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[video description: The video opens with a close-up of figure skater Yuuri Katsuki, sitting on the floor and looking unfairly beautiful in a simple navy blue button-up shirt and black jeans. There’s a different, softer aura surrounding him when he’s off the ice, and the camera takes advantage of his relaxed pose and smiling face. Two poodle puppies are currently climbing over his legs, trying to reach for the ball he has in his hand. And though he glances up at the camera when it pans to him, his attention almost immediately flickers back to the puppies.
“I can’t believe dogs are real,” he whispers, stars in his eyes.
The video then cuts to a purple screen with cartoon puppies chasing after a ball. A jaunty instrumental plays. BUZZFEED PRESENTS: THE PUPPY INTERVIEW, proclaims the text, FEATURING YUURI KATSUKI.
Text description: WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE THING TO DO DURING THE OFF-SEASON?
As the text pans across the screen, employees in the background start bringing more puppies to where Yuuri’s sitting. He reaches out to all of them, doing his best to give all of them the attention they deserve, and a silly grin appears on his face.
Then the text disappears, smoothly cutting back to Yuuri. He looks thoughtful as he pets the puppy in his lap.
“My favorite thing to do during off-season…” Yuuri muses, apparently unable to resist picking up the nearest poodle again. “かわいい,” he coos as he does, pressing his face into its fluffy fur, and the according translation appears at the bottom of the screen. (Cute!)
Yuuri begins playing with the puppy’s floppy ears as he thinks, seemingly unaware of what he’s doing. The poodle looks entirely unbothered by the attention, and just looks calmly around the studio.
“It’s—it’s probably being able to eat all the food I wasn’t able to during the skating season,” Yuuri eventually confesses, glancing at something offscreen. His ears are tipped with red as he continues, “Vitya’s a very good coach, so he controls my diet to a T.”
The next words are suspiciously rushed.
“But don’t get me wrong, you should see how much katsudon he can put away when we’re home in Hasetsu!”
The music swells again as another question appears on the screen: WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO START/CONTINUE SKATING?
“Um…” This time, the blush is unmistakable and Yuuri buries his face into the puppy’s side. He mumbles something unintelligible, and the poodle in his arms starts licking his hand. Another one curls up by his side and falls asleep.
The camera zooms in on Yuuri’s forehead, the only visible part of his face, and to the poodle puppy he’s currently using as a shield.
“Sorry, sorry,” he says, peeking up from the curly brown fur, “it’s just that—that Vitya—oh my god…” Yuuri hides again.
Then the image cuts again, this time showing Yuuri looking almost stubbornly at the camera. It’s as if the previous actions didn’t happen, though there’s still a lingering blush staining his cheeks.
“Viktor Nikiforov,” he begins, “was—is—my greatest inspiration. He never stops surprising me. I was twelve years old when I first saw him skate, on the grainy TV in the locker room of the rink back home, and I knew that I wanted to skate on the same ice as him one day.” Yuuri glances at something offscreen, a smile brightening his face as he does so, and then he looks back at the camera.
“Just knowing that I’d be able to meet him one day is what inspired me to keep skating. I love the ice with my whole heart, but I love it even more because of him.”
Yuuri lifts the puppy in his lap, gazing into its eyes. Then he adds wistfully, “This one looks just like Vicchan when he was a puppy. I’d forgotten how small he used to be. Hmm?”
The interviewer’s said something, made unclear by the lack of a microphone, and Yuuri’s expression shifts to one of understanding. “Vicchan was the name of my dog,” he clarifies, setting the poodle back down. “I actually used to bring him to practice and skate with him sometimes when I was younger.”
A stifled squeak makes Yuuri lift his head and smile again, making that wistfulness vanish from his eyes. The camera follows Yuuri’s line of vision, focusing on one Viktor Nikiforov, who’s sitting next to a woman who’s presumably the interviewer. The lighting on the two of them isn’t as good as the one on Yuuri because they’re not even supposed to be filmed, but the camera still manages to capture that Viktor’s holding up an iPhone with one hand and covering his mouth with the other.
“Oh my god,” he seems to be muttering. “Oh my god.”
The amusing thing is that he doesn’t seem to notice that there’s a professional video camera trained on him.
When the next question appears onscreen, asking about his favorite skating program, Yuuri’s now surrounded by about seven poodle puppies compared to the previous two and there’s a bit of distress in his expression as he tries to scoop them all into his lap.
“My favorite program?” he asks distractedly, his eyes flickering down to the puppies toddling around him. “Oh, um…”
Yuuri looks to the side again and blurts out in a panic, “Vitya, I can’t hold them all!”
The video then transitions to Yuuri calmly holding three puppies in his lap while the remaining four are crawling over Viktor in the background.
“My favorite program is definitely Yuri on Ice,” Yuuri says, something soft in his expression as he glances at Viktor playing with the puppies, then back to the camera. “Viktor and I created that program together, and it represents both my journey as a skater, along with all the love I’ve had in my life. It’s very special to me because of that.”
