Review: The Ultimate Plot Twist (on ice)

A review of episode 10 of season one of Yuri!!! on Ice.

Overall Rating: /5

A Brief Summary

Up until this point: This episode happens after the public kiss shared on the ice and since then, the two have shown to be more comfortable and physically affectionate around one another.

What happened: Yuuri and Viktor spend the day touring Barcelona and shopping. Tension rises after Yuuri obsesses over a misplaces bag of nuts and the two are quiet as they walk through the outdoor booths until they come across a jewelry store. Yuuri makes a surprising purchase before proposing to Viktor in front of a cathedral. The two then share dinner with the other skaters, where not only are their rings mentioned but something big is revealed to the reader. At the previous year's banquet, Yuuri got drunk, started a dance battle, stripped and worked a pole, all before dancing with Viktor and eventually begging him to be his coach.

What was changed: Yuuri is officially the most unreliable narrator in the history of narrators because he completely forgot the events of that night. Now knowing what happened, the audience has a new perspective on why Viktor seemed to suddenly move to Japan and had been so forward with our shy skater from the get go! There are also a ton of side comments and things mentioned by other characters that actually make sense now!

Criteria

Wow Factor: /5

Did the contents of this episode shock it's viewers, if so, in what way? How twisty was this plot twist really?

Relevance: /5

Were the contents of this episode and the plot twist relevant to the actual story line or was it out of place?

Meaningfulness: /5

Did the contents of this episode impact the story in a meaningful way or did it seem unnatural and unnecessary?

Fanservice: /5

Were your fangirl needs fufilled?

The Breakdown

Wow Factor: 5/5

I don't think we could have been wowed more than we were when we first viewed this episode. Not only was this the first and only episode where Viktor is the narrator and we are allowed to see things from his point of view, but we are completely blown away with one surprise after another. We didn't have time to calm down from one major shock before they blew our minds again!

Relevance: 5/5

This episode worked to not only further the relationship between two major characters but to make the list of things that seemed unclear or out of place suddenly make so much sense. From Viktor suddenly coming to Japan and literally being all over Yuuri to Chris squeezing Yuuri's butt at a competition- these weird (and admittedly at initially creepy) moments now make sense to us.

Meaningfulness: 5/5

We think that this episode does well to show how Yuuri has grown as a character and has come to not only accept the love that he and Viktor share for one another, but to also step up and do something completely unexpected: to propose. This move shows that how much their relationship has grown in their time together. That aside, the reveal of the events at the banquet changes the way we think about certain things, including our perception of Viktor. Before we had this information, Viktor seemed like an eastern European flirt but now we know that he truly thought his advances were warranted because of Yuuri's actions at the banquet. It also brings some scenes like this one to light:

Fanservice: 5/5

We think it is safe to say that the contents of this episode scored well in regards of fanservice. We could explain why but we think a few images would be more than enough to get our point across.