Xiupia

According to some tweets from Japanese fanyus that have read Number magazine latest issue, the one where there’s an interview with Brian Orser, Yuzu DID contact his coaches about his decision before the presscon: If anyone manages to share the interview! LOL How interesting, so according to Brian, him, Tracy, probably Ghislain (and maybe his japanese coaches?) were quite aware of what was going to happen in the coming days. Very sweet of everyone involved to keep quiet about it, and the interview seems to speak highly of Yuzu‘s character as well. [NEWS]

That’s Yamakai-san, the same one who made that funny video about Yuzu’s retirement LOL (for those who don’t recognize him!). He is very much a fan of Yuzu’s hehe I really liked the video, and the effort, been waiting for someone to try Rondo’s choreo on the ground! I will spare everyone of a rambling on why this is THE short program of a decade, but the intricacy of the details of the arm and foot choreo just cemented it as my favorite sp. Thanks for sharing!

For the magazines / photobooks collectors: [NEWS]

Did people here also speculated that FaOI B tour opening costuming was “recycled”? Well, apparently! LOL The best costume FaOI pulled off (imo of course) is the amalgamation of the best of previous years~

The admissions (reservation) for the Exhibition last stop, which is in Sendai, started today at 7pm JST! Part of the sales from the merch will be directed to support those affected by natural disasters! [NEWS]

Another sponsor news: [NEWS] I think we mostly knew this, but good to have the confirmation!

Right now he isn't, that is true! Same way he said he is not going to coach or anything like that (for now). Pro circuits do not mean outright competitions in any case, and for now we should just wait for his announcements, without burdening ourselves with expectations. Excited for his future!

I think by context we should always consider he is addressing his japanese fans as a priority, so my speculation is that he is referring to the nature of their support. Supporting an athlete in competitions is quite different from supporting an “entertainer” in a show*, so he is aware that the fans who traveled overseas and made banners of support might not do the same for an ice show. Not as if they are dropping him, but because sports behavior is different from audience behavior who is there to take in a performance only. *I know Yuzu is now a “pro-athlete”, but the life in ice shows is quite different from what we are used to in the pressured comps. HOWEVER. We still don’t know if Yuzu intends to revive pro competitions, which it will be a whole other scenario, so that’s really just speculation now hehe

Reading the latest couple of pages here, I have some thoughts… it might get too long, so I apologize. Piecing together what Yuzu has been saying the last couple of weeks about how he has been considering retirement since at least 2018, I’m not sure he would telegraph his ultimate decision until the last days. He clearly has been taking one season at a time, one competition at a time, till Beijing - which was not a competition he planned for in the long term. With all honesty I was sure he was going to announce retirement right at that presscon back then (in Beijing) even if I didn’t want it - he seemed so dispirited and burdened. But he didn’t. And now in hindsight I guess he wanted to take his time to process everything properly and calmly, probably talk it out with his loved ones, and then later make a more appropriate decision. Some here said he made the decision last minute because his FaOI and post-Beijing interviews / crumbs talks showed his resolve and wanting to continue working on his skating. So there might have been something that pushed him last minute. But I don’t know. At the end it was probably a mounting of things, a new perspective being brought up while FaOI was happening, the rediscovering of his love for skating back then in the gala practice, a heart to heart with his family, watching Worlds, everything, or nothing. I also hope this does not come across wrongly, but if there is a lesson for fans in all this episode is to refrain from “reading too much”. Is inevitable that we want to make more out of his performances because he packs it with details and tells a story with them, but he clearly wants us to take them as they are presented right now. In the present. I’ve seen quite a few commentaries already about how we “missed signs”, or we should see it coming somehow, and I don’t think that’s fair to either you and Yuzu. He clearly has been taking steps settled in the present, carefully, and more importantly - keeping them to himself. Of course we would not know, he didn’t want anyone to! I commend him for keeping this between him and his very close and loved ones, with a very clear boundary he set himself between him and the public. We are privy to as much as he wants to reveal, and while we enjoy the stories he wants to tell through his art, he sets the tone and how much he wants to reveal. We can all speculate about things past, and he is very genuine, open and honest, but he very clearly set a tone where he reveals just as much as he wants and decides things for himself. Which brings me to. To offer a different perspective to the lamentations, I’m so proud of him. Honestly and truly, the more I mull over his words and everything that happened this past years, the prouder I feel. To chose to better oneself while aware of an apparent unrewarding system, to push forward despite it and cling to your dream, to mentally survive the pressure of Beijing and then catch yourself and make the best out of it. To be able to see beyond your immediate results, to consider a future while at your lowest, to still be grateful. And to make this big of a decision while your body is still sound and your love for what you do is intact? To walk away while on top because you know it will keep your heart safe and seek opportunities out of this? I’m so, so, so proud. Yuzu is leaving competition healthy, in his best condition and loving skating still. He will not break himself fighting against a system that will not reward his efforts and chasing victories that he doesn’t need. Legacy secured. My heart full. Welp, this was very long, sorry for that! All in all, we now know that NDP was a homage to David Wilson, we know some of the symbolism behind Raison, and we know he has been thinking about this for a while. Also, please let us not forget he said in his last day at FaOI he was truly happy. Tears of happiness as well. A weigh lifted, probably.

On NDP on Shizuoka last performance: Edit: Also, I remember someone asking about if Yuzu really did say he preferred performing in ice shows, and when, so I guess someone found a interview from 2013: Since young is not that he “preferred” but he always acknowledged that he could perform freely on those. On competitions he was there to win, I believe it was a mindset thing. This post has been tagged by yuzuangel as [NEWS].

I love this artist, and they made a little panel from the Shizuoka scene from yesterday hehe For the ones out of the loop, reposting (some satellites already posted it couple of pages ago)

Hey Beatrice, welcome to the forum! You probably already checked our archive, but if there's a video you feel like it would make a nice addition feel free to post it there also!