KatjaThera

That kind of thing is common in Japanese TV, since it's really meant to be as if they had filmed the events as they happened, which obviously they couldn't have. It's actually meant to show his struggles first hand. And actually having him act it would be both time consuming, and why make him go through it again? I'm sure there'll be lots of cringe, but I'm pretty sure it won't be as bad as others I've seen which included bad wigs on top of bad acting. But if you blur the visuals in your mind, the idea can be interesting. I'm pretty sure it will be based on Yuzu recounting, though. Japanese TV is generally careful about things like that. (Though they likely will amp up the drama a bit...)

I had no idea this was being discussed here... I went to Paris in 2016, pretty much a year after the terror attacks and indeed, there was more police on the streets and all. The weirdest scene I witnessed in the subway was one night when a guy was singing aloud to music on his headphones and another guy told him to stop it and they ended up wrestling on the floor of the subway... I've never really felt safe in Paris, but that's mostly because it reminds me a lot of home (especially the places more fitting a low budget). Also, I attended a concert around Pigalle and my hotel was just streets away from an area with a lot of refugees sleeping on the streets so that was nerve racking, but I survived. I am reluctant to go back, but not really because of that. Terror attacks do seem more likely in places with a lot of tourists like that, so it's natural to get nervous. (If an event I really want to attend takes place there, though, I'll make an effort, though...) Beggars have always been an issue in Paris, though and I guess now's as good a time as ever to crack down on it... I can imagine it'd make one very uncomfortable to witness, though, to say the least. That said, I travel alone a lot and I'm always a bit 'en guarde' - except in Japan, in Japan I used to feel super safe; actually, even know, I feel a lot safer in Japan than anywhere else - but last year a guy tried to steal my necklace in Barcelona, literally 50metres away from Las Ramblas. I refused to give in and we struggled a bit - luckily for me, he had no knife - and eventually I yelled for help and he ran off, but ever since then I've been very paranoid. My point is, stuff can happen anywhere. I've walked through the unsavory pits of Paris - and not really comparable, but those of Osaka, too - and was fine. I grew up in one of the worst neighborhoods in Bucharest and I was fine. But on a holiday in sunny, pretty Barcelona, I almost got robbed. *shrugs* As for assignments, I personally hope Yuzu will do at least a competition in Canada, because that's pretty much the only place I can go to (be it ACI or Skate Canada; GPF is off limits ^_^; ). I am curious if he will overlap with any of the Worlds top skaters... GPF in France would be sad, unless they get their stuff together and actually do something properly. Seeing the GPF medals at the Takashimaya exhibition, the 2016 GPF one was beyond pathetic after the others...

Well, the fact that I - and not just me, judging by the people who liked my post - disagree with your interpretation means it's really not as obvious as you say. I'm sure this resonates with something from your own experience and I respect that. You are entitled to your opinion. However, it is not a fact. And my only issue was your initial outrage that other fans were ignoring the topic and your 'call to arms' against those you assume censored him, without any proof whatsoever. I and other fans - with whom the topic probably resonates less strongly or not at all - don't think it's as clear cut as that and that doing anything about it - aside from maybe a polite inquiry, if it really bothers you - could do more harm than good. That was my point. I'm not trying to convince you of anything other than that there are other perspectives. The simple existence of which proves things aren't as obvious as they seem to you.

His mother should get a percentage of the sales for each of these haircuts, as copyright (Actually, personally, I don't even really like his regular, non-competition hairstyle. It's too... good boy style lol But I guess I prefer it to the current fashion where most guys seem photocopies of each other with shaved or short sides and long fringes and blah) OT and totally random, ralucutzagy will know this is nothing special, but I thought it might amuse some of you:

Personally, I think discussing what he might have meant, debating some of the other things you mentioned or even speculating - to some extent - as long as each of these is done respectfully, is fine. We all tend to lean towards one belief or the other, which is natural. The problem is when we dig our heels in, get stubborn and act as if we know the absolute truth (which I'm sure I've done at times, too lol) as if we could read his mind. That's why it's important, I believe, to remember we're not him and that we're as likely to be wrong as we are likely to be right. But I for one am not opposed to discussions and sharing of opinions, impressions and perspectives as long as we keep that in mind

Under spoiler, because some people might be sick of this topic by now.

