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Oh he wants them medals alrite. And that PC one is a childhood goal of his, prolly long before he even knew what complete skating meant. Sochi was more a pipe dream that somehow turned into reality for him. Which makes the PC one even closer now. Like, plan A was to take both and plan B was to do good at Sochi and get all the EXP he can to kick ass at the final stage at PC. But he knew plan B has always been the more realistic one, and even though he skated as though he was putting plan A into action, there's a part of him that knew he had plan B to fall back onto, and it's a real possibilty that he would. As it turns out, though, he ended up with a chance to continue executing plan A, which means more than simply kicking ass at PC now. It means...well, it means what we're all seeing now and him emerging on top of it all, like some kind of Genghis Khan of FS or something. Which ties in to what you said to be his true goal. Underneath it all, lies this true goal* and with it, together with his experience in Sochi, he now knows it's not simply winning that second gold he wants, it's winning it the way he wants. And in his head, it's not a 50-50 thing, like the rest of the world think it is (myself included). For him, it's a done deal and he's going to make it happen. No plan B this time. Just...he may now allow himself a bit more wiggle room in how he wants to do it after this mishap. Whether or not he takes advantage of it, though, is still a complete mystery. *Ultimately, I think his true goal is a much greedier one. Like, part of it was skating a program that blends difficult tech with artistry, which, as he matures, evolved into wanting complete mastery (which is what he really needs to achieve his goal of a complete program anyway) and when he achieves that, then he achieves the other part, which is to have all the gold come raining down upon him (he's shown that he possesses this shallow side to him, as well). Basically, the guy wants *everything*. And that, I feel, is his true goal.

Well, they do always say he's too good to be existing on the three dimensional plane...(his colors look washed out though) He does take life experiences into careful consideration. The choices he made back then was based on both who he was at heart and the experiences he's had up to then. The choices he makes now will be based on both the wider breadth of experiences he's had since (and will continue to have right up until his name is called at the Olys) and who he still is at heart. There may be some suggestions he'll accept as sound advice from those he recognizes as knowing better based on their own experiences (and sharing wisdom he's gained from his own experiences *is* something he hopes to perhaps make a career out of himself someday, might I add) but ultimately, he'll walk the path that leaves him with zero regrets because he's proven to be the sort who's incapable of lying to himself when it comes to the big picture. Of that, I have absolutely no doubt. And so long as he keeps being this way, whatever the results are from here on out, he'll always have my support. (:

Really??? I didn't dare to hope but...oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy! *is about to gush out an embarrassing love confession but composes self in time* Ahem, well then. Know that I appreciate you. And your antics. Very much. Like to the ends of the planet and back. *discreetly nudges a couple of Kumamon YouTube videos, posters and pap photos that spilled out from under the slit of the closet door back inside with foot*

Oh, that's a message from Sendai broadcasting. *nods* That's right. The truth is, we won't ever know. Much like life itself, there are never any guarantees to these things. Which is why this whole thing is so exciting in the first place. The possibilities are both anxiety-inducing and exhilarating. Usually at the same time. Not the kinda stimulation anyone would recommend for heart patients. Since it can go either way whichever path he picks, using the brain is moot. Which leaves the only thing for Hanyu himself to do is to go for what his heart tells him. He's actually basically doing the same thing everybody's doing. Staying within his comfort zone. It's just that his definition of it is...slightly...different. If he skated to his 2015/2016 layout, there's a very decent chance he'll be able to skate clean. That much is true. But very decent isn't a guarantee and on a less good day, he could still very well make mistakes on triples. And the fact that the challenge is less would mean his brain would be both warring with itself *and* his heart and for Yuzuru Hanyu, that's a one-way ticket to implosion, high difficulty or no high difficulty. So it's not like taking the easier path would be the no-brainer of a solution for him like it would be for most others. Either way he picks, there's always going to be a huge risk involved but based on his pattern in past competitions, his successes seem to be more skewed towards when he challenges himself (i.e.: his comfort zone). His brain is going to make noise either way but this way, at least it would be warring with only itself since his heart is appeased. Like @KatjaThera said, it's not a matter of whether or not he can do it. He can. But whether or not he'll be able to do it at the time he prefers, well that's another thing altogether. People like to say he has a choice, but looking at it from this perspective, the choice he has made, has always made, is the only one he ever could. His very character dictates that if he wants to win, the only way he's always done it is the only way he can pick to do it. With this injury, perhaps he'll feel another path is now open to him but we won't know until he comes back. ...Kumamon himself wouldn't have been able to come up with something better. He's probably thinking you just took the whole thing from his brain and that you've done him proud. I've got nothing against Hersh but this is too funny. And not even a little bit disturbing. Nope, not at all!

