There were so so so many moments in the episode where i was like “YES here we are… an emotional culmination is about to happen!!” Like either before yuri’s free skate or after, or during their argument in the beginning. And we came so close! But the conversation was always cut off so abruptly …… if you think about it episode 7 had a much shorter argument/resolution but felt so satisfying because yuri and victor made a significant step forward in their relationship. But now we as the audience know that the only thing left for them to do is to draw the line. The whole “let’s get married after you get gold”, talks of retirement or not etc… all this that needs to be aired out. A line between fiances and coach/student. And if there’s a season 2 it makes sense that none of this was wrapped up. But ill be so crushed if we never see them define their relationship fully…
First of all, let’s return to the Catedral. Do you remember the choir singing? At first I thought: “That’s weird, I don’t recall any choir with white coats and santa hats or deer antlers… Usually they are more elegant…” I discarded this ‘cause I thought it was an artistic license to make THE MOMENT more romantic… But you know what? These people don’t do anything without a reason! Yesterday I was strolling around looking for an Starbucks to lay my butt and work in my laptop with a coffee (and a cake) and LOOK WHAT I FOUND!
YEAH! It’s them! It turns out they’re Medicine students from my old college! It was wild luck for me to be there to find them singing. This is the GPF weekend so, Kubo-sensei and Yamamoto-sensei where just here a year ago attending the Barcelona GPF. You can see in the photo that they are not in the same place as in the anime, they are a few meters to the right of the Catedral. There is a lot of people in the plaza in front of the Catedral because there is a special Christmas Market called Fira de Santa Llúcia (in the photo I was standing with my back to the market).
See? I love how they captured the lights and respected the name of the market. It is something very traditional and it is done weeks before Christmas in every town of Catalonia. There you can buy decorations, Christmas’ trees, and the cherished Caga Tió and Caganer ( Christmas pooping log and the Pooping guy, roughly translated, we catalans love poop… don’t ask, but we find it funny 😛 ).
Yeah, full of Tiós, those logs with faces and hats (barretina in fact, typical catalan, the real one has the strip black and not white as in the anime, I think the thought they were wearing santa’s hats). When you are a kid one day (first days of December) the Tió appears magically at your home. You have to feed him (he will eat whatever you offer him when you are not looking) and the day before Christmas (or the actual day, it depends on the family) you and the other family kids have to sing and beat him with a stick so he poops you presents… Said out loud it sounds ridiculous, but, I SWEAR that as a kid it feels magical XD.
Yeah I love it too Yuuri! ❤
And the last for this post! This street it’s called El Portal de l’Àngel, and connects the Catedral with Plaza Catalunya (the central square of Barcelona). You can see the Christmas lights are slightly different, and that’s because they try to change it every few years so it is not always the same. I actually like more the ones from last year :P.
For my wife and me, and many fans from Barcelona, it was new and nice to see our OTP walking the same streets we use to walk and enjoy the Christmas feeling as we do!
More to come in a Part 3 and maybe with some additions in the meantime! 😛
I bring you a new and long seiyuu interview! It’s 3 different, separate interviews with Toshiyuki Toyonaga (Yuuri), Junichi Suwabe (Victor) and Kouki Uchiyama (Yurio), published on the Jan. 2017 issue of Animage (not really on the magazine but in an insert all dedicated to YOI). While we have seen lots of interviews with Toyonaga and Uchiyama so far, for the first time we get to read about Suwabe’s opinion too, and it’s really interesting! Not to mention the interviews cover up to episode 10 included, which is more material than previous ones.
Also, in this interview there is proof that Yuuri bought both rings and not just one in episode 10 (I’m mentioning it because it’s a personal pet peeve, as I disagree with the widespread theory of Yuuri only buying one). Now you have official material to prove your point, lol.
It’s kind of sad that this will be the last “translation posted before a new ep”. I wanted to post it earlier but it’s so long it took me ages to finish it. You can use it to distract yourself while you wait for episode 12. Enjoy!
***If you wish to share this translation please do it by reblogging or posting a link to it*** ***Re-translating into other languages is ok but please mention that this post is the source***
Interview with Toshiyuki Toyonaga / Junichi Suwabe / Kouki Uchiyama
Can I just say how much I loved the way their argument was handled? I’ve said it before after the last episode without going into detail, but I really hate the ‘I’m breaking up with you for your own good’ trope. I hate it with a fiery passion.
(And yes, Yuuri was technically only talking about their professional relationship and not their personal one, but on this show, they’re pretty much one and the same. The airport ‘proposal’ was about Yuuri retiring, the engagement about a good luck charm for skating, their possible marriage about a gold medal. If Yuuri ends their professional relationship, that’s bad news.)
