KatjaThera

Oh, whoever drew this needs to do a detailed manga based on Yuzu's life!!!

Ah, I think I got the Normal one, then... but I didn't see any trace of the others ETA: Yep, CD and posters.

Aye, aye, ma'am! Hmm seems it is available for pre-order on rakuten already... Trying that. It's quite cheap by comparison to others, so... Also, seems it's out on the 7th, so it should arrive safely with everything else. If it's particularly nice, I'll bring it with me to Milan for group ogling enjoyment

I actually pre-ordered it from Rakuten, through a proxy service. Of course, there's still the possibility that when it comes to shipping they'll find it's actually not available, but that shouldn't be the case. Now contemplating whether to try to get AnAn as well...

I'm sure that's a misunderstanding of his lisfranc injury (which was actually a slow progress throughout the season than it happening in Boston. I agree about Javi still having a chance, as well. I had actually started writing something super long about the chances of the top 5, but I think I'll post it in the OGM chances thread, as here it'll get lost and for now I think it's better to keep this the watering cacti thread LOL Too much nice and fun stuff

... And I thought I was special for noticing that one of Yuzu's Phiten necklaces has ゆづ written on it lol Anyway, I'm not surprised he really does wear glasses. Eye problems seem somewhat common in Japan in general, too. But of course, that doesn't mean the glasses we see in photoshoots are real glasses (they'd have to get them in his prescription or whatever its called; though I guess that's not as different as getting clothes his size...) I have no experience with anything other than sunglasses lol (a few years ago I took pride in my 20-20 vision, but by now I think it has deteriorated some) Now I imagine Yuzu doing an Ex with colored contacts or so... (I'm a sucker for red contacts... vampire Yuzu XD)

That top (tshirt?) makes his neck look even longer... I like that little smile, though lol

Imagine if Yuzu one day did the type of photoshoot anan is most famous for... I know he is, but he doesn't have to look like one lol (Especially when he is really good looking) I guess that could be... but then again, I think anyone that neat would look weird to me. It's not natural for anyone. (and when it's slick, too, I get flashbacks of Sakai Masato in Legal High, whom I liked as a character, but the look was meant to be weird lol) And I'm sure the aunties would love hot Yuzu, too... like Seimei hair or LGC hair or just overall how he looked in that video with the young pianist. Those are hot. Why get him cow licked when you can get that? >.< (well, some would argue LGC and Seimei involve some cow licking as well, but at least it's licking by a stylish cow This is starting to sound weird lol) I guess what actually bothers me is that by doing this it seems they're tucking him into this 'good boy' box and while he is possibly one of the nicest and kindest and simply good people around, he's still human and has his wilder sides and I'd rather he doesn't get tucked into any boxes.

I guess I might be the exception, but it sometimes annoys me how Japanese media always goes for a perfectly polished Yuzu image. His hair combed perfectly, not a hair out of place, glasses and now that sweater... he looks like a perfect nerd studious boy from the 70s and while I love him - and I love him in glasses - it makes me want to claw my eyes out sometimes lol. The Ghana hot chocolate shoot was probably the only time they didn't give him perfectly combed hair - although the intentional tousled look was a bit awkward in itself; good thing Yuzu made it cute by being Yuzu lol. By comparison, in that video with the pianist he looked awesome and he was somewhat polished there, too, just not so... this lol (That said, I did pre-order that magazine and will get it with the new book... ^_^; ) Also, to be fair, the TV GP CMs are usually much worse... (Actually, I hated the CoR podium look, too.) Just my tastes, though...

That's a good point. I was thinking artistry=PCS here and since transitions are part of PCS... but yes, you're right, it's harsh to say Shoma's artistry is an optical illusion. It's just my initial impression of Shoma was that he was a bit closer to Yuzu from all points of view, so the transition analysis was a bit of a disappointment. In many ways, the impression is what matters for us as viewers, but the scores should reflect the technical facts.

