Geo1

On 2/13/2024 at 5:38 AM, Fay said:

Guys, TEN YEARS AGO THIS SKATE HAPPENED!!! 
I can’t believe it is ten years since! 

 

Coming upon this skate through lucky happenstance while channel surfing during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics is what started me on my 10 year journey down the Yuzu rabbit hole.

Ghislain will be at Junior Worlds in Taipei and the World Championships in Montréal and hopes that he will see some fans there. He says, “… too bad that Yuzuru won’t be there (in Montréal) because he was supposed to go … in 2020.” If you are going to either or both of these events and see Ghislain, don’t be afraid to chat and have a picture taken with him. He is very friendly and accommodating.

7 hours ago, rockstaryuzu said:

It's been five years to the day since I first laid eyes upon Yuzu in person, during the men's practice at ACI 2018. I remember how excited I felt, and nervous - even though I was only sitting in the stands to watch a guy skate! 

 

My heart was pounding, I was breathing so fast, my head felt light and dizzy - and I thought to myself " now I get why girls fainted for Elvis Presley, why people swooned for the Beatles" - and then he appeared! 

 

"Oh my God, he's real! He's really real!" - those were my exact words, posted at the time on this very forum 😅. And from that day to this, I've never gotten over that feeling.

 

Yuzu is real. He's really real, and the world is a better place for it.

 

🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

It’s true! You were bubbling with excitement over Yuzu when you came up to introduce yourself to me at the 2018 ACI.

When I awoke today, I had a nagging feeling that for some reason, today was special. Then I remembered. It was on Monday, September 16, 2019 that we drove from our AirB&B high-rise two-bedroom condo across from the Square One shopping mall in Mississauga to The Cricket, Skating and Curling Club in Toronto to visit Ghislain who arranged for us to meet with Yuzu after his practice.

It is hard to believe that four years have gone by since then and that so much has changed during those four years. Yuzu and his mother left Toronto in March 2020 and I believe that they had every intention of returning to The Cricket for the following season but for the pandemic. I had been looking forward to seeing Yuzu, Brian, Ghislain and Tracy at the 2020 Autumn Classic International in Oakville, but it was not to be.

The last competition that we attended was the 2019 Skate Canada International Grand Prix in Kelowna, British Columbia, and it was one for the ages.

8 hours ago, Perelandra said:

Interestingly Javi also spoke of having lost marks during a comp for a Zayak, probable that many skaters have also done this

Javi lost the bronze medal to Dennis Ten at the 2014 Sochi Olympics when he inadvertently Zayaked during his free skate. He did not realize that he had committed this error and was surprised/disappointed in the Kiss and Cry when he saw his score. He fell from bronze medal position after the short program to fourth place by a mere 1.18 points behind Dennis Ten.

Ironically, Dennis was the ultimate loser for having won the bronze medal, but that’s another story.
 

Edit: It has always amazed me how quickly Yuzu was able to switch gears and change his program when he made a mistake in order to regain lost points. A case in point is his Seimei free skate when he failed to complete his second quad toe loop combination. He immediately changed the following jump combo to try to make up for the points lost.

30 minutes ago, Perelandra said:

Hopefully not like an onion !! 

Agreed. Definitely don’t want Yuzu to be layered like an onion.

I once half jokingly said that a fellow lawyer was like an onion. You can remove all of the layers expecting to find some deep meaningful core, but when you take the last layer off, there is nothing!

3 hours ago, YuzuJay said:

I haven't seen this photo before especially that  Silver Grey Jacket.

 

Apparently this photo is from FAOI 2012 booklet. Translation from the article that booklet. "Refreshing Monster"  Courtesy @IcelandicVivian

 

 

 

This was Yuzu’s initial jacket for ‘Hello I Love You’ when he performed it in June 2012 at the ‘Dreams on Ice’ show. By July 2012, he had already changed the jacket to the shorter one with frills that we are more familiar with when he performed the same number at ‘The Ice’. The black ‘trash bag’ pants are the same though.

10 hours ago, Perelandra said:

Maybe you were just focussed on Date Masamune because of Neko Masamune and also visiting the shrine in Sendai which is dedicated to Masamune the first lord of Sendai with all of the dragon statues. 

