BrightonDogwoods

Speaking of watching Yuzu videos... I spent a couple hours yesterday watching all Yuzu's Origin performances, in order, w the exception of those not broadcast on TV (so, no ACI or JPN Nats). It was quite remarkable how many variants we ended up with, I think no two were alike?? I think Skate Canada is my fave, was the highest scoring one, LOVE that 4T-eu-3F-high kick, right in from of the section I was sitting in. But I can see how he got so discouraged in the end, the scores were not trending in the right direction, for Reasons... I couldn't end it w GPF Origin so had to watch 4CC Seimei as a palate cleanser, shame about that 4T fall (dang holy ice) but otherwise a nice performance considering he had to make many layout and music changes. 4CC was a good ending to the season and I havta say that as much as it HURTS to miss Worlds I'm kinda glad he didn't go in there bringing back the Oly programs because I know he didn't really want to but it was a better option than sticking with the Otonal/Origin set. Still, he was risking a 2nd place finish w those programs and I'd prefer those Kids get to rest, and Yuzu get to throw a couple of new programs at Nate ...programs I'm sure he will DESIGN with the intention of kicking his butt to 2nd where Nate should be. Bring it Yuzu!!! Can't wait for ACI, I wonder if Satomi can POSSIBLY make us lose our minds as much as we did over Origin 2.0????? I was sure she could NOT best Origin 1.0 but then we see what happened! Man that was fun!

I would love to have one!! I will DM my address, thanks

It's beautiful, thank you!! (tears)

This little story is so heartwarming but also heartbreaking! We know of course how focused he is in training, everyone says it, but this really brings home how THICK that wall is that he puts up. For everyone to be shocked at a mere hug... I mean, I know it's his choice to be this way but it must be so painful sometimes! But so HEARTWARMING that he has so many warm, loving people around him who do what they can to support him!! What a great thing that he ended up at TCC, it's so reassuring to read these comments about skaters interactions with him that he seems to really appreciate and be cheered by. AND I've been crying over this for about half an hour now, I think it's crying I needed to do, to get out the tension over this sudden change in his strategy. I sorta can't believe how shocked I was/am. I support it, I just wasn't expecting it!!! Ugh this man!

Ahhhhhh very insightful, and I think it makes alot of sense!!

If anyone finds a translation for this clip, please post it here!

What does it say???

Me!

I think everyone has their own perspective, based on their own experiences and the culture they grew up in, but maybe your thoughts are more negative than the reality warrants, taking into account a broader perspective. Self-criticism: seems to me that the vast majority of skaters don't brag about themselves in press conferences, as others have said. If things went well a skater will say they're happy with their performance and hope to continue to do better. If there were mistakes, they talk about how they plan to work on it so it doesn't happen again. At GPF Nathan said something to the effect that he is still trying to reach Yuzu's level of artistry (which I thought threw a bit of shade at the judges giving Joke Marks in PCS for Nathan higher than Yuzu). Do I think judges will take a cue from that and increase Yuzu's PCS and decrease Nathan's?? Hahaha, No! Repeating programs: we've talked alot about how good or bad this is, how the judge's may or may not like it. Everyone has their own opinion, and maybe judges care or maybe they don't, we can't really know. But I think if 3 different skaters all skate to the same music (what is it about Schindler's List this year??) during the same competition it is MUCH more tiresome than one skater using the same music for 2 years straight. For one thing, you then have a comparison in one afternoon/evening between the 3 skaters with the same music- who did it better? Compared to a skater repeating last year's program- if you are a judge, did you see it at all last year? If you did judge a competition Yuzu was at, it was probably just one, since he only did 4 competitions last year. If you only saw it once last year, how much of it are you going to remember? I doubt judges spend a lot of time rewatching performances on Youtube (like we do :-) ). As I said, this is all a matter of personal opinion, there are no right or wrong answers. But I hate to see someone so down on Yuzu's future, thinking he is shooting himself in the foot/ankle (*sorry, bad joke, LOL, knock on wood and all that!) with his own 'poor choices', when from HIS perspective- this is the path he wants to take. He has thought about ALL of this 10,000 times more than we have, and whenever I have doubts I always fall back to... TRUST YUZURU!!!

