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

[yuzuangel]

8 hours ago, 94yuha said:

I'd never known Yuzu-kun before tbh I'd never watch figure skating performance even once

totally knew nothing about him or fs. One day I just scrolling my twitter update about Winter Olympic

since the k-pop group I stan will be perform at the ending ceremony and then my tl is full of the pictures,

pictures of a young slim man standing gracefully on the rink with stunning pooh rain, the name is Yuzuru Hanyu.

(I quite confused about reading his last name at first I thought it was Han-yu lol)

I'm really curious about the pooh rain so I try to find out who is he, why is the pooh, why so many

people fond of him that much they follow him oversea and rain the pooh for him plus he is totally god

he's the first back to back figure skating ogm in 66 years. His story is really powerful and stunning then

while searching all about these I'm uncontrollably falling for him, deeply 

and get to know more about figure skating which I'd never known before. For someone who doesn't follow

any sport except soccer, in terms of club or national team, like me, it's like entering the whole new world.

Figure Skating World Ci

Welcome! Ci

[Msyloves]

I only became a Yuzuru Hanyu fan this Olympic season. A mutual in FB is a Shoma Uno fan and she's always posting Shoma and FS stuff. 

 

I'm a supportive mutual and would like her posts but never could get into them. Then she started posting other skaters leading up to the Olympics. I saw a Seimei gif and since I liked the movie, I checked the skater and then found out it was a record-breaking skate (GPF).

 

Wow!! It was really amazing. So I checked another video- highest-scoring program Hope & Legacy.

 

I watched it and then found myself just in tears and just crying in awe and filled with emotions that I cannot really explain. I didn't know figure skating was art. I am teary-eyed just remembering.

 

After that I just looked for everything Yuzu, found GS and Planet Hanyu, and had been lurking here ever since. I became a fan just in time to watch the Olympic SP.

 

What I do know is I really cannot watch other skaters (I tried, I really tried) but nobody else could interest me enough. Maybe because I'm not a figure skating fan and because Yuzuru spoiled me for anybody else.

 

Yuzuru is more than a figure skating to me. What he does and how he does it, it's high art for me. And now I start learning more about him, he's a very amazing person that inspires me.

 

 

 

 

[Kat]

I first started following Yuzuru during Sochi. Prior to that, my biggest reaaon for watching was Evgeni. No lie. I really liked watching him, the power he brought to the ice and his stamina. How he could continue to push himself despite all his injuries, surgeries, back pains. Watching him withdraw felt like the end of an era to me. But as the saying goes: one ending is another's beginning.

 

I was pretty upset, but I wanted to see who would take the gold. Who would rise up. Would anyone? I cant say it was instant attraction, but after the short program Yuzuru did, i was curious. Then during the free, despite how there were falls, watching the way Yuzuru blended his performance so well to the music...it wasnt the same as Evgeni, but there was something about his artistry. It was different, and it had me hooked. I havent looked back since.

[IceWings]

The first time I saw Yuzu was during the Pyeongchang Olympics when he skated his SP.

 

I used to watch fs a lot, but then life got busy and I drifted away from following sports. I wasn't even aware that this was an Olympic year! I think I heard about it in the news and decided to take a peek. I was not familiar with any of the skaters, so right before the competition started, I took a quick look at Team USA. I was all set to cheer for the home team.

 

Then I saw Yuzu skate. His Chopin Ballade 1 program was spellbinding. I went from "Don't know who this guy is, but they say he's the reigning Olympic champ" to "I REALLY, REALLY want this guy to WIN!!!" And I was sooo happy when he did win! (Seimei... )

 

After the PC Olympics, I thought I should check out what happened in Sochi (omg PW!!!). Thanks to YouTube and various web sites, etc., I was able to see a lot of Yuzu's previous competitions, interviews, EX programs, and a ton of fluff videos ().

 

Before I knew it, I got sucked in by the irresistible, gravitational pull of YH, and that's how I ended up here. 

 

I'm so glad that Yuzu is not r***ing yet because now I really want to see him in a live competition.
 

[Gaby]

15 hours ago, IceWings said:

The first time I saw Yuzu was during the Pyeongchang Olympics when he skated his SP.

