axelsandwich

welcome to Australia from someone who just left it temporarily, hope you enjoy it there! frankly, I'm shocked SBS even covers figure skating but chances are that they won't be covering the whole thing. We're not exactly a nation passionate about winter sports, sadly (they had a delayed broadcast of Worlds last year though, I was shocked). I'm rolling my eyes at the incorrect name coverage. Having been a media and journalism student, I can't believe people get paid for this when we were RAKED OVER THE COALS about copyediting. I'm also highkey sideeyeing at how it's usually Asian names, no matter how short (how do you screw up Uno for instance especially since he won the SP but get looong European surnames right?? HM) or misidentifying Asian skaters

I like the idea of a trophy for 'Best Team' or something they can display at the TCC trophy cabinet - maybe listing the names of the particular coaches we want to thank on the trophy itself, and a small extra one for Brian (it'd be cool if it could be a golden swan to kind of be a bookend to the swan project?). And maybe Tracey? And then a message book, maybe with a couple of 'main' photos/artworks and a big 'message on behalf of the group' at the front would be a nice accompaniment to the trophy that they can read when they have time. I liked @gladi's system of having a word limit/art size limit to a post-it note - I imagine it would be logistically easier to organise, design and print that way.

I mean he essentially wrote 'I'm ExCiTeD'

alkfjls im always honoured, as long as you're not sick of me cross-posting yet

LOLOL I'm crying @ kanako introducing him as 'the guy who's 23, the same age as me, and hates losing... Yuzuru Hanyu'. Must be a bit surreal to be intro-ing your friends Also Kanako at the end on coming back on injury: 'Normally, I think they'll have lots of worries like 'will I be okay?' but in my impression of Hanyu-senshuu, there are times where he's had to 'attack'* but those times, he'll meet the situation (rise up to it?) and definitely deliver a wonderful performance. I'm not as worried about the problem of 'attacking' but I'm more worried about his injury. If it can heal properly, he'll be an athlete that can meet the situation.' On the ice: 'The ice is completely different in different rinks, if you don't skate there you won't know if it 'suits' you.' Also the male guest comment on the fact that it's the first time he's seen yuzu's handwriting and says it's cute (it's also ascending slightly towards the right LOL). they can also feel his excitement, especially because the size of the 'wa' and 'ku' are different in 'wakuwaku' (ie. excited). *I think she says ぶつける which means to 'hit' but here I guess it means to perform/attack his performance

Painted a piece properly for the first time in awhile (which ended up being ~a study on yuzuru's olympics costume colours~ lmao) and then word-vomitted a bunch of feelings on my blog

13. ‘It’s okay to feel pressure. If you can overcome it, you can become stronger.’ Date unknown - Once you mount the battle stage, your competitors’ levels become higher and there are times where you can’t do things you normally can do. The difference between junior and senior level is like this, as is the gap between competitions within a country and international competitions. Obviously, the more attention you get and the more important the competition, the more pressure there will be. Having overcome countless setbacks and roadblocks, Hanyu has acquired strength (13/?) 14. ‘I am ‘me’. Humans are individuals and there isn’t anyone who is identical to you. We are all unique.* I also have many bad points. But I think that instead of only looking for the bad points, if you look for the things that are good (about your child), they will be happy and can grow and mature even more.’ Dec 2014 - Hanyu gave this answer to a question he received at the press conference after his consecutive victory at the Grand Prix Final that ‘there are many mothers who want to bring their children up to be like Hanyu-senshuu, can you tell us how you think they can do so?’ Even in the present day, he never forgets the feelings of gratefulness he has towards his mother and family who have given him such support. This is also the same when it comes to his team staff and fans. He strongly feels that he was ‘brought up’ by many people (14/?) *十人十色 is a Japanese idiom that literally translates to ‘ten people, ten colours’ but is essentially expressing that every person is unique.

11. ‘Before I think about whether or not to give up, I think: ‘Right now, what should I be doing? What is the thing that I must do at all costs?’ Date Unknown - When given a huge job to do, we would surely make judgments about whether or not we can do it (or whether it seems possible or not). However, Hanyu does not do this. Before thinking about unnecessary things such as whether or not to give up, he first organises the things he ‘should’ or needs to do. This is where Hanyu differs from normal people. If you are too attached to thinking about the large gap between starting points, it will be difficult to be able to catch up (11/?) 12. ‘Before a competition, I am very mindful about cleaning my hotel room without fail. I decide the places/angles of everything in my room, one by one, and keep it clean. I keep it tidy and in order. I think that if your room is clean, luck might also come.’ Date Unknown - For athletes, there are some people who adhere to omens/superstitions; they will always wear clothes of a specific colour, there are people who change clothes in the same order. The battle begins from the preparations that happen before the competition. The thing Hanyu will do without fail before competitions is clean his room. ‘In a competition a long time ago, I found that if I skated after cleaning my room before the competition, I would get really good results. From then on, I do my best to make sure I don’t forget to tidy my room.’ (12/?)

