I just noticed some incredible things!!  

 

#note 1: Yesterday Yuzuru Hanyu set his 10th world record in a short program in his 10th senior season!!

#note 2: Yuzuru Hanyu has set world records EVERY SINGLE YEAR SINCE 2012!!

Only exception: 2016   (but let's forgive him that one, since he became the first man to land a quad Loop that year) 

 

Yuzu's crazy world record list so far:

 

Short program:

#1 (2012): 95.07

#2 (2012): 95.32

#3 (2013): 99.84

#4 (2014): 101.45 (first skater to break the 100 point bareer in the SP)

#5 (2015): 106.33

#6 (2015): 110.95

#7 (2017): 112.72 (historic world record of the +/-3 system)

#8 (2018): 106.69

#9 (2018): 110.53

#10 (2020): 111.82

 

Free skate:

#11 (2015): 216.07 (first skater to break the 200 point bareer in the FS)

#12 (2015): 219.48

#13 (2017): 223.20 (historic world record of the +/-3 system)

#14 (2018): 197.36

#15 (2019): 206.10

 

Combined total:

#16 (2015): 322.40 (first skater to break the 300 point bareer in total)

#17 (2015): 330.43 (historic world record of the +/-3 system)

#18 (2018): 297.12

#19 (2018): 300.97

 

I'm all in for world record #20 in 2020. That would be the super slam of super slams 

 

But first I'll celebrate #19 with a good old glas of wine and Parmigiano cheese.

16 hours ago, Umebachi said:

 

Oh interesting, thanks.  Isn't that a Japanese SciFi anime which refers to an interplanetary (?) struggle on the Milky Way?   I think the anime term originally derives from an historic reference to Chinese history (not Japanese history). 

 

Yes. It has a very large following in China.

13 hours ago, Maya said:

 

"帝国" means empire or imperial.   "双璧" means two pieces of jade. They symbolize a pair of perfect humans or things.   Below are probably two earliest poems in which "雙璧" are seen in Chinese literature ("雙璧" is the traditional-character version of  "双璧").  1. 晉 傅玄 《乘輿馬賦》：“高顛懸日，雙璧象月。” This one was from the Jin Dynasty, which was from 279-420 AD. 2. 唐 駱賓王 《海曲書情》詩：“江濤讓雙璧， 渭水 擲三錢。” This one was from the Tang Dynasty, which was from 620-907 AD (Source: http://www.chinesewords.org/dict/56372-345.html)

^ This is what the two words mean separately. Both are quite common phrases.

 

But combined together, the only one I am aware of is from  "银河英雄传说".

Chinese history is not on my top list when I was in school though.

 

* Sorry for the double post. I don't know how to multi-quote from posts on different pages.

 

20 hours ago, Umebachi said:

Apparently, the Chinese fans refer to Ballade and Seimei as the "Imperial Twin".   Chinese fans are so creative at finding appropriate poetic expressions and are able to dig deep into their treasure-trove of literary references.  In Japanese, 双璧 soheki means two excellent things that cannot be distinguished from each other (like a twin).  This imperial twin must refer to some famous historic pairs from the Chinese history.  Does anyone know? 

 

 

 

 

According to this site (https://gimon-sukkiri.jp/soheki/), 双璧 is a word someone used to praise two brilliant sons of 陸凱, who worked for the 6th emperor of Northern Wei. So 帝国双璧 might be the origin of the word 双璧. 

3 hours ago, sweetwater said:

According to this site (https://gimon-sukkiri.jp/soheki/), 双璧 is a word someone used to praise two brilliant sons of 陸凱, who worked for the 6th emperor of Northern Wei. So 帝国双璧 might be the origin of the word 双璧. 

 

Yes, I think that is the historic reference I was searching for, thank you!  China's period of warring kingdoms - 南北朝時代(439~589年).  To tie this back to Yuzu, the phrase has the ring of legendary heroes from history.  Chinese commentators and fanyus are creative at making these epic references - more so than the Japanese commentators, who tend to focus on the here and now and the kawaii/cute side.  

 

 

With the discussion over records, it would be great if Yuzu tonight (for those of us in the US where his skating is 'tonight') he set a FS record and also a total score record.  Shades of NHK 2015.  Going into worlds then there would be a lot of people wondering if he will follow it with a repeat of GPF 2015, where he broke all the records he'd set just 2 weeks before.  This is really one of those times where I'd like to see history repeat itself.

2 hours ago, Umebachi said:

Chinese commentators and fanyus are creative at making these epic references - more so than the Japanese commentators, who tend to focus on the here and now and the kawaii/cute side. 

 

I mean, nothing wrong with highlighting his cuteness, but you just have to acknowledge his duality  (especially when it counts...)

I am so proud that Yuzu sets goals every year and slays them.

Praying for the best in his free later.

