Poll - When/How did you become a fan of Yuzu?

[DaPurpleDino]

Like most of the newer fans I had a YoI stroke, but that was the middle, let's start from the beginning.

As a person whose internet existence started with the fandom where tennis killed dinosaurs canonverse (I'm serious), the talk about new skating anime made me go a bit meh ('not ridiculous enough, not enough bishies, not enough sparkles [Ginban Kaleidoscope from 2006 was still in my memory as 'good kids anime']), at least until I didn't hear songs (I'm hopeless for waltz-ish pop...) in the prev and see a post about how ridiculous the jumps were (I think Chibura's? I know I reblogged it from another sports anime fan...)in the first ep, and then binge watched first three eps (another inside joke of my original fandom was the {layback} Ina Bauer), and since I tend to go overboard, I went to a 'why Yuuri is Yuzuru' thread, decided it's too immature and needs facts included, went to Yuzu's wiki, discovered he skated to Swan Lake AND Chopin and I was sold (plus, I forgot to write my counterargument on the thread, but I guess it means I really AM too old to feel like and argue with fellow 12 years olds xD). Chopin 2nd was my first competitive program of his I watched, White Legend his first ex (Javi's Exes from this season were the first from other skaters xD), then Worlds R&J v1 (where I had a 'wait a moment it's after Tohoku, isn't it?' moment), then SEIMEI which had me sold completely.

Ironically, Sochi hadn't been watched before I ran out of the other programs to watch, with the exception of the competition-whose-name-you-shan't-speak and Chopin v1, which came after it, but I feel excused, as my country is crazy about snow sports (Thus Sochi connects mainly with 'broken foot' to me), but we're literal ice desert, with our only reps (ice dance and, since this year, men singles) still having to fight for places at PC at Nebelhorn, and even once they get it, they barely have a chance for top 20, so...

That's -a really shortened- story of how come I am here, in love with a skater older than me not even by two years and with experiences that I will never have most probably.

 

Bonus random info: Yuzuru won his first junior GP assignment in my country!

 

!! Prince of tennis was my jam back then hahaha

I found yuzuru from tumblr actually. there was a gifset comparing him to yuna after he just won his medal, and i knew yuna so I thought wow who is this kid because there were so many similarities between then, so i looked up his pw and i was sold, then say rj 1.0 and was even more sold and here i am :space:

[reikaloures]

I became a fan of Yuzuru during the Sochi Olympics. It all started when my friend told me about this cute 19 year-old who broke the WR in the Olympics and she showed me a video of Yuzu's Parisienne Walkways (though it wasn't the Sochi version because of copyright issues). I remember thinking, "What a weird program (I wasn't a fan of the music back then) and what a weird-looking guy!". I remember being rather amazed by how long his neck was - it was almost alien-like to me then. :rofl2: I also remember thinking that this guy must be very skilled because he looked so effortless. But at that time, it wasn't enough to make me a fan.

 

Few days later, I was on Twitter and I came across a news article with the headlines to the effect of "19-year old Yuzuru Hanyu becomes first Asian man to clinch Olympic Gold". I was like, "Hey I remember this guy!". And being Asian myself, I just had to check him out.

 

So I went on Youtube and tried searching for Yuzuru Hanyu Romeo & Juliet. At that time, I didn't know he had two R&Js. So I mistakenly clicked on his R&J I (I didn't even notice the year was wrong, silly me) and I watched it. And boy, was it an experience. I can't remember how many times I replayed that video. I just kept watching it over and over and over again. And that's when I realized I was a fan (it was funny when I realized I was watching the wrong program all along haha!). I joined GS and Tumblr on the same day and I've never looked back. :love:

 

I learned how to identify jumps from watching Yuzu's programs (his textbook jumps are just... :bow: ) and I have been to both GPF 2014 and GPF 2015. The things that Yuzu makes me do.... :devil:

[meoima]

First time I saw Yuzuru I thought he was such a cocky boy. I didn't like him at first. I don't like pretty Asian boys (hey I am not racist lol I am Asian).

