The King and The Skater

**The King and The Skater** (Japanese: 王様とスケーター*, Ōsama to sukētā)* is a fictional musical film released in the year 2000 in the *Yuri!!! on Ice* universe. The movie was the first that Phichit Chulanont ever watched and has a great influence on him. Phichit performs his short program to the song "Shall We Skate?", which is featured in the movie. This makes him the first Thai skater to skate to this song, despite the fact that the movie stars a Thai actor.

The movie's sequel "The King and the Skater II" features the song "Terra Incognita", which is used by Phichit for his free skate.

## Plot

The plot of the movie was elaborated by Mitsurou Kubo in her Twitter :

*"Figure skater Arthur Stuart from Manchester, England, has lost his motivation to skate and decides to retire. Without other career prospects, he works part time at a local skating rink and only finds joy from his sole hobby, a trading card game. One day, he is suddenly transported through time to the 19th century to a fictional country strongly resembling the Thai Kingdom.*

*Arthur was able to switch places with an English home tutor and slips into the royal palace. The king, who wants to change the feudal monarchy, takes keen interest in Arthur. Despite early setbacks in being accepted by the royal family, Arthur eventually becomes a respected figure for the royal children through the trading card game he brought along with him.*

*It was soon revealed that Arthur possessed magical abilities from the trading card game. Using his magical powers, Arthur freezes a pond in the garden and shows off his skating skills. The king is moved by his performance and has his children and vassals learn skating. Arthur and the others eventually put on a show based on the book “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” at a diplomatic event. It was a great hit, expertly blending traditional Thai dance with a modern ballet arrangement. The Thai Kingdom (-resembling fictional country) earns the respect of other countries.*

*That night, Arthur confesses to the King that he’s from the future. The King is surprised, but doesn't doubt him. He then asks Arthur what the Thai Kingdom (-resembling fictional country) is like in the future and why Arthur stopped figure skating.*

*Knowing that skating isn't exclusively something you do alone, but can also be performed as a pair, the King asks Arthur to teach him to skate as well. **"Shall we skate?"***

*At this point, a huge fire breaks out in the palace and quickly spreads to the city. The anger of the people oppressed under the monarchy explodes. To save the country, Arthur uses the power of his trading card game to fight.*

*What will ultimately become of the kingdom? Will Arthur ever make it back to his own time? Will the trading card game's sponsors ever come to a settlement?"*

## Trivia

* The movie was a smash hit, but many criticized that the combination between the trading card game and figure skating gimmicks was just too much and that they'd rather have it one way or the other.
* Its sequel, "The King and the Skater II", features a time warp to the modern era instead.
* The movie appears to be based on "The King and I", which offers a similar premise to "The King and The Skater" and also features a play based on "Uncle Tom's Cabin".

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://twitter.com/kubo\_3260/status/796421125257371649/photo/1?ref\_src=twsrc^tfw (in Japanese)
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 http://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2016/11/15-1/yuri-on-ice-co-creator-details-animes-fictional-movie
3. ↑ https://blog.sakugabooru.com/2016/11/23/behind-the-scenes-of-yuri-on-ices-costume-design-6/