 

I used to watch fs a lot, but then life got busy and I drifted away from following sports. I wasn't even aware that this was an Olympic year! I think I heard about it in the news and decided to take a peek. I was not familiar with any of the skaters, so right before the competition started, I took a quick look at Team USA. I was all set to cheer for the home team.

 

Then I saw Yuzu skate. His Chopin Ballade 1 program was spellbinding. I went from "Don't know who this guy is, but they say he's the reigning Olympic champ" to "I REALLY, REALLY want this guy to WIN!!!" And I was sooo happy when he did win! (Seimei... )

 

After the PC Olympics, I thought I should check out what happened in Sochi (omg PW!!!). Thanks to YouTube and various web sites, etc., I was able to see a lot of Yuzu's previous competitions, interviews, EX programs, and a ton of fluff videos ().

 

Before I knew it, I got sucked in by the irresistible, gravitational pull of YH, and that's how I ended up here. 

 

I'm so glad that Yuzu is not r***ing yet because now I really want to see him in a live competition.
 

The bolded  part is  me , but   4  years  ago, watching PW. I  was  like  "Hm,  I don't  know  who   he is  but  he is  kinda  cute ".  After 2.5 minutes  " I  WANT HIM TO WIN!" And,  oh , the thrill when  he  did!!

[enno0287]

I've been following Yuzuru since Helsinki. I don't normally watch figure skating as my national TV never aired it.

But his short program video popped up on my youtube and through the somewhat disastrous skate I got curious that I couldn't help finding a streaming link for the free skate.

There and then I witness perfection, grace, elegance. Everything that figure skating as sport and art could offer.

Since then I got sucked in the figure skating world own by one Yuzuru Hanyu. I couldn't get out since.

[Coquelicot]

It was Helsinki for me too.  I had actually missed all of the Sochi Olympics since I was studying abroad and didn't really have TV access.  Since I was a four-year skating fan, Yuzu completely flew under my radar.  Then, last year I "liked" The Japan Times on fb since I was getting into learning Japanese and saw they posted some language bits from time to time.  Of course they eventually wrote about the Hope & Legacy fs at Worlds, and I watched the skate out of curiosity.  It blew me away.  For some reason, I couldn't stop rewatching it.  Even though I didn't know anything about skating, there was just something so pure and otherworldly about the way he skated.  The movements and the effortlessness--it's like the ice is an extension of himself!  From there on, I watched older performances and then all the exs and interviews.  I tried to watch other skaters, but it just wasn't the same.  But Yuzu made me want to learn more about the sport and know the other competitors, so I started watching the competitions once the skating season started and learning all the technical elements and details (work in progress!).  The funny thing is, the more you learn about the sport, the more you have a greater appreciation for what Yuzu actually does!!

[Glory]

I liked him in Sochi, and I was glad he won, but I wouldn't say I was a big fan back then. I became a big fan after watching Rostelcom 2017. I was sad he came in 2nd!

[PoohCannelle]

I'm going to begin in this forum by telling how I became a fan of Yuzuru Hanyu. _{Ok, sorry for the enormous book, but I thought it could be a good pretty funny story.}

I have been scrolling in this wonderful forum (wonderful in every means, amazing in term of organisation, people, availibility, dedication etc …) for too long (well not so long, but the time I did not know Yuzuru seems so far away). I never really followed figure skating. I watched the Olympics like that, very distractedly, mostly singles events (especially because of Stéphane Lambiel first,... just look at my flag and you'll understand ahah) but missed figure skating in 2014 & 2018 (HOW ?)

 

Four months ago, I needed to do some sport studies for an essay about how artistry is judge in olympics sports (yep!). So I did artistic gymnastics ... etc .. and then came the turn of figure skating.

