General Yuzuru Chat

[Veveco]

1 hour ago, rockstaryuzu said:

I don't think the pooh rain is actually forbidden outright.

Maybe somebody should tell that to the new head of JSF 

[IceWings]

12 hours ago, yuzuangel said:

I wouldn't say only a small portion of his fans think he is a human being with his own thought and individuality. I think most fans think like that -- definitely the majority -- but by definition the fans that are trying to be the loudest usually are. Most of us also put him on a pedestal, too, because well, he belongs there, but we still understand that he's human and feels all that which comes with being human.

 

Most fans at ACI were great sports, and so many people cheered for so many skaters that it warmed my heart. The way people were cheering for Harry Mattick (and his adorable reactions to those fans), and the way the crowd supported the Filipino skater (Edrian?) who lost steam halfway through his program was all really nice to see. The skaters sure looked like that appreciated that. I wouldn't be surprised if going to ACI were both an intimidating but also awesome experience for skaters just because Yuzu would most likely attend and "bring" his loud and fun fanclub in tow

I was at 4CC this year, and you should have heard the cheers for the American skaters, so I don't think it's only Yuzu who has a loud fan club. 

[Henni147]

3 hours ago, anski said:

I think cheering is great and you can tell skaters appreciate the audience’s support. However, we shouldn’t forget that these are athletes about to risk the work of months in a couple of minutes. Many of them like to be very focused and visualize their skate before taking the ice etc so I think we shouldn’t behave like we’re in a rock concert either.

 

Well, figure skating is that kind of sport that is 50% athletics and 50% show/entertainment. The top skaters ARE rockstars and it's their no. 1 goal to make the crowd freak out, move them to tears and create masterpieces that will be celebrated and remembered forever. In the era of Yags, Plushy and later Joubert the crowd totally escalated as well and that's great. A sport needs an infectious, euphoric atmosphere to attract new fans and stay alive. I think that every skater prefers a wild, enthusiastic crowd to empty seats or silent monks anytime.

 

And let's be honest: no one forces Yuzu to build up the suspense over 5-6 months and reveal his programs and costumes last minute in competition. He could simply do it in early summer like most skaters do and calm down everybody beforehand. But that's obviously not the case, so my conclusion is that he likes it the way it is and that's totally fine. It's part of the show and something would be missing without it, aye?

[Yuzurella]

7 hours ago, shanshani said:

eh, depends on the opera house. it's normal for the audience to heckle the stars at La Scala, and led to a few walk-outs. that opera house is pretty legendary for its, uh, loud and opinionated patrons, actually. 

 

anyway, I think people are wringing their hands too much over people just having some fun. idk, I think people get way too worked up over supposed fan bad behavior in FS. other sports like hockey and football literally cause riots. figure skating fans being a bit extra rowdy? doesn't really strike me as a serious issue. plus, I think it's pretty ungenerous to impute onto rowdy fans motives like “they were trying to making it about themselves,” any more than it would be right for them to say things like “you're complaining about us because it gives you a feeling of superiority.” a bit of silliness, rowdiness, and over-passion is just part of being human, and part of following a sport. let us be the ridiculous creatures that we are!

 

anyway, if Yuzu dislikes it, then let him make that clearly known, and fans will either respect his wishes or get fairly criticized for not doing so. he's an adult and fully capable of expressing himself, and should do so if he has strong feelings and preferences about this. he's not a child in need of coddling, we don't have to protect him from every little thing that could plausibly cause him the tiniest bit of unease. trust him to speak up if he feels the need. meanwhile, we shouldn't jump to conclusions about his inner life based on stray expressions either. impressions of other people's thoughts and feelings can often be wrong, and even though we feel like we may know Yuzu, of course, we really don't. (And people misread the feelings of people they know well all the time too.)

 

I agree. One of the greatest things about sports, in general, is that it's exciting and unpredictable. And this is why people follow sports and buy expensive tickets and travel just to see their heroes in real life. And especially with this year having no media day, people were probably over-excited to see Yuzu, especially since most fans didn't expect a new costume.

 

Figure skating federations and fans should be grateful that this sport has a superstar like Yuzu who has the power to basically single-handedly fill entire ice rinks and stadiums and create such a level of excitement. I think this is pretty unique in the history of figure skating. There have always been stars, but no one with even ten percent of the star power of Yuzu. That's why even Western media call him a rockstar on ice.

 

Let's enjoy it as long as we can because once Yuzu doesn't compete anymore, I'm afraid the stands in figure skating competitions will be pretty empty except for the ones in Russia and Japan. Just look at the non-Yuzu challenger competitions. The only comps that were a full house this season so far were ACI, Russian Test Skates and the JGP in Russia. And we all know why ACI was full.

 

I've been watching the Athletics World Championships in the last few days and the absence of Usain Bolt is so obvious. There's no one who can even nearly fill the huge hole that he left after his retirement. Sports aren't half as interesting or exciting without such superstars that can draw the masses in. That's why it's even more of a mystery why the ISU and skating federations treat Yuzu more like he's a nuisance instead of worshipping the ground he's walking on.

 

To be honest, I wasn't at ACI myself, but I watched lots of fan cams and to me, it feels more like the audience was just super excited and happy to see Yuzu and also other skaters. That created a great atmosphere also for the other skaters. I think no athlete enjoys to perform in front of empty stands or a quiet and unresponsive audience. It's an important part of sports competitions.

