General Yuzuru Chat

[makebelieveup]

@micaelis Happy birthday! Wish you stay healthy and happy as a fanyu! the fact that Yuzu has such a wide demography of fans makes me happy.

 

---

I have been traumatized by world19 so much I am actually happy to know it is officially over. Warning: pessimistic rant ahead

 

I spent four months waiting every single day just to see him compete again. I already had a bad feeling about this competition compared to PC because of many reasons: 1) people no longer dropped expectation for him because of what they witnessed 2) he didnt have any muscle memory of the programs like seimei/chopin or clean skates to rely on 3) he had no competiton experience for over 4 months 4) he got really fired up when he was back unlike at PC where he was a lot calmer 5) skating at home has more pressure on him bc he knew people expected him to get home inflation.

 

But I still waited and waited because I believed. I know he doesn't always win and I know he doesn't have to but the way this competition played out just crashed over me like a huge wave. Regardless, I know the person who experiences the most pain is Yuzu himself. I am looking ahead to see many more competition from Yuzu and really hope he can skate two clean programs at WTT if he chooses to go. I know that would be his hope to end this season with a smile if he could get two world records back.

 

One side of me is amazed that it seems like Yuzu is subconciously entering that era after Olympic again where he is a step toward his next gold medal. To see how his fire to reach the top has been rekindled by one "failure" is both inspirational and terrifying. 

 

It's inspirational because after what he has achieved, he still believes he can do more to achieve his next happiness. How many skater you can name is actually that self awareness about themselves? Even if they say they need to improve, do their performance really reflect that? I do have this gut feeling that he is thinking about Beijing. I didnt get this feeling before but from the things he said in post world interviews, with what he wants to achieve, it might take another 3 seasons to fulfill. 

 

It's terrifying because the road he has chosen ahead of him is now beyond difficult for what his own mind or body can bear. We are now entering a phase where a perfect Yuzuru can be beaten through corruption. He is not getting younger and cannot afford to test new jumps. The thing with Yuzu is he can't afford mistakes like other top skaters because the sport doesnt put him on the same standard. He needs to test new jumps in competitions but that would mean he has a high possibility of losing the comp and at this point in his career, losing a  competition would affect his rep, which subsequentially, would affect his scores. Younger skaters can afford the trial and error process when trying to up their tech and is actually rewarded because they are seen as potential future stars. But with Yuzu, his default standard is gold. He needs to go through the process of trial and error very strategically to get both the success of the jumps to avoid injuring himself and sitting out for the rest of the season and to win. 

 

It's also terrifying because some of his responses sound like he is writing off all of his achievements. I am bitter by the fact that he is seeing his loss as a lack of ability/acknowledging other skaters as if the results reflect a true meaning to his and their skatings. Yes, I know Yuzu is someone who has a special way of thinking and that is what I love him for, but I still can't help but feel extremely bitter about this. To me, he was the clear winner of the free and his loss was out of his control. What is also more terrifying is at this point in his career, his scores are pretty much capped and his achievements didnt help one bit. It took him 5 years and 2 gold medals to actually get his scores, and yet he is still put in a situation by the judges to be challenged. It's like they dont know what to do with Yuzu anymore since he hasnt declared his direction so it is unclear how much longer he will compete. Why keep crowning the current king when he is going to leave the sport soon. Why not crown a new king to reign him until the next olympic?

 

I want to ask Yuzu a rhetorical question, is it worth it? Is it worth risking your body, emotion, and energy to try to be beyond the corruption of this sport? While I will never define him by the results and scores alone and no matter what placement he gets he is still the best skater of all time to me, I know he cares! And I care that he cares. I feel really helpless thinking how no matter how much we voice it out it isn't changing anything. But Yuzu needs our support and if that is the one thing we can do for him I am giving him my all.

[utsukushii3A]

Wow, my mom is busy and can't watch Yuzu with me right now, and just having to wait a few hours is making me sad. My heart goes out to all of you whose families won't watch with you at all!  It's only a few minutes, what's the big deal?

[Sabrina]

I showed my mom H&L a while ago and she said : „and what’s so special about him „ I do not even talk about figureskating when she’s there because she gets annoyed pretty quickly when she hears the word figureskating! 

[SuperMin]

He wants what he wants.

 

[kaeryth]

Yuzuru Hanyu: “I want to further experience that thrill.” Q&A after 2019 World Championships

Translation by nanoka12: http://nanoka12.tumblr.com/post/183675612351/

 

Quote

Right now, in the way I said earlier, through this season, finally I could see my origins. After all, sports are enjoyable. I want to further experience that feeling which is like a thrill that wells up when I see a strong opponent, and on top of that to be able to think that I want to win. It feels that the 4A is also here now for that purpose.