So what did I do? I downloaded the ISU code, the communications, and wrote "figure skating 2018" in the google search bar, decided to seriously tackle the study of this sport . I found ''Nathan Chen's short program'' among first choices . I click ''it was recent enough''. I watched and I though '' it's pretty cool! He's pretty cool! I like him. I'm gonna check some information on him on Wikipedia. '' Normal, usual, I would say. ''Oh, he's the current world champion, that's why he's good. Great ! So now, is he dominant in this sport ? What about the previous World championships in 2017 ? Oooh he didn't win. Sad. Yuzuru Hanyu ? Who's this guy ? Oh silver in 2015 & 2016, gold in 2014, bronze in 2012... I see some dominance pattern there . Let's see his wikipedia page. Hhm... Two time OGM...Wow, that's really amazing. Yeah. Silver in 2015 & 2016 were surely due to some silly mistake. Javier Fernandez ? Oh, bronze in Pyeongchang. Ok, I'll watch him later (so sorry Javier), if I don't really like this Yuzusomething. So gold in Pyeongchang, eh ! That's why he surely didn't participate in 2018 WC (pretty common in artistic gymnastics too. Simone Biles didn't participate in the 2017 WC after the 2016 OG). Ok, I need more informations now. So Pyeongchang, right ? Let's see that. Oh, Chopin Ballade n°1, I know this piece ! One of my favorite of Chopin . Video with no commentary, good. If he doesn't skate beautifully on that, I'm going to be sooo disappointed. Actually no, I'm sure it's not going to be artistically perfect, but anyway, I need to study fs for my next video. It's just 3 minutes after all.'' It lasted at least 10 5 hours. 

And that's how it started. Jumps in harmony with the music, spin with music, climax and interpretation, structure of the choreography, steps… everything was stunning. What used to make it difficult for me to get along with figure skating was that there were always passages that did not really fit with the music : I could see the jumps coming a thousand hours before, and I was worrying for the landing, I was forgetting the music ; it was 'choreography, but oops now it's time for the jump, so let's forget about the music for a few seconds, shall we ? I'll just cross all the rink without doing nothing to do a 3A. Music in harmony with the landing, with the flight, with the preparation, never heard of that !'. I think the moment that really sealed my love for this ballad (and this skater) is the passage of the 4T-3T rippon in perfect harmony with the music, arms above the head adding to the tension music, and the steps sequence and final spin crowning it all! 

 

Then, I learned more about him. I think I do not need to comment on it saying that I developed a deep admiration for this skater, that I laughed a lot and cried a little, that my internal cuteness thermometer exploded, that he is the formal proof that the technique and the need to accumulate points to win were not the antinomics of the artistry (as Yuzuru Hanyu very well says in an interview that I can't find anymore, when speaking about the need to master the technique in order to be able to express the deepest subtleties of the music ).

 

Ok so already, it's a doorstop. But it is not finished ! At the beginning of November I ended up in Finland because of my job. In Finland, in Helsinki. End of October. In my office, I meet one of my new colleague, a Japanese guy. We talk to get to know each other. He tells me he skated being young. There, a part of my brain starts to boil 'Tell him about Yuzuru Hanyu, ask him about Yuzuru Hanyu!'. The other part of my brain is like 'Just shut up. I mean perhaps everybody always speak about Hanyu in his presence, given he's Japanese and did figure skating. It's perhaps very irritating for him.' So I say a shy and polite 'Oh that's great! The figure skating can be so beautiful. It seems to me that ... figure skating is quite popular in Japan, isn't it ?' He seems wanting me to keep talking '....With some great skaters, Mao Asada, Daisuke Takahashi and uh a lot of others ... and Yuzuru Hanyu, right?' And there, this adorable Japanese colleague says to me: 'Do you know these skaters? Yuzuru Hanyu? But it's wonderful! You like him? Do you like him?'. I shake my head with force.  My colleague continues 'It's wonderful! I love this skater! I love it ! With my wife we are just ... fan! You follow figure skating ? Yes ! We are going to the Helsinki GP. You need to come. Absolutely! And then in Rostelecom too. Moscow, it's not far from here! I have a friend there, he will be very happy to welcome you! Well... if you want. I propose it like that, without really asking you...' Suddenly, he seemed almost embarrassed to have show over excitement! I think my enthusiasm quickly made him understand that he had nothing to be ashamed of . We spent great moments together in Helsinki and Moscow.

 

Everybody in the world should be aware that this guy exists. Period. 

 

Mid-October: I knew nothing about figure skating, just 1%.

Mid-November: I attended 2 GP.

Mid-December: I already turn my sister into a Fanyu.

Mid-January : next step: my friends.

