Geo1

Yuzu would still be able to play his 15-year-old self in an autobiographical movie!

The problem is that the two people who came on the ice to assist Yuzu did not adhere to any proper emergency protocol. They should have examined Yuzu, told him to remain still and taken the precaution of stabilizing his neck in case he had a spine injury. They should have had a stretcher and placed Yuzu on it in order to remove him from the ice instead of immediately helping him onto his unsteady legs and requiring him to stagger off the ice on his own power. It is my understanding that there was no official doctor available for the competition and that Yuzu received emergency medical treatment from the American team doctor. After the Kiss and Cry, when it was obvious that Yuzu was unable to stand and walk on his own and Kikuchi-san was having difficulty assisting him, they should have had a wheelchair available. I found the manner in which Yuzu’s injury was handled by COC and its alleged medical staff totally inadequate and upsetting. I am the same. I often re-watch Yuzu’s 2014 COC free skate now and find it inspirational. What I have difficulty watching is what occurs after the free skate with Yuzu staggering off the ice into Brian’s arms, crying uncontrollably in the Kiss and Cry and Kikuchi-san and the other Team Japan member struggling to get Yuzu backstage. I think that it is just a typographical error, but the Japanese word for “jump” is “tobe” and, yes, this is what Yuzu screamed out.

Yuzu’s decision to skate the free was quite controversial immediately following the event. As a former athlete, I can tell you that whenever you are injured, no matter how much you may want to go back out to compete, you are forcing yourself to do so in fighting the pain of the injury, fatigue and mental weariness. That is what I meant when I said that Yuzu had to force himself. When you see him struggling off the ice and falling into Brian’s arms and later not able to stand up without help to vacate the Kiss and Cry, you don’t think that he had forced himself to skate? It took a lot of guts and determination to do what he did. Ultimately, I was only stating a fact that if Yuzu had not skated the free, he would not have gone on to win four consecutive Grand Prix Final championships. I had no intention of treading on your emotions.

It can be debated ad nauseam whether it was a good idea for Yuzu to skate the free in his injured condition; however, the fact that he did qualified him for the Grand Prix Final in Barcelona where he won with a 35 point margin over second-place Javier Fernandez. If he had not forced himself to skate the free after his collision at 2014 COC, he would not have gone on to win an unprecedented four consecutive Grand Prix Final championships.

Welcome to Planet Hanyu! How did you find out about Yuzu and how did you become his fan?

The aliens are already indoctrinated. As @Figure_Frenzy has pointed out, Yuzu is an alien and as such is no doubt famous amongst other extraterrestrials. This probably accounts for the increased sightings of UFOs during competitions in which Yuzu is participating. There are probably gazillions of extraterrestrial Fanyus and they all gather in groups clapping in time with their multiple hands, fins or other appendages as they telepathically watch Yuzu perform. I can just see Paul, the alien from the movie of the same name, kicking back with a beer and a joint cheering our boy on. Don’t worry @Hydroblade, earthlings won’t have to compete with the alien Fanyus for tickets because they can telepathically watch Yuzu perform. And don’t be concerned about them interfering with Yuzu’s antenna. Why do you think Yuzu has an antenna to start with?

Yuzu was asked about Beijing 2022 in an interview during or after the 2019 ACI and his reply was that if he was still competing and was confident of winning, he would do it, but if he thought he would lose, he would not. He said that he would never want to show a “buzama no sugata” – an ungraceful (ungainly, awkward, clumsy) appearance or version of himself. During that same interview, he was asked whether he would feel satisfied if he successfully landed the quad Axel and he replied, with a laugh, “I may want to challenge the quad flip.” Yuzu said that the more he challenged himself, the more he found that he wanted to challenge. Of course, this was before the rest of the season, but I don’t think that his motivation, competitive spirit and love of skating have waned. I hope and pray that we find an effective vaccine for Covid-19 shortly for the sake of humanity and so that we can see Yuzu skating and competing at his best soon and at Beijing 2022.

The purse was at 2018 Helsinki SP at approximately 4:56: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rl2v_acvm_k The big carp was at 2018 Rostelecom Cup SP, but I can’t find the video.

