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Yeah. This actually brings me back to that interview with Yuji Ueda in Sochi when he asked Hanyu what he felt when Chan was performing, like if he was praying for the guy to slip up. Hanyu answered plainly that he was outright rooting for the guy. While Ueda was suitably impressed and said he could learn a thing or two from him* about having such a big heart, Hanyu quickly explained that it wasn't that at all. He said if anything, he was doing it for selfish reasons because if he takes home the gold despite a mistake-ridden delivery, his victory would be marred by personal dissatisfaction and he'd have to carry that weight around with him in the future. And that was the entire reason he was hoping Chan would at least be able to step up and deliver the kind of performance no one else that day was able to. So if anyone was doubting his sincerity in rooting for Chan to do well, they would now know they don't have to because the guy pretty much admitted he wasn't being generous, he was being human. A very proud one, in fact. And pride, according to a certain manuscript at least, is a sin. Lol. But there were still mean-spirited and petty comments made about him being insincere when he said he hoped that Chan would do well. Not that anyone can really blame them because a lot of us are a product of our environment, and it is one that makes it not so easy to believe that there really can be people with bold, sincere hearts among us. So naturally, people become skeptical. But, well, I hope the state of the field now, something which Hanyu played a huge role in giving rise to, will be able to open up some eyes and clear their skepticism that this guy *really* doesn't like to win based on the weaknesses of others, that people with the mentality of true champions like the ones they read in manga and comics, really do exist. But, of course, there will always be minds twisted to a point where they won't see it that way and find some other negative way to view it. And there's nothing to be done about it but to ignore those and leave them to wallow in their dystopian views. Most of us prefer to stay hopeful, however, and for those of us who do, our eyes may become open to the fact that these people really aren't gods or in any way perfect. If anything, it just goes to show how utterly human they all really are because in their hunger to excel, it becomes greed for success. That in itself isn't necessarily a bad thing, depending on how they choose to go about achieving it. And the truth is, Hanyu is going about it the right way, the ideal one in fact, of which there no are easy shortcuts but plenty of suffering, because of another human flaw, the one that starts with a P I mentioned in the first paragraph. But I think his is a case where two flaws balance one another out. In Hanyu's case specifically, his pride balances out his greed.** I'm willing to bet not a single one of his naysayers is able to claim to be able to do even a fraction of what he does when it comes to proving oneself worthy. But then we like to project our weaknesses on others, which, I suppose, makes us human, too. Just shows that there can be many kinds of human, with people like Hanyu (and other great figures of inspiration in both the past and the present) on one polar end, and naysayers who make unjustified and unreasonable remarks, no matter how much they are really victims of their environment (because I believe while being negative and pessimistic is a nature that people can't help, being blind towards the obvious is a choice), on the other. *I find a lot of these Japanese interviewers, the men especially, after having met and spoken to the dude, or simply just listened in the audience and paid attention to what he's really saying, would come back to themselves awed and humbled, going so far as to admit, on TV, that even while being twice his age, they all feel like they've only got half his wisdom, if even that. One even went so far as to say that even if he lives another 40 years (the guy was 40 then) he likely still won't be half as wise as this kid barely into his 20s still. And it's true enough, wisdom does not necessarily come with age, as Button has clearly shown. He deserves respect, a lot of it, and there are old people who are wise, but these are also the ones who are somehow able to keep an open mind even with age, and Button isn't the most open-minded of individuals, I don't think. He's not close-minded per se. Just not quite open enough to be considered as truly wise in my books, which is the case with a lot of old people. Though we may be there ourselves someday. >_< **Hanyu also checks ALL the other boxes when it comes to the seven sins besides just greed and pride, btw. Right down to sloth, even if it doesn't necessarily directly translate to what he presents on ice. LoL. But, all in all, the way he lets them positively influence his life instead of the other way around is what truly sets him apart, IMO. Sorry to hear about that. I bet Hanyu knows exactly how you feel. And the fruits of his labor and perseverance are paying it forward to serve as a guiding light for others, just like he prayed for. Let us all enjoy all the weekend has to offer!

This just hit me. All my favorite programs this 2017/18 season were choreographed by Shae-Lynn Bourne. 1) Yuzuru Hanyu's FS, SEIMEI 2) Nathan Chen's SP, Nemesis 3) Wakaba Higuchi's FS, Skyfall All of them unorthodox but just as lovely, if not better 8D SHAE-LYNN BANZAI!! (Don' think there's a thread exclusively for choreographers yet, is there?)

