Yuzuru Hanyu

[Becki]

Hi everybody, although I am a new member, I've been paying attention to the forum for some time now.

Yuzuru is the new, and rising skater in men's figure skating. He's one of my favourite skaters, and my absolute favourite new skater. I love his Romeo and Juliet FS - it just takes my breath away. It's not exactly the type of music I would expect a 16 year old to skate to, assuming he hasn't been through the pain of lost love (of course, he might have...I wouldn't know).

What do you guys think about him? I definitely think he will be a podium threat at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. I predict he will be a world champion by 2014, and win the Japanese Nationals within the next few years. He has so much talent...if only he can improve his physical strength and stamina :(

[Wildstorm]

I love him!!!! He reminds me a bit of Johnny Weir (who I also love)
Yuzuru is so expressive!!! Can't wait to see more of him.

[Becki]

I think he's too skinny tho.....makes him look to much like a little boy :( He's pretty tall too!

[FTnoona]

Yuzuru's been my favorite male skater since I saw his Firebird program from Japanese Jr. Nationals. He's absolutely breath-taking to watch. I love how he gives his whole body to the performance even though some ppl think that makes him look uncontrolled. It also helps that he is just so damn adorable. That face >.< Yuzuru doesn't really remind of Johnny that much. For me the only resemblance is the body type. To me he seems more like a male version of Mao but with better jump technique. If he ever outgrows his asthma, the other guys better watch out.

Here's a tumblr with tags of Yuzuru
http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/yuzuru+hanyu

[evangeline]

Yuzuru is fabulous. I hope he makes the Japanese world team this season.

[Mathman]

Welcome to the forum, Wildstorm. Post often, post long!

[FTnoona]

Actually now that I think about it, I don't really think his asthma is that much of a problem for him. Did anyone else notice that after his FS at CoR he didn't look that tired? I think it might be more stamina now considering he really likes to perform all out with his whole entire body but at Russia when he toned it down he had no problem getting through his program except for the weird fall on the footwork.

[Becki]

The Eurosport commentator said Yuzuru gets his energy from nowhere haha. I notice he loves Winnie the Pooh, does anyone know why? He's so cute...and adorable. I love watching his expression during K&C...always so natural and geninue.

[Serious Business]

Yuzuru has been one of my faves for a while now, and I've been meaning to make a thread for him 'cause this forum needs one, but you beat me to it! But it's all good.

Here's my basic analysis of him:

He keeps being compared to Johnny Weir, and it's a valid comparison. Weir designs some of his costumes, Yuzuru admires Weir, and you can see some of Weir's grace and smoothness in Yuzuru's skating. However, Yuzuru's boldness and bravado is totally different from Weir (at least when Johnny started out, where he was often described as deer in the headlights/introverted). That aspect of Yuzuru reminds me a lot more of Plushenko. A skater that combines both Plushenko and Weir, how can you go wrong with that? He is still very much his own skater, though. As someone who grew up under the COP, unlike Weir or Plushenko, Yuzuru naturally takes to the intricacies, the inventive footwork and entrances that the COP requires (check out his twizzles in a sit position). Without a doubt, Yuzuru has Star Quality.

Technically, Yuzuru is incredibly strong. He's gotten his quad and triple axel so consistent he's doing them in exhibitions. Not only that, but he does a quad/triple axel sequence in exhibitions! It's an insanely difficult jump element that, due to the sequence point markdown, would be a very bad idea in competition. It does work, however, as proof of his technical prowess. Having the two jumps with the highest points nailed down goes a long way to keep Yuzuru in contention in any competition.

He does have weaknesses, though. It's hard to ignore that stamina is a problem for him, although it seems to be improving. This season, if he had just landed that last triple salchow in Cup of China instead of popping it into a double, he'd have won the competition instead of being in 4th. I am not exactly sure how bad his asthma is or how it affects his training. But as someone who has been hospitalized for asthma a few times, I feel his pain. It may or may not be something he can overcome totally. He will need to to be consistently competitive.

[FTnoona]

Yuzuru has been one of my faves for a while now, and I've been meaning to make a thread for him 'cause this forum needs one, but you beat me to it! But it's all good.

