axelsandwich

I burst out laughing at 0:06. I know it's meant to be all ~ethereal~ and ~elegant~ (and it is) but the slow-mo makes his expression hilarious. I keep imagining a 'BOO' when he looks up

His spin positions are even more gorgeous now (and so fast ahhhh) and yes, that hand is too good * A * I think the small subtleties in his arm movements are the biggest shift I've seen in his ~skating skills~ (probably all the stuff he was talking about with Hope and Legacy) and it's so beautiful GREEN JACKET KID WAS SO SMOL AND DETERMINED I LOVE HIM ; u ;

That's true. I'm glad that the fact he's trying a bunch of different entries to it - implies he's at an even higher level of comfort with it than last season. Now to get that 4S locked down properly and he'll have a good base to start building everything else ; u ;

I love that he's just playing with entries now wtf this kid (hopefully HOPEFULLY this means 4T is going to be as stable as 3A??) Also addendum to his speech from 1:45: "I'll carefully hold onto the painful things and fun things, one by one, in my heart. I skated with the thought that I could bring even a little bit of happiness to everyone. For the Olympics and this season, I want to do my best with all my strength. Thank you very much for today."

Okay, so I can't even handle all the videos right now (CASUAL HYDROBLADE + SMOL CHILD IMITATION HYDROBLADE) so I'm just gonna translate some of the commonly repeated things here and wait for more competent people to do a proper translation: The clip of him talking to the audience (300 fans) that's been repeated in like 9481028401 clips: He basically says this rink is special because thanks to this rink, he was able to continue skate in after the earthquake. He's very happy to be able to skate in front of everyone. Said to smol hydroblading kid: if you don't give up and practise hard, you will be able to do it! Comments from interviewing attendees - Older attendee said he's skinner, taller (longer? maybe she meant his limbs) and cooler than on TV so she was very moved. Loads of kids were like 'he's really cool' but what's really touching was some kids said the lesson they learned was that 'even if you fall down you can still get better' ; u ; another kid: 'Explanation/teaching from an athlete that's stood on the world stage has a different power'. One video followed the journey of two sisters chosen for the workshop (Koizumi Suzuka and Chiharu). Their grandma and mother seemed as excited as they were LOL (I think grandma said, 'it's like a dream right?'). Suzuka (older one) was praised by Yuzu when she was skating on the ice and they said they want to support him and want the medal colour to be gold. Same video highlighted the fact that a lot of female fans gathered at the park next door to the ice rink because they didn't have tickets, hoping to catch a glimpse of him entering/leaving (there's apparently a special term for it LOL 出待つ??), including overseas fans (#same). The two girls they interviewed were from China and they basically said they loved his smile and how cool he was when he skated and that it'd be cool if they could meet him.

GPF Watching Javi reactions x 1000 I KNOW. We need a Brian cam screen in the corner like JP TV loves doing with their variety shows

Aw, his words are so sweet (the tweet implies these are things he was saying). I absolutely love that he's encouraging them to embrace stumbling and falling, it's one thing I find so inspiring. "Have fun when skating. Please grow to love skating! It's okay to fall a lot. Skating is all about falling. Before when practising, Sensei (Yuzu referring to himself omg) fell a lot too!"

Hahahaha Yuzu and his future protege head banging to their motivational song together, definitely possible I giggle every time I see Brian jump up or do steps with his skater as he's watching on the sidelines during the routine -- 10000% sure Yuzu would do the same (and more) if he ever becomes a coach

OKAy changed my mind, Yuzu should just open up a skate school for beginners and unleash a bunch of hardcore Extra children onto the world who describe their technique in onomatopoeia

It says Fuji and Kanagawa TV crew were there. So maybe two TV stations may broadcast

