axelsandwich

Hah. I'm watching Onmyouji for the first time and jeez, even if I didn't know about all the parallels in history/physical appearance, I'd know this character suits Yuzu purely by the look of trollishness on Nomura Mansai's face at the beginning. As they say in Japanese...そっくり

In slightly happier news, an article on the fact that Yuzu fans from all over the country are flocking to the Seimei shrine in Kyoto to leave ema with prayers for him, wishing him good health for the Olympics and for him to be able to be strong (not sure why it's suddenly news now but always good to know). http://www.sanspo.com/sports/news/20170912/fgr17091217060003-n1.html

(throwback) soft boy

My first thought was that Yuzu better jump that 4A when it's still worth 15pts because the proposed reduction to only 1 higher than a 4Lz is stupid AF

Good to know my Copyright and Designs Law subject is stalking me, even on Planet Hanyu I'm still a law student and I can only speak to how Australian law works but China is party to a couple of intl treaties around copyright so there are probably some similarities. Assuming he's basically doing exact copies of the music cuts + costumes, yes, he's in breach of copyright by performing the musical work in public and probably copying dramatic work (choreography). Clothing designs are protectable only if you register the designs (under the Aus system) and they also have to be substantially similar. Here, not a problem since it's a literal copy but very unlikely they'll be able to claim copyright in eg. watercolour gradient effect which is why you can generally get away with 'XX-inspired' costumes. The bigger issue is...it's simply not worth bringing a case. You'd need to prove some sort of commercial loss to recover damages, which will be negligible in what I assume is a local competition (with peanuts in prize money and/or media coverage). You'd have to engage a lawyer to bring the case in the Chinese system or at least pay so a judgment in a Japanese court can be enforced in China. Their lawyer's fee will probably be several times whatever damages they might get. Is it unethical? Yes, and technically infringement in principle but it's very unlikely any legal action will actually be taken which I suppose is a calculated risk on the skater's end (also yes, technically skating/competition music is not-for-profit - though surely media coverage/prize money/sponsorship are commercial profits of some sort? Might be something for me to ask my teacher about actually, that's an interesting point)

That form and position

Bless Misha for his shenanigans

So true. I'm disappointed at how many seemed to just shove parts that sounded good together without sensitivity to the notion that each part should kind of do something to build the overall feeling of the program (and not be its own self-contained 30sec). Most notably lacking in a lot of the new programs so far is some sort of structure, progression and build up into a 'climactic' moment (the 'Olympic moment' c'mon guys). That being said...there's still time for refinement so here's hoping the test judges are as merciless in their critique as we are lol

Ahhhh Skyfall is the perfect music for Wakaba - that step sequence was amazing! Despite being so young, she has the emotion, maturity and 'weight' in her skating to carry the emotions and the music - I'm so excited to see the full program

A bold move, Boyang, trying to take on the Cursed Music of Figure Skating - may Gustav Holst spare you with just these falls and not further injury I actually like the concept of him using Star Wars music - Boyang's a perfect Luke Skywalker figure (hopeful, a little quirky, striving for greatness etc.) but... whyyyy the Cantina music - it's totally a weird, self-contained moment between the ~sweeping gravity~ of the other pieces. We could've had A New Hope with the Iconic(TM) French horn if you had to go with cliche Star Wars music T___T (actually, seeing all the music this year that's trying - largely unsuccessfully - to combine a bunch of different pieces together makes me grateful for the 33 cuts of Seimei and the fact at least they chose cuts from one soundtrack =__=)

omg thank you, I love that they were all like ???!_?? ?? ? (tbh I love Yuzu but if I was ever reborn as a JP male figure skater, I'd probably be Machi - ~2deep4me~ style weird, influenced a lot by weird foreign stuff, loves eye makeup and quietly dramatic as fuck)

An odd request but I vaguely remember seeing a clip or gifset where Machida is announcing 'timshel' for his theme on that one year to the JP media. Not sure if Yuzu was also there but Daisuke, Mao etc. were in the background and they were like ???? ? Long shot but sure if anyone might know where to find a video?

Ah! Gotcha - I think the part I'm surprised about is his jump technique (air position) because that's one thing I find seems to be sometimes common to skaters trained by the same coach - but actually Tatsuki kind of has a similar position. Also a possibility he watched a lot of Yuzu videos and modelled his jumping off him lol

So fascinating you can see Nanami Abe's hand in the choreography, particularly the footwork and arm movements (a lot of twizzling and spread eagles lol). His air position (esp arms) while jumping also looks like Yuzu's. A coach is really so influential to developing skaters' styles

yeah like I don't actually think he was side-eyeing him, just glancing at the kid (who looked fine and got up quickly) and then smiling a little

Do we think Yuzu's gonna raise his leg higher in his actual competition spiral (assuming it's in there) or is this his limit....?

Oh god, I just watched that and...no. Zhenya, no, resist the Averbuch ))))):< He's like...determined that all his programs will tell a story in the most literal way????? ? ? ? I may be in the minority here but....Zhenya's SP music lacks progression to me. There's a point halfway where it feels like they just repeated the first part (with only slight variations) and there aren't any 'climactic' points as a result because the 'feeling' of the music stays the same throughout. I was listening to this version of Nocturne and I love the part around 1:36 where the music gets lighter and more cheerful. Kind of wish they considered adding that because Zhenya skates very quickly, sharply and lightly, and that matches her style much more. This cut of the music demands a lot more gravitas to her movements - a certain 'weight' to them that I'm not quite getting yet. That being said, I like her lines and her musicality/movements do flow well. Maybe it'll improve with viewing (and more practice). Also Alina's entry into that 2A (spiral + counter?) was insane o:

Yaaas Boyang slay in that costume, I like it : D I like the music during SS a lot, not sure about that second spin placement (he's like spinning during DRAMATIC STOMP BEATS) and the ending which felt like he ended after the music. Needs a definitive finishing note instead of fading out weirdly. He needs to stop jumping that 4Lz so late, looked like he crashed into the board or something. But it was so beautiful, even from a distance ;__;

Just woke up to Seimei and also Boyang's FS (which will be strikingly similar in tone to Seimei by the looks of it- some prettyyyy familiar moves lol) - feels like the season is finally almost here~~ Final spin position of Seimei is killing me, the fact he added the HIP TWIST from original step sequence (and the cameraman CUT IT OFF WHAT), the side eye (don't mess w Yuzu in the middle of performance mode even if you're a small child)... only a week and a bit to go!!

lol very true, though I always think of this photo and this to conclude he may also just be a bit shy as well

he's a flirt to a general female audience during performance (see: FAOI) but individual flirting to this degree is (almost entirely) male-only

Not officially confirmed but fan account just suggested Han Yan may be skating to....Twilight??? (did he get lost in 2009)

the legendary 'Yuzu and photographer' photo has been released apparently?? 😱 (Also lowkey lol he gave away presents that were basically photos of himself) edited to add that yuzu loves some hands on his non existent love handles

For all the hype about ~never before seen footage', I think it was just a couple more seconds of Chopin (which was looking GREAT). All the interview grabs were things we've heard before (like the exact interview clips they played before) - Yuzu talking about being aware he's repeating programs and how he'll make them different - Wanting to do Seimei right after 2015 season - Wanting to first be chosen as Olympic rep and then aim for OGM

Lol they were asking what he was mouthing during his performance and he was saying 'bye bye' (as the Phantom would to Christine). Not sure if 'bye bye' really.......achieves the level of gravitas he was going for but