General Yuzuru Chat

[Floria]

 

Another repost from GS about Ice Jewels interview, the same user (yude) 

 

Quote

I forgot to add that he also said every year the last performance of the season remained on his mind so he was very regretful about SP in WTT. But he skated perfect Chopin in the show now, I hope it is going to be good move

[Murieleirum]

6 minutes ago, Floria said:

I think of all skaters you mentioned only Patrick could have done Chopin justice, but still he lacks that inner fire which Yuzu puts in his perfomance. For me it is what makes his Chopin so special.

 

Right... last year, Patrick did his SP on "Revolutionary Etude", if I'm not mistaken. But I didn't like it very much. Patrick can be amazing at interpreting, but I don't think he fit with Chopin a lot, probably because of the reason someone (I think meoima) explained yesterday in another topic: culture. She also explained some similarities Chopin (as a person) and Yuzuru shared, so I guess it's a strange, but perfect partnership between them. 

 

I guess I understand why some people might not approve of the "Prince" -box- in which to put Yuzuru. But I don't think it's anyone's intention to put him in a box, it's just that it's so hard to try the right words to describe a performance like Chopin's. Imo, LGC, too, is an out-of-the-box performance - no, out of this world. There's just nothing else to compare these performances with. 

[fluffypooh]

how come there is no fluff this time for the ice show? i want to see more Nobu Yuzu Shoma tea party!

[yuzuuu]

2 minutes ago, randomanon said:

 

For me, Patrick is more a "classical" skater and Yuzu's more of a "romantic" skater [talking about musical eras here lol] 

 

 

And Chopin is a Romantic composer so 

 

exactly haha. tbh I cant see Patrick performing Chopin feeling like a prince at all 0.0 also sometimes I wonder if yuzu's body type contributes to his prince feeling in chopin. like tall and slender type with the flowy top

[xeyra]

I think it's interesting this 'Prince'-ness attributed to him in Chopin. His Chopin SP can be both beautiful and calm but also intimidating and commanding. So it's not a traditional prince-ness in the program itself. I suspect it may be visually informed more than program informed, and his outfits in that program may play a role in that perception.

 

Now, Prince-ness I feel very well in his LGC SP. 

[KatjaThera]

3 minutes ago, Yatagarasu said:

 

They definitely should be prepared for the possibility his WR is going to go and not by him. I actually find this very likely.  

This is why I keep insisting on Eteri-Medvedeva's strategy not being applicable in the same way it is in the ladies; the tech increase in the men is too high for that to work as efficiently and securely as it has been for her.

 

I admit I don't really fully understand Yuzuru's reasoning, especially considering the 'challenging' of the 4T-3T. It's not really a challenge at all. A 4S-3T in the second half would be, or a 4Lo-3T but not a 4T-3T. A 4T-3T is a downgrade, even with the second half placement in terms of how it's perceived.
It's especially going to lose meaning quickly if any of the other men do it too, including Javier, packaged as it is in a program Yuzuru is repeating for the third time.

 

I am in essence, supremely confused by this decision. I see too many 'mixed messages' there; I can clearly see a lot of pros but a lot of cons too. 

Is it possible he got so spooked by what has happened last season that he has backed off and is playing it as securely as possible? I guess it is. If this is true, then whatever makes him feel the most comfortable in a high pressure situation as Olympics is definitely the way to go, even if he is sacrificing some things potentially as there is still the FS to go.

 

Please Japanese media, give us a good interview at some point during FaOI! 

 

 

I like to think he's going with a half-safe SP - the second half safe, with maybe a more challenging first half, maybe adding the 4Lz, though I wouldn't hold my breath for that - and a riskier free. Personally, I think 5 quads, 4T-Lo-3S weren't done randomly and it's something he wants to challenge. Will he dare do it now? I hope so. I'd understand going safe, though, but there is such a thing as too safe. So, I, too, think he has to do some technical upgrades.

 

But I also still think his saying he's not thinking/doesn't know about 4Lz doesn't mean he's not considering, it means he's not obsessing over it. We have to remember last year, when he was obsessing over quads and not focusing on skating skills, until Brian got through to him and he changed his tune in interviews, saying the overall program matters more - while at first he was talking about how it's most important to land all the jumps. I think he might try to put into practice what he learned then: don't obsess about just one thing. If you focus on the overall, then the jump will come to you naturally, as well. (I feel I'm starting to sound like Brian...)