I think it's fair enough they don't want to be linked here if that's their wish, it's a free world. I've occasionally seen some people criticising the site or comments on Twitter. There are times when I don't agree with what is said here (fan sites can sometimes be echo chambers and people can be very passionate). But every site has its problems. As long as we all maintain a healthy perspective and civilised discussion/debate and keep each other in check, I think it's not too different from anywhere else ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I think it'd be useful to know which ones they are. I don't want to infringe on their wishes if they prefer their tweets to not be shared. It's a little sad they don't like the forum though. Slightly OT but a Yuzu cosplayer! How cute~

There's something so so precious that he's teaching absolute beginners on rental states and helmets (by the looks of that photo). Also, maybe not now but can we set up a list of Twitter accounts to follow for fast Yuzu news (translated or not)? I'd love to help share/translate news or even just share updates but everyone's a ninja and no one uses hashtags ; u ;

TONTONTON SUU. Dammit why can't Yuzu be my first skating teacher

Ahh to be a small Japanese child with so much power in your tiny unwitting hands... also, pertinent point by Iron Klaus

Aww, one of my favourite EXs ; u ; I'm actually loving the fact we can clearly and easily see his improvement/changes because he keeps reusing programs LOL

lmao that's what I was thinking of and it's 100% because Asian education system (generally) says 'the teacher's words are law, shut up and listen' which...tbh doesn't quite work with more individualistic-minded students, especially someone as driven and opinionated as Yuzu is (lowkey back then but highkey now LOL). While Nanami Abe seemed like a really supportive and liberal coach, I think he needed an environment where he was encouraged to be opinionated and take charge of his skating and entire performance to bring out that fire (and have people push back against him too...I think that's one thing Abe-coach may have struggled with as he matured if he continued with her? WILD SPECULATION, obvs). A completely personal theory but I think Yuzu would be a very clear and accommodating/sensitive coach since he's so observant and smart about explaining things, but he would need a students with that same thirst to really get him invested and excited about their progress. I suppose we may see if we get clips from his workshop.

That gif kills me every time I'm glad Yuzu and Brian seem to have reached an understanding of how to work with each other. Brian's methods are quite 'Western' and aren't exactly conventional, given the general Asian education system and their idea of a teacher/coach's role (which probably explains the accounts of Yuzu staying quiet in his first years at TCC and just agreeing to everything). I think Brian's approach suits Yuzu's style since he's so opinionated and individualistic - he needs a coach who can slow him down and hold him back when he gets too intense but also take the time to respect and understand his decisions and approach. This is the difficulty of teaching because students are so different - a lot of the time, it's about how well the partnership and mix of personalities works and what combination will allow an athlete to flourish (that being said Nanami Abe seemed to fit him well too).

It's always people you're not too invested in where you can act normally. I'm usually pretty chill about approaching 'famous' people and try to be very calm and treat them like any other human, but even I was shocked at how nervous I became when I had the opportunity to talk to a blogger I really admire - your mind kind of goes blank hahahaha

It's actually true because my brother has a similar body type (he has a long torso as well and broad shoulders for his height - I always joke that he should be like 10cm taller if you only look at his upper body but his shins disappoint ). But yes, I noticed this in Asaichi when he was wearing normal pants (albeit a long shirt...) and Yuzu even explained himself that his limbs seem longer because he always wears high-waisted pants and has the skates to add height. His proportions are still good though.

LOL I know it's probably just the timing of the photo but I'm laughing at how gingerly he's doing it like.......Yuzu that's not how you shake someone's hand.....

I laugh because my 16yr old brother has those exact proportions (he's around 169cm/170 though) and we always laugh about his giraffe neck. Yuzu makes it work though (probably because his legs are also long.....)

Do you have a link? O: how exciting for the photographer

Aww in an ideal world, I think if I had time, I'd do a quick sketch too and give it to him - I feel like that strikes a balance between wanting to give Yuzu something as well as asking for his time ; u ; but if I think a male fan would have more advantage since you'd be relatively unusual. Second only to having a cute child

Pg 1000! We did it o: