I'm going to make mini-reviews of Yuri!!! on Ice and other fanfics. I've been really busy constructing Final Reviews of honestly big fanfics.
I will say this again. When it comes to Japanese media, analyze with Japanese knowledge. Not even superficial knowledge like food. Cultural contexts must not be ignored.
Edit: Just a heads up, I will only be uploading my review next year after the dub is finished.
Also, I will be ranting at parts of the YOI fandom who seems to think YOI is revolutionary in having human rivals... Have you fucking seen past sports anime/manga? Do you even understand these rivals' own reasoning and character growth? Their character arc? That their assholish behavior is not condoned in any way? Did you see their behavior after their loss sometime after their character development? Rin's character development is not winning because he saw that he's not special; he has to regain his love for swimming with friends back. Does that make Seidou Baseball team butthurt for losing against Inashiro just because they were so close to winning? Hell, no. They are all devastated and Sawamura himself crumbled and developed yips. Are they suddenly butthurt? Hell, even Gary Oak, Paul, Harley, Jessie, and James are depicted as clearly human during the Pokemon Contests and Pokemon Performing. Do not think for a second that YOI revolutionized human rivals, sympathetic in their own right. Human rivals with sympathetic human issues are no different in YOI as it is in Free!, Oofuri, Baby Steps, Giant Killing, and I can list here all day long. Do not glorify YOI. Love it, enjoy it, do not ignore the Japanese contexts despite being an international show, analyze at it from a narrative standpoint.