[Floria]

I still have mixed feelings about Chopin 3.0. It my favourite program of all times and I don't mind seeing another version of it, be it in a show or in competition. The only problem I have with it is the perception it will give to the judges. I can't imagine their thinking but I have a feeling that without a big tech upgrade and clean perfomance it can bring more trouble then LGC. 

[meoima]

1) I am 100% sure, if Yuzuru does well, judges won't dare give Yuzuru lower scores because he reuses Chopin the 3rd time. Judges do not care that much seriously. They gave Javi higher and higher PCS and BV despite Javi skating to same style for 5 years. lol You guys are over-estimating the judges' taste too much. 

 

2) I am 100% sure it is not easy to skate clean with a new jump in the program. Be it Shoma, Nathan, Boyang... it is NOT that easy. Especially even if JSF wants Shoma, if Skate Canada and USFA say NO to that cheated quad, then it is not easy either. 

 

3) There is a reason why champion skaters in the past recyled their programs and ditched their weak jumps. Olympic pressure is NO joke. Sorry if there is any Yuna's fan here. But I have to say, Yuna skated cleanly at Vancouver because she ditched the 3lo. Her 3Lo attempts before that were all messy anyway. Whether it was because of her back injury, or it was because they want to improve her consistency, whatever happened, I do believe had Yuna did 3Lo at Vancouver she might mess it up. So ditching the weak jump was the correct choice for Yuna at Vancouver. However, she could have won Sochi had she used 4 years after Vancouver to fix the 3Lo issue. Cause ladies do not have many jump options in the first place.

 

4) Men, on the other hand, have many options. Instead of doing 4S3T which he messed most of the time in the first half, doing 4T3T in the second half will get higher BV so it is NOT a downgrade at all. If anything, Yuzuru ditching 4S3T which he did not have high success rate in the SP (and LP too) is the right and correct choice. I hope he will stick to 4T3T. Heck, even 4lz3T is ok with me. As long as NO 4S3T in the SP. Cause 4S3T has a bad vibe. So, if Yuzuru decides to bye 4S3T in the SP (I hope in the LP too), then it's a blessing. He still has other options to do.

 

[yuzuuu]

2 minutes ago, xeyra said:

I think it's interesting this 'Prince'-ness attributed to him in Chopin. His Chopin SP can be both beautiful and calm but also intimidating and commanding. So it's not a traditional prince-ness in the program itself. I suspect it may be visually informed more than program informed, and his outfits in that program may play a role in that perception.

 

Now, Prince-ness I feel very well in his LGC SP. 

ooh I agree! I do think that commanding attitude in addition to that calmness really gives a punch. Outfit and body line in my opinion are the main factor for the extra prince vibe. Well, since I mentioned earlier that yuzu is like a prince every time he's on ice, LGC feels very prince-y to me too

[KatjaThera]

Just now, Floria said:

I still have mixed feelings about Chopin 3.0. It my favourite program of all times and I don't mind seeing another version of it, be it in a show or in competition. The only problem I have with it is the perception it will give to the judges. I can't imagine their thinking but I have a feeling that without a big tech upgrade and clean perfomance it can bring more trouble then LGC. 

I think he might be counting on it being unlikely they'd ever give it a lower score than GPF2015, if he does it cleanly. And as that's a world record...

 

However, we don't know how high the others can go, so I understand your worries. Plus, there's still the 'if he does it cleanly'.

[xeyra]

7 minutes ago, Floria said:

I still have mixed feelings about Chopin 3.0. It my favourite program of all times and I don't mind seeing another version of it, be it in a show or in competition. The only problem I have with it is the perception it will give to the judges. I can't imagine their thinking but I have a feeling that without a big tech upgrade and clean perfomance it can bring more trouble then LGC. 

