General Yuzuru Chat

[rockstaryuzu]

1 hour ago, holina said:

About first impression.

I also saw Yuzu for the first time in this ACI.

 

He actually looks more “buff” (or “built”?) than I thought.  Maybe it’s because I have been reading other fans say he is small, skinny, small face and therefore I was expecting that.  His waist is really small though and so perhaps his shoulders looks wide in comparison.  You can tell it is all muscles under his UA training gear, and so it is not just “skinny” or “noodly arms”.

 

He skates so fast and smooth and it is really distinctive from other skaters.  His movements are so beautiful and graceful down to the fingertips.

 

His face is just so beautiful, his features are delicate and his skin is pale.  All of these give off an ethereal feeling.  This feeling is really highlighted when he performed Otonal - I didn’t cry but I had that feeling of “wanting to cry” after watching that step sequence.

 

The venue doesn’t have good lighting (photos turn out a but yellowish, I think).  Both of his costumes are much more beautiful in person.  Much more sparkly.  The icy blue colour on Otonal is gorgeous and it really suits Yuzu’s ethereal look if you forget about “it’s supposed to look like autumn” because of the song title.

Yeah, he's not small exactly, it's just that he looks it next to some of his competitors. And his waist is impossible, I've never seen a man with a waist that narrow.

[Sammie]

The bug incident came up again. We really don’t deserve him 

 

[Forcefield]

Question:

 

I remember some fans being surprised at Hanyu's SP? FS? going over the time limit in official practice, but he didn't seem to get a time deduction during the real competition. Did he make changes between the practice and competition? Or was the way they counted time in practice and the competition different?

[rockstaryuzu]

5 minutes ago, Forcefield said:

Question:

 

I remember some fans being surprised at Hanyu's SP? FS? going over the time limit in official practice, but he didn't seem to get a time deduction during the real competition. Did he make changes between the practice and competition? Or was the way they counted time in practice and the competition different?

I wondered about that too. 

[sallycinnamon]

9 minutes ago, Forcefield said:

Question:

 

I remember some fans being surprised at Hanyu's SP? FS? going over the time limit in official practice, but he didn't seem to get a time deduction during the real competition. Did he make changes between the practice and competition? Or was the way they counted time in practice and the competition different?

 

It was the free skate. I think during practice the announcer said "duration of the music", which is really 4 min 18 seconds but the duration of the skating is fine, because he doesn't start moving in the first 8 seconds which doesn't count according to the rules. Plus it's allowed if the program is 10 seconds longer. So the duration of the skating in Origin is 4 min 10 seconds which is ok  

Here are the rules:

 

Spoiler

 

[Anzi]

4 hours ago, rockstaryuzu said:

Someone needs to go there and put up a sign front of it saying "4A" 

Or we can actually encode it as "you know what" and Yuzu is "you know who" : )

[TallyT]

4 hours ago, rockstaryuzu said:

And I really think he's reached rock star status. It's troublesome in that that kind of fame is not what skating's all about, and it's not like he asked for it. On the other hand, there's no way to stop his star from rising now, he's already got 2 OGMs..

 

 

(Err, sorry, this got long)

 

Though one has to say, that even if he hadn't managed that 2nd OGM he'd still be the biggest most glittery star of the sport... and conversely, had someone like Patrick (and this is no slur against him) done it, he  wouldn't have IMO reached the insane heights of, as you say, rock star adulation Yuzuru gets (I personally doubt that even Shoma would have quite reached it, let alone Nathan or Boyang, but I've no proof there, YMMV. Nor could they handle it as well.) Yuzuru has that unique charisma, the changeable, elusive personality, the intellect and emotional intelligence, the looks and camera-appeal, the dramatic aura/cute dorky side, the backstory with its rise from tragedy and the trouble and grief (and stumbles, which kept it all from getting even slightly predictable) along with way, the fairytale culmination last year from injury right through to crown. And he's a genuine, amazingly good person as well as a fiercely driven fighter.

 

Yes, he has his faults like anyone else, but honestly, if you invented Yuzuru for a fictional hero, you'd be slapped down for him being too fantastic... it's no wonder that he's the ultimate star of skating, IMO he'd be a star in whatever field he was in, but then you marry it with a body and mind almost designed to be the perfect skater and a deep love and gift for everything that makes the sport unique, the athletic side and the artistic.

