Words about Openings: History Maker

"What's wrong with you, Mickey? How can you possibly claim to run a terrible anime website and neglect to write about that number one anime that you're obsessed with?"

That was an imaginary quote, but it's true, I've neglected this site in general. I'm going to rectify that by rambling about number 1 best anime and saviour of 2016 Yuri On Ice. Specifically the opening theme, as part of my ongoing totally not forgotten series, Words about Openings.

So here's a link to the opening sequence, for reference: linky linky link.

There's a few things I wanna talk about with this. The first is "omg Yuri is so cute" and the second is "omg Victor is so cute". But that's what my Tumblr is for, and on this serious site that's definitely serious and I pay money for the hosting so it must be I should be taking a more interesting analytical look, sort of.

So yeah, first thing to note is that this opening sequence doesn't follow a standard formula. This is good, it makes it look unique and catches your eye.

I think the character animation in this sequence has a really nice unique style to it. It's sketchy, which I think helps make it feel more expressive, which is important for conveying the emotion of their routines and stuff I think. The skating routines in this show are really good in general. But in this opening I love the flow it has to it, in particular the clever cuts where it changes which skater it is.

The backgrounds for the version I've posted are kinda abstract splashy colour things. There's actually variants of this opening, later in the series there's some changes to the colours, addition of more flarey colour things on their hands, and a lineart cgi skating rink in the final shot. And there's some plot related changes in the last episode to use the regular OP, which I thought was cool. But yeah the sparse backgrounds help with the visual distinctiveness I think

The song is interesting, because it's in English! I think this might have been deliberate beyond a "hey let's use an English song" decision because the show's got a very international setting and feel, so I think they went with an English song to emphasise that. It's also a super catchy song! Shameless self promotion time, I did a cover of it, check it out!

In conclusion, the Yuri on Ice opening sequence, much like the rest of the anime, is amazing!