@CupidsBow To me, Higuchi has a smidgeon of that thing Hanyu has in her skating and in how she expresses herself through her programs though I can't quite put my finger on what it is exactly. And I'm hoping very hard, almost as hard as I'm hoping for Hanyu to skate both his programs, or at least SEIMEI, clean at the Olys, that she'll make the Oly team and present her skates, epecially her FS, well in front of the world. I'll refrain from sharing my thoughts about Uno and his performance style + his skating (the ones I've never shared before) since you're obviously a fan and I don't want you to feel poorly about it. I mean I don't dislike the dude at all, and whatever he's good at he excels in and I can fully respect his determination to strive towards his goal of beating Hanyu. But of all the younger competitors in the top 6 men, I find myself actually rooting for Chen the most. I mean not in beating Hanyu because it'd be a contradicting wish, and there's absolutely nothing I want more than for Hanyu to eat everyone for breakfast in PC--the events are happening early enough for them to all look like Fruit Loops or bacon to him, or whatever he usually eats for breakfast--but I do hope that Chen places the highest out of all of the younger 3 men. This started gradually happening when I heard his SP music at US Classic and became cemented after I saw his showing of it at the JO gala sans his quads where he could actually truly *skate* and did complete justice to that awesome, *awesome* piece of music. Pity it probably won't be the same with the quads but I'm hoping he'll at least be able to keep some of those lovely details SL weaved into the choreography (which he executed beautifully) in.

Yay! How much does it weigh?? And hope he successfully gets it registered for citizenship soon! ^__^

Hmm...I'm not a fan of either (in ladies I think I like Higuchi the most) but if I had to pick one to watch out of the two, I'll probably pick Medvedeva over Uno. >_< Wish I could share your appreciation for him so we'd have more to talk about but hey, there's still Hanyu. 🙃

Yeah, I can agree with all that. That's why I said what she's doing isn't easy. But it still isn't the same thing as what the men are doing. Far from it. She works within her limits and expands within it, but I don't get a sense that she's pushing beyond it. See, people are comparing Hanyu's inconsistency to her consistency without taking into account that her tech advancements when compared to Hanyu's, is ..well, there's no comparison really. Because he adds brand new elements, bringing one after another into competition each season, on *top* of all the bells and whistles he does but he doesn't abuse them because he doesn't need them to score more points, not when he can master new tech elements instead. And people like Uno are more consistent, because he's not doing the little details in the same way Hanyu and Medvedeva do. He's doing some of them, but he's not yet quite in the same league as these two. So he has one but not the other, as does Medvedeva, only it's the other way around for her. Hanyu's the only one successfully pushing from all angles in the singles field. Even in spins and expression. Really, if one's standard of "pushing the envelope" is essentially what Hanyu is doing, then everyone else really simply pales in comparison. He may not have the consistency because of that but if his pattern in past seasons is anything to go by, he'll bring it at least once during the season (re: devastating all-encompassing massive cannon beam if he brings it where it matters most in this one). I'm just hoping he brings it at the right time. So I feel that being tired of gimmicks isn't exactly the same as finding her stagnant. I mean, it certainly contributes towards it but ultimately, I think it's because she isn't doing anything that very obviously reflects the monstrous scores she's been getting. By the logic I presented, in Medvedeva fashion, she does a lot of things in less obvious ways no other women can do (tacks on more doubles and triples and backloading them, among other things--what you said in your last paragraph, basically), though she's ultimately still doing 7 triples, which other ladies are doing as well, backloading or no backloading. I do feel the complaints that she doesn't have a 3lz3t in her arsenal (which would give her 8 triples--and wouldn't that be something at least?--but even she's got her weaknesses) isn't really legit since she does other things to make up for the lack. But that's it. She makes up for it. She isn't really going beyond it. She doesn't have anything that's more than a 3lz3t (which she doesn't have but others do) whereas there's a chance that Hanyu will one day bring either a 4lz3T himself (even if he completely passes on the 4F) or that something else that's been rumored to be in the works. And not just him, other men are adding big things, too. Medvedeva doesn't have anything like that and pretty soon, she'll max out on gimmicks (which people are already complaining about) and where else would she be able to head then? Ultimately, she doesn't give off the image that she's straying too far outside her comfort zone and she's not really pushing the boundaries the way Hanyu is. She's only in it to score as high as she could based on what she can pull off and win as much as she could before someone with well-balanced skills finally comes in with more consistent 3As and maybe even some more landed quads in comps to finally overtake her. Still, I do find the criticism of her being boring a tad unfair unless it's applied to others who aren't exactly pushing the envelope either, even the men's, cos not all of them are. Some of them are in the top 6, even. Not saying it's a bad thing that they're not. Like Medvedeva, it's great if they want to keep maximizing the potential of what they already have and if Hanyu misses the gold for whatever reason, I hope one of them clinches it. But if people are going to label her boring, then the same should apply to these other men as well. In fact, she does better than them because she's at least consistent.

