REVIEW: “We Were Born to Make History” — A Roundtable on Yuri!!! on Ice Episode 1

Welcome to the roundtable, where two friends sit down to rewatch Yuri!!! on Ice and promptly lose their collective minds over tiger-print shoes, Victor’s ASSet, and the greatest anime opening of all time. In this inaugural installment, redbeancake and redbeanjelly (shortened to 🍰 and🪼, respectively) revisit Episode 1—”Easy as Pirozhki!! The Grand Prix Final of Tears”—and discover that 2016 nostalgia hits different when you’re in your 30s, your knees hurt, and the ISU still hasn’t fixed its judging problem.

Expect tangents. Expect thirst. Expect at least one existential crisis about being a failure at life compared to a fictional Japanese figure skater. But mostly, expect love—for this show, for these characters, and for the way a single wink from Victor Nikiforov can still wreck us eight years later.

🪼: The world’s best anime intro is playing. WE WERE BORN TO MAKE HISTORY!

🍰: The few times I have never skipped an opening. Look at that animation. LOOK AT OUR BOYS SKATING.

🪼: 27 years old and at the top of his game. I’m a failure at life. LOL

🍰: Shush. We don’t talk about that. I remember when I first watched YOI, I knew nothing about figure skating beyond the Olympics, so 27 seemed like a pretty young age to retire at. But you know, bad knees and corrupt judging can really tire out an athlete.

🪼: Yuri’s little wrist flick always gets me. Off topic, I know. But you’re right, when you’ve been doing something for years, it’ll eventually wear away at your body and spirit.

🍰: LOOK AT YURI’S TIGER PRINT SHOES. “BAKAAAAAA!” I love how Morooka is so supportive of Yuuri—”DON’T RETIRE!” Yuuri: “Well… I didn’t say anything about that yet.”

🪼: “Never meet your heroes” applies to everyone BUT Yuuri. 

🍰: BAHAHA. But also look at Victor’s posture. He has his hand on his hip and his butt is just sticking out. He needs to show off his asset.

🪼: His ASSet. We get to see more of that soon.

🍰: First heartbreak. Your idol thinks you’re just a fan and not a fellow competitor. 

🪼: Yuuri’s anxiety is too real. He’s so relatable.

🍰: I love the little explainer with Yuuri being so animated in explaining, but my guy, you’re going too fast for the newbies (aka 2016 me).

Victor’s flipping wink. He knows exactly what he’s doing.

🪼: Yuuri’s mom… LOL

🍰: I love her!! She’s so sweet. “Welcome home, son! Let me whip you up a bowl of katsudon!” Minako stripping Yuuri, LOL. The tummy is cute!!

🪼: YES LOL Yuuri is a cutie at any size!

🍰: I like how supportive Yuuri’s sister is. “If you want to keep skating, I’ll support you, but what do you want to do?” Yuuri’s little dumpling face in the onsen! He’s so cute. Very squishable.

🪼: You’re my Yuuri’s sister. 😆

🍰: But without the cool hair. Also Minako freaking out about that customer wanting to change the TV channel to the game is so me. Like I’m watching my sport, DON’T YOU DARE CHANGE THE CHANNEL. MY VIEWERSHIP IS CRITICAL TO MY TEAM’S VICTORY.

🪼: I know. I’ve lived it in real time. Waking up to 80+ unhinged texts about hockey was a new experience. Or was it curling? You really like ice sports.

🍰: I am Canadian. It is my curse. Or in my blood. Same thing. And we do not talk about the Olympics in 2026. What a rollercoaster of emotions. I still have not recovered.

HELLO VICCHAN. You’re such a cutie. He named his poodle after his idol! 

🪼: I named a plant after you. Same energy, right?

🍰: That plant is dying. And so am I. So yes.

🪼: IT IS SURVIVING ME. But also, we’re all dying every day… like the YOI fandom…

🍰: 2016 was when we thrived. Also, I love this sequence of Victor and Yuuri skating “Stammi Vicino” together. Really foreshadows what we’ll see later on and shows just how compatible they are but also how different they are in terms of skating since Victor has the technical prowess while Yuuri has the artistic skills. I could go on and on about how ISU is killing the sport with its prioritization of jumps over skating skills, but we’re not gonna today. 

🪼: Minako hitting the railing proclaiming how amazing Yuuri is is so real because I would absolutely do the same thing in real life. Even though he’s still not confident and comfortable in his body, the performance was breathtaking.

🍰: Truly. LOL, the unrealism of doing a quad-toe combo at the end of your free skate. Because yeah, old man Victor has the stamina to do that and not fall on his butt. 

🪼: OMG this part of Yuuri doing little jumps outside reminds me of my shame. I was convinced I could train like Yuuri to get into shape and I did one jump before crumpling to the ground. LOL

🍰: Not all of us can be 2D gods. 

🪼: THE DOG!

🍰: He has a Victor shrine in his room. 

🪼: I have one for you too but you alre—HI VICTOR LOL.

🍰: He saw that boy skate and went, “I gotta tap that before it’s too late.” But joking aside, he was so inspired! He flew all the way from Russia to Japan to find this skater who skated his routine with so much heart! 

The animation team had a lot of fun doing those close-ups of Victor touching himself to get ready for the onsen LOL. That WINK! 

🪼: I understand why Plisetsky was pissed. I’d be mad if Yuuri stole my coach too, especially when he doesn’t view Yuuri as being on the same level as him. But I also understand why Victor made the journey to find Yuuri. When the spark of inspiration hits, you need to chase it!

🪼: What a great first episode. It’s literally perfect. No notes. Watching it is like seeing it for the first time every time because it always hits.

🍰: I agree with you about Plisetsky. Because this flighty, gray-haired old man broke his promise and ran off to coach some sixth-place “loser.” In retrospect, I think Victor was desperate for something to break him out of this deep fog, this sense of “I don’t know where I’m going nor what I want to do.” Seeing Yuri skate and knowing that he has so much potential that he hasn’t  unlocked has given Victor a goal. 

I know we all joke about Victor falling in love at the banquet (that blush!), but do you get that sense here? When he comes to Japan, is it because he’s already in love with Yuuri?

🪼: My document wasn’t loading, so I was like, “but”?? “But” what? Did you die?? And then it all loaded at once. LOL

But, yes, I do get the feeling there was some kind of interest, whether romantic or otherwise.

🍰: All hail the beginning of one of the greatest anime of all time. We’re in for a really fun and very beautiful ride.

And that’s Episode 1, folks. A perfect premiere. No notes. Just like the first time—and every time after—it hits different and the same all at once. We’ve got a shrine in a bedroom, a poodle named after an idol, a katsudon waiting at home, and a gray-haired Russian who flew across the world chasing a spark.

Next time: we find out what happens when Victor becomes Coach Nikiforov, Yuuri has a meltdown, and Plisetsky’s rage reaches operatic levels. Bring tissues. Bring snacks. Bring your own ASSet jokes—we’ve got plenty.

Until then: don’t retire, don’t change the channel, and for the love of all things holy, do not try to train like Yuuri. We tried. We crumpled. We regret nothing.