9. ‘I’m the only one who can find the answer. From here on out, I must build a battle within myself.’ Dec 2014 - In the 2014-2015 season he faced as Olympic Champion, [Yuzuru] fought against various conflicts. Despite Brian Orser and his family laying out a perfect support system, only one person fought on the ice; the one who could light the flame within himself was [Yuzuru] alone. What he grasped at the end of this suffering was a silver at the World Championships and a gold medal at the Grand Prix Final. (9/?) 10. ‘If you’re going to set goals, it’s better for them to be big. If you write them down concretely/decisively, it’s easier to succeed. Indeed, my way of thinking is quite mathematical.’ Mar 2010 - At the World Junior Figure Skating Championships in the Hague, Netherlands, [Yuzuru] became the first middle school student to represent Japanese men and the fourth Junior Champion. This young boy, who had continued to say from childhood that ‘I will get an Olympic Gold Medal’ mounted the world stage with tremendous speed. It took him a mere 4 years to conquer the Grand Prix Final, World Championships and Olympics (10/?) Translator’s note: The word Yuzuru uses (理数系) in this context is a term used to describe someone who is more scientific/logical in his way of thinking, in contrast to someone who might be more emotional or creatively inclined. Essentially, the sort of thinking exercised more in science, technology, engineering and mathematical subjects. Thanks to the guys in the Japan Study Thread for helping me with this one!

TCC's epic trailer video for Pyeongchang, I, Tonya who? (yuzu learnt drama from the best, clearly)

sui/han and boyang aren't doing the team event either o:

this tumblr post has 390k : P http://kaerb.tumblr.com/post/153753417812/iitsnotivett-yuzuru-hanyu-on-ice-vs-off-ice

moezuru attacks again

this is all I can say abt layout speculation

it's nerve-wracking but also exciting! let's just focus on the latter as much as we can~

Oop. I guess that it's legit then o:

I'm a little suspicious for this reason. And it's just Kyodo breaking it, haven't seen Sponichi or anyone else. It seems to go against the whole ~media blackout~ situation. Hopefully more reports will come out soon

I always wondered why he chose some sort of bath product for old people to promote out of all the stuff he could've done (because there's one CM where he's literally addressing the 'ojii-chan and obaa-chans' of Japan) and now I realise it's because he actually probably uses it to relieve muscle soreness and whatnot. practical as always, our kid

man, the stands at the first practice session and the poohvalanche after the SP will be something extra special to behold (I mean, I'm expecting the most after FS but I think SP would be a 'welcome back' gesture) - people who may bought multiples anticipating a team event will be hoarding them all. I wonder how the toy section in Korea's orphanages will look like after the Olympics (assuming he donates them there), it would be a lovely thing

I kind of get the vibe he’s definitely not in a position to throw out two rounds of top quality performances (which would be the only reason a team event would be worth it), and him putting out a poor performance would definitely set a damning impression/mood going into the singles event, especially since we know judges are harsher on him when he makes a mistake. No denying I’m worried, I think it’s pretty certain he’s not 100% healed and the entire vibe of ‘gonna yolo’ is both hilariously appropriate and anxiety inducing, but if this is his condition rn, the team event is greater risk than reward.

A bit off topic I’m sorry but does anyone still have tutorials to make origami swans? I’ve finally settled into my student dorm and want to fold some special ones to bless the room, the Olympics and also to take to Worlds. Tried Googling but there are a lot of designs and I really liked the ones the PH members made

lmao we all talked for months about being dehydrated and dying as cacti but if the reactions to new content are anything to go by, we’re going to have to ease into being watered so we don’t drown when Yuzu finally appears This is adorableee, especially the thought of him helping the student support group

He looks vaguely threatening eating that yoghurt lmao

Yes, I remember reading upset fan accounts of the whole episode, but I'm glad it turned out well and I'm sure the actual fans will be on their guard next time. It's a sad statement about the way the world works that I doubt they'd ever pull that on Yuzu or any other male skater tbh. Then again, Yuzu hasn't gone back to China since Worlds 2014 iirc so who knows. His popularity is certainly much higher than it was in 2014

This is what gives me hope. It seems like skating fans are - by vast majority - fairly respectful of personal boundaries (apart from the awful ones crowding Mai at CoC). Part of me kind of hope we keep it that way but alas, with popularity comes many fans and more fans carries the risk that we'll get more of the handful of disrespectful ones that ruin it for everyone else. This is why I suppose 'fame' for Yuzu is a challenge esp since he never signed up for the idol life. Anyway, I'm sure it's going to be fine (esp since Brian and the team would have had experience with dealing with Yuna's meteoric popularity) - but very interesting to watch nonetheless.