General Yuzuru Chat

[¯\_(ツ)_/¯]

10 時間前, Forcefieldさんが言いました:

I think a whole bunch of people who only watch Olympics, especially the past me, checked out Yuzu's short program Parisen Walkways because it broke wr and were surprised to actually like it because of how far it strayed from their thought about fs and the prejudice on the men's singles, like, "Wow, I didn't know FS could be dynamic and exciting like this." LGC had the potential to make casual viewers take notice. And Yuzu knew it's potential. But I concur, I think Chopin was the smart choice for the masterplan. And perhaps its elegance and flow would also change people's mind and see the beauty in the men's singles too.

 

Hmmm. I suppose for those who don't follow fs but remember him for PW from Sochi, seeing LGC would be like seeing him level up as a showman figure skater. Like, if PW was lv50, LGC would be like lv99.

 

Seeing Chopin, though, would be seeing him step in a completely different direction for them, like, he completely switched character classes or something. For example, say, if he was a human Bard before, he's an elven Druid now. And then only to see him switch it again for his FS, into one that's not just once again completely different from his SP, but also completely different from his Sochi FS.

 

So even if to us, it may seem like we don't get to see anything that's completely fresh from him program-wise this season, and even as we all know how incredibly versatile he truly is (though I'm not sure if it stretches to him successfully being able to pull off tangoes...and Africa), to these people, they'd be freshly experiencing his versatility. And that's always a good thing. I, for one, can't wait to see all these people's reactions. ୧⍢⃝୨

[kiches]

20 minutes ago, Forcefield said:

I think a whole bunch of people who only watch Olympics, especially the past me, checked out Yuzu's short program Parisen Walkways because it broke wr and were surprised to actually like it because of how far it strayed from their thought about fs and the prejudice on the men's singles, like, "Wow, I didn't know FS could be dynamic and exciting like this." LGC had the potential to make casual viewers take notice. And Yuzu knew it's potential. But I concur, I think Chopin was the smart choice for the masterplan. And perhaps its elegance and flow would also change people's mind and see the beauty in the men's singles too.

 

I was a once-in-four-years fan before Sochi and I loved Parisienne Walkways immediately. Parisienne Walkways smashed my pre-conceived notion of what men's figure skating was like. LGC definitely is a crowd-pleaser and plays to the audience in a similar way the PW did (although it's even more overt than PW in my opinion). I didn't love Ballade immediately, but it may be because the first version I saw of it was what he showed at Dreams on Ice and I think the size of that rink didn't allow him to show it off as well at the time (on the contrary, since his ability has increased I don't find the recent version from FaoI to have this problem). I remember I did like Ballade by the time we saw it at Cup of China (mistakes and all). LGC is playful, while Ballade has this ethereal quality to it. Both are very commanding and captivating, just in very different ways. I do think Ballade has more gravitas than LGC and that will appeal to some of the same, but also different crowd, as well.

[Forcefield]

Well, honestly I'm not a big fan of LGC but it is THE program that makes Yuzu channel his inner diva and explore it, along with PW. The biggest thing I'll miss honestly is (if he doesn't use it as an EX), despite how fabulous Seimei or Chopin are, the encores he does during the (JPN) galas and shows to LGC and PW are just on another level (because they are crowd pleasers and allow the audience to almost be part of it -extroverted, I guess.)

[BrightonDogwoods]

1 hour ago, xeyra said:

 

This interpretation depends a bit on the translator, I think. @gladi's interpretation of that was 'wildness' whereas iron_klaus was rough masculinity. Take which one you prefer.

I'll take ROUGH MASCULINITY please, and thank you iron_klaus 

Of course @gladi's translations are wonderful and I know nothing about the Japanese language so I have no opinion on which is 'better' 

[¯\_(ツ)_/¯]

48 分ぐらい, BrightonDogwoodsさんが言いました:

I'll take ROUGH MASCULINITY please, and thank you iron_klaus 

Of course @gladi's translations are wonderful and I know nothing about the Japanese language so I have no opinion on which is 'better' 

 

If you don't mind my input, I personally feel @gladi's one is more on point objectively (as well as closer to something Hanyu himself might say if he were speaking English) while Iron Klaus' one is more subject to their personal interpretation. They're both great work, ofc. And since personal interpretation is a personal freedom, by all means, keep it. ^.^ It's not all that completely far-fetched still, after all.

