General Yuzuru Chat

[Henni147]

4 minutes ago, Whee1000 said:

He needs to do them dressed in his Origin outfit...and beckoning. It would be like the devil inviting you to dance...

 

I'll leave you with that thought. 

 

When I saw these backward crossrolls in the making of Seimei, I could see the entire fighting scene in front of me. Wise and clever Seimei avoiding a cascade of attacks from a dim and bulky opponent 
One of very few choreographies in figure skating that could create such a vivid and memorable image in my head. It was so simple and phenomenal at the same time.

[Louitunes]

4 hours ago, rockstaryuzu said:

Given how much he seems to have bowled you over, it has to be Let's Go Crazy. 

Let's go Crazy' s the love of my life too. Just everything about it.  A great sassy Prince song a high kicking fast paced stunner of a routine and a purple suited skating God to boot.  PPOS forever!!!!   

[Louitunes]

3 hours ago, yumeaki said:

Seimei Seimei Seimei. 

The olympics one because I have the same symptoms after watching that. 

Though if I notice him only this year, it maybe Origins cos the gold... the hair... the 2 nods that go with the beats at the start   

 

Oh those two nods.  The first thing you look out for at the start of Origin.  

[rockstaryuzu]

2 hours ago, Whee1000 said:

He needs to do them dressed in his Origin outfit...and beckoning. It would be like the devil inviting you to dance...

 

I'll leave you with that thought. 

 

Not sure if Yuzu's quite ready to unleash that particular firestorm on the world...just imagine the frenzy it could cause. 

[rockstaryuzu]

1 hour ago, Louitunes said:

Let's go Crazy' s the love of my life too. Just everything about it.  A great sassy Prince song a high kicking fast paced stunner of a routine and a purple suited skating God to boot.  PPOS forever!!!!   

Plus, there's something about it that just seems to state the essence of Yuzu as a competitor. The whole in-your-face rock attitude. It always makes me think of Daisuke's quote that Yuzu is the King.

[Freyuru]

3 hours ago, Louitunes said:

Oh those two nods.  The first thing you look out for at the start of Origin.  

I love the way he drops his head exactly on the lowest piano note before he starts that amazing last step sequence at the end of Ballade No. 1. I adore and i watch out for it in all the competition videos online. 

[ZuCritter]

6 hours ago, Henni147 said:

I took the time to rewatch the NHK documentary with English subs and stopped at these words from Dick Button:

 

 

I think the narrator misunderstood Dick here. The quad Loop was indeed a new jump, but still something within these "narrow rules". An additional quad increases your base value and gives you more options to create your jump layout. So it's worth (in points) to go for it.
 

What Dick meant is something more rebellious I think. Completely new stuff that doesn't earn you many additional points in the current system or puts you even in disadvantage, but wins the heart of the audience and has the potential to change the skating world. Back in Dick's days big jumps and fast, well centered spins were something risky and really revolutionary. It changed the entire landscape of figure skating and laid the path for today's competitive format.
 

In Yuzu's case there are some similar things like that:

• I think we can call him the pioneer of difficult and continuous transition work. Although you can earn high GOE for jumps with little steps and a lot of preparation as well, he prefers to go the more difficult way and melt all his elements into the choreo. Sure, he's not the only skater to do that nowadays, but he's the first who comes to my mind, whenever I think of "steps before jumps".
• The 4T+3A sequence is punished with a -20% reduction of its base value, but he goes for it, because it's cool and impressive. I can imagine that ISU will cancel this stupid rule after Yuzu's retirement and sequences will be popular alternatives to combination jumps in the future.
• At ACI this season Yuzu was asked, why he didn't put his SP combo into to the second half and he answered:
  "Because it fits the music better." I was really proud to be a fanyu that day. Same with the legendary backward crossrolls in Seimei. I really loved them even though they were not considered as "difficult steps" at that point... Shame that he was forced to drop them for his StSq LV...
• This is not really a technical thing, but it's cool that Yuzu's costume styles somehow break with gender stereotypes and are created with a lot of thought for a specific program. It doesn't matter which costume of Yuzu I see. I know immediately: Oh! It's POTO! Seimei! Origin! I was impressed, when Yuzu said that he doesn't like to change costumes for a specific program, because they belong together. It's part of the interpretation. Aye! 
• Finally what makes Yuzu really extra and innovative to me:
  He's not only a skater, he's a creator as well. He chooses and designs his programs himself now with a story, a motive and a message. His care for details in the music cut, the choreo, the costume and the global concept is something unique. He's like an actor and executive producer in one person. That's why his programs appear so natural and authentic. They're his babies and you can feel it

A terrific analysis, beautifully stated. I think a lot about  what sets him apart, beyond his obvious technical prowess or even his "artistic" mastery. It comes down to something almost existential -- the way he owns every instant and every detail of his programs. I think that's a phenomenon that unites him and Pluchenko and even Johnny Weir, although their styles and personae are so different in other ways. 