^Those are truly excellent points but the media has a role to play and being a fair narrator has never been it, no matter how much they appeal themselves as otherwise. A vast majority of them, all the major ones, have skewed biases and interests in one way or another. It's just how it is. So when someone digs deeper for themselves and realizes those points you made, they'd be even more in awe. Even though it's still early yet, Chen has certainly shown growth this season based on what he experienced in the last. In a way, I see more growth in him than I do Uno. It's interesting to see what he'll bring to the ice this time when he'll be sharing it with the One Everyone Dreams to Beat this early in the season. And I think the thing with Medvedeva being more stagnant to watch for some is not because she's consistent. It's because she isn't pushing the envelope, as in she's not challenged or driven to improve personally enough to want to pile on the difficulty after each success. Because if she did, she'd likely be less consistent but she'd definitely be more exciting because her talent in both skating and mental control is 200% legit. She has a better hold on it than anyone else in all the fields I'm seeing right now, and with content that isn't easy even if flawed in parts, so even if she were less consistent because of increasing difficulty, I'm willing to bet she'd still be more consistent than everyone. That's something that's truly special about her which she deserves full credit for.

^NBC and all others who are doing the same should keep at it cos the more pot shots they fire at him, the more he's going to want to fire back with something that annihilates. I mean he did give them the ammo, so it's up to him to return fire with some kind of devastating giant laser beam he's probably been building in his basement for ages. He probably has a series of them in varying degrees of devastating power, some of which he's already unleashed in the past. Right now, he just needs to perfect their aiming and locking system, especially that largest cannon beam one that he's promised is in the works. Based on all the flack he got in the past as an up-and-comer and looking at certain whole shelves in stores filled all through with his visage now, a lot of which are publications that only started existing after his rise (yay economy!), the front page stories on newspapers he's garnered through the years and the surge of products bearing his grinning visage gracing just about every store selling them whenever his time arrives...well, let's just say I wouldn't want to be an anti living in Japan right now. There are battles and there are wars and I don't think the former was ever what he was looking at winning. So yeah, I hope they keep at their efforts in awakening the sleeping dragon. I mean, it did already growl its warning. 8D

But hey. This way at least no one can point accusing fingers at him and say he's always winning with mistakes, against a guy who skated clean(ish) and landed more quads and, as such, is sooooo obviously better and is really oughta be kicking the asses of anyone who has less, no ifs or buts, regardless of whether or not they're clean because I know so much better than everyone else. >_< 9.9 Lol. *shrug* Iunno, I accept it cos it just goes to show his victories aren't handed to him. He fights tooth and nail and earns every damn decimal point, even the ones that are more rewarded based on the judges' whims (re: PCS). Nothing comes for free for this guy. Nor does he want it to. And really, I think Button sees all that, even as he claims to not pay much attention to men's competitions these days, and even if Hanyu's ever-evolving style isn't really the old boy's cup of tea, which is why he, a dude famed for pulling zero punches (even at times it's unwarranted) and epic rants, kept his opinions on Hanyu purely objective when directly asked for them and acquiesed to sending him personally written well-wishes, cos, yanno, he doesn't strike me as the sort who can be made to do things he doesn't want to do and I highly doubt doing something like that for someone he doesn't respect ranks high on his bucket list. But hmmm, I think these kinda things, like who should really have won, will always be...subjective...which I think contributes quite significantly as to why the Julius Caesar within Hanyu doesn't just want to win at the Olys, he wants to win big. Like, big big. Huge. Unfathomably so. As in, no-room-for-argument, everyone-must-bow-down-to-me and haters-can-all-go-home-and-write-their-official-letters-to-the-world-telling-it-they're-suing-it big. Like, everyone-else-did-so-well-they-all-now-have-their-own-planets-in-this-galaxy-as-well-but-me-I'm-just-gonna-warp-around-in-those-other-galaxies-gazillions-upon-gazillions-of-light-years-away-noone-on-Earth-will-ever-be-able-to-fathom-the-existence-of big. 8D And if the stars aligned for him, and for everyone else invested in him, and for the future of men's FS as a whole, he can make it happen too. It's really not out of the realm of possibility for him. And he knows it. That's the most fearsome part about him. Edit: Just saw the post above. What does "one foot can be used a year" mean? Is he saying he changes his boots one side at a time? Does Edea sell them separately like that? I mean if one alone is worth 50,000 yen, it'd be kinder if they did...