 

Date was the clan name for the lords or Daimyo of the region around Sendai. Not sure if the historical clan territory equates exactly with modern regional or prefectural boundaries. Maybe someone can enlighten us on this. Similar to the ancient Kingdom of Mercia from Anglo Saxon history does not have a modern day location. 

 

When you saw the film 'The Magnificent Nine' were English sub titles available ? I have only seen the Yuzu clips and the making of footage with Yuzu. Yuzu twirling and laughing being most notable behind the scenes footage.

Date Masamune was born in what is now Yamagata-ken (Yamagata prefecture). Modern day Yamagata prefecture is located in the Tohoku region of Japan and borders Akita prefecture to the north, Miyagi prefecture (where the city of Sendai is located) to the east, Fukushima prefecture to the south, and Niigata prefecture to the southwest.

Masamune carved out a large section of northeastern Japan (Tohoku region) as his domain by warring with and conquering his neighbours. He was the last of the daimyo to submit to Toyotomi Hideyoshi who was the de facto ruler of Japan. Masamune lost a substantial part of his domain to Hideyoshi as punishment for being purposely tardy in coming to the aid of Hideyoshi in a crucial battle.

After Hideyoshi's death, Masamune supported Tokugawa Ieyasu who succeeded Hideyoshi and completed the job of uniting all of Japan under his rule and became the Shogun very loosely depicted by James Clavell in his novel of the same name and later made into a miniseries starring Richard Chamberlain and Shimada Yoko. (Incidentally, we met Yoko when she was making a movie in Vancouver and took her out for dinner after which she came to our home and we sang karaoke together. She autographed my two-volume hardcover copy of Shogun.)

Masamune was granted the Sendai domain by Ieyasu as reward for his loyalty and support. Masamune subsequently moved into the little village of Sendai with all of his family and vassals and founded the modern-day city of Sendai.

Masamune's crescent-moon-bearing helmet and eye patch are famous as evidenced by Neko Masamune's appearance.

We bought the Blu-ray disc of 'The Magnificent Nine' ('Tono, Risoku de Gozaru' – 'Lord, The Interest, If You Please') and it did not have English subtitles.

23 hours ago, Perelandra said:

In the cast bio on ImDB, the photo image used for Yuzu is from PC Olys with the Gold Medal

 

Yuzu plays the character of Date Shigemura

Yes, Yuzu played the part of Date Shigemura, the young daimyo of the Tohoku region from the mid to late 1700s.

Date Masamune was Shigemura’s more famous ancestor who reigned almost 200 years before Shigemura. Masamune was a legendary warrior and leader who founded the modern-day city of Sendai. He was much feared by his enemies and was nicknamed the “One-Eyed Dragon of Oshu” because he was missing an eye which was covered with a patch. He apparently cut his own eye out because it was useless and he found it disgusting.

Yuzu could probably play the part of Masamune if he put on his ‘hate-to-lose’ killer look. He would probably look good with an eye patch and one eye glaring.

59 minutes ago, Beatrice said:

 

In my previous post, I was 'complaining' that I cannot view the video ..... well, I had an inspirational thought of switching to another browser (from Opera to Firefox) ..... and ta-da! it works, yay !!!   

(I should have thought of it earlier:  Fire-Fox for watching the Fire-Bird  )

Thank you @Geo1 for the recommendation - very interesting documentary 

I am happy to hear that you were able to see the documentary. I have noticed that a lot of websites recommend using Google Chrome or Firefox for the best viewing experience.

This is Ghislain in the Air Canada lounge at Toronto Pearson International Airport yesterday waiting for his flight to Tokyo. He will be in Uji, near Kyoto, working at the Kinoshita Academy with Mie Hamada until May 24.

Although Ghislain did not meet with Yuzu during Yuzu’s recent trip to Toronto, Ghislain did attend Fantasy on Ice on May 29 last year where he received a warm applause from the audience. Ghislain said that the ice show was great, but not as great as the private meeting he had with Yuzu afterwards which was very special. Ghislain also received a number of gifts from Yuzu while he was in Japan, including Phiten necklaces for himself and his three sons. I am only speculating, but Yuzu may have viewed this as a tribute meeting with Ghislain since Ghislain is no longer with the TCC.

Hopefully, that will not be the last meeting between Yuzu and Ghislain.

