Yuri On Ice Cancellation: New Reason Surfaces as Rumors Fly Around Movie Shelving

An anonymous whistleblower on X (formerly Twitter) revealed why Yuri on Ice: Ice Adolescence was officially canceled. Do Note that this is not an official statement.

By Levin Plassery

Published on Aug 30, 2024 | 03:11 PM IST | 70K

Yuri on Ice: Ice Adolescence [PC - YouTube - avex pictures - MAPPA]

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for Yuri on Ice Manga and Anime.

In April 2024, MAPPA released a statement confirming the cancellation notice of Yuri on Ice: Ice Adolescence on the series’ official account. Soon after, a user on X revealed conversations with an anonymous whistleblower on why the show was canceled. However, this is not 100% verified but the timeline does make sense.

The source claims that the creative differences among the writers led to the show being canceled. The movie was pitched to bridge the first and second seasons of Yuri on Ice. This has been confirmed since Mappa announced the film back in 2017. The primary reason for the film being canceled was the distribution regions and its coverage of same-sex relationships.

Yuri on Ice was praised for its depiction of the same-sex relationship between the main characters, Yuri K. and Victor. As per the source, in countries like Russia and China, which have bans against LGBTQ content, the markets were rather large for licensing. The user also mentioned that the initial script was rejected due to distribution concerns over LGBTQ issues.

Even though the series bagged multiple awards, it had its fair share of criticism as well. Critics called out the series for being unrealistic as it does not depict homophobia and present-day issues. Unlike the present Yaoi genre, the series also censored a kiss scene between the main characters, which makes it ambiguous to some viewers.

Even though MAPPA has worked on LGBTQ stories like Banana Fish, doubt still looms on why Yuri on Ice was canceled. In the official statement, the studio did not release much information on why the film was axed. The whistleblower source claims that the popularity of shows like Attack on Titan and Jujutsu Kaisen overshadowed Yuri on Ice.

Yuri on Ice premiered back in 2016 and was directed and written by Sayo Yamamoto, with original scripts by Mitsuro Kubo. It revolves around a Japanese figure skater who falls in love with his coach, and now figure skating partner, Yuri Katsuki from Russia. The series was very popular and some skaters even performed to the show’s music in the 2018 Winter Olympics. Stay tuned for more updates on Yuri on Ice!

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