In all honesty, I feel WTT TS aren't as non-existent as one might think. If they were, Medvedeva's wouldn't have been listed as the current WR TS for ladies. I didn't realize they counted until I saw that. Which was a wake-up call to me cos this means that even if TS aren't mentioned unless one is a new record, they're still there. And for anyone who cares to look, and believe you me Hanyu does--cos, yanno, chillax as he is and all--they'll see that Uno's scores there were much higher than Hanyu's, even if they technically weren't competing against one another. So even if no one seems to be considering it, the potential of Uno doing it again in a comp people care more about isn't a far-fetched one, not because of how high Uno scored, because those certainly weren't his best scores that season (still over 300 tho), but how low Hanyu did, which even if they weren't exactly super low, with the field as deep as it is now, it's practically sub-zero level. And no thanks to his FS at ACI, he scored even below that there. Chen...well Chen's already beaten him once before at 4CC. But WTT...I dunno about Uno but Hanyu sure as heck didn't look like he was looking at that comp as fluff. Like I said before, he looked more constipated there than in any other comps that season because to him, it's yet another comp where he had to put out a good showing--especially his SP--and because he couldn't relax and enjoy himself and went the opposite direction instead to a degree that's further than other comps, he flubbed it. And I think it's precisely how low he scored for his SP there, on home ground, in a fluff comp where people usually have less trouble acing--and the only time he did worse was in Canada at the start of the season--that he finally decided on sticking to Chopin for the Oly season.That's a pretty huge effect, if you asked me. Hypothetically, had Uno scored more than 330 there, which, thank heavens he was far from doing, but if he did, he'd have rewritten the WR officially. Doesn't matter if people roll their eyes at it even if that happened, Hanyu wouldn't have, and official records are official for a reason, regardless of how little regard it gets because of where it's done. I mean it's fine if people want to dismiss the comp and write it off as nothing, as what's been said about it here isn't false (except for the part about the TS being non-existent) and as fans, it's probably better to not put so much stock in a comp like WTT, but I think some things shouldn't be overlooked or trivialized either, especially if you're a competitor, cos even comps like these have things to teach. No one has to agree with me, of course. I'm not setting this up as an argument at all, but as my two cents and change to say that I feel differently about that comp than most here do.

Gotta love how easy to decipher he is. There's the Yuzu-with-all-his-shiny-new-toys-locked-in-a-safe-only-Brian-knows-the-combination-to-and-he-has-to-be-on-his-best-behavior-if-he-ever-wants-to-see-them-again at ACI and the Yuzu-with-all-his-toys-stuffed-to-overflowing-in-his-backpack-together-with-his-1637q8462-earphones-because-he's-been-good here at the Rostelecom. xD

....o.O (Do NOT, I repeat, do NOT click if you're a minor, or easily scandalized, or both.) I...probably wouldn't be spending that kind of money this way even if I had enough of it to burn, or even if the money isn't mine and I'm given free reign to use it however I like. Just not the way I am, I'm afraid. I love good deals too much to be willing to part with money, whether it's mine or not, for anything I don't consider as one or cannot justify going for it despite it not being one. Cos nothing gives me more personal satisfaction than scoring a good deal. If it's not one, I won't feel satisfied, no matter how much money I have at my disposal. I mean it doesn't have to be cheap, it's just gotta be good. Like if they had good deals for biz class, I might go for that instead. Life is short so when something like that comes along packaged in a good deal, and I have money for it (which I sadly don't), I'll take it with minimal hesitancy (but I can't). Good deals with biz class happen quite a lot, especially now that the airline industry, like men's FS, is hella competitive. They even give free upgrades to it sometimes, lol. My sister's gotten one before, though that happened a long time ago. Sorry for the OT!

It's the Oly season. All eyes will be on the defending champ, even the ones that don't usually pay much attention to FS. If you want to boost your product sales and happen to be one of the very few brands lucky enough to have his endorsement, no matter how limited the capacity, now's the perfect time to do it. You'd be crazy not to.

