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INTEREST: Buyers Beware: Here's How to Spot a Yuri! on Ice Fake

I'm surprised people are making fakes for YOI. It seems like they put out so much merch now that no one knows what to do with it. A lot of the blind box items are on discount at Animate lately, and K-Books and Lashinbang are overrun with items. Oddly, that particular Yuri mascot character is going for a lot of money on resale right now (3500 yen, originally sold for 600?), so I guess there's a market for it...

Actually, the prices for the main three have dropped significantly on resale over the last year. They're still much higher than the minor characters (most of which are going for 100 yen or so at K-Books at least), but not like they were last year. (2000 yen for a Victor button seems crazy now.) I'm used to seeing the Victor mascots for more, but last week was the first time I'd seen the Yuri as well for so much. (I think he was only selling for 1200 or so once that set originally came out last year?) Just surprised because the second mochi mascot set had more of the main three, so I didn't think the original set would be so much. But, that Yuri is a lot cuter...

Granted, this might be different in some other resale shops in the country, but just what I've been noticing in Ikebukuro lately. Yuri and Victor are still going for a premium, just not as much as they were before.

Actually, the prices for the main three have dropped significantly on resale over the last year. They're still much higher than the minor characters (most of which are going for 100 yen or so at K-Books at least), but not like they were last year. (2000 yen for a Victor button seems crazy now.) I'm used to seeing the Victor mascots for more, but last week was the first time I'd seen the Yuri as well for so much. (I think he was only selling for 1200 or so once that set originally came out last year?) Just surprised because the second mochi mascot set had more of the main three, so I didn't think the original set would be so much. But, that Yuri is a lot cuter...

Granted, this might be different in some other resale shops in the country, but just what I've been noticing in Ikebukuro lately. Yuri and Victor are still going for a premium, just not as much as they did before.

2000 yen for a Victor button seems crazy now.

The lack of rings bothers me as well, but the pervasive Podium Family stuff ticks me off more. I got into the show specifically for Yuuri and Victor and considered Yurio more of a side character. I used to be fine with Yurio in the series, but I've grown to resent his presence for how inflated it has become. I've been spending more money on fan merch instead of official merch because it's been giving me more of what I want - Yuuri and Victor without the angry child interrupting.

And to be fair he did keep Yuuri from retiring in the end.

Kubo Mitsurou - PASH! 2017/03 Interview

The director said that she wanted Yuuri, that has spent half of his life with Victor as his goal, to try his hand at a program with the same difficulty as Victor’s, and I agreed. The development where Yuuri gets his best score and wins against Yurio in the FS is something we had decided from the start. Since not having a perfect ending is what spurs him to continue, we aimed for a conclusion that is not too nice, therefore we made it so that Yurio wins but is not completely satisfied with the result.

The selfish decision ultimately taken by the selfish Yuuri Katsuki is to continue competitive skating. I think there were many reasons that led to this conclusion. Not only what Victor gave him, but Yurio’s performance in the FS also managed to pull Yuuri back to the ice, and maybe he was influenced by the other athletes’ performances too.

Kubo Mitsurou - Spoon 2Di vol.21 Interview

I was very happy to see Yuuri continue in the end, after he had previously decided to retire at the end of the season. I think Victor had a great influence in Yuuri’s decision to continue, but did also Yuuri himself, deep down, feel that he didn’t want to retire?

I’m not sure about that. It’s possible that after some time he would change his mind and think that he actually wants to try again, but I believe that, beside Victor, Yurio’s existence was also important in strengthening Yuuri’s feelings that he couldn’t end like that. As someone who watches, you may think that a skater can still do his best in the next season, but if he deeply feels that he can’t do it anymore there is no way to change his feelings. I think that they have a motivation inside that is not only linked to their physical strength. There are quite a few real skaters who have regained the will to participate in tournaments while recovering from injuries, therefore I really think that it mostly depends on their personal feelings. However, as much as I do think that it’s also important to find the strength to fight again inside you, I also believe that this resolve can be born from your relationship with others. When you’re on the ice you are necessarily alone, but your relationship with someone can make your future go in a direction that you would never have imagined on your own. I wanted Yuuri to experience this feeling, and also I wanted him to become someone who could have the same influence on others.

Kubo Mitsurou - Febri 2017/03 Interview

Who was the hardest character to write?

I had a hard time drawing the relationship between Yuuri and Yurio. Especially Yurio, I think he’s easy to grasp as a character and I was sure he would become popular, but for the same reason it was difficult to make him unpredictable. I wanted to depict him and Yuuri as rivals, however figure skating is mostly a battle against yourself, a sport where you fight to pursue your personal best, and after their direct confrontation in episode 3 they also become physically separated, so I was careful about the balance when making them think of each other.

Yuuri and Yurio had a kind of relationship that made it difficult to tell exactly whether they were getting along or not.

We had already decided from the start that Yurio would hinder Yuuri’s victory in the Grand Prix Final, therefore I had to think about how to develop their relationship in a convincing way, so that the viewers would also feel a catharsis in that moment. When portraying rivals it’s important not to fall into stereotypes, that’s why I created the stir over Victor, Otabek and Yurio becoming friends in episode 10, and so on. It was for the purpose of reinforcing the fated connection between Yuuri and Yurio, and to consequently cause the viewers to want to cheer on Yuuri in the Grand Prix Final. However, at the same time the bond between Yuuri and Victor became deeper and deeper, and as I couldn’t really find enough place to put the spotlight on the rivarly with Yurio eventually Yurio stopped moving inside my storyboard, to my surprise. In that sense, I had to struggle to depict Yuuri and Yurio’s relationship until the end.