Yuzuru Hanyu: 2014-15 Season

Thank you Meoima for the information .

Very sorry for my nitpicking. I just felt uneasy for some difference in nuance. You can ignore if you don't mind.
I want to revise some parts as the bold parts:

“I want to be able to never stop going forward —to be able to keep on changing to improve my current abilities. The win at the Olympics are something of the past. That was a result that I had gotten in the previous season.”


"He will be skating to “The Phantom of the Opera” for his free skate. After having heard it in music class back in junior high, he’s always longed to be able to skate along to this song. “I'm not a type of skater who performs powerfully, but I hope that I will be able to express my own style of the Phantom to everyone.”

"When asked whether or not he’s recognized on the streets, he smiled and replied: “Very rarely.” He then adds that “Occasionally when I go to the supermarket, people of Chinese decent, or Asians in general, will recognize me. Canadians? Not yet… Ah, but recently, when I was getting on a bus, a Canadian old man asked me, "You are a figure skater, aren't you?" Anyway, this is a great place for me to concentrate in training.”

"This type of lifestyle allows him to live on in ease and away from all of the pressure. “I think I’m like the enthusiastic and devoted type of athletes in sports mangas… I don’t really like shopping, and I’m not too interested in fashion. I came to Canada in order to skate, and would rather focus on what I have right now than waste time and energy worrying about something else.”

"Nothing begins if not watched by the audience"

“When training, if nobody is watching me, I don’t feel as motivated. I think all figure skaters are like this… In the end, Figure Skating is such a sport that nothing begins if not watched by the audience, and I like being watched and attracting the attention.”

"I want to be able to focus all of my concentration into being foot perfect, and that’s all that’s been going on my mind lately. If I had retired by now, I might have boasted that I was the Olympic champion!”

“All the more, in these four years, I plan to become a completely different figure skater from my skating career till the last season. I don’t want to keep going at my current level. In the end, it’s not about the score, but that I want to be able to continue improving and creating something new.”

It is difficult to translate "見られてなんぼ”　
"nothing begins if not watched", or "entirely dependent on whether watched", or "to be watched is the precondition", or .... :think:

I expect your imagination from here.

skatefan22 said:

Just saw a video about Yuzu's 6-mins warm up at sochi fs. I don't speak Japanese, but it seems that the uploader was saying that some fans cheered for Dai whenever Yuzu was attempting jumps. It would be better if the video can show what Dai was doing. If Dai was also attempting jumps every time Yuzu jumps, then it is fine that the fans were cheering I think.

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uhhmmm.... yeaahh... i dont really want to speculate since, well we dont really know what was going on since we're not really there and its only natural that fans will cheer for their fave skaters but if the uploader was telling the truth... well, receiving this kind of treatment from some of them is not something new either soo...

its best to leave it at that...

>>>羽生結弦「オペラ座の怪人」 / 音源検証 "Music Inspection"

Using latest footage I linked before, someone has edited a probable music cut for the first part of the program/timed it to the music so we can view without the news commentators voice-over. (From 4:09 onwards the coloured parts are the parts that are definitely correct, the black/white parts are filler because no footage yet).

I must say, I actually quite like how it looks so far, I think this kind of "obvious"/theatrical expressiveness is different than the nuanced expression required for NDP/R&Jno2.

EDIT: Thank you SuzyQ for your fine-toothed Japanese-English translation editing, so grateful for the translators from tumblr and here!

SuzyQ said:

It is difficult to translate "見られてなんぼ”　
"nothing begins if not watched", or "entirely dependent on whether watched", or "to be watched is the precondition", or .... :think:

I expect your imagination from here.

Click to expand...

