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Wow...this guy will literally wear anything people tell him to put on. Must be nice having that level of self-confidence. He should bottle it and sell it.

I read smartness as smartass. Dude looks positively possessed. Guess he decided to channel the demon instead of beating it. >_<

Holy chicken and egg question. Lol!

Oh! Alrighty then. Thanks! Not really big on math, as you can probably already tell. And here I thought Hanyu can't amaze me any further until he manages to land that thing in competition...>_<

Oh yeah. That's how it works. Did this person factor the elements that need to be factored then?

I think not all elements have a max GOE of 3, tho? Most of them only have a max GOE of 1 point something. Like the spins and stepseq? I'm not 100% sure but other than quads, I think all the other elements have varying max GOEs lower than 3? So while I get the guy's sentiments, his scoring basis and by extension, calculation, is utterly flawed?

When it comes to certain parts of the PCS, sure, since those are subjective and arbitrary so judges can simply keep expecting more and never be satisfied. But that doesn't work with GOEs because those aren't subjective. And that's exactly where he's being underscored currently (even while being ahead of all the others, he actually deserves more, believe it or not). For most of his tech elements, he fulfills the criteria with change to spare. If the guy fulfills 6 out of the 8 criteria when the minimum for full GOE is 4, you can't be giving the guy anything less than +3 just because he doesn't fulfill all 8 criteria. You are not suppose to expect anybody to fulfill more than 4 in the first place. Yet the guy, being Extra, gives you 6. What you should be doing is punch in +3 while cursing the system for not letting you punch in more. Yet here you are only punching in a +2. Sometimes even only giving him a +1. That's not how it works. So the judges really can't expect any better when awarding GOEs yet you still have judges here and there not giving him the full scores he deserves which end up pulling his overall scores down. They were more by the book with him up until he did that 322 and then the 330 thing. Then they realized if they kept scoring him fairly, even when he doesn't skate clean, he'd still have a comfortable margin over others even if they had higher BV and skated clean. While I'm thankful because this prevented him from being accused of what Chan was accused of in his hey-day (although in Hanyu's case, his scores would actually still be mathematically fair, but people won't see that) his WC17 performance deserved so much more than that 223 they gave him. Just because it's a WR doesn't mean it wasn't underscored. And if it's underscored, we shouldn't be happy and satisfied simply because it's a WR. We should be suitably impressed that it's *still* a WR, tho. xD He is still breaking records because he is far and beyond enough to still manage it while being underscored. Because even the judges who are charged to underscore him can't consistently underscore him on every element (unless, of course, they're from the US of A, but there can only be one of them per panel, phew!). Because blatantly biased as they are, that would be too blatant. And among the judges, there are still a few who are willing to give him what he deserves so even though his scores get pulled down by those with an agenda, these few are able to keep them from dropping outrageously and unfathomably. Judges can get away with outrageously awarding scores for things that weren't actually done, but they can't go too far in not giving scores for the things that are obviously and indisputably there. Because that will take them completely out of the gray area they are now still able to hide in. Hanyu probably knows this very well, and factored all these into his calculations which he acted based upon. I'm thinking, apart from simply being an idealistic perfectionist, this is also the highly realistic reason behind why he honed his skating to a level where it gives him insurance in that even if they were to hold back on him while overscoring others, there's still a very good chance that his scores would be enough for him to win. And his calculations have been right so far. So right he's been able to still dominate with relatively lower-scoring quads and less of them to boot, so long as he skates clean. Which may also be why he's been placing so much emphasis on skating clean, other than simply fulfilling an ideal. I'm not sure if he expected it to lead to this current level of blatant overscoring of others though, lol. Especially in comps where neither himself nor the others who "set the standard", so to speak, are present. Talk about harmful domino-ish side effects in trying to reach perfection. Or a butterfly one, perhaps. Either way, consequences, haha. >_<

I seem to recall, in an effort to stay positive, she said in one of her tweets after either GPF or JNats when she didn't do well enough to be selected for the Oly team, that she believes good times would come for her again. It's good to know she's right. May this result reflect in future seasons from here on out, in scores that do better justice to her performances. *fingers crossed*

