KatjaThera

Clean is a great word for it. The colors seem cleaner, too, and I love their intensity. I think it looks thinner than the old Seimei outfit, which I thought was part of the problem with the show!Seimei one? But it looks great, so I hope he sticks to it (maybe after the flimsy-looking H&L one, it's perfectly fine now lol) And the embroidery is beautiful, too. I admit, I would have liked a more dramatic change - like going from white to something else - but in a way the more subtle change fits with the theme better. (And I admit I didn't notice gloves missing at ACI, but then again, I was too nervous ^_^; But yes, the contrast between the gloves and the rest of the top is one of the highlights.)

They could have ironed the sheet behind him a little bit better - he could have shown them how I have to say though, I hate the flat, every single hair perfectly in place hairdos they give him for these things... He looks so... weird and old ^_^; The costume is beautiful, though! (And I guess this confirms there won't be any updates/upgrades to it, too)

I had the impression Yuzu actually does have a big-ish head - compared to westerners, I think. Or at least, his head looks quite a bit bigger than Javi's in FaOI, where they were back to back. But I guess it's still small for a Japanese? Anyway, the picture is a weird angle and the sweater isn't helping... the hands look like his, though, so it could be just that the angle is weird...

I think you might be overestimating his fondness of kids a bit. (And yes, I know this isn't a serious conversation lol) He didn't seem that drawn to that little kid who got the autograph before the ceremony - in fact didn't even notice him until his mother (? or well, the lady with him) poked him. lol And even after signing, he wasn't even really looking at him much, and it was a pretty cute kid - this coming from someone who doesn't like kids ^_^;. But I guess at times, the kuyashii wins even over cute kids lol Or maybe even kids are no go when the interaction must happen in English... hmm...

We'll probably never know whether they invited him or not (IMO, it'd be absolutely stupid not to, considering his marketability), but I don't think he'd have accepted. And I agree on the reasons you two gave. Going to Japan for a fluff competition before the season even began would probably be very counterproductive. There's jet lag, time differences, which can affect training. There could also be a lull in overall concentration from a "going home" break, plus media pressure - did you see the Japan Open TV coverage this year? It seemed to me even more ridiculous than WTT - and all sorts of media and promo activities, the sort he - or well, his team - has only learned to efficiently organize in recent times, so as not to take up too much of his time. On top of that, earlier on, it might have been tempting to stay in Japan longer than necessary. And traveling such long distances makes one more prone to colds and such. And all this for what? A fluff competition? Not to mention he'd have to do the gala, too. Also, even on top of the pressure that comes from Japanese media, there'd be his own pressure. Yuzu's nature is to be extremely competitive. He'll never be able to go in and think "it's just fluff, I don't have to stress about it or try too hard." It's just not in his vocabulary. (Actually, even post retirement, I'm not sure it'd be a good idea. The pressure would still be there. "Does Hanyu still have it?" and comparing him to younger skaters... it could do more damage than good, to be honest. Also, imagine the kuyashii if he wouldn't be able to keep up, from lack of active competitive training!)

I think to Javi, Yuzu's glares are a bit like a ferocious yorkie. I think he's learned not to let them get to him lol (Also, he know he's not the main target of them, anyway lol) (His reaction in that drawing/SP protocol video was similar. Yuzu was all intense, and "Must beat record in FP, too!!!" as usual, and Javi's like "LOL you're almost perfect, but not quite" Well, my interpretation of their expressions :P)

I'm sorry if I made it sound like it's used a lot a lot. ^_^; I just meant it's not that unusual a phrase, although admittedly, it was mostly in dramas and movies that I saw it used, so in more dramatic circumstances. It still has weight, and not to be said lightly, but it's not really, literally do or die. Also, I think the 命を懸ける part was part play on words and part detailing 一生懸命 because of the use of the same words/kanji. He often does these kind of puns or plays on words, and I think it's another proof that he didn't mean it literally. Since 一生懸命 is more commonly used - although not to e used/taken lightly either. I think, at least ^_^;

I always took 命を懸ける more as putting one's life on the line. However, in my experience, it's never really meant literally, but rather figuratively. As in, it's a spiritual, emotional thing, not a physical thing. Also, he knows that he has to be in top shape at the Olympics, and taking crazy risks there wouldn't be worth it either, unless it was a 100% win or lose thing. (And I think we all know what crazy risks means...). So that doesn't fit with a physical intention of all or nothing for the Olympics. Of course, he's still Yuzu, so anything's possible, but he has shown he is being careful, so I can't believe he meant this in any way other than the spiritual one.