But then I saw Yuzuru being cute with Pooh and then I was done.

[OmNom]

First time I saw Yuzuru I thought he was such a cocky boy. I didn't like him at first. I don't like pretty Asian boys (hey I am not racist lol I am Asian).

But then I saw Yuzuru being cute with Pooh and then I was done.

 

:rofl2: :rofl2: :rofl2:

I guess in that sense he and Zhenya do have something in common other than staying at the top. They could be quite intense and competitive at times, and onlookers without any prior knowledge could easily mistake their confidence for arrogance

[dd2_edge]

I came to know about RL skaters because of Yuri on Ice. I am a fan for Japanese anime/comics on sports.

There were posts speculating on the RL "prototypes" for YoI characters - that's when I came across the name of Yuzuru Hanyu. But I didn't pay much attention to him then.

Out of curiosity I watched 16GPF on youtube. Then my friend (also a YoI fan) and I started to learn about ISU competitions. I wiki-ed about fs 101. I watched Yuzu at 4CC again. Then I started to wiki about him, watching his record-breaking performances & interviews, etc on youtube.

What really drew me into him was the COC accident.

As I come to know him, bit by bit, he keeps defying my first impressions about him.

He's a king in a kid. He's Number One with everyone. He's a challenger...you name it.

And each time he impresses the world on and off the rink, with his grace, artistry and sportsmanship, I think he's a gift from god.

Better late than never.

He's running ahead of time and time stops on his face.

[sweetwater]

I became his fan when I saw his senior debut in NHK Trophy 2010. I was a casual figure skating fan back then, who would watch competitions when they were broadcasted on TV and knew nothing about junior circuit. However, I had known him as I had seen the news of his winning JGPF2009 and WJFC2010. Knowing that he had been admiring Plushenko and Johnny as his idol I had been looking forward to seeing his performance since the end of previous season, because after seeing Vancouver, to see someone skate with most difficult jumps (like Plushenko’s) and nice flow (like Johnny’s) was my dream.

 

But the autumn of 2010 was very busy. I had some time consuming jobs in my hands and one of my family was sick, so I didn’t know anything about competition schedule and tuned on the TV just by coincidence right before his name was called by the PA announcer. I thought, “Oh no, it’s NHK Trophy!” and then, “Oh yes, it’s him!” Last time I saw him, he was just another skater boy bowing to the audience in frilly costume, but this time he was in a costume which reminded me of snowstorm in the night, and he started moving to the sound which also reminded me of the coldness of the snow. In the first few seconds I became his fan. In White Legend he first glides toward judges, looking them in the eye, moving his arms gracefully as if they were his wings. To me it looked as if a declaration that he was a swan and going to make everyone believe it. I loved his boldness as a performer. Then he landed a beautiful 3A like nothing. I got so excited and believed that he really would become the skater I dreamed of.

 

After that many things happened. The meaning of the program had changed and the way I watch figure skating had changed in the course of events. However, I think I was lucky that I could see that performance, and his performances afterwards which were my dream came true. H&L this year was something beyond my dream. I’m really looking forward to see what he is going to try next.

[Yuzura]

I accidentally watched livestreaming of Parisienne Walkways in 2014 Winter Olympic Games when I was actually waiting for the curling competition. It hit me that figure skating could be so interesting. I remembered the boy's name but didn't become a fan until I saw Ballade No.1 in 2015 World Championship. Fortunately, I finally fall in love with Yuzu and will be watching him to stand at the top of the world! :space:

[Yuzura]

I accidentally watched livestreaming of Parisienne Walkways in 2014 Winter Olympic Games when I was actually waiting for the curling competition. It hit me that figure skating could be so interesting. I remembered the boy's name but didn't become a fan until I saw Ballade No.1 in 2015 World Championship. Fortunately, I finally fall in love with Yuzu and will be watching him to stand at the top of the world! :space:

[KatjaThera]

For myself, I did occasionally watch figure skating - even men's figure skating, though I found it a bit awkward at times :P - and really enjoyed it, but I never got into it enough to actually find out when competitions were. If I stumbled upon them on TV, I'd watch. If not, not.

