ICeleste

Noooooo. I'm still crying about my favorite performance in Yuzuru's career (yes, LGC at GPF 2016) getting deleted when it had like 2 million views.

I just watched an interview with Javi on Spanish TV and they were talking about an imaginary film about his life. I'll translate the bit where Yuzuru is mentioned. Interviewer: Now we have to choose the bad guy of the movie. Who would you pick: a. A half human/half-giant-lizard Japanese skater. b. Global warming which threatens to melt all the ice. c. All the roller skaters in the world. Javi: I think I'll pick the Japanese skater. I: Well, the Japanese are so good at this sport. I mean, your arch-enemy is Japanese... what's that guy's name? Javi: Yuzuru Hanyu, yes. I: Is he going to keep competing? Or since you retired, he said "let's retire together"? J: No, he's doing very well now. I: But he hasn't been on/made a Revolution of Ice? J: No, of course not. I: When you annouced you were retiring, did he call you or tell you something like, "hey Javier, we were having a phenomenal time"? J: ... No. I mean, *laughing jokingly* "If you want to break yourself, do it, for me it's time to move on to other things now" (TN: I think he means something like "my body can't hold up to keep competing anymore" since he was talking about that before)

when I first watched this video I thought "he makes that single jump look like it's the easiest thing in the world" so I tried to do it but (silly me) I could never land it as smoothly as he does, I lost my balance every time lmao. I'm amazed at how easy and chill he makes everything look... I'd love to do a triple or quad with a harness on just to truly grasp the idea of how difficult figure skating actually is

thank you so much for sharing... that was such a lovely story and it made me smile

Yesterday the worst nightmare repeated itself and though it'd worsen the pain, you chose to compete. Today you showed up to receive your gold medal with a smile, to tranquilize those of us who love you. I never thought I'd see an athlete jump onto a podium while on crutches and even smile during the situation, but as I watched you do it I thought "you're undoubtedly a fighter, the most admirable one I know". Thank you for being my inspiration to not let depression win and to never give up, even when life is cruel and unfair. I'll never understand why the most noble people are destined to suffer the most. Fate has put so many hardships in your way... asthma, the earthquake, the bullying from the media and toxic fans of other skaters, COC 2014, all of the health problems that you can't get a break from every season.. And still you keep going, defying the odds and declaring "I won't retire yet", thinking about giving your all to be happy and to make your fans and your country happy, gifting us with your skating, breaking an endless number of historic records, triumphing over each obstacle; with your incredible strength that propels you to improve yourself (even more) everyday and to keep fighting for your dreams, as unreachable as they may seem to others... I'm thankful that I got the chance to know you and support you, at the highest and lowest points. Please rest and take care now, miracle boy...

One year ago today, I remember waking up and seeing the worst news... The Olympics were just a few months away and you were willing to give it all. You'd spent the off-season training for one of the hardest challenges: lady Lutz. You'd landed it for the first time at CoR- you'd fought so hard to stand on your feet on that first try, and your bright smile in the K&C after doing it was just priceless... But with every challenge comes a risk, and you never imagined that that double-edge sword would be potentially career-ending. That day -Nov. 9th-, I woke up with such a good mood, because I knew NHK was soon and I couldn't wait to watch you compete again. You woke up with a fever but your stubborn, dedicated self insisted on the 4Lz... Moments after, the video of the fall and the news that you'd been crying as you had to withdraw from NHK were everywhere. That was the beginning of a seemingly eternal and dark couple of months. I'd held on to the hopes of seeing you again in December, but time went by and I still hadn't heard from you. I realized then how serious the situation was. Then came 2018 and my hopes of seeing the OGM around your neck were faltering... Until days before the Games, Brian assured us we had nothing to worry about since your ankle would be ready in time. My illussion led me to trust his words blindly. In February, you landed in South Korea with an unprecedented aura of calmness and confidence: no matter the result, you were glad to come back to what you're most passionate about. And the ice, as well, was so happy to have you back that it welcomed you like a king, allowing you to deliver a glorious, WR-worthy SP. For a few minutes, you entirely made us forget you weren't in your best condition. The next day, Seimei shined like a fighter and made you a double Olympic champion, displaying the epitome of perseverance and resilience. Looking back today, I can't help but feel incredibly ecstatic as I watch you triumph in this new season and, more importantly, although I may sound like a broken record, I'm thankful to be able to keep enjoying your sublime skating. Thank you, Yuzuru, for keeping on giving me joy