 

From 出ない順 試験に出ない英単語 (The most unlikely English words you would find in an English exam) series:
"Hanyu showed the best performance. I have decided we will quadruple the minimum hourly wage starting tomorrow."

 

Reference: Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga:

https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/5c635f9a2600004602fd5acc.jpeg?ops=scalefit_630_noupscale

A short recap of this season so far:

 

Yuzu broke all four curses that haunted him for so long:

1. Skate Canada silver curse

2. Ankle injury at second GP curse (for me this is the most important curse that has been broken, thank God)

3. "I-can't-win-if-Papadakis-and-Cizeron-win"-curse

4. 4CC silver curse

 

Other key accomplishments so far:

1. Yuzu reached the second highest total score of his career at Skate Canada

2. He became the first man to land a 4T+1Eu+3F in competition

3. At the GPF he landed the 4Lz for the first time since 2017

4. He landed 5 quads in a freeskate for the first time in his career

5. At 4CC he set his 10th world record in the short and his 19th overall

6. He became the first man to win a career super slam

7. Most importantly: he is still healthy and skated 6 competitions this season already.

 

Whatever happens at Worlds, he can be so proud of himself. Despite the crazy judging, the narratives, the painful defeats and the program issues he just never gave up. He fights like a true champion again and again and is the light of hope for everyone, who has to face injustice and hard times him- or herself.

On 2020/2/8 at 午前6時14分, Umebachiさんが言いました:

Apparently, the Chinese fans refer to Ballade and Seimei as the "Imperial Twin".   Chinese fans are so creative at finding appropriate poetic expressions and are able to dig deep into their treasure-trove of literary references.  In Japanese, 双璧 soheki means two excellent things that cannot be distinguished from each other (like a twin).  This imperial twin must refer to some famous historic pairs from the Chinese history.  Does anyone know? 

 

 

 

 

 

In the novel I love, 銀河英雄伝説 (Legend of the Galactic Heroes), there are two extinguished generals in the imperial army referred to as 双璧.

Maybe two programs are what serve Yuzu as his indispensable generals.

 

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legend_of_the_Galactic_Heroes

 

https://gineipaedia.com/wiki/Wolfgang_Mittermeyer

https://gineipaedia.com/wiki/Oskar_von_Reuenthal

 

 

 

So today I couldn't put my mind on anything cuz 4CC sucked all my attention lmaooo and I had absolutely no regret cuz I've been ecstatic all day 

What makes me happiest is Yuzu finally broke 4CC curse and finished ALL titles, nothing left on table now. However, for the first time, I started put myself in his shoes and thinking "Til this point, why should I keep competing?" and realize how hard it is to keep the motivation after achieving everything. Ofc 4A is cool and I might try to get that, but succeeding 1 jump and competing to win are 2 different things that might trade off each other. If I were him, I might withdraw from some comps to focus on training 4A lol. I guess Yuzu foresaw this situation right after 2 OGMs and has struggled to find the motivation to keep going since then.

 

Before I always considered winning is utmost important. Ofc winning is good but now, he got ALL titles: super slam + 2 OGMs, so except more OGMs, will it make a difference with extra Worlds/GPF/4CC titles once he retires? It's all same for me. So what I anticipate from now is just 4A and holy performances like Chopin 4CC when ppl will keep watching even after he quits.

 

(for now ppl will watch any "winning" performance but time will tell which one is truly valuable, ppl rmb Winter of Yagudin but no one bothers Evan Lysacek's Olympic skates, just rmb the scandal )

Interesting, someone identified the new Seimei color as "parrot green":

 

 

(Below is Google translate from page linked in original tweet, has more detail than the separate English description)

 

Moegiiro is a yellow-green color that resembles a young leaf that sprout in early spring. It is a traditional color name that has been used since the Heian era, and is also separately described as "Moegi".

It is a color that symbolizes youth because of the color of the young green sapling, and was loved as a color for young people in the Heian period. In the Heike Monogatari, the 18-year-old Heike nobleman, "Atsumori Taira," wears Moe Ozori's armor, and the twenty-year-old master of the bow, "Yoichi Nasu," wears Moe Omoe's armor.  Moe yellow is used as a symbol of young warriors, such as wearing.

 

It is also written as "Moegi Moegi". In this case, it refers to the dark green color derived from green onions and green onions, and became popular in the Edo period. By the way, the colors of Kabuki regular curtains are "black", "persimmon" and "moegiiro".

He is incredible.

 

I admit, I was a bit worried about his mental state going into this. I can't even imagine how hard the end of 2019 must have been for him, how painful those results, and then again how hard it must have been to give up on Otonal and Origin. Both programs meant a lot to him, so I can imagine it must have been an extremely hard decision to take. Him being down would have been totally understandable - if not ideal, going into a competition.

