Yuri On Ice Responds To South Park Cameo With Hilarious Easter Egg

Yuri on Ice has made a name for itself since it debuted earlier this year. The rom-com sport anime tells the tale of Yuri Katsuki as the ice skater learns to overcome his crippling self-doubt to become one of the world’s top figure skaters. The LGBTQ-friendly series has become one of the top anime series both domestically and abroad, and the West has taken notice. Not only have studios like Funimation licensed the show for English dubbing, but animated series like South Park has also made subtle nods to the show.

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And, since Yuri on Ice is ever-so polite, the anime is thanking the Comedy Central series with an easter egg of its own.

If you are not familiar with the relationship between Yuri on Ice and South Park, the buckle in. The story started at the beginning of this month when the crude series name-dropped Yuri on Ice. In episode 277, South Park addressed the idea of Internet anonymity, and fans were shown the user histories of several characters. One shot revealed that Ike Broflovski was watching shows like Naruto and Yuri on Ice during their downtime, and anime fans were quick to point out the reference.

So, yesterday, Yuri on Ice paid homage to the long-running comedy in its own way. The finale of Season One saw one of the characters from Yuri on Ice dress up just like Eric Cartman. During a flashback scene, fans saw Jean-Jacques ‘JJ’ Leroy at home playing in the snow as a child, but it was his outfit that had fans flailing. The small boy was dressed in a bright red jack, yellow gloves, and a blue-and-yellow beanie.

Sounds familiar? Well, it should; Just go look at an image of the South Park character to jog your memory.

If last night’s Yuri on Ice has already escaped you, then you can get a quick rundown of it here. The episode kicked off with Yuri and Victor having a rather tense conversation. The finale started with Yuri asking Victor to return to ice skating after the Grand Prix ended. The choice would force Yuri out of his sports career, and Victor was not pleased with the proposition. The two argued, and Yuri was left conflicted before he performed his final routines for the tournament.

Once the final got underway, Yuri and his competitors hit the ice and left everything they had on the rink. Despite his waning confidence, Yuri managed to perform his routine without any major errors and even landed the quad flip which he had been trying to nail all season long. Having beaten Victor’s highest Grand Prix score, Yuri was a shoe-in for gold before Yuri Pilsetsky performed an all-kill routine. The Grand Prix title went to the young Russian skater while Japan’s Yuri was left the silver. The episode then ended with Yuri begging Victor to continue training him, and Yuri on Ice left fans wondering where the duo would go moving forward.

MORE: Why Yuri On Ice Is Taking Anime By Storm

When the episode ended, the finale teased that fans will likely see the show return for another season though no official word has been given. So, thankfully, it looks like the folks behind South Park will have some more material to pull from in the future.

[H/T] Anime News Network