KatjaThera

That seems very likely. He's still 1.71m, too lol But I admit, I am hoping for Shae-Lynn. They seem to make a great team! *fingers crossed*

She looked terrified to me... and judging by the comments, apparently she had reasons, too... I really hate idol culture sometimes But that tweet is so cute! (and watching so much Japanese TV is bad for me...)

Seems we are getting some Yuzu after all...

Maybe they actually decided to listen to all the complaints and are actually going to make a proper report next week? But simply deleting without a word right before the show started - if that's what they did - is just...

And seems we have three pictures so far...

It could be worse Programming... well, normally you could say somethig like if the second to last digit is 1, then it's stolov, otherwise it's stola (plus the exceptions for 1-10 ^_^; ) But I've never worked with forums, so I have no idea how you can program that for the forum ^_^; (And we're a bit OT, sorry ^_^; )

I wonder if I'm weird because it doesn't seem that hard to me It's weird, but it has its own logic... of course, if you pile more stuff on it... lol As for languages, Yuzu is probably naturally talented and prone to be very good at them, as others have said, due to musicality, but also, due to his very sensitive hearing - he can maybe pick up nuances more than the average person - and sheer ambition I think if someone actually showed him correct pronunciation - even in English - he'd be able to do it perfectly in no time. Grammar... you need time. I think he's already improved a lot, considering his main activities in Canada are training and a bit of university work (by comparison). Also, to learn languages well, you need really good teachers. And as far as I know, learning English well in Japan is pretty hard.

I accidentally just stumbled upon this the other day (sorry, I just randomly woke up and need to go back to sleep, so no idea how to embed from dailymotion ): http://dai.ly/x5loohm It's the whole thing. It was a Yuzu show, in Sendai, after the Olympics, and the finale is on a song written for him. It's really nice! (And I find it a bit funny he only had male skaters invited :P)

To be quite a bit mean, he doesn't actually have to be able to sing to be an idol Although it does help lol But I do expect he can sing. (Haven't watched that video yet, but it's downloading )

Actually in that clip, he says: "I'm sorry, I'll do it again, I was really tone deaf now." lol so he knew that was bad

According to google maps, it takes 2 hours max by trains and a little over an hour by car from Seimei Shrine to Yuzuruha Shrine. So both in one day is totally doable, especially if he's already settled in Kobe. (Though then he could have more easily did them on different days, too). But do we have more than just that weibo post to confirm he was at Seimei Shrine? It could also be that he went because it's fairly close, without any deeper meaning. That said, maybe he could go to R&J route: he played Romeo, then Juliet. He played Seimei, so now he could play a youkai, a kitsune or so... that'd be super interesting, IMO (and his H&L nature theme could also, maybe, come in handy) I'm actually much more open to Seimei 2.0 than Chopin 3.0, personally.

This is a bit OT here, but some angles in the official broadcast annoyed even me. Like when in Choo Choo Train, Jeff and Javi were skating together and they were filming Nakanishi and a whole lot of empty rink instead of the two World Champions skating And they don't even have the excuse of a live broadcast... Hoping the next one will be better...

I'm back to not knowing how I feel about it... I mean, it does make sense, I guess. A music he's apparently very comfortable with - and I do believe he can do Chopin better, not necessarily in the sense of skating the previous versions better, but in the sense of choreography + performance being better; to me the closest to perfection he's been was Worlds H&L and even that could have been a bit better - but I can't help but worry a bit about playing it too safe. (And I wonder if he'd be satisfied with that, too... winning by playing it safe - even if most champions have done it. But maybe if he's not, he'll stay around for another Olympic Season and go full out, all or nothing there :P) Also, thank you for the rule clearing up. I had read that, but hadn't really understood what it meant (the wording seems a bit confusing to me)

Finally caught up with the thread - yesterday it was too overwhelming to see 100+ posts in just a few hours - and although it's a bit late, I want to share a few thoughts, too, on the previous topic(s) Regarding arrogant when coming back, I think that could be just their preconception. As in, they expect those who come back to be arrogant and will interpret any word and gesture as such, even when they’re not. Also, becoming familiar with the more open and free western way of thought (which also has its downsides), might result in a change of perspective in the returnees. But IMO, it’s the coaches’ duty to take that and work with the skaters to develop the positive aspects of that. (It reminds of a case in JPop, where a member of a band went overseas for a few months and it then became clear he and the rest of the band had grown in very different ways during that time. Neither was better than the other, IMO, but they were different and they failed to blend them, in the end.) If Japanese coaches - especially young - went abroad to learn, wouldn’t they then be likely to “come back arrogant,” too? And would the senpai coaches listen to them, anyway? And if they dared tell a senpai coach what they’re doing is wrong or not ideal, would that not be “proof of arrogance?” And I’m actually surprised there hasn’t been more - hinted at or otherwise - bashing of Yuzuru’s choice to go to Canada. I know there are even fans who still object to it. (OT thoughts about Yuzu's going to Canada: ) Dmitri sounds in awe, but it’s cute I’m also not very surprised Miki’s defending his emotional side. Admittedly I haven’t seen that much of her, but she doesn’t seem to fit the ideal of Japanese lady. She, too, seems open about her emotions and in the interviews with Javi on TSL (I think it was?), she was loud and flashy and not really very Japanese - which is not criticism on my part, but I can imagine she might have been attacked for it over time. But I do like her words, too. (Especially the don't deserve him part.)

