It seems difficult to believe that fans will no longer get their "Yuri!!! On Ice" fix every week, as the series concluded its first season on Dec. 21. Due to its unexpected success, speculations are rife that about that "Yuri!!! On Ice" will be renewed for a second season.
The finale episode, "Gotta Super-Super-Supercharge it! Grand Prix Final Free Skate" started out with Yuri expressing his intent to retire from figure skating so his mentor - and fiancé - Viktor Nikiforov can return to compete. The latter was not happy with his protégé's choice, and they decided to forego making the final decision until after the competition, iDigitalTimes reports.
During the free skate, Yuri used the routine that Viktor used to win his last World Championship. His performance was flawless and he beat his mentor's free skate record. Still, it was not enough to beat 15-year-old rising star Yuri Plisetsky, who ended up bagging the gold. Jean-Jacques "JJ" Leroy took third place.
After the final, Yuri soon withdraws his decision to retire. Viktor decides to end his retirement and return to competing, but will continue to coach Yuri. The episode ended with the two skating together at an exhibition event.
The Japanese sports anime series premiered on Oct. 5, 2016 and was originally slated to air for only 12 episodes. In a blog post, writer Mitsurō Kubo disclosed that she will single-mindedly focus on developing Yuri's story during the break and added that she has "lots of plans in the works with the director next year." She then stated her intent to make a sequel and is "doing her best and working hard for that reason."
A probable story line for season 2 will revolve around the after-effects of the Grand Prix Final, and this could include Yuri and mentor Victor Nikiforov parting ways. According to rumors, the Russian skating legend soon felt that he was partly to blame for Yuri's defeat and did not accomplish his job to make Yuri a champion. Yuri will then supposedly move on and hire a new coach, setting up another story arc for another character to play a pivotal role in the series.
Meanwhile, it was reported in Travelers Today that due to the rousing success of "Yuri!!! On Ice", even commercial sales for products used in the anime have gone up. For instance, Japanese fans noticed that the lip balm featured in the series resembles that of Chanel's, so they trooped to the French fashion stores to purchase the item.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