 

As I don't speak japanese I'm not going to be very useful in this Planet in translation (I speak italien and french, though, but well ...). But if one day (if one day!) a GP or even a WC are held in my country, I'll be very happy to host some people from the Planet

[Nuitsuki]

@PoohCannelle your story made my day. I can’t help but having a huge smile while reading it 😊

[AkaneYamashina]

I've been hearing the name Hanyu Yuzuru for so long, but I'm way too focused on the AsadaMaoxKimYuna era at the time. Or more precisely, I only followed the women's division when it comes to figure skating. 

 

So then, one day, comes this video in my YT homepage of Yuzuru, fixing Winnie the Pooh's scrunched up face. 

I've always loved the bear and was a bit surprised that someone shared the same obsession. 

(Basically I also have a lot of Pooh stuff, but it's nothing compared to Yuzu's Pooh forest.) 

Clicking on that tsundere video was the best thing I've done in my life. 

 

It's really weird idk, because I don't think I would really notice Yuzu if not for Pooh. (I wasn't too gung-ho with the idea of males dancing gracefully on the ice. It's a bad prejudice I know. Please forgive me. TTnTT) 

But BAM! Here comes this sweet-looking boi who proved me wrong. His passion is fiercer than any warrior's, yet he can still pull off elegance and beauty with his bird-like stature. (One more thing I am most fond of: BIRDS) There's no other word for it; he's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Yuzuru embodies well his namesake and he is able to ignite the fire in pale, forgotten hearts. I have not yet had the priviledge to see him in real life that I sometimes wonder if he's real. 

Perhaps I'd still think of the same thing once I do get the chance--that he's made out of sunshine, raindrops, moonlight and stardust. 

 

More than anything, Yuzu's changed my perspective in life. I'd rather hide than do half the things that he does. I admire his strong will to tread that rough and treacherous path towards his dreams. And even when he's reached those heights (he will probably go on even higher), he never forgets to thank all the people who supports him and remains humble. I deeply respect him. You will never see another man like that on this planet or this entire Universe ever.

It is such an honour to be alive in the same era as he.

 

[utsukushii3A]

Well, I don't usually bother with introductions, so I suppose this is a good thread for my first post here!

 

I've been a fan of figure skating close to my entire life. I was born in a Winter Olympics year, and no one remembers if my dad actually had me watch, but I definitely would have heard it, because he was always glued to the figure skating. He must have shown me another competition or some articles in the paper or videotapes or something, because I was very excited for next Winter Olympics and actually remember quite a lot given that I was only 4 years old at the time. 

 

So, I would eagerly await the Winter Olympics every 4 years. I didn't even realize there were other competitions, sadly. I never really followed any skaters closely, but my favorites were, surprise surprise, Evgeny Plushenko and Johnny Weir! I also started skating when I was 10. If only I had known earlier that there was a rink right by my house!

 

In 2014, I was as usual glued to the TV for the Winter Olympics. I had never heard of Yuzu before. My first impression of him was that he has a cool name, and how is the ice not melting with someone that hot standing on it?  Then he started skating, and I was blown away. He had EVERYTHING. Athleticism, artistry, style, energy, anything I'd ever wanted to see or wished I could do on the ice. I just couldn't wait until the free skate. I prayed so hard that he'd win gold. And when I saw it, it was the short program all over again. He just had it all, and what remains to this day one of my favorite costumes in the history of figure skating to boot. (Yes, I love the R&J2 costume, and it was my phone's wallpaper for a very long time.)

EDIT: Ohhhh, I had forgotten about the team event! Yes, I first saw him in the team event and remember being very, very grateful that they'd created it, because that meant I could see him twice!

 

I was very busy between 2014 and 2018, so I didn't watch any other figure skating, and I hadn't skated, myself, in years and years. But I hadn't forgotten about Yuzu! I was looking forward to him most of all, and yet again, I was mesmerized by his skating and prayed so hard for him to win. I started following skating online and looking up more about Yuzu. The more I read about him, the more I understood why his skating is so special: he's beautiful inside and out, and it shows on the ice.

 

I also started skating again. I got back to my former level very, very quickly, and what was the first new move I did? Hydroblading, of course. 