 

[TallyT]

1 hour ago, Freyuru said:

 But without doubt Yuzu is gaining fans daily worldwide, in Nathan's case i think his fans will only ever be his fellow country people. 

 

No that's unfair, and I speak as someone who gets absolutely nothing good or bad, just a void, from Nathan's skating.  He has fans in other countries with reason, he is great at what he does and while his personality seems to be very ordinary, it also seems to be a good man: pleasant, hardworking and as generous as Yuzu or Javi.  He will have fans, just as any top athlete does, and he and they need to be respected.

 

But I don't believe for one minute he will ever be - and probably doesn't want to be - as loved and revered as Yuzu at home or worldwide (the only one I can think of who was near is Plushy. Oh, and Yuna of course). He also won't be the saviour of the sport in NA that they are hyping and hoping for.  He doesn't have a country that cares very much. Nor does he - nor any of the others, not even Shoma or Javi -  the lighting in crystal aspects Yuzu does, the bishonen appeal, the unearthly emotional connection with his audience, the love and respect of a whole country, the vulnerability, the tragedy and triumph, the symbolism of being Sendai's hope and the phoenix, the symbol of courage and strength for the people who have needed it.

 

There are many sporting legends, and Nathan may well become one of them.  But Yuzu is a legend in many more ways, more than human and all too human, to many of his people, and I wouldn't be surprised in the years to come if he is named as a national treasure.

 

 

 

[rockstaryuzu]

1 hour ago, Paskud said:

No, he shouldn't. Otherwise he will end like Patrick. And HE knows it.

Except that Yuzu's coaching team is on the ball and would catch him long before he slid too far down that slippery slope...

 

[rockstaryuzu]

All the things Yuzu has said about how competing is what makes him happy, and about how having a strong opponent gives him a thrill and makes him want to win even more, reminds me of two things:

 

1. every shonen manga protagonist ever. 

2. that Bible verse from Ps 19 that describes the sun as  'rejoicing as a strong man to run a race'; the theme being 'the heavens declare the glory of God'. Yuzu absolutely sounds like 'a strong man rejoicing in testing his mettle in a race. 

 

yeah. my Yuzu obsession keeps pointing me back to my faith. Is that weird? 

[hopeandlegacy2018]

I’m worried for Yuzu’s ankles as he plans to train all the quads. Why is he like this?

 

Edge jumps are difficult but don’t get nearly as much base value sigh. (Figure skating is such an unfair sport in so many ways, no wonder it’s dying. Athletes are better off doing other sports. ) He mentioned the toe jumps have a better landing percentage. Besides the difficulty, edge jumps are also more easily affected by ice condition. Now that I think about it, when the temprature in the arena is too high, it usually affects him, like in Boston, and it happened here again in Saitama. 

I really admire Yuzu for traning the quad loop despite its low base value. But skaters who want to win should focus on traning quad Flip and Lutz first instead of the loop and sal. Raf is a great strategist in that sense. I wonder if Yuzu regretted not focusing on training the toe jumps years ago. 

 

 

[Louitunes]

1 hour ago, Freyuru said:

My mum watched the FS replay last night on Eurosport UK..  she only saw Yuzu and Nathan. Probably the last time my mother watched skating was back in the days of Torvill and Dean. However much to my delight, she said "oh the first guy in the black and gold is extremely good, the other guy is good, but definitely not in the same league at the first guy" She couldn't believe when i told her that "the other guy" won.. But without doubt Yuzu is gaining fans daily worldwide, in Nathan's case i think his fans will only ever be his fellow country people. 

Well I'm not a countryman and I'm a fan.  He's no Yuzuru Hanyu - boy's a God -  but Nathan is talented in his own way.  He's worked hard to compete at this level.  He's trying with the choreography... it's improving.  He's a nice kid.  When Yuzu couldn't compete at Milan, Shoma, Mikhail, Boyang and yes Nathan made my trip there really enjoyable.  

[SuperMin]

Ok ... now a fun question.  I say this suit may actually be tailored???  Look at that waist.

 

[utsukushii3A]

 

 

Translation:
4Lo: We are always completely,
4S (actually 4T, but reversed for grammar): firmly within
4T (actually 4S): your mind and body,
3A: so yeah,
1Eu: believe!!

 

[yuzuangel]

24 minutes ago, SuperMin said:

Ok ... now a fun question.  I say this suit may actually be tailored???  Look at that waist.

 

but he looks 12

[rockstaryuzu]

4 minutes ago, yuzuangel said:

but he looks 12

And Kozlovski looks like a high schooler at senior prom...nice tux though.

[utsukushii3A]

48 minutes ago, SuperMin said:

Ok ... now a fun question.  I say this suit may actually be tailored???  Look at that waist.

 

 

Handsome lads. 

 

Dima's suit looks like it's made out of a similar material to Yuzu's costume pants. I wonder if Yuzu saw it and wished he'd thought of that.