Yuri!!! on Ice is an anime about skaters, so we definitely have to cover that point. Yuri Plisetsky might be young, but he is talented. Discovered at a young age, Yuri moved to Saint Petersburg to train under the strict Yakov Feltsman, who also happens to be Viktor’s coach. After being Junior World Champion twice, we see Yuri Plisetsky making his debut in the Senior circuit in the anime, as one of the youngest Russian promises of the season.

We know that Russians are experts in winter sports. Strong, precise, meticulous but also careful of aesthetics, Yakov trains Yuri to become the best of the best. However, when he notices Yuri is absolutely serious about winning the Grand Prix, Yakov talks with his ex wife, the retired prima ballerina Lilia Baranovskaya. After his exhausting training under her, Yuri’s aggressive skating style blooms into a full repertory of emotions, while his technique increases. Yuri is simply breathtaking in the ice!

One of the first things that we noticed about Yuri Plisetsky are the leopard prints on his clothes. When he moves temporarily to Japan, his parka is also printed with the same motif. Yuri’s instagram has several pictures of cats and other felines. Um, even his phone has cats. Naturally, Yuri also has two cats at home, one white and one black.

Yes otakus, Yuri Plisetsky is a cat persona, but not only on the exterior! That murky, rennuent attitude of his is so feline as well! Yuri is independent and likes to pretty much be on his own. He has been the breadwinner in his family from a young age after all! That is why Yuri Plisetsky makes his own decisions. However, even his fan club (Yuri’s Angels) draws him with cat ears and even gives him cat ears at least once. Besides that, outside the ice, Yuri has some random daily life moments when he looks out of the blue, or even delighted, like a cute white cat. Remember when Yuri discovered pork cutlet with the other Yuri and Viktor? 🙂

We have to admit that Yuri Plisetsky has made a stellar appearance since episode 1 of Yuri!! On Ice. While the other Yuri is being dramatic inside the bathroom due to his defeat, Yuri Plisetsky smashes the door and screams him to pull himself together or simply quit skating. Next, when Yuri Plisetsky finds out that Viktor is in Japan, he simply packs and actively competes against the other Yuri for the coach’s attention. Should we also mention that even when he loses, he is fully determined to win the Grand Prix?

Sometimes Yuri Plisetsky can also be scary, though. For example, when Yuri tells Lilia that she can have his body for the sake of the Grand Prix. This means that Yuri will train like hell, but it gives you chills to see how far he can go for the sake of winning. And even when he is in the ice, his temperament shows up when he feels especially challenged. Remember that quadruple loop that Yuri landed flawlessly while using swearwords against JJ on his mind? Yes, Yuri Plisetsky becomes a prima ballerina but only in appearance. Yuri is purely fierce.

Yuri Plisetsky would be an antipatic character if he didn’t have tender or vulnerable moments. Viktor was a wise couch when he decided to give him a short program with the song “Agape”, which revolves around unconditional love. In order to embody such a contrastive nature, Yuri goes to temples and does meditation to no avail. He finally finds his turning point when he remembers his kind grandfather Nikolai and the way he has taken care of Yuri since his childhood. Thus, he captures the spirit of “Agape” successfully.

Nevertheless, their story does not end there. We get to see Yuri Plisetsky in the present interacting with his grandpa. Yuri once again shows his nature as a cat when he simply jumps over his grandpa screaming gladly. Nikolai apparently gets annoyed when Yuri mentions how much he liked Japanese food, but eventually creates the pork cutlet pirozkhi (bun) for him. These two are so sweet together that they make us want to cry ;_;

Due to being a rather aggressive cat person, we can understand that Yuri Plisetsky is not the typical friendly guy. When he interacts with the other Yuri, he nicknames him “katsudon” and looks him down at the beginning of the show. However, he also teaches him a bit of skating and gives pirozkhi to him on his birthday. When he meets Yuuko, a friend of the other Yuri, he texts her as any other normal guy with his friends.

Nevertheless, perhaps the best proof that Yuri Plisetsky can make friends is when fellow skater Otabek Altin rescues him from his fans club in Barcelona and they bond through a visit to the city. Finding out that they share a lot in common with their determined personalities and discipline for skating, they become friends and cheer each other throughout the Grand Prix. So, although at first we could say Yuri hates people, he gets friends on his own style. All in all, Yuri is the typical guy who acts though but is full of tender pork cutlet pirozkhi :p