kiches

When I read the line, "the willowy Hanyu looked like an oak tree beside the slender, blond, five-foot teen" it immediately brought me back to the video footage of last year's media day. There was that one moment during Yuzu's Seimei run-through where Stephen had fallen and slid near him and he just sort of glances over (sorry for the crap screenshot, I don't have the original video handy at the moment). That's one mighty oak tree.

Yeah Brian sort of implied this after Skate Canada 2016 that they had a meeting with everyone in October, but it seemed like a discussion centered around his focus on the quad loop at the time. They said their communication and practice was a lot better after that talk, I think this might be what you’re referring to. I’m actually not sure if they had changed anything immediately after Boston but I think it’s clear that after Skate Canada they seemed to have a better understanding of each other which appears to have carried through to last season. I’ve always suspected with the lisfranc injury Yuzu may not have realized how bad it was until much later and he stayed in Japan longer hoping it would get better and he’d heal more while at home.

I cant dig it up now since Ice Network is no more, but the closest thing we got to news on the injury in English that I can remember was that article by Hersh about the coaching arrangement and Yuzu being in both Toronto and Japan. The story was that he had had an instep injury which had him practicing 4S instead of 4T.

Me too, I remember @Danibellerika and I held hands at rinkside as we waited for Shoma’s scores to be read because I didn’t need any funny business to happen. We were all pretty sure but confirmation before you celebrate is always best, can’t count your chickens before they hatch after all. I’d also say the months of silence after the NHK injury was the most nerve wracking for me because I always had a fear he would go injured and it would prevent him from competing at the Olympics, and it felt close to coming true. I don’t think those fears really left until we saw him touchdown in South Korea.

I gotta admit it's sort of a haze now, but did I calculate this prior to Shoma's skate mentally? I usually have the ISU real-time scores on my phone and check after each competitor in the last group what their score needs to be, but I honestly don't remember if I did the math myself. Also knew it was done deal with Javi on that doubled sal, I sort of expected he may not medal at that point. I also breathed a little easier after that. Go record that 4k so we can share in the Charlie's commentary .

I'm like anierien, I knew as soon as Shoma fell on his quad loop that Yuzu had essentially cinched the gold. I have a habit of checking scores and calculating minimum scores during the competition to see what competitors need to take first. It was obvious Shoma would need near his personal best to try and take first place, and with one fall in the program at the top that wasn't going to be possible anymore. No lie, it immediately released all my tension while watching Shoma's skate and I was able to enjoy the rest of it much easier knowing right away who would be in first.

Didn’t Yuzu used to have a website? I remember there was a link of it when I first became a fan after Sochi but it was already down by then, I’m not sure for how long. I believe it was official too.

Your post shows an interesting perspective as a fan. Personally I've always found it a bit odd when people throw around the word "perfect" or "god-like" to describe Yuzu (not that he hasn't had perfect performances before!). When I read/hear Yuzu described this way there's a disconnect for me, because I've always thought he's gained such a following because of the opposite. To me, it's his very human struggles and setbacks on his path as an athlete and a person that has really resonated with people. I find I easily connect to that aspect of him in his skating. There's an honesty that comes across and a connection to the audience that I feel is pretty unique to Yuzuru. It pulls me in and the the experience can be exhilarating and moving all at once, but I think what makes it poignant is the humanity behind it. Or in other words, he wears his heart on his sleeve when he skates and it's a very human thing for me. Going back quickly to the topic of commentary for figure skating, I think commentators do have a responsibility to put effort into doing their job well and to stay informed and to have enough experience and skill to properly call details like under rotations, steps, and even levels. In the case of the 4T at the 2015 GPF, I think the mistake made by some commentators was mislabeling the jump as under rotated when what they really meant was that he got less rotation than his usual standard, but the jump was still well within the necessary rotation. I can understand that when things are happening live, commentary mistakes can happen, but it is important that they commentary team get things correct. Often that commentary is a person's first exposure to figure skating, and it's really easy to confuse new potential fans. The first commentary I heard for Yuzu was Scott and Sandra during the Sochi team event SP, and although I appreciated Scott's enthusiastic response, he mistakenly called the counter 3A a rocker and that stuck in my head for a long time until I learned enough on my own. The biased commentary I think is expected and not surprising if talking about opinion, but I do want technical details to be correct.

Maybe it’s possible they’ll do a quick pit stop in Japan after if Yuzu is doing a media day at Ice Rink Sendai? Although I’m assuming he’s still in Canada right now.

Yuzu and kicking back in the sun are two things I can’t picture . For all his talk about liking nature I’m not sure he’s the type to actually enjoy being in the sun and outdoors for long periods of time (can you imagine him with a tan?). Although I’m the type who likes the beach and water but hates being in the sun for long periods of time so it’s possible.