 

Well, technically, if he can skate it clean-ish, and land that combo consistently, it won't give him more trouble than LGC in terms of points because failing the combo was the death knell on his scores before. He can go back to 100+ scores with a safer program and layout to prepare himself for a riskier FS, for example, regardless of whether judges aren't fond of the three-peat Chopin. He can't be TOO underscored. He might not be scored high enough to break his SP record, though, and others might catch up to him, but at least it'll help him keep himself from falling too far down and have 10 point differences in scores going into the FS. 

[yuzuuu]

There are many people saying that it's the right choice for yuzu because it sort of provided a base value for judges. They can't fudge up the scores as much as they want to if yuzu gives the same (or better) quality as the previous Chopins. Even more so with the layout upgrades.

[hamaguri]

1 時間前, Murieleirum said:

 

I was surprised as well. To be honest, it said attack in the english translation, but I am not sure he used that specific word. I think I'm gonna go back and try to listen/read the precise wording xD 

I want to say about it as a Japanese.  Provably translator uses the word, “attack” for the Japanese word, “攻める”, which shoma uses and this time yuzu (? I haven’t listened to the interviews so far).  But the nuance is not at all so aggressive, further, not to target anyone.  The nuance is like “Don’t to be weak. Don’t lose to yourself.” .  It’s the word towards yourself, your weak self, not other person. 
They use their word in such a nuance.  I feel the translation has caused some misunderstanding about especially Shoma’s characters.  Silly mass media try to make the situation of Yuzu vs Shoma.  But it seems shoma's stance now is he just wants to pracitice more if he has the time to say, " I want to surpass yuzu-kun."

[xeyra]

12 minutes ago, meoima said:

4) Men, on the other hand, have many options. Instead of doing 4S3T which he messed most of the time in the first half, doing 4T3T in the second half will get higher BV so it is NOT a downgrade at all. If anything, Yuzuru ditching 4S3T which he did not have high success rate in the SP (and LP too) is the right and correct choice. I hope he will stick to 4T3T. Heck, even 4lz3T is ok with me. As long as NO 4S3T in the SP. Cause it has a bad vibe. 

 

 

I agree the 4S3T in the SP ended up being a mental block and so I understand avoiding it. But I can't help but think that it must feel like a defeat to Yuzu, one of those walls he just couldn't climb through. I am happy, though, that it seemed to become less of a problem in his FS by the end of the season, so he doesn't lose confidence in the combo entirely. In the combo and in 4S itself. 

 

I hope he returns to it in a future SP post-Olympics, where the pressure might be lessened. 

[Yatagarasu]

Just now, KatjaThera said:

I like to think he's going with a half-safe SP - the second half safe, with maybe a more challenging first half, maybe adding the 4Lz, though I wouldn't hold my breath for that - and a riskier free. Personally, I think 5 quads, 4T-Lo-3S weren't done randomly and it's something he wants to challenge. Will he dare do it now? I hope so. I'd understand going safe, though, but there is such a thing as too safe. So, I, too, think he has to do some technical upgrades.

 

If he doesn't add the 4Lz, I admit I'll bow out in terms of commentating on the SP because that decision I would not understand in a million years. Not with the current state of men's field. 
I do though think he's going to add it, in which case he's offsetting the 'weak' (I hope it's coming across well there what I mean by weak) combination of 4T-3T to a certain extent, for a program he's repeating for the third time.

I do think it matters to the judges what he's doing and there's a special way of perceiving Yuzuru. Just the inconsistency talks about last season, when he wasn't any worse than a slew of other men but he's Yuzuru, and they are them. So if he has a third repeat, they'll expect tech upgrade and just a second half 4T-3T is not that. It's just not. 

But as I said, if there is a mental block of some sort with the SP and I think @meoima is right here, it has to be the 4S-3T, then falling back on the 4T-3T is just fine. If he's not going to go for the 4Lo-3T though, to give the impression of improved tech which I still feel like he must do, we're back to square one of the 4Lz.

 

Funnily, I'm not worried about the LP (did I jinx it? ) even if it is Seimei 2.0. I think he still had a good feeling about the LP and we'll be seeing that 4Lz and more, 5 quads too IMO, and he won't hold back there. 
I guess it is possible he's decided to use the SP to hang on to as many points as possible with the impression of clean programs, and then count on the LP to boost him back up. This too is a risky strategy but it might actually be the best choice for him, if the SP has a mental block on it.