That's an interesting point. I guess it depends on people. Personally, I find it very hard to REALLY hide my feelings, though in the same time I do it a lot. However, there's also a difference between appearing neutral when you just want to scream and smash things and smiling when you just want to cry. That's probably why for me, that seems very hard. I guess for people who are used to performing, it's different, because performing itself already makes one feel better. I wonder if anything changes when it's the performing itself that is causing the bad day, though.

lol I didn't even mean to make that point, but you're right

Let's not get into art vs sport arguments again. It's actually a bit weird to compare LGC and Chopin, anyway, given how different they are. As an argument in favor of LGC, though, I'd say it being more restrictive artistically is actually something that makes it more difficult. We've seen Yuzu skate a great Chopin even when upset. But he can't do a really good LGC when upset. It's harder to force yourself to smile and entertain when you're having a bad day. But those are just a matter of perspective.

Like I said, it's just my impression. I'm also someone who listens to classical music casually, but I'm far from a connoisseur, so that probably plays a part. I agree he is very versatile, that was actually my point. He's too versatile, IMO, to pinpoint Chopin as a defining program as it seems to me some people are doing. I think he does fit classical and Chopin very well. I also think he fits PW, LGC, Seimei and more very well, too. I guess it was more an issue of semantics for me. He fits more than one program (and so he fits in more than one box), rather than the program fitting him (though I'm not sure why putting it like that bothers me.) Artistically, that's another of my own, personal shortcomings. I've never been an artistic person. I can look at an abstract painting and see nothing but splotches of color, while people around me talk about feelings and images they get. Expressing classical music is the same for me. And in fact, non-classical as well. Sometimes, it does speak out to me, but I would never be able to explain why. For example, I think I've said it before, but LGC at Worlds 2017, whenever I watch it, is, to me, the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. And by thing I don't mean skating program or so, but simply, every thing. And LGC isn't even my favorite program. So, it's a personal perspective thing, I guess. That said, I like Yuzu skating Chopin, I like the feeling he puts in it. I guess it's the choreography I don't find that special. But again, that's just my impression. Maybe after watching figure skating closely for a few years, I will change my mind. lol But thank you for the input. It's interesting to see a well argued opinion of someone who really knows what they're talking about :)

I don't disagree with you. I'm sure he can do perfect 4S3T and I'm also sure he can skate a clean Let's Go Crazy. But I think he wasn't as sure and that's why he didn't manage it. It'd be great if he thought like you pointed out, too, but I'm not sure he does. But like I said, it's probably a good lesson for him to learn, to let go of something, even if for a while. He's also not stupid, so I think he understands the benefits of it. But underneath it all, there's probably still an itch he'll want to scratch at some point.

Before 2015-2016 season Actually, now that I think about it, he said before Grand Prix Season, I think and then gradually got worse through the season is what I know. I don't think anyone would call him a loser. The problem is what he himself thinks. I doubt he's just shrugged it off as "oh, well, didn't work, let's move on." But it is probably a good lesson to learn. (But I do think he won't give up until he can do it properly, once the important stuff - Olympics - is out of the way... Or maybe I'm just projecting)

Personally, I wonder if Chopin itself isn't another pressure. If he messes it up once or twice and ends up with another mental block, I think it'd be a lot worse on Chopin than LGC or another program. Of course, that's a lot of negative ifs, but Chopin has a legacy. And even if he upgrades it, there'll be a lot of expectation on him to be perfect all the time. Which, he's human, so he can't be. And I think that pressure will be bigger with Chopin than a new program - that people naturally wouldn't expect to be perfect out of the box, even if it is Yuzu's. It's can be a double edged sword, I think. However, you are usually right and I very much hope you will be this time, too and we will have all worried and lost hair for nothing!

I think he might be counting on it being unlikely they'd ever give it a lower score than GPF2015, if he does it cleanly. And as that's a world record... However, we don't know how high the others can go, so I understand your worries. Plus, there's still the 'if he does it cleanly'.

I like to think he's going with a half-safe SP - the second half safe, with maybe a more challenging first half, maybe adding the 4Lz, though I wouldn't hold my breath for that - and a riskier free. Personally, I think 5 quads, 4T-Lo-3S weren't done randomly and it's something he wants to challenge. Will he dare do it now? I hope so. I'd understand going safe, though, but there is such a thing as too safe. So, I, too, think he has to do some technical upgrades. But I also still think his saying he's not thinking/doesn't know about 4Lz doesn't mean he's not considering, it means he's not obsessing over it. We have to remember last year, when he was obsessing over quads and not focusing on skating skills, until Brian got through to him and he changed his tune in interviews, saying the overall program matters more - while at first he was talking about how it's most important to land all the jumps. I think he might try to put into practice what he learned then: don't obsess about just one thing. If you focus on the overall, then the jump will come to you naturally, as well. (I feel I'm starting to sound like Brian...)

If nobody else does, I might give it a try when I get home, re: photoshop... if it's not a very big, high quality picture, I might actually manage... (though it'd be my first attempt :P) I agree... That kind of thinking is just asking for disappointment... I, too, don't want anyone breaking his records, but it's very likely to happen, so... better be ready for it... (However, it's likely he'll just break them again, and have the last word...)