 

During competitions, I often find myself thinking about how other skaters' programs would look if Yuzu skated them. (Usually, better, IMHO.) But it's ludicrous to think of anyone else skating one of Yuzu's programs, even if they had the technical ability to do it. Imagine anyone else trying the scream in RJ1or the death stare at the end of Ballade, the ice kiss in Haru Yo Koi or the head jerk in Origin. Almost every program is full of iconic moments that only he can pull off because they are HIM, he believes them. The man cries at the end of Swanyu -- during practice. 

 

Of course, I would love for him to skate competitively forever. But I'm also excited to see what he will bring to the FS world -- and the world at large -- once he's free of the restraints of competition. As more than one commentator has said recently, he's truly transcended the sport. 

[Bonesfan]

Echo Cheng on Twitter: Yuzu has been back on ice since January.

 

[kaeryth]

Otonal!Neko Masamune ready for Worlds!

 

[Sabrina]

no pressure at all

[BWOZWaltz]

16 hours ago, Freyuru said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well I am surprised to say that no one guessed the right answer. But the program which caught my attention and just bowled me over was  "Worlds 2012 Nice R&J1"

 

It came up as a recommendation on You Tube, and i just clicked on it.. and that was it!! 

 

That program was just so powerful and completely took my breath away, and then once I saw Let's go Crazy, I realised what a sexy man he became!!  I'm a huge fan of the white LGC costume from Skate Canada!! 

 

Glad to have discovered this great community!! 

 

Ahahah it's the same program that I fell for Yuzu! The timing fooled us though because it's after PC olympics. 

[Henni147]

10 hours ago, ZuCritter said:

A terrific analysis, beautifully stated. I think a lot about  what sets him apart, beyond his obvious technical prowess or even his "artistic" mastery. It comes down to something almost existential -- the way he owns every instant and every detail of his programs. I think that's a phenomenon that unites him and Pluchenko and even Johnny Weir, although their styles and personae are so different in other ways.

 

Yes! Even though he has choreographers, coaches and other advisers, who help him to create his programs and feed him with essential ideas, at the end of the day he's still the mastermind behind everything he does.

EDIT: I think one difference between him, Plushenko and Johnny is their interaction/communication with the audience. Plushy and Johnny pull the crowd actively into their performance, while most of Yuzu's programs are more introverted. He says: "This is my skating world and you're free to enter", but Yuzu himself is locked in a bubble and dives 100% into his program. There's no distraction from the outside at all (same when he was singing full force at the rinkside).


There's another key aspect, that Dick mentioned in the documentary:
 

Quote

Dick's reaction to Yuzu's stumble on the 4T and 3Lz in the Olympic FS:

"But he didn't fall down. He's grown, hasn't he. [...] Even if he had fallen, truthfully I expect that he could win based on scores. But he understands the importance of continuing to appeal to the audience."

 

Yuzu really hates to fall indeed. He rather pops his jumps or forces himself into awkward landings, but he wants to stay on his feet at all costs, because a fall ruins his performance. (This might be one of the reasons, why he's more vulnerable and prone to serious injuries than others...)

We've seen many skaters this season who gave themselves up after the first one or two mistakes and the entire program fell apart.

If Yuzu makes mistakes, he fires up and throws some YOLO-jumps in to save what can be saved. He has this champion-attitude, fighting spirit and unbreakable will to win, when it really counts. I always have to think of his latest miracle at Rostelecom. Severely injured, changing his entire jump layout without any preparation and pulling of a performance like that... This is courage.

One last thing: Yuzu's programs are still high quality content even with mistakes in them, because there are so many other highlights that can be rewarded. I remember his Chopin SP at Skate Canada 2015, where two of his three jumping passes were completely invalid and he ended up with mere 28 points in TES, but still scored nearly 45 in PCS, because everything else was so strong and worth watching. At CWW his career program marathon was a crowd pleaser without a single jump.
In most cases the audience claps and screams after a quad or huge combo. Yuzu makes everyone freak out, before his step sequence has even started in Otonal... In that sense his performance is everything.

[Murieleirum]

9 hours ago, Bonesfan said:

Echo Cheng on Twitter: Yuzu has been back on ice since January.

 

 

My guess is... waiting for Ms. Loop to come around... and do the layouts initially planned at ACI (I mean only the jumps layout).

[4Nessie]

37 minutes ago, Murieleirum said:

 

My guess is... waiting for Ms. Loop to come around... and do the layouts initially planned at ACI (I mean only the jumps layout).

 

Or maybe... jumping 4A on the left foot... 

[rockstaryuzu]

11 minutes ago, 4Nessie said:

 

Or maybe... jumping 4A on the left foot... 

Or just jumping 4A. For all we know, his ankle could be fully healed. 

 

My money's on 4Lo coming back, though.