Catching up on this thread and um I think some people have the wrong idea about what Yuzu aims to do this season in raising his average/being more consistent. I don't think he means landing all his jumps perfectly all the time, more he doesn't want to have huge early season bombs and massive discrepancies between his best and worst performances of the season. Over pm every season in his senior career the gap between his highest TES and lowest TES for the short program has been in excess of 10 points (last season his lowest TES was 23!!! points lower than his highest TES) with a gap of 20-30 points between his best and worst TES for his free programs. I can maybe understand if he wants a season where that gap isn't so huge.

For his free program, being real, ACI has totally blown his stats and his hopes of not having a 30 ish point gap in his TES alone, but for this short he's still on track to have way more consistent performances than previous years because of his tendency to really, really blow his first GP SP with pops and missed combos. Even if we're not thinking about the score, performance wise I imagine he wants the equivalent - that his worst isn't a total mess compared to his best. it's easier to put it in terms of numbers tho because they are quantifiable even if performance is performance, score is score. there is at the least a direct correlation lmao

He is not Evgenia and never will be because his content, technically and choreographically, is way more difficult than what she is doing and he's always pushing himself to try harder and harder things. It's more about wanting to get some stability in his performances imo and having some confidence that even if he has a bad day, he's still producing performances that are enough to win. Finishing the SP in 2nd place with 6 points to make up is a position Yuzuru is way more than capable of fighting his way out of. He might not even need to be 100% clean in the free to take the gold. But it's also early season and he tends to build up as the season wears on. Really, his focus will more be on keeping the momentum, keeping himself healthy and free of injury and managing his mental state after GPF and Nationals. Which I totally think he can totally do.

 

Expecting him to skate clean every time just because he's reusing music is...It doesn't really make sense. If he was using the old layout too, sure, he totally should be clean way more frequently but really using the same music is a benefit for having a good feeling for Yuzu to skate to, helping his mental condition, a good foundation in PCS with the choreography, interpretation and performance all being more refined and polished right from the start and having comfort to also refine the transitions and skating skills, which you can clearly see he has done. It puts him in a good position to mentally be more able to land his jumps more frequently and perform better overall but he's doing difficult elements with difficult entries and exits and COR is really his first competition doing this layout. Everything around the elements being stronger helps the probability of his nailing his jumps but it's kind of unreasonable to expect him to do it perfect every time. I think no pops, a little UR and a little fall mostly because of a lack of speed is perfectly fine. He seems to clearly know why those elements didn't work that time and will address that in the free and in the next competition. 

 

I think this Ballade still had some really shining moments, like the camel spin, the 3A that he just makes look so easy it's mind boggling, the step sequence was lovely to watch as well and while maybe it wasn't his greatest performance I can't help but to enjoy the smoothness and ease he performed with. Not even the smallest amount of stiffness in his body, every motion light and natural and flowing, nothing labored about it. That's what is so good about Yuzuru's skating, even performances with mistakes are worth watching again. 

 

Anyway. I don't expect a perfect free skate, I hope he avoids popping is all and keeps his falls more on the stumbly side and less on the crashing full force into the ice. All I really want to see from Yuzu after ACI is a free program where he is mentally present, in character, committed to the program, and I'm confident we will get to see that which automatically mean the free here is going to be way, way better than ACI.

 

As for the costume: I don't mind it. It has a lot of sparkles, I think the gold beading on the collar is pretty but kinda makes that neckline loose shape. It wold maybe look pretty with some gold bead details elsewhere too but it would weight the fabric down and lose the flow-y-ness. I wish the blue was a bit darker and maybe the sleeves less opaque but meh it's not awful. It's not as much of a downgrade as I think the seimei costume is. Getting rid of the gold triangles is a good change.

6 minutes ago, kaerb said:

 

something interesting to note in the K&C - Yuzu said to Brian 'but I didn't pop, yessss, finally' so it does seem to be something he's been focusing on

That's exactly the same thing I say after he rotate that 4Lo and combo. Yassss he didn't pop!!! 

13 minutes ago, yuzuangel said:

Yes, it was better than ACI, IMO!

 

Honestly one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. How soft was that landing! 

I changed my profile pic to use up all the pops before he could get to any during his SP. I'm such a hero. You're welcome.

2 minutes ago, SparkleSalad said:

 

Honestly one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. How soft was that landing! 

And it looks so easy... Well actually it's f***ing hard to do. How the heck he makes the landing so soft? He even landed the 4Lz with a soft landing too. 

Also entry into camel spin was just.... ugh... more softness. I am having feelings.

Also also also! The ending pose was so neat and precise but without too much force. Perfect accent.