You could be right, but can you give some arguments in that sense? Like I said, I haven't read anything about what happened, so I am curious if you have some information in that sense. Especially if it's relevant to the mental strength topic being debated now.

Honestly, I think truly fighting the antis is a waste of time and energy. Every popular person will also have haters. It's a fact of life. Some of these haters will be vicious, either because they get kicks out of being mean, either because they really enjoy the reactions they get. I don't think anything we can do will ever eliminate haters and I think it'd be better if Yuzu learned to ignore them. Not saying it's easy, but Brian has been saying it for years, as someone who has been a victim of even more vicious bullying by the media, "ignore it." I'm not sure starting crusades is going to really help. But if people have the time and energy to spend on this, great for them, I guess. (I'm sorry, I personally have an aversion to this sort of call to arms. But that's just me.) I do think spreading true facts to counteract the lies could help, especially with sources. But even that will only work so far, because you can't convince people who don't want to be convinced. Coordinating with Japanese fans is hard, though, because of the language barrier. I also wish if you really want to fight the media, then focus on those who actually do attack Yuzu and not on a station he actually very publicly thanked and praised. If you're truly concerned, maybe ask why they chose to edit that out rather than automatically assume they were censoring him. I'm not sure what Yuzu wants is for people to start anti-bullying campaigns like that... I think he'd be more interested in raising awareness and making sure everyone thinks twice when they interact with others and try to imagine what the other person is feeling. Bullying the bullies isn't the answer and that can happen when people start movements like this. But if you're serious about it, then I suggest making a new thread about it and discussing it there. And I kind of wish people would get over the cosplayer. I admit I cringed, too, and the whole monomane thing is a part of Japanese humor that I will never get. But it is part of their culture whether we like it or not. I can imagine somewhat why the video of him cosplaying in a bar would be the last drop for Japanese fans. I can also imagine Alina's very open reaction also made some realize how it all looks to foreigners. But on the other hand, imagine how he would feel seeing all these comments. Since we were talking about cyber bullying. Saying why you find it disrespectful and 'please stop' is one thing. Going on and on about how bad and cringe-worthy and disrespectful he is and so on is another. (I'm quite sure some of the more outraged fans probably posted on his SNS, as well, by now...)

Well, if they wanted to censor the bullying they should have censored the whole Plushy talk, which they didn't. That was totally not the point of the so-called censorship. Also, bullying is a real issue in Japan that is being taken seriously. They would not censor that.

What does FujiTV have to do with anything? And seriously, that's a total overreaction and drawing attention to something that actually wasn't even really Yuzu's point in making those comments. His actual point was broadcasted (albeit I guess it doesn't have quite the same impact because of the lack of background information). Also, just because he said it once does not mean he ever has to talk about it publicly - or even privately - again. I'm happy he said it, for various reasons, some personal, but he doesn't have to if he doesn't want to. No matter what anyone thinks. I also disagree that he said it because he wanted people to talk about it. He seemed uncomfortable as soon as he said it and tried to laugh it off when he heard the crowd reaction. I do want him to know it's ok to talk about it if he wants to, but I don't want to make a huge deal out of it either. I know I hate that, especially when it comes to very personal stuff. And I maintain we don't know if the choice not to include that in the broadcast might not have been his.