 

@Forcefield's "inner diva" also kind of works, btw, as far as personal interpretation goes. In fact, I think I like that one the best. xxxD

[micaelis]

Greetings.

I've just signed up and only in the last few months have known about Yuzu.  Essentially I'm new to the figure skating scene and I will admit my interest now is primarily in Yuzu, who I see as more than simply a figure skater.  Actually he's a phenomenon.  I've often wondered when Brian Orser undertook to train Yuzu if he had any inkling of what Yuzu would become.  I think it safe to say that Yuzu is simply bigger than figure skating.  Whether he can be called the greatest skater ever will be dependent on the season all of us are awaiting.

 

For me there has arisen the question of what it is in Yuzuru Hanyu that has elicited from me the most fervent admiration I have had for any public figure in the seventy years I've lived on this planet.  I perceive in Yuzu a nobility that almost every public figure lacks.  On the ice he is a fierce competitor but off it he's the boy next door.  One looks in vain for any arrogance or petulance that so many public figures demonstrate.  Why might that be?  I think it all comes into focus if we remember what happened on the eleventh of March in 2011.  Yuzu almost certainly remembers it for on that day he found himself terrified and scrambling for safety as the earth beneath the ice on which he was skating bucked and heaved.  In his skates, without any skate guards on them, he fled the rink which would cease to be his skating home for the next several months.  He and his family would live in a shelter for the next three days.  His world was wrenched apart and we have his own testimony how turbulent and agonized were his feelings after the event.  What happened?  Yuzu learned that there is more to the world than skating and that lesson has remained with him ever since.  He had a glimpse of the possibility of death.  That has kept everything in perspective since then.

 

At least that 's how I read the situation.

 

What has emerged since then is a superstar of superstars, a skater who has become the object of almost cult-like devotion.  I remember seeing the video of the end of his long program at the 2015 worlds and actually laughing at the avalanche of flowers and Pooh bears (some of them as large as a toddler).  I remember when commentator remarking that they should put a plow on a zamboni to clear the ice.  That phenomenon, to be observed after almost every performance Yuzu gives, makes it necessary that the managers of any competition he is in have as many flower girls as possible.

 

So he's the object of fervent devotion.  Partly, as I said above, because of his obvious genuineness and humility.  I have another observation, though, that I think is also a factor - Facially he is very much an anime figure.  He possesses the inverted triangle facial shape that is the convention for anime characters and he shows no trace of beard growth.  He is, in fact, a perpetual adolescent or teenager.  If he were in the United States, with his looks, I would venture to say he would still be carded well into his thirties.  All this gives him a certain aura of vulnerability which feeds into the mindset of his legions of admirers.  I think that vulnerability is also a result of the fact that in the last few years we have seen that Yuzu's greatest weakness is his sometimes inconsistency.  Every Yuzu fan knows that other skaters don't defeat him.  He defeats himself leaving the other skaters to move in for the kill. One should not forget that of the eleven records Yuzu has set, only one time has a record he set been broken by someone other than himself.  That was in 2013 when Patrick Chan broke a record Yuzu had set for the short program.  Two weeks later, however, Yuzu broke Patrick's record.  Of Yuzu's eleven records, seven have involved him topping a record he had established.  Not bad - just some of the statistical data to confirm why these last few years of figure skating should be seen as the Yuzuru Hanyu era.  Since the 2013-2014 season where he took the GPF gold, the Olympic gold and the World Championship gold he has remained the one to beat in men's figure skating. As Johnny Weir said during one broadcast, "No one can beat a perfect Yuzuru Hanyu."

 

Another short comment - It is interesting that Yuzu's mother, who is reportedly living in Toronto with him and traveling with him for competitions, is never seen on TV.  I'm thinking how Michael Phelps' mother was always very visible at his competitions. It would be nice if Yuzu's fans could at least be given some information about his family.