Honestly, technical mistakes aside, I definitely preferred his first Origin performance. I understand that the technical mistakes at ACI may have been a direct consequence of the difficulty of his content so he might have deliberately simplified the choreo at Helsinki to be able to nail the jumps. Still, as his stamina gets better, I hope he'll bring back the sit twizzles, the IB entry for the 3A and the steps after the 3a and before the hydroblade... It'll be a shame if we don't see them again. I think we all agree that Otoñal is the more polished program at the moment and to me, the most special part of that SP is the stsq. I feel that's what Origin is lacking in comparison to Otoñal, Seimei and H&L (just to name a few): a climax. What makes Origin so different and original -unintentional pun- is that, instead of waiting for the chsq to go all out, he skates the full program like it's an extra long energy-demanding chsq and he doesn't take a second to breathe (the only program that comes close to this level is LGC, I think).That's not neccesarily a bad thing, but its unusual stucture might be the reason why the program may take longer to grow on us and on him. Not to mention that, as if the whole thing wasn't packed enough, he even plans to add 4A to the mix later on... I trust that he'll be able to master it though -whether it takes him one or more seasons- and I'm excited to witness that journey.

I vote for Worlds 2019. he might bring it on after a kuyashii SP, Worlds-2017 style! either that or GPF. I don't think his stamina will be there yet for the Helsinki and Russia GPs.

I've just realized something... how fitting that Yuzu will debut "Otoñal" on September 21st, the day autumn begins in Canada (and in the rest of the northern hemisphere)! I guess that was part of his calculations too.

I want to go to sleep and wake up on ACI day... this is my first time seeing the reveal of new competitive programs (and costumes) by him and I couldn't be more impatient and excited

Am I the only one who'd sell my soul for him to wear a black and gold costume? Preferably all-black with golden details and blinding sparkles...

Yuzuru, right now: I'm glad 3A is my best friend

Yuzuru, Boyang, Gabby, Bet, Stephen, Junhwan, Evgenia, Jason, part-time Javi... so crowded... will they be able to make it work? On the one hand, I adore Jason and Boyang. I'm happy they've made this change for themselves because I'm sure they'll only improve under TCC. And I'd love to see them hanging out with Yuzu. On the other hand... The news about the three new skaters joining has made me nervous. I can't help but think that BOrser wouldn't have accepted all of them if some of his other students weren't bound to leave soon... But who's leaving, besides Javi?

TBH, I'm still here in the fandom for Yuzu and because of Yuzu only... I love FS but it's become so tiring to follow this sport with its ridiculous judging and its officials' blatant bias for some skaters/countries

Please save Alina, Sasha, Alena and the other girls... I wish they would leave too... I hope their coach won't take it out on them

I'm taking Eteri's words with a grain of salt... I can't believe Evgenia would say that about Alina... I want to believe she's more mature than that.

I was watching some Javi interviews and I thought I’d share the translation of these interesting bits where he talks about Yuzu, PCs and reputation judging. January 2018 http://www.cope.es/videos/partidazo-cope/javier-fernandez-partidazo-cope-firmo-plata-aunque-voy-por-oro-los-juegos_446121 (Discussing Sochi) Interviewers: I hope he won’t hear this, but the Japanese skater fell many times and here we were celebrating each of his falls as if they were goals scored by the Spanish football team. (T/N: ) Javier: (laughs) Well, we risk a lot in our programs and even if we make mistakes, in the end, Yuzuru and I, we are very complete skaters so we don’t only depend on the jumps. Thus if we make mistakes on the jumps, we have something that shelters us. Some other skaters don’t have that so if they fail on the jumps it’s over. But skaters as complete as Yuzuru and I have that “wildcard”, so to speak, if we make mistakes. (Discussing Europeans) Interviewer: Are you worried about competing against the Russian guys, in Moscow? Javi: No, I’m not. After all, the judges know me so well and I’m not new anymore. So, maybe (I'd be worried) if I competed in Japan against a Japanese skater which is the most direct to me… But, even if the Russian guys do well at Europeans, if I do well too, the result shouldn’t be different. Another interview on February 17th at Pyeongchang (about Yuzuru’s LP) http://www.cope.es/audios/tiempo-juego/javier-fernandez-aunque-haya-sido-oro-una-medalla-olimpica-que-era-nuestro-sueno_464395 Javier: The truth is I haven’t seen him compete. I’ve seen his score and I believe his LP must have had some mistakes because he could’ve earned some more points- but I don’t know because I didn’t watch him. Still, it’s clear that he was the best at this competition.

