General Yuzuru Chat

[Pammi]

20 minutes ago, KendallKlaire said:

Okay so I know that this may belong in the IDF but I have to RAGE a bit. Perhaps I'm crazy but I'm just so mad right now...

 

The Yuzu erasure this season is REAL you guys.  I don't mean in that in the sense of him not competing and generally being absent but in the NARRATIVE sense. Like there is no narrative coming from the Americans, Russians, or the Japanese media/federations that are building any sort of road or support of Yuzu competing or winning ANYTHING this season. In their eyes he's done and over. 

 

What made me write this was just watching the NBC IDF coverage and hearing the commentary of Johnny, Tara, and Tanith. The praise in which they lavish Yuma in is almost ridiculous. I like Yuma and think he has a lot of promise but he's not *there* yet.  His performance at the IDF was not his best and yet the commentary was trying SO HARD to convince us he was stunning and the OGM dark horse (and sure maybe). But it's as if they're watching Nathan skate, the praise is endless! If Yuzu was skating all they would talk about is how it compares to Nathan, no such endless compliments for him. 

 

Which leads me to another thing... Johnny during Yuma's skate commented "Yuma is bringing a new era of Japanese male dominance" but like... where did it go??? Yuzu has won the last 2 Olympics and won his GP assignments in 2018 & 2019. Have you forgotten? He hasn't left the Worlds podium since 2014 and has the respect of the skating world.

 

I get that Yuma is fresh blood and will likely succeed Yuzu but the way they are pushing this narrative that now that Yuzu is out for the GP he no longer exists or is relevant is infuriating. I'd argue a lot of the current figure skating audience exists today because of Yuzu. I just find it cruel how the sport he lives so much is erasing him and diminishing his achievements. 

 

I have felt exactly this too! The ISU commentator DID mention Yuzuru a few times, mainly in relation to possibly being a contender for an Olympic place on the Japan Team, BUT the main thrust was to bigging up Yuma as possibly an equal contender to Yuzu and  Shoma , or even the main Japanese contender.  Other than that, Yuzuru was not really mentioned. We know how quickly Javi erasure happened, and definitely Yuzu erasure is already well underway, beginning in 2019 when he still could have had years of competitive skating left, with false URs and declining scores. His injury has given them all a great opportunity to speed the process along even more. It COULD just serve to make Yuzuru even more determined to prove them wrong though....

[Guest Mary_kyo]

59 minutes ago, KendallKlaire said:

Okay so I know that this may belong in the IDF but I have to RAGE a bit. Perhaps I'm crazy but I'm just so mad right now...

 

The Yuzu erasure this season is REAL you guys.  I don't mean in that in the sense of him not competing and generally being absent but in the NARRATIVE sense. Like there is no narrative coming from the Americans, Russians, or the Japanese media/federations that are building any sort of road or support of Yuzu competing or winning ANYTHING this season. In their eyes he's done and over. 

 

What made me write this was just watching the NBC IDF coverage and hearing the commentary of Johnny, Tara, and Tanith. The praise in which they lavish Yuma in is almost ridiculous. I like Yuma and think he has a lot of promise but he's not *there* yet.  His performance at the IDF was not his best and yet the commentary was trying SO HARD to convince us he was stunning and the OGM dark horse (and sure maybe). But it's as if they're watching Nathan skate, the praise is endless! If Yuzu was skating all they would talk about is how it compares to Nathan, no such endless compliments for him. 

 

Which leads me to another thing... Johnny during Yuma's skate commented "Yuma is bringing a new era of Japanese male dominance" but like... where did it go??? Yuzu has won the last 2 Olympics and won his GP assignments in 2018 & 2019. Have you forgotten? He hasn't left the Worlds podium since 2014 and has the respect of the skating world.

 

I get that Yuma is fresh blood and will likely succeed Yuzu but the way they are pushing this narrative that now that Yuzu is out for the GP he no longer exists or is relevant is infuriating. I'd argue a lot of the current figure skating audience exists today because of Yuzu. I just find it cruel how the sport he lives so much is erasing him and diminishing his achievements. 

I understand and I get angry too but tbh, if commentary of someone like Johnny was that important, Nathan was not where he is now popularity wise. The media failed to build a star out of Nathan with all those massive expensive efforts and it is failing for Yuma currently too. Forceful blunt star fabrication doesn’t work, but it seems ISU hasn’t understood it yet and it is sad because Yuma has the potential to shine next seasons and his rivalry with Shun could get interesting in future IF they let him build his career at the right pace. There is no need to paint Yuma as something he is obviously not, he can shine to his potential later. Can JSF and ISU not ruin another talented kid, because this makes me mad.

