Beatrice

@Yuzu_legend OMG, this is an absolutely beautiful and stunning review of GIFT - a gift in and of itself Thank you so much for taking the time to write such an extensive and evocative narrative, making me feel as if I was there with you in the Dome

Thank you so much for these beautiful videos Will you continue the series ? We'd be happy to see another video of yours I'm very glad to hear this

You're welcome, and thank you You're welcome, and thank you The ending of the anime is, in fact, a bit sad and left me in quite a melancholic state But now I have "One Summer's Day" constantly playing in my head - day and night - accompanied by visions of Yuzu's arabesque spiral ..... it's alright !

I had already eulogised about my top-fav, best-of-the-best, most breath-taking, mind-blowing and spectacular moment: *F*I*R*E*B*I*R*D* !!!!! But of course there were further highlight moments which I continue to re-watch several times a day - one of those is: Spirited Away / One Summer's Day The beautiful extended arabesque spiral !!! I don't remember ever seeing it in any other program in the past years. (If any of the satellites know better, then please tell.) My daughter (a big manga and anime fan) supplied me with basic infos on Spirited Away and she enlightened me that Yuzu represented Chihiro's friend Haku, the boy who turned out to be the flying White Dragon and actually the Spirit of the Kohaku River, who had saved Chihiro from drowning in the river several years before. Today, I watched the anime on Netflix and found further confirmation for this: - At their first encounter, the boy Haku says to Chihiro: "Daijōbu" (大丈夫) i.e. "It's alright" (Don't worry/You're safe) - the same word that Yuzu says in his first monologue right before the first notes of FIREBIRD. - Yuzu's white costume, with the long strips of cloth and the ruffles along the spine, is reminiscent of the slender White Dragon and his long white ribbon-like whiskers and the fur-line on his back. - And the arabesque spiral looks like 'flying' on the ice (flooded in blue light) and thus might also be an allusion to the white dragon flying over the blue water. In my mind, I think of this new program as "Haku the White Spirit" or "White Dragon Spirit". As an aside: In the anime, the boy Haku's tunic is very much reminiscent of Yuzu's SEIMEI tunic, the only difference being its simplicity, i.e. plain cloth without any embellishments. I wonder: If Yuzu liked this anime so much in years past (which I think we may safely assume), maybe he also took inspiration from this for his Seimei costume, and not only from Onmyōji.

As others have already written before me and more eloquently: GIFT was absolutely gorgeous ! I'd still like to add some thoughts of mine. - What I liked ? --- the list would burst the boundaries of the thread ! - What I liked best ? --- that list would still be too long for a single post. - What is my top-fav, best-of-the-best, most breath-taking, mind-blowing and spectacular moment ? Well, that's easy and short to answer : *F*I*R*E*B*I*R*D* !!!!! I have watched that intro innumerable times --- and still, on every new re-viewing, every time Yuzu bursts onto the ice and wields his wings and does the Ina Bauer, and all this to that majestic music (*) - my heart rate goes through the roof, shivers are running up and down my spine and I get goosebumps from head to toe from sheer rapture !!! It is utterly and undescribably glorious ! I think he could not have chosen a more impressive entrée or a more apposite metaphor. According to mythology, folklore and legends , the Firebird is not the same as the Phoenix ! (I quote/ paraphrase from Wikipedia) --- The Phoenix is an immortal bird that cyclically regenerates or is otherwise born again. Associated with the sun, a phoenix obtains new life by rising from the ashes of its predecessor. Some legends say it dies in a show of flames and combustion, others that it simply dies and decomposes before being born again. --- The Firebird is a magical and prophetic glowing or burning bird which is both a blessing and a harbinger of doom to its captor. The Firebird is described as a large and beautiful bird with majestic plumage that glows brightly, emitting red, orange and yellow light, like a bonfire that is just past the turbulent flame. The feathers do not cease glowing if removed, and one feather can light a large room if not concealed. My thoughts on the metaphor : Yuzu is like the Firebird who has magical powers - he mesmerizes all who get a glimpse of him and his magical artistry; he is beautiful, majestic and 'glows brightly' ; everybody wants him or at least a feather (a part of him) which can illuminate a room/one's life; he is a blessing to have in our lives. But those who try to 'capture' him, to tie him down and enchain him, to constrain and cage him up, to divest him of his glowing feathers (his art and talents), those are 'doomed' (deprived) in one way or another. ------------- (*) I love fanfares and 'bombastic' orchestration, it really does give me goosebumps - e.g. the imperial march in Puccini's Turandot; the finale of the orchestral Pictures at an Exhibition -The Great Gate at Kiev by Mussorgsky/Ravel; 'full-pipe' organ music with 'all stops pulled out' , preferably Baroque; the title score of movies like Gone with the Wind, Rio Grande, The Big Country, Little Women, Silverado, movie scores by John Williams --- and so on.)

Still haven't processed all my impressions from the show, it was so overwhelmingly beautiful - I'm 'a bit' (read: quite a lot) sleep-deprived like many of us, I suppose, all for the same wonderful reason: watching GIFT over and over again For now, just another thought on the HUGE HANDS: Those HH look almost exactly like the position of Yuzu's hands in the final pose of Firebird (when he spread his wings and his arms are horizontal) and also in the first seconds of Rondo. There are probably many more possible interpretations of those HH - unless Yuzu reveals what his thoughts were on this, we might never know which one is 'correct' - maybe all of them; perhaps it's intended that everyone should interpret it according to their own thoughts and impressions.