Ah, I misunderstood it then lol I'm a bit surprised everyone here is so shaken up about it... for me it's more like... exactly what I expected from him, because of who he is lol Also, 命を懸ける is something Japanese use a lot. Which is not to say it's meaningless, it still means they'll put their everything into it, but it's not really something to be taken too literally.

I wonder if it is post ACI... my first impression was that it was from the media open day in August... (Though I admit I didn't look that closely). But it's really nothing he hasn't said before. This is THE season he's worked hard towards all these years. So he'll give it his all. It's not like we didn't know he would, anyway. Yuzu doesn't function at anything less than 150% (Hence ACI FS result lol)

Yep. I think @Xen's interpretation is spot on. It's more that he's putting his entire life experience into this season. (Which he's actually said before? The culmination of 18 years of skating thing, IIRC)

一生懸命 is usually translated like doing one's very best. Yuzu's then "putting my life and existence at stake" is developing the meaning of 一生懸命=一生と命を懸ける (same kanji) (not sure it was exactly that, but along those lines)

Ah, really hoping they'll still be available in November!!! I haven't chewed gum in 15 years, but I'm ready to buy enough to give as presents to all my colleagues, just to get the full collection!

Normally, I'd buy it for the posters alone, but... I've run out of room for posters I only have some space reserved for the AnAn poster and the kimono one, that I still haven't managed to get framed... (If I find it still in stores somehow when I get to Japan, I will most likely give in to temptation, though...)

Having finally caught up with the thread, I have a confession to make and perhaps a new perspective to offer. While I have been VERY casually watching figure skating for years - meaning, if I stumbled upon it on TV, I'd watch it, but never cared enough to look up skaters, rules, schedules etc. - it was only at GPF last year - when I also, more or less accidentally stumbled upon it on TV and under the influence of having recently watched YoI - although I don't consider myself a fan as I didn't really like it that much - and that of my Japanese teacher who is a bit of a Yuzu fan, that I finally watched Yuzu skate. I actually think I saw Shoma first? And liked him... But Yuzu stole the show. Even with the imperfections. I had - and to some extent still have - my preconceptions and pet peeves about men's figure skating, that prevented me from really getting into it. But seeing Yuzu, I thought "THIS is perfect". As in, perfectly aligned to my aesthetics. Not from his looks pov, but the whole package, the grace, the skating, the movements, and yes also his figure and even his costume. I knew nothing about the technicalities of skating, but to me, he was everything I didn't know I wanted in order to make me watch and enjoy men's figure skating. The downside of that is that every other male skater I see, I compare to him and invariably find lacking. (Again, this is my aesthetics. No idea about skills, abilities etc.) So, aside from Javi, whom I support by association and because I like him personality wise, though I also enjoy most of his skating; but compared to Yuzu, I find him lacking, too - I don't really support anyone else. I'm also not extremely willing to put in a lot of effort to see them. HOWEVER, that doesn't mean I'd be openly disrespectful. It doesn't mean I wouldn't applaud and cheer a good performance, a successful skate, a good jump, or even just a skater that looks like they're really giving their all. I might come in late or leave at times, depending on how my body can handle it - and from my music festival experience last year, I've learned not to care so much, because some things you just can't help like, "yes, I actually sat down during Yoshiki's Art of Life piano solo, but I felt like screaming with my how badly my feet hurt, so shoot me", kind of thing ^_^; - but I wouldn't be there in the first place if not for Yuzu. (Well, that is assuming I will go to a live skating event I'm actually somewhat terrified of World's because it seems like an actual marathon of skating and I have no idea how I would survive that. But if I have to skip some performances, I'll try to do it in the most respectful way I can. *shrugs*) Oh as for Yuzu's looks, [blasphemy] I actually don't even think he's that good looking [/blasphemy]. More seriously, like pretty much everyone, he has moments when he is gorgeous and moments when he looks more and moments when he's adorable and that's fine and normal. But anyone who likes him just for that is missing out on a ton of stuff. Even leaving aside the skating - which would be stupid in itself, because he IS skating - there's that amazing personality. Or well, what we know of it, but that's really awesome already. But to each their own I guess lol