“Don’t forget you set a world record with that program!” Viktor sings, giving kisses to the puppy lying on his chest. “My Yuuri is so talented!” Then the poodle licks Viktor’s nose in response and Yuuri bursts into laughter.
WHAT WOULD YOU BE DOING IF YOU WEREN’T A SKATER? reads the next question. Yuuri and Viktor are next to each other now, holding puppies up to each other and saying woof! back and forth.
“Ah, I’d probably be dancing,” Yuuri says after the cut, valiantly ignoring Viktor’s efforts to balance the remaining puppies on Yuuri’s shoulders. “I studied ballet first—” He leans back as the puppies start squirming, and his voice becomes slightly strained when they scoot onto his chest. “—And if it hadn’t been for my ballet instructor suggesting skating, I probably wouldn’t even be here.” Viktor places another puppy on Yuuri’s now-flat abdomen when he lies down. “Honestly, I can’t really imagine my life without skating,” Yuuri attempts to say, even as the poodles plant themselves on him. “It’s been a part of my life for so long now.”
All seven puppies are now somewhere on Yuuri’s body, and the interviewer asks, “Mr. Katsuki, are you all right?” The according caption flashes at the bottom of the screen, for viewers unable to hear the question properly.
“Oh, I’m perfect,” Yuuri sighs, his shoes and pants the only view of him now. “So to continue, without skating, I couldn’t be here. In puppy heaven.”
During all this, Viktor has already taken out his phone and is taking pictures of Yuuri at every possible angle. “Documentation,” he explains, still focused on the photography. “This is adorable.”
Text: WHAT SKATER WOULD YOU CHOOSE TO BE HANDCUFFED TO FOR 48 HOURS AND WHY?
Then the video shows a wide-eyed Yuuri, looking almost confused by the question. He's still lying down.
“Wait, sorry, could you repeat that?” he asks, looking around the puppy he’s holding in his arms like a small child. It licks his chin, then his neck, before nuzzling at the microphone clipped to his shirt. As a result, Yuuri’s next words are slightly fuzzy. “I wasn’t—I wasn’t paying attention.”
“Yuuuuuri, look at her,” Viktor cries, shoving another puppy in Yuuri’s face. As if on cue, she yawns adorably.
“Ohmygod.”
Then the video seamlessly transitions back to Yuuri, now sitting upright and looking as poised as a person could be with a squirming puppy in their lap.
“Does Viktor count?” he asks once the question is repeated. The poodle puppy is still in his lap—the one he compared to Vicchan—but the others are being smothered in Viktor’s affection. Viktor’s giggling, murmuring in Russian to each of them, and the only thing that the camera can clearly pick up is Makka-Makka-Makkachin.
“But if he doesn’t, then I’d definitely say Phichit Chulanont,” Yuuri says, shrugging. “He’s one of my closest friends, and he’d definitely make the experience more fun.”
The puppies then start nipping at the purple paper Yuuri and Viktor are sitting on, and pulling it apart with their teeth. Ribbons of paper start piling up, and Yuuri absently joins them, ripping it with his fingers.
“This is weirdly calming,” he mutters to Viktor when he sits by him, but the microphone still picks it up. “Can I just rip paper when we get home? Like the bills?”
“Unfortunately not, darling.”
Then the screen is filled with the words LASTLY, DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR YOUNG SKATERS WATCHING THIS?
“Remember that you’re doing this out of love,” Yuuri says immediately, “and to never stop fighting even when it seems impossible.” His eyes drift over to Viktor, who reaches over and squeezes his hand, then he smiles.
“I thought last year was my last,” he confesses. “That I’d never skate again. Because how could I ever come back from a season as disastrous as that one? But,” Yuuri continues, “then I remembered how much skating meant to me, and how much of my heart and soul belonged to the ice. I was only able to return to the sport I love because of Vitya’s help.”
“No, Yuuri,” Viktor rebuts, depositing another puppy in Yuuri’s lap in defiance. “That was all you. Your confidence and love inspired me, and everything that brought you to this moment was because you fought for that dream.”
Yuuri's apparently stunned into silence for a moment, but then he laughs and rests his head on Viktor's shoulder. “A dream too large to carry alone, huh?” he says more to himself than to the camera, petting the puppies in his lap.
It's a heartwarming scene to see.
For the closing remarks, the camera pans to the poodles wandering the studio, then back to Yuuri and Viktor.
“Hello! All of the puppies for this interview were given to us by our local shelter, and you can adopt these gorgeous poodles by calling the number below,” Yuuri says, waving. Viktor’s arm is wrapped around his waist. “…But not this one,” he adds, kissing the Vicchan lookalike on the nose. “We’re taking her home.”
Majestic music begins to play, and the video fades to black.]
YUURI KATSUKI: THE PUPPY INTERVIEW
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