General Yuzuru Chat

[rockstaryuzu]

Well, the reality is that as an athlete, he has a job to do at competitions that doesn't involve interacting with fans. It's not like he's an idol or entertainer who's whole purpose of existence is basically to attract fans. So it would be great if that aspect could be in the forefront of everyone's minds when they go to watch him...but it's unrealistic to expect all fans to do this. Which is why I can see the day coming when he actually will have to have some kind of constant security presence, and that'll be a sad day when it happens.

 

But I simply can't get over how gracious he is about it all and how he doesn't let it affect his concentration while competing. It's practically his superpower. 

[rockstaryuzu]

9 minutes ago, Xen said:

But once they get in the fandom longer, they also calm down- it's pretty funny to me that one of the fans I consider a bit more "fanatic" calmed down so much more when she met another fan whom she considered "too fanatical." XD

Dude, I hope that's not me you're referring to.🤣🤣🤣🤣 I have my moments but I'm a sensible person as a rule. 

[KatjaThera]

I don't have much time before I have to go to work, but I wanted to give my 2 cents to this topic.

 

After having heard on Friday that it was possible to go look at the press conference, I decided to just give it a look. Going downstairs, you could, indeed, see Yuzu talking to the press in the distance, with volunteers keeping a small crowd away. But at that point, everyone was calm and just watching. It was only a few dozen people, just standing around, though more people did come. Several skaters walked by and were greeted, especially Jun and Jason - and Jason was the greatest sweetheart as a few minutes later he was talking to people and taking pictures and hugging and being super friendly - and it would have been nice to see Yuzu walk by, though I had serious doubts it'd work as well. There was no real security, just a few volunteers that would have likely been trampled if fans got crazy. Personally, I would have just liked to say otsukare or omedetou, but keep a respectful distance. I also admit I was ready to start grabbing at people if I felt they were trying to get intrusive. Then, after a few minutes, somehow word got around that he wasn't going out through there - which really made a lot more sense; even with people calm, it did not feel safe at all for him to walk through there - and quite a lot of people rushed outside. I kind of tagged along, but then it was like: you know what, he's obviously avoiding the crowds, so nevermind. And then I saw Jason was still there and hang around a few minutes until he left.

 

While there, I saw Ghislain many times, but only shared a smile. I ran into Vanessa and Morgan as they went to grab some food and drinks and also just smiled and said Hi - because it was weird to pretend I didn't know who they were - and saw lots of other skaters, but I didn't want to bother any of them, so I just left them alone. Satoko walked right in front of me, for example. And even ran into the Pumpkin King at Fortino's and was tempted to ask him to let me take a picture of him with the mountains of pumpkins there, but didn't.

 

Honestly, there were plenty of crazy people. I don't know how much they showed on TV about the craziness of going inside on Friday or how many satellites were there, but it was crazy. I was actually staying a bit behind because there was a lady with a cane and I was really worried she might get knocked over. So I'm not surprised they got intrusive with Yuzu... I honestly expected him to always come and leave secretly. I was really surprised that didn't always happen. But I guess the organizers had no idea just how crazy things could get.

 

It's really a matter of self control, though. When he came out on Thursday, I was right by the skaters entrance and my first thought - really weird, too, because duh? - was that he's just a normal guy. A kid, really. And yet there's all this craziness about him. Of course, then he took to the ice and you could see that ok, he's not just any kid, but every time he came close, I had these two thoughts: one that he really is beautiful, and the other that he's just so normal. But speaking of self control, I was at a concert just before ACI and was front row and there was a small catwalk right next to me, with no barriers whatsoever. The guys in the band were literally next to me and I could have pawed them to my heart's content. But it was instantly: no, they're doing this because they trust us to respect them and not hurt them, so I won't do that. Instead, I held my hands up. If they wanted to initiate contact, great. But I won't just grab at them. (There was a girl next to me that did give one of them a butt squeeze and I was honestly so shocked I didn't get to react, or else I would have stopped her... that was just incredibly rude...)

 

Anyway, on the other hand, I don't think it's fair to put fans who are only into FS because of Yuzu in the same category as the intrusive crazy fangirls. I admit I wouldn't be watching FS if not for Yuzu and don't really watch if he's not in it. But I do respect other skaters and at ACI, I found myself genuinely wishing everyone would do well - even though I was sure a clean Jun would beat Yuzu. Just because Yuzu is my only reason for watching figure skating, it doesn't mean I don't respect the others or that I only support him because of his looks. So there are more nuances to it than just FS fans vs Yuzu fans.