Assuming I'm interpreting that emoticon correctly, have faith. The guy has done more than enough to deserve that from us. But being skeptical's good, too, I suppose. Cos then you'd get to watch the defiant part of him prove you wrong. >:o) I'm in the faith camp myself but I sometimes can't help but feel doubt myself, too, though I tamp it down really hard when it starts to rear is ugly head and turn it into fervent hope instead. Either way, anxiety ensues so I guess what you're feeling is natural. If I misinterpreted your meaning behind that emoji, I'm sorry.

Yep. So you shouldn't feel the way you still do about that silver. Not anymore. If your friends ask, tell them it's a silver that catalyzes great things in the future. In fact, even if they don't, you should tell them anyway.

Aw...you were there when it happened? I guess that's why you're more averse to this silver than any other silvers he's gotten since becoming #1. But without this experience, he wouldn't have become wiser to the importance of maintaining his health like he is now. He listens better now when people give him advice as to how to keep himself healthy and not just think that willpower can overcome everything, even physical distress. He's learned there needs to be a balance and his body is not to be abused, a feat that's best achieved by precaution. That experience is the one that ultimately led him to that turning point so even if it's a painful time as it was happening, it is the future now and looking back on it in hindsight, it was probably something he needed to go through to get to where he ultimately wants to be. If I were there for myself, looking back on it, I'd be glad that I was now. That said, just like his kuyashii OGM, that WC silver actually has a lot of meaning behind it. More so than the gold would have been, I feel. It's a silver unlike any silver, or gold, he's ever gotten. P/s: My phone's meddling turned "kuyashii" into "pistachio" so for a moment, Hanyu had a pistachio OGM.

^Yesh! This is it! Thank you!

Hi there again! Could anybody point me in the direction where I can find that Milan 2018 promo video that was released recently? It was posted in the general thread, I think, but I neglected to bookmark it when I could and now I can't find it again. I also tried looking around the internet but had no luck and the one on the official website is a much shorter, different one altogether.

^Oh hey this is that special gala thingy they do after Japan Nationals in the Olympic season, isn't it? So I'm guessing participation is dependent on the results? And of course, on invitation.

^I'm not sure it was supposed to be an interview in the first place, though. It's supposed to be a talk of some sort, and these things usually have a host who does more than ask questions and a stronger focus on the guest (who's expected to speak more). I don't think this one has a host who's supposed to guide the conversation and while they're both guests, I think the central focus is still him, because I get the impression that the whole Chopin thingy is set up to accentuate his SP and give him as well as the audience more insight into it musically while at the same time also give Matsuda some exposure. Tho yes, it's pretty evident that he's filling most of the chatter space here, which I'm guessing is because he was nervous. They both were. And they were each showing it in their own unique ways. (:

Is this program Hodo Stn? Has Ichiro Furutachi retired???? Anywho, here's a rush-job translation of Matsuoka's latest interview with him. I'm not used to churning out things like this quickly so the work is rather...shoddy...at best. Still, the gist should be intact. ^^ Will probably be editing it from time to time until I'm happy with it. Anyway, here's the guy dishing out a large serving of awe. As usual. There's also a summarized version by @kaerb here. And I dunno about you all but I'm really getting some full-blown War Boy!Witness Me vibes from the dude. >.< 2017/10/16 TV Asahi Interview w/S. Matsuoka Video credit belongs to YzRIKO

Oh! I'm thinking of starting a thread where people here can post their wishes for him, like what the Japanese do at shrines. When I do, please post these wishes there as well!!! (Or you could start it, too, I don't mind! ^___^)

@kaerb Lol, I don't actually know how accurate a couple of the parts are in mine, truth be told. I usually like to take a few days to mull it over and make tweaks as things start to click in my head better. But I think you've basically covered the gist. ^____^ I'll post mine in a bit. =)

@kaerb Oh! I see you've done your thing. I actually just did a full translation, thinking it might help, and was about post it but I guess it could wait a few hours. =) Or longer, if someone else posts a full translation first. Great work, btw! ^_^ Anyone know how to save drafts? Cos I've got it all formatted and such and I really don't want to have to do it all over...

I'm not sure if anyone has noticed, but the narrator's the same guy who voices the protagonist. There's apparently going to be a photo exhibition of sorts featuring Hanyu to commemorate the product's 20th anniversary where people can take selfies with the guy. Whether it's with the guy himself or just the exhibited photos of him remains unclear. (Those pictures we see are the ones printed on the clear folders they're giving away as part of the campaign, I think, or they could be the photos on exhibit themselved.)