Daisuke Takahashi | Page 155 | Golden Skate

Daisuke Takahashi

MaiKatze

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 4, 2012
He looks concentrated. It must be weird, after competing with many of them on the same ice just a few years ago. But I bet he's also glad that he doesn't have to anymore.
 

Arriba627

TWO-TIME WORLD CHAMPION 🔥
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 2, 2014
Country
United-States
^^^I'll bet Dai misses some of the excitement and the people, but I can't imagine that he misses the pressure and the nerves that come with it!
 

synesthesia

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 1, 2014
Country
Germany
Took this picture all the way across the rink so am amazed you can even tell it's Uncle Dai. But yes, he was definitely there!

Thank you for sharing, Arriba! Hehe, we'd always know it's Dai, even if the picture is a bit blurry. ;) He looked pretty serious and focused most of the time. You can see him in the TV footage during many performances. (My favourite moment is how he looked on while Shoma was doing his final spin in the SP right in front of the commentator's table.) FujiTV really had premium seats!

Attending competitions in a different role sure must bring back many memories, but your hunch is correct, Arriba - he has repeatedly stated that he doesn't miss competing at all. He was badly burned out when he retired in 2014 and very firm in his decision to quit. I'm under the impression that he's found his groove again and is much happier now without that nerve-wrecking competitive pressure. :)

I would've loved to hear his more "private" thoughts on the competitions. Especially with so many skaters performing to iconic music, which he was so great with himself (La Strada, Blues for Klook, even Pagliacci).



And that's Takeshi Honda to his right, right?

Yes, that's Takeshi! :cool: Did you spot Shizuka as well?
 

MaiKatze

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 4, 2012
Do you know if they even stay around for Pairs and Ice Dance? I guess, when Japan's not involved those competitions get hardly any airtime. And all the videos, I would hate to be in Japan. It always seems like they cut this and there is no real feeling of a competition! I do complain a lot, but with Eurosport you usually get to see every skater. Especially for a competition like Worlds, it just feels weird to see Yuzuru and bam he won....there is no build up. A bit annoying, so I'm glad I don't have to depend on them.
 

synesthesia

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 1, 2014
Country
Germany
Hmm, good question. No I don't actually know, if they stay around. Guess we'd have to ask one of our on-site reporters. :) If I remember correctly, FujiTV didn't air ice dance and pairs live at all, so it's rather unlikely that their commentators stay in the arena (maybe only out of personal interest?) Anyway, yeah, I agree with you on those fragmented broadcasts probably being annoying and rather anticlimactic for Japanese viewers. Even for the singles disciplines they exclusively showed recorded versions of the Japanese skaters in the earlier groups and then went on air for the last one or two star-studded groups. And they were showing ads even inbetween skaters. (I took a peek at the Fuji stream every now and then to catch Dai's intros and short backstage reports,but gave up quickly. :palmf:) And to think that Japan is one of the market leaders in FS...

Usually Eurosport's live coverage is pretty good (at least for subscribers of their player/Eurosport 2), that's why I was so outraged this time that they showed large chunks of the competition "after the fact" and the ISU didn't provide any stream at all. But I guess that's called complaining on a high level compared to what happens in Japan. ;)
 
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Arriba627

TWO-TIME WORLD CHAMPION 🔥
Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 2, 2014
Country
United-States
As far as I could see for ice dance, there was no one at the desk from Fuji TV. Pretty sure it was dark. I was so emotionally invested in pairs that I'm not 100% certain, but almost certain it was dark again.
 

deedee1

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 14, 2007
Btw. I've been digging through the archives lately and found your wonderfully detailed WTT 2012 reports, deedee! I've been a Dai-chan fan since 2010, but wasn't a GS member back then. Reliving the competition and Daisuke's fabulous performances through your live accounts has been a real joy! :points:

:eek:: Sorry for this late reply and thank you for your compliment. :eek:: Is it the one, right? http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/showthread.php?36917-Deedee1-s-Review-of-Men-s-LP then I'd rather feel embarrassed as I remember it took me forever lol to finish my report. :slink:

I've revisited there and found our dearest Olympia... Oh I miss her so badly. :sad4::sad4: She was one of the first members who gave me a warm welcome in this Dai's fan thread. Since then, Olympia always is like my big sister while demarinis is like my twin sister. Daisuke, Mao, YuNa, Michelle, Kurt, etc.; we in general share almost same feelings/opinions when it comes to 'Who your favorite skaters are and why'. I wonder how she'd would have loved Shoma now.

My husband and I attended the first three WTT and 2012 still is the best for me personally. :rock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqB5ioAs7es Lots of fun, indeed. Fans, skaters, even coaches! :laugh:, everyone looks happy, funny and younger! ;) smiles everywhere. :)

Thanks again synesthesia for bringing back such a sweet memory. ^^
 
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MaiKatze

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 4, 2012
:eek:: Sorry for this late reply and thank you for your compliment. :eek:: Is it the one, right? http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/showthread.php?36917-Deedee1-s-Review-of-Men-s-LP then I'd rather feel embarrassed as I remember it took me forever lol to finish my report. :slink:

I've revisited there and found our dearest Olympia... Oh I miss her so badly. :sad4::sad4: She was one of the first members who gave me a warm welcome in this Dai's fan thread. Since then, Olympia always is like my big sister while demarinis is like my twin sister. Daisuke, Mao, YuNa, Michelle, Kurt, etc.; we in general share almost same feelings/opinions when it comes to 'Who your favorite skaters are and why'. I wonder how she'd would have loved Shoma now.

My husband and I attended the first three WTT and 2012 still is the best for me personally. :rock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqB5ioAs7es Lots of fun, indeed. Fans, skaters, even coaches! :laugh:, everyone looks happy, funny and younger! ;) smiles everywhere. :)

Thanks again synesthesia for bringing back such a sweet memory. ^^

Oh, deedee...I think of Olympia often. I think she would probably visit the Shoma thread, too. Of course I've never met her personally, but to know she's gone..... Mostly in these days of forums and internet chats, posters/users come and go and you never quite know what happened if someone disappears. It's quite sad to think about it. Ziggy was another user who left far too early, but he was most knowledgable about pairs.

Just rewatched Blues for Klook at Worlds in Nice, and with all that Yuzuru hype I think people tend to forget that Daisuke also had passionate fans who travelled around the world to watch him skate, he was Number 1 once. What he did for the sport in the Men's discipline is so underrated....when I look at the scores I still get angry. He was special, one of a kind. Now, watch me getting all nostalgic.
 

synesthesia

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 1, 2014
Country
Germany
OMG i hope Mao says yes to Daisuke. Please Mao!!!!!!

+1

Dai has always been gushing about Mao's skating! They've been vaguely talking about founding a touring company in the vein of "ballet on ice" before and I can certainly see this happening. They have great chemistry together! Both of them also said they felt very inspired by their experience at Stephane's "Ice Legends" and how they would love to replicate something like "Le Poeme" on a larger scale. If this comes to fruition I'm going to die of happiness! :yahoo: (Ok, I'd rather not, because I'd certainly wanna live to see this with my very own eyes. Gonna have to start saving for a trip to Japan I guess. :drama:) Tbh, Dai is already spoiling us with his participation in so many exciting and boundary pushing projects lately! A project with Mao would be the ultimate icing on the cake! :love:
 
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