Jeff Buttle Working on an Unnamed Movie

[jillredhand]

They haven't timed this particularly well. I'd have thought the best time to release a YOI movie would be just after the Olympics, when even casual fans who don't usually watch anime are hyped about it.

I suppose this means we're never getting a season 2, which means we'll never find out about Nats, Euros, 4CC, Worlds in that universe's season....you know, like the half of the season that actually matters.

I don't think they're worried about capitalizing on Olympics timing. They released the first show two years before the Olympics, when no one other than hardcore FS fans was interested in figure skating at all, and the show still became a bona fide worldwide hit. Heck, the first season was about the Grand Prix circuit, the least well known of the ISU championships, and that didn't hold it back at all. Whenever the movie or a second season comes out, it'll be a hit because of returning fans of the show and people who heard the buzz around the first season but didn't pick it up until more was released, not because it's timed to take advantage of the attention spans of four-year figure skating fans.

I'm kind of curious to see how the movie adapts to the breakneck pace of the advancement of Men's figure skating. They wrote the show before anyone had landed a 4F or 4Lo, and the most insane thing they could think of making their skaters do was 4 quads in a FS. If they make the movie about the Worlds right after the GPF of Season 1, is JJ suddenly going to have acquired an extra 2 quads per free skate, just to keep pace with IRL skaters like Nathan? Will they give Yuuri a surprise 4A instead of the "impossible" 4F? (Going by their luck, if they wrote the plot around someone achieving the first 4A, then Yuzuru or Nathan would probably successfully land one before the movie actually airs ).

 

[Haleth]

I can't find the tweet again, but someone said Kenji was seen at the rink with them so maybe they're working together? I hope they are, because even though Kenji's work on the series was great, you could kind of tell that they were all choreographed by the same person because a lot of the programs had the same elements. It would be nice to mix up the skating styles a bit. (It's possible I can't find it because it was deleted if this info was unconfirmed.)

And there will probably eventually be a DVD release of the movie down the line, though the US DVDs of the series took about a year after the Japan DVDs were released to come out. However, the US didn't get the extras with Kenji's work so idk if we'll get Jeff's (but maybe since he's from Canada/North America).

Thanks for this!

I've heard rumours involving Plushenko and Kenji (what you said) and we have the definite participation of Jeff and Johnny with perhaps others involved.

So, despite what I thought earlier, the choreography question is wide open still. We could be getting one or both of the following:

1) Cameos from some/everyone involved and, thanks to the much bigger budget for a movie of a proven series, we get to see them move and maybe skate (iconic programs?) a bit with very high quality animation. I am thrilled for Sayokan if this is so! Some of her faves done justice thanks to the artistry of the MAPPA team would be terrific.

2) Choreo demos by the creator(s) to serve as physical references, with the likeliest creators being Kenji and Jeff, since both a well-known. The other(s) might be physical references for the characters rather than themselves. For example, Plushenko standing in for Victor skating, Kenji for Yuuri, etc.

Yes, I was disappointed about the lack of the choreo videos in the NA edition. Glad that I splurged on the JPN edition since the ones up on YT were taken down. Hopefully both editions of the film will have any such videos. I will will consider buying the JPN edition just in case...

 

[Haleth]

They haven't timed this particularly well. I'd have thought the best time to release a YOI movie would be just after the Olympics, when even casual fans who don't usually watch anime are hyped about it.

I suppose this means we're never getting a season 2, which means we'll never find out about Nats, Euros, 4CC, Worlds in that universe's season....you know, like the half of the season that actually matters.

Sorry for the double post, but I feel it's best to reply directly than make an omnibus post, which could get unwieldy.

I won't repeat what iorii and JRH said, but will add:

YOI is a labor of love by two fs fans. The original series production involved Sayokan and Kubo travelling to rinks around the world to take pictures, commissioning program music, costumes, and choreography, as well as the normal activities for producing a new anime series. For a film you have to do the same, if you are going to keep it at the same level as the series, let alone surpass it. All of that takes time, especially if you are going to bring busy elite skaters into it. I imagine many of the people tied to fs, including skaters, choreographers, etc. had very limited time in the Olympic season and that includes the summer before, even if the production was at the point to make use of them. That’s beyond Sayo and Kubo being able to line up the main members of their anime production team who themselves are extremely busy. Not just because they are quality people in high demand, but because anime staff in general are overbooked. It’s a serious issue in the industry, not a MAPPA-only problem.

Moreover, Sayo and Kubo were not about to create a slapdash sequel to milk money from fans. Sayo especially is not the type of creator to create a show just for $$. She created the concept of YOI during a low period in her life when fs was one of her few joys and shopped it around without success until MAPPA took a chance on an original series. Original series are not common, because they are more of a financial risk. Although people expected critics and fans to pay attention since she is well a well-regarded creator, no one expected it to be a breakaway hit in Japan, let alone popular elsewhere. It didn’t need the Olympics to become the one of the top-selling anime since 2000. Now that Yuzuru and Shoma succeeded so well at the Olympics, they have raised the prestige of the sport in Japan, so I doubt that numerous YOI fans, who continue to snap up the mountain of merch aimed at them, are going to forget or ignore the show.

Re: the series focus on the GP series alone. From a storytelling perspective it made plenty of sense to follow the GP series to introduce viewers to fs by focusing most on the 6 who make it to the GPF and especially the process that gets one of them there. That competition made for a solid resting place for a short series like YOI. Perhaps if a 2-cour season had been greenlit (unlikely in the current state of the anime industry), the rest of the season might have been fit in, but honestly I like the tighter focus of the GP series as an intro to the YOI world.

At the moment we have no idea what will be covered in the film. It is possible they might cover the Nats alone to show Victor and Yuuri struggle with V’s comeback while coaching Yuuri and Y’s change of rink, or do that using 4CC/Euros, or do a prequel to flesh out Victor’s backstory. I doubt they try to fit the whole entire 2nd half of the season into a movie, unless they pretty much skip Nats, briefly show Euros and 4CC and focus most on Worlds.

As for season 2, I am not sure where you get the idea there will be none. If you look at other extremely popular anime series like Free!!, you will see that even multiple movies do not mean new series will not be made. I think whether one is made is up most to Sayokan and Kubo. Again, if they feel there is more story to tell and that she and Kubo can do it justice, then I suspect it will be made.

 

[iorii]

I'm kind of curious to see how the movie adapts to the breakneck pace of the advancement of Men's figure skating. They wrote the show before anyone had landed a 4F or 4Lo, and the most insane thing they could think of making their skaters do was 4 quads in a FS. If they make the movie about the Worlds right after the GPF of Season 1, is JJ suddenly going to have acquired an extra 2 quads per free skate, just to keep pace with IRL skaters like Nathan? Will they give Yuuri a surprise 4A instead of the "impossible" 4F? (Going by their luck, if they wrote the plot around someone achieving the first 4A, then Yuzuru or Nathan would probably successfully land one before the movie actually airs ).

I think about this a lot! It's unbelievable how the real figure skating could catch up to the fictional one so fast (no one had jumped 3A-3Lo-3Lo in competition like Viktor though). How will they make the fictional one look more amazing than the real one? 4F-4T? It's anime so it has to be exaggerated a bit. And will they follow the new GOE+5 scoring system?

Very well said, Haleth! Thank you for highlighting the creators' love and hard work

https://twitter.com/soukatsu_/status/1002216011502882818 the YOI movie rumor thread keeps getting updated. Good news to fill my thirst for this unbearably long off season...

And reminder that they have an homage to Jeff! https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/...cgb56SUGuiJJg9k0LDjK6jOKqNZC556kj9a6HeX9U4zjg