With Yuzu’s recent visit to the TCC and a formal closure to the most important chapter of his life, to completely understand the significance of the present, one must look at the beginning, when Yuzu first came to Brian.

For new Fanyus, if you have not had the chance to watch the 2012 NHK documentary, ‘Spirits of the Athletes’, I would highly recommend that you do. You cannot fully appreciate who Yuzu has become without knowing who he was.

I have watched this documentary countless times and never tire of it.

This English dubbed version is in the Planet’s video archives. 

9 hours ago, yuzu4Aver said:

wow! thank you. So Ghislain will be in Japan until May 24?
also by Brian and Yuzu reunion, do you mean they'll meet in TCC or just somewhere else?

Brian will see Yuzu at the TCC. Brian would normally have been at the TCC when Yuzu arrived, but he has been out of town for the last couple of days.

Yuzu’s departure from Toronto is unconfirmed, but Ghislain has heard that he is leaving for Japan this Friday. Ghislain does not think that he and Yuzu will be able to meet this time, although he has texted Yuzu. Yuzu is apparently leaving at the end of the week and Ghislain is busy getting ready to leave for Japan on April 29. He will be in Japan until May 24.

When I said that Yuzu was probably in Toronto to retrieve his original Pooh Bear, Ghislain replied, “I’m sure that Pooh will be happy to go back to Japan.”

I’m glad to see that the two same age unicorns from Tohoku, Yuzuru Hanyu and Shohei Ohtani, are the top two favourite male athletes by a country mile. Between the two of them they have about 98% of the votes.

13 hours ago, MareikeLike said:

I'm new to being active and not only a lurker on PH.. how do you know that? I don't mean to pry 

I have the privilege of knowing Brian and Ghislain, so I asked Brian.

If you’re interested, you can read my earlier posts regarding the 2017, 2018 and 2019 ACIs as well as the 2019 Skate Canada International in Kelowna.

My post regarding the 2019 ACI in Oakville also includes a visit to the TCC and meeting Yuzu.

My post regarding the 2019 Skate Canada International also references spending time with Brian and Ghislain.

All of the posts are in the Yuzuru Hanyu General Chat section.

2017 ACI in Montréal (November 22, 2022 at page 7603)

https://planethanyu.com/topic/1145-general-yuzuru-chat/page/7603/

2018 ACI in Oakville (November 23, 2022 at page 7604)

https://planethanyu.com/topic/1145-general-yuzuru-chat/page/7604/

2019 ACI in Oakville (November 25, 2022 at page 7608)

https://planethanyu.com/topic/1145-general-yuzuru-chat/page/7608/

2019 Skate Canada International in Kelowna (January 24, 2023 at page 7718)

https://planethanyu.com/topic/1145-general-yuzuru-chat/page/7718/#comment-548772

8 hours ago, yuzu4Aver said:

@Geo1will tracy and Ghislain Briand also come back and meet Yuzu then? would really love to see a full reunion!

I am sure the Tracy will be meeting Yuzu if she has not already done so since she and Brian are the mainstays of the TCC.

Ghislain is no longer with the TCC. I understand that his home rink is the Mariposa Skating Club in his hometown of Barrie, Ontario. He spends a lot of his time outside the country working with Stephane Lambiel in Switzerland and Mie Hamada in Japan.

I, too, would love to push back time and see the team of Yuzu, Brian, Ghislain and Tracy together for a reunion, but I have my doubts that Ghislain will be there. If he is, that would be great.

Yuzu is still in Toronto. I don’t know how long he’s going to be there, but Brian is looking forward to seeing him on Wednesday. Brian is currently away from the TCC.

7 hours ago, Melodie said:

Do tell. For a non-Canadian like me, for some reasons Buble's music is the most Canadian thing ever 

As far as I am concerned – and I am Canadian – Michael Buble is nothing more than a lounge-type singer doing a poor job of trying to imitate the style of Americans like Bobby Darin (‘Mack the Knife’) and Frank Sinatra (‘My Way’).

Sorry for the off-topic comment, but I am not a fan of Michael Buble’s style of ‘singing’.

A true Canadian classic is ‘Four Strong Winds’ by Ian Tyson.

