Yuri On Ice Season 2: Premiere Date, Characters, Plot

Yuri!!! on Ice is a Japanese sports anime television series produced by MAPPA. Written by Mitsurō Kubo and directed by Sayo Yamamoto, Season 1 of Yuri!!! on Ice premiered on October 6, 2016, and since then, fans of the show have been waiting to hear news on a second season. Here’s everything we know about the prospects of Season 2 thus far.

Yuri on Ice Season 2 Release Date: When will it premiere?

Yuri on Ice season 1 premiered on October 6, 2016 and ran till December 22, 2016. Less than a year later, on May 26, 2017, a special episode titled Yuri!!! on Ice: Yuri Plisetsky GPF in Barcelona EX – Welcome to The Madness was also released, much to the delight of fans. Meanwhile, MAPPA drew up plans to make an anime movie based on the show, and the movie, titled Yuri!!! on Ice The Movie: Ice Adolescence, is slated to be released sometime in 2020. To know more about it, you can refer to our preview of ‘Yuri!!! on Ice The Movie: Ice Adolescence.’

While all this is great news for fans of the show, MAPPA is yet to announce the second season of Yuri!!! on Ice. However, there’s no reason for alarm yet as there’s plenty of time left for a renewal to be announced. Our best guess is that Yuri on Ice season 2 release date could fall sometime in 2021.

Yuri!!! on Ice English Dub:

For those who like watching anime shows in English, the good news is that Yuri!!! on Ice has a great English dub which was made keeping the show’s international fanbase in mind. If you want to watch the show in English, you can find dubbed episodes on Funimation, Crunchyroll, and Amazon.

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Yuri on Ice Plot:

Yuri!!! on Ice is centered around the sport of figure skating, and focuses on a 23-year-old Japanese figure skater called Yuri Katsuki.

Although Yuri harboured dreams of greatness in the sport, his dreams come crashing down when he suffers a crushing defeat at the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. With his spirit and dreams destroyed, Yuri develops mixed feelings about the sport and returns to his hometown of Hasetsu in Kyushu. At Hasetsu, Yuri tries to get back to normal life, and starts connecting with old friends. However, when he meets a childhood friend called Yuko at an ice skating rink and perfectly executes an advanced training routine made famous by Russian figure skating champion Victor Nikiforov, he is thrust back into the sport. A secret recording of Yuri’s performance at the ice skating rink goes viral on the internet and catches the eye of Victor himself, who sees immense potential in Yuri.

Thus, putting his own career on hold, Victor travels all the way to Kyushu to train Yuri and try and convince him to pursue his dreams. It’s also revealed that Victor is already familiar with Yuri, and had met him at a party sometime earlier. However, the news on Victor’s decision soon spreads, and brings with it new complications.

Having learnt about Victor’s decision, a 15-year-old Russian prodigy figure skater called Yuri Plisetsky also travels to Kyushu. It is then revealed that Victor had made a promise to Yuri P. to choreograph a routine for him if he won the Junior World Championships. Having won the Junior World Championships, Yuri P. thus travels to Japan to ensure that Victor keeps his promise.

However, when Yuri P. arrives, Victor realizes that he had completely forgotten about the promise. Forced to choose between Yuri K. and Yuri P., Victor makes them compete against each other and promises to coach the one who wins. For the competition, Victor chooses two songs with identical melodies but different meanings. Yuri P. is given a song called Agape, which is on unconditional love, while Yuri K. is given a song called Eros, which is about sexual love. As the competition unfolds, Yuri K. manages to beat Yuri P., and Victor makes good on his promise and becomes his coach.

Disheartened by undeterred, Yuri P. thus returns to Russia and vows to train hard and beat Yuri K. and the Grand Prix series. As the show progresses, both the Yuris manage to qualify for the Grand Prix series, and head to Spain for the competition. Over the course of the competition, Yuri K. gets romantically entangled with Victor, and even buys engagement rings for the both of them. However, Yuri K. develops an emotional conflict about his relationship with Victor, and on the eve of the Grand Prix Final, he tells Victor that he will quit figure skating so Victor can move ahead with his own career. Despite Yuri K. being adamant, Victor manages to convince him to hold his decision, and promises that they will choose their paths after the tournament.

The day of the Grand Prix Final finally arrives, and the two Yuris clash with each other in Barcelona in a riveting final showdown. However, despite Yuri K.’s best efforts, Yuri P. manages to outperform him, and wins the Gold Medal. Yuri K. has to content himself with the Silver Medal. However, losing to Yuri P. only strengthens Yuri K.’s resolve to become a better skater, and he decides to continue with his career in the sport. At the end of Season 1, Yuri K. thus moves to St. Petersburg so that he can be close to Victor, and trains with both Victor and Yuri P. to become the best.

Yuri on Ice Characters:

Despite having dozens of characters, Yuri!!! on Ice has just three main characters. Below, we’ve given you brief backgrounds on each of the main characters in the show.

[WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD]

Yuri Katsuki: One of the main protagonists in the show, Yuri is a brilliant figure skater who stands out from the rest owing to his peculiar sense of rhythm and unique steps. However, despite his talents, Yuri is shown to be faint hearted and often buckles easily under pressure. The show follows Yuri when he is at a crucial juncture in his career, and is trying to decide whether to continue figure skating or look for alternative career options. However, when Yuri’s practice video goes viral and attracts Victor to coach him, Yuri decides to give figure skating one last shot. Despite losing to Yuri P. in the Grand Prix Final, Yuri decides to continue his career so that he can be with Victor, who he loves.

Victor Nikiforov: Another main character in the show, Victor is a Russian figure skater who is considered to be a living legend. Having won the World Championship five times, Victor is considered to be the best of the best in competitive figure skating. He is also considered to be a pioneer in the sport, and reinvents the wheel every season. Yet, Victor leaves the entire world shocked when he decides to abandon his competitive figure skating career to coach Yuri K., based on just one internet video. As he starts coaching Yuri K., he soon gets close to the 23-year-old, and later in the show, the two fall in love with each other.

Yuri Plisetsky: The final main character in the show, Yuri P. is widely regarded to be a prodigious figure skater. Being a 15-year-old, Yuri P. is among the new generation of Russian figure skaters, and boasts a three consecutive Junior World Championships to his name. Because of his perfect and innocent looks, Yuri P. is also known as the Russian Fairy, but his off-stage persona can be quite unpleasant at times. Yuri P. is shown to be completely driven by ambition, and harbours no doubt that he will become the best in the world someday. When he learns of Victor’s decision to coach Yuri K. instead of himself, Yuri P. is angered and feels betrayed. However, he channels this feelings into becoming even better, and manages to beat Yuri K. at the Grand Prix Final which is held in Barcelona. As the show draws to an end, Yuri P. and Yuri K. acknowledge each other as worthy rivals and start training with Victor in St. Petersburg.

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