 

But instead, he seems to have attained a revised version of his "Zen mentality" from after the Olympics. He seems to have remembered what's most important to him after all - skating as himself, in his way, by his standards. And he seems to have decided that THAT is actually more important than winning. That it's not worth sacrificing any of that for the sake of winning. Unlike the previous zen phase, though, he still does want to win. But he wants to find a way to win while still staying true to himself. The fact that he's not so adamant about 4A anymore. The way he's like: "I want to do it, I feel like I'm almost there with landing it, but I can't say 100% that I'll do it, but that's fine." There's no feeling of urgency in his actions and decisions, I think. And all this points me towards him not considering retirement at the end of this season after all. I think he might have reached a point where skating as himself, and doing his best by his standards, truly is more important than the scores he's given. On the other hand, it's easier to stay true to such a mindframe when you're still winning, despite scoring issues. If he lost, the kuyashii might become super strong again and drown out the zen, but hopefully not.

 

Bottom line for me is that while some of his comments and decisions felt like maybe he was actually getting ready to call it a day, his latest comments feel more like he's considering this a new beginning and still feels he has more to give to the FS world and is planning to stay for as long as that still feels true. But then another interview might come out tomorrow that might feel like the opposite again lol. But there really doesn't seem to be much urgency in him and there's no way he'd retire and leave things unfinished. He'd feel some urgency to accomplish some more stuff before retiring, I think... maybe...

 

1 minute ago, monchan said:

So today I couldn't put my mind on anything cuz 4CC sucked all my attention lmaooo and I had absolutely no regret cuz I've been ecstatic all day 

What makes me happiest is Yuzu finally broke 4CC curse and finished ALL titles, nothing left on table now. However, for the first time, I started put myself in his shoes and thinking "Til this point, why should I keep competing?" and realize how hard it is to keep the motivation after achieving everything. Ofc 4A is cool and I might try to get that, but succeeding 1 jump and competing to win are 2 different things that might trade off each other. If I were him, I might withdraw from some comps to focus on training 4A lol. I guess Yuzu foresaw this situation right after 2 OGMs and has struggled to find the motivation to keep going since then.

 

Before I always considered winning is utmost important. Ofc winning is good but now, he got ALL titles: super slam + 2 OGMs, so except more OGMs, will it make a difference with extra Worlds/GPF/4CC titles once he retires? It's all same for me. So what I anticipate from now is just 4A and holy performances like Chopin 4CC when ppl will keep watching even after he quits.

 

(for now ppl will watch any "winning" performance but time will tell which one is truly valuable, ppl rmb Winter of Yagudin but no one bothers Evan Lysacek's Olympic skates, just rmb the scandal )

While I get your point and focusing on 4A would make some sense, I'm not sure Yuzu thinks like that. To him, even his 2 OGMs are a thing of the past. Precisely because he's won everything, it's natural to keep on winning. Just because he's won everything in the past doesn't mean anything for the future, only that if he's really that good, he should be able to rightfully keep on winning. Some such thing.

 

My current thought is that he might work in incorporating 4A, when it's ready, in the total package of HIS brand of figure skating. So as to increase the technical, but without sacrificing the rest. I think he did lose sight of that a bit with Origin, especially, but also Otonal, when he pushed the combination back into the second half. Probably not at all helped that he couldn't properly grasp the spiritual side of the programs, as it wasn't really him. Now, he seems to want to keep the spirit intact, focus on what he wants to express and increase the technical around that. Probably more gradually than with Origin, too, though 4S-3A-3F-spin sequence isn't really gradual by normal standards lol It won't be easy and it might take time, but it's what, to me, it seems he might be into doing right now. Rather than just land 4A and adios. But I could be entirely wrong lol

13 minutes ago, LadySnowblood said:

Interesting, someone identified the new Seimei color as "parrot green":

 

 

(Below is Google translate from page linked in original tweet, has more detail than the separate English description)

 

Moegiiro is a yellow-green color that resembles a young leaf that sprout in early spring. It is a traditional color name that has been used since the Heian era, and is also separately described as "Moegi".

It is a color that symbolizes youth because of the color of the young green sapling, and was loved as a color for young people in the Heian period. In the Heike Monogatari, the 18-year-old Heike nobleman, "Atsumori Taira," wears Moe Ozori's armor, and the twenty-year-old master of the bow, "Yoichi Nasu," wears Moe Omoe's armor.  Moe yellow is used as a symbol of young warriors, such as wearing.

 

It is also written as "Moegi Moegi". In this case, it refers to the dark green color derived from green onions and green onions, and became popular in the Edo period. By the way, the colors of Kabuki regular curtains are "black", "persimmon" and "moegiiro".

The google-translated explanation is actually referring to two different colors both pronounced Moegi --萌黄 and 萌葱.
The first one is 萌黄

and the second one is 萌葱.

 

The color used in the new SEIMEI costume is the first one, the color of young leaves.