His features have developed a bit more, true, and are subtly more mature if you take a closer look, but I think the size of of his head didn't change all that much. It only appears so in the picture cos the camera is focused closer in the newer picture. Everything is proportionally bigger in the left picture cos of that, which you can also tell because his chin got cut off sooner. Is that his event ID mugshot for this season? He's got a few other mugshots that would look like classic/actual mugshots if he were holding up a board displaying his criminal record number below, lol. This two aren't any of them, though.

I can spot the differences but without the guide below those pictures, I won't be able to tell which is taken before which. But I'll probably still pick the left to be newer cos...well, the background looks newer.

Lol that's very true. I wasn't so sure when @Danibellerika said she heard through the grapevine and decided to wait a bit but when someone says he's been spotted, it sounds more plausible somehow. I don't need photographic evidence because looking at ones not taken officially or with the consent of the subject always gives me an uncomfortable feeling, even when I just happen to come across them. So if someone says they've seen him, if it isn't harmful, I just buy it for now, just so I have a place in mind when talking about him, cos otherwise my brain would conjure up images of him floating in outer space. ^^ If these sightings aren't true and the guy people thought they saw isn't him, no harm no foul. He can be anywhere so long as he's getting what he needs. Even if it's outer space.

Dunno. But I reckon he'll go back the moment he's cleared to get back onto the ice. Other seasons he may opt to stay a bit longer but I doubt he would for this one since he's already been set back from practice (seeing as I think he hadn't planned on returning to Sendai at all were it not for these 10 days of enforced rest) and he needs to talk to his coaches in person about where to go from here. Also, he probably knows that his on-ice rehab is best seen-over by the staff at TCC and they have got the facilities for rehabilitating there so. That's what the logic looking in from the outside is telling me anyway. Things could be very different from the inside.

Flying to Sendai is a lot faster than going by train or car and the airport would be easier to navigate than the train station. And at this point, there isn't much point in returning to Toronto. That's his training ground and it's not like he can train right now. I mean, there's probably not a lot of harm in returning there but going back home to Sendai makes a whole lot more sense since, like a few have said, it relieves the stress of long-distance travel on his foot so soon after injuring it, and also, he might as well make something good out of this whole ordeal and return home (and that's really Sendai, not Toronto) to be with his family, whom both he and his mom rarely get to see these days. He'd be more relaxed, I'm sure. Sides, I'm sure his mom could use the break, as well. And looking after her injured (and likely mopey) son at home with the help of the rest of the family would be way less stressful for her as well. If you're worried about the media, he's asked for peace and quiet and I'm sure the media will respect that. They may still talk about him but there won't be anything overtly wild, I don't think, since he's already given his assurances. That and he'll be long gone by the time GPF rolls around and Uno-mania rises to a fever pitch.

Over-pronouncing, that's it! That's the thing where you see him working his lower jaw a lot and his head bobbing to every word he manages to form and utter. It's a whole process you can see. And no I don't mean he's hard to understand. Not at all. Because he's somehow learned to not speak in Japanese phonetics (so the days in which you hear him go "Adobaisu puriizu!" are long gone), it sounds pretty natural (when he finally manages to say the words) so there's really no trouble at all *but*. But when his words run together like they did in that documentary, it gets hard to make out. What he does at press cons and what he was trying to do there are two very different things. In the documentary, he was also attempting to say deeper things and not about himself so I guess that's where the speed of his brain and his limitations in the English language got the better of him. I have no trouble understanding him most of the time but there, I could only tell it was English but the words were too garbled for me to properly make out without straining myself to both listen and decipher (and wishing I could understand Spanish so I could at least read the subtitles). It wasn't super hard, no, but it wasn't easy like it usually is with him either. It's really only there I had trouble so it could very well just be me *shrug*. Also, when he speaks, you can tell he's really translating from Japanese first, instead of thinking in English and speaking from that.