 

Final comment - looking toward the Olympics coming up, unless Yuzu has a meltdown in the season preceding, which is highly unlikely, my betting is that Yuzu will be carrying the flag in the opening ceremony.  After all, he was the only Japanese athlete across all disciplines to win a gold medal at Sochi and he is arguably the most popular Japanese athlete ever in any sport. (A related, totally off-topic remark - I expect that in the summer games almost certainly to be held in Los Angeles in 2028 I expect that it is Michael Phelps who will light the torch).  So in any case that is all for the present.  I know this is a long post but there is a lot I wanted to say to others.  Hopefully future messages will be considerably shorter.

[Dori6886]

8 hours ago, xeyra said:

 

Although I love the idea of black and red Seimei, I think I'd also really love a version similar to this.

Isn't gold on costumes considered as olympic jinx?

 

3 hours ago, Hydroblade said:

OT: Our lord and saviour fujitv has a takarazuka channel  takarazuka all day! I've watched it quite a lot of times

Which channel is it? It sounds great!

[Hydroblade]

Welcome, @micaelis! Like all of us, you were captured by this... Thing... we call Yuzuru Hanyu  i hope you post often and please share your thoughts with us, this is why this place exists after all  

2 minutes ago, Dori6886 said:

Isn't gold on costumes considered as olympic jinx?

 

Which channel is it? It sounds great!

It's almost at the very end of the list, on the CS part, i think it's called TAKARAZUKA SKY  

[¯\_(ツ)_/¯]

43 分ぐらい, micaelisさんが言いました:

*pretty much everything*

 

...wow. That brought tears to my eyes. And, boy, do you have a a real classy way of gushing. I'd love to pick your brain so I do hope you'd continue to grace us, or at least me, with your thoughts, extended or otherwise. I'll take anything you wish to offer. The guy has a profound effect on all those he's managed to touch, one that's beyond simply what an athlete has on their (legions of) admirers, and hearing any account of it is always, always a pleasure.

 

P/s: One thing though, another thing I admire about him, and speaks volumes about the kind of person he's brought up to be is, quite simply, the way his family shuns the limelight. And the guy himself generally doesn't impose himself on the public, when he's not out there skating. That's really something else, I feel. Like personal fame really isn't what he's after, and his actions, together with that of his family's, back it up. Some say they're restraining themselves in due respect to the victims of the 3/11 disaster, many of whom supported him on his way up, but I think they're all just really modest and quiet by nature. :o) Either way, even though I'm saying all this now, I generally prefer to keep from talking about them (even though I wonder sometimes...who wouldn't?) because it seems like that's what they'd prefer.

[Fay]

12 minutes ago, micaelis said:

Greetings.

I've just signed up and only in the last few months have known about Yuzu.  Essentially I'm new to the figure skating scene and I will admit my interest now is primarily in Yuzu, who I see as more than simply a figure skater.  Actually he's a phenomenon.  I've often wondered when Brian Orser undertook to train Yuzu if he had any inkling of what Yuzu would become.  I think it safe to say that Yuzu is simply bigger than figure skating.  Whether he can be called the greatest skater ever will be dependent on the season all of us are awaiting.

 

For me there has arisen the question of what it is in Yuzuru Hanyu that has elicited from me the most fervent admiration I have had for any public figure in the seventy years I've lived on this planet.  I perceive in Yuzu a nobility that almost every public figure lacks.  On the ice he is a fierce competitor but off it he's the boy next door.  One looks in vain for any arrogance or petulance that so many public figures demonstrate.  Why might that be?  I think it all comes into focus if we remember what happened on the eleventh of March in 2011.  Yuzu almost certainly remembers it for on that day he found himself terrified and scrambling for safety as the earth beneath the ice on which he was skating bucked and heaved.  In his skates, without any skate guards on them, he fled the rink which would cease to be his skating home for the next several months.  He and his family would live in a shelter for the next three days.  His world was wrenched apart and we have his own testimony how turbulent and agonized were his feelings after the event.  What happened?  Yuzu learned that there is more to the world than skating and that lesson has remained with him ever since.  He had a glimpse of the possibility of death.  That has kept everything in perspective since then.

 

At least that 's how I read the situation.