I agree, there's plenty of stuff I don't like either, and I don't consider myself picky - I'm also generally, willing to try something before saying I don't like it - but something like food is mendoukusai is already beyond picky eater lol I guess for a cook it would be an interesting challenge to come up with something he'll feel he wants to eat lol. (I think it's been said before, he just doesn't really care for food... I guess he lives, breathes and eats skating )

There was that, too, but also this (I'm amazed how quickly I found it ^_^; ): And in Asaichi he said there are many food stuffs he hates. We only know about paprika, but there might be others (I'm still annoyed they didn't ask him "what else do you hate?" :P) Oh and 'food is mendoukusai' appears in this lol And no worries, I love rambly posts lol I tend to ramble, too, though I also try to hold back

I think I remember stumbling upon a video of someone who had cooked for him for Sochi...? Or in any case it was like "the meal for gold medal" or so... I'll have to search, because my memory is bad >_< We have convenience stores with decent food, too, and I also found good salads in London, but to me, Japanese convenience store food is the best. I guess it's the Japan quality, combined with a lot of people there probably eating mostly just that. But, yes, he could probably order to go... However with how picky he is, he might trust conbini food more than some random restaurant. Like, 7eleven katsudon probably tastes the same regardless of the city (I guess I'll have to test that LOL), but he can't be sure he'd like the taste of the food of some restaurant he's never been to. Or it's just too 'mendoukusai' to search for restaurants, when there's probably a perfectly good conbini on the street corner lol (But it probably also depends on whether he's there for competition or ice shows and so on. He's probably a lot more careful when it's competitions.) And I totally understand what you mean with the flavours. It makes sense, too. I guess I just never thought about it so deeply lol

I have to defend Japanese convenience store food! It's obviously not as good as home cooked food or restaurant stuff, but it's actually pretty good. Especially compared to store food in other places. (When in Japan, it's a bit awkward to go to restaurants alone, so I pretty much only eat convenience store food :P) Plus, for Yuzu, it's not like he really has much of a choice. Going to restaurants is probably both a risk of getting recognized or too much trouble, as he'd need security. Also, since practices and such are tiring and tend to end late, it's probably just more comfortable and easier to get food in his room and eat there. I'm sure when at home, at least 90% of his food intake is his mother's cooking. Though actually, we kind of know there's someone who cooks for him when at competitions, so he can have Japanese food... but maybe that's just for overseas trips... Hmm... As for trying what he - or other artists/athletes etc. I like - likes, to me, it's like a small way of trying to get to know them better. (Of course, I'm not sure what liking apple juice, for example, says about him as a person, but still :P)

No, Brian understood and told him "One hundred and twelve". But apparently Yuzu didn't hear or didn't understand Brian's "one hundred", so he was like: "Twelve? What twelve?" Then he hears "One hundred and twelve" and gets one of his epic faces on lol

Good point lol But I do like to think that fellow skaters want to watch him, whether just because they enjoy it, or it motivates them, or they feel they can learn stuff, whatever, even if they're not outright fans. I do think the atmosphere is different when he's on the ice, and it's not just because of the legions of fans. (Which in turn has made me wonder how other skaters really feel about him... to me, someone like that would seem unapproachable, just because he seems to be on a different level. I've been meaning to watch more gala practices, to see what he's like when he's usual skating friends aren't there. But that's OT here.) Wasn't there a rumor Kevin Reynolds also went to see him? I don't think he did it as a fan, either, but I think some skaters might genuinely enjoy watching other skaters. Especially when they know they might see something extraordinary. But who knows, really? lol

My guess is Yuzu is generally seen as a benchmark. Also, I was checking out the Dodds' brother's instagrams this weekend, and they both had instastories of Yuzu's skating. They didn't have Javi, who is a two times World Champion, too. Yuzu is just special. And I think most people know he's the best. The only question is whether he can prove it at any competition.

