Yuri on Ice Omitting the Full Kiss

In all ways except for Victor's arm covering up the kiss, Yuri on Ice completely committed to showing a loving and well-represent gay couple. For that reason, I am entirely at a loss as to why this kiss was obscured.

Outside of the kiss, Yuri on Ice was extremely successful at showing casual forms of intimacy and romance that did not rely on the viewer seeing anything explicitly sexual. In some way, I appreciate the show makers' choice to portray a queer relationship that is mutually respectful and loving, rather than being salacious. They navigate power dynamics remarkably well, considering the fact that Victor being Yuri’s coach could have put him in a position of power. This is shown in the mundane, such as the casual hugs and cuddling Yuri and Victor do in public. On the more dramatic side, here are some of my favorite moments:

• The airport scene was full of romantic longing, and a pseudo-proposal to top it off. Of course, emotions were running high due to the competition and Victor’s dog being sick, but it would be hard to argue that scene was platonic. They hug for like five minutes, people!

• The real proposal/marriage, where Victor and Yuri stand in front of a church and exchange wedding rings (need I say more?).

• When Victor cries at Yuri’s desire to quit skating. Skating is clearly a facet of their relationship, and the devastation Victor feels at their skating journey ending is indicative of a breakup.

I do have to ask myself: is this show queer-bating? In my opinion, no—I don’t require seeing the full kiss to know this relationship is romantic, considering there were not one, but two proposal scenes. Yes, the first few episodes were somewhat gratuitous with Victor’s flirtations. However, it quickly became clear to me that this was an intentional character choice, not a deliberately offensive or queer-bating portrayal.

The “koibito” scene towards the beginning of the anime is important evidence of this for me. See this post for a better explanation of incorrect anime subs, but the gist is that the English subtitles used the gendered word “girlfriend” when Victor really used the gender neutral Japanese term “koibito.” For the attentive Japanese viewer, this would have read as a strange word choice between two men. This clearly conveyed that Victor was testing the waters to see if Yuri was also gay and interested in dating Victor. For me, this scene is a painfully classic moment for a gay person, and reveals that Victor was putting on airs in these early episodes due to an insecurity surrounding whether or not Yuri liked him.

Having said all that, I’m truly confused about the choice to omit this kiss. Though I’m not sure of the translation, this tumblr post states that the creator of Yuri on Ice revealed the kiss as canonical, despite fan doubt and speculation. Also, the show aired at 2am in Japan, so it was not as though prime time viewers would be offended by a display of homosexuality or something. I would not be surprised to hear that the studio forced the show director to make this stylistic choice, or something similar. For this reason, I love most elements of Yuri on Ice, but I cannot excuse this omission of the kiss for any reason.

Viewers who are willing to interpret Victor and Yuri’s relationship as romantic can obviously see these moments I’ve mentioned. But the obscuration of the kiss allowed room for doubt, and this held the show back from making a strong statement. As with much of the media today, Yuri on Ice became an ideological echo chamber. The omission of the kiss threw out the chance of a transparently queer storyline, and gave dissenters the opportunity to view it as heterosexual.