 

What has emerged since then is a superstar of superstars, a skater who has become the object of almost cult-like devotion.  I remember seeing the video of the end of his long program at the 2015 worlds and actually laughing at the avalanche of flowers and Pooh bears (some of them as large as a toddler).  I remember when commentator remarking that they should put a plow on a zamboni to clear the ice.  That phenomenon, to be observed after almost every performance Yuzu gives, makes it necessary that the managers of any competition he is in have as many flower girls as possible.

 

So he's the object of fervent devotion.  Partly, as I said above, because of his obvious genuineness and humility.  I have another observation, though, that I think is also a factor - Facially he is very much an anime figure.  He possesses the inverted triangle facial shape that is the convention for anime characters and he shows no trace of beard growth.  He is, in fact, a perpetual adolescent or teenager.  If he were in the United States, with his looks, I would venture to say he would still be carded well into his thirties.  All this gives him a certain aura of vulnerability which feeds into the mindset of his legions of admirers.  I think that vulnerability is also a result of the fact that in the last few years we have seen that Yuzu's greatest weakness is his sometimes inconsistency.  Every Yuzu fan knows that other skaters don't defeat him.  He defeats himself leaving the other skaters to move in for the kill. One should not forget that of the eleven records Yuzu has set, only one time has a record he set been broken by someone other than himself.  That was in 2013 when Patrick Chan broke a record Yuzu had set for the short program.  Two weeks later, however, Yuzu broke Patrick's record.  Of Yuzu's eleven records, seven have involved him topping a record he had established.  Not bad - just some of the statistical data to confirm why these last few years of figure skating should be seen as the Yuzuru Hanyu era.  Since the 2013-2014 season where he took the GPF gold, the Olympic gold and the World Championship gold he has remained the one to beat in men's figure skating. As Johnny Weir said during one broadcast, "No one can beat a perfect Yuzuru Hanyu."

 

Another short comment - It is interesting that Yuzu's mother, who is reportedly living in Toronto with him and traveling with him for competitions, is never seen on TV.  I'm thinking how Michael Phelps' mother was always very visible at his competitions. It would be nice if Yuzu's fans could at least be given some information about his family.

 

Final comment - looking toward the Olympics coming up, unless Yuzu has a meltdown in the season preceding, which is highly unlikely, my betting is that Yuzu will be carrying the flag in the opening ceremony.  After all, he was the only Japanese athlete across all disciplines to win a gold medal at Sochi and he is arguably the most popular Japanese athlete ever in any sport. (A related, totally off-topic remark - I expect that in the summer games almost certainly to be held in Los Angeles in 2028 I expect that it is Michael Phelps who will light the torch).  So in any case that is all for the present.  I know this is a long post but there is a lot I wanted to say to others.  Hopefully future messages will be considerably shorter.

Thank you, that was a terrific first post - keep writing, it's great to read more and more people find Yuzu special! 

Small correction - Patrick beat Yuzu's record and he held it a bit longer, I think. Patrick's SP at the 2013 was also a record score wasn't it? I might well be mistaken, though

[xeyra]

3 minutes ago, Dori6886 said:

Isn't gold on costumes considered as olympic jinx?

 

No idea. I don't keep up with superstitions! 

[xeyra]

Just now, Fay said:

Thank you, that was a terrific first post - keep writing, it's great to read more and more people find Yuzu special! 

Small correction - Patrick beat Yuzu's record and he held it a bit longer, I think. Patrick's SP at the 2013 was also a record score wasn't it? I might well be mistaken, though

 

Yep, but then Yuzu broke it back at GPF. 

[Lunna]

4 часа назад, xeyra сказал:

@gladi's version of the translation of the earlier interview about LGC as the SP for Olympics with further details on the choice for Chopin, which ended up replacing the initial idea of LGC:

 

https://wherespacepooh.tumblr.com/post/164825368894/yuzuru-hanyu-interview-from-media-day-kateigaho

Great read, many thanks to @gladi !

"It isn’t that type of a program that brings out the fluidity and beauty [of my skating"

I remember Yuzu said that he wants a programme for OG that plays to his strength, so I see his point here: Chopin is a beauty (but looking closely at the FaOI Chopin pics from my newly arrived magazine it's quite an intimidating beauty I must say )

[sallycinnamon]

Welcome on the planet, @micaelis and thank you for your post! Enjoy your stay here

[Hydroblade]

I am sorry but

That's an accurate description