Border Crossings in the Japanese Anime YURI!!! on ICE

Tien-yi Chao

Abstract


YURI!!! on ICE (broadcast in Japan between October 5 and December 22, 2016), a Japanese anime featuring male figure skaters from across the world in the International Skating Union Grand Prix Final, has become very popular globally. It even attracted the world’s top figure skaters, such as Evgenia Medvedeva, Johnny Weir, and Stéphane Lambiel, who not only recommended the anime on their Twitter accounts but also were involved in various promotional events. The anime’s huge success lies in the production team’s intentional effort in crossing the boundaries of nationality, sexuality, and virtual reality. In this article, I analyse the ways in which YURI!!! on ICE creates something in-between and hardly to be categorised—something that is neither real nor virtual, neither Japanese nor foreign, and neither BL nor gay. The anime serves as a tribute to both real-world competitive figure skating and an ideal Utopia in which all competitors and lovers, whether gay or straight, are treated equally with respect. It also demonstrates a brave and bold attempt to challenge established cultural and social norms by means of hybridsation and boundary crossing/blurring.

Keywords


Boys’ Love; Japanese anime; Third Space; globalisation; Cool Japan

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References


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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.6667/interface.15.2021.129

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