Haha! Pre-PC, I would have solidly gone with the latter choice but now that he's gotten the thing he most wanted, I think I can probably sit through competitions that have him in them without feeling like the world's biggest masochist. Like, he can mess everything up and I won't be devastated. I'd be like, "Oh well. Better luck in your experimenting next time, bro. May it yield better results after whatever adjustments you make after this." First time I saw it, I blinked and so didn't really see it and didn't know it happened. Second time, I thought I imagined it. Third, I thought I misremembered. It took a fourth watch for me to be convinced it was really there. For being a half-assed effort, it certainly was a nice teaser of Things To Come. If it is indeed a Thing To Come. >_<

Sorry for double posting. Didn't want to combine posts because the one above is talking about something else altogether and I didn't want it to get too long if I can help it. It's not so much about dues and the paying of them, to be honest. That's not really what I meant by sacrifices, though I can see how it can be interpreted as such. But I didn't mean sacrifices on his part. What I meant was...well, I seem to recall him saying somewhere that he wasn't sure he could've pulled off what he did had he had a great season all throughout, and that he was only able to pull off particularly what he did here, and feel satisfaction for it, precisely because of the kind of season this had been for him. My takeaway from those words of his is this: I think he meant that he had no choice but to do away with other fancies and just streamline his mindset to focus mainly on winning, since his situation was one that didn't leave room for his usual brand of overthinking. Many of his losses in the past were due to himself being his own undoing so I think the situation he was in made sure he couldn't afford to let his head go to a place that might have led to that. He had to keep it simple, real and in a way that doesn't take his body and most importantly his ailing foot for granted. And that was exactly what he needed to win, because his body knows what to do to win and he needed his mind to cooperate with it. To me, the guy seems to be saying that he felt he needed that handicap to be able to concentrate in the way he needed to, to *truly* secure his win. He did so many interviews in so short a time though that they sorta run together for me in my head and I have no idea which interview that was exactly.

There's not much context to this, even with what the tweeter said so I can't be absolutely sure but I gather that Shimizu started wearing glasses as a fashion statement but found that most didn't get he was doing that (like maybe they thought he was wearing them for real, since he doesn't look great in them, like why would you not want to look great by choice, rght?) so when he met up with Hanyu, he was worried that the guy would think the same, since they don't meet often enough for him to remember he didn't use to wear em, and so took them off to make strong hints that he's wearing them by choice. That's my take anyway.

If the shitstorm surrounding this season was actually sacrifices in order for the Olys to have turned out the way it had, I think it was well worth it. And I wouldn't change anything if changing something would change the result of how the Olys would turn out. Like even Chen with his doozy of a short had an explosive FS and an invaluable experience that led to his WC win as well as spell good things for his future, if he uses it well. So as far as I'm concerned, this whole season was a win, and the rest can stay. And with the way things turned out for Higuchi, I'd say Milan was a wonderful event in and of itself. Not a sacrifice at all. Maybe the men's event was the sacrifice needed to make that happen, in which case, I can't regret it, especially since, and I know this is highly selfish of me, Hanyu was far far away from it so he wasn't made apart of it (think he's already had more than his fair share of disappointing comps anyway).

I guess maybe it's because then it'd be too close to 4CC? And WC is too big to be passed over like 4CC gets passed over which would then undermine 4CC even more than it already is. It also heightens the chances of injury before the Games, since skaters would have to take it very seriously, seeing as it would determine he reigning world champ going into the Olys, which may then cause skaters to burn out before the Olys, with two highly intense Championships back to back instead of just the one with the intensity of the other dampened by the bigger one that came before. Also, with it after the Olys, it'd be a chance for those who didn't do well at the Olys, as many are prone to doing, to end their season better. I'm pretty sure Chen only managed to skate the way he did today because this year's WC has very little pressure compared to the one last year and the Olys. I dunno. These are just a few reasons I can think of.

