General Yuzuru Chat

[Yuzurella]

51 minutes ago, Veveco said:

Right. Fun fact: in several languages (French, Italian, Spanish ...) figure skating is called "artistic skating". So, yeah... let's call it, uhum, a cultural difference of opinion. 

 

Also in German: Eiskunstlauf = ice art skating

 

As far as I remember, a German commentator complained during a competition that Eiskunstlauf (ice art skating) is turning into Eissprunglauf (ice jump skating).

[andchipzz]

I think that's why we all shall see the difference in commentator's commentary across different country/nation. 

[IULIANA]

2 hours ago, Veveco said:

2 hours ago, Henni147 said:

Well, Nathan said himself: "If something you really want to watch is artistry, go watch ice dancing. I think with what we're doing now, we're bringing such an athletic aspect to the sport."

Right. Fun fact: in several languages (French, Italian, Spanish ...) figure skating is called "artistic skating". So, yeah... let's call it, uhum, a cultural difference of opinion. 

Yeah, in Romanian too, it is artistic skating. I totally agree wih you, guys. Naathan s phylosophy is so simple - if not broken (by the judges), why fix it?

[Fay]

 

[ICeleste]

I want to share something to light up the mood. This track was released a few days ago and what amazes me is that it sounds like Yuzuru's theme song.

I mean, the title "JOPPING" is a made-up word, explained in the chorus "when we're jumping and popping, we jopping"

Also, these lyrics...:  "step on the floor, star a riot

where's the competition, man? it's looking one-sided"

"opinionated but i'm always spitting straight facts"

"fly like a paraglide" "believe me, i'm a sight to see"

"let me see you put it on like a costume, make the crowd go wild in a small room"

"i don't even care, we will burn on this stage"

"you know how we get down? jopping! we'll keep jumping and popping here all night"

From now on every time Yuzu pops a jump, I'll be singing this in my head. it would be amazingly funny if he skated to it.

[Nighticeswan]

6 hours ago, rockstaryuzu said:

Fact: the creator of Yuri On Ice has stated outright that she based Yuri on Tatsuki Machida.  So Yuzuru doesn't match up with Yuri in any way (although there are definitely some articles out there saying he does). But I can see why someone who likes anime but doesn't know figure skating would think it is him. 

Thank you for clearing that up, I never knew she had actually named who Yuuri was based off of. I actually liked Yuzuru way before I started watching the anime and that is why I got upset. I thought Yuuri was based off Yuzuru not because of the personalities, but based off the emphasis on the emphasis on Grand Prix Final, which I think of as Yuzuru's baby, and changing to an international coach. Now actually typing that out I feel silly for jumping to the conclusion so quickly 😅 Maybe I'll try giving the anime another shot now that I know Yuuri is based off Machida 🙂

[KatjaThera]

5 hours ago, Murieleirum said:

 

You only mentioned your own emotions in justifying the mass behavior that happened at ACI, and of course you are, that's exactly what happens - fans get overwhelmed with emotions and do not think about other people. It happens when they run after Yuzuru's car, it happens when they (any skater's fans) steal other people's seats, etc. etc. Who decides where the line is? Between what is acceptable and what is not? I wish Yuzuru could speak out more explicitey about this and say it bluntly when he thinks fans are exaggerating, but I feel like he kinda did when he said "I am grateful for my fans for letting me concentrate", which from Japanese to English means "I hope my fans will respect other skater's concentration and my own when cheering for me". 

 

The context is everything. Again, you only spoke about what I felt, but I am asking you to think about how others might have felt: Yuzuru himself, other skaters.

 

Plus, you said something that is upsetting: it's not the diehard fans who go to non-ISU competitions like ACI. It's the fans who can afford it. Big difference.

 

For example, I was lucky enough to win a ticket for Saitama and be in Japan during the WC of 2019, so I went and I cheered. When Nathan's score was announced, I felt like booing. I was so disappointed. Booing at the judges of course, not at poor Nathan who did a great job. But I couldn't, because I had to think about other people's (Nathan's) feelings. And booing is not the same as cheering, but... come on, I don't have to repeat myself. Yuzuru has been recently, in more than one competition, visibly irritated by some behaviors that went over the line.

 

One other thing, in Helsinki 2017 during the winning ceremony, there was an Italian lady screaming "Yuzuru! Look over here! I love you!" again and again and the desperation that I could hear in her voice was just a little... well, no. That is not the kind of support that Yuzuru needs, that is just obsession and do you really think Yuzuru doesn't feel the difference?

 

I know it's annoying and you don't wanna hear it, but... this is just what I think at the end of the day. You are free to disagree and I don't want you to be ashamed, I just want people to think a little bit more about context.