Also, media needs to sell rivalry stories in general so with Yuzu out of GPF (and uncertain with Beijing), they need to ridiculously cook a rivalry story between Nathan and Yuma. Very ridiculous and forced but lmao they have to do this to make noise. Tbh, I would love Yuzu to skip Beijing and instead go to Worlds, just because that will make Nathan’s paid gold medal in Beijing very dull and underwhelming lol

At the end of the day, Yuzu doesn’t need Olympics, doesn’t need ISU, doesn’t need someone like Johnny, doesn’t even need western media tbh. No matter how hard ISU tries to erase him, he has already built a glorious career, has already won the hearts and has already established his untouchable legacy. Money and fake star fabrication can never produce something like this and this is what will remain in the history forever:

I believe whenever he comes back, he will make all these clowns quiet again. Just thinking about his SP makes my heart beat faster, feels like a storm is coming closer lol

 

[Figure_Frenzy]

2 hours ago, Mary_kyo said:

Tbh, I would love Yuzu to skip Beijing and instead go to Worlds, just because that will make Nathan’s paid gold medal in Beijing very dull and underwhelming lol

 

Thanks to you I now remember that this (ie. unmemorable gold medallist) indeed, is a possibility 😏😉

[jier]

2小时前, Mary_kyo说:

Tbh, I would love Yuzu to skip Beijing and instead go to Worlds, just because that will make Nathan’s paid gold medal in Beijing very dull and underwhelming lol

I kinda of want him to skip Olympics too, though it means much more time to see him. His ankle definitely needs a lot of time to heal to resume the 4A practice. Competiting in Olympics (possible the JNat before) is sure to be detrimental to his body. I just want him to focus on his body and his ultimate dream 4A without distraction from media, JSF, even fans. His real fans can understand and wait. Once he is ready for 4A, make a glorious comeback. I don't think his career will end in the Worlds this season. For one thing,  his body may not be ready for 4A this season. If I have to guess, I think it would be JNat next year or 2023 Worlds in Japan with home crowd after he debut 4A somewhere next GP series.

[Anni]

Today is Ghislain's birthday 

X

 

Happy Birthday 

[sweetwater]

13 hours ago, KendallKlaire said:

Okay so I know that this may belong in the IDF but I have to RAGE a bit. Perhaps I'm crazy but I'm just so mad right now...

 

The Yuzu erasure this season is REAL you guys.  I don't mean in that in the sense of him not competing and generally being absent but in the NARRATIVE sense. Like there is no narrative coming from the Americans, Russians, or the Japanese media/federations that are building any sort of road or support of Yuzu competing or winning ANYTHING this season. In their eyes he's done and over. 

 

What made me write this was just watching the NBC IDF coverage and hearing the commentary of Johnny, Tara, and Tanith. The praise in which they lavish Yuma in is almost ridiculous. I like Yuma and think he has a lot of promise but he's not *there* yet.  His performance at the IDF was not his best and yet the commentary was trying SO HARD to convince us he was stunning and the OGM dark horse (and sure maybe). But it's as if they're watching Nathan skate, the praise is endless! If Yuzu was skating all they would talk about is how it compares to Nathan, no such endless compliments for him. 

 

Which leads me to another thing... Johnny during Yuma's skate commented "Yuma is bringing a new era of Japanese male dominance" but like... where did it go??? Yuzu has won the last 2 Olympics and won his GP assignments in 2018 & 2019. Have you forgotten? He hasn't left the Worlds podium since 2014 and has the respect of the skating world.

 

I get that Yuma is fresh blood and will likely succeed Yuzu but the way they are pushing this narrative that now that Yuzu is out for the GP he no longer exists or is relevant is infuriating. I'd argue a lot of the current figure skating audience exists today because of Yuzu. I just find it cruel how the sport he lives so much is erasing him and diminishing his achievements. 

 

Recently, I am not following fs-related news so closely due to busyness, so I don't know much about foreign media, but I think Japanese mediums that have been supportive of Yuzu are still supportive, although the way they show support might have been too subtle, and they are not focusing on Yuzu competing in any competition this season because they know what Yuzu is aiming for and facing now. I think the subtle messages of support haven't been translated much because they are not news.

 

Here is one of the examples. It's an article by Megumi Takagi of Hochi. Unfortunately, I don't have time to translate it myself this week, so please try and read especially the section titled, "記者の目 (Reporter's view)" with DeepL or something.
https://hochi.news/articles/20211117-OHT1T51175.html?page=1

 

Or read the last three paragraphs of this article by Sponichi.
https://www.sponichi.co.jp/sports/news/2021/11/17/kiji/20211117s00079000325000c.html

 

If you find these articles as examples of the Yuzu erasure, then I have nothing more to say.

