Team Japan

[Guest turquoiseblue]

 

[EisElle]

Whoa congrats to Rika! Now train well and slay in the JGPfinal, girl! And LOL to her adding a tano 2A to the maybe hardest combo done by ladies, because, hey, why not

I hope the pressure of being the only junior jpn girl in Nagoya (and the only not-Russian) and the expectations about her 3As won't make it too hard for her (I'm still traumatized about those two unexpected falls during steps at the last JGP...)

It looks like Rika won't lack motivation to train, opposite to Marin, which is good.

tbh imo Hamada's words about Marin are very on point. If it's true that Marin doesn't have yet the competitive drive to make herself focus on her training, she won't be able to achive results in a field where that competitive drive is essential. And in ladies' field more than in men's is necessary not to leave any point on the plate, while Marin sometimes loses levels on spins. She can't afford that. She's more than capable (physically) to be a very good spinner, so those are really points she just throws away.

Anyway congrats to all the medalists (yay Nana! yay Mistsuki!).

And kudos to Shun, the world really needs more quality 3As (and 3As as last jumping pass)

How old is he?

[Guest turquoiseblue]

1 hour ago, LadyLou said:

And kudos to Shun, the world really needs more quality 3As (and 3As as last jumping pass)

How old is he?

 

He is 13 years old and turns 14 in February 

[Guest turquoiseblue]

[katonice]

Omg that is one huge flower Waka received! 

 

[¯\_(ツ)_/¯]

Out of all the Japanese ladies with the highest potential currently of making it into the Oly team, Miyahara's style is of course the most developed and mature but then the next one whose style I find most mature is Higuchi, who's like the second youngest of this bunch. Pretty ironic, huh? She also looks older than her age. Mihara's has a fresh feel to it that, at 18, I'm beginning to think if that's just who she is. Sakamoto's isn't so much as immature as it is rough around the edges so when she develops and polishes it a bit more, I think we'll see something very nice from her, especially since out of the five, her jumps are likely the most clean, precise and solid, judging from what I've seen of them at SA. I haven't seen enough of Honda to comment much of anything (cos her programs make me zone out halfway) so I'll reserve judgment until later. Probably. If her future programs can hook my attention for their entire duration.

[beki]

I know it seems trivial, but Sakamoto should probably follow Mihara's lead and ditch the ponytail. An updo confers a little instant maturity.

[kaeryth]

This is what always annoys me with the ladies' field (and continues to do so). At 15-16-17 years old, these girls are teenagers. Let them be teenagers and have fun and youthful programs! Last year, some criticised Mai's Cinderella as 'juniorish' but I actually found it age appropriate. Unfortunately, judges seem to appreciate a 'mature' performance more and that's why we get an abundance of tangos in the ladies when they want to be thought of as mature because apparently skating to tango/latin equals maturity. Showing maturity doesn't always equals a better performance.

 

[beki]

I dunno, I really appreciate the difference between junior and senior skating. I like to watch young adults with a point of view—I definitely prefer maturity to youthful exuberance 99% of the time, even if I see the potential to come. Maturity isn't the same as age. Wakaba and Polina T. already seem to have some gravitas to their skating, not to say they can't be fun too. The way it is now, girls move up to seniors when they have the technical elements. But they still have more to learn. Hold your movements; develop charisma. Maybe I wouldn't mind the youthful programs if they didn't seem saccharine. Mai and Bradie's Cinderellas are that way for me. Mai's long program this year is good. Yuna Shiraiwa's short to Girl with Flaxen Hair strikes the right balance. I'm exaggerating here, and it sounds rude, but I don't want to watch a kiddie pageant. It's why I didn't warm up to Tara Lipinski while she was competing. When I rewatch her performances now, I appreciate what she did. I love the movie Amelie, but I'm not quite sure Kaori's program captures that quirkiness effectively. It's actually a pretty tricky concept to portray. Funnily enough, I can imagine older ice dancers like Anna and Luca pulling it off.

[kaeryth]

I think it's fine if it's not forced... Wakaba already has a maturity to her performance but it's because of something innate and not something that she thought she would have to do. I think this was partially the reason for D.Wilson choosing Libertango for Mai - to bring out her maturity (whatever that means).  With Marin as well - her SP was originally a tango as well but they soon realised that it's really not a vehicle for her to show 'maturity' which she really doesn't need to do at 16. I think finding the balance and what strengths you have is key.

 

This applies to Juniors as well. While I love and appreciate Trusova as a technical skater and performer, I still cringe at a 13 yo skating to Big Spender (even though she pulls it off). And then there's Eun Soo's costumes. Going on topic for TJ ladies, Moa at 13 does a great tango and is very mature in her performance.

 

In the end, I think my gripe is that 'maturity' is rewarded more than 'youth' when it comes to performance and it forces the ladies to have to choose a program they might not entirely be comfortable with just to show the judges that they are 'mature'. Which may or may not work in their favour.

 

[Xen]

The issue I have with the tango/latin equals maturity, is the idea of sexy/sensual equals mature. Really, very few senior ladies can pull off tangos, or sexy if the plethora of bad Carmens is any indication. And everyone has a different style that can be polished to maturity. 

[PapiandPooh422]

All these talks of tango suddenly made me remember Satton's Firedance and she actually made it work, considering how meek she is off ice. And then we have Mai's sp. It's too soft for my taste, I'm sorry. I'm trying hard to like it but I really can't buy it. 😐 

[axelsandwich]

I can't roll my eyes harder at the concept of sexiness = maturity. I think for me, a 'mature' performance actually comes from a skater being able to convey/add some point of view of their own into their interpretation and that definitely comes mostly with time. It does happen more easily when you have music that already has a degree of pathos/gravitas that allows for deeper/nuanced interpretation (as opposed to eg. Cinderella's upbeat music that's kind of just 'happiness! joy! prettiness!') but you can have beautiful mature music that's non-sexy too (eg. Marin's SP, Satoko's FS). 

 

What I find with less mature skaters is that you can tell they haven't fully grasped what they feel about the music yet - they're ticking off the motions and choreography (sometimes with Eteri's girls, even facial expressions are choreographed to the T) but you can tell there's not quite a personal connection to the program. Some girls like Wakaba and Karen Chen are precocious in being able to understand how to 'play' the character and make that personal connection - even when they can't exactly relate to their own experiences - but it's so much harder for eg. poor Sasha Trusova who could not be at all expected to grasp what her FS is about and so the performance feels oddly empty because she's just parroting the choreo. 

 

So yeah...I really support working with what girls DO understand and can internalise and if it means fun, light music for tiny girls, then so be it because it will feel more authentic. With the older girls, I think eg. Libertango is an interesting fit for Mai in that I quite like the program for her but I think she hasn't quite grasped how to channel the aggressive 'attack' that tango needs or 'lose herself' in the character which is why I still find her interpretation lacking a bit. 

 

[katonice]

Look how many pineapple plushies Satton has now!

Source

[kaeryth]

Simply adorable