[Xen]

I think so long as we here, and in other fan forums are aware and try to monitor ourselves, it's a good start. Sure, it won't cover every single fan, but there's a couple thousand of us so it's a start.

 

I think there were photos taken of him at airports before, and the thing is, some of those weren't actually taken by Yuzu fans. Just people who ID'ed him and went "oh wow this is cool." In which case, I can't really be-grudge them, as they are in the clueless camp. XD

 

 

[dotsquare]

It's really sad to see this kind of behaviour from "fans"- I've only seen it otherwise in k-pop and it can get really ugly at its extremes (ie sasaeng fans). I hope the people that are doing this mature a little and realise that they're actually harming the people they proclaim to be fans of. 

[Anzi]

31 minutes ago, Xen said:

I don't like the idea of Yuzu fans being more of a cult than an actual FS fan group, but realistically, there's not a whole lot you can do. There are quite a bit of Yuzu fans who are involved only for him, and nothing else. And while we bemoan about it, let's face up to the fact majority of us who do follow FS overall, even we won't follow FS with as much dedication if he stops competing. Personally I might still watch, but going to live competitions might take lower priority than say, normal life obligations. =(

 

However, there are people who have somewhat converted to being FS fans and also follow other skaters, due to being introduced to FS via Yuzu.

Agree...I see some radical fans are easily get evoked and behave really rude simply because of some objective evaluations on Zu's skating...that's basically personal cult....

[Xen]

4 minutes ago, rockstaryuzu said:

Dude, I hope that's not me you're referring to.🤣🤣🤣🤣 I have my moments but I'm a sensible person as a rule. 

Oh it's not you. It's um, girls at my rink locally. It's kind of funny, because the more fanatical fans tend to get into catfights with each other, which I have to break up. Aish....

[rockstaryuzu]

5 minutes ago, KatjaThera said:

When he came out on Thursday, I was right by the skaters entrance and my first thought - really weird, too, because duh? - was that he's just a normal guy. A kid, really. And yet there's all this craziness about him. Of course, then he took to the ice and you could see that ok, he's not just any kid, but every time he came close, I had these two thoughts: one that he really is beautiful, and the other that he's just so normal. 

Funnily, enough, although I was feeling very overwhelmed before he came out for that Thursday practice, the first time he skated by my side of the arena I thought the same as you. It really helped me calm down.

[rockstaryuzu]

5 minutes ago, Xen said:

Oh it's not you. It's um, girls at my rink locally. It's kind of funny, because the more fanatical fans tend to get into catfights with each other, which I have to break up. Aish....

Cripes, where do you skate? Do I even want to know?

[Anzi]

9 minutes ago, KatjaThera said:

I don't have much time before I have to go to work, but I wanted to give my 2 cents to this topic.

 

After having heard on Friday that it was possible to go look at the press conference, I decided to just give it a look. Going downstairs, you could, indeed, see Yuzu talking to the press in the distance, with volunteers keeping a small crowd away. But at that point, everyone was calm and just watching. It was only a few dozen people, just standing around, though more people did come. Several skaters walked by and were greeted, especially Jun and Jason - and Jason was the greatest sweetheart as a few minutes later he was talking to people and taking pictures and hugging and being super friendly - and it would have been nice to see Yuzu walk by, though I had serious doubts it'd work as well. There was no real security, just a few volunteers that would have likely been trampled if fans got crazy. Personally, I would have just liked to say otsukare or omedetou, but keep a respectful distance. I also admit I was ready to start grabbing at people if I felt they were trying to get intrusive. Then, after a few minutes, somehow word got around that he wasn't going out through there - which really made a lot more sense; even with people calm, it did not feel safe at all for him to walk through there - and quite a lot of people rushed outside. I kind of tagged along, but then it was like: you know what, he's obviously avoiding the crowds, so nevermind. And then I saw Jason was still there and hang around a few minutes until he left.

 

While there, I saw Ghislain many times, but only shared a smile. I ran into Vanessa and Morgan as they went to grab some food and drinks and also just smiled and said Hi - because it was weird to pretend I didn't know who they were - and saw lots of other skaters, but I didn't want to bother any of them, so I just left them alone. Satoko walked right in front of me, for example. And even ran into the Pumpkin King at Fortino's and was tempted to ask him to let me take a picture of him with the mountains of pumpkins there, but didn't.

