Unboxing [US]: Yuri!!! on ICE - Complete Series: Limited Edition (BD/DVD)

It's been a long time since I last purchased a limited edition set from Funimation, but this is the first title I've bought that's under the revised LE style approach as well as being a Crunchyroll license.

I wouldn't be surprised if this set sells out soon.

Yuri!!! on ICE is an original anime series that aired during the Autumn 2016 season. The show was animated by studio MAPPA, directed by Sayo Yamamoto and music composed by Taku Matsushiba. The show unexpectedly went pretty big in the anime community, surpassing Re:ZERO as the biggest anime series of 2016 from what I could gather and also received attention from the mainstream world.

Female fans and the LGBT community enjoyed the series a lot, even professional ice skaters which is pretty cool to witness. In fact the show's song Yuri on Ice was used by the Japanese ice skaters who performed at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

So, the show went big and here it is, the home video release. Now due to the Crunchyroll & Funimation partnership, all of the Crunchyroll licensed titles are now distributed and authored by Funimation. Not long after, Sony bought Funimation so the UK license is in complete limbo alongside Kabaneri, Keijo and many others. As a result of this I decided to go ahead and import the show because the UK delays for anime are ridiculous at this point.

The limited edition release from Funimation is their new revised style approach where they are trying to offer more value to the sets themselves. The price is still $84.98 but now we have booklets and artcards to go with it, plus the set now uses one Blu-ray case rather than two slim ones. The Yuri!!! on ICE set also comes with a holographic box that shines pretty well and has the artcards separate from the set which is a common issue with Funimation because a majority don't want content separate from the box as they either have nowhere to place them or it can get damaged/lost.

The set features 2 Blu-ray and 2 DVD discs with English & Japanese audio with English subtitles. I can confirm that it will work on UK players as the discs are regions A & B for Blu-ray and 1, 2 & 4 for DVD. The subtitles are locked on the Blu-ray discs.

Blu-ray Specs:

Languages: Japanese, English

Audio: Dolby TrueHD 2.0 (Japanese), Dolby TrueHD 5.1 (English)

Video: 1080p HD Native 16:9

Region: A B

Subtitles: English

Subtitles Locked: Yes

Discs: 2

DVD Specs:

Languages: Japanese, English

Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 (Japanese), Dolby Digital 5.1 (English)

Video: SD NTSC 16:9

Region: 1 2 4

Subtitles: English

Subtitles Locked: No

Discs: 2

Plot Synopsis (via Funimation):

After suffering a humiliating loss at the Grand Prix Final, Japan's number one skater, Yuri Katsuki, is ready to hang up his skates for good. But when his idol and five-time champion Victor Nikiforov offers to be his coach, Yuri's put on a trek for gold and to discover the true meaning of victory! Together, they'll face skaters from around the world while discovering where their true feelings lie.

On-Disc Extra Content (Blu-ray Version):

Episode 11 English Dub Commentary
Yuri!!! on ICE: A Cast Discussion
Textless Opening Song "HISTORY MAKER" Versions 1 & 2
Textless Closing Song "You Only Live Once"
Textless Closing Tenth Skate
Textless Closing Final Skate
OVA - Yuri Plisetsky GPF in Barcelona EX "Welcome to The Madness"
Trailers

On-Disc Extra Content (DVD Version):
Trailers

Collector's Edition Extras:

Chipboard Artbox: Clean Box w/Title on Spine, Logos/Info/Specs on Sheet of Paper, Blu-ray Case for Discs

80-page Booklet
3 Artcards

Yuri!!! on Ice is available as a Blu-ray & DVD combo pack by Crunchyroll/Funimation.