 

And even the timing, with the rise of social media and the internet meaning that fans around the world can 'get together' and follow him, virtually or quite literally. I'm not about to say there won't be another skating rock star of his standing in the future - Takahashi fans did, and look what promptly happened - but they are going to find it hard to match the lightning in a crystal cage.

1 minute ago, TallyT said:

ooops. sorry, replied to my own post trying to edit a typo

 

[Anzi]

18 minutes ago, TallyT said:

 

(Err, sorry, this got long)

 

Though one has to say, that even if he hadn't managed that 2nd OGM he'd still be the biggest most glittery star of the sport... and conversely, had someone like Patrick (and this is no slur against him) done it, he  wouldn't have IMO reached the insane heights of, as you say, rock star adulation Yuzuru gets (I personally doubt that even Shoma would have quite reached it, let alone Nathan or Boyang, but I've no proof there, YMMV. Nor could they handle it as well.) Yuzuru has that unique charisma, the changeable, elusive personality, the intellect and emotional intelligence, the looks and camera-appeal, the dramatic aura/cute dorky side, the backstory with its rise from tragedy and the trouble and grief (and stumbles, which kept it all from getting even slightly predictable) along with way, the fairytale culmination last year from injury right through to crown. And he's a genuine, amazingly good person as well as a fiercely driven fighter.

 

Yes, he has his faults like anyone else, but honestly, if you invented Yuzuru for a fictional hero, you'd be slapped down for him being too fantastic... it's no wonder that he's the ultimate star of skating, IMO he'd be a star in whatever field he was in, but then you marry it with a body and mind almost designed to be the perfect skater and a deep love and gift for everything that makes the sport unique, the athletic side and the artistic.

 

And even the timing, with the rise of social media and the internet meaning that fans around the world can 'get together' and follow him, virtually or quite literally. I'm not about to say there won't be another skating rock star of his standing in the future - Takahashi fans did, and look what promptly happened - but they are going to find it hard to match the lightning in a crystal cage.

 

We are investing our love on a actual human being, a boy who would be angry for the wrong pair of gloves, a people just like others who pursue their dream with courage.

[Anki]

9 hours ago, Salior said:

Just curious... I was reading a little about Yuna Kim, and I realised that her earnings and international presence (UN etc.) seem to be so much more than Yuzu's... Besides her being the only accomplished skater in her country at the time, was there any other reasons for this? Did Yuzu rise too fast against favourites, or is it just that Yuzu did not take too many commercial opportunities outside of Japan? I'm not very familiar with that era, just thought that Yuzu deserves the world considering what he has achieved and what he worked hard for haha

 

The answer to that would be Yuzu hasn't signed with any big agency.  A lot of skater's fame are also due to their agency's heavy promotion in the media, creating buzz, sporting rivalries, and extending their commercial activities.  If he had signed with a big international sport agency like IMG, given his achievements, they would have made the whole world know him as the GOAT by now. Those earnings ranking publications also get their data from agencies, hence you would not see Yuzu in one - how much he earns only he and the tax office knows. Yuzu achieved his fame and popularity of today without any agencies' help, so imagine what it would have been like if he had an agency that promoted him further.   

But I can understand why Yuzu doesn't want an agent given he likes to be in control of his life. As someone whose job previously had some association with agents, sponsors and celebrities, I can tell once you sign with one, you have no freedom - they dictate what you say and do in the public,  and how to run your career. 

Judging from internet activities and attendance at competitions and ice shows, if we are talking about the amount of dedicated fans that will follow him around the world, I think Yuzu beats Yuna in that respect, even if comparing across the two eras. Not to say he has reached a certain level of popularity in China like no other skater has, which is new potentially big market, with next Olympic at Beijing.  It is a pity he doesn't try to commercialise on his fame as much as he can, but also remember a lot of sponsors add extra pressure on the skater and distract them from their skating with commercial activities. I think Yuna is a rare case of where extreme commercialisation of her fame hasn't affected her performance much, but there are many times where too much pre-Olympic puff and pressure end up costing the gold medal - Michelle Kwan and Mao Asada are examples that come to mind.  In that way I think Yuzu's has been clever in taking the minimum amount of sponsorship to earn enough for himself but not so much it affects his focus on skating     

 

After his PC win, he, as far as we know, hasn't take up a single new advertisement, despite based on Japanes news, the amount of money Japanese companies are willing to pay him is top tier, not just amongst athletes, but all Japanese public figures. That is a crazy demonstration of having no interest in money if you ask me - most Olympic winners go crazy on trying to cash out their title as much as they can. But I wouldn't be surprised any sponsor that signs him now would require a commitment to not retire by a certain time, which is probably why he didn't take up any - I am sure Yuzu wants to run the rest of his career on his own terms. 

