kiches

Thank you! I really didn’t realize that the choice was to devour the creature in the game while I was watching. This is super helpful.

Hey folks, still reeling a bit from last night in Saitama, can I ask if any kind international fan grabbed bits of the English translation on Beyond Live? I purchased the archive but because I was at the show I didn’t get to watch and archive doesn’t start until the 14th and I am hoping to get more of a gist of what he talked about before tonight’s show and the rescreening on Monday but there’s so much news and I am running on fumes due to excitement.

I believe Yuzu started doing only one program at FaoI summer of 2017. This is just speculation but another fan and I had talked about this once. After Sochi he won the Sochi Olympics he skated in a lot of ice shows that summer - his way of “giving back” for the support he received. As some of you know he started the following season not in his best condition having to skip Finlandia Trophy, and then of course Cup of China happened at his first competition. Then 2015 FaoI he was still doing 2 programs but 2015/2016 season he suffered a lisfranc ligament injury and had to sit out FaoI and we didn’t see him after Worlds until Media Day in Septembe (which usually happened around August). Any way, our speculation was that after seasons with injury and suboptimal season starting condition Yuzu started doing only one program per show in 2017, and it was the summer before Olympic season which is important for all skaters to make sure they remain healthy. He’s Olympic champ so he probably has some sway with Makabe given how much of the show rides on him (they operated with loss in 2016 when he had to skip). Back in the day FaoI sometimes even did 2 shows in a single day which is pretty tough for any skater. The only other skater this half of the tour that didn’t skate 2 programs (that I noticed) was Kaori. I haven’t finished watching the first half of the tour yet so I’m not sure if this holds but I think any skater or pair part of the main cast (booked for all shows on tour) usually skates 2 programs per show - with exception of Yuzu. Some of the other skaters will also skate 2 programs and usually an exhibition program of their choice and an artist collaboration. I think Papadakis and Cizeron this year got to skate 2 of their own programs and didn’t do a collab.

Hi fellow fans, I’m sure some of his are just getting our copies of Elle and checking out our postcards. Anyone interested in a swap thread for international fans? I got a couple duplicates and am missing one to round out my collection, would love to trade with someone within the country (international shipping was so brutal for the heavy magazines).

Anyone else have issues with Zaiko buffering constantly at 1080p? Stream was fine waiting for the show to begin but now it’s constantly pausing to buffer every few seconds. I can’t tell if it’s my connection or there’s just problems with people tuning in all at once.

Oh no! Did you try a different browser and make sure your VPN was on initially? App is difficult to download even with VPN on since it’s Japan only (I worked around it once by using VPN and downloading file from computer and transferring to android phone to load it). I did refresh the page a few times as it got close to show time and eventually the image turns into a playable live video. Maybe Zaiko would be easier.

Uh oh some issues during the stream at the start of Kaori (folks tuning back in??) and poor thing tripped, something up with the ice? Satoko seemed to have issues too.

Satoko I think was fine for me on FOD but it did have a minor issue during Rinka where my picture froze but the audio still kept going. It’s happened 3-4 times for me since the start.

Thanks (in all honesty there’s probably some issues with my own internet connection at times). I think I may try Zaiko tomorrow and see if it works a bit better. Assuming it’s also commentary free like FOD is? Since this venue is so small I think the cameras must be placed pretty close to the rink, the angles and view seem very close to the rink.

I can confirm FOD works with foreign credit cards and with a decent VPN. I’m using Nord VPN, as long as you start the stream with the VPN on and don’t exit the video your video will continue to play with FOD (I’m doing this right now). I can’t find my receipt in email but it was 2999 JPY on FOD. Zaiko seems to be easier to purchase (and won’t need use of VPN at all supposedly) but it seems to cost a little more. If you use a foreign credit card they charge a 2% service fee. PayPal is 300 JPY surcharge, but WeChatPay and I think AliPay is only 100 JPY surcharge. Not sure if anyone else is using FOD but I had some lag at the start of the show right after Yuzu came on (quality went from pretty good, to low, to pretty bad for a good 30 sec). I’m curious if the Zaiko/Lawson stream is the same views and if they had any issues. I can’t tell if it’s my own connection trying to play catch up or if it’s the FOD stream as there aren’t any video quality controls (it’s all automatic).

Thank you both, mine says Live right now too and it's also looks like some tv drama (but has been commercials for a fair number of minutes now). It's now showing Prologue as next since it expands and shows the full title

For those of you using JapanTV app, is this the right channel? For some reason I don't see the show listed. I had the worst time trying to find TV-Asahi Ch2 for Yokohama and I think I have it right this time, but for some reason I don't see it on the schedule at all.

