Interest
Figure Skating Pair Kihara & Suzaki's Yuri on Ice Olympic Performance Awes Fans
posted on by Lynzee Loveridge
Anime fans were graced with a special treat on Thursday as figure skating pair Ryuichi Kihara and Miu Suzaki took the Olympic stage n Pyeongchang, South Korea to perform their Short Program to the Yuri!!! on Ice insert song, also titled "Yuri!! on Ice."
Kihara and Suzaki, dressed in matching velvety-teal ensembles, wooed fans as soon as the recognizable track echoed over over the rink.
the japanese pairs figure skating team is skating to a song from yuri on ice so the #olympics announcers briefly had to talk about anime, what a time to be alive
— amy brown (@arb) February 9, 2018
THEY'RE SKATING TO YURI ON ICE THEY'RE SKATING TO YURI ON ICE THEY'RE SKATING TO YURI ON ICE OH MY GGOGOODOODDDDJDIJWIJDIWJMDIWJIDJWIDW
— Tara Sim (@EachStarAWorld) February 9, 2018
Even Victor Nikiforov's voice actor Junichi Suwabe chimed in with his support for the song choice, showing his support for Kihara and Suzaki. Series co-creator Mitsurou Kubo thanked the duo for bringing the song to the Olympic audience.
開幕した平昌五輪!現在、フィギュアスケートの団体 男子・ペア ショートが行われておりTV中継もされていますが、木原龍一選手・須崎海羽選手の日本代表ペアがショートで使用する楽曲は「Yuri on ICE」。あの楽曲が五輪の舞台で流れると思うと胸熱です。応援せねば!!
— 諏訪部順一 Junichi Suwabe (@MY_MURMUR) February 9, 2018
振付をされた佐藤有香さんが須﨑・木原ペアのSPにYuri on Iceの曲を勧めたと記事で読みましたが、有香さんは何をキッカケでこの曲を知ったのかがすごく気になります…そしてこの曲を五輪に連れてって下さって本当にありがとうございます…!!
— 久保ミツロウ (@kubomitsurou) February 9, 2018
The stunning performance took eighth in the pairs division. Japan currently sits in third place overall behind Canada (first) and the U.S. (second). Japan is technically tied with Russia but takes the third place spot thanks to a tiebreaker.
Suzaki and Kihara previously performed their Short Program routine to the song for the 2017 NHK Trophy in November. The anime itself is something of a darling among ice skaters. Russian skater Evgenia Medvedeva showed support for the series when it aired in 2016, even receiving Yuri!!! on Ice-inspired gifts from fans and, most recently, starring in "Yevgenia!!! On Ice" on NBC's official Twitter account for the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. Fellow skater Masato Kimura performed his version of the series opening sequence to "History Maker" and Johnny Weir, a partial inspiration for Victor, shared his positive impressions of the series at Crunchyroll Expo in July.
Weir talked about the series again during the Olympic performance on Wednesday.
Source: BBC News (Tom Gerken), Japan Times (Jack Gallagher)
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