 

ETA: If you read the second from the last paragraph of the article by Sponichi via DeepL translation, you may think that Yuzu made the decision to withdraw considering the situation surrounding Covid-19 in Russia, but it is DeepL's mistake. The part describes how the reporter saw the situation, not Yuzu.

[Yuzu_legend]

 Thank you so much to everyone preparing banners and messages for him! 

[rockstaryuzu]

11 hours ago, KendallKlaire said:

Okay so I know that this may belong in the IDF but I have to RAGE a bit. Perhaps I'm crazy but I'm just so mad right now...

 

The Yuzu erasure this season is REAL you guys.  I don't mean in that in the sense of him not competing and generally being absent but in the NARRATIVE sense. Like there is no narrative coming from the Americans, Russians, or the Japanese media/federations that are building any sort of road or support of Yuzu competing or winning ANYTHING this season. In their eyes he's done and over. 

 

What made me write this was just watching the NBC IDF coverage and hearing the commentary of Johnny, Tara, and Tanith. The praise in which they lavish Yuma in is almost ridiculous. I like Yuma and think he has a lot of promise but he's not *there* yet.  His performance at the IDF was not his best and yet the commentary was trying SO HARD to convince us he was stunning and the OGM dark horse (and sure maybe). But it's as if they're watching Nathan skate, the praise is endless! If Yuzu was skating all they would talk about is how it compares to Nathan, no such endless compliments for him. 

 

Which leads me to another thing... Johnny during Yuma's skate commented "Yuma is bringing a new era of Japanese male dominance" but like... where did it go??? Yuzu has won the last 2 Olympics and won his GP assignments in 2018 & 2019. Have you forgotten? He hasn't left the Worlds podium since 2014 and has the respect of the skating world.

 

I get that Yuma is fresh blood and will likely succeed Yuzu but the way they are pushing this narrative that now that Yuzu is out for the GP he no longer exists or is relevant is infuriating. I'd argue a lot of the current figure skating audience exists today because of Yuzu. I just find it cruel how the sport he lives so much is erasing him and diminishing his achievements. 

 

I understand the frustration,  but NBC's coverage of figure skating has always been abysmal.  And the commentators will say any old thing to fill in airtime. It's wiser to watch skating elsewhere, and save yourself the aggravation 

[Yuzuwinnie]

4 hours ago, Anni said:

Aujourd'hui c'est l'anniversaire de Ghislain 

X

 

Joyeux anniversaire 

 

Ah oui effectivement , heureux anniversaire Ghislain pour tes 59 ans et que tu as toujours ce sourire et je ne le fait pas traduire , car il est né au Québec ( ce sera la seule fois que je poste en Français )   

[Yuzurella]

15 hours ago, Mary_kyo said:

I understand and I get angry too but tbh, if commentary of someone like Johnny was that important, Nathan was not where he is now popularity wise. The media failed to build a star out of Nathan with all those massive expensive efforts and it is failing for Yuma currently too. Forceful blunt star fabrication doesn’t work, but it seems ISU hasn’t understood it yet and it is sad because Yuma has the potential to shine next seasons and his rivalry with Shun could get interesting in future IF they let him build his career at the right pace. There is no need to paint Yuma as something he is obviously not, he can shine to his potential later. Can JSF and ISU not ruin another talented kid, because this makes me mad.

Also, media needs to sell rivalry stories in general so with Yuzu out of GPF (and uncertain with Beijing), they need to ridiculously cook a rivalry story between Nathan and Yuma. Very ridiculous and forced but lmao they have to do this to make noise. Tbh, I would love Yuzu to skip Beijing and instead go to Worlds, just because that will make Nathan’s paid gold medal in Beijing very dull and underwhelming lol

At the end of the day, Yuzu doesn’t need Olympics, doesn’t need ISU, doesn’t need someone like Johnny, doesn’t even need western media tbh. No matter how hard ISU tries to erase him, he has already built a glorious career, has already won the hearts and has already established his untouchable legacy. Money and fake star fabrication can never produce something like this and this is what will remain in the history forever:

I believe whenever he comes back, he will make all these clowns quiet again. Just thinking about his SP makes my heart beat faster, feels like a storm is coming closer lol

 

 

I agree. The ISU, certain feds and some media outlets are trying to fabricate a new star with Yuma like they've been trying for years with Nathan. Guess what, it didn't work with Nathan. And I believe it won't work with Yuma either.