Here's my basic analysis of him:

He keeps being compared to Johnny Weir, and it's a valid comparison. Weir designs some of his costumes, Yuzuru admires Weir, and you can see some of Weir's grace and smoothness in Yuzuru's skating. However, Yuzuru's boldness and bravado is totally different from Weir (at least when Johnny started out, where he was often described as deer in the headlights/introverted). That aspect of Yuzuru reminds me a lot more of Plushenko. A skater that combines both Plushenko and Weir, how can you go wrong with that? He is still very much his own skater, though. As someone who grew up under the COP, unlike Weir or Plushenko, Yuzuru naturally takes to the intricacies, the inventive footwork and entrances that the COP requires (check out his twizzles in a sit position). Without a doubt, Yuzuru has Star Quality.

Technically, Yuzuru is incredibly strong. He's gotten his quad and triple axel so consistent he's doing them in exhibitions. Not only that, but he does a quad/triple axel sequence in exhibitions! It's an insanely difficult jump element that, due to the sequence point markdown, would be a very bad idea in competition. It does work, however, as proof of his technical prowess. Having the two jumps with the highest points nailed down goes a long way to keep Yuzuru in contention in any competition.

He does have weaknesses, though. It's hard to ignore that stamina is a problem for him, although it seems to be improving. This season, if he had just landed that last triple salchow in Cup of China instead of popping it into a double, he'd have won the competition instead of being in 4th. I am not exactly sure how bad his asthma is or how it affects his training. But as someone who has been hospitalized for asthma a few times, I feel his pain. It may or may not be something he can overcome totally. He will need to to be consistently competitive.

Yuzuru also lists Plushenko as his idol along with Weir. He's got the best of both worlds I worry about his technically ability when he gets older though. Weir was doing beautiful 3A that covered a lot of ice too when he was young but as he got older they started to look blah IMO.

[Becki]

yeah i agree, he was so close to winning CoC....the first half of his FS was just WOW, then it went downhill when he fell. He seriously needs to pick himself up faster after falling, like PChan. He scored the highest in TES for CoR, even higher than Javier, who successfully landed both his quads.

[Kitt]

I think I read somewhere that Plushenko thinks Yuzuru will be the one to beat in Sochi! (High praise indeed!)

[TelmoFe]

I think Yuzu has a great future in figure skating. I thing he has everthing, but he has to improve in his lines and interpretation. He is such a talent. He jumps, he spins and his transitions are very good. He will grow up and become a BIG CHAMPION.

[doctor2014]

I saw the other thread about how growth spurt may negatively influence girls, but do boys also have growth spurt that may affect their jumps? E.g., Denis Ten jumped well from 15-16; then when he reached 17, he began to bomb…

I’m thinking about Hanyu now. Will there be chances that he becomes like Denis Ten next year?

[SerpentineSteps]

It also absolutely blows my mind that Yuzuru's doing so well this season, considering that he's from Sendai (i.e. the major city the most heavily affected by the earthquake/tsunami back in March) and the resulting emotional trauma (in addition to the lost training time) that must have caused. That, in addition to the fact that he kind of looks like my younger brother, makes me teary-eyed whenever I see him skate even half decently.

I saw the other thread about how growth spurt may negatively influence girls, but do boys also have growth spurt that may affect their jumps? E.g., Denis Ten jumped well from 15-16; then when he reached 17, he began to bomb…

I’m thinking about Hanyu now. Will there be chances that he becomes like Denis Ten next year?

Keep in mind that, while he doesn't seem it, Yuzuru is already two inches taller than two of the leading Japanese men (Daisuke and Nobunari) and the same height as Takahiko. (Strange, isn't it? I guess the charisma Daisuke exudes on ice makes him look bigger?) Hopefully this means that he won't be doing much more growing.

In general, though, I don't think growth spurts are *as* much of a problem for men's skaters, since they don't have the problem (at least in terms of the physics of rotating jumps) of getting curvy when they hit puberty, and instead gain mass more so in muscle, which helps.