I think 見られてなんぼ could mean 見られなければいけない, which means "have to be watched", but I could be wrong. :think: To me that means he enjoys to be the center of the attention. He wants people to watch him.

shingalas said:

羽生結弦「オペラ座の怪人」 / 音源検証 "Music Inspection"

Using latest footage I linked before, someone has edited a probable music cut for the first part of the program/timed it to the music so we can view without the news commentators voice-over. (From 4:09 onwards the coloured parts are the parts that are definitely correct, the black/white parts are filler because no footage yet).

I must say, I actually quite like how it looks so far, I think this kind of "obvious"/theatrical expressiveness is different than the nuanced expression required for NDP/R&Jno2.

Click to expand...

OOOOHHH! me likes it too!! :thumbsup:

the last time the uploader did this to yuzu's r&j 2, the music is quite similar to the real program,, you can see it on her uploads




and thanks for all the update guys :yay:

annca said:

uhhmmm.... yeaahh... i dont really want to speculate since, well we dont really know what was going on since we're not really there and its only natural that fans will cheer for their fave skaters but if the uploader was telling the truth... well, receiving this kind of treatment from some of them is not something new either soo...

its best to leave it at that...

Click to expand...

IMO the uploader is a bit naive to think those particular fans waited for the exact moments when Yuzuru was attempting jumps to cheer for Daisuke. We can watch the videos ourselves and see that they were cheering for Daisuke all the time, even when Yuzuru was just doing laps or talking to Orser. There were 4 other skaters beside them on the rink and they don't really hear anything anyway because they know how to tune out the noise and concentrate.

It's true there are certain Daisuke fans that are being disrespectful towards Yuzuru but there are also certain Yuzuru fans being disrespectful to Daisuke, just like in the comments section of the video. Even so, there are very few of them and their behavior doesn't deserve any attention at all.

ioanap said:

IMO the uploader is a bit naive to think those particular fans waited for the exact moments when Yuzuru was attempting jumps to cheer for Daisuke. We can watch the videos ourselves and see that they were cheering for Daisuke all the time, even when Yuzuru was just doing laps or talking to Orser. There were 4 other skaters beside them on the rink and they don't really hear anything anyway because they know how to tune out the noise and concentrate.

It's true there are certain Daisuke fans that are being disrespectful towards Yuzuru but there are also certain Yuzuru fans being disrespectful to Daisuke, just like in the comments section of the video. Even so, there are very few of them and their behavior doesn't deserve any attention at all.

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like i said, its best to leave it at that

SuzyQ said:

It is difficult to translate "見られてなんぼ”　

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Just a variant: there is no show without the viewers.

Thank you so much for the translation. I always like to read the actual words said by an athlete when possible. Thank you again!

smasma said:

I think 見られてなんぼ could mean 見られなければいけない, which means "have to be watched", but I could be wrong. :think: To me that means he enjoys to be the center of the attention. He wants people to watch him.

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Or,

As なんぼ is "how much" in Osaka dialect, I think it literally means "it becomes relevant, or having value only after being watched." ? So, "Figure skating is a sport which becomes having value only after being watched", if detailed, but too detailed

There are many (verb) してなんぼ　as slangs. I want an equivalent slang in English

Anyway, we just understand Yuzuru likes to be watched and attract attention. No one denies he has an essential element as a figure skater

shingalas said:

There seems to be a mindset, particularly among the Japanese skaters, that you shouldn't win by just playing it safe, but should aspire to be the best that you can be even at the prospect of failure. Just like Asada who struggled through reworking her jump technique for years and refused to give up on her 3A, just like Takahashi who didn't even need the 4T which he fell on at the Vancouver Olympics (0 points!!!), in the end, it's not about winning because of other people, it's about winning against yourself.

People will say what they want about how Hanyu looks dead after an LP, but to me that doesn't show his weakness, it shows his strength. Strength of character, strength of his training, and strength of his self-belief.

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That is an amazing post. Thank you! I believe Japanese manga is a great motivator for sportsmen (after reading all the posts on this matter during the last pages of this thread)- so... maybe it could be used as a mandatory tool for the young sportsmen to build up their motivation?