I hope you got the problem solved in the meantime and that you were able to watch GIFT

I hope your daughter is out of the hospital, and completely well again

My thoughts exactly I very much hope there will be a DVD someday ... When I was watching "SharePractice" in the summer, the part where Yuzu was 'singing his heart out' to Boku no koto on the ice , I was absolutely sure that someday we WILL see a program to that song ----- and here it is ! And what a superb program ! (I'm delphic ) That's exactly what I thought at one point - from a certain angle it looked like the hand (especially the one on the left above the symphonic orchestra) has just opened the lid of a gift box. Of course, this also could be an apt and relevant interpretation

I got a TICKET !!! YAYYY !!!!! The Fanyus here on the Planet are the best and loveliest people ! I got several offers of help in acquiring a ticket (because I haven't got a credit card) - and by taking up one of them I finally achieved admittance into the privileged party of the globally GIFTed. Thank you, Planet Fanyus ! I'm eagerly (and anxiously) looking forward to the stream, keeping my fingers firmly crossed for a smooth gliding.

Welcome to this lovely place !

Alas, I don't have an online bank app (I'm old and old-fashioned) so I would have to wait until Monday to clarify this with the bank. If all else fails (i.e. a tiny hope that perhaps my daughter's bank card will work), then this would be a last-minute option, hoping that the archive viewing will indeed be possible until March 1st.

Thanks for the tip - I do of course have a debit card for my bank account and it seems it is a "maestro" card, at least that's printed on the front. (I seem so inept and dumb! But I never had to use a credit card so far, I pay my online purchases either via Paypal - e.g. the membership on Yuzu's YT-channel - or per invoice.) Well, I performed all necessary preliminary steps on KKTIX, but when I entered the card number, it says "Incomplete number" and also there's no three-digit validation number on the back of my card - so it seems mine is not a real Mastercard after all

HELP !!! I'm in a similar situation - I don't have a credit card (nor anyone in my family) - I was hoping that Paypal would be a payment option. I would be sooooo grateful for any help - and of course, like Henni said above: I will transfer the ticket price to you directly (with extra 10% gratuity for your efforts). _______________________________________________________________________________ Edit (25.Feb, late evening): Meanwhile, the problem got solved, thanks to the help of lovely fanyus

OH NOOOOOOO !!!!! HELP !!!!! I don't have a credit card, nor anyone in my family !!!! I was hoping that Paypal would be a payment option. Does anyone have a suggestion for me ? What can I do ? I'm devastated !!!! I'm really crying my eyes out atm

I have full sympathy for your 'competition vibe nerves' - I suppose I will feel sth very similar when watching GIFT for the first time. Although I'm not so very sure that I will be able to watch it live, and that's 1) because of the time difference: I'd have to get up very early (for my circumstances) and get ready and prepared for uninterrupted viewing (how long - 90 minutes? 2 hours?); and 2) because of familial obligations. Most probably I will (have to) watch it from the Globecoding archive later, where I can pause and restart the stream at leisure, if needs must. As regards live chat - I would REALLY love that! But (first and) last time I participated (it was SharePractice, iirc), I realized that I am not 'Napoleon', i.e. can't do multitasking - either I concentrate on the stream and miss out on replying timely to a chat-comment, or I do exert myself to read and reply in a timely manner, but then I miss parts of the stream. So, with regret, I will have to give up the live chat, even if I do live viewing. I very much hope that I'll be able to get a ticket (my daughter will have to help me or rather do that for me, coz I'm an absolute novice with purchasing anything online), and that Globecoding will fulfil the promise of 'infinite' viewings from the archive in the ticketing time frame When any of my fellow German fanyus have managed to buy a ticket, I would appreciate a short notice here with some details on payment options etc. - thanks in advance

I simply must quote this here too - Anni posted the following in another topic (Prologue 2022 in Hachinohe) : I can't stop watching this on endless loop ... over and over again ... with a huge smile fixed on my face ! He's sooooo cuuuuute !!!

I can't stop re-watching this over and over again !!! He's sooooo cuuuuute !!!

In this past week, I went each and every day to the Disney.plus website in Germany (Help center - Give Feedback - https://help.disneyplus.com/csp ) and requested the "Yuzuru Hanyu ICE STORY 2023 GIFT at Tokyo Dome" to be streamed in Germany. I will continue to do so in the upcoming weeks ... perhaps it will have an effect

Thank you for sharing so generously with us these precious memories of emotional, impressive, as well as funny moments; the photos, the video-links ... It's always a great pleasure and joy to read your reminiscences

***************************************************** Happy and healthy New Year to Planet Hanyu and its prime inhabitant Yuzu and to all Satellites and Fanyus ! *****************************************************

Hallo liebe Landsleute, ich wünsche Euch allen frohe und friedliche Weihnachten und ein gesundes und glückliches Neues Jahr ! Bea (aus Regensburg)

What does he say ? Could someone translate, please ?

Ahem ... toddler fanyu question: What does "#YOLO3A" mean ?

My thoughts exactly as you've said -------------------------------------------------- ETA: Why does it have to be a struggle ? We are not compelled to choose, it is not mutually exclusive. Of course we are eagerly looking forward to and happy to eventually see new programs, but at the same time we can continue to rewatch cherished programs in 'old' videos. I would not give that up. So, for me, this 'problem' is not a struggle at all