While I'm not contesting his nobility and thoughtfulness, he totally deserves that credit, and it all sounds very him still, I actually don't think he said rice with the expressed purpose of driving sales up. One, that was only something Tsurube thought of only after he heard what the mod said after, and had the mod not said what he did, I doubt he'd have come to that conclusion. Two, this isn't the first time Hanyu said rice when they asked him about what he eats before a comp. He also said it in that pre-NHK gala interview he did with Oda alongside Murakami and Mura back in 2014. So after thinking hard on what to answer, I think he just decided to fall back onto the basics when he couldn't come up with anything better. I really don't think that even with that big brain of his, he'd have calculated that far. He'd be both noble and scary if he did, and he never struck me as the calculative/manipulative sort. Unless he *is* and we're all just being played by an evil genius. >_< (Also, when someone says Japanese rice production to me, the first place I'd think of would be Akita, not Miyagi. Though Miyagi isn't exactly shabby in the rice production department, it's not a top producer either. More like somewhere in the highish middle. But Akita's in Tohoku so I guess it's still valid if you wanna argue his intention. XD) And if he drops off his #1 rank, well, it wouldn't be the first nor the last thing he'd have thrown away for his 2nd Oly title. Guy's got what he wants. Everything else seems a lot less important now. And oh so worth the sacrifice. After all, he never did say that being World #1 was his dream. He never even said anything about being a record holder. Not that I can remember anyway. I can only recall all he ever said he wanted were his two consecutive OGMs and being the kind of skater he's always wanted to be. Everything else were just things he somehow managed to achieve in his quest to reach these two goals. Now that his main quest is complete, and he's completed the game in hard mode, it's the 4A that's his New Game+. And if his body allows him to embark upon it, I wonder what kind of new side quests he'll find and finish as well as new things he'll accomplish in trying to complete it. It's really very exciting, if you think about it that way. ...and sides, if he starts competing again, he'll just claw and clamber his way back up. Guy loves fighting his way to the top and he's great at it, too. Would be a new challenge for him to conquer in a field that's entirely different from the last time he's had to do that, after staying put in a position where he could no longer get any higher for as many years as he did.

Yep and yep. Also, the way that convo went also allowed Hanyu and out from outright declining then and there because he used it to cleverly deflect. He didn't have this as a tool this time around and so had to do that impression Ueda did of him, lol. Which, I have to say, must have been a very accurate one because I can totally see Hanyu with that expression.

I can't help but get the impression that Pikotaro's an even bigger stan than Ueda ever was. I don't think Ueda's that big of one really but Pikotaro was the one who made all those more subtle observations (the bit about putting away the flag so they can all take pictures with Fernandez in flagless solidarity, the part where Hanyu said he knows the Games) and he was also the one who steered the conversation back to Hanyu after it veered away to Kodaira and Lee. And IIRC, he also said his focus was mainly only on Hanyu when chasing the recent Olys on TV. He was also the one who went all wistful wondering if he would ever get a chance talk to Hanyu and other talents he presumably admires on shows like this one, listing them off as his dream guestlist or something, only to turn around and say that maybe it's better that he doesn't because Hanyu is above it all (it sounds a lot like us, don't you think?) while acknowledging the fact that he's probably biting the hand that's feeding him by saying that. Though Ueda agreed with him, lol. Ueda seems more of a casual admirer who is reminded of why he admires the guy in the first place due to recent events. He also remembered the part about Shabekuri 007 wrong. Hanyu didnt say he wanted to be on it because he really wanted to be on it. He didn't even say he wanted to be on it, really. He more said that if he had to pick one he'd go with S007 instead of Oshareism simply to jokingly spite Ueda who was jokingly badmouthing his co-host on that show. Why? Because he (Hanyu) is a sadist. xD Either the guy (Ueda) didn't remember how the actual conversation went or he misunderstood it from the get-go. But Pikotaro...I see all of us in him.