 

Also, both of my parents love(d) him, too. He's the second non-American skater that my dad ever rooted for. (The other was Plushenko!) My dad passed away before Pyeongchang, and I like to think he was watching from Heaven.

 

My mom will watch skating when I show her, but Yuzu is the only skater she ever asks to see. I said that I feel slightly sacrilegious saying that he skates like an angel, and she replied, "Why? He is an angel!"

[yuzuangel]

12 minutes ago, utsukushii3A said:

Well, I don't usually bother with introductions, so I suppose this is a good thread for my first post here!

 

I've been a fan of figure skating close to my entire life. I was born in a Winter Olympics year, and no one remembers if my dad actually had me watch, but I definitely would have heard it, because he was always glued to the figure skating. He must have shown me another competition or some articles in the paper or videotapes or something, because I was very excited for next Winter Olympics and actually remember quite a lot given that I was only 4 years old at the time. 

 

So, I would eagerly await the Winter Olympics every 4 years. I didn't even realize there were other competitions, sadly. I never really followed any skaters closely, but my favorites were, surprise surprise, Evgeny Plushenko and Johnny Weir! I also started skating when I was 10. If only I had known earlier that there was a rink right by my house!

 

In 2014, I was as usual glued to the TV for the Winter Olympics. I had never heard of Yuzu before. My first impression of him was that he has a cool name, and how is the ice not melting with someone that hot standing on it?  Then he started skating, and I was blown away. He had EVERYTHING. Athleticism, artistry, style, energy, anything I'd ever wanted to see or wished I could do on the ice. I just couldn't wait until the free skate. I prayed so hard that he'd win gold. And when I saw it, it was the short program all over again. He just had it all, and what remains to this day one of my favorite costumes in the history of figure skating to boot. (Yes, I love the R&J2 costume, and it was my phone's wallpaper for a very long time.)

 

I was very busy between 2014 and 2018, so I didn't watch any other figure skating, and I hadn't skated, myself, in years and years. But I hadn't forgotten about Yuzu! I was looking forward to him most of all, and yet again, I was mesmerized by his skating and prayed so hard for him to win. I started following skating online and looking up more about Yuzu. The more I read about him, the more I understood why his skating is so special: he's beautiful inside and out, and it shows on the ice.

 

I also started skating again. I got back to my former level very, very quickly, and what was the first new move I did? Hydroblading, of course. 

 

Also, both of my parents love(d) him, too. He's the second non-American skater that my dad ever rooted for. (The other was Plushenko!) My dad passed away before Pyeongchang, and I like to think he was watching from Heaven.

 

My mom will watch skating when I show her, but Yuzu is the only skater she ever asks to see. I said that I feel slightly sacrilegious saying that he skates like an angel, and she replied, "Why? He is an angel!"

Welcome!! That is such a lovely story, and I think I've seen you around other places  Glad you can join us! Yuzu inspires a lot of us to skate too, please join us in this thread for any adult skating related shenanigans!! 

 

 

[anski]

Me since the 2010-2011 season! It was the first season I seriously got into skating and began learning the skaters’ names. My fav skaters were def Yuzuru, Javi, Majorov and Artur Gachinski.

[Swarna]

I am from a country named India where figure skating or any other winter sports are basically non existent.... So me being a 22 yr old and a medical student basically didn't even know that winter sport or winter Olympics even exist. But I am interested in sports so i usually watch some replys of summer Olympic matches.... It was then I saw yuzuru's peyongchang FS program and I clearly remember that the first thought that I had was Oh! Wow!!! This guy really floats on ice. And then I watched a couple of more of his videos and what I came to respect the most was his work ethic and his intelligence and deep knowledge that you feel while watching his interviews. 

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

 

 

I love to watch how he touches the ice both before going in and after going off the rink..  I love how you can see through his performance that he had put alot of effort in that. I love how inspite of every thing, he is so humble. I used to watch his videos in break while preparing for my exams because he makes me believe that if he can go through all those injuries and difficult times then I can too..... My problems are nothing compared to his and so I should be easily able to pass every difficulty....

And at last I came to know of his obsession with gold medals and my name literally means gold( to be exact it means the light that gold radiates.) See we have a connection there .