makebelieveup

Its just amazing how long of a career Yuzu has had. People can say he isnt dominant all they want because he did lose a couple world titles and other major or small competitions throughout his career, but if we look at it from a grand scheme of thing such as worlds standing and seasons end (which I dont believe speaks entirely to someone's performance but is a relatively objective way to show consistency of performance) you could see he has been on top for so long. 5 times being number 1 and about 4 other times being 2nd or 3rd. As long as he is consistent again this coming season he will stay on top. There are so many skaters who were dominant for one or two seasons (some more given than earned) but after that they just could not sustain their career. And by that I mean they cant even get a chance to make it to gpf or worlds. While with Yuzu, even when he lost a competition, you cant ever count him out for the possibility to medal and not just medal but win. He is either a defender or a perfect challenger. And even in those seasons where he did not win worlds or he wasnt #1 for seasons end or worlds standing, we know its due to a numerous of external factors (judging, injuries, lack of competition, sickness) so it means that if he is in perfect condition and given the right scores, he would have been undefeatable. But even when all of this happened, he was still able to break the most records in almost any major categories (scores, standings, ranking). And with every bad season, it still ended with some sort of silver lining (world records, more and better quads, super slam) that we just cant say Hanyu is over. and yeah sorry Yuzu I know it will sound frustrating to you because your standards are so much higher for yourself but you'll be a legend to me no matter what you think about yourself

For some reason when I click on this it says he hold record for 5 consecutive seasons end ranking, which is not true. He has 5 consecutive world standings and 4 non consecutive seasons end (if ISU decides 4cc is really the last comp for 19/20 season). The wiki seems to be updated incorrectly. Not that it makes a difference that he holds both records though.

Could it be that he was referring to the 4A Yuzu tried at GPF? I mean a lot of people have said they seen him doing it in practice, Plushenko, Shae, PJ Kwong, Brian also confirmed it. I'm sure he could already rotate them in practice, the GPF was close to being fully rotated. However, I'm skeptical about whether anyone saw a landed one. I'm taking Yuzu's words that he could fully rotate them at this point but still hasn't landed it or at least landed it stable enough to put it in a competition.

nah I was just campaigning for Oly Chopin, nothing against 4cc

omgoshh nooo so close. for the first time im actually gonna be upset seeing yuzu catching up against yuzu lol please vote for Olympic Chopin! come on guys the ina bauer was extended longer at PC. and rippon 3T! every single jump and spin was right on the musical note! the only reason it wasnt a record breaking perf was bc Nathan still had to skate so judges had reservation with Yuzu's score. They even took down his spin level. Otherwise, to me theres nothing less perfect about Olympic PC than 4cc. you could say the 4T was a tad low on the landing but he came back with a rippon 3t. The step sequence was in my opinion better performed.

I really dislike the neon green seimei color. it was very odd looking against his skin and made his face appear somewhat bloodless. Olympic seimei remains superior

nooooo! should i give Romeo a vote?

phew this one was easy for me. nothing tops PC Chopin and that sexy ina bauer

Last night I literally bingewatched rj 1.0 and it brought me to tears. Urgh this is so hard. one is the beginning of glory and one is THE glory

We already know this but good to see it shown on video. Yuzu just shot up out of nowhere in since 2011/2012 lol Praying that Yuzu will have a good season next season to reclaim his world standing. This season he has a good cushion against Nathan and Shoma going into next season.

I think one of the reasons why he changed so much was due to a lot of external factors that happened. 1) Injury - I think if he hadnt injured at Cor18 he would have stuck to the original layout and maybe would only replace 4loop with a 4a when ready. I think even if he said he wanted to do a 4a, he was more careful with not risk losing. He stopped practicing it when his 3a got affected. So I feel like he thought if he could do his layout perfectly even with 4loop and 4sal he could win. But he got injured and only skated half of the season and had to change his layout at cor18. 2) another external factor was losing to Nathan at worlds. I think after seeing where him and Nathan stood at saitama, he realized he cant just win with 4loop and 4sal and needed to be certain he could win even if everyone skated clean. So he decided to change the layout again with the goal of incorporating higher base value elements like 3lz instead of 3loop and 4t3f instead of 4t3a so he could do 3a twice. He also wanted to eventually do 4lz and 4a. but I honestly think he would have done the same layout he did at Skate Canada if he wasnt trailing by 13 points again to Nathan after the sp at gpf. Because he didnt want to repeat what happened at Worlds, he went for the most optimal layout he could do realistically and went for that monster layout. so to me, I think the reason he changes so much for the last two seasons was because he couldnt have skated a full season in 18/19 and the judging forced him to use those recovery layouts. I think back then he had a bunch of recovery layouts too but its just he didnt need to use them. He just had to skate his planned layout clean to recover. Even if he came from behind, a clean free would have been enough to win. He could afford mistakes. Now its more like, what layout I could do to win if Nathan and me both go clean and what layout I could do if I came from behind.