 

It was YOI that revived my interest in figure skating, though still not enough to really search for competitions. (I'm also not really a YOI fan... I like the originality of the story, the real life inspirations and the effort put into accuracy, but I'm still not sold on Viktor/Yuuri :P ) In the mean time, though, I had a friend who liked Yuzu and my Japanese teacher was also a fan... so I'd hear news, here and there. Then, one day, I randomly remembered I'd heard there was a TV broadcast of men's figure skating that evening. So I remembered and switched to it and several moments later, Yuzuru came on.

 

It was the 2016 Grand Prix Final Men's Free Skate, so Hope and Legacy. I remember loving the outfit (favorite colors :love: ) and loving how graceful he was - banishing all my fears about men's figure skating being awkward, because his was definitely not. I was nervous when he fell and nervous to see if he'd win or not... I remember being surprised at how Patrick and Javier also fell - without having any idea who they were, beside what the commentators were saying, about them being favorites for the win and Yuzuru's rivals). And I remember being happy when he won.

 

Anyway, following that I was hooked. I took to youtube and educated myself thoroughly (while in the same time cursing my timing, because of how long I'd have to wait until the next competition). It didn't take much longer to find the GS FF thread and I lurked happily ever after... Until this place came to be and I somehow ended up having 146 posts in a little over a week... :eh: (and spent quite a bit of money on some 6kg of Yuzu stuff from Japan - magazines, books, clearfiles, calendars... :embSwan: I guess hooked is a good term...)

[Smultron]

So... I'm relatively new to this because I became a fan after Worlds 2017.

I used to watch competitions with my mom when I was a kid and it was mostly about rooting for the skaters from my country or looking at pretty dresses, haha. I remember I had a terrible crush on Brian Joubert though :laugh: Then I kind of got heartbroken about the r****ment of him, Plushenko and Lambiel and lost my interest for single skating and also did't have time to watch other events due to intense studies at uni.

Then this year I just happened to have a really long weekend when Worlds took place and I felt the urge to watch it. Spent several days in front of my TV. And then I got completely fascinated by this beautiful Japanese guy wearing such a gorgeous costume, doing such perfect jumps and the whole performance was just so moving... You know, haha :love: And the gala swan performance, oh my. Out of this world beautiful.

I tried to focus on writing my thesis after Worlds but then WTT videos popped up in my youtube feed and I watched them all and got completely lost in videos of Yuzuru's programs and stuff and found myself completely hooked. You know how it goes, I guess :D

At this point the obsession has resulted in me being able to tell the jumps apart, something that I have always wanted to be able to do, since I was little.

Have been neglecting all social media and educating myself on figure skating rules and such lately, watching videos and reading about Yuzu.

It's funny though how men's single skating has suddenly become the most interesting discipline. The little me admiring all the dresses wouldn't understand :rofl2:

[Smultron]

It was mid 2016, when I stumbled upon Yuzu's Seimei performance at GPF 2015 in Youtube recommendation list. When I first saw it I was like "What the hell did I just watch??? Who is this guy??? I'm emotional"

 

oh, I love this reaction :pooh:

[BrightonDogwoods]

I loved watching figure skating as a kid but I pretty much ignored it after high school. Thirty years later, Johnny Weir brought me back to that world in 2010- I didn't watch him skate at Vancouver but saw his reality TV show after, "Be Good Johnny Weir'. The channel was showing all episodes back to back and I quickly got caught up on FS and hooked on Johnny after seeing his Poker face, I Love You I Hate You and Fallen Angel performances.

