General Yuzuru Chat

February 27, 20188 yr

4 hours ago, micaelis said:

I've been thinking about Yuzu's future but also about the future of his reputation. Despite the fact that he has fans in all parts of the world, up to now the bulk of his fans have been Japanese or skating fans. I think that's about to change. Why? Blame it on Pooh. The Poohvalanches have been mentioned in virtually all the articles and shown in virtually all the news videos, but what's important here is that to those unfamiliar with figure skating all those Poohs descending onto the ice make Yuzu instantly memorable. There is no other athlete in any sport who gets that treatment from the fans out there. Pooh makes Yuzu also instantly COOL (and I'm not talking about ice here). I have a strong feeling that there are legions of new fans of Yuzu hitting the internet to find out all they can about Yuzu. It doesn't hurt that according to one commentator Yuzu has boy-band good looks. Nor does it hurt that Yuzu has through the years had some bad hurts of the body and also one dramatic hurt of the soul, his experience of the earthquake, setbacks that make his life memorable. Add to this the fact that those researchers are also learning that Yuzu may be the the greatest skater ever.

The result is that Yuzu has a biography tailor-made for a bio-pic. With the expansion of his fan-base that's ongoing I'm sure there must be some Hollywood or Japanese producers looking at Yuzu's life and thinking it would do well on the multiplex screen. I can see such a film being made, beginning with his experience of the earthquake and ending with the second Olympic gold achieved with the high drama of coming back from a serious injury and the Olympics being his first competition in nearly four months. I wouldn't be surprised to see Yuzu's face on the cover of People. He's certainly photogenic enough and the breadth and passion of his fans make Yuzu more than a sports phenomenon, actually more like a rockstar. The American teenage girls magazines might also show interest (although Yuzu will probably need to shed his shirt for some of the photos}.

In short, I think we are seeing Yuzu's reputation transitioning from a Japanese and figure skating context to a global celebrity context. It doesn't hurt that virtually all of Yuzu's competitions are available on YouTube, many with several different commentators. He's got far more YouTube coverage than any other figure skater. All in all I think Yuzu's days of relative obscurity in Toronto might be coming to an end. Yuzu's just been put on the paparazzi hit list.

One final comment - I think it quite possible that when Yuzu retires the skating rink in Sendai he started out with will be renamed after him.