 

Of course, all the cheering and clapping should be respectful and not disturb any athletes, but that was certainly the case at ACI. It's part of being an athlete to be able to shut out distractions and focus on one's performance under any circumstances. We shouldn't underestimate Yuzu and other skaters and speculate that they couldn't handle that kind of thing. And again, let's enjoy all the excitement and shenanigans, the Pooh-rains, cheering crowds and full stadiums as long as we can.

[Paskud]

2 hours ago, KatjaThera said:

At Japan Nationals this year, throwing gifts on the ice is forbidden. Which a lot of people think is ridiculous, because if Japan doesn't have flower boys and girls, then nobody does. It started with banning banners, then slowly only allowing certain areas of the audience to throw gifts, to not banning gift throwing altogether (and I'm pretty sure it's in reaction to fans banding together at Worlds, so those in areas where throwing was allowed, also threw for those who weren't allowed to). Given that Yuzu gets the most banners and most gifts, it's hard not to think this is a move against him.

Actually, I can't believe JSF is that dumb and announced it THREE MONTHS before JNats. Now fanyus have a lot of time to prepare something in exchange, with banners or whatever they are still allowed to do.

[Henni147]

13 minutes ago, Paskud said:

Actually, I can't believe JSF is that dumb and announced it THREE MONTHS before JNats. Now fanyus have a lot of time to prepare something in exchange, with banners or whatever they are still allowed to do.

 

I can see the battle between organizers and fans already.

 

1st round: ban any kind of gift throwing ---> okay, then we hold up banners and posters

2nd round: ban any kind of item (banners, posters, handbags, drinks etc.) ---> okay, then we print messages on our shirts

3rd round: ban any kind of clothing ---> okay, then we do body painting

[Paskud]

Just now, Henni147 said:

 

I can see the battle between organizers and fans already.

 

1st round: ban any kind of gift throwing ---> okay, then we hold up banners and posters

2nd round: ban any kind of item (banners, handbags, drinks etc.) ---> okay, then we print messages on our shirts

3rd round: ban any kind of clothing ---> okay, then we do body painting

Remember that they banned throwing gifts ON ICE. Not on, say, K&C.

[Lunna]

3 часа назад, KatjaThera сказал:

Actually, one of my pet peeves with cheering at competitions is people who keep cheering and shouting messages even as the skater is taking their starting position. It always makes me cringe. I'm more in the cheer as they're introduced, then shut up and let them focus and get into the program mindframe. I find that much more grating than even cheering for successful jumps, because that's celebrating - the same way cheering after a failed jump is encouraging - because those few moments before the program is when skaters need to gather themselves and focus. And if you keep screaming at them, that's much harder to do. But that could be just me.

I totally agree with this. It's OK cheering when skater is introduced, but shouting when he takes starting position is the worst. And I know that happened to Russian skaters several times - in the moments like these I want to say "geez, people, it's not hockey!"

Other times I find FS fans rather supportive of everyone - clapping for good jumps or being supportive when skater has a meltdown. So even if it was over the top enthusiastic reaction this one time at ACI, overall I don't find there're problems in fan's behavior.

[sophiang]

在2019/9/26 at AM6點17分, Yuzurella說:

Translation of Yuzu's interview in the Ajinomoto recipe book.

All the food in this book looks delicious.

This make me want to taste the rice ball......even i don't like eat rice much....

 

在2019/9/29 at AM12點24分, SuzyQ說:

JSF has announced the details of the Nationals  (Dec. 19-22)

Another bloody ticket battle is to begin    

 

https://skatingjapan.or.jp/common/img/event/19AllJapan_summary_information0929.pdf

 

The website page has just started:

http://ajfigure.jp/

 

But I think I can see my future after the lottery 

 

Are there foreigner lottery for national?

[Henni147]

52 minutes ago, Paskud said:

Remember that they banned throwing gifts ON ICE. Not on, say, K&C.

 

K&C could be risky, because you can hit so many people by accident. I remember how a plushy bounced back from Yuzu's head right into the arms of a staff member. I don't know how much a thrown plushy can hurt you, but it's an unpleasant feeling for sure.

 

 

BUT there is a smart way to make a pieceful "Pooh rain" happen without breaking any rules:

 

1. Bring a Pooh plushy with you

2. Wait until the end of the performance

3. Throw the plushy into the air and catch it with your hands

4. Repeat the throw a few times, if you like

5. Recycle the plushy for the next competition

 

Okay, it's more like fireworks than rain, but the effect is similar. Some Poohs might jump down one or two rows by mistake, but I think that's within the rules 

[Paskud]

3 minutes ago, Henni147 said:

K&C could be risky, because you can hit so many people by accident. I remember how a plushy bounced back from Yuzu's head right into the arms of a staff member. I don't know how much a thrown plushy can hurt you, but it's an unpleasant feeling for sure.

We can always shower him with flowers or petals.

[Sombreuil]

Speaking as someone who has been to a couple of weddings this year flower petals are a lot more difficult to clear up than soft toys....

[TallyT]

The TV's on and my sister is watching a cookery show, I'm barely aware of it...

 

Until they tell us what they are making is a white chocolate and yuzu cheescake.

 

I want.....

[Yuzurella]

Remember the moment when Yuzu seemed to have seen something on the ice during ACI practices and bent down to pick it up and remove it from the ice? This pic shows that moment.

Only Yuzu would notice something like this and put in the effort to keep the ice clean. (And maybe save a bug? I don't know if it's a bug or just a piece of garbage.)

[Seorose]

He's smiling at little one.