OtaYuri

"Otayuri" Is a slash ship between the characters Yuri Plisetsky and Otabek Altin in the popular anime Yuri!!! On Ice. It is, debatably, the second most popular ship in the anime, after Viktuuri, and began appearing significantly high on Tumblr's "Fandometrics" list of ships. Even though the series began in late 2016 and the relationship wasn't introduced until episode 10, they quickly gained a massive following on Tumblr.

Some discourse has, as it always is, been generated over their ages, as Otabek is 18 at the time of their meeting and Yuri only 15 (canonically 16 as of writing this), and some people dislike the ship solely because of this reason.

Episode 10
The ships following can be traced back to episode ten of the first season of Yuri!!! On Ice. When Yuri is trying to escape his rabid fangirls, Otabek appears on his motorcycle, offering him a way out. Otabek takes Yuri up to the top of the pillars in Park Güell municipal gardens, and the two talk there. Otabek tells Yuri how they had met five years prior, at Yakovs summer camp. Otabek, being a few years older than Yuri, but notably less talented than the other Russian skaters at the time, was put in a novice group, where he met Yuri. He describes the other boy as having had the "Eyes of a soldier", but Yuri confesses that he does not recall their meeting in the slightest. He asks Otabek why he is even talking to him, as they are rivals, but Otabek responds that he simply felt they had a lot in common. He offers his friendship, and the Yuri accepts. Later the two can be seen talking in a cafe, with Yuri slightly blushing.

Welcome To The Madness
In the special edition manga, that plays out shortly after Yuri wins the Grand Prix Final, the two bicker, with Yuri storming off as a result off not being allowed to come along when Otabek is to DJ at a club in Barcelona. With help from a few of the other skaters, he manages to track Otabek down, wearing the clothes he and Otabek had purchased whilst shopping in the city formerly listed. Yuri demands Otabek play something for him, to which the latter responds by playing the song "Welcome To The Madness" that the two later choreograph Yuris exhibition skate to.

When Yuri sees Viktor and Yuuri skate together, he lashes out once more, with Otabek commenting that "our surprises overlapped". Yuri proceeds to indirectly ask Otabeks help. The two much foreheads and Otabek says that "We're friends, right? There's only one answer." The manga promptly ends and the exhibition is shown in the video with the same name as the song (this that was released with the Blu-Ray version of the anime". The entire skate is suggestive, to say the least. Otabek joins Yuri on the ice to stand in a corner of the rink. Otabek assists in pulling Yuri's gloves off, the first with his hands and the second with his teeth. He also ends the skate by "shooting" Yuri with finger guns. The entire skate is full of subtext and very sexual. It sparked discussion and a lot of emotion in the community, especially on Tumblr, and is today a foundation on which the ship is built.

Trivia

 * In episode 10 after Otabek rescued Yuri, Viktor (as the narrator) remarks that "The news that the hero of Kazakhstan kidnapped the fairy of Russia spread across the world like a wildfire!"
 * Viktor also says that "Yuri had never been asked to become friends before!", implying that Otabek is Yuri's first real friend.
 * When one of them is about to skate in competion, the two have both yelled out "Davai", loosely translated to "come on" in Russian.

SHIP NAME HERE is a TYPE (HET/SLASH/FEMSLASH) ship between CHARACTER and CHARACTER in the SERIES NAME series.