NBC’s camera coverage and edit doesn’t use the aerial camera during the spin in SP. In general their angles were better for me, they had better angles for the gala too that didn’t cut off Yuzu’s biellmann spin. It’s too bad that camera angle seems exclusive to NBC and all other broadcasts use the version with the aerial camera.

I always start off the season extremely optimistic (or should I say, foolish?). Fellow friends will know I always say "maybe this will finally be his undefeated season" at the start of every season. It's a high order but I always feel he can do it . I'm just grateful to see more of Yuzu's skating, when I first became a fan in Sochi I thought he would retire immediately after Pyeongchang so anything and everything is a delightful bonus.

@LadyLou I’m not sure I’m the best archive but I’ve basically saved up all Yuzu clips since I became a fan during Sochi. I’m going through the process of putting them all in folders within folders in a way that sounds a lot like what @lazuliblade has but it’s nothing sophisticated. I just have a pretty pretty good memory when it comes to Yuzu I usually remember very minute details about things that really interest me and Yuzu is very interesting!

It's true . He said it in an interview for Ice Jewels. This seems very inline with his personality in my mind.

I think he’s actually admitted somewhere he keeps his three Skate Canada silvers by his bedside.

Didn’t France straight-up use acrylic? Their “medals” looked like something you can make using a piece of plastic and a 3D printer. The glass at least looks classy and has a design. The French stars looked pretty thoughtless and something you’d find in elementary school class.

I wish we could get a net-worth on him! He doesn't even do as many commercials and endorsements as he could, but the ones he has must be lucrative. I'm also a bit curious if he gets a cut of all the photo exhibit merchandise, they must've sold a ton if you think about those lines.

Each fan is probably a bit different in what they value when they go watch figure skating, so it'll influence where you want to stay. My personal experience is that once competition and practice starts, I have very little time to do anything else (I like going to practices, I won't camp overnight but will sometimes go early). On those days I prefer to be staying somewhere I can get to and from the rink quickly as a lot of events end late. Since I'm not in the room where I'm staying often I usually don't care if it's very large or the hotel has a ton of amenities because I'm not likely going to be there to use them. My main goal is convenience, then comfort. Food is another factor for me and so is transportation, I avoid places I'll need to take cabs and prefer trains/subways or locations I can walk from. If I can get to and from the rink and to decent variety of food options and back, that's a big bonus. I leave the sightseeing and other stuff to non-competition days most of the time so I'm cramming things in at a pretty fast pace, I'm always exhausted at the end of these trips and I tend to get very little sleep as I'm a night owl. As for couch surfing, if I'm traveling alone as a woman that's much too risky. I'm fine borrowing a couch from someone I am good friends with, or even an acquaintance or a fellow fan, but it's a big no if it's an absolute stranger and I have valuables with me. The risk is not worth the savings. It's also a lot less secure in case circumstances with the host changes - I've had this happen before with a casual acquaintance I was going to stay with and we had to book a hotel very last minute.

LOL this is probably closer to the truth than anything.

I wonder if Korea rejected the offer to host the GP early on and in order to “sweeten” the deal when they approached Finland they promised to assign both Alina and Yuzu if they agreed to take it on. Maybe they made the same proposal to Korea too.

I enjoy his non-styled casual look the best :) He wasn't kidding when he said he dresses like a typical athlete. I'm also thankful he doesn't bleach/lighten his hair or perm it, I'm usually not a fan of any of those styles for Asian men (or women, really). I also get the sense that unless he's competing he doesn't pay that much attention to his style and his clothes look very practical (yet comfortable while being high-end), but when he's competing he wants to be the thing that shines the brightest.

I totally agree with this, I definitely think the fabric on the sleeves could’ve been attached so they drape better on the arms, in still photos it looks awkward for me so I personally think it can use some improvement. To draw a comparison to another costume embellishment I’d compare Etude to H&L shoulder scarf. Both conceptually are very similar with the fabric on the right shoulder, but the length, bunching, and the way it’s attached to the body makes a big difference in how the costume as a whole looks still in photos. Etude looks gorgeously swept up and drapes elegantly across the shoulder. H&L on the other hand, I’ve always felt it tried to copy the same effect but didn’t quite get it right. It looks like it’s sewn across the length of his shoulder and it doesn’t drape as nicely over his body (maybe due to the length). Haru yo Koi’s sleeves falls closer to H&L shoulder scarf execution to me in that I see what they were aiming for but I think it could be a better still.

Somehow they got all the skaters to sing except Yuzu and Shoma . In all seriousness though, did they not even get to sing in the chorus? Also chuckling that Ayumu and Shoma weren't even asked to lip sync.

Holy lip balm in the Hana wa Saku PV.

He mentioned being sensitive to alchohol in the same Asaichi interview with regards to his surgery. In all seriousness it’s probably fine if he sprays alcohol in solution on his costumes since he’ll wear it again after it dries. A high isopropyl alcohol should evaporate very quickly.