“We’ll make it happen, we’ll turn it around. Yes, we were born to make history”

The general consensus is, when you’re in your twenties, you’re supposed to have your whole life figured out by now. Once you have your goal in mind, everything is supposed to work out perfectly for you as you get closer towards accomplishing said goal. Life, however, doesn’t work like that. When you’re at this age, you end up figuring this out the hard way. Teens wear rose-colored glasses because of the ideals super imposed on you going through school; telling you that there is one way through life and if you do it, you won’t become a failure. Well, what if I did what you tell me and I end up failing anyway? What if I do what I’m supposed to and I’m just not good enough?

Enter Katsuki Yuri, a 23-year-old man who has left his home, with the hope of Japan stacked on top of his already low self-esteem, to compete in the Figure Skating Grand Prix only to be defeated in the finals. While eating his troubles, he goes back home to his town in Kyushu to hide from the media deciding between continuing to skate or retire. It wasn’t until Viktor Nikiforov, a five-time world champion and childhood idol, showed up at his doorstep willing to train him. Closely followed by Yuri Plisetsky who is beginning to surpass his seniors, Viktor’s flighty personality throws both Yuri’s into a challenging. Yuri!!! On Ice carefully weaves in the underlying feelings of this generation through beautiful animation and choreographed ice skating by the retired ice dancer Kenji Miyamoto.

I needed this anime right now. I needed to see this. Being a 20 something trying to make it, but feeling insecure about one’s accomplishments and failures when so many of your peers are succeeding in life, it was nice to see something so incredibly relatable when I began watching this. Yuri!!! On Ice reiterates what everyone should know, and should believe: that it’s never too late to continue to pursue your goals. Yes, you may fail. What no one tells you, is that everyone fails at least once. No, we all can’t have our childhood idols travel across continents to be with us and challenge us to keep going. However, we need to find that drive within ourselves to push past the negativity we’ve buried in our hearts once we’ve failed, and continue to accomplish our goals, much like how Yuri is slowly discovering through the three episodes I’ve watched.

“Don’t stop us now, the moment of truth/ We were born to make history/ We’ll make it happen, we’ll turn it around/ Yes, we were born to make history” has become my new mantra from the opening theme song as I conquered some recent endeavors. Yuri!!! On Ice inspires as it seamlessly throws you back and forth between laughter and awe. I eagerly await episode four airing next Wednesday and seeing more of Yuri’s evolution.