Honestly, as someone who screamed at ACI, I feel offended to have that be equaled with running after Yuzu's car, stealing seats, or loudly screaming "Look at me, I love you!" You're generalizing, by assuming people who screamed at ACI are the types of people who do those things. I'd says it's very easy to judge without having been there and to me it's the same kind of judging like that Seimei cosplaying girl at Rostelecom 2017 suffered: people saw her crying and assumed she was crying because Yuzu lost. You saw/heard people screaming at ACI more than usual and assumed they're all misbehaving fans. There were circumstances which amplified the reaction. It doesn't mean everyone suddenly stopped acknowledging Yuzu as a talented double Olympic Champion and just saw a sexy guy that made their ovaries explode. To me, at least, the lines are generally very clear. Was ACI an overreaction? Maybe, and I've admitted this before. Was it understandable? Yes, I believe it was. Will everyone agree on that? Of course not. Different people have different temperaments. Maybe some of them would never lose their composure like that. I didn't last year, but did this year. Maybe my threshold is high, but this year it wasn't high enough. I don't know. What I do know is that I cannot agree that the screaming at ACI is as bad as the other examples of bad behavior you gave and I resent the comparison.

 

I also felt the urge to boo at ACI, but I did not. Because Yuzu would not appreciate it. But the total silence as the technical controller and who else extended greetings to the athletes was telling.

 

I also think you really need to get over the notion that affordability means anything. That's a sort of elitist mindframe, like richer people would never stoop to act as badly as the poor people do, that I cannot believe still exists in this day and age. You can be absolutely sure that those screaming included both rich and not so rich people. Although admittedly, I did not inquire about the income of any of the fans I've met at ACI. I am probably the poorest of them, but then again, it was also my first time screaming like that. So not sure what exactly that is supposed to say about me...

 

I think bad fan behavior needs to be discussed. Stalking, in any shape or form - to me, chasing after his car is a form of stalking - needs to be pointed out and discouraged, rather than swept under the rug. But IMO, there were worse things happening at ACI than the screaming. The screaming was a genuine, honest reaction, and it was ALL about Yuzu, not getting his attention, at least from where I stood. If there were other instances of something else, like competitions between fans, to outscream each other, then, yes, that I disagree with. But in that case, I'd rather those cases be singled out, rather than just going after EVERYONE who screamed, because that's just not fair to those for whom it was a genuine and perhaps not entirely voluntary reaction.

 

And we know Yuzu is a fan of cheering and screaming himself, so I don't think he'd want people holding back on genuine reactions, as long as they don't get too over the top.

 

As for concentration, I think it's good for athletes to experience stressful situations, too. As long as nobody is screaming with the purpose to disturb, timing the screams to jumps, it should be good practice, to learn to block it out. Even if it's done with the purpose to disturb, it's good practice. An athlete who can master the art of ignoring those who try to intentionally destroy his focus will be unbeatable. But that was not the case and I honestly doubt any of the other skaters minded it much. If anything, it meant the attention was not on them. As for Yuzu, I've already been there, so I won't repeat myself. Only he knows how much he minded it or not.

 

Either way, I doubt it set the standard for future competitions, so we are probably over-analyzing.

[Fay]

Oh, and this. Yuzu wasn’t there, apparently, but we all know it’s about him, don’t we? 

https://www.toronto.ca.emb-japan.go.jp/itpr_en/b_000421.html

[sweetwater]

Yuzu's comment on NHK Trophy this year released during the NHK Trophy press conference. (Sorry if this has already been shared since it has been released on Sunday)

"Hello, I'm Yuzuru Hanyu. Thank you for always supporting me. At NHK Trophy, I would like to perform my best at the time. To be able to deliver the performances as I envision, I am going to work hard, working on my performance step by step. (Makomanai, Sapporo) is the place which brings back the memories of NHK Trophy (2016) in which I won, so I want to work hard to be able to rewrite these memories with even greater joy. Thank you for the continuous support!"

[rockstaryuzu]

6 hours ago, Murieleirum said:

I just want people to think a little bit more about context. 

...and if the context is an arena during actual competition, screaming and cheering is expected. It's a sports event! And it's not like Yuzu is the very first skater anyone ever screamed and swooned over. 

 

I also think you're reading too much into Yuzu's behaviour. I was there in the arena sitting right beside the glass both days, and could see his expression clearly as he went by. I saw no irritation cross his face, only focus on his own skating. The one time he made commentary ( by his gestures) on fan behaviour while on the ice was when he highlighted Chris Caleza's skating during Chris's run-through. 

