Kubo Crea Interview

Feb 8, 20176 min read

Deviation Actions

Published: Feb 8, 2017

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Hello, everyone! Earlier today, twitter user aki_the_geek translated an interview from Kubo from Crea magazine, and I thought I'd compile their translation here to share as it features some very interesting tidbits about Yuri on Ice and Kubo's insights.

The questions asked during the interview were not translated, but I think it's easy to follow Kubo's points well enough.

"Yuri on Ice was scheduled to air at night and is an original work, so I was worried it might take time before it catches people's interest. My worries were blown away when I saw the breathtaking skating scenes in episode one though. The word [of the anime] spread fast. Gripping visuals can indeed become the greatest selling point."

"I thought it might be difficult for viewers to fall in love with characters that keep skating in far away places from the very start. So I helped the Japanese viewers familiarize themselves with Viktor and Yurio by showing them in onsen, eating katsudon, and using SNS."

"Losing in the Grand Prix meant leaving the competition, so I had Yuuri and Yurio participate in a mock competition in Hasetsu. It helped establish the two Yuris as rivals as well as comrades in arms; you could also see later just how much they improved. I had an idea to show Yuri's mom come to Hasetsu to cheer her son in the competition." (The idea of including Yuri's mom was scrapped due to time restraints.)

"In episode four, Viktor and Yuuri learn how to work together as a coach and a student - but also as two people who are equal. There was no logical explanation for why Yuuri touched Viktor's head in episode four; it was a symbol of Yuuri breaking out of his shell."

"I love the scene where Yuuri smacks Minami's back - it was when he realized he was the one leading the Japanese skaters. I adore seeing characters show their feelings not through words or logical actions, but simply via their body language."

"Episode 6 is where you can enjoy the magic of Christophe Giacometti's butt to your heart's content. I decided I was totally going to draw beautiful butts in my storyboards when I saw Miyamoto Kenji-sensei's choreography. The butt magic was emphasized thanks to Chris' seiyuu using a supremely sexy voice for his lines. It was truly the peak of butt-ness."

"The characters' emotions were overflowing after Yuuri's FS in episode seven and judging by the fans' reactions, we managed to convey it well. Numerous people from overseas kept asking me if they hugged or kissed - that's when I realized just how far our show is reaching out."

"JJ's most terrifying power is turning everything around him into his own story - it's amazing how easily he can hijack the spotlight. Thanks to his personality, Miyano Mamoru managed to take JJ to a completely new level - it was nearly abnormal how convincing he was."

"When I went location scouting with Director Yamamoto, she saw glass panels near the arrivals [at the airport.] "We gotta have Viktor and Yuuri run next to each other here!", she said excitedly. "Defo!", I agreed as we went crazy on taking photos. Sadly, the airport in question is undergoing repairs, so you can't reenact the scene right now."

"With episode 10, I wanted to have a relaxed episode that shows the daily lives of skaters and introduces new sides of the characters. However, in the end, we ended up with a stampede of exciting developments and not even the animators managed to get any rest."

"The ring Yuuri presented Viktor is also a proof of their status as soulmates."

"I was extremely happy that Oda Nobunari and Gamada Ken joined us as guest voice actors in the final episodes. Stephane Lambiel - who no one expected to appear - showed up in the final episode too, blurring the lines between anime and reality even more."

"The last episode is full of moments that make you think about the characters' futures - and not only in the context of winning. I nearly fainted over Viktor's beautiful tears. The "reality of emotions" is what I kept closest to my heart when creating the storyboards. Just showing the performances and the points received by skaters is not enough to leave a big impression on the viewers. That's why I made sure that all of the characters' emotions show in their performances. Not only that - I wanted other characters to look at and be influenced by the performing skaters as well. Watching Miyamoto-sensei's choreography videos helped me come up with the characters' skating monologues. Even though he was simply matching the music, his movements seemed to blur with the emotions I wanted to show. Watching his videos made me shout, "Kenji-sensei, you are the greatest!" - I was really moved by them."

"Drawing fantastical skating moves would clash with what we wanted to show, so we were only a small step ahead of the reality. We consulted many people regarding realistic scores and difficulty, but somehow, real skaters managed to outperform our characters. We thought it might happen someday, but still - I couldn't help but be surprised because of how fast they surpassed them."

"It's a bit personal, but creating a story about Yuuri, who aims for victory because of love, required a lot of courage from me. In my life, I've never thought deeply about the meaning of love. Never expressed it. And yet, I decided to boldly draw it in fiction. In the end, the story I created encouraged me, gave me a new hope - I feel like I was born again."

Please feel free to let us know your thoughts on the interview below and please be sure to give your support and thanks to aki_the_geek for translating.