He speaks a very pure form of North American Japanglish. Yes, it is a word now. Cos I said so. It is not so easy to learn because you need to have a unique set of circumstances where you breathe NA air and eat NA produce for long periods of time but not have a lot of purely social experiences with locals to be immersed and always resort to speaking in your mother tongue for a good 3/4 of the day and watching Japanese TV instead of NA shows. You also have to be smart enough to be able to catch and retain stuff subconsciously but disinterested in becoming fully fluent, even while telling yourself you need to be and you really should be putting in more hours in English language studies but not until after you've cleared the boss of this level and the next and the next and the next... As in, he doesn't fall into the usual syllable traps Japanese speakers speaking English usually fall into raiku dissu. He even uses fillers like well, "like" and "iunno" perfectly. But he still has trouble distinguishing some of his Ls from his Rs and most of his Vs from his Bs. He also has this thing where he needs to shape each very word carefully with his mouth which results in a halting and quite exhausting manner of speaking. All in all, this results in his English falling apart in interviews or when he's excited. I had some trouble trying to tell what he's saying in that interview he did for Javi's documentary. Listening to him speak in post comp interviews is akin to seeing someone doggedly tapping away on a keyboard with just two fingers. It's quite endearing, really. I mean, there's at least something he doesn't excel at. Or care enough to excel at anyway. >_< I'm pretty sure that's all PR. I mean they can't exactly tell the public that his smiles aren't reaching his eyes and his laughs ring hollow. It's probably safe to simply assume that he'll be down in the dumps for a bit, even as he's looking to move forward, as would be natural for someone in his situation. Can't really expect anyone to be happy really, much less him. So it's relieving to see him the way he is now (like in that special nhk interview) rather than forcing himself to be happy. Good times will come again and they'll be even better precisely due to less happy ones like this.

That sounds like a highly positive projection. May what he gains from this experience be a valuable one well worth the price of a 5th GPF title and that everything else from here on out goes well for him. ^__^ And may the rest of the GPS be smooth-going for all who are still competing.

He's likely currently still in stage 1 so wherever he is, he's probably doing the exact opposite of everything you said. Especially the last one. Lol. And that's probably his own way of coping. I can very easily imagine him replaying that fateful jump and fall over and over and over in his head and burning it into his memory so he doesn't invite similar falls in the future. Stage 2 is likely when he'll start feeling more ants in his pants and furiously begins planning for plan B or adjustments (if he isn't already doing it as we speak) ...which would still be the exact opposite of everything you said. Stage 3 and beyond is when he starts putting whatever plan B or adjustments into action...and it would still be the opposite of everything you just said. And since he should be way past the coping stage by this time, I suppose it's really just the way he is wired. There will probably be some gaming in between though, since there's only so much he can plan for without being able to immediately put it into action with his bum ankle...and that would be something you'd have gotten exactly right.