 

In 2012 I was lucky to be working in the UK for some months on a project, and Johnny announced he was returning to competition and would be skating at Finlandia Trophy and at Grand Prixs in France and Russia. The timing worked out perfectly for me and I could take a weekend trip from the UK to Finland to see Johnny skate. And there was Yuzuru! I had seen his FS at 2012 Worlds and was very touched by his performance. Seeing him live in Finland just blew me away. I knew he was going to be an Olympic champion, there could be no doubt about it. And Johnny was NOT going to be able to beat him, ever... But that was ok! The seed of my Yuzu obsession was sown and there was no turning back. I just won't ever stop kicking myself for not getting his autograph, I had a perfect chance after the competition when he was helping to patch the ice and there were almost no fans around *sigh*

[itiahs]

love all these stories :pbow:

 

Always casually watched figure skating but wasn't a fan of figure "jumping", you know because they disturbed the flow of the program. Then Yuna came along to change that opinion, and Yuzuru followed at Sochi. But he was still just the kid with the brilliant smile back then. It wasn't until COC 2014 and the redemption of GPF 2014 that I was converted...

 

But I became really obsessed when I went back and watched 2011-2012 season. Specifically Etude; expressing that music as 16-17 year old?? Someone said it in the old FF, that Yuzuru imbues his performances with his soul. So then I went on GS and read the whole FanFest twice! (it was much shorter then :smile:)

[wombat-poodle]

Before Yuzuru I was not into figure skating at all, I watched the Vancouver Olys casually and knew about big names like Yuna, Mao and Plushenko, and thought skating was impressive, but I didn't follow the sport at all.

 

I didn't know Yuzuru even existed. :cry:

 

Then came the Sochi Olympics. I didn't even care to watch, but my friend (who is a casual skating fan) showed me Yuzuru's Parisienne Walkways short program. I could feel myself sinking into the big black hole called "the fandom", but I resisted, I told myself, "eh he's cute, but so?! he's just cute!" :stick: :stick: :stick: Well but I still stuck around to watch the free program. And some more other Yuzuru videos. I was just struck by how humble, gracious, wise and adorable he was. I was endeared to him as a person. I just grew a great respect for his philosophy and thinking. After a while he was no longer "just cute". :sadPooh: Then I knew, I would be stuck in this fandom forever, but I was, and am, and will always be, happy to stay. :rofl2:

 

I then educated myself about skating and read a lot about the sport. (I kinda got this the other way round huh?) It was from that point I started admiring Yuzuru as a skater. My eyes were opened to the beauty of figure skating. I liked Yuzuru even more from this point onwards because I was able to truly appreciate what he was doing out there. :goe:

 

Now, my terrible friend who first showed me Yuzuru's short program doesn't even remember that once upon a time, I was not even a casual fan of figure skating... She totally forgot that she was the one who initially "corrupted" me. :xD:

[SparkleSalad]

I just posted the worlds longest first post only for it to be deleted. Please instead enjoy my boring story in fragmented sentences, then maybe some proper ones if I feel like it.

 

Australian. Japanophile. Loves traditional Japanese court music.

 

Accidentally turned skating on to see Seimei at Boston. Unbelievable, even with mistakes, better than Javier and stayed in the back of my mind. I had never seen or heard of a hydroblade. I couldn't believe my eyes. Magical.

 

Accidentally turned skating on again this year midway through Hope and Legacy. Didn't want to spoil it so waited to watch online.

 

Joe Hisaishi, boy who somehow looks beautiful in sparkles, was like watching a river. I nearly cried.

 

Then I went insane. I have had skating dreams everynight since. I spend every spare moment watching and studying and pouring over score sheets. I havent slept or eaten much because of this new obsession.

 

I'm the happiest I've ever been. Finding that someone so graceful and powerful exists has really changed my world view. I never would have thought I'd care about figure skating. It's bloody un-Australian!

 

Icing on the insanity cake, I'm now saving every cent on the off chance I can get tickets to NHK, GPF, Olympics, or even Worlds (even though Europe is much too far and I realky don't want to.) Tips to survive this process would be much appreciated. :)

 

I feel like this level of greatness isn't just reserved for appreciation by lifelong skating fans but can be recognised by anyone with eyes and a soul. It's a level of talent so rarely found in any discipline.

 

My life is over. I'm now just a host for a skating parasite.

 

 

------

 

I'd also like to apologise if I've stolen someone's trademark description of the Requiem costume. I don't know where I read it but it made me laugh and also a bit hungry. I'm just a mushrooom so it's no bother to change it if it's a problem.