 

 

[sweetwater]

I don't think @Murieleirum is labeling fans at ACI this year as stalkers and such. Isn't she just pointing out the danger in justifying what we do as a sign of emotional involvement or emotional investment? And I don't think "who can afford it" means who is rich either... There must be die-hard fans outside of arenas as well, among those who can't afford to go to each competition, no? because of having no time or having difficult situations? I am not a native English speaker so I am not 100 percent confident, though.

[rockstaryuzu]

5 hours ago, Yuzurella said:

 

Also in German: Eiskunstlauf = ice art skating

 

As far as I remember, a German commentator complained during a competition that Eiskunstlauf (ice art skating) is turning into Eissprunglauf (ice jump skating).

I love German. If it does't have the word you want, you can just make it yourself.

[rockstaryuzu]

2 hours ago, Fay said:

 

...Those manner hands! I wonder if Yuzu realizes that any Western person being hugged that way is going to automatically pull him in tighter... body language is such a cultural thing. 

[KatjaThera]

44 minutes ago, sweetwater said:

I don't think @Murieleirum is labeling fans at ACI this year as stalkers and such. Isn't she just pointing out the danger in justifying what we do as a sign of emotional involvement or emotional investment? And I don't think "who can afford it" means who is rich either... There must be die-hard fans outside of arenas as well, among those who can't afford to go to each competition, no? because of having no time or having difficult situations? I am not a native English speaker so I am not 100 percent confident, though.

Personally, I think I have less of an issue with what she's saying than I do with the way she is saying. It's just piling everyone together. I am sure stalkers do justify their actions similarly. But does that mean that our actions are the same and deserve to be compared? I might scream in excitement at seeing an amazing costume on a skater I love. I will not chase after his car or stalk him to his home, or yell out my feelings. I agree there need to be boundaries, but we're not really discussing those boundaries. It's all about the screaming at ACI and how disturbing or not that was. To me, it's not on the same level as some other fan actions. I would probably prefer it not to be quite so wild and maybe if I had just watched it on TV, I might have cringed. But I still wouldn't compare it to the stalking, especially when there are fans explaining why they themselves reacted as they did, with actual arguments, not just "he was so hot, I couldn't help it!" We couldn't help it, yes, but for different reasons. For that alone, I would give at least SOME of the audience the benefit of doubt. Or at least I like to think I would.

 

As for "who can afford it", I think she might actually mean that ACI is a more affordable event, so even fans who don't usually get to go to competitions and see Yuzu can go, so they might be less familiar with skating etiquette and more excited to see him than the more seasoned crowd. Which, fair enough, though last year ACI was my first ever competition and most 'skating etiquette' is just good old common sense. But if so, say it like this. I'm not a native English speaker either (though I have been learning English since I was 6, so I guess I might be closer than some others), and I can be very bad at expressing myself, too, but on a forum, words are all we really have to communicate with and it's up to each of us to try to avoid misunderstandings.

 

And as a bottom line, I actually think we SHOULD discuss proper and improper fan behavior. I know some fans frown at the idea of fans policing fans, but truth is, if we don't, behavior we all find abhorrent will never go away. Like stalking. I'm sure we all agree stalking is bad. But what exactly does stalking imply? And some fans might genuinely not realize why what they're doing is bad. I'm thinking we could maybe make a thread and suggest 'behavior rules for Yuzu fans', with arguments. Why we should do some things and not do other things. When and where and how should we exercise more self-control? Then make a list of those generally agreed upon, and pros/cons lists for those that get debated. I'd be willing to open such a thread, but I'm not sure I would have enough time to properly handle it...

[Henni147]

6 hours ago, Yuzurella said:

 

Also in German: Eiskunstlauf = ice art skating

 

As far as I remember, a German commentator complained during a competition that Eiskunstlauf (ice art skating) is turning into Eissprunglauf (ice jump skating).

 

You probably mean Daniel Weiss, who does the commentary for ARD and ONE, aye? I think, he invented the term "Eissprunglauf" during Worlds 2018 in Milano.

 

Daniel was a competitive skater himself (German national champion 1990) and he amphasizes well-rounded skating with balanced technical and artistic quality in every broadcast.

I remember his commentary in Saitama, where he said after Otonal: "Yes, Hanyu lost some points with the popped Salchow, but LOOK at this mindblowing step sequence! The beautiful edges and turns. He literally FLIES across the ice!"

In the gala he was top informed about the meaning of 'Haru yo, koi' and praised Yuzu's sakura costume, how well it visualizes the famous Japanese cherry blossom in spring. That was a very positive surprise for me.