General Yuzuru Chat

[Henni147]

20 minutes ago, KatjaThera said:

While I get your point and focusing on 4A would make some sense, I'm not sure Yuzu thinks like that. To him, even his 2 OGMs are a thing of the past. Precisely because he's won everything, it's natural to keep on winning. Just because he's won everything in the past doesn't mean anything for the future, only that if he's really that good, he should be able to rightfully keep on winning. Some such thing.

 

Yup. Didn't he say recently something like: I'm not a fossil yet!

It obviously bothers him, when people say that he's done... his reign is over... he is a legend, but [...]. He wants to show that with clean performances he's still able to beat anybody. I don't think that this basic mindset has changed since Torino.

 

I liked what my mom said after Yuzu's SP:

It's just Chen's temporary reign in Hanyu's dynasty of figure skating.

[yuzublaze]

45 minutes ago, LadySnowblood said:

Moegiiro is a yellow-green color that resembles a young leaf that sprout in early spring. It is a traditional color name that has been used since the Heian era, and is also separately described as "Moegi".

 

30 minutes ago, sweetwater said:

The color used in the new SEIMEI costume is the first one, the color of young leaves.

;n; if this really was what he was thinking when they changed the colors to his costume(s)... what a great theme to keep in his heart moving forward. With the thoughts of starting anew, sprouting forth better and better programs and artistry, improving endlessly with the energy, hope, tenacity, and potential of a young leaf-- but built upon his legacy, that is very much still alive and being written as we speak. 

[nagini]

1 hour ago, sweetwater said:

The google-translated explanation is actually referring to two different colors both pronounced Moegi --萌黄 and 萌葱.
The first one is 萌黄

and the second one is 萌葱.

 

The color used in the new SEIMEI costume is the first one, the color of young leaves.

 

Young leafs= Spring= Rebirth

[micaelis]

Here's a question I hope someone here can answer.  Yuzu's Seimei yesterday took 4 minutes 10 seconds to perform.  I went back and timed his FS at PC and found it took 4 minutes and 40 seconds.  In watching his performance yesterday I could not find any obvious differences between yesterday's and the Olympic skate.  I don't have the software that would enable a detailed comparison of the two but I have hopes someone here might.  It would be interesting to see exactly where he eliminated those thirty seconds.

[rubyblue]

Found on Twitter:

 

[Maleko]

His smile is the best reward.  

 

SOURCE

 

 

 

[sweetwater]

In an interview given after FS, he said that his priority in making the new costume was to make sure it would not ruin the image of the program in everyone's memory too much since people have seen the footage of PyeongChang over and over again in many occasions and have a strong impression of it. So the costume had to have some affinities with the older one but be able to make people recognize the difference at a glance. It is not clear who chose the color, but he said that in that costume he feels not just strength but a bit of brightness and elegance.

https://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2020/02/09/kiji/20200209s00079000388000c.html

When I saw the new costume for the first time, the first thing that came to mind was young leaves, I mean, the real ones, not the name of this color. The young leaves are a symbol of spring and life, but I think it is also a symbol of a starting point, origin. Going into this competition, he chose to be completely true to himself even if it could make him vulnerable. He went back to what he truly loved and believed since when he was a child. Whoever chose the coloring, I think it suits SEIMEI 3.0 well in that sense as well.

 

I also think of what he said about SEIMEI's Stsq in the talk show held during FaOI 2018 tour. He said that he had an image of him (or Seimei) running through a bamboo grove and plants and flowers sprouting and growing on his trace. 

[barbara]

7 minutes ago, sweetwater said:

In an interview given after FS, he said that his priority in making the new costume was to make sure it would not ruin the image of the program in everyone's memory too much since people have seen the footage of PyeongChang over and over again in many occasions and have a strong impression of it. So the costume had to have some affinities with the older one but be able to make people recognize the difference at a glance. It is not clear who chose the color, but he said that in that costume he feels not just strength but a bit of brightness and elegance.

https://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2020/02/09/kiji/20200209s00079000388000c.html

When I saw the new costume for the first time, the first thing that came to mind was young leaves, I mean, the real ones, not the name of this color. The young leaves are a symbol of spring and life, but I think it is also a symbol of a starting point, origin. Going into this competition, he chose to be completely true to himself even if it could make him vulnerable. He went back to what he truly loved and believed since when he was a child. Whoever chose the coloring, I think it suits SEIMEI 3.0 well in that sense as well.

 

I also think of what he said about SEIMEI's Stsq in the talk show held during FaOI 2018 tour. He said that he had an image of him (or Seimei) running through a bamboo grove and plants and flowers sprouting and growing on his trace. 

