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Once in a while while surfing through streams of manga, you will come across an underrated one and find yourself sitting on the fence between whether or not it is worth the time investment. Usemono Yado is one of those and bear with me as I convince the world to take the time and give this a read.

To give more context to the bare description that is given, Usemono Yado is a story about an inn where perplexed people from all walks of life arrive at to find/discover things--tangible and/or not--that were amiss in their lives. Plotless in the beginning, the manga follows various customers ... which set the tone and background for the manga, unraveling the mystery of the inn, then spends the majority of the remaining chapters depicting the turmoils of workers at the inn and ultimately the landlady herself.

Each customer arrive at the inn at different stages of life. Some come and go, and others stay to forget. Given that the walk-in customers at the primary chapters have one chapter of screentime each, admittedly, their characters could have been flexed out better. But within the pool of short term characters, many will find their ways into your hearts and will writhe you of empathy with their tearjerkingly relatable feelings, emotions and trains of sorrowful actions.

What really gives the final kick would be the landlady's woeful tales that will appear much more shockingly than what the reader could have already anticipated. Although short in duration, there is no bigger character development than that of herself and those in her life, who will come to love, discard and forget, then in time in which you will find all too bittersweet yet understandable, come to reembrace, accept and grow.

The one truly regretful matter regarding this manga is the short life it had to explore their stories in even more depth. In all honesty, each could have been a standalone manga with rapport. If you have a quick hour to spare, spend it on learning the lessons to be taught in Usemono Yado.

Not only will you find good stories, you will also find wonderful life lessons to value.

As an ex-competitive figure skater myself, this anime has brought me to brinks of tears beyond comprehension and inspired me to write my very first review (please bear with me). To quickly summarize the show in few words that will definitely do the show unjust: this is an anime about passion, failure, inspiration, human nature, and love. Regardless if you are an avid protester against shounen-ai or someone who dislikes sports animes, Yuri!!! on Ice will bring to the table a multitude of other elements you are sure to love.

**Story: 9 & Character: 10**
I might appear to be biased (and perhaps I am), but the ... realism of the characters' struggles and emotions are highly relatable and really draws your inner empathy. What sets this apart from other sports/shounen animes are that it does not aim to show unbelievable global success whilst in a beginner's shoes, but rather aims to show progress from a professional's point of view (it starts with Yuri failing phenomenally at the Grand Prix Finals and overcoming struggles to compete in the Grand Prix series again).

And because of the dynamic characters and their development through merely 10 episodes, I give this a solid 10/10. There are no antagonists that you will never come to agree with, but only dimensional characters who each have their reasons for being the way they are.

**Art: 9**
The art is 10/10 true to the sport, with the programs' actually being choreographed by a professional figure skater. From the kiss & cry, scoreboard and even the details of freshly resurfaced ice, everything is accurately detailed and there is never a "wtf-is-this-even-real" moment in its artistic depictions. (In fact, if there were no copyright issues, the very blades that Yuri Plisetsky skates on are most likely "John Wilson, Gold Seal Revolution" blades.)

Besides on-ice moments, the soft yet vibrant tones also brings much of the surroundings alive and leaves a picturesque aftertaste. That said, the occasional lack of fluidity in character movements while on-ice could be slightly distracting to those who regularly watch figure skating performances / competitions.

**Sound: 10**
The OP and ED itself uses electronic themes, which would somewhat satisfy EDM fans. Yet the variety in music really brings the figure skating world alive. The original song "Yuri on Ice" that Yuri skates to depict the journey of his career is unbelievably melancholic, heartfelt, heartbreaking and tender; if no one told me, I would think it jumped out of Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso.

**Enjoyment: 10 & Overall: 9**
Personally, I rate this show a 10/10. But taking into account my background as a retired figure skater and the moments I saw my experiences laid out in the show, due to my inherent bias towards the show, I give Yuri!!! on Ice a 9/10 in this review.


Definitely give this anime a try--it has the power to send you flying from a rut in life, and inspires you to accept your failures, and to get up and try again.

What is life, anyway, without ups, downs and a journey to tell?