 

Now, in Yuzu's absence, they're trying to create a new "exciting" rivalry between Nathan and Yuma in order to boost the audience's interest. The media always need drama and produce drama for the sake of attention. That's what they're trying to do here: create artificial drama in order to attract attention.

 

What they don't get is that the kind of attraction that Yuzu generates is not due to marketing, promotion or media hype. Yuzu has this huge number of loyal and committed followers and fans because they see something in him that no one else has. People can see and feel that Yuzu is genuine and honest and puts his entire heart and soul out there on the ice for the whole world to see. This is what inspires people. And this is something that cannot be created or fabricated in any way.

 

Let's not forget that there are many official bodies and media all over the world that are actually aware of Yuzu's influence. For example, the Beijing Olympics organizers definitely know that the figure skating competition, perhaps even the entire Olympics, would lose a lot of interest and intrigue without Yuzu's participation. That's why they've been sucking up to Yuzu so much and want him to participate so much. I'd say in China, Yuzu is probably better known and more popular than the sport of figure skating.

 

There are also other media who know very well how great and popular Yuzu is. Just think of, as far as I remember, Greek, Turkish or Brazilian media and TV reporting about Yuzu even though figure skating is totally obscure and unpopular in these countries. There are certainly many other such examples. In these places, Yuzu is bigger than figure skating. I'm sure there are many fans who only started to pay attention to and watch figure skating because of Yuzu.

 

Another example of how Yuzu draws more attention than figure skating itself is that the Sportschau Video of his LMEY performance in World 2021 became viral, got over 2.5 million views and is the third most popular video on the Sportschau channel on YouTube (at least for me, a few videos might be geo-blocked), even though hardly anybody in Germany cares about figure skating anymore.

 

That said, I think all this hype surrounding Nathan, Yuma, or whoever might be the darling of the day, might actually turn out to be of advantage for Yuzu. This way, he's not so much in the spotlight and can focus in peace on his recovery and doing his own thing. Besides, he has nothing left to prove to anybody. He and his skating are far above all this petty infighting and politicking.

 

I wouldn't be so sure about who will win the Olympic medals anyway. The way skaters like Nathan or Yuma are being pushed, it also brings a lot of pressure and expectations. The media hype will only get worse in the next few months until the Games. Who knows what will happen until then.

 

No matter what Yuzu decides to do and when he decides to come back, I'm certain that he will delight us and show us wonders that we'll cherish forever.

[Pammi]

 

JNats schedule and TV channels (sorry if posted already)

 

This post has been tagged by yuzuangel as [NEWS].

[Whoopiewoop]

*Looks at finance spreadsheet to include iSakura subscription during December again* 

💸💸💸💸

 

[Anni]

 

 

[NEWS]

 

 

I miss Yuzu's skating and I hope his ankle heals well.

 

[Melodie]

3 hours ago, Anni said:

 

 

[NEWS]

 

 

I miss Yuzu's skating and I hope his ankle heals well.

 

That was quite nice and very complementary of him even tho they got some details wrong, like he didn't win the WC consecutively or he didn't say he would go to Beijing LoL. But they correctly said he is aiming for the 4A (but lol they literally said 4A and not 4 Axel), he broke world records 19 times, he is the trailblazer in combining techniques and artistry and he desires (and succeeds) to give back to society. Most importantly, they focused on him and him alone, no rivalry this or rivalry that or any nasty narrative. 

 

VTV is Vietnam's national TV so that is a plus as well

 

PS: VNM speakers, feel free to correct me if I get sth wrong

 

PPS, they also mentioned Pooh a lot too and that makes perfect sense lol. The pooh rain is lterally a sight to behold and pooh is his trusted friend.

 

 

[jier]

9小时前, Yuzurella说:

That said, I think all this hype surrounding Nathan, Yuma, or whoever might be the darling of the day, might actually turn out to be of advantage for Yuzu. This way, he's not so much in the spotlight and can focus in peace on his recovery and doing his own thing.

I also see this as kinda of silver lining in the current situation. Last time pre-Olympics, Shoma and Nathan had a lot of media attention  in the absence of Yuzu, which might give some peace to Yuzu to fully concentrate on himself. This time, since he is not that into Olympics anymore, it would be worse if all media pay all attention to him and push him to participate in Olympics. 

 

I also agree that Yuzu is more well-known than figure skating in China. Just take myself as an example, most of my friends (late 20s, early 30s, living in big cities) at least have heard of Yuzu, though they absolutely have zero knowledge of figure skating. I think Yuzu is even more well known in younger generations (teens and in early 20s). Chinese authority, Olympic Committee, official media love him. I am sure he will be well hosted if he comes to BJ.