 

Honestly, there were plenty of crazy people. I don't know how much they showed on TV about the craziness of going inside on Friday or how many satellites were there, but it was crazy. I was actually staying a bit behind because there was a lady with a cane and I was really worried she might get knocked over. So I'm not surprised they got intrusive with Yuzu... I honestly expected him to always come and leave secretly. I was really surprised that didn't always happen. But I guess the organizers had no idea just how crazy things could get.

 

It's really a matter of self control, though. When he came out on Thursday, I was right by the skaters entrance and my first thought - really weird, too, because duh? - was that he's just a normal guy. A kid, really. And yet there's all this craziness about him. Of course, then he took to the ice and you could see that ok, he's not just any kid, but every time he came close, I had these two thoughts: one that he really is beautiful, and the other that he's just so normal. But speaking of self control, I was at a concert just before ACI and was front row and there was a small catwalk right next to me, with no barriers whatsoever. The guys in the band were literally next to me and I could have pawed them to my heart's content. But it was instantly: no, they're doing this because they trust us to respect them and not hurt them, so I won't do that. Instead, I held my hands up. If they wanted to initiate contact, great. But I won't just grab at them. (There was a girl next to me that did give one of them a butt squeeze and I was honestly so shocked I didn't get to react, or else I would have stopped her... that was just incredibly rude...)

 

Anyway, on the other hand, I don't think it's fair to put fans who are only into FS because of Yuzu in the same category as the intrusive crazy fangirls. I admit I wouldn't be watching FS if not for Yuzu and don't really watch if he's not in it. But I do respect other skaters and at ACI, I found myself genuinely wishing everyone would do well - even though I was sure a clean Jun would beat Yuzu. Just because Yuzu is my only reason for watching figure skating, it doesn't mean I don't respect the others or that I only support him because of his looks. So there are more nuances to it than just FS fans vs Yuzu fans.

So I'd suggest every one of us need to be Zen, and internalize the Zen philosophy : )

[rockstaryuzu]

1 minute ago, Anzi said:

So I'd suggest every one of us need to be Zen, and internalize the Zen philosophy : )

Until we have to be kuyashii, in any case....😃

[Xen]

6 minutes ago, rockstaryuzu said:

Cripes, where do you skate? Do I even want to know?

China...*point to flag* but you know what, the most fanatical ones I know of personally, if they got confronted with fans at the level of running after cars to just touch the car's rear-end, even they would calm down and go "do I really behave like that? That's disgusting, that's bad, I respect his privacy." I hate to say this but nothing quite calms the "go with the crowd" fanatical fans than  public airing of their actions. So hopefully it'll calm down now for Helsinki and Russia and GPF.

 

And if they don't calm down, and are in there for the looks only...hate to say this but at some point, sooner than later, they drop out of the fandom too.

 

Edit: also, if Yuzu lurks here. Lurker Zu, the mentioning of wishing people to respect other skaters and your privacy is fine. But, in my opinion, there's no need for you to defend your fandom and your fans' actions, kind and heart warming as it is. We can do it ourselves, and you defending fans, might be construed by the more fanatical sections as tacit allowance to go crazy at your expense. And it doesn't really change public perception of that section of the fandom. Public perception towards Hanyu fans, sadly, have to be changed by actions of said fandom.

[rockstaryuzu]

1 minute ago, Xen said:

And if they don't calm down, and are in there for the looks only...hate to say this but at some point, sooner than later, they drop out of the fandom too.

True that.

[Ashley2162018]

I have never been to a competition where Yuzu is present.

But I was able to see him live on Fantasy on Ice.

I never heard of such stories of crazy fans, but maybe because the venue and organizers were more prepared.

I wish for him better times.

I mean if we want him to compete more in the future, he should feel secure and sane doing so.

Because if being mobbed becomes routinary for, seeing how private he is, we are all gonna lose him in the end.

I hope people realize this before we all suffer in the end.

[Yoa]

When you read that person's (who posted that car video) replies it's actually seems even more serious. Like for example Ghislain says that Yuzuru is very nervous to compete in Japan because of fan behaviour. Some people followed him to his hotel room there. Or that even people who helped/organised ACI where worried about him 

 

Some of us were wondering why there were so many empty seats at ACI when all tickets were sold out. Some obviously were reserved. But I read somewhere that organisers didn't want to too many people there after what happened last year. 

 

Anyway, I am glad that he has a great team that is willing to protect him from this madness