Before There Was Heated Rivalry, There Was Yuri!!! On Ice

When the finale of Yuri!!! On Ice aired on December 21, 2016, demand to watch and discuss it was so high that Crunchyroll and Tumblr crashed, capping a 12-episode run that began in October. The series follows 23-year-old figure skater Yuri Katsuki as his idol Victor Nikiforov becomes his coach, and it made a queer relationship canon with a happy ending in a mainstream sports anime. It was the most tweeted-about anime of the fall 2016 season with 1,440,596 mentions, versus 348,109 for runner-up Haikyu!!.