Yuri on Ice Creator Interview Quotes Masterpost

I noticed that in the fandom we tend to quote or paraphrase the things said by the creators, but often struggle to provide sources. It is not that those sources do not exist - it’s just difficult to find them, since most interviews and special features were translated on twitter and were lost in the inconvenient format of the website.

So here’s a way to remedy this - a masterpost for all the quotes and sources you could possibly want to use when discussing yoi and its creators. If you think that a quote is missing - please tell me and I’ll do my best to find it (assuming that it exists - misinformation can also happen).



Huge thanks to aki_the_geek on Twitter for translating most of these, and huge thanks to @gogoeeg for translating the rest.



And just so we’re clear on who is who, here’s a small legend:

Kubo: Co-writer, character designer

Yamamoto: Co-writer, director

Otsuka: Producer

This post will be a collection of the most important quotes but I honestly encourage you to read through the entire interviews because I think they’re all really good and worthwhile for us as fans, even if we’ve already read them before.

Kubo: “It turned out Victor and Yuuri can’t live without each other and can’t think about separation and had to revise their initial plans.” (Spoon 21 Interview)

Kubo: “I found it funny that overseas fans kept asking for a confirmation regarding ep7 scene - the Japanese fans didn’t seem to need any.” (Spoon 21 Interview)



Kubo: “I didn’t want the chemistry between Yuuri and Victor to become predictable - I wanted the viewers to expect something new every time they tuned in for the show, especially so in episodes 5-7.” (Miracle on Ice Interview)



Otsuka: “Yuuri keeps surprising Victor - both through his skating and in private. Victor was drawn to him as a person, was influenced by him. […] Victor saved Yuuri when he was standing at the edge of the proverbial cliff, but Victor needs Yuuri just as much.They met when Yuuri was miserable and Victor felt he’s losing the sight of something in his life; when they both needed change.They completed each other and what’s more, they found a new path to follow ahead of them.Yuuri said he had no name to describe this feeling and I think it captures the nature of their relationship really well.Calling it love is a wonderful way of putting it, but I think they already went above even that. It is a relationship where they push each other in the best direction. […] [Kubo and Yamamoto] kept surprising the audience each time, too. When you show scenes that leave no room for other interpretationsthere’s a risk of it not sitting well with some people, but Kubo and Yamamoto always plunged forward with no hesitation.” (Otomedia February 2017 Interview)

Kubo: “The ring Yuuri presented Victor is also a proof of their status as soulmates.” (Crea Interview)



Kubo: “For Yamamoto and I, the important thing was not to pick a set target audience, but for the show to reach to many. […] Without fearing prejudice of others, Yuuri calls what he wishes to express, “love”. We decided that should the show require it, we would add elements that would help us portray love - without hesitating about it. We believed the evolution of their relationship would lead us to a special ending, but it’s not like we assumed everything about it. […]

Q: The ring scene was especially striking. Did it also develop like that?

Kubo: It didn’t merely “develop”, it was destined to be! (Febri March 2017 Interview)

Yamamoto: “Yuuri barged into Victor’s world that he closed himself in without noticing, believing he has to create all the new surprises. Yuuri offered Victor a possibility he hadn’t thought about - becoming someone’s coach. Unconsciously, Victor is lonely, without anyone of similar circumstances, without anyone he could empathize together with. Victor didn’t yearn for someone to understand him; he didn’t see it as a problem, but also didn’t realize how lonely he was. Yuuri is not the only one who became stronger by experiencing love - through Yuuri, Victor learned new feelings and grew stronger.” (Go Yuri Go Staff Comments)

Yamamoto:

(Go Yuri Go Interview)

(Anime Midwest Panel)

“Writers were directed to NOT downplay Yuuri and Victor’s relationship during the whole process.” (Momocon Funimation Panel)

Hiramatsu/Itou (Yoi animators and art directors): “But now, looking back on it, one of the reasons we think it was successful was, as you said, the relationship between Yuri and Victor. But to go further than that, the show managed to break down many, many barriers; whether that’s international borders or linguistic barriers or even barriers regarding gender and sexuality. This was really something that the director and her co-creator focused on: Not to be caught up in these barriers of language, race, gender and sexuality. Instead, to just draw human emotion and human relations. That perhaps more than anything, including the portrayal of those values in Victor and Yuri’s relationship, is what fans have been responding to.” (Visual Arts Expo Interview)



In the read more section, I’m putting the screenshots of the original translations, if they ever get deleted.