I don't know, personally I'd really hate it if after CiONTU he had been swarmed by reporters asking what he meant and does that mean he tried to kill himself and what exactly caused such a reaction. IMO, because it's such a personal thing, I'd rather they let him take the initiative of talking about it in more detail, IF he wants to. Because he might not and he really shouldn't have to if he doesn't want to. Maybe just let him know they would happily provide him the medium to talk about it, but I'm sure he knows he could easily find that, with Matsuoka or Nobu, if he wanted to. He has media people he trusts and whom he could turn to. But he might simply not want to. And we have to respect that as well. (From my personal experience, I've been struggling with anxiety for 5 years and I'm the first to tell anyone they shouldn't be ashamed of such struggles, but if it's about myself, I actually hate talking about myself in that context.) I also doubt any watchdog group activities would prove worthwhile. Rather, I'd suggest fighting antis with facts. Whenever someone spouts a lie, everyone else should reply with the truth. There is such a thing as freedom of speech, so it's hard to shut them up, but we can try drowning them out. Fighting them is no good and there's no reason to stoop to that level. (Also giving any one group power is a bad idea, because as we know, power corrupts. And it's easy for things to get out of control.) IMO, the best thing to do is to stay calm and respond rationally and not let antis get to us. Getting angry never really helped anyone.

I haven't followed the broadcast thread, but I suspect it was discussed there. However, I personally expected it to be so. It was a big shock when he first said it, because of the implication that he didn't just want to, but actually tried to (whatever that means; it's pretty vague in Japanese). And from what I've heard, they censored it immediately after already - I guess in the sense that no media picked up on it? In the West it'd be front page stuff... It could be their way of protecting the young, who might bypass the whole 'I'm fine now' part. (And copycat suicides by fans have happened in Japan, when a celebrity committed suicide.) It could also be simply avoiding the topic because he's said it once and that's enough. No reason to poke at it. It can even be a sort of respect for him. If I made such a personal comment, I'm not sure I'd want to hear about it or see it over and over and over and over and over again... (I'm also pretty sure that CiONTU event created a situation that enabled him to reveal such a personal thing, but that's not something he'd do, normally. So even more reasons not to have it shown again aside from when it actually happened) On the other hand, we don't really know what he meant. We don't know if he's willing to talk about it further, or if he said it then, once, felt like saying it once, and that's it. So personally, I, too, would rather just take it matter of factly, without making any further assumptions. I'm sure he's not suppressing and he's got people around him who care and will show him they care. He doesn't really need the media focusing on that. On the contrary, I'd be more uncomfortable if they did focus on it, because that'd be intrusive. I expect him to bring it up again himself, if it's something he wants to talk about. And IMO, that's the better approach. Also, they cut other parts as well, it's not like they literally censored that part. They cut stuff to make the broadcast shorter and, perhaps conveniently, they cut that part, too. I was sure they would, for many reasons. It may have been censorship, it may have been something else. It may have even been his own choice for all we know. Let's not assume.