Popping by to write my thoughts (I've mostly just posted fluff so far /LOL/):

• I don't think it's a bad skate. The 3A and StSq was sublime. I think we're holding him up to ACI standard but we have to remember that it was a watered down content that he was very familiar with. While he did do the 4Lo in ice shows, this is the 1st competition where he tried it - and coming from an imposed 4Lo rest too. Also, he avoided the thing everyone was most afraid off - HE DID NOT POP! - something that he also viewed as a positive.
• One thing I noticed, the harsher critics are the ones who are not 100% in with Chopin 3-peat and I don't blame them. His talks of consistency, raising averages, and that ACI SP might have given some false hope /LOL/.
• I don't think the goal of Chopin is to be consistently perfect. I think the goal of Chopin is that when he does make a mistake, it doesn't disrupt his flow and concentration that the rest of the program crumbles. He wants to be able to still get a score that is within striking distance even with mistakes.

I actually thought Yuzu might have issues on his 4Lo so I wasn't expecting super clean and wasn't surprised at the turnout, but I confess I started trusting the combo would be fine a bit too much after FaOI and ACI.  

1 minute ago, xeyra said:

I actually thought Yuzu might have issues on his 4Lo so I wasn't expecting super clean and wasn't surprised at the turnout, but I confess I started trusting the combo would be fine a bit too much after FaOI and ACI.  

 

That one was his fault cause he hesitated / was confused about whether he would rippon or not... Gotta confess, as soon as he didn't rippon I thought he was gonna fall

1 hour ago, meoima said:

He deserves the score. And if people think his PCS is too high you must see it live. the flow on the ice he made is unmatched. 

He will be in the zone tomorrow and he will do well. the best thing from this is that he rotated everything. it is a good sign.

Another reason why I must watch Yuzu live, at least once!

 

1 hour ago, GreatLakesGal said:

I have to say that I am really put off by several of the critical comments of Yuzu here. You expect him to skate every program perfectly up to and including the Olympics?

 

He's a human being, not a fucking robot.

With Evgenia being so consistent (she's one in a million!), people tend to think that's how Yuzu should be too. But with 12 WRs, broken only by himself (except one but that was long ago), and we still expect more from him? I understand why some of those comments are coming from though. Being a satellite on this planet is filled with anxiety and angst, but also full of elation...oh Yuzu, you're not a robot, but you're very close to being an alien!

 

1 hour ago, Neenah said:

What I like most about Yuzuru's skating is his emotion, focus and confidence. When he hits those three things we get magical performances like ACI Chopin and Worlds H&L, but these things are not easy to come by for someone who feels the music and his choreography. I personally like Yuzuru as he is with his good and bad skates because that what makes him special. I don't want him to be calculated or mechanical just to be clean every time. it is impossible for a sensitive person to be mentally in the same space every time, and losing that sensitivity for better technical performance is the greater loss IMO.

 

I think his performance today was good even with the mistakes. When I read the comments I see things like he was off, slow or nervous but I watched the SP few times and even fan cams and I don't see it. Yes he was not as engaging as he was at ACI but so what? record performances are not the standard and should not be what he is judged against.

That's what makes Yuzu's program so beautiful...he gives himself to the performance and draw us in. When he's in the right zone, it's truly magical. 

 

1 hour ago, Mastyaeva said:

About being worried. When he fell and I was in the arena I just wanted to stop all this (music, time, world) in order to run and check if he was ok. Because nothing else matters, really. Maybe I'm crazy.  But it is how it is. 

I felt the same way when I saw him fall on his 3A during ACI! Except I'm not at the arena...

The day men's singles has the consistency of the ladies....I'll go borrow and eat a hat. The closest in recent memory is Plushy for me, and he wasn't always squeaky clean (if anyone disagrees we can go watch how he saved his quads at times yeah?). No, Yuzu just has to do well overall-less big errors, and slay in the FS and he's well on his way. 

I won't be watching the long today, so I'll just pray for him at practice on ice. =) 

 

1 hour ago, kaerb said:

Yuzu said to Brian 'but I didn't pop, yessss, finally'

Good Pooh, that was adorable... 

And it's so weird to hear him saying something I say A LOT  spare me the squishiness, Yuzu...

ELTA (Taiwan) Broadcast. Can anyone translate?

 

Spoiler

 

 

3 hours ago, swanbeau said:

To you guys opinion, what are the highlights of the sp performance here? Is there an element or two that you like better than in ACI?

 

In my opinion, the hand movements in his spins are better. I didn't say it before on ACI bc i didnt wanna feel like a party pooper picking on a clean wr skate but i didnt (still dont) like the hand movements there *sweats*

 

The 3a is always divine. The flow n the perfect half rounded edge that's carved on the ice is aesthetically pleasing. Stsq doesnt feel carefully controlled? I want him to let it loose more, like in the ice shows, so i like it better here. But a lot of ppl really like the stsq in ACI precisely bc its the opposite of that

after I rewatched the program, it was just so beautiful, the step sequence...I feel like I am in the sky, above the cloud...cute smile at the end..omg...

3T is hard