I know he'd never use these musics but i would love to see him skate to Kings of the past, Remember Who you are, and King of Pride Rock. Its so fitting to his situation right now. Like he is a king but due to lies he forgot that he is, but in the end he return to take back what is his. (lol but then i remember how Liona King is a plagiarism of Kimba and im like nvm)

well said and i totally agree that he should start with a final form since he has a pattern of growing into his programs. If he is going to grow into it, I think planting a watered down jump where he planned a higher element would be another option. For example, like Rika planted a 3S in the beginning in place of her intended 4s. I think Yuzu has a better shot at skating clean with the short for the past few seasons aside from LGC, which was due to the upgrade elements. And when he messed up with chopin, usually it was due to the upgrade of the 4loop. I remember in his interview with Nomura Mansai he also mentioned he needed to feel the music to jump, which was why it was easy for PW and difficult with Chopin at first when he had to jump during a more soft music knowing people know the jump is coming. So I really agree it comes down to certain factors like timing of the music and a layout thats comfortable to him. In terms of layout, theres a lot to consider. I think at this point theres no going back to PW one quad layout. From a success rate perspective, it would be 4S 4t3t and 3a*. But from point perspective, its 4S 3A 4t3t* to get that 10% bonus. This layout is still pretty successful. He's been doing it a number of seasons and most of the time he succeeded. The problem is usually with the 4S pop so its not to blame the 2nd half combo. When he has trouble with the combo, usually its due to Otonal music timing. I think the music of Otonal is also very difficult by making him squeeze all the jumps in the beginning to fit the music while optimizing the scores. It took someone as good as Yuzu to make it work but even so he kept missing the combo last season. So if hes going to go with the combo in the second half, the music must allow him breathing room and patience going into those jumps. He needs that 10% to compete with Nathan if Nathan is clean..Who knows what monster score a clean Nathan gets with a 4lz short next season. Im betting 114 to 115. From a gamble perspective, its going to be a 4loop or 4lz upgrade, which Id be excited for. With Yuzu, its unpredictable what he would do. I think with the sp, he gambles less. But if he wants to go all out again then I suggest him getting real comfortable from the beginning, even at ice shows. Do full layout runthroughs. But the reward would be certain of a world record if hes clean. Alot of time, judges give higher GOE on a higher element thats done okay than a lower element thats done well. Alot of times judges also give higher GOE to skaters who are known to execute that element more often. Yes yes I understand its mostly due to passport but all else equal, this is usually the case. So doing more 4lz or 4loop will help his GOE over time. One of the reasons Nathan has higher GOE on the 4lz aside from his inflation reason is because he has been landing it consistently. That "gives" judges a reason. If Yuzu begins to do 4lz more consistently, he will take away that reason. But the opposite could also happen, which is if he keeps falling his goe will be like Boyang's. But to me I think risking it with 4lz makes more sense than 4loop at this point. Even if he fails he gets higher score and i see it as a practice for the free. But honestly I still think next season he would stay with his trusty 4S for the short and that would be totally understandable with the upgrade he's aiming for in the free. But the thing is if he is aiming for 5 quads with the free, will he be doing 4a 4lz or 4lz 4loop. if he is going to do 4a in the free, honestly like just cut down most of the in between. Im just so scared at the thought of him panting in blue lips like how he did at gpf.

urgh just rewatched seimei olympic again and boy that program is so legendary i cant! and the comment section is such a blessing to read. urgh at this point he should skate to history maker and itd be so fitting

Yeah feels like Yuzu will do Yuzu anyway but id also want him to go back to a fun short. I think that usually works for him. something like PW or LGC. I also want to see choreo/energy from Seimei or RJ 1.0 for his free. something fierce and dynamic is usually my favorite kind of free. but then with the upgrade he has at this point, having a 5 quad clean layout with all the in betweens a seimei or rj 1.0 has would be suicidal. so i think its more strategic to go with more judge friendly free. id also like him to go back to 3 quad layout and skate clean at the CS then build up from there. want to see what they would give him now compared to seimei15. he got 219 with 3 clean quads but i doubt he would get anywhere near that now with 3 quad layout.

Next season is pre olympic season, what do you guys think would be a good strategy for yuzu? Layout, program wise, or simply what are we all hoping to see? discuss!!! p.s. ive been rewatching his past competitions and i find a small pattern. do you guys feel like he usually performs his two programs cleanest around gps and gpf but he usually skates the free skate clean around worlds (2012, 2014, 2017, 2019). its not always true bc there are occasions he bombed the free at worlds or scored total score higher at gps or worlds in the season. the most obvious pattern is how he usually does well in one and then bombs the other or he came back in the free. well in the last two seasons even when he didnt manage to win with the free but he did in a sense still come back to medal. but whenever he skates generally clean in both and win, usually it happened at gpf (2013, 2014, 2015). I wonder when he usually peaks in the season.

I really love otonal in seimei and also seimei in romeo and juliet. Oh and one of my faves was LGC in Chopin. I really enjoy these encores because we could see how his step sequences look in full force mode. when he was competing sometimes he had to reserve energy so its a lot more control, which is actually perfect per se. but seeing it without any reservation is really fun and exciting

I cant believe here we are going into the third season post PC. Sometimes my eyes watered at the thought of being able to witness his journey. How many fans are able to go through this many full seasons with their favorite skaters? I know his road has always been difficult and we cant say for sure he will make it to Beijing but just knowing he decides to continue makes me feel so grateful and excited.

In terms of costumes, my favorites are Lets get crazy, Seimei PC, Chopin 3.0, Origin 1.0, POTO 2.0 and Swanyu. Were any of these not designed by Satomi?

yeah true but im sure we're also choosing the program here based on our impression of the best program in our mind. so we're just pitting the winner here with the winner among the chopins. But thats just my question since chopin wasnt included in this bracket. im sure it would have made the finals if it had

wait so is the winner in the final bracket will compete with chopin?

admin, can we ban admin here?

will the scores next season reflect it?

But they didn't call it a super slam because they know someone else cant ever achieve this

Since 10 is the standard I would just use Yuzu as the standard for 10. I mean sure we could say he's beyond that but then that would also be tougher to scale since different people will give him a different number and would scale differently from that standard. So Id go with 2.