I gotta say the female singer (Harumi?) is one of the better live singers FaoI has had.

Happy birthday, Yuzu! I wish you health and happiness after you've given so much to everyone else. I look forward to when we can watch you skate on ice again and hope you're making progress in your recovery.

Yeah I’m assuming if you’re vaccinated now Canada doesn’t require you to quarantine on arrival, but Japan still does (though it was imposed on their own athletes but not international athletes for some reason). I assume most of the Japanese skaters are now vaccinated since the JSF said they were planning to vaccinate them ahead of the GP. I assume this is why Yuzu may have agreed to do more of his typical work recently (Frau, 24 HR, DOI) which hopefully means he’s also getting physio care. I think someone was looking at his legs in the behind-the-scenes footage for SOI

I think if Yuzu’s first GP was Skate Canada and not NHK he may have considered returning to Canada this fall. As of now if he were to return to Japan he’d have to quarantine and it’s not really worth it if he can make-do with the training he’s doing in Japan. At this point who knows if he might participate in Asian Open Trophy or even in Japan Open, and traveling from Japan makes more sense if he is. Rika has a real tight turnaround between Skate Canada and NHK too, and so will Yuzu between Rostelecom and the GPF. I think they’d have to train under same quarantine rules they had for WTT?

I think part of the issue with Cup of China was logistics for a "small" GP event in Chongqing and lack of international flights/quarantine. They may have decided it wasn't worth it to hold it and focus all resources for things connected directly to the Olympics (I believe Asian Trophy test event is still set). I think this is just the start of it though, there are bound to be other challenges with the other Grand Prix events in other countries with border restrictions and quarantine measures. As of now I heard there were issues with Russian skaters getting Visas to the US and France, and I'm not even sure if Japan has set a date or criteria for entry into the country despite holding WTT last year. Canada is expected to open borders to those vaccinated in October but they had also cancelled their JGP event, and I expect things could change in the next coming weeks on that front as well. Honestly I think they need to abandon the traditional model GP series + Final competition model again since I don't see how it's currently possible or will be possible by October-December.

I believe what I read was that the JSF would begin vaccinating their senior skaters mid-July in preparation for the grand prix series in the fall. I take it that Rika and Shoma got their first shots this month if that's the case and that the JSF planned to have their senior skaters all vaccinated by mid-August. I think some skaters may or may have had a chance to get a vaccination earlier than this depending on where they live and other factors. I was watching a vlog and someone mentioned their wife had a higher priority for vaccination because she had asthma for instance.

Slightly off topic, but I posted awhile back about Air Canada now offering refunds for flights after February 1, 2020 which would cover most flights booked for Montreal 2020. Just wanted to report that I got notification that my requests for refund were processed, took about 17 days. Email says it may take 1-2 billing cycles to appear on my statement. Hopefully satellites who filed will hear back soon.

Did they not award you any travel points at all? I think that's the default even if they refund your fees in cash. There does seem to be a process to request refund without a voucher (https://www.aircanada.com/refundrequest/?lang=en-CA). From what I read on a Forbes article the refund option is now available because it's part of Air Canada's financial aid agreement with the federal government. Based on the FAQ on this site if you weren't eligible for a refund before you may be eligible now so I don't think it hurts to try and fill out the form. I think when you cancel the only two options were either the Aeropoints conversion or the travel credit and both seem to be eligible.

I was going to post this in the old 2020 Worlds thread but I think it's locked now because it's in the past. For any of you that had flights booked with Air Canada for Montreal that got cancelled, or if you requested a a travel voucher/points for those flight tickets, Air Canada is now issuing refunds for all travel dates on or after February 1, 2020 purchased before April 13, 2021 for flights cancelled either by Air Canada or by yourself for any reason. I got an email with a link to a request form for each of my flight tickets. Sounds like last day to request the refund is June 12, 2021 if you want a refund to your original form of payment. The email link will populate your flight number into the form, but you can also use the generic link and populate it yourself: https://accc-prod.microsoftcrmportals.com/en-CA/axmkqit8/

Happy 4 year anniversary to Planet Hanyu! Can't believe the forum is already 4 years old, we're a whole Olympic-cycle old!

Yes I think when typing you have to write "dzu" to get づ but the 'zu' in Yuzuru's name should be づ and not ず right?

Is it my imagination, or did they write his name wrong on that poster (I can't read the kanji ), shouldn't it be ゆづる?

I don't think we're surprised that he was chosen as he brings in the viewers, but the event is unnecessary (unlike Nationals and Worlds) and given the virus situation in Osaka it seems like something he would avoid if he could given he had also withdrawn from the grand prix which was also in Osaka in the fall.