10 hours ago, Ulrinis said:

Couldn’t agree more. I didn’t know what to expect and had been worried a bit that this venue might turn out  unsuitable for figure skating. I couldn’t watch live since suddenly my daughter had a health problem and needed to stay in hospital. So after a night of big fears and almost no sleep, her dad and I visited her on Sunday, sat on her bed and watched the show on her laptop. Apart from everything you said to describe it, dear @Geo1, for us it was also healing, soothing, feeling taken care of, feeling embraced. In the middle of all worries, doubts, bad company, anxiety, stress, frustration, exhaustion - an island of pure wisdom, beauty, sincerity. It was exactly what we needed and although we rewatched the whole show several times, I still couldn’t grasp every detail to memorise it as I would love to. I’m so grateful for this GIFT and looking forward to getting a glimpse of Notte Stellata hopefully next weekend. (And by the way, my daughter is well and home again. 😊)

I am very happy that you were able to see 'GIFT' despite your daughter's hospitalization and doubly happy to hear that your daughter is well and home again. Best wishes!

2 hours ago, Umebachi said:

It also reminds me of the way the original Greek tragedy (trago-edia= "goat song") affected the Greek audience: apparently it was a collective psychotherapy for the anxiety-ridden denizens of the polis.  I can imagine that the tragedies, performed in the open-air amphitheatres with the backdrop of oceans and mountains, must have been a transformative experience.  The Tokyo Dome's massive cavernous structure would also have the effect of creating the sense of awe and oneness with cosmos!

G.O.A.T. song? Very appropriate.

21 hours ago, Beatrice said:

 

I hope you got the problem solved in the meantime and that you were able to watch GIFT  

Thank you, yes, I was finally able to watch it last night. It took a little bit of work and a lot of anxiety, but I was able to get into my Gmail account through my wife's old laptop. Although my wife was really tired and sleepy last night (from 2+ days of trying to resurrect my laptop and having no power or heat for 12 hours from Sunday morning due to some jerk stealing our electricity meter in the middle of the night), she connected my laptop to the 80 inch TV in our bedroom with a HDMI cable and put headphones on me because she knew how much I wanted to watch 'GIFT' on the big screen. She slept while I watched. As Brian Orser said to Yuzu following his 2015 NHK Trophy 'Seimei' free skate, "I have no words," to adequately describe the show except to say that it is totally UNPRECEDENTED. Yuzu's monster brain must be working at the speed of light to be able to put out everything that he has since turning 'professional' last July. YouTube channel, social media, 'Prologue', 'GIFT', the upcoming 'Notte Stellata' and whatever else is brewing in his genius mind. With 'GIFT', Yuzu has shown the world (again) that he is not only the GOAT of figure skating, but a MEGASTAR who transcends figure skating, a great writer, a great storyteller, an expressive actor, a world-class model, a real life anime character, and a visionary with the Midas touch. At the same time, he has shown us again that he is vulnerable, humble, respectful and always grateful for the support that he receives. I could not imagine what the show was going to be like – a solo show in the Tokyo Dome – but he definitely exceeded my expectations AND I was expecting a lot from Yuzu. 'Never underestimate Mr. Hanyu."

2 hours ago, LiaRy said:

You can use the live code to watch on another device - as long as you don't watch simultaneously on 2 devices, the archived stream works

Unfortunately, the LIVE code is in the computer that I can't get into.

I am so upset and kuyashi! Yesterday morning my laptop went into the infamous/notorious Windows 'Automatic Repair Loop'! Windows thinks that there is something wrong with the computer and loops 'Automatic Repair' endlessly. As a result, although I had a ticket, I was unable to get into my computer to access GIFT! Unless I'm able to get into my computer in the next couple of days, I'm not going to be able to see the archived show either! I am temporarily using my wife's old laptop.

Has anyone ever experienced the Windows 'Automatic Repair Loop'? Does anyone know how to fix this? I can take the laptop to a data recovery specialist, but it will not be returned until after the archived show viewing period has expired.

Thanks!

1 hour ago, SomewhereYuzu said:

 

Canada isn't listed specifically in the region drop down menu, so you can select the last option 其他 ("other").

Thank you very much! I had no clue as to what the Chinese characters said. I now have a ticket!

I have a question regarding the ticket site. There is one question with a drop box which is all in Chinese. When I tap ‘translate to English’, the following box says something about ‘Europe and others’ and the actual location. I put Canada in that box, but I have no clue what to do about the dropbox.

What did everybody else do?

Thanks!