Sorrento said:

Just a variant: there is no show without the viewers.

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Great :agree:

Thank you, Meoima, for the interview link, and SuzyQ for the translations. Exactly the way I imagined Yuzu: dedicated and obsessed with learning new things. :yes: I'm glad he's placed OGM behind him, since that would give him the motivation to continue for the full four years.

fans war thing, brought up here again?? No more merry~go~round~please

SuzyQ, thank you so much for correcting translation posted before. Seems that text was based on Chinese translation of original article, and mistakes tend to pile up in such cases.

When I was reading that article in Asahi I was puzzled with 見られてなんぼ expression, now I think I finally was able to grasp it

SuzyQ said:

As なんぼ is "how much" in Osaka dialect, I think it literally means "it becomes relevant, or having value only after being watched." ? So, "Figure skating is a sport which becomes having value only after being watched", if detailed, but too detailed

There are many (verb) してなんぼ　as slangs. I want an equivalent slang in English

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Yes, I think you've hit the target! "Having value only after being watched" is exactly it!

SuzyQ said:

Anyway, we just understand Yuzuru likes to be watched and attract attention. No one denies he has an essential element as a figure skater

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That's our boy!

After watching the video of all the timed, edited footage of his POTO program, I'm even more excited to see his interpretation of the music! This definitely feels different compared to the previous R&J programs because it seems a lot more musical-ish with the addition of lyrics(vocals).

Even with only a preview, the POTO program already seems awesome! :agree:

SuzyQ said:

Anyway, we just understand Yuzuru likes to be watched and attract attention. No one denies he has an essential element as a figure skater

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the little stage hog

You have no idea how much I love you people for this translation nitpicking I'm always happy when there's more than one translation for any interview.
Also, that makes it much less OT for me to post an essay I've stumbled upon recently: So You Want To Learn Japanese. Reason two and three are a bit blah, but the first part had me in tears
(and before anybody gets ready to stone me for "making fun of" a foreign language/culture [which I'm not], please realize that I had pretty much the same reaction to Mark Twain's remarks regarding The Awful German Language.)

annca said:

i just meant that i wish he doesnt push himself too much (but i guess its not too much for him than i think it is ) if he wanted to win since i think his previous layout is pretty much still good to use, which could also be good health- wise. im just afraid of what will happen to his body once he pushes himself too much (what happened to plushy comes to my mind everytime.. no please )
but i agree, knowing his competitiveness.. i dont think he'll play it safe

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I think we need to have more trust in Yuzu and his decisions. For him to be happy and fulfilled he needs to push the bar higher and contiune to grow. This to me seems admirable and is the mindset that has worked for him so far. I also think Orser is keeping a watchful eye and will make sure Yuzu stays healthy and strong. In other words...relax! He's doing what he loves and we need to be happy for him and not worry. :thumbsup:

msteach3 said:

I think we need to have more trust in Yuzu and his decisions. For him to be happy and fulfilled he needs to push the bar higher and contiune to grow. This to me seems admirable and is the mindset that has worked for him so far. I also think Orser is keeping a watchful eye and will make sure Yuzu stays healthy and strong. In other words...relax! He's doing what he loves and we need to be happy for him and not worry. :thumbsup:

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Totally agree with you. :agree:

Just a bit off topic about this. Apparently, Pasquale Camerlengo has nominated Akko-chan to participate in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. It has finally hit the Japanese figure skaters community! Let's see if she will accept the challenge and who she will nominate next. I want to see her nominate Yuzu and yet I don't want Yuzu to get sick accepting the challenge because he has to enjoy his family vacation as well as perform at the 24hr TV soon.

smasma said:

I want to see her nominate Yuzu and yet I don't want Yuzu to get sick accepting the challenge because he has to enjoy his family vacation as well as perform at the 24hr TV soon.

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how about him just throwing a bucket of water at someone else? would you be good with that?