[TallyT]

2 minutes ago, Anzi said:

We are investing our love on a actual human being, a boy who would be angry for the wrong pair of gloves, a people just like others who pursue their dream with courage.

 

Exactly. Perfect 'truth is stranger than fiction' material... and he can be obsessive and difficult and probably has some bad habits we'll never know about (everyone does).

 

And (speaking as someone whose third-most-loved-as-a-writer...  writer I try not to think about as the utterly cruddy if brilliant person she is) at least we get to invest in someone who really deserves the love.....

[Yuazz]

Random question 

 

Does anyone know who did the music cut for yuzuru's program? His music cuts were so good. Sometimes other skaters have bad music cuts and randomly put the music together and it sounds weird to me. But yuzuru always has a good one. I love Seimei, Otonal and Origin music cuts. I wonder if he did it himself or it's his team

[Sammie]

30 minutes ago, Yuazz said:

Random question 

 

Does anyone know who did the music cut for yuzuru's program? His music cuts were so good. Sometimes other skaters have bad music cuts and randomly put the music together and it sounds weird to me. But yuzuru always has a good one. I love Seimei, Otonal and Origin music cuts. I wonder if he did it himself or it's his team

Seimei he did it himself, I don’t know about the rest but I always love his music cuts. Everything just fits.  

[Yuazz]

32 minutes ago, Sammie said:

Seimei he did it himself, I don’t know about the rest but I always love his music cuts. Everything just fits.  

Wow he has an awesome skill

[KatjaThera]

I admit I wasn't following FS in the Yuna era, but I can honestly say I had never heard of her before I really got into FS after watching Yuzu skate in 2016. I had heard of Carolina Kostner and even Mao Asada, but had never heard of Yuna Kim. So I'm not sure she was really that big a superstar? Although I probably also wouldn't have heard of Yuzu if not for my general interest in Japan. (Maybe Yuna's popularity also had some connection with the increased popularity of KPop and other Korean entertainment in that same period, too? No idea, but I think those things do help open people's minds more.) I also wouldn't say her fame didn't affect her results. Being at TCC, they were able to help her keep away from it, some, but I remember some things Brian said did sound like they had to work pretty hard for that. And I also remember something about a breakdown before the Olympics. That she managed to rise from it and still get the results is awesome, but I wouldn't say the pressure didn't get to her. She just managed to overcome it - partially, because then she reportedly lost motivation, though, admittedly, that might be unrelated.

 

Anyway, all my opinions about Yuna are just based on hearsay so I could be wrong. But like @TallyT said, Yuzu's popularity is the result of an incredible and unique sum of circumstances that are extremely unlikely to ever happen again. (And no, no way could Shoma, Nathan, Boyang or even Javi, much as I love him, get that same kind of popularity. Though Javi's story + personality might be closest to reaching similar levels, if properly promoted.) Of course, an athlete having that kind of rock star status isn't ideal. However, there is also a bright side. Yuzu uses his popularity to help the earthquake and tsunami affected areas. Or to help in general and to promote important agendas - like the blood donation campaign. And I think in the future he could use it to promote figure skating in general. He knows all those things would have far less impact if not for the popularity. So, like with everything, there are pros and cons. He does manage to limit the cons a lot by being very private and keeping control of every aspect of his life, although it'd still help a lot if people respected his privacy more. I think he is very aware of the situation and the way he has been handling it has been amazing so far. I doubt any agency could have done a better job of balancing the two aspects, IMO.

 

As for music cuts, there were some really bad ones even at ACI and I was joking that after Yuzu retires, ISU should hire him as a music consultant and have all program music go through him first. That would save the world from really bad music cuts lol

 

I'm quite sure both SP and FS are at least rough cuts by him, with him then hounding some poor music editor with fine-tuning them. The risks of working with a perfectionist lol

[Tee]