I think it's really hard to quantify mental strength and it's not as simple as clean vs not clean, no negative GOE vs negative GOE. Mistakes can happen for reasons unrelated to mental strength and for some skaters, negative GOE isn't that big a deal (combined with judges being random at times), as they don't really count on GOE as much. I also think consistency is greatly overrated. I guess it'd be nice not to feel like having a heart attack while watching Yuzu skate, but that's part of what makes him awesome. Also, with the level of difficulty his programs have, it's only natural he won't be perfect all the time. Like @meoima said about Plushenko, it's not that hard to be consistent when you stick to a lower level of difficulty. I'm sure Yuzu could do clean PW or Chopin 1 and Seimei 1 for the rest of his career and possibly wipe the floor with everyone else. But he'd get bored very quickly. I also don't think not managing to do it cleanly from the beginning has much to do with mental strength and more to do with fine-tuning. So I don't think it's fair to judge programs in the early stages. Rather from GPF on, it's when programs should be polished and ready and clean. I think the biggest issue skaters can encounter is 'thinking too much'. My opinion: Javi competes well - in Brian's words - because he doesn't think much while skating, I think. He just goes out there and does what he can, without having too many expectations. In a way, it's confidence - if he's clean, he'll be somewhere near the top - and knowing himself, I guess. He wants to win, but also has a pretty good idea of his realistic chances and knows there's no reason to stress about it too much. It's a great attitude to have, but I think it's somewhat atypical for an athlete. Shoma, I think has also reached a point where he can more or less turn off his brain. His experience in Boston probably helped a lot. (I still maintain I've never seen an athlete look as terrified before a competition as Shoma looked in Boston before he started his program.) Competing against Yuzu helps, I think, for both Javi and Shoma. They both know they can't beat a perfect Yuzu and nobody realistically expects them, too, so that's a lot of pressure off. When Yuzu isn't there, Shoma has a harder time. Because in Japan, everyone things he's second only to a perfect Yuzu. So there's pressure to be at the level Yuzu would be at. Javi on the other hand, if Yuzu's not around, he knows he has a good chance to win and that in turn gives him confidence more than pressure, I think. Spain never expected him to win championships, so whatever he achieves will be awesome anyway, and if he doesn't win, it's because it's hard for him to battle quadsters, if they go clean (same as with Yuzu, realistic expectations). Nathan gets a lot of pressure. Many times it seems like he doesn't really feel it. I guess he feeds on the 'Yuzu is inconsistent' thing, so he 'knows' he only needs to do his best and he's likely to win, because Yuzu will make mistakes and his mistakes will be costlier. (I guess this might be part of what Yuzu called Raf being calculating.) Since Yuzu counts on GOE to win, he needs to be perfect and that rarely happens. So Nathan only needs to sort of land his jumps to have a big chance to win. Of course, that's not easy, but I think it's pretty straightforward. I think Nathan gave in to pressure after Yuzu skated perfectly in the SP. Because if Yuzu is perfect, then Nathan has to be even more perfect. And since people expect him to beat Yuzu, that's a lot of pressure. Especially when the score is one Nathan has never achieved. (Depending how fast his mind works, he might have analyzed the level of GOE he'd need to reach that score, aside from landing his jumps and that stressed him even more.) When the pressure is off and he can just get mad and go for it, the FS happens. Boyang in a way is in the best position as the underdog everyone underestimates. He doesn't have much pressure and can take his time to develop his skills and improve at his own pace, while also generally being in a good place to take advantage of others not doing well. I'm not sure what happened at Worlds, but it could be that because people were putting him in the same category as Shoma and Nathan, the pressure finally got to him. (Not sure if his injury acted up as well or not, I didn't really read anything about it.) As for Yuzu, I think it's really hard to turn off his brain, especially since he only needs to turn off parts of it. The rest comes in really handy (for YOLO-ing without zayak-ing - actually, he did say that he once lost because of zayak so now he's really careful with it). He said, I think after Worlds last year and maybe ACI as well, that he's learned how to focus so as not to overthink. I wonder if that's true and I'd like to see if it is. (I can also imagine it is true, but he's also been experimenting with other stuff, or didn't want to use the 'secret weapon' in other events, like Rostelecom last year.) Because if he really has, the rest are pretty doomed . IMO, his tendency to overthink and his own ambition are the only things preventing him from truly dominating. But personally, I prefer it like this. That in his entire senior career he was only lower than 2nd place a handful of times has less to do with consistency and more to do with just how good he is. IMO, that's more impressive than consistency.

Actually, I've tried an approximation of the Yuzu hot chocolate recipe (I missed the ginger, so tried to improvise) and it actually wasn't as sweet as it seems. Ghana milk chocolate isn't very sweet, especially compared to other milk chocolates, so the sweetness mostly comes from the marshmallows and white chocolate shavings, which aren't really that bad. I've had desserts sweeter than that (that weren't that sweet by accident) and I'm not a huge fan of super sweet stuff.