You can hear him say to Jason, before they head out to the ice for the medal ceremony  (Jason says he likes the collar) "I feel like shining".  Who knew he'd also glow in the dark?

[sweetwater]

1 hour ago, micaelis said:

Here's a question I hope someone here can answer.  Yuzu's Seimei yesterday took 4 minutes 10 seconds to perform.  I went back and timed his FS at PC and found it took 4 minutes and 40 seconds.  In watching his performance yesterday I could not find any obvious differences between yesterday's and the Olympic skate.  I don't have the software that would enable a detailed comparison of the two but I have hopes someone here might.  It would be interesting to see exactly where he eliminated those thirty seconds.

I cannot point out exactly where, but he said he adjusted the length of the music by changing the speed of it. (He may have also cut it but not sure.) 
These are examples.

In both comparisons, the music is 4CC version. He does not just skate fast but also have changed the components of the spin.

[wildstrawberry]

 

1 million views in 2 days,legends only,isu can't relate

[tafattsbarn]

6 hours ago, Henni147 said:

I liked what my mom said after Yuzu's SP:

It's just Chen's temporary reign in Hanyu's dynasty of figure skating.

 

I feel like i should print this out and frame it! What absolutely succinct quote that perfectly describes the bigger arc of the wonder that is Yuzuru's life and career c: 

[glilikoi]

The S-Park interview segments with Yuzu are pretty good.

 

 

I don't have time to do a full translation (I'm pretty sure someone will sub this later), but some points I thought were interesting: 

 

- He brings up multiple times that sound/music is really important for his performance as a whole. Eg. says that the opening notes of Chopin help him enter the word of the music differently from any other program. Later he states that being able to do jumps and spins in sync with music is like happiness for him, and being very particular about that is the essence of 'his own' skating. He says this is the case 'especially with the short program', kind of implying that one of his main problems with Otonal was probably that he found it was difficult to perform the elements in sync with the music. 

- He talks about how he was scared to perform these programs because of their legendary status - he was worried about how they would be evaluated/received. But as he gradually got into performing them, he felt that the music/sound really helped him regain the image he needed. Later he says that as he was doing these programs, he realised 'ah, this is really my figure skating; this is the kind of figure skating I should aim for'. So he wants to work towards Worlds with these programs, striving to show an even better version of his figure skating. 

- He feels kuyashii about FS. Says he was able to show his worldview to an extent, but not as much as he wanted to. There are things he wants to be able to show/express still better, and that's what he emphasises more than just becoming 'stronger'. 

- Performing Seimei 3.0 was tough because the music was sped up, and he wasn't completely used to the new tempo yet. 

- Cramming so many jumps into 20 secs wasn't really calculated. It just ended up like that because he wanted to put in a good axel from steps as a single element to get high GOE; then he thought it'd be cool if he could put in a flip from steps as well, as if it were just a continuation of the steps. He also wanted to be able to focus properly on the second half. 

- He isn't sure of the FS layout for Worlds yet, it might be the same or different. He intends to continue practicing 4A, but it's difficult and he can't say directly if he can do it. The layout will take shape as he practices in the coming weeks. 

- In the final short clip, he says that he's happy he chose to do figure skating. Although there were misses in the FS, the short felt fun. He feels accomplished and refreshed now. He also says there is nothing like figure skating when it comes to being able to express himself.  

 

I think this interview is nice because it confirms a lot of the things about his mindset we have been discussing here as well. It seems he's really focusing on himself and his own identity as a skater now. I think it's a very good sign for the future! It sounds kind of liberating to hear him talk like this.

[Umebachi]

7 hours ago, LadySnowblood said:

Interesting, someone identified the new Seimei color as "parrot green":

 

 

(Below is Google translate from page linked in original tweet, has more detail than the separate English description)

 

Moegiiro is a yellow-green color that resembles a young leaf that sprout in early spring. It is a traditional color name that has been used since the Heian era, and is also separately described as "Moegi".

It is a color that symbolizes youth because of the color of the young green sapling, and was loved as a color for young people in the Heian period. In the Heike Monogatari, the 18-year-old Heike nobleman, "Atsumori Taira," wears Moe Ozori's armor, and the twenty-year-old master of the bow, "Yoichi Nasu," wears Moe Omoe's armor.  Moe yellow is used as a symbol of young warriors, such as wearing.

 

It is also written as "Moegi Moegi". In this case, it refers to the dark green color derived from green onions and green onions, and became popular in the Edo period. By the way, the colors of Kabuki regular curtains are "black", "persimmon" and "moegiiro".

 

OMG!! Yes, of course, Taira-no-Atsumori wore the moegi colored armour!  In Japanese we don't refer to it as "Parrot Green" - it's the green of early leaves of spring.    