I’m just guessing, but I think the drawing is a symbolization of “koigatarinai” which means “I don’t have enough love”.

Yuzu has often said that he has sacrificed a lot for his skating and maybe love is one of them.

I had forgotten about the Bank of Yokohama Ice Arena promotional event and free lessons to the kids. https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2017/08/4854711832b3-figure-skating-hanyu-makes-emotional-return-to-yokohama-rink.html It was a month after this event that a number of Planet Hanyu satellites arranged to meet at Yuzu’s first competition of the 2017-2018 season – the ACI in Montréal. I still remember sitting around the table in the cafeteria of the venue with @Hydroblade's origami swans spread all over the table and then everyone rushing off to the front door because of a rumour that Yuzu was arriving. The lobby and the second floor balcony were packed with hopeful Fanyus until we discovered that Yuzu had pulled another ninja move and had already entered the building!

I love that costume and the program! Was 2015 24H TV the last time he wore this costume and skated the program?

It may not be that much of a stretch when you consider that he was able to fit into his White Legend and Zigeunerweisen costumes as an adult and these were made when he was 15 years old.

I prefer watching Yuzu bowing in slow motion to an empty arena after practice than watching other skaters’ full programs.

@Fay what muscles in particular did you watch working and find so delicious? Let me take a wild guess – the gluteus maximus, gluteus medius and gluteus minimus muscles?

The wording on the ISU site is: “one of the most decorated skaters in the world” – not “one of the most decorated skaters in history”. By implication, Yuzu is being described as only “one of the most decorated skaters in the world (now).” The most valuable skater award is being presented for a COMPETING skater (not a historical one) and the ISU is purposely stating that Yuzu is “one of” instead of “the most” decorated skater in the world in order to justify their choice of winner.

Ennio Morricone's "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" – a great soundtrack to an epic Sergio Leone western film. I've often wondered what a Yuzu free skate would be like to this iconic music.

"... ONE of the most decorated skaters in the world"??? As the double Olympic champion, double world champion, four-time GPF champion and other achievements, such as the Super Slam, that are not mentioned, isn't Yuzu THE MOST decorated skater in the world?

Hi @meoima! I missed you, too! Where have you been hiding?

"Yuruzu" is the Bizarro World version of Yuzu. Bizarro World is a fictional planet that was introduced in the DC "Superman" Comics in the early 1960s. It is a cube shaped planet where everything and everyone is the opposite of reality. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bizarro_World As it states in Wikipedia, in popular culture, "Bizarro World" has come to mean a situation or setting which is weirdly inverted or opposite to expectations (reality). In the Bizarro World of "Htrae" (which is Earth spelled backwards), society is ruled by the Bizarro Code which states: "Us do opposite of all Earthly things! Us hate beauty! Us love ugliness! Is big crime to make anything perfect on Bizarro World!"

Terry Gannon of NBC got tongue twisted and called Yuzu “Yuruzu” as he was stepping off the ice after his Olympic debut in the team event at Sochi.

As everyone has said, there are too many beautiful pictures of the Yuzu. I think this is one of them.

It always irritates me when commentators only talk about his popularity in Japan and Japanese fans when Yuzu has fans from all over the world – Asia, Europe, North America, South America, Australia and I’m sure, even Africa. There might even be a penguin or two or a scientist in Antarctica who’s a Fanyu. Any Asian fan carrying or wearing Winnie the Pooh stuff is automatically referred to as a Japanese fan even if they’re from some other Asian country or an ethnic Asian from some other continent.

Didn’t you mean to say, “favourite” singular?

These people who advocate supporting all skaters must view figure skating from the point of view of non-owner dog lovers or cat lovers at a dog or cat show. I consider myself a fan of Yuzu and not necessarily a figure skating fan. Before Yuzu, I casually watched figure skating during the Olympics if I happened upon it, but it was Yuzu’s skating that got me hooked. When Yuzu retires, I may not watch figure skating again, although time will tell. Therefore, since I am totally invested in Yuzu, me bad and sometimes hope that some skaters have a disaster skate.