On somewhat of a whim, I've decided today to try to go to one of Javi's shows after all. Since the November ones are on Saturdays, I can maybe go on a quick weekend trip. If there are direct flights. If not, it gets more complicated... Has anyone here bought any tickets? I see the VIP tickets have catering and meet and greet included, but any details on what those mean? (If I go, might as well go all out But I fear meet and greet might be too early and I'd miss it or so lol)

Honestly, as someone who was very sheltered until the age of 26 (although I think in some ways, Yuzu is more independent than I ever was in that period) and who was forced to become independent when my mother died, I really hope Yuzu goes independent while it's still a choice. Also, a lot of people think of it just in terms of money and cooking and cleaning etc. That's not it at all. With enough money, he can hire a maid to do all of that for him for the rest of his life. (It's funny how it always ends up him I give an example, but Yoshiki is 52 years old, has been living away from home since he was 18 and he can't even crack an egg.) The sheltering one gets from having one's mother take care of everything so they can focus on school or, like in Yuzu's case, skating as well, is a lot more than that. It's psychological as well. In many ways, the mother is a shield between the real world and the child. It's not even something specific, but losing that shield can make one feel completely lost. I went through severe anxiety and it took me a long time to learn to be independent. And I'm not even fully so, by normal people standards, because I still live with my father. Of course, there are people whose parents live until very old age, and Yuzu's parents are Japanese, so very likely to do so. I don't wish what happened to me to happen to anyone, ever, let alone someone I like. But from my own experience, being sheltered by one's mother is about a lot more than cooking and cleaning and providing financial security. And because I know how hard it was for me to suddenly lose that shelter, I hope Yuzu can more slowly and on his own terms step away from it. Like @liv said, it made perfect sense while he was gunning for the second gold. Now, it would make sense if he would slowly take steps to move away from it. Especially since he will probably need to start growing more as a person as well. I adore Yuzu, but aside from his obvious mental maturity - as revealed by his interviews and comments - he still seems to be a child in many ways. His life seems to have been only skating, studying, then gaming and music for relaxation. And like I said, it made sense, and I'm sure it played a big part in his success. But he'll probably need to move along at some point. Whether that point is now or not is up to him, of course. And his family. And maybe it'll never come. And that's fine, too. It's his life, not mine. It also won't affect how I think of him, not as a skater, not as a person mature beyond his years, in many ways. But an independent Yuzu who fully takes care of himself would add an extra layer of cool for me, to be honest. lol (I also tend to think he would be just fine at cooking if he really went for it. I tend to think anyone can be a decent cook if they try and follow instructions. I hate cooking and don't think I'm any super talent, but I still managed. And Yuzu is much more disciplined and ambitious, so I'm sure he'd do fine. lol)

The difference between the kanji for day and the kanji for month is pretty small, so if one is in a hurry, one can overlook it (especially since the original tweet didn't actually mention a month). But yes, it's June. I'm pretty sure he won't do ice shows in August and September. Not if he's serious about doing the GP season.

That's a mistake, it's June 9th and 10th, not Sep. 10th (on the 8th he'll be attending the JOC Sports Awards Ceremony, so he won't participate)

I remember a clip where Kikuchi-san was running a lint roller over his competition pants - while he was wearing them ^_^; - but I can't remember where it was right now... I'll look when I get home...

Thank you for that info. I can understand the logic of that - it does make her job a bit easier; though how can you figure that when they haven't really passed puberty? - but it doesn't get her bonus points in my book... A good coach should be able to find and emphasize a skater's qualities regardless of body type. Obviously, not everyone can be a champion, but still. (Actually, to be fair, nothing I've read here about her got her any bonus points, so far ^_^; But Brian and Tracy & co have spoiled me, I guess.)