So yes, I was very annoyed after the cliffhanger because it was pretty clear after seeing Yuuri’s and Viktor’s reactions during the other skater’s performances that THIS was gonna be the issue.
And it was.
Yuuri has watched Viktor watch the other skaters, and he’s drawn his own conclusions – fueled by his own insecurity. He thinks he’s dragging Viktor down, that Viktor misses skating and is only staying with him because Yuuri is being selfish. And considering Viktor’s final decision, there might be some truth in there. But as we know, Viktor’s feelings concerning his career are MUCH more complicated than that.
And that is my main issue with this trope. Because seriously Yuuri – there are obviously some unresolved issues there, but ultimately, whether Viktor wants to have a comback or not is his decision and not yours. You do NOT get to decide over your partner’s head what’s good for them and what isn’t. You’re not their parent, your their partner and as an adult, they can make decisions themselves.
So I was incredibly satisfied with the way Viktor reacted. Angry/disappointed tears aside, what does that boy do?
He calls him selfish
Slaps his hand away
Yells at him
And literally tries to shake some sense into the guy.
You go, Viktor. Good on you. Show your fiancé what a colossal ass he’s making out of himself.
Yuuri moved to Russia with Viktor. That means we have a small eternity in the timeline to imagine the kind of domestic bliss going on over there.
+ Viktor dragging Yuuri ALL OVER St. Petersburg as soon as Yuuri is no longer jetlagged, showing him everything
+ Viktor sitting in bed with a laptop while Yuuri slept, trying to see if there were any Japanese restaurant with high ratings around because he knew it’s a guarantee that Yuuri will miss home
+ petty arguments over whose turn it is to wash the dishes
+ always shopping extra for groceries because despite all of his complaining Yurio never fails to show up at their place for dinner at least three times a week after moving his home rink to St. Petersburg
+ “I survived in Detroit for five years, Vitya, I’m okay without Japanese food,” Yuuri says in amusement as Viktor dragged him out to eat. But he’s touched anyway and hey, food’s actually pretty damn good!!!
+ Yuuri actually using the kitchen appliances in Viktor’s old apartment
+ Yuuri becoming the neighborhood mystery and every granny and Viktor’s neighbors are Determined to catch him in conversation at least once a day, and Yuuri is terrified because his Russian is broken at best
+ “Alexei (the local butcher) congratulates on ‘finally finding the one after seven tries’,” Yuuri says one day as he returns to Viktor’s apartment with their grocery. “You sure are determined, Vitya.”
+ “I have to be a role model for Alexei, because he gave up after two,” Viktor replies grandly and comes over to give Yuuri a full body hug and a giant sloppy kiss on his cheek and a “Welcome home.”
+ YUURI LEARNING RUSSIAN (Viktor is Delighted)
+ Yurio is horrified when Yuuri repeated some of the things Viktor told him in bed and didn’t tell him what they meant. Yurio signed Yuuri up for a language learning class the day after and Yuuri is too mortified to protest.
+ Yakov invites Yuuri out for a drink and a talk. Yuuri seriously wondering if he should get a will put together in case Viktor’s old coach delivers the shovel talk but just stops at the “shovel” part
+ “Don’t worry, Yakov won’t hurt a fly,” Viktor tells him with barely contained mirth when Yuuri tells him this. After a moment, he also adds, “Besides, his legs are short. You should be able to outrun him.”
+ “Just watch out for the little pistol he has in his coat pocket,” adds Yurio, who is a complete shit
+ Yuuri calling Yurio “Yurachtka” instead of “Yurio”, figuring it’s a tad more friendly. Yurio pretends to blow a gasket over it but is secretly pleased; only his immediate family ever called him that, and Otabek was too formal for it
+ suspiciously, at least half of the fridge is full of things Yurio like to eat. There is a guest room that also has too many animal print stuff in it to belong to either Yuuri or Viktor. Nobody remarks on this
+ Lilia terrifies Yuuri, but they quickly form an amicable (“amicable”) student-teacher relationship after Lilia commands Yuuri to show up at her studio and dance for her. That was how she ended up getting introduced to Minako as well, who is ecstatic
+ the younger kids under Yakov flocking to Yuuri because he’s as talented as Yurio but is so much nicer. Viktor stands on the side of the rink being absolutely Smug
+ MILA AND YUURI FINALLY MEET, hitting it off right away after half a bottle of vodka. Mila has 50+ embarrassing pictures of Viktor and Yurio collected on her phone over the year. Yuuri is in awe
Nothing but My Aching Soul 