In that case, yep. You got it. I'm always a little insecure about what I share (and yet can't stop myself from sharing...my opinionated side makes sure that I get my thoughts out if I want to not be repeating them over and over inside my head) because I know my opinions can come out strong, so I try to remain fair as best as I can by saying something only once I feel I've observed enough or feel I have enough background knowledge to share what I think. But I do make misjudgments from time to time so when it seems like I'm not being as fair as I hope, well, I'm open to being called out on it, and if I feel the observation is a fair one, I'm willing to admit my error and reflect on it, since it'd help me form better opinions next time. But you'll still have to change my mind first. I am aware that what I said seems harsh but at this point, I really do stand by them. I do like everyone, and I certainly think that with even one less of them challenging the sport and Hanyu's position, Hanyu wouldn't have been able to deliver the results he did. So while ultimately it has all been good for Hanyu, I'm not sure if their current style and mentality will be able to sustain their own individual competitive careers. Because the biggest reasons behind Hanyu's success even after winning one Olys, despite all the major setbacks he's had in between (some tough enough to fully discourage a less stubborn individual), are his principles and mentality as an athlete, especially one that's a figure skater. His overwhelming talent paired with his insistence in doing complete justice to the sport itself (and not with just himself), both as a sport and as performance art, is one I have yet to see even partially reflected in anyone else in the current field. He's the only figure skater out there right now whom I feel is using his talent to serve the sport and not just the other way around. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying he's right and everyone else is wrong, because at the end of the day, Hanyu serving the sport *is* serving himself. It just so happen they both align, which is so rare an occurrence, I haven't seen it happen with others. This has to be a natural thing so there's no real right or wrong to be had here.

It doesn't really matter. Maybe they appreciate Hanyu but prefer to remain neutral towards others. You can still be a fan of Hanyu and stand up for others, if you feel like you need to. Sometimes fans feel bad when other fans seem to be knocking on competitors because it makes it look like we're stepping on others to elevate Hanyu. This was not what I was doing but I do get how it feels because it doesn't feel good to me when I see others doing exactly that. Some of us out there can get pretty obnoxious because of our emotions. Which was why i was careful with my words but looks like it still rubbed some the wrong way. Just...when you're honest with your thoughts, you're bound to step on some toes. Because then your opinions become strong ones. And that's not everybody's cup of tea. Heck, even Hanyu catches hell for his tendency to speak his mind, though he's very smart in that he keeps his opinion about others strictly to himself and only skirt around the edges when directly asked to address the point. ("To me, artistry begins with solid and sound technique, as without the latter, the former does not exist," anyone?) But just because it wouldn't do for Hanyu to directly criticize his rivals, it doesn't mean fans should shy away from it, so long as they be fair about it. I'm a rookie when it comes to these kinds of observations but these are things that even a rookie can see them if they look properly. Now I'm sure Hanyu isnt without fault himself but I'm not expert enough on the subject to really pinpoint what they are because my observations are based on him as a standard. Anywho, it is what it is. We all have differing opinions, and I've been irked by the opinion of others before. Though I prefer to take a more direct route and argue things from the way I see it, we are all different people at the end of the day so we react to things differently. It's all good. That is, assuming this person really was being snarky. I still can't be too sure since there's no facial or body language to be read.

I'm not sure if you're being sincere or snarky/sarcastic but whichever you are doing, I stand by my observations because I'm simply calling it the way I see it, based on an 18 month long observation (which includes repeated viewings of skating and interview videos several years in the past), so I do not think I'm being ignorant or unfair as I did put in a fair word for all parties mentioned. Even though the results are clear as day, and as such, speak for themselves, I understand that this opinion is mine and mine alone, so even if it is fact to me, it doesn't have to be for everyone. So if I wasn't clear in my post, I'll make it clear right now. I am not speaking for everyone. Also, sorry if my observations aren't politically correct enough for your taste. But I do me and everyone can do themselves. Feel free to ignore me.

