victor runs his finger over the back of Yuri\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hand! VICTOR NAPS ON YURI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S SHOULDER ON THE PLANE!!! The forehead bumps<\/i>. Victor\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 takes off his shirt when he gets drunk??? Look, I know guys who do the same thing so WHATEVER. Victor was kissing Yuri\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s cheek, right? RIGHT????????<\/p>\n

This is gonna destroy me, I swear.<\/p>\n

Competition<\/b><\/p>\n

The story we get here is both obvious and subtle. The clear conflict is that somehow, Yuri has to overcome the many issues he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s had thus far in order to place well in this competition. But the other competitors\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwho all share a desire to win, of course\u00e2\u20ac\u201dare coming at this conflict from such different motivations. Take Chris, who doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just want to win. He wants to defeat Yuri out of some bizarre sense of spite<\/i>, believing that Yuri is keeping Victor all for himself. Which\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, he makes it sound like Victor isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t choosing<\/i> to spend with Yuri, as if Victor is required<\/i> to skate for other people.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Things are far less intense between Guang-Hong, Leo, and Phichit. Instead, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an incredible sense of camaraderie between these characters! They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re friendly to one another, they are not angry or resentful of the others when they score better, and Phichit in particular is over the moon when Yuri skates as well as he does. This sort of variety made all of this feel so REAL, you know? Like we really were getting a behind-the-scenes look at what it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like to actually compete at an international level. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s intense, nerve-wracking, and absurd, but there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just so much joy<\/i> here.<\/p>\n

Well, not <\/span>always<\/span> joy. Wow, WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON WITH GEORGI??? I mean\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 heartbreak, yes, but that make-up? WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ALL.\u00c2\u00a0Don’t even get me started on Christophe because apparently, his skating nearly brought him to orgasm??? WHO ALLOWED THIS. I was so overwhelmed!<\/span><\/p>\n

Anyway: bravo to this episode giving us little backstories for each of the skaters so that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d feel the true nature of this competition and why it is so meaningful for everyone<\/i> who participated in it.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Skate<\/b><\/p>\n

BUT LET\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S BE REAL YURI KILLED IT!!!!!!!! I am just\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 so proud of him? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s beyond pride, though. Yuri tapped into something pure<\/i> here, and he shed off his insecurities and BECAME the theme he needed to skate. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a confidence here we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve not seen before. It was immersive<\/i>, and Yuri believed in himself, in his love for Yuri (THAT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S CANON, ISN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T IT, IT HAPPENED, WHAT THE FUCK), and in the most emotional epiphany so far:\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Yuri is the only person who can understand Victor\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s love.<\/p>\n

I just??? This is happening??? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so queer???? And I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t possibly see how this could ever<\/i> be viewed as subtext at this point because IT\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S RIGHT THERE IN THE SCRIPT. Yuri LITERALLY SAYS THIS IN HIS INTERNAL MONOLOGUE.<\/p>\n

Oh my god, Happy Pride season, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m incredibly fucking gay for this show.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153China\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s On! The Grand Prix Series Opening Event!! The Cup of China Short Program\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

– My YA contemporary debut, ANGER IS A GIFT<\/a>, is now out in the world!\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong>If you’d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"