Atsumori is a well-known legendary figure in Japanese history, famous for his most tragic and heart-wrenching death during the Genpei Wars (12th c).  He was known as a very beautiful young man of the Taira clan, who was unfortunately caught up in the chaos following the defeat of Taira clan at Ichino-tani by that other famous Japanese hero, Minamoto-no-Yoshitsune.   As the retreating Taira soldiers scrambled toward the beach in retreat, Kumagai, a seasoned sumurai of Minamoto clan caught up with one lagging soldier.  When Kumagai struck off the helmet of this young man, he was struck by his beauty and hesitated to kill him.  There are Noh plays that elaborate the emotional exchanges that took place in that combat - not much of a battle because the young man was so inexperienced, but he faced his death bravely.  In the end, Atsumori is killed and Kumagai becomes so grief-stricken and remorseful that he ends up taking the vows and becoming a Buddhist monk. 

 

I still tear up remembering the dramatic rendition of this encounter... the young man, like the tender green shoot of a tree, cut down at the height of his beauty - but forever remembered because he became a legend (like Achilles...).  The armour had "moegi-odoshi" (not Moe-odori) which is the design where the green moegi coloured threads are woven throughout the armour.  A photo of a reconstruction of Taira-no-Atsumori's famous armour is shown in the link below.  The equestrian statue of the young man is also shown.  It's located in Kobe, which is close to the location of that battle.   OK, this is too painful, the reference to moegi armour is too too painful... Why Yuzu?  Are you offering your head to the ISU general?  

 

http://kobeblog.net/u/557108a/oEnp0zLlOatmITjBS1fi

 

Found an English website showing the statue of Atsumori:

https://equestrianstatue.org/taira-no-atsumori/

 

[barbara]

20 minutes ago, glilikoi said:

The S-Park interview segments with Yuzu are pretty good.

 

 

I don't have time to do a full translation (I'm pretty sure someone will sub this later), but some points I thought were interesting: 

 

- He brings up multiple times that sound/music is really important for his performance as a whole. Eg. says that the opening notes of Chopin help him enter the word of the music differently from any other program. Later he states that being able to do jumps and spins in sync with music is like happiness for him, and being very particular about that is the essence of 'his own' skating. He says this is the case 'especially with the short program', kind of implying that one of his main problems with Otonal was probably that he found it was difficult to perform the elements in sync with the music. 

- He talks about how he was scared to perform these programs because of their legendary status - he was worried about how they would be evaluated/received. But as he gradually got into performing them, he felt that the music/sound really helped him regain the image he needed. Later he says that as he was doing these programs, he realised 'ah, this is really my figure skating; this is the kind of figure skating I should aim for'. So he wants to work towards Worlds with these programs, striving to show an even better version of his figure skating. 

- He feels kuyashii about FS. Says he was able to show his worldview to an extent, but not as much as he wanted to. There are things he wants to be able to show/express still better, and that's what he emphasises more than just becoming 'stronger'. 

- Performing Seimei 3.0 was tough because the music was sped up, and he wasn't completely used to the new tempo yet. 

- Cramming so many jumps into 20 secs wasn't really calculated. It just ended up like that because he wanted to put in a good axel from steps as a single element to get high GOE; then he thought it'd be cool if he could put in a flip from steps as well, as if it were just a continuation of the steps. He also wanted to be able to focus properly on the second half. 

- He isn't sure of the FS layout for Worlds yet, it might be the same or different. He intends to continue practicing 4A, but it's difficult and he can't say directly if he can do it. The layout will take shape as he practices in the coming weeks. 

- In the final short clip, he says that he's happy he chose to do figure skating. Although there were misses in the FS, the short felt fun. He feels accomplished and refreshed now. He also says there is nothing like figure skating when it comes to being able to express himself.  

 

I think this interview is nice because it confirms a lot of the things about his mindset we have been discussing here as well. It seems he's really focusing on himself and his own identity as a skater now. I think it's a very good sign for the future! It sounds kind of liberating to hear him talk like this.

Does he ever feel that he's done perfectly? There will always be a feeling of kuyashii for him because he is a perfectionist and perfect does not exist (though he's as close as it comes in figure skating.) He is so hard on himself.  Didn't he say that, before flying to Korea, he'd only skated to Chopin for two weeks?  Maybe Seimei was for a bit longer, but it couldn't have been very much longer and he did have to make a lot of adjustments.  And then jet lag. I wish, for him, that he hadn't put his hand down, that his 4Lz was perfect, that he hadn't fallen - but considering what he was contending with, he really di skate nearly perfectly...

[watermelonda]

source

 

His answer here seems kind of sad. I hope he doesn't actually think he's inferior just because judges don't give him good score....