I think Borser has enough students now so I doubt he'd take in any other top skater... Which is disappointing because I was hoping for Wakaba to have the chance to train with him. I think she could benefit from TCC's coaching the most- they'd help her stabilize her 3A and flip edge, add more transitions, polish her SS, manage her nerves, have smarter jump layouts, raise her PCs... On the other hand, I don't see how TCC could help Evgenia besides trying to fix her flutz and giving her better choreos... Her PCs and GOEs are already maxed out... She's already incredibly confident and she doesn't need any more transitions. I'd be surprised if she manages to change some habits of her skating at this point in her career (for instance, with her current technique I'd be shocked if she managed to land a quad or even 3A- which she might need to stay competitive in 2022) Brian might be an excellent coach but he won't necessarily work well with everyone- he's been successful at turning young, unpolished and up-coming skaters into champions but I'm not sure he could be of such good help to a girl who has already established her style and won everything. Though I might not like her skating, I really like her as a person and I wish her the best. I'm also happy that Yuzu will have another friend by his side at TCC.

They want skaters to try all types of quads, but would it be worth trying if falls are penalized extra harshly with -5 GOE, PCs deduction and loss of the supposed bonus for skating clean? What's the logic in allowing the ladies to repeat triples but not the men to repeat quads besides pushing a certain male American skater? Those who can do the most difficult quads are already rewarded in BV (which they plan to decrease for some reason?) These proposals are so unnecessary and contradictory... Why can't they fix actual issues like skaters getting away with severe prerrotation? Also, this might be an unpopular opinion but I don't get the opposion to the backloading bonus for all jumping passes. Alina might not be the best performer but the second half of her DQ LP is one of the most exciting and impressive figure skating performances I've ever watched. Although her musicality could be better, I find that program well choreographed because every jump is set to match the music. And even if it didn't match the music, that should be penalized in the composition score, not in the TES. You may argue that she can't sell the first half of the program well, but that should be reflected in her performance components. Forcing her to execute jumps in the first half is not the solution- it will not motivate her to improve and polish her skating, especially if she's already receiving high PCs. Backloading is very difficult and technically amazing so I don't get why it should be discouraged.

I wish I could! But to add the 12th WR, I'd have to delete the video and make and post a new one.. Not to jinx anything but I thought it may be better to wait and see if he breaks some (even) more records so I could make a second part, starting with his ACI SP 2017 Especially if the scoring system changes significantly next season, I can see a lot of potential for new record scores ETA: I've also been thinking of making another video about the records he's broken which are not related to scores, like the first 4Loop and hopefully Nessie, first to land 3 quads in second half, consecutive GPF wins, first back-to-back OGMs in 66yrs...

Happy birthday to the Planet! Exactly 1 year ago, I also made and posted this video. I initially compiled these clips because watching them again and again by myself made me really happy, but I never thought so many people would feel the same and it'd surpass half a million views (and that Mr. Hanyu would break a new WR 5 months after!)

Re: the GOAT debate. Since I personally haven't watched or come to know every single figure skater in history, it isn't completely objective from me to conclude that Yuzuru is the greatest of all time (I won't stop calling him that though ). However, I can confidently say that he IS the best skater I have ever known and watched. Of course, anyone is free to disagree, but if you do, I'd like to see if you can really make a convincing case for another skater being better than him or if you're just denying Hanyu's title out of irrational bias against him... Re: the inconsistency debate. It's unfair how Yuzu is singled out and held to a higher standard. It's true that he rarely skates clean but he's far from being the most inconsistent man. He hasn't finished lower than 2nd since 2014. His rivals, in comparison: Javi 6th at COC last year, Shoma 7th in Boston, Boyang 19th at Worlds '18, Nathan 6th in Helsinki, just to name a few. Also, I've noticed that the most consistent skaters in both men and ladies tend to have small jumps and/or constantly prerrotate, making their jumps less risky. Yuzu never PRs severely, and huge jumps like his are harder to control, thus his "inconsistency". Not to mention that hardly anyone has as many crazy transitions as Yuzu does which make his program overall more difficult. Those are the reasons why he gets the highest GOEs and PCS and thus he breaks a WR every time he goes clean. Besides, he tends to skate clean SPs more often than clean LPs and that can be explained by his stamina issues due to his asthma. Finally, I don't think it's fair to compare Yuzu's consistency to that of Evgenia or any other skater who doesn't do quads...

*whispers* LGC 2.0 I know recycling is unlikely given what he said about finally having the freedom to try some new music/styles he likes but that program is my absolute favourite so I want to speak it into existence