I'm not that sure that YOLO-ing Seimei is impossible. However, rhythm is very important and it was his rhythm that was ruined at ACI, IMO. When you've lost the rhythm, it's a lot harder to improvise. Especially while overthinking. I think the icenetwork Yuzu comments were very spot on - which is so weird, because that should have come across in the Japanese comments more and that it didn't makes me doubt their accuracy which is just... ugh, because they fit my own impressions the best. Namely that starting with three triples threw him off. He was unsure about the layout and was at a loss as to rhythm and pacing. And when he popped the first jump, it was like a confirmation that that layout doesn't work. So he started thinking of doing his usual YOLO-ing, BUT he also knew Brian had good reasons to tell him not to push it, so it was probably a struggle between what he was compelled to do by his competitive side - YOLO and make up for lost points and show the world he's the same Yuzuru Hanyu who broke the world record the day before - and being a good boy who listens to his coach. As a result, he managed neither. I think @Murieleirum put it perfectly, what that's like. He was fighting himself, unable to fully commit to either side. I hope he has learned that if he'd managed to fully trust Brian and not doubt his program - and been able to practice the first triples layout more - he probably would have broken his record. And also that if he'd completely thrown the plan out the window and YOLO-ed, he still would have probably broken his record, BUT also, possibly made his knee issue worse. I think it was a great lesson for him (and part of me wonders if it wasn't Brian's plan all along, because an imperfect Seimei was bound to happen and better have it at ACI and in front of Javi.And he also surely knows about these two warring sides of Yuzu, that are probably his biggest issue and he needs to make peace with). I just hope he learned it lol. I'm also pretty sure that after last year, Brian has also learned not to hold Yuzu back on technical content, but he will help Yuzu add that in the way that works best for him, with minimizing physical impact and not affecting the skating. That's why Yuzu needs to trust him and only YOLO when absolutely necessary (because at times, it probably will be). I wish I was a fly on TCC rink walls to see how much he's going to practice ACI layout, in order to get it clean He might need that first, before he goes back to normal training ^_^';

That Brian interview reminds me of a thought I had when people were saying they got Boston flashbacks. And that is that in Boston, Yuzu was alone - through self-isolation and really bad timing, as Javi had problems then, too, and Brian had to juggle them; but even if Javi hadn't had problems, I'm still not sure Yuzu would have really let Brian in, then. Now, he's not. He has a great team that is always there for him, in one way or another. So to me, it's very different. If anything, this might be like apparently Skate Canada 2015 was. Where he lost to Patrick, then went back to Toronto, asked to have his programs upgraded technically and next competition, he blew up the world records. He seems really fired up after this competition, and that should be exciting to watch... So bring on Russia!

Ok, to put a proper end to an interesting and fun debate that has probably outstayed its welcome lol First, yes, it's probably that our minds do work differently on some things, although most of the time I find myself agreeing with you 95% of the time. (And I also get the feeling out of place thing... which might be part of why I jumped into this wholeheartedly as well). That said, I get your arguments and understand them and do see better where you're coming from. I don't 100% agree, but it's still a pretty high percentage lol. I guess because I have some issues with JSF (and authority in general :P) I am ready to believe easily that they would do things like that. Aided by the fact that Yuzu was underage at the Olympics. However, I do doubt his mother would decide something like that against his will, even if it was an issue. I guess in a way I also wondered how bad could it - room conditions - be to cause something like that. But that's hypothetical talk again and not relevant. I do agree with you that he'd hate it and wouldn't want to do it. I also agree he wouldn't go as far as tell stories that didn't happen to cover up for it. Hiding the truth isn't really the same as lying, so that he might do, but telling made up stories... no. Anyway, I don't know if it's creative license. It's probably more that I haven't watched that interview again recently, so I'm not 100% sure what he said and I don't want to dismiss something without making up my own mind, first. Also there's still a possibility (0.0000000000001%) both he and Machida stayed elsewhere, where they were roomies But there's no real point in speculating any further, I guess, especially since if we didn't hear anything clearer by now, we probably never will. So, thank you for the debate, and I guess we'll let people get back to shorter posts about more recent issues lol