This reminds me of that Russian analysis that got translate the other day... that was pretty brutal towards Nathan - and Shoma - too ^_^; Honestly, that's one of the big reasons why I'd feel bad if Nathan - in particular, but also Shoma - won. They're not really good enough to deserve the Olympic Champion title yet. At this point in time, Yuzu is still the best, and IMO, despite not following up on the increase of technical difficult, Javi is still the one closest to his level. Maybe he doesn't do loops, flips, lutzes, but when he nails them, his sals and toes are far better quality than anything the rest do. I do give Shoma credit for appearing artistic - though after that analysis, it seems that's more of an optical illusion ^_^; - and Nathan for taking risks and Boyang and Mikhail for obviously taking steps to improve on all fronts, but that shouldn't be enough at this point. However, as we've talked before, sadly, the Olympics isn't really about who is better overall, but who will manage to do a good job on those two days. Err, sorry for the random rant ^_^;

In Javi's defense, he's been saying the same thing since 2015 lol But now I really want to add his and Plushy's comments... lol As for antis, let them underestimate him and think he's past it. Will only make it sweeter for us if (when?) he proves them wrong

Love the new theme, too! Great job! And now I'm tempted to remove my avatar briefly, just to see what it's like lol

I don't think they have any plans to relocate to Japan. I also think that Japan would actually be a bad place, because there's a lot of inherent pressure, even if the media somehow resists the temptation to pounce (really, it'd be like hanging a juicy steak in front of a starving dog and expect it to stay away). I think they will probably head to PC directly, with a few days to accommodate jetlag. Even in Sochi, the TCC attitude was "just another competition". Going many days in advance to acclimatize and cure jetlag is not just another competition. Also, it's not like they're not used to traveling. Yuzu particularly is used to Canada-Japan trips and to some extent, so is Javi. They probably know how to deal with jetlag, and although it can be problematic at times - Yuzu's fever at NHK - I doubt it's that big a problem. When they (or rather Yuzu) will go to PC I think depends solely on whether he's doing the Team Event or not. They will probably go there a few days in advance - a few more than usual, because better safe than sorry - but not too much so. I doubt they have unlimited ice access and going too far ahead will just get them antsy and give them too much time to think and get nervous. For example, in 2014, he arrived in Sochi on the 4th (or maybe 3rd in the evening, depending on time differences) and Team Men's SP was on the 6th, according to a schedule I found. Men's SP was a week later. I expect after NHK, they might take a few extra days, to be safe, but I'd be surprised if he left Toronto this week.

I think that's the only way he's been practicing in Sendai, at least since Sochi, if not before... or any other time when the rink is closed to the public. But he's been training at night even before moving to Canada, I think. I have no idea how he can/could do that, though lol

You're right, for some reason in my head, that didn't count ^_^;... Plus, who knows, maybe he did some practicing in Sendai, too...

It's ok, it was just startling to see first thing ^_^;;; And I don't think anyone feels better about him falling even on a single, let alone quads. My point was more that while Nessie falls are likely to be worse, any fall on any jump can be bad. It doesn't have to be Nessie. But I guess we signed up for a lot of nerves and cringing, because no one can do jumps with falls. At least Yuzu's not afraid of falling - if his advice to the kids he coached in Yokohama are anything to go by lol. I remember it as one week off ice before ACI. Though I don't remember if anyone said that one week was right up until ACI. (I also vaguely remember something about 10 days in the NNN documentary, like he started feeling weakness in his knee 10 days before ACI. Which, if my memory is correct, leaves 3 days unaccounted for lol Either before the week off, or after.) Either way, it is a good sign, even though it's not really comparable to his current situation. After a week off, he definitely had his rhythm upset, but I doubt it was bad enough to need to get his jumps back. (He spent about a week off ice in August, too, when he went home for the Yokohama event, 24H TV and all those CMs we see that keep popping up, though that was during the off season and not before a competition.)

Oh, it's about that learning 3A video? You scared me >_<. I imagined someone had tried nessie and became scarred for life or something >_< (That's what happens when I check the forum first thing after waking up >_<) As a reassurance, in the Asaichi show, he said there were many open wounds when he was younger, but far less so now, I think he said it's because he's learned to fall better. Also, those kind of cuts heal. There are other things that can go wrong, even on smaller jumps, let alone trying Nessie. But although we've seen him fall as he learned other jumps, he didn't get quite that bad. It's been some 10 years after all. (I also tend to think cuts like that are nothing compared to the regular pains he probably experiences simply due to intense training...) So, while I understand not wanting to see him with those kinds of cuts, I don't think that's the strongest argument against Nessie. There are much stronger ones of things that can go wrong (I'm so great at encouraging, am I not? ) That said, I choose to trust he wouldn't do anything completely reckless. He's got a lot more data now to have an idea of how to jump and how to try jumping without hurting himself too much (because from what I've read every fall from any quad - and not only - already must hurt like hell). Also, since he's supposedly jumped - and possibly landed - it already, it might be a bit late...

