AKA The Encyclopedia of Yuri!!! on Ice Boots and Blades
Although the rigor of animating makes it difficult to keep the precise details in every scene, clearer DVD/Blu-ray images and the released production notes with character sketches make it possible to identify many of the brands and models.
I want to preface this post saying that all of this – the researching, compilation, and decisions – was a practice in insanity. Some boots and blades were fairly straightforward to identify, while others involved poring over the size of toe-pick teeth, the shape of the mounting plates, and prioritizing certain design details (i.e. back of boot) over others (i.e. number of hooks).
We see quite a few styles of boots and blades in YOI. To the best of my ability, I’ve pinned down boots and blades for every skater (16 skaters!) in Yuri on Ice, and in the case of vague production drafts resulting in multiple options, I’ve offered a few alternate choices with my reasoning.
This post is super long with dozens of pictures from the show, production drafts (from the Setting Material Collection), and boot and blade websites. For length’s sake, I’ve made a quick list above a cut and left the expanded notes and pics below. For boots, I’m looking at EDEA, GRAF, Risport, Riedell, and Jackson Ultima. For blades, I’m primarily looking at John Wilson and MK Blades unless the design is different enough to warrant referring to other brands.
Formatting goes as follows:
Character name: brand of boots – model; finish (leather or suede), blade type (traditional or revolution); brand – model
———————
Yuuri Katsuki: KOSUGI; leather; traditional blades; John Wilson – Gold Seal
Victor Nikiforov: GRAF – Edmonton Special Classic; leather; traditional blades; John Wilson – Pattern 99
Yuri Plisetsky: Jackson Ultima – Elite; suede; revolution blades; John Wilson – Pattern 99 Rev
Christophe Giacometti: unspecified brand but suggests Risport/Riedell/EDEA – I suggest Risport – Royal Elite; suede; traditional blades; John Wilson – Gold Seal
Otabek Altin: unspecified brand but suggests Risport/Riedell/EDEA – I suggest EDEA – Concerto; suede; traditional blades; John Wilson – Pattern 99 or MK Blades – Phantom
Phichit Chulanont: EDEA (“EDEO” in-series) – Concerto; suede; traditional blades; Jackson Ultima – Matrix Freestyle (or Matrix Supreme)
Emil Nekola: Unspecified butsame close-up picture as Phichit’s
looks like EDEA/Riedell/GRAF – I suggest Riedell – Aria; unspecified finish; traditional blades; Jackson Ultima – Matrix Freestyle (or Matrix Supreme)
Jean-Jaques Leroy: EDEA – Ice Fly ; non-leather; revolution blades; John Wilson – Pattern 99 Rev
Seung-gil Lee: EDEA – Ice Fly; non-leather; traditional blades; John Wilson – Gold Seal
Leo de la Iglesia: EDEA – Ice Fly; non-leather; traditional blades; John Wilson – Gold Seal
Minami Kenjirou: Risport –RF1 Elite; leather; traditional blade; John Wilson – Gold Seal
Guang-Hong Ji: Risport (“RIZPORT” in-series) – RF1 Elite; leather; traditional blades; indistinct but possibly John Wilson – Gold Seal or MK Blades – Gold Star
Michele Crispino: Jackson Ultima – Elite; suede; revolution blades; MK Blades – Phantom Rev
Sara Crispino: Jackson Ultima – Supreme; leather; revolution blades; MK Blades – Phantom Rev
Georgi Popovich: unspecified brand (refer to Chris/Otabek/Phichit/Emil for possibilities); leather; revolution blades; John Wilson – Gold Seal Rev
Milla Babicheva: Riedell – 2010 Fusion; leather; traditional blades; indistinctOther Skaters (small section at the end) include: Yakov, Yuuko, Nishigori, and the triplets
WHAT. AN. AMAZING. POST.