Sombreuil

This is interesting- possibly/probably overthinking but interesting- he does think forward after all.. This post has been tagged by yuzuangel as [NEWS].

This is a real phenomenon- I have the first dvd and a calendar from 2017 that is still on my kitchen wall that one of my children bought me, but I do suddenly have this impulse to go on the internet and buy….a doll….or yuzu Pooh….or something. I’m not sure hanyuconomy is a strong enough word for this… compulsion.

Tend to be prerecorded segments, bonus is that there is often quite lengthy behind the scenes footage which emerges sometimes during the transmission sometimes later.

Bringing this up again - Shizuka is incredible

No doubt reading from the script……Hanratty - can’t bear to listen tbh.

Perhaps Kaori - I imagine her lively personality could sell stuff.

IIRC the previous skater used by Lotte was Mao Asada - it just seems to be the way they operate.

John Wilson going all out on the details…. This post has been tagged by yuzuangel as [NEWS].

IIRC in the past the 24H programme is usually recorded not live?

The rink looks great with the blue lights

I’m just catching up with translations of the event - thank you so, so much to all those who do this for us 💐💐💐💐💐💐💐💐💐💐💐💐💐 He seems so happy to be at home in Sendai, working at his old rink and presumably living a more normal life outside skating (which I’m sure takes up a large proportion of his daily life). He’s using the Japanese order for his name rather than the western one that tends to be used in the majority of competitions and western media. He’s employing the working rink with no seating and no special provision for the press etc to emphasise the grinding hours of work behind the glamour of performance, and the athletic ability needed to do all this. He’s asserting himself, politely but firmly - it’s great! Not surprising that he’s driving this himself - he’s always been a techie, interested in the sound engineers and photographers equipment on interviews and photoshoots. I hope he gets some staff to help him so that he gets some time to himself but I suspect he will be extremely careful selecting them, and rightly so - better to go slowly and get the right team than hurry and possibly store up trouble for the future. It is totally in line with the way he didn’t sign up to an agency like most of the others but stayed in control of his own business, outside what had to be conceded to JSF, before he turned pro. I don’t think many current skaters could withstand the scrutiny of the camera following them round the rink like this- he seems to relish it, unsurprisingly since he has nothing to hide and treats mistakes as learning experiences rather than cracks to be papered over. I really hope he continues to enjoy it. I found the background piano oddly nostalgic and only pinned down why on my umpteenth viewing of the first two videos - it reminded me of the pianists who used to play for ballet lessons when my daughter was a little girl and, back in the Stone Age, when I was 6 or 7 myself. In my day it was the teacher’s elderly grumpy mother thumping away, in my daughters case a surly teenager from one of the older groups, presumably earning a bit of extra money churning out tunes to dance to. This doesn’t have the sense of boredom that those ladies used to exude but it has that uniform ‘background piano’ feel to it.

That’s what happens when you haven’t sold your soul to US tv- you work at a time that suits the locals not east coast America

Ok going back to sleep now- glad they’re saving the stream so we can watch later when properly awake

Same thing as happened to not caring about competition afterPC

I think they all warmup for a long time before skating- all those times the cameras switch from the arena with the early rounds between skates to the later ones warming up behind the scenes.

I can’t believe I’m awake …..

I absolutely love the header and logo - perfect concept and the trademark pale blue. We asked for on ice footage and we’re getting it - I’m enjoying the apparent spontaneity of it, the empty Sendai rink, the plain-ish jacket ( is that Chacott branding on it? he’s worn their stuff for ages) though I’m sure a lot of thought and planning has gone into it. I like the idea of the empty small rink for these YouTube practices. I’m sure there will be big rinks and audiences eventually, but it’s important to remember that an athlete spends the vast majority of their time slogging through the training that leads to the eventual few minutes of performance, and I think this low key no razzmatazz opening is a perfect way to underline the fact he’s training as hard as ever, still an athlete not an entertainer, and it takes a lot of work to maintain that - he’s just doing it now for himself and the people who appreciate his idea of what the sport should be rather than a capricious and corrupt sports federation.

I had a thought when I woke up this morning- I hope we don’t get 1T, 1S, 1L, 1F, 1Ltz, 3A smile, bow, exit. I don’t think he’ll do that to us but I can’t help remembering 1st PC practice, and poor Machida in the studio trying to find something meaningful to say about his condition…..I think that was the last time I laughed as much as I did on Sunday.

I find all dislikes weird tbh - if I don’t like an individual I don’t look at content to do with them. If it’s someone/something I don’t know anything about and when I look at it it’s not interesting or amusing I just move on. It seems unkind to ‘dislike ‘ just because it’s not to my taste. I am well aware that there are many people out there who delight in doing so but it seems mean spirited to me when you can just not look at it .

4 am BST. Hopefully it will be an insomnia night….

This almost looks like an online media day…….

@liv I spent the morning waging war on the ivy constantly making its way into my garden from my neighbour’s wasteland - very annoying. My bad mood evaporated as soon as I picked up my iPad, realised it was genuine, and started to laugh. I’ve been smirking to myself sitting in my garden chair ever since - iconic. I don’t even care about the ivy invasion any more.

I am laughing so hard at this - it’s so typical of him. Out of the blue, 1.11 minutes of black UA against a white wall, bit of piano in the background, simple announcement that this is going to be his YouTube outlet for his work, details to follow, thank you and goodbye for now. How long will it take him to overtake ISU?

I think for me it’s been cushioned by the extensive drought brought on by covid and injuries which disrupted the previous seasonal routine. So I’ve gone from waiting for media day, ACI, GP season, scrambling to find Japanese Nationals on the internet (and I’m a total Luddite), sometimes 4CC, Olympics in those years and WC, disrupted often by illness and injuries, - to waiting for the white wall interviews and advertising campaigns while Japan simply shut down. He’s healthy, he’s not killing himself to prep for the season, he’s working on something , which is bound to be great, but probably won’t be hurried because he’s a perfectionist. Actually, thinking about that seasonal treadmill, without the sustenance of good scoring it’s not surprising he’s decided to step back and take it at his own pace.

I love the resignation in his voice when he says he’s not going to tell what the music is though ISU will eventually spill the beans. Hoping to see him in Sheffield.