I agree with this completely. Something about that earlier post didn't sit right with me but I couldn't really put my my finger on it. You've put it into much clearer perspective. It's almost as if they were saying Hanyu was to Chan then what Chen is to Hanyu now, when Hanyu was sort of more like a mix of Uno and Jin (to put it very roughly), never Chen. And drawing parallels between Hanyu and Chan doesn't seem like an accurate exercise either considering Hanyu has been upping his technical ante and meeting his rivals head to head, something Chan has never done, being quite happy to remain where he was. Back then, Hanyu was still plenty rough around the edges, sure, especially when you compare what he was then to what he is now, but if Hanyu's level of ability when it comes to combining performance and technicals then was where Chen's one is at now, he would be nowhere near the complete skater he is today. You could never call any of his senior programs empty. So rough as he was, he never all out ignored everything just for his jumps, just because he knew the judges were going to reward him regardless. Whatever the judges gave him he didn't feel he deserved, he made sure that he put out a performance later that would repay the judge's earlier generosity. He's never treated his generous scores as freebies or a bonus that he can keep on getting without having to work to deserve them. So if Chen (or Uno* as well, really) had won over a Hanyu that has put out a decent performance that even while not perfect is still better than clean performances from Chen, I think I would be a lot more bitter than Chan's fans ever were, because I don't imagine the guy would ever want to get himself up to a level where he would actually deserve the victory. He would have felt he'd won because he was the best and that was that. He probably thinks he deserved every point of the 215+ he got for his FS. He deserved high scores sure but it'd be folly to think the judges weren't being overly generous with him that day, which he may have an inkling about but would likely never acknowledge. Taking this topic to a slightly different trajectory, I wouldn't put Chen, 100 quads or no, before a decent to clean Hanyu, Chan or Fernandez with their usual number of quads (ie: less than Chen), though I might favor him more out of the other younger front runners. Even if Uno has great upper body action and facial intensity, his jumps really are not top contender quality no matter how much the tech panel and judges want people to think they are, and Jin's performance, even if he's improving and, like most everyone here, I've a soft spot for him, is something I have yet to find aesthetically pleasing. Chen, on the other hand, already shows great potential for both, so even if he lacks the ability to marry them in competition, as well as the desire to at least work towards gaining it, something that I find quite alarming and frankly, rather off-putting, I'd still be okay with him getting ahead of these other two in a scenario where all three had great showings. But never the other three even if their showings had some minor flaws. It's a whole different story if they bombed or made major mistakes they couldn't fix though, because if they left that many points on the table, then everything is fair game, lol. *And yeah, I'm one of those who thinks the podium would've looked better, even if not perfectly, justified if the #2 and #3 spots were switched around.

Well, if he can't do the thing he's best at, then a guy's gotta do his next best thing. Didn't someone say that if talking were an Olympic event he'd absolutely win gold for it?

Someone here mentioned that out of all the individual figure skating events, the men's event was the only one where the victor's score is truly decisive. So I went looking for the scores of the champions of the other disciplines and whoa! Like, it was so close! There's a bit more of a gap between silver and bronze but gold and silver were all like less than 2 points! Then in the men's event it was only between the silver and bronze medalists where the fight was a close one. Hanyu may as well be a non-factor and Uno's silver is about as good as a gold by the difference standard in this cycle's Olympics. >_< No wonder all the silver medalists seemed kuyashii (some more than others) while Uno seemed a lot less so. His coach seemed super pleased and surprised, even. If anyone were to ask me what I think of this as a Hanyu fan, I'm going to have to go with "no comment" because enough said.

@banbourg @southkage Hey guys. I reuploaded ep 4 with subs. Sorry for the blunder and the wait. ^^;; v

Well, if they decide to award him the National People's Award thingy and he chooses to accept (it's a 50-50 toss up with this dude), wouldn't it be rude to make fun of him, and by extension his fans (cos that would be indirectly making fun of him), in Japan? But whether or not he ends up with it, I think his pretty dominating and history-making second straight win despite a long absence and still-healing injury has pretty much shut up most skeptics with any sort of standing in Japanese society for good. Cos I would think the backlash for it now would be incredible otherwise. Would you mind divulging which used-to-be-a-cynic personality you were referring to? I wanna know if one of the many post-PC programs I saw was his.