So this moment really jumped out at me when I was watching the YOI finale…
…and probably (definitely) not for the reasons you think. I know it parallels Yuuri’s narration in Episode 1 and brings us right back full circle—he says exactly the same thing back then, and the juxtaposition makes us realise how far he’s come in one year, how different the Yuuri of now is.
My first reaction to it, though, was that it reminded me so much of…
Hamlet. Shakespeare’s Hamlet. I know it sounds crazy but honestly!!
Hamlet is your original indecisive, waffling, angst-ridden main character. He spends most of the play trying to come to terms with who he is and what he needs to do. This line, “This is I, Hamlet the Dane”, is widely acknowledged as a pivotal turning point in Hamlet’s character and his conviction, the point where he finally reaches a decision, and it is his love for Ophelia that gives him that final push, just as it is Yuuri’s love that affirms his own convictions.
I won’t take the Hamlet/Yuuri parallels any further because they are two very different characters and these are two very different stories, but I do think that the tradition of a character declaring, to borrow a phrase from JJ’s theme, “This is who I am” is a notable and time-honoured literary trope that earmarks the importance of this moment for Yuuri. Hamlet isn’t the only example, and you don’t have to look all the way back to the Elizabethan era.
Think about “My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.” Think about “I am Moana of Motunui.” Think about “I am Moana.” Think about “What’s your name, man? Alexander Hamilton.”
In this moment, when Yuuri signifies himself clearly, the narrative is riding on a long and rich literary tradition to drive home the fact that in finding himself, Yuuri has found his determination, his purpose, his goals, and what he and he alone can do and is meant to do. This is the culmination of “Yuri!!! on Ice”, the free skate song that represents his skating career. And he’s finally reached it.
Nothing but My Aching Soul 