Dearest Yuzuru, I rediscovered my love for this sport through Johnny Weir and his 2010 Olympic performances, which led me to go see him compete in Finland in 2012, and to my surprise and awe I discovered there a young Japanese skater just starting to catch fire. I could tell immediately, you would be an Olympic champion. It was a rough but beautiful performance and when you fell on the ice after the FS it was clear you had just given everything you had to pull that off. That was the first time I attended a competition, and such a privilege to be at the only event you and Johnny competed together during his career. I was also amazed to see after the Victory ceremony when you were patching the ice with the volunteers, still wearing your costume and without even a jacket on. Such a thoughtful and humble action by the champion, and after all these years it is clearly just a typical 'Yuzuru Hanyu' thing to do. Since then I've been to as many of your competitions as I can manage (10 so far!!! Bringing the whole family to Montreal!) and it is always an immense pleasure and a privilege. Gold or Silver (how amazing it is always one of those 2?!), I am never disappointed. It's hard not to be sad when you bring home silver, because I know you are disappointed in yourself, but your performances are ALWAYS GOLDEN!! Always a treasure! Thank you so much for continuing to compete, for continuing to grow and improve. I hope you can continue to get stronger, land that Quad Axel, and be happy in your skating life. You deserve ONLY the best, you have always given us ONLY your best. When people say to you, 'it's okay if you don't win, you are already double Oly champion, it is enough to try'- it's not because your past glories make you worth watching. It's because (win or lose) you are still improving, still perfecting, still getting stronger, still a pleasure to watch. I hope someday when you are done competing I can see you skate in Continues With Wings, in Japan, or maybe even in North America??? Praying for your health and happiness, along with your hundreds of thousands (millions??) of fans. We Love You Forever!!!!!

Oh, I wish I could Like your post 10,000 times, I agree with it all and you said it so much better than I could! I immediately read it to my husband (he also loves Yuzu and agrees about his genius) and I was practically sobbing while reading it out loud. (Just following Hanyu-senshu's advice about 'crying it out' ) The part about Nathan really touched me, I do think he is a decent and respectful young man, and I think Yuzu asking (with a gesture) Nathan for a hug out on the ice during the gala finale, is his signal to the public that their relationship is respectful and CARING. That was no 'pat-pat' bro-hug, that was from the heart. I think Nathan is the catalyst Yuzu needs right now, like Javi was earlier. I don't blame people who feel bitter, but I think it's important to try to get past it, and be as positive as you can! In this case, I think we have alot to be hopeful for, I do think Yuzu has the motivation and the growing strength to achieve his greatest dreams. I believe that in some 'undetectable' way, all human life has a connection, so that in some way Yuzu has a 'sense' of the various feelings of his fans (heh heh, or, just lurking twitter, line, weibo etc), and I would much rather be emanating a positive, happy vibe in his direction than negativity. And then I naturally find myself being a nicer person to the rest of the world, and hopefully the cycle just keeps going!