As much as I wanted to see him build a nice momentum, which I'm sure was his original plan, since that fall happened, I really can't say I was looking forward to seeing him compete with my eyes glued to his right ankle and knowing for sure that every time he lands a jump he'd be mentally gritting his teeth while also paying an unknown price. Since the injury has been isolated and revealed from the very beginning, we'd know for sure without the blissful veil of ignorance and vagueness (that he used to usually keep everybody under, whether intentionally or unintentionally). If he'd chosen to go against his doctor's advice and skated anyway, we'd know without doubt that every time he lands a jump, or do anything that requires his right foot to bear a lot of weight, it would cost him. And where exactly he'd be feeling it too. This is different from CoC '14 and even though that one was a lot more visibly horrific, I'm not comfortable putting a scale as to which is worse for these kind of scenarios as each situation is unique in both nature and circumstances. At CoC '14, the extent of his injuries he sustained weren't isolated yet and it wasn't even clear to the viewers whether or not there was a concussion. Also, it was his first competition in his first season as reigning Oly champ, where he felt he had *a lot* to prove. This time around, he's preparing to go in for a shot at another gold, and only as a possible contender rather than an overwhelming heavy favorite, and he has more records under his belt. He wants to overtake his own PBs, all of which he achieved after his win at Sochi, and to do that, he can't afford to be as reckless as he was then. Guess he really did learn from his lisfranc experience. If he starts his recuperation now, there should still be enough time to gain back whatever he's going to lose during this down-time. Hopefully, this experience will further toughen him up mentally. If there's one thing he's never done before, it's trying to come back after having to give up on a big international competition. Two, in this case. And along with it, another chance to go for a 5th title. That's twice now a 5th straight title's escaped him. It's quite a lot to take, for someone of his caliber and mentality. But if there's anyone who's able to come back from this new blow tougher and stronger than ever before, it's him. I wouldn't be as sure if this happened to someone else. I reckon it's going to be a few weeks of mental anguish (due to a number of reasons) for him to work through, and hopefully it'll only be that long, but I'm looking forward to a new and improved Yuzuru Hanyu come the Nats, or whichever competiton he does next (could even be the Olys). (: May the injury, both the physical and the mental, be a short-term but profound one which he'll be able to ultimately turn into a gain like no other. As for the rest the GP, this would mean the showdown would essentially be a Chen vs Uno one now, if things go well for them at SA, and IdF. And if Brown gets to go to the Final, he may even have a chance to podium. That's pretty exciting still in its own right. P/s: If 5-peats are never going to be his thing, boy am I glad he's only attempting a 2-peat at the Olys.

It's probably a twofer. He admires Hanyu as an athlete and Hanyu is admired by many who are active on the internet as well, which gives him professional gains. Being a supporter of Hanyu, especially if you have vested interest, is like being seen as a good devotee by the God of Prosperity or something. Support the dude and good things will naturally happen to you! (Caveat: Just one. You have to be sincere about it.)

For all that they're so focused on things other than figure skating and athletes with a different sort of built, they sure have a lot stuff that look like they're tailor made for him. Lol. ...unless he's really wearing their female line...

That and I think practicality has a lot to do with it as well. He trains on the the other side of the world so his work commitments would have to be in an amount where he can conceivably fit into a tight schedule when he is in Japan for an extended period time (for the express purpose of shows and work obligations such as these). So far LOTTE and P&G seem to require most time from him. The rest all seem to require less. So I think his commercial dealings all have to fit into this neat and efficient little timeline he has going on. Could also be his way of saying thank you to his family for all they have done and sacrificed for him and his dreams. I mean, if he wanted to go for those other fun stuff, I doubt his mom would say no but maybe he thinks he's got everything he's ever wanted in the form of skating. And earphones. And that snazzy little custom player he's got. All the other good things that come with his career he probably feels he can give to those he feels truly deserves them. (: EDIT: He did do that one game commercial though. LOL. Maybe he'll do some more like that in the future. EDIT2: Oh, just realized someone mentioned it below already.

*nods* P&G is probably the only major endorsement deal he signed. And even then, it's not like your usual kinda thing. Everything else seem rather minor in comparison. LOTTE's probably a JSF thing so I don't think that's something he could really say no to (despite his claims of being happy about it since he loves chocolate and Ghana especially and all that..and Xylish is also part of this deal so). There's the pillow company, the bathing salt company...and I may be missing one or two more since all these things he endorses aren't exactly in-your-face kinda brands/products. In fact, his choice to endorse them all seem rather straightforward, simple and obvious, lol. Like P&G, they are all stuff him and his family can enjoy using so freebie!11! (What brand is that air mat thing he travels with?) Other things like the blood donation campaign seem to be more PSAish so those don't really count.

Yeah, which means those are all purely deals between these companies and the sponsors/federation and have absolutely no bearing on the athletes as individuals. Those JSF track suits are sponsored by Mizuno but they have to show other JSF sponsors as well so you see those other badges from KOSÉ, LOTTE, Nichirei and I think maybe one other company.