Uhm... what's this about?

I hope I didn't sound too harsh or anything ^_^. Some of that is my own speculation as well, regarding the details. It could be fun to see the whole detailed process of putting together a program some day. For the same reasons I mentioned above - especially timing - I'm thinking he goes for quads, though without too much pressure to land them. But who knows... it definitely would be safer with fewer rotations, but I'm not sure it'd really serve the purpose. The things he'd want to check about the entrance and exit and time spent in the air and how they fit with the steps, I think those are quite a bit different from a triple to a quad. But really, that's just my guessing, I have no actual idea...

He really does! And although I had seen some making of videos of that, I hadn't seen this video, so thank you for sharing!

I think it's sadly just a TV report of when the original CMs came out...

I thought the Olympics were a family show! And yet they pick UA Biellman to promote it?! j/k

I disagree about the pauses. There may be little breathing moments, but they're still far less than other skaters, so I wouldn't say those are pauses for him to catch his breath. Actually, in her TSL interview, when they asked Tracy about Yuzu not pointing his toes - seems toe pointing is a pet peeve in FS world, though myself as an amateur viewer, I don't see the big deal - and she said he can do it, but those are pretty much the only times when he can relax his body a bit, because of how busy his programs are, and by relaxing, he loses that. She implied, IMO, that it's really insignificant because of everything else he does the rest of the time, so let him breathe and forget the toes. However, you are right about the energy spending. I was just re-reading the first Team Brian book, and he says in there that Yuzu's lack of stamina was one of the things they had to tackle. And that it was caused by his asthma, but also the fact that he didn't pace himself. He went full on all the time, spending the same amount of energy in practices and competition alike and in every element as well, so after a couple of jumps, he was already winded. So Brian and his team focused on getting Yuzu to need to spend as little energy as possible, without sacrificing anything else. Brian also always insisted that polishing his skating skills - and everything to do with PCS - will also automatically make skating more effortless, I guess because it gave him more control. Also, in Jounetsu Tairiku, they were talking about how Yuzu's posture changed when he was tired and Tracy was telling him to use his knees to counteract that and telling him it was good practice to train while tired. (Incidentally, I saw a similar advice given to Javi at a different point.) So, in my view, TCC knows little tricks like that. I think it's far less choreography related and more training related, in that they gave him the tools to pace himself. (I think that's also why Brian doesn't like Yuzu's too strong intensity, because intensity requires energy, and why he praised Yuzu being more relaxed in Helsinki, because he was fully in control and not spending more energy than necessary - despite asthma attack two weeks earlier, as we later found out. Actually there's something else in the first Team Brian book that I wonder if I understood correctly - if someone else who has read that can check - and that is Brian saying - and Yuzu agreeing - that his transitions weren't actually really planned out before and he basically did whatever fit his mood. I think it's probably not quite like that, and rather that his planned transitions/steps were more of a guideline and he could change them according to his mood. But it could also refer to their quality rather than their type. So I wonder which that is. But if there is any truth to my understanding, I think that probably affected his stamina in the past, too. As for jumps, as @PomeloPooh said, we have to remember that Yuzu has always insisted that jumps are an integral part of the program. I actually tend to think that when picking the music, he already visualizes the elements he wants to include (he probably has the layout in mind, with the flexibility of switching the elements around), to see where and if they fit. (It also wouldn't surprise me if he would sometimes dismiss music choices because he can't imagine where a jump or other would fit in. Like: "How about this song, Yuzu?" "Nah, my lutz doesn't go with that. It should be this.") and after that they add in the details. And while working, as Shae said, he throws in the jumps as he visualizes them. It also makes sense he would jump while working on the choreo, because I don't think you can properly figure out how timing works unless you actually do the jumps. And timing is essential for the high quality programs Yuzu aims for. Having to later add another couple of steps here and there to adjust the timing seems a bit needless, when you can just do it from the beginning. And I think this way of doing programs, as a whole, is actually what helps everything look muck more seamless in his programs compared to others. (Nathan's FS at Rostelecom still looked like patchwork to me, where different patches - jumps, spins, etc. - were more or less randomly put together. Patchwork can be nice and thought-out, too, but seamless and smooth like silk it is not.) And yay for un-ninja-ed Yuzu! He does look a bit like someone dragged him out of bed for this lol But it's cute! Now back to ninja mode, Yuzu!

Thank you, Kenji! (He is to thank/blame for so many things... lol) The heart I hadn't seen before, though! Thank you!