I can't resist getting into the costume-love discussion!!! I LOVE all his costumes, some passionately, some ehhh less so? But still Love! Origin 1.0 was probably my favourite of all time and I really couldn't imagine how it could get better, then Origin 2.0 happened. I truly lost a part of my mind, it was visceral, it connected with me in a way I could not control and cannot explain. That PURPLE, so regal, and vampiric. Suddenly I'm hoping we see a Dracula program someday. A sexy/scary one, which he clearly has down with Masquerade! After awhile i realized the sheer color was part of the appeal. You think you can almost see his skin, he's almost naked (but of course you know there is a flesh tone layer under the purple). But I also get the impression of it being an Aura around him, not actual clothes. And the butterflies and flowers add to that feeling, they are just naturally emerging from him. Like the life force is just seeping out of him as he skates along. And the over all shape of the costume, love the high neckline, the opening on his chest, the way it shows his growing muscles...ugh... is almost too much. And yet PERFECT!!!! This is the thing about Yuzu, you know he's always working to improve himself, go beyond the ideal... and yet I'm so surprised and DELIGHTED that it keeps happening. I don't WANT to keep expecting MORE, it's so greedy. So I'm just going to keep letting myself be surprised.. like, he cannot possibly improve Origin 2.0, or 1.0 for that matter, or Swanyu, or Seimei 2.0, etc etc etc. But, I'll bet he does anyway

I think at the end of practice makes the most sense, it's way more informal

Yep, that makes alot of sense. I love rewatching his Origin at SCI for that line, SO CHEEKY! Plus the way he 'drags' himself when he celebrates Brian's prediction of winning SCI, cracks me up every time.

I think something to consider about things Yuzuru says (about his plans, his performances, his motivations, etc), I believe he says things that maybe are not exactly true, but suit his purposes at the moment. Not that he LIES, exactly, but none of would dispute he thinks DEEPLY about figure skating, he probably knows damn well what impact every word he says has, and he has strategies and long term goals that we will only know bout when he WANTS us to know. I think it was recent commentary by Ambessi on the subject of Yuzu not being scored adequately for his transitions and complexity. After Skate Canada Yuzu said he was relieved to finally get scores that did reward his efforts, otherwise he was considering reducing transitions to make it easier to cleanly land jumps. Ambessi more or less said that Yuzu was bluffing, he CANNOT reduce complexity in his skating because he is not built that way. It would not be HIM if he tried to 'skate like Nathan'. I agree with Ambessi, Yuzu was just taking the opportunity to discuss it and 'threaten' to change his style if he doesn't get rewarded. And I think it was good of Yuzu to talk about it like that. The Powers That Be deserve to be 'scared' he would actually downgrade himself, subconsciously at least they must know that is NOT the direction figure skating should go.

I had to vote for Masquerade (In Case Of Lurkers) because I would die of happiness to see it at Skate Canada!! But to be more realistic, I expect Crystal Memories, possibly HYK. Aaaahhh but so happy to see how many people still feel the same about Masquerade!!! I really think it's a break through program for him, maybe the new Strongest Yuzuru Hanyu Ever could pull it off!

Of course, I realized the experience of the earthquake will always be with him, but your words bring home the ENORMITY of his future responsibility, year after year, to comfort survivors, feeling fresher pain. And he is such an empathetic guy, he takes on that pain and I'm sure it awakens his own pain that might otherwise recede more in the background over time (perhaps). Things like the People's Honor award just makes it more inevitable that this particular kind of public service will always be his responsibility. He is such an amazing young man! So incredibly strong!

Same here! Instantly smited by those preview pics UGH!!!

I'm going to take this opportunity to say THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU YUZU FOR MASQUERADE, even if we never see another performance of it, wow, such a gift! I 'regularly' get completely entranced and obsessed by his programs, mostly the competitive ones but then came Swanyu... but the level of obsession for Masquerade feels different somehow. I can only hope that now that he's tried this style on he can find a way to give us MOAR (in competition or exhibition). By what I've seen in fan art and tribute videos, I am apparently not the only one! This is an absolutely brilliant fan edit and helps me learn a little Japanese :-) This one also is beautiful and quite touching, I like all the old POTO footage- he sure had to work hard that year, poor guy! Even if I was in the SLIGHTEST disappointed by the (potential) return of Origin and Otonal (and I'm NOT), he gave us Crystal Memories and Masquerade... in a year where he is still recovering from injury, and I'm sure doing everything he can to take back his World Champion crown in Montreal, along with attempting to master the MONSTER quad axel (and maybe throw in the odd 4Lz and 4F along the way). He is magical, he is a miracle, we are so blessed! Ganbatte Yuzu!!!!