Hmm, I suppose it does but he was already using their stuff before they approached him for endorsement, I think. Like probably not as many as now but he was already a user. I seem to recall him wearing something of theirs back when he was still 15 or 16... Aren't the jackets he wears to Nats provided to him by ANA? Cos that's when he officially represents them as their skater. So it really doesn't matter what the brand is, just like those JSF tracksuits are from Mizuno. Speaking of which, the one for this season is really nice. Hehe. That's probably a factor. Plus, I also don't think he accepts sponsorships beyond what's necessary or endorses anything that reflects his choices as being purely capitalistic because of where he came from. Like, he doesn't capitalize off of his skating very much or in a very visible way likely due to the sensibilities he has as a victim of the Tohoku disaster, where his reason to continue skating seemed to have taken on a more profound meaning. All in all, there's probably a dozen factors why he doesn't endorse anything overly huge. And none of the major deals he signed seemed to show a relationship where they own him and where they both profit purely in ¥¥¥ anyway. Like, ANA doesn't use him or any of the athletes they sponsor like endorsers. They seem more like a full-fledged backer of their athletes, since theirs is more like a support program. His relationship with P&G also seems to go beyond simply sponsor and endorser, as well. S'ok that he doesn't seem to have huge endorsement contracts with apparel companies, though. I think he gets a lot of stuff from fans and affiliates, anyway, who give it to him out of good will and nothing else. And it's nice to see him walking around with different brands of clothing rather than just the one. (:

Come to think of it, it's pretty strange an athlete of his mantle and fame doesn't seem to have any sportswear as a sponsor. Like didn't Kanako used to have Adidas as a sponsor when she was still competing? I find it hard to believe that none approached him for an endorsement so the only other reason I can think of is he didn't accept any. And like @xeyra said, he already endorses UA of his own free will so... I wonder if Edea and JW Blades have to pay athletes for using their image for advertising purposes, since it doesn't seem like skaters are getting freebies from them. Or maybe they have a deal where they're given good discounts in exchange for permission to use their image for promotional reasons? So curious...

I came across something somewhere that says Disney threatened to sue a day-care center or a kindergarten (I can't remember which but it was a child-related facility) for having their characters painted on their walls without permission but Universal Studios stepped in and not only offered the place free use of their characters but sent their own artists to paint over the Disney ones, too. Not sure how true this story is but if there's any truth in it, it's just as well Hanyu's connection with them isn't deeper than the Pooh collection he has.

Lol. So this season is basically a race not only for the gold, but for a new record that will stand for good (if the current record gets broken), or for as long as the scoring for individual elements don't go back up, before a new record standard is established.

What's the maximum total of his two programs with their intended layout anyway? I mean this is the guy who went pass the 300 mark by 20+ points when simply going over 300 was still an impossible dream for everyone else so, even as I'll take anything pass 330.43 (like even 330.44), I wouldn't be too surprised if he just sails way past 350 if he puts out the kind of quality he did in his ACI 2017 SP for both his programs back to back. It certainly won't be his scores that'd be flooring me if he's able to pull that off.

That's a pretty well-researched article, save for some mistakes here and there. And even if Orser missed those two golds in reality, he at least didn't miss them here. We at least know now who the real OGM is those two years in the heart of the IOC. ^^ Sides, it's never a bad thing to have the words 2x OGM within an article about Hanyu. (: And were there 2 triple-triple combos in the WC H&L? I can't seem to recall anything like that. How'd he manage those with all the other things he packed into the prog? I dunno. I wouldn't sell them this short. There's only so far Hanyu can go without outside stimuli and a lot of these guys now are basically doing things that tell him if he doesn't go clean, he's going down. That's exactly the kind of fire Hanyu needs lit under him and won't get if he's only fighting himself. And a clean Hanyu is godly so if he does bring it, we'll have all these other guys pushing themselves hard to surpass him in points to thank as well. Like we've also got Jin and Fernandez to thank back in 2015. As well as everyone who skated well enough in the SP event to put pressure on him earlier this year enough to perform a limit break in his FS.