I admit I don't know anything about Eteri as I've never been interested in women's FS, but when I saw those comments from her about how her girls will need to make sacrifices and won't be able to eat what they want and such, if they want to be Olympic champions, it really rubbed me the wrong way. Evgenia is almost out, but Alina is a teenager. Aside from body changes, there are hormones and all that stuff and I believe there are many things one needs to be careful with when it comes to teenagers. (Actually, I have to say the one thing I liked the most in Yuri on Ice was that older coach saying "no quads at 15! No quads as long as your body is still growing" or some such thing.) If for example any of those young girls is the more voluptuous type, what will they do to try to hold that back? That's the stuff I worry about. Body types are different and some girl can be very fit and still not super slim. The impression of a factory of female figure skaters is strong, and that's disturbing, because it makes you wonder how much their well-being is being taken into account (beyond being healthy and fit enough to compete, because that's nowhere near enough). Of course, all athletes have to make sacrifices, but in those comments it sounded a lot more drastic. Like she would make sure those sacrifices will be made, which is kind of ridiculous? The choices to make the sacrifices should belong to the athletes themselves. Or maybe I'm just too idealistic and thinking too much. As for Evgenia possibly making those comments, it wouldn't surprise me. I know I would in her place. It definitely wouldn't be something to say in public, but an outburst one would allow oneself with someone they trust. Having that trust betrayed... I really hope won't affect her long term. A betrayal like that can make one lose trust in people in general and holding on to outbursts like that is not good. Again, speaking from experience. Not being a fan or follower of either, it still felt a bit like they used Evgenia for years to test some skating methods and scoring points methods (the backloading in particular), then after she proved the method to be secure, they brought in a new, fresh kid, who could do all that even more efficiently (so as not to say better, because that has implications), and of course, she won. With the very method Evgenia perfected. I'd be annoyed, too. And not at the rival, but at the people who made it happen. Yes, holding back Alina would have been unfair to her, but I very much doubt Eteri & co didn't see it coming. Especially with Evgenia having been injured, too. All in all, I just hope Evgenia comes out of this stronger. And far more lady-like than her ex-coach...

I would add that the stomach pains had already started around GPF. If I remember correctly, he skated the FS in pain already and it got a lot worse on the plane trip home as the thing swelled. Then it burst right after getting home and there were talks about him withdrawing from Nationals. But he's Yuzu, so, of course, competing with an infected open wound is better than not competing... He still won with a big margin (and actually a shockingly good performance, all things considered - just one fall, if I remember correctly, plus the spin he couldn't hold the position in - although one can easily see he was not well.) He was hospitalized right after, had surgery, but the recovery took longer than planned due to (alcohol) allergies and bad reactions to the medicine (I think the antibiotics he was given?). Then, yes, when he finally got back to training, he sprained his ankle, and in the end basically only had about one week of practice prior to Worlds, all done by himself. The only practices with Brian were the one official practices in Shanghai. As for the ice shows, I think he did the most then, aside from after earthquake. There were a lot! In a way I'm kind of happy he had rehab this Summer or else he might have done it again... And I wasn't a fan then, either, but I admit things like this kind of fascinate me, because it's amazing how someone can overcome SO MUCH! (On the other hand, I think it also shows how far above everyone else Yuzu - and Javi - were then, because if the field had been more competitive like it was last season or even the one before, I'm not sure Yuzu would have managed as good results - even if his strength would still be as impressive - in the same circumstances.)

That makes it worse in my book... also, Gabby is older, so, technically, her chances of getting to Evgenia's level would be smaller. But, if it's a done deal, I'm sure it's been talked about and everyone is ok with it. (And if not, then they should have said something.) ETA: I'm not mentioning Elizabet because her I really know nothing about. But I'm sure she's been consulted as well. I just can't even guess a reaction there.

While I acknowledge you could be right (though I doubt any of the TCC coaches is really in danger of starving; TCC is an exclusive club, so I tend to assume the coaches have a good enough income as it is. But, they do do it for a living, so, yeah.), that affects my idealistic view of TCC, so I'll choose to not believe it lol