I LOVE this idea (ok not the Roxanne part!) that Yuzu would deliberately troll us, playing the music knowing what conclusion we'd draw! WOW the reaction at ACI!!! I only rule it out because I think he would anticipate the kid posting the videos would get some backlash, and I don't think he could ever put someone in that position, even voluntarily. Yuzu is too honorable! But still it's really fun to imagine what if he did...

One thing about Yuzu's program choices that I hardly see discussed is that in his senior years, he always has a 'feminine/soft/flowy' program and a 'masculine/hard/fierce' program each season. They are a balance! And this summer he talked about the pairing of Masquerade and Crystal Memories that have a balance and belong together. I'm quite sure he is very deliberate about this. So, if he's keeping Origin then I think its very very unlikely he won't keep Otonal. Yes, he's had a couple of nearly perfect skates with Otonal but I have no doubt he can do even better (a la Chopin). Maybe he'd like to do it with a 4Lz? But if he does something new, I think the replacement will be another soft, flowy number (I LOVE LGC, but I don't see it happening). I think all this outrage about the 'unauthorized reveal' is a bit much. I would guess skipping media day has more to do with it just not being convenient (he needs his game time with Fire Emblem, after all) instead of it being 'necessary' that it be kept a secret. In terms of what his competition wants to know, how does this help them? It doesn't. If there is anything worth keeping under wraps it's more specifically, HOWZ THAT 4A COMING ALONG???? For that, I believe he would cancel media day. And we DIDN'T get a sneak peak at his jumps in that instagram, so that's fine, but I think the fact that his music was in the rotation means he is THERE, he is TRAINING, he is NOT INJURED and that's all I really need to know!

ACI is going to be a riot this year, SO MUCH SUSPENSE! And so thrilled I get to be there!!! I'm going to throw out my GUESS, I think we're getting some more Otonal/Origin (which would be great, I am deeply in love with both programs) but only if we also get TWO of the 4Lz-Fl-A babies (such as Lz, F or Lz, A). Costumes: I can't imagine how anyone could improve either costume but look what happened w Seimei and Chopin, so I think at most there will be minor tweaks. And of course I am just SO grateful we have another season to look forward to, we can't possibly hope for more than a couple after this. I know that the support he gets from us audibly and visibly at competitions is part of what gives him the strength to keep going, and I certainly intend to do my part, losing my voice with screaming, and throwing Poohs as hard as I can

Oh gosh, I have to tell you my husband's idea, you should sew some ballet slippers on Pooh before you give it to him! Include a little note and your Pooh could end up being one of the (mythical) chosen keepsakes! Now, we're not actually supposed to throw gifts on the ice at ACI (they dont usually have sweeper kids there) buuuuuut it's been happening more and more, last year there were so many he picked some up himself on his way off the ice. It was adorable! They do have boxes for collecting gifts for the skaters so either way you can definitely get it to him

Ahhhh, this made me think if I might have recorded some of Yuzu's practice sessions in Helsinki, and whaddyaknow, I found this!! He only skipped one spin, right before the step sequence, but all 3 jumps are purrrrrrfect, including a very nice twizzle 3A that I think is different from the JWB post. It's rare for him to do THIS much of a performance in practice, and I was pretty close to the rink!! It was very glorious in person

I hope you can make it to ACI, I was wondering if you might consider it, I'm definitely planning to go too! It's a great way to start attending competitions, very affordable (especially for us North Americans) as well as being one great big Yuzu-love fest (although any of his competitions are pretty much that by now, just not quite as affordable!). The biggest downside is we don't get to see an exhibition program BUT we usually get costume reveals, and first glimpse of new programs. Also, Ghislain, Traci and Brian are frequently cruising the venue so you could even have a chance to chat them up a bit and mention your tribute ... you know, just if it happens to come up somehow