Murieleirum

It's healing! It's healing! Ring the bells! I am so happy September 20 huh? it's actually... pretty soon!

LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT. I can already imagine Yuzuru doing unthinkable difficult entries and exits and perfect elements, amidst the most peaceful and relaxing performance ever. The amazing thing about his skating is how easily and effortlessly he does things, right? he would be one of the few to be able to pull this off.

Although it is a little thing compared to the pain of the loss, the skating community is really showing how close and how intimate and how much respect everyone feels towards everyone else. They are a big family and I can't imagine the shock they must be going through. With this kind of network, I hope everyone will feel the support and strenght to carry on. These are the moments that everyone needs to get closer to one another. As for myself, I find it hard to come to terms with the stupidity and absurdity of the incident, and I am not even one of those people who feel comforted by things like punishments or sentences. It's just sad that such a precious thing as human life can be lost over literally nothing.

I've been thinking lately MJ and Queens. There are so many Queens hits I see fitting for Yuzuru... and he would interpret so well! Maybe some of them are too warhorses though? (For example, Machida having skated to a medley of them...) This is so beautiful I actually don't see this fit for Yuzu so much, maybe with another skater... (uh, I wonder if Nathan will ever be given this type of delicate music to skate to... it would really help him to work on his IN!)

What the fuck. This is terrible. He was too young. Five months ago he competed at the Olympics... this is a huge loss for the skating world. I feel a little shocked.

They didn't quote anyone directly. They first used an old quote from post-Olympics, if I'm not mistaken, which is this: "嫌われたくないって思うし、いろんなことをしゃべるほど嫌われるし、書かれるし、うそみたいな記事も出てくるんだろうなって思います" (Which is the quote about people saying things about him, writing things about him that sometimes are lies, bad translation but it was already previously translated sorry haha) And then they added 最近では、プライベートな時間や空間にいても、写真を撮られてしまうことを気に病んでいるとも聞く。 Which to me sounds like "We heard that", but saying no names like this makes it suspicious. Like the usual unconfirmed tabloid stuff.

Yes, I just became jealous for a little that most skaters have SNS, so they can communicate with fans from time to time xD

Wow... a fan asks the skater directly and the skater replies... what kind of weird world is this...

I am obviously a bad Fanyu as well. I didn't know he was so loud during his Gold-invoking moments, it's amazing xDDD

That was not the original version tho so to me it doesn't count

If I were you, I'd already be preparing the paperwork

I haven't heard Danse Macabre once this year or the past one. Danse Macabre is very welcome and, in fact, I would DIE if Yuzu skated to that. (I think he would do wonders in unleashing the 'scary, wild' side of his skating, much like Yuna did at her shot with that music! She was superb). Yes, but now watch Shoma interpret his FS same way as his SP, although them being two entirely different pieces of music. Just watch him. And just watch commentators and judges NOT notice it. Ah, I can't wait... For real though, how's it like to follow a normal skater? It must be so chill.

Eeeeeeeeeeeh macarena (I can't wait)

I am a bit late to the discussion (I don't have one breathing minute these days) but I think we should be safe in stating that Yuzuru has never been substantially overscored. This is because the few (few) cases in which some of his elements (and not the overall performance, imo) were given a generous GOE (I can only think of the +1 GOE 4Lutz in Cup of Russia - which is a special element, though, because it was his first time trying that, because it was a 4Lutz, and because that save was so glorious, and the flight time was so long, I really don't see why it should not receive positive GOE. It was overall beautiful and excellent in execution) are strongly balanced by the vast number of times his PCS weren't as rewarded as they should have been. I am talking pre-2015-2016 season, and especially pre-Sochi. His Skating Skills were already on par with the greatest skaters around that time (Chan, Takahashi), but since he was young and without a reputation and without backing, this fact was not recognized. There was always substantial criticism to the same things: not enough stamina, fragile-looking, posture, lack of depth of interpretation (this last one being highly debatable), and these things weighted down on his PCS. Was this fair? Probably yes, but if you then compare his situation to the situation of other skaters at that time, and other skaters at modern times... then you see that the story is different. Then you see that Yuzuru is one of the few skaters treated 'fairly' whereas most big, acclaimed skaters have always been backed, and pretty hard. And the last two years, we've seen younger skaters being rewarded for things that were not on ice - for example, Uno and Chen receiving +44 in PCS for their SP. At their level of experience (during Sochi season, for example), Yuzuru still received scores like 76, 79 PCS for his Free Program. When have we ever seen PCS like that for Chen, for Uno? We've seen them for Boyang, maybe, whom definitely lacks the SS that Yuzuru had during Sochi year. Basically, Yuzuru was told to stay humble and that he had to give his 200% to be on par with the top skaters - even when, in reality, he already most of the skill and the talent to be considered equal. Whereas now, the youngsters are told that they already are on par with the top, complete skaters... even when, in reality, they still have a lot to learn on many levels.

Can I please make a request? Do we already have all of the Haru yo koi's versions published one after the other? I would love to watch them cronologically, but I am a bit confused as to how many are available and how many are yet to come. I think I've seen 3 versions so far.

This... is not a good idea. *walks out*

This. I would ask it more completely: why do the new rules NOT put emphasis on the importance of Transitions in and out of jumps, especially Transitions before quads, which are harder to integrate smoothly into a program (but it's possible to do so, because we've had plenty of examples from top athletes), when the whole purpose of the change of rules, they said, was putting emphasis on the quality of the elements, instead of the quantity? The quality of a jump depends very much on the ability of the skater to integrate such jump into the choreography, because a well-integrated jump can be unexpected, creative, and can participte in the artistic flow of the program, whereas a jump with a long preparation, with no steps and turns, with no transitions before or after it, interrupts the flow of the program. If they think that steps should not be required before a quad because too few skaters can perform them, or too few judges can pay attention to them, then there is a problem. Because sports rules should push the sport forward, not backwards. We've had beautiful examples of jumps and even quads perfectly integrated in the choreography of a program, especially in the SP, so we know it's possible. It just requires more effort, more quality, from the skaters. But, again, more quality is exactly what this new set of rules was said to demand. In final analisis, there are skaters who put effort into integrating the difficult jumps within the choreography, and skaters who don't bother at all and skate around the whole rink for even 10 seconds to prepare for the jump, dropping the choreography almost completely. The difference between these two type of jumps should be highlighted and not brushed off, because if ISU and the judges know anything about Skating Skills, performing a jump (especially a quad) from steps and turns is many many times harder than performing a jump from long preparations.

:c Well it is the 10th of July... but a tiny part of me still hopes

"We do whatever Yuzu asks us to"... You discovered the secret behind using Yuzu for ads, Scott... everybody does what Yuzuru asks them to.

Do you have the video of this by chance? c: I love Russian commentary...

So serious season preparations start from now... ehhh. Wake me up when September starts.

If it's the music I think it is, it's going to be tear-worthy!!

It's just that I think Max (and Angelo) want to work in their own field, sports analysts and commentators - and getting involved in the whole ISU shenanigans would be too much. I think that the skaters who are retiring today and are turning pro, or the skaters retiring from pro, should do all within their power to gain grounds within the ISU and put their foot down regarding what they love about FS and what cannot and should not change. I am honestly surprised that so little athletes and coaches protest these things. There should be a massive protest as far as I'm concerned. I understand if skaters want to focus on following the rules and winning by being the best sportsmen - I believe Yuzuru's style of skating has been a sort of protest all along - since he is the only one (in the Men's field) consistently putting transitions in and out, putting quality in executing the elements and quality in all things skating above all - representing the theory that 'everything in skating is art - not just crossovers, not just jumps, not just flailing arms - everything must be thought of as art'. But then again, although we know that the whole skating community recognizes his idea of skating as a winning one, as the most respectful one in regards to everything FS - I don't hear everyone voicing out this feeling, and I don't hear enough people calling bullshit on the ISU. For me, it's absurd, and I know it's easy to say, but if it were me, I would risk my face if it meant fighting intellectually ISU with all my power. That's what I did every time I didn't agree on a rule imposed from above - gotten into trouble - but sometimes changes did happen. Sorry, these words must sound overly self-righteous and utopistic. I guess this is how I see things.

Awww, now I want to see Yuzuru dressed up as a